ã€ŠSurvive in the parallel world, please!ã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1: Dont eat anything you find, please!

    I hear a slight rhythmic sound, like something heavy falling on the grass repeatedly. I let myself be carried away by the sound, while feeling a soft swinging motion that follows the same rhythm.

    Curiosity ovees me as I look to the sides.

    It sounds like a heartbeat, but it¡¯s too slow. I try to focus deeply into the sound.

    It¡¯s my steps!

    Realizing this was like suddenly waking up, Am I a sleepwalker?

    My eyelids feel heavy, a forest with very tall trees stretches in all directions, there¡¯s a path beneath my feet and I¡¯m wearing sneakers.

    I pat myself quickly to check if i¡¯m alright: I¡¯m dressed, not hurt, and there¡¯s a sticky substance dripping from my mouth, was I drooling!?

    This situation seems disconcerting to me, still, I make my best effort to remain calm, not letting a single gasp escape my mouth, but what was I doing? Where was i going?

    .....

    There is a trail, but after walking and looking around I can¡¯t remember which direction I came from. I ampletely and utterly lost.

    I don¡¯t have anything in my hands or pockets, the only thing I see lying on the ground are leaves and some tree branches. Wherever I look there is no sign of civilization, the path may as well been made by wild animals and, clearly, I am still as lost as I was five minutes ago.

    I feel a strange difort in my head, as if it takes a while from when I think about doing something to when I actually execute the action.

    It¡¯s not painful at all, just very ufortable.

    I pick up a branch from the ground and look at it carefully. It is quite long and looks robust, it¡¯s also very heavy, or am I just tired? I take a moment to remove the side branches to use as a walking stick.

    Even though I don¡¯t have any tools, I¡¯d say I did a good job. The stick is somewhat curved but I can get used to it.

    I don¡¯t know what to do now. I have so many questions and there¡¯s no one around to answer me.

    The midday sun hangs over my already fragile head, not that it¡¯s very hot, but light bothers me. Every step I take feels slow and heavy, the path in front of me is not straight and there are many bushes in the way.

    Maybe this path was done by wild animals after all, I hold the grip on the stick in my hands in fear, I don¡¯t feel safe in this ce.

    Although the forest stretches as far as I can see, there¡¯s a clearing a little further on. So I decide to take a short break there before continuing on my way. I must have been walking for about half an hour and I¡¯m getting tired already.

    After sitting down and resting for a couple minutes, I turn my attention to the greenery around me and happily spot a few berries. My mouth is watering just by looking at them and Iunch myself forward without hesitation to pick them up.

    They¡¯re small and round, little ck balls I don¡¯t remember seeing before. Greed gets the best of me and I spend a few minutes picking them up until I have both hands full.

    Wait a minute, what if they¡¯re poisonous? I shouldn¡¯t waste my time and energy collecting poisonous trash.

    After little consideration I finally decide to try one, after all they¡¯re quite small and even if they are poisonous, how bad can it be?.

    Hesitantly, I put one in my mouth and chew it, a sweet and tasty juice spreads across my pte. It¡¯s delicious!

    Just one isn¡¯t enough to satisfy my hunger, but if I manage to collect a bunch I won¡¯t have to worry about food anymore today, plus they¡¯ll keep me hydrated.

    In one bite I quickly finish all I had, then instead of gathering a bunch, I proceed to eat the berries as soon as I get them.

    What a treat! They¡¯re actually pretty good!

    My happiness is short-lived though, since without realizing it I finished them all.

    I¡¯m still not satisfied, but I¡¯m not hungry either. I feel much better and more optimistic about my situation, the safest thing is to continue on my way and keep an eye out for more berries, since I forgot to save forter.

    Now I can walk faster, time is precious, so I leave the small clearing behind. Along the way I pick berries and quickly pop them into my mouth, they melt smoothly and are fun to eat, so I walk with a happy expression on my face.

    Without worrying about food and with a lighter heart, I advance determinedly through the forest that¡¯s bing more and more dense. Even though I don¡¯t know where I¡¯m going and I don¡¯t fell safe in this forest, there¡¯s no choice but to continue heading forward.

    If only I could find someone, anyone, I could at least know where I am.

    I don¡¯t want to spend the night alone in an strange forest. Suddenly I spot a slightly smaller bush that bears a single berry, but it¡¯s twice the size. Lucky!

    I run to the bush with joy and pop the berry in my mouth just like the previous ones, but after chewing it I quickly regretted it. An unpleasant sour taste washed over me, my tongue went numb right away and I couldn¡¯t help but swallow the nasty berry.

    My face crumpled and a shiver ran through my body.

    Poison Resistance 6%

    ¡°It can¡¯t be! What¡¯s going on!? I¡¯m poisoned!¡±

    Screaming loudly I run from one side to another with my arms outstretched looking for help, there¡¯s no point, I¡¯mpletely alone.

    Tired and breathing heavily, I lean against a tree. Calm down, this is not as bad as I thought at first. My tongue doesn¡¯t feel so numb anymore and I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m dying or anything like that either.

    Afterposing myself an extraordinary realization suddenly hit me.

    Somehow I learned the berry was poisonous and I have some resistance to poison.

    It was as if a message appeared in front of my eyes, more than something physical, it feels like the message came straight from my head because I couldn¡¯t actually see or hear it.

    Now I think about it, I can¡¯t remember how I got here, where I¡¯m from, or even my name, but somehow I have some knowledge of the world.

    It feels like even though I know the words, I can¡¯t actually remember anything!

    I would say my situation is out of the ordinary, however I have no memory, so I can¡¯t even count on mymon sense. I need to know how this message thing works without hurting myself in the process.

    Maybe if I take an action I can get some information. I stand up and wave the stick in the air. My gut telling me maybe if I learn to fight I¡¯ll get a message like the one before. After swinging a few times in the air to no avail, I start to get frustrated and swing harder identally hitting a tree next to me.

    Blunt Weapons 1%

    Somehow my instincts where on spot, although I wasn¡¯t entirely sure. Could it be that the more actions I take, the stronger they be? Will it be the number of times or the intensity?

    For some reason poison resistance started at 6%, but blunt weapons only at 1%. I need to experiment a bit. I hit the same tree again, this time on purpose. The nk sound of the blow echoes through the forest.

    Blunt Weapons 2%

    Well, it must be the number of actions though I can¡¯t confirm it yet. What else should I experiment next?

    Sitting down again, with the stick in my hand I observe it thoughtfully. I can see its color, the bark around the stick is the same color as the trees around me. The thickness isfortable to hold in my hand. Although it¡¯s clear ites from a fresh branch, or at least it¡¯s not dried, it must have fallen several days ago.

    stick 5/7

    Observation 1%

    Oh! It¡¯s a sess! Not only was I able to get the information by looking at the stick and paying attention to its features, I also received a message.

    This can be very useful to know what I can or cannot eat. Next I look at the tree I hit earlier. It¡¯s arge brown tree, its bark is wrinkled, irregr and I can distinguish its texture simr to the stick I picked up a while ago. It has a small indentation where I hit earlier, although I hit it twice only once left a mark as the first hit was too light.

    Tree ????/????

    This time it wasn¡¯t as useful as I expected, I thought maybe I could get some useful information, or at least level up my observation skill but it seems it won¡¯t be as easy as I expected.

    A strange sound brought me out of my thoughts. My stomach growled loudly as I felt my insides churning. It must be the effect of eating the poison berry. Fortunately I feel no pain and I¡¯m perfectly fine.

    Anyway, I won¡¯t get out of this unpleasant situation by sitting on my butt.

    As I walk, I nce suspiciously at the berryden bushes. I was hoping to level up my observation skill in the meantime, but I can¡¯t concentrate hard enough on the things I see while walking.

    Approaching a random bush and observing it carefully, it is small, its branches are thin and end in small oval leaves that have diagonal grooves. There are some berries on it, they are ck and small.

    Bush ??/??

    Observation Skill 2%

    My skill has leveled up, but I don¡¯t feel any different. I couldn¡¯t get enough information either, but an idea urred to me. Reaching out to grab a few berries as I walk, I take a close look at them one by one. This way I can make the most of my time.

    ck berry

    It¡¯s disappointing not being able to tell if they¡¯re poisonous or not, but it feels good to be able to do something useful while walking.

    I stay on course following the trail, paying attention to the path as much as possible while practicing my observation skill.

    Even though i¡¯m in a hard spot, somehow an intense emotion ovees me. I wouldn¡¯t know how to put it into words, it¡¯s like a positive impatience, a kind of optimism and happiness that overwhelms me, I don¡¯t know the reason.

    My stomach keeps making weird noises every ten to fifteen minutes. It scares me a little to think what will happen to me after it gets dark. I don¡¯t need any memories from my past to know being alone in a forest without light is a bad scenario where only bad things could happen.

    Luckily there¡¯s still sunlight left, the best I can do is stop worrying for now and focus on improving my observation skill. I start picking berries and after analyzing them before cing them in my pocket. I¡¯ll no longer eat them until I can tell if they are poisonous or not.

    Observation 8%

    I get excited every time I get a message, I pick up a new berry and keep an eye on it as I walk.

    ¡°AHHH!¡±

    A misstep, I tripped over a root sticking out on the surface and fell hands forward on my knees.

    Health 9/10

    ¡°This happens to me for not looking at the road¡±

    Obfuscated, I can verify I hurt my right knee. My hands are dirty from the berry that just burst. Unfortunately the ones in my pocket suffered a simr fate. Being distracted I scraped my knee, my hands hurt, my clothes got dirty, and I lost the food I¡¯ve been struggling to gather.

    Adjusting my pants over my knee to avoid staining it with the little blood thates out of my small wound, I have to look on the bright side, at least I was able to get a new notification.

    Only this time it¡¯s something horrifyingly worrisome. I only have ten health points, with a light fall I lost a health point. Does this mean that ten light falls is enough to end my life? And what if I get hit harder next time?

    Comparing the situation with the branch I used. The branch lost two points for two uses, it could have lost a point per use or it could not have lost after the first hit and with the second it lost two.

    .....

    Walking stiffly with the fear of dying a stupid death, I head forward, only this time being much more careful not to fall.

    Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t long before I found what I was looking for, another clearing in the woods.

    Since I¡¯m well rested, I don¡¯t need to sit around wasting time. I start collecting everything I can find. Dry branches, fresh branches, some small stones, a slightlyrger rock, cing everything at the center of the clearing.

    After using thergest branch as a broom to sweep the leaves off the ground and gather them into a single heap, I start to dig a small hole using a stick and put some green leaves in it.

    Neat! now I have a clean container to save the berries I find forter, as long as I¡¯m careful to cover it with a rock, I won¡¯t have to worry about stepping on the berries by mistake. I¡¯m set on spending the night in this ce, there¡¯s no point in wandering aimlessly the whole day.

    There are several paths leading out of the clearing, so I decide to mark the path I¡¯ve already traveled by making marks on the ground. I pick another path at random and walk around it for a few minutes picking berries and looking for things that might be useful.

    I return to the clearing, deposit what few berries I can find, and choose a new path. Again I walk for only a few minutes, paying close attention to everything around me. And I repeat the process on each path until I reach thest one.

    This one is a bit bigger, I¡¯ll explore it carefully tomorrow, but taking a little look it seems somewhat safe.

    It would be nice to have a fire, but I¡¯m not confident I can start a fire with the resources I have at my disposal right now. Also, I¡¯ll have enough time to try at night, as long as I still have energy.

    Picking berries, I inadvertentlye across one of those big berries that gave me an upset stomach.

    ¡°Trash!¡± I yell to the top of my lungs as I throw it as far as possible.

    ¡°Stupid berry¡±

    I go back to the clearing and check my loot. Now I have enough berries to give myself a little feast, maybe it wasn¡¯t a good idea to pick them all, in case I have to stay here for a while, but I really don¡¯t see a reason to stay.

    There are quite a few fresh branches, some of which are dry.

    What a surprise, what else could you find in a forest?

    It¡¯s not enough to build a shelter, I wouldn¡¯t know how to start building one either. Taking advantage of the few minutes of daylight left, I prepare to observe the berries one by one.

    Berry

    Observation skill 23%

    After reviewing all of them, my skill barely reached 23%.

    It would be nice to know if it¡¯s some sort of level-up progress, or if the percentage represents my level of proficiency.

    The sky begins to turn orange as I stand up quickly and begin to separate the dry branches from the fresh ones, the same with the leaves and some dry grass that I collected.

    I put in front of me a small pile of branches, leaves and grass in an attempt to create a small fire but I don¡¯t have the means. It¡¯s getting darker and without fire, I won¡¯t have enough light to see anything. wasting my energy trying to make a fire now would be counterproductive.

    What can I do? That¡¯s it! I can try to create some tools, or more sticks, anything could be useful. I take some stones and branches. With a rock a little bigger than my fist, I begin to craft several sticks.

    It¡¯s not really a big deal, but they can be useful. Besides, there¡¯s not much else I can do. If there was more light, I could hit one rock with another trying to get it sharpened or at least a point without the fear of hitting my thumb. A spear wouldn¡¯t hurt, though I don¡¯t have anything to tie it with.

    A pointed stick seems like a good substitute for a spear. Whether to defend myself or hunt, it is essential to have a weapon.

    With these thoughts I lie down on a pile of leaves. A gentle breeze gently brushes my face as I gaze up at the starry sky.

    Despite everything that happened today, I feel calm.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2: Don¡¯t drink unboiled water, please!

    *groan* *groan*

    *ahhhggg*

    ¡°Ah! How did this happen?¡±

    Little tears trail down my cheeks as I crouch in front of a tree.

    Upon awakening, an urge hit me and I ran as far as I could before giving free rein to my guts. Everything I ate yesterdayes out under pressure causing me the greatest relief and, at the same time, the worst difort.

    I have no way to clean myself and, although I just responded to the call of nature, I still feel that something inside me wants to go out and see the world. The best thing would be to take advantage of the blessings of nature to solve my current problem. I¡¯m very sorry for this beautiful and soft leaf that¡¯s next to me. Its fate will be cruel, but it will not be in vain!

    .....

    I don¡¯t know how much I ran, I don¡¯t recognize where I am anymore. But there¡¯s no need to mark down the ce because there¡¯s a huge piece of evidence of my passage through this ce, right in front of the tree.

    I walk slowly, ufortably, barely separating my legs as I rub my belly. It¡¯s a cold morning, or early morning maybe, it¡¯s dark but I can make out what¡¯s in front of me. Sure it¡¯s almost dawn.

    I manage to see some light in the distance, is it my clearing? i can¡¯t be sure but the feeling of being alone in the dark is overwhelming.

    I approach slowly, from time to time i can hear branches cracking. Is it my imagination or is there something watching me?

    My joints get tense and more than walking, it seems like I¡¯m marching awkwardly.

    There¡¯s a light source over there and it bes clearer as I walk out of the forest and a beautifulndscape spreads before my eyes.

    It¡¯s not my clearing, It¡¯s ake!

    Arge silverke shimmers in the moonlight, reflecting a wondrous cosmdscape on its calm surface.

    I¡¯m finally out of the woods! Well, at least for now.

    Theke has a small grassy shore, in some ces high and in others somewhat lower. If I look a little further the ground starts to rise and it bes impossible to traverse the shore, so I discard the idea altogether.

    As I get closer, the natural beauty of this ce strikes me hard leaving me in awe. I wonder if I am the first human being setting foot in here. It feels somehow sacred. Standing on arge rock near the shore I take in some more of this wondrously beautiful scenery.

    I can see the other shore, although i can tell that it¡¯s actually very far away.

    The first rays of the sun begin to invade little by little the terrain of the night, banishing the moon and bathing me with its heat.

    There¡¯s no point in trying to retrace my steps, I know this shouldn¡¯t be too far from the clearing, but even if it is and I end up abandoning everything I have, to settle in here, I feel like I wouldn¡¯t be losing much.

    In this ce there¡¯s an inexhaustible supply of water, I¡¯m sure there will also be abundant food and, as if that were not enough, there are many stones of various sizes, which could be useful.

    It¡¯s not a good idea to just pick stones at random, as it would only overload me, although stones were previously very difficult to find and I nned to umte as many as I could, now I have at my disposal more stones and rocks of various shapes, sizes and colors than I would know how to use. Even so, they remain a very valuable resource. After all, a proper flint can be the difference between life and death. Somehow I feel like I¡¯m rich.

    ¡°Hahaha¡± Iugh at my naive thought, as if having rocks meant anything, they are just on the floor for anyone to use at will.

    A thought struck me, since I¡¯m the only person around, is everything around all mine?

    ¡°nah, what am i thinking... i just feel lonely¡±

    Time to level up my observation skill. I begin to look at the different stones, especially those that catch my attention because of their shape, size or color.

    Stone?, stone, stone?, stone.

    Some stones have a question mark next to them and some do not. This is confusing because some of the stones don¡¯t really look that different to the naked eye.

    This just goes to show how useful my observation skill can be, it¡¯s a good idea to upgrade it as soon as possible.

    Even though I don¡¯tck motivation, it¡¯s a slow process and I can¡¯t afford to spend all day doing this.

    *grunt*

    *growl*

    I put my hands to my stomach, I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s hunger or difort, but it makes my task more difficult.

    I pick up all the stones I find, and if they have a question mark after looking at them, I put them aside in a pile.

    After getting tired, I start to sort them by color. There are many gray stones, some white, few red, and only one ck stone.

    At first nce and without more information, there really isn¡¯t much I can do so I decide to change my n.

    This time I¡¯ll be on the lookout for slightlyrger rocks, I¡¯ll be taking several oval rocks of a considerable size. After observing them, I ce them next to the others that I had previously collected.

    These rocks can be useful to make a fire, if I manage to start a fire, they will prevent it from going out with the wind or consuming excess firewood.

    ¡°...¡±

    And... How do you even light a fire? An icy wind chills my bones and I hug myself.

    I get nothing out ofining, I shake off my clothes, p my hands twice and start looking around, progressively entering the forest.

    It¡¯s not long before I find the path that leads to the clearing. Everything is exactly as I left it at night, I pick up my trusty stick and go back to theke, this time I marked the path so it was much easier for me.

    Once in theke I start hitting two medium-sized rocks together to try to split them, I get a somewhat sharper rock and i begin to sharpen the stick¡¯s end.

    stick 5/7

    I keep sharpening it up a bit until I¡¯m satisfied.

    Create tools 1%

    Pointed stick 5/5

    I did it! Plus I got a new skill! This is perfect.

    With renewed energy, I decide to explore a bit more until it starts to get a little warm. Then I¡¯ll try to catch something in theke with my spear.

    I can¡¯t even dream of making a fishing rod, but perhaps I have a chance with the pointed stick. Who knows, even if I fail, I might get a spear skill and it will get easier eventually.

    I know I shouldn¡¯t be spending so much energy, but I have to make sure I have water, shelter, and food. With those three necessities covered I¡¯ll be able to explore further afield or maybe even settle in here if need be.

    *Growl*

    My guts keep sounding like they¡¯re going to explode.

    I take off my clothes and go into the water since the weather is just right. I take the opportunity to wash my wound, although it¡¯s small it could cause problems if it gets infected.

    The water is crystal clear, I don¡¯t have anything topare with, as I have no memories of the past, but the pleasant feeling i¡¯m getting, gives me the impression that this is something I should value.

    Walking barefoot on the stones on the shore is quite ufortable and the water is very cold.

    ¡°Aw! aw! aw!¡±

    I can¡¯t help but groan a bit after submerging myself up to my waist, but once I get it I sigh more rxed.

    With each step I take, a small amount of earth rises from the bottom of the water, the sun is still low, every now and then a breeze blows from my side.

    I fidget with my toes a bit for a morefortable position and start washing myself while I whistle.

    It¡¯s not a song or anything like that, for a brief moment I had the hope of knowing a song or something that would allow me to remember my past, but they are nothing more than off-key whistles that distract me from the cold I feel.

    Walking absentmindedly towards the shore, a sudden movement near my legs caught my attention, and a wild fish appeared!

    I stay very still waiting for him toe to me, then used my observation skill.

    observation 13%

    Fish ?/?

    Not only does it not look dangerous, but something tells me that it will be very tasty if I somehow catch it. The only problem is... I didn¡¯t bring the pointed stick with me.

    That was a mistake, and a very stupid one, I don¡¯t know howmon it is for fish to approach people like that, but it¡¯s certainly a wasted opportunity.

    There¡¯s nothing I can do about it anymore and, while I was tempted to try and catch it with my bare hands, I give up before even trying. Not only does it look quite vigorous, which would make it hard for me to catch it, but I also wouldn¡¯t know what to do with it even if I did manage to catch it, since I haven¡¯t managed to start a fire yet.

    I walked towards the shore slowly trying to find the easiest way to get there. My feet suffer a little with every step I take since it is full of stones.

    After doing some light excercises on the shore to warm up and dry off, i put on my clothes. It¡¯s still early and it¡¯s already been a productive morning.

    Explore, collect, go to the ¡®bathroom¡¯, observe, collect, I performed my tasks diligently and without pause. By noon my observation ability reached 93%. I¡¯m almost there, still dont know what for, but i¡¯m almost there.

    I don¡¯t have an urate method of measuring time, but if the sun is at the zenith, it¡¯s clearly noon.

    Now feels like a good time to eat some berries, this time I am especially careful with the poisonous ones. Moreover, I only eat those that I know are not poisonous. There are a couple of berries that are deep red, but I dare not try them. Perhaps it was not a good idea to collect them, although they can be useful to level up my observation skill.

    What would happen if I tried to use the ability multiple times on the same item? No, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s convenient. I don¡¯t really feel tired when I use my observation skill, but it takes time and concentration. Considering my current situation, I believe that my most precious asset is time. Who knows what kind of dangers lurk, until theye to rescue me, I should avoid taking unnecessary risks.

    Will I be rescued? Is someone even aware that i¡¯m here?

    I pause to shake off the ufortable feeling.

    After my frugal lunch I get down to work. I begin to clear the branches, thus crafting as many sticks as possible, setting aside the smaller branches to leave them to dry in the sun.

    I don¡¯t know how long it will take for them to dry, but after noon it starts to get quite hot, so that should speed up the process. Also since it¡¯s hot, it would be nice to take another dip, I don¡¯t really have a reason to and feels like just wasting time.

    .....

    Just to practice a little more I start to look at the sticks I made. Then, by chance, something catches my eye.

    3/3 Rod

    Apparently, the difference between a stick and a rod is their thickness. This can be interesting, although it is not very useful, especially considering that due to the shape of the trees, getting sticks is much easier than getting rods. What use could a stick have instead of a stick? If I think about it, a stick is used to defend myself, hunt, fish, it¡¯s very versatile. Anyway, just because it isn¡¯t useful to me right now doesn¡¯t mean it can¡¯t be of any use to me so i save it forter.

    Although I hadn¡¯t thought about it, the forest is predominantly made up of the same species of tree. Instead, the nts are very varied.

    So far I have found a great diversity of nts and shrubs, if I could get some more information about them I couldpletely change my ns. there¡¯s all kind of uses a nt could have, from food to shelter, even clothing!

    Busy with my chores, the day flew by. I went back to the clearing, which is quite close to theke, although I can¡¯t tell how far it is, it¡¯s only a short walk.

    I set aside the smoothest, longest sticks I could find to cover top and bottom with leaves. It¡¯s a bit more ufortable than sleeping on the ground, but it helps me avoid the cold at night, so I won¡¯tin for today.

    I closed my eyes and fell asleep immediately, only to wake drowsily before sunrise, it¡¯s early morning and dark.

    I¡¯m sweating, cold and I really need to go to the bathroom, well, i don¡¯t have a bathroom but something simr. This time I was more foresighted and dug a hole at afortable and safe distance yesterday during the afternoon, as well as marking the path in advance. It¡¯s important to take these kind of precautions, not only for hygiene, but also to prevent rats and insects from approaching the ce where I sleep.

    Normally I would throw take care of my business in theke, but this will have to do until I recover, it would be too exhausting to travel to theke every few minutes.

    Nights are not so dark in my clearing, theck of trees in this sector allows me to move with some freedom, as long as I don¡¯t go into the forest I won¡¯t be risking getting lost. Having fulfilled my task, I drag myself back to my ¡®bed¡¯ and lie down to rest.

    Next morning I woke up feeling miserable. I was cold at night and my belly is killing me. The pain is one thing, but I¡¯m also afraid of not knowing what to do.

    I want to focus on my morning chores, they seemed nice and easy the day before, but I¡¯m too tired and just want to lie down and sleep.

    At theke, sun on my back feels great and eases my pain. After a few minutes I regained some energy and staggered.

    I¡¯m so thirsty now. Everytime i think i found a solution to a problem, a new one arises.

    I keep crafting sticks and using my observation skill, I¡¯m so close to getting to one hundred percent on observation that I can¡¯t hold back now. I don¡¯t know what will happen and curiosity is killing me. Or maybe it¡¯s the stomachache that¡¯s killing me.

    Every so often I look at theke water, I¡¯m so thirsty and it looks so clean. It won¡¯t be a problem if I drink a little, right? RIGHT?

    I continue in my work when an ominous message interrupts me.

    Health 8/10

    It must be dehydration, it sure is dehydration, my mouth is dry and my lips are chapped. My situation is getting moreplicated than I thought before.

    Then, without thinking, I stand up and enter the water barefoot. I go in until water is up to my knees and take a sip of water.

    ¡°Ahhhh, not bad¡±

    It¡¯s fresh and sweet water, my throat appreciates it and I drink some more in a hurry. I return to the shore feeling better already, the problem was solved, it seems it was dehydration after all.

    It¡¯s not long before I start to regret drinking as I feel sick again and my stomach growls louder and louder. When I stand up I feel dizzy.

    ¡°This is not good¡±

    I don¡¯t know why, but just talking to myselfforts me a little. I go back into the water to drink some more just to feel a momentary relief. Even though i know its not safe to drink, dehydration kills faster than an upset stomach.

    That¡¯s how my day went, small moments of work frequently interrupted by breaks to go to the bathroom or to drink water.

    Disease Resistance 1%

    I have a very long night ahead of me again.

    The next day I can barely drag myself out of the clearing. The only thing that gave me the strength to get out of the primitive bed of leaves was the message I received:

    Health 4/10

    I can¡¯t die this way! I refuse to ept it!

    I don¡¯t know who i was before i lost my memory, I don¡¯t know if i was a soldier or a clerk, but dying from stomach issues... where is the dignity in that!?

    Sweat runs down my face, I can barely get to the shore to drink some water. Today my stomach hurts a lot. Yesterday I thought it hurt, but I really didn¡¯t know how bad it would get. I have difficulty focusing on anything, I can only think about the pain, feel the pain, live the pain, just when I think I get used to it, ites back stronger than before.

    health 3/10

    Just staying conscious drains my energy and I have a feeling that if I don¡¯t find a solution soon, today will be myst day.

    I use my observation skill on the nts one by one hoping to find some medicinal herb.

    nt

    Fern

    Grass

    I haven¡¯t even found any berries to eat, not that I¡¯m hungry anyway. Who could think of eating with this stomachache?

    Why do I have to be in this situation? Of all the odds, i had to be left abandoned in the middle of a deste and hostile forest!?

    Cursing my fate used my observation skill once more.

    observation 100%

    After waiting for a little while nothing else happens.

    Just that? Is this the fruit of my effort? After all my agony, suffering and, all I get is a message!?

    I feel like just letting go and fall into despair, but something prevents me, a single thought.

    ¡®Havinge this far I am not willing to give up here¡¯

    I approach a green nt that has a long stem that starts out thick and gets thinner and thinner until it ends in a long pointed leaf.

    Analysis 1%

    nt: has an edible tuber.

    Atst! My luck is changing!

    Finding an edible nt right now ispletely useless, but if I can manage analyze more nts I may find the solution to my current situation.

    So I dedicate myself to analyzing all the nts around me.

    nt: Not edible

    nt: Slightly toxic

    Flower: Gives off a fragrant smell

    Grass: Not edible

    nt: Leaf is edible

    It¡¯s a fight against time, I haven¡¯t found anything useful so far, and it¡¯s almost nightfall. My health points dropped to 2/10 during the day and I barely have the energy to move.

    In the clearing, I remove the stone from my stash, it¡¯s myst chance.

    Big ck berry: toxic

    Red berry: has medicinal properties

    Overflowing with joy I separate them from the rest, I can¡¯t prepare an infusion, I don¡¯t know if it would really help me to eat them raw and I only have a handful of them, but even if it is a possibility in a thousand it is better than nothing.

    Eating them in one bite, sleep begins to ovee me and I didn¡¯t even make it to my bed of leaves.

    Next day I woke up with a little more energy, my stomach doesn¡¯t hurt anymore and my health points have slightly recovered, now I have 3/10 left. It seems that the red berries had an effect. Arriving at theke, my reflection greets me with a haggard andnguid expression, but a huge smile across my face. It¡¯s a new day of life and I still have a lot to do if I want to stay alive.

    I start by crafting more pointed sticks, tool crafting skill seems too appealing to me at the moment as it can mean a huge advantage. Tools, knowledge and skills are my only means of survival right now.

    I take my sharp stone and start scraping the tops of some sticks that I made previously.

    *Crack*

    A stick broke in half, it¡¯s not frequent, but they do break from time to time. Although I do exactly the same thing, the result usually varies. Sometimes pointed sticks end up with very low durability, other times they just break.

    Crafting sticks is easy, fast and safe, but by honing them difficulty, the time it takes to make them and the chance of failure increases.

    Best I can do now is to prepare a better quality shelter than the one I currently have.

    Perfect scenario right now would be to sleep away from the ground, in a fluffy bed of leaves. Perhaps if I manage to make a small wall of sticks to avoid the wind, my situation will improve.

    I prepare as many sticks as I can, this time using my sharpening stone to make all the sticks as smooth as possible.

    After carefully preparing and putting them together, I ce them on thicker sticks. It doesn¡¯t look bad at all, it¡¯s a small bed, although it only fits my torso, it¡¯s much better than the primitive bed I made out of leaves before.

    This time work was much heavier, I¡¯m sweating profusely, and I am not fully recovered yet.

    I go to the water to take a bath in what seems likete afternoon. I prepare to get out of the water and drink directly from theke.

    Disease Resistance 2%

    ¡°WHAT!?¡±

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3: Don¡¯t y with fire, please!

    Running frantically through bushes and grass, at least now I know exactly what I need.

    It doesn¡¯t take long to find a Red berry bush but, before I pick them, I make sure they are the right ones.

    Red berry: has medicinal properties.

    I take a handful and begin to feel better immediately.

    Now everything starts to make sense, at first I was intoxicated by something unknown. Im quite sure because as soon as I regained consciousness I already had a 5% percent poison resistance. Then, I got intoxicated with arge ck berry, this time the effect was very light and just gave me a little upset stomach and dehydration. Finally, in my rush to drink something, I drank contaminated water which caused me a mild illness. Thetter would exin why I began to feel intense pain and my previous symptoms worsened. All these things don¡¯t seem like much, but together it was disastrous.

    This means that I must boil the water before drinking it, or at least get arge amount of medicinal berries so that I can recover as soon as I finish drinking.

    It would be unrealistic to believe i¡¯d gain disease resistance without a huge amount of medicine, plus I still don¡¯t know how to refine medicine using berries, and I just eat them. Risk and effort are both high, when i could simply boil water and make it safe.

    .....

    I walk back to the clearing, lie down on my little iplete bed and close my eyes a little calmer.

    I wake up the next day with a pleasant surprise:

    Health points 5/10

    I¡¯m slowly recovering my health points, which cheers me up a lot.

    I head to thekeside to wash my face while mentally preparing for my today¡¯s goal: I must make fire.

    Now that I have the analysis skill, which seems to be an upgraded version of observation, I can betterprehend my environment. Among the stones that I have found there are three that caught my attention.

    Small fire stone: light fire attribute

    Flint: can be used to start a fire

    Obsidian: it¡¯s very sharp

    I collect the stones, then prepare branches and grass to use as tinder.

    First I dig a shallow hole in a circr shape, then I ce several round stones around it to protect the fire from the wind, and finally I prepare the pile itself with dry wood and tinder.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to light some fire!¡±

    I put the fire stone in the center, ce branches and dry leaves on top. Nothing happens.

    After hitting it hard against another stone, nothing.

    Struck the fire stone with the flint, nothing.

    This is clearly moreplicated than I expected. Just like every single time I encounter a challenge, instead of wasting energy unnecessarily, I take a moment to rethink the situation.

    It shouldn¡¯t be impossible to set fire with the resources I have avable, problem is that both my skill and knowledge are insufficient.

    Reflecting on what resources I have and how I could better use them, ie to a simple answer: while the fire stone seems to be the most useful and fastest way, it¡¯s also the mostplex since it doesn¡¯t seem to respond to any of my actions.

    Flint, on the other hand, is more sraightforward. Every time I hit it, a small spark is released. Unfortunately, it¡¯s not enough to start the fire directly. Maybe if I manage to light a small bunch of tinder I could get the fire i¡¯ve been longin for.

    I get to work, this time striking the flint against a solid stone, trying to get all the sparks to fall on a clump of dry grass.

    I strike it again and again relentlessly, little sparks shoot out from time to time. It¡¯s exhausting, but I feel like I¡¯m so close to seed that I can¡¯t help but get excited.

    Finally a small spark falls on the grass. I drop the flint quickly and blow air hard. It¡¯s a failure, the only thing I managed to do was extinguish what little life the spark had, very quickly.

    With no other ns i continued striking the flint, over and over and over again, taking small breaks every now and then.

    Patience pays down as a small spark falls on the grass, this time I let it do its job by itself. Rather than rapidly dying out, it seems to be igniting.

    A small thread of smoke starts rising up, I reach over and begin to blow out a soft and steady amount of air very carefully, while covering the sides with both hands to prevent a gust of wind from destroying my hopes.

    I clung to this little spark with everything I have.

    A humble me begins to grow little by little, I put the little bunch of tinder with affection in the wood pile i prepared beforehand as It slowly gains strength, until it bes a vigorous me as I blow more air into it.

    ¡°I did it!¡±

    I start jumping and spinning around the fire. A primitive feeling of self-realization invades me. My body and heart can feel the warmth of the campfire as I wee it with open arms.

    More and more sticks are added and I keep some nearby, to prevent my treasure from extinguishing.

    This... this is what has cost me so much effort, so much energy, so much pain. But It was worth it, every minute invested was truly worth it.

    The rest of the day i rest in front of the fire. I¡¯m hungry and thirsty, but i cant care less, it won¡¯t be a problem if it¡¯s just one day. I¡¯m more tired than anything else.

    While I¡¯m sitting I take the opportunity to finish my bed of leaves. I prepare some sticks, arrange them on top of the thicker sticks that are located crosswise below.

    Okay, now it¡¯s my size. I could do a lot of things but I decided to just take it easy for the rest of the day.

    Although I slept much better, I woke up several times during the night to stoke the fire, if i have to go through all the effort again the next day, it¡¯d be troublesome to say the least.

    Even though I gathered arge reserve of wood, it was consumed much faster than I had originally expected. I may need to start considering chopping some wood since im running out of firewood.

    I grab my trusty spiked stick and head for theke, now that I have a fire going my possibilities are much wider.

    Since I know the general direction where im headed I take the opportunity and follow a different path.

    Exploring a little is not bad. This time I did not find anything interesting, it is good to familiarize myself with the environment in case I get lost one of these days.

    I quickly take off my clothes and start to wade into the water. Since I¡¯m still convalescent, there¡¯s not much I can do, though I saw lots of fish near the shore.

    They are not small in size, actually some are huge, it makes my mouth water. At this moment im so tired of berries I could eat a whole fish in one go.

    I just have to get hip deep and wait patiently for them to get close. I don¡¯t have any bait so it may take a while, but I¡¯m confident I can catch something, i wouldn¡¯t mind even if it¡¯s one of the little ones.

    After a very long while, I couldn¡¯t catch any.

    Lots of fish areing, but as soon as I try to harpoon them with the pointed stick I just can¡¯tnd a hit.

    As always, I questioned what went wrong. I have a proper tool, there are fish, so my failure is due to my eitherck of skill or knowledge.

    I haven¡¯t received any notifications, so i guess my skill has not improved yet, though I am beginning to understand better how to use the pointed stick. well, obviously the pointed tip needs to face the fish, the thing is that anything underwater appears to be in a different position than it actually is.

    Anyhow, there must be some better way to do this. I stop what i¡¯m doing to look at my surroundings.

    From where I am, I have a different perspective of the shape of theke. Because it¡¯s so big, it must be quite deep in the center, as it has no merit and, on the contrary, can be dangerous, I decide not to try swimming. The shape of the shore is irregr. Thinking about this, it can be advantageous. Maybe if I can frighten the fish towards the shore or attract them in some way, I¡¯ll be able to catch them more easily. If only i had some bait things would be a lot easier.

    I get carried away by these thoughts when all of a sudden I feel something tapping on my leg, a fish brushed past my leg without the slightest care.

    It¡¯s close, it¡¯s my chance, it¡¯s pretty big so it should be easier to hit than the smaller ones.

    Preparing to strike, I take a deep breath and strike the water with all my might.

    ¡°I have it!¡±

    I pick it up in the air and get to drynd as fast as I can, careful not to fall. Excited, I run to my camp with what little energy I have left and gently deposit the fish on a pile of leaves.

    The only way I can cook this fish is with the rod i found earlier, because it¡¯s thinner than sticks, but it¡¯s too thin to sharpen with my sharp stone.

    This reminds me of the ck stone I got: a dark, angr rock that has some degree of transparency. Its shape is irregr and therefore it would be useless to try to use it as it is.

    I take it in my hands and hit it diagonally with another rock in an attempt to break it. Surprisingly it was easier to do than I had expected.

    It was divided into three pieces, one of which is kind of rectangr in shape, starting thick and getting thinner until it ends in a jagged but sharp edge.

    Instead of using analysis I decide to use observation, it takes less time and is faster.

    Sharp Obsidian 2/2

    I have to be careful, it seems quite fragile. It will surelye in handy though. I proceed to sharpen the rod, its quite easy to use, the sharpness is incredible and cutting with it doesn¡¯t seem to reduce it¡¯s durability.

    skewer 3/3

    With the utensils I have at hand, I prepare the fish and put it to roast at a safe distance from the fire.

    It¡¯s better to take some time to prepare beforehand instead of rushing things and ruining it by mistake. It¡¯s quiterge, but luckily the pole is rtively long and sturdy.

    While the fish is being prepared I try to think of a way to get clean water. With my current means filtering it is impossible, drinking it and then detoxing is impractical, leaving me only the possibility of boiling it.

    Lost in my thoughts, a pleasant smell begins to rise from the campfire. The soft crackling of the fire feels nostalgic somehow.

    This issue of not having memories is curious to say the least. I have a lot of knowledge that I don¡¯t know where I acquired and this forces me to blindly trust my instincts. Somehow I feel connected to nature. Despite understanding that Ie from civilization, but no matter how hard I try, I can¡¯t even conjure up images from my past.

    I don¡¯t really feel bad for having lost my memories, I can¡¯t feel sorry for memories that I don¡¯t have. The only thing that worries me is not knowing what kind of person I am. Perhaps I was a criminal or a con man. It¡¯s an ufortable feeling, maybe I was a bad person and that¡¯s why it doesn¡¯t bother me that I lost my memory.

    I shook my head to chase away the dark thoughts that flood my mind. I reach out for my fish skewer.

    It looks ready, it smells ready, it¡¯s time to eat.

    ¡°Delicious!¡±

    I enjoy my food in the dead of night. It¡¯s the first time I eat until satisfied, there were even some leftovers. This happiness that invades me, heals my heartpletely. All the pain and suffering that I have been through so far is gone and I can only think of the good things that willeter.

    I lie on my bed of leaves, which is getting morefortable every day. Partly because I have been improving it and partly because I am no longer sick.

    .....

    The following days passed without much news, just repetitive tasks that gradually forge a daily routine.

    Get up with the sun, go to theke for a quick wash, collect anything that mighte in handy.

    Little by little my refuge has been taking shape, now I have a roof over my head. Two crossed branches at each end and many sticks resting on them, all covered with leaves.

    It¡¯s a kind of primitive tent. Quite fragile but represents a noticeable change in my lifestyle.

    My health is perfect, my skills have improved and I have a ton of resources at my disposal.

    Today I set myself the task of boiling water. I got the hard bark from a tree, it¡¯s quite thick and firm, time to test my wits.

    Since bark is mmable, obviously putting it directly on the fire is a bad idea, but this doesn¡¯t necessarily mean it¡¯s a wasted effort.

    I fill it with water and ce it a few steps from the fire and remove some stones that I left heating inside the fire all morning. To grab the stones I use two branches as a mp and one by one I drop them into the bark.

    *Tsss*

    This sound is apanied by arge amount of steam every time a stone falls into the water. I also dropped a piece of burning coal, after all it won¡¯t change the taste of the water much and can help neutralize any negative effects that are present in it.

    It doesn¡¯t take long for me to start seeing results, water is heating up pretty fast. Sess was so resounding that it even amazes me. Things have been so difficult so far that I can¡¯t help but get excited when things go well at first try.

    I have water, food, shelter, it¡¯s time to prepare to explore a little further. The longest I can leave the campfire unattended is about four hours, and only if I prepare it very well. Every night I have to wake up about two to three times just to add firewood to the campfire.

    This means that I must either find some method to transport the fire or avoid venturing too far. Although at first it will not be a problem, since I¡¯ll be exploring progressively, so i have some more time to think about it.

    As days went by I recovered my health pointspletely, improved my skills somewhat and got a lot of resources. Rocks, sharpened stones, lumber, i even fashioned an obsidian knife. That¡¯s not all, i also crafted a primitive fishing harpoon. It¡¯s made of a stick, after dividing the tip into four parts, I separated them with two small cross-shaped sticks and tied them using nt fiber. Last i sharpened it¡¯s four tips, my new obsidian knife came especially handy for this task.

    It¡¯s really practical for fishing, it has a long reach and wide attack range, which allows me to fish much morefortably, I fail less, thus my fishing ability improves faster. Right now it should be around 5% which is not much, but not bad either.

    I¡¯ve thought a lot about how this skill thing works and I¡¯vee to several conclusions:

    First, the percentage shown is progress. This means that with the first use I acquire the skill, but it does not improve until it reaches 100%

    Second, there are skills that have more than one level, while others only have one level but allow me to unlock new skills. Thetter is the case of observation, which allowed me to obtain the ability of analysis.

    Third, I¡¯m not entirely sure, but I think skills don¡¯t affect the chance of sess, at least not noticeably. I realized that my observation skill works without fail whenever I focus on looking closely at something. but, my ability to create tools doesn¡¯t seem to affect the number of sesses or failures I get.

    Fourth, the skills I gain affect the quality of the result. Now I can look at the trees and know exactly how much resistance they have. About tool crafting skill whenever I made sticks they used to have a maximum of 10 durability and, while I haven¡¯t changed the way I make them, I now get sticks with a minimum durability of 10. also when sharpening them, I fail the same number of times, but since they have more durability they no longer break, instead they just lose some resistance.

    Lastly, I think skills get closer to leveling up every time I take an action, but it doesn¡¯t always show up in percentage. I only get notified when it improves by at least 1%. So far I¡¯ve never received more than 1% progress after performing an action, except with poison resistance.

    If my theory is correct, I was intoxicated for quite a while which continuously activated my poison resistance skill. I really hope I wasn¡¯t dumb enough to consume poisoned food five times without stopping until I lost my memory.

    With this in mind I feel ready for the next step. I¡¯m going to explore the forest. Since the entireke seems to be surrounded by trees, I first walk in the opposite direction.

    I hit the trail with energy and optimism, stopping briefly to pick a few berries along the way, the red ones too precious to leave behind. When I see an unknown type of nt I make sure to analyze it. As I have little time I don¡¯t take any breaks.

    Without new discoveries I return to my camp, the campfire burns softly giving off a little smoke.

    After stoking the fire I drop the berries I just picked into my berry stash. It¡¯s quite practical because every day I change the leaves that cover its interior, which allows me to keep the berries clean and in good condition for at least a few days.

    With some spare time I start hitting young trees with sticks. It may seem like a useless action, but I get three benefits from doing it. Improve my fighting skill with blunt weapons, break the sticks into an appropiate size to keep as firewood and finally:

    Young Tree: 128/350

    I¡¯ll eventually chop it down so I can use it to build a better quality shelter. With some patience I¡¯ll be able to build a sizeable cabin.

    Everyday I have to spend more time looking for firewood and that is bing a problem. I¡¯m hoping that after felling the tree I can get a decent amount of branches as well. Hopefully they¡¯ll dry out a bit before I have to use them for firewood. I¡¯d hate to be forced into burning logs as it will result in dying my n on building.

    There¡¯s something that has been bothering me all this time, the small fire stone.

    As much as I analyze it, and even after all the experiments I¡¯ve done with it, I have not been able to learn how to use it. I know it must be useful, maybe even allow me to travel and start a fire immediately.

    Just remembering how hard it was to start a fire the first time makes my hands hurt.

    Still, so far I haven¡¯t made much progress.

    As expected, nights are usually less productive than days. I just sit by the campfire grilling fish, sharpening sticks or thinking. If the sky is clear i can even fell some trees before going to bed.

    Something interesting that I discovered is that when a stick burns it loses durability. Which means that the more durable a branch or stick is, the longer it will stay burning. It makes sense that a log burns much longer whole, than if broken into small pieces. But that also means that the small pieces will burn brighter and faster.

    For this reason it¡¯s useful to split the branches before burning them, that way I can control the rate at which the wood is consumed. When cooking I use many small branches and at night I use the thickest ones for longer intervals.

    I wonder what would happen if I was to throw the fire stone directly into the campfire. It may burn for a long time, but there is also the possibility that it will stoke the fire beyond what I can control, maybe even explode.

    Next morning i set off to theke in order to conduct an experiment, I light a new fire with a burning stick in my hand, walk quite a distance and throw the stone directly into the mes. Then, I run for cover behind a tree.

    After half a minute nothing happens, so I get out of my cover to use my observation skill.

    Unfortunately it doesn¡¯t work on the campfire directly, intense brightness prevents me from looking at it directly for long enough for my skill to activate.

    I slowly approach the fire and hear a crackling sound. It seems to be reacting to the stone!

    Sound starts to get louder and turns into a roar as the mes rise to a massive height.

    Heat bes unbearable and the branches of the campfire crackle loudly, from time to time sparks go everywhere.

    If the forest catches fire, I¡¯ll lose everything I¡¯ve worked so hard to get.

    I must do something!

    I don¡¯t have containers to fetch water and the only thing thates to mind is to ssh water from the shore.

    I quickly dismiss the idea as the mes begin to subside, until finally extinguishingpletely.

    Approaching the campfire i realize the small stone seems to have beenpletely consumed. This may prove useful to me, i just need some more time to think about it.

    At least i got to learn something new.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4: Don¡¯t feed wild animals, please!

    Lots of leaves scattered on the ground, branches piled up and some stones. They were slowly but surely transformed over time into a camp. Now a small rustic cabin, with roof tiles made of tree bark, a simple door made of sticks, walls built of medium-thick logs fitted together like a puzzle stands in the middle of the forest.

    So much progress in just one month is impressive. If someone had seen this from afar they would bepletely stunned. However, there¡¯s only one witness aware of the existence of this cabin in the clearing, a rather thin young man with ck hair and a pleased expression on his face.

    ¡°Ahhh! this is nice!¡±

    I sip a vored herbal and berry infusion as I sitfortably on my wooden bed.

    It¡¯s nothing much, but it¡¯s certainly more robust than the previous one. This time it¡¯s made with carefully carved boards, despite theck of proper tools, a sharp stone and a lot of patience can go a long way.

    I take the small basket made of reeds that contains some food, basic tools, a flint and medicine. I put it on my back and adjust the nt fiber straps a bit tighter on my back forfort. It¡¯s some sort of primitive backpack.

    I pick up a stone-tipped spear in one hand and adjust the knife in my sash. I¡¯m not actually proud of the spear, but my sash has proven to be the most useful. It¡¯s a humble long strip of nt fiber, i wear it around my waist and it¡¯s long enough to circle twice around me. it¡¯s surprisingly sturdy, so much so that i can even use it as a rope in a pinch.

    .....

    The clothes I was wearing when I arrived at this ce are very battered and dirty, which is why I now wear a simple tunic made of nt fiber. Although it can hardly be said that it¡¯s a garment due to myck of skill in weaving the fiber, but even if it has several holes, it¡¯s still better than going naked into the wild.

    I hit the road, but not before taking a look back. I don¡¯t know how long will It take me, but im determined not toe back unless I aplish my goal.

    I¡¯ve managed to improve my living conditions by a lot, but there¡¯s just so much to do and I simply can¡¯t do everything myself.

    My old refuge is now a woodshed, keeping firewood dry enough to feed the fire. This was actually a game changer, because i¡¯ve been burning fresh wood and it produces a lot of smoke.

    I turned the campfire into a kitchen of the sorts, it¡¯s made of stone and mud. I dont have pots, nor cookware, but it¡¯s a lot better than just cooking in a campfire for more reasons that i can name. It¡¯s safer, consumes less wood, I can grill fish on top of it and It¡¯s easy to keep clean.

    A stump that functions as a seat in front of the kitchen and, of course, the cabin. Everything i made is ugly, but functional. Even the cabin is a bit shabby since i made it with logs I chopped down with sticks while training blunt weapons.

    It¡¯s kind of counterintuitive that a mere stick could fell a tree, but the thing is... even water can pierce a rock with enough time and perseverance. I¡¯ve been practicing so much blunt damage as a side effect of breaking branches into firewood. So, instead of cutting the trees i¡¯ve been smashing them to pieces. At first it took me a long while, but i get faster and better at it as days go by, my blunt weapons damage is now level 3.

    I can¡¯t help but feel proud of everything I¡¯ve achieved since my arrival, but now it¡¯s time to make my way to new experiences.

    At first I thought I could survive indefinitely in this ce, but firewood is getting scarcer and i¡¯d be forced to fell trees, this may sound like a good idea, but felling a medium sized tree and one of the huge ones ispletely different. While i can chop down small trees with sticks and stones, the same cannot be said about those huge trees that surround me.

    Those are so big that I¡¯d say four people would have trouble to round them up with their arms together. My analysis skill doesnt even show me their durability, so eventually I will need help in taking care of different chores.

    Fish are plentiful but relying solely on them for survival has be annoying. I¡¯ve grown tired of eating roasted fish, It¡¯s not just the vour, now I even find fishing boring. It¡¯s so time consuming that it makes me feel I¡¯m wasting my time.

    Also, I don¡¯t want to admit it, but i do feel lonely. A man cannot live if he¡¯s not in society. So much time alone has taken a toll on me, not having someone to talk to, with whom to share my achievements has been very hard.

    It¡¯s not just about how i feel, if dayes when I¡¯m either injured or ill, I¡¯ll have no choice but to surrender to my fate.

    That¡¯s something I cannot simply ept!

    Falling down alone in the woods in silence, without past memories, with no one to grief over my cold body. Everything about it seems depressing, so i¡¯ll cling to whatever hope I can find. Even if it means leaving everything behind. If I somehow manage to find my way to a town I may be able to find more about my past or my circumstances.

    Of all the paths that I¡¯ve explored so far, the only one that I haven¡¯t been able to fully explore is the one from which I came. This is kind of obvious since it took me a while to get here.

    All the other paths resulted in dead ends covered in dense vegetation, making me think that this forest may as well be endless. Now that I remember, the road from where I came from... it seemed to have less treespared to when I am now, perhaps I should have gone the other way when I regained conscience. There¡¯s no point in regreting it now, I picked a choice and I have to stick with it.

    Anyway, ording to what I¡¯ve seen, this path surrounds theke, although at a certain distance. This means that at any given time I could¡¯ve gone directly to it, but due to the poor visibility in the forest, I really had no way of knowing there was ake.

    After only a couple hours walking, I reached the starting point. I can recognize the ce even though it¡¯s been a month, because trees are beginning to thin out and my field of vision extends a bit further.

    My forest, well, the forest where I settled and made my cabin is quite dense, but in here trees are distant to one another, so much so that now i can see far away though there¡¯s not much to see. I¡¯m barely out of my forest and I find myself missing the greenery already

    Perhaps it¡¯s due to the distance to theke, the closer I get to theke the denser the vegetation bes and the further I get away from theke little by little the path opens up.

    This probably made it difficult for me to find theke on the first day, despite being so close.

    Achill runs down my spine just remembering my first day, it makes me cringe. Jaw ck, covered in my own drool, barely walking. Fortunately no one saw me in that sorry state.

    I¡¯m surprised that I found the strength to walk so far.

    My physical condition has improved a lot since then, at first I thought that wood was heavy and that i walked very far away, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be the case. I¡¯ve grown stronger, even though my health points have remained the same, I can somehow feel an increase in both my strength and stamina.

    If I wanted to, I could trot back to the cabin with no problem, though I haven¡¯t tried. Since I¡¯m all by myself I can¡¯t afford working to exhaustion, what if something happens and I need to escape? so I don¡¯t really know my limits. What i do know is that my stamina runs out at a quicker rate the faster I run and the harder I hit.

    Anyway, I¡¯m determined not to go back until I find what I¡¯m looking for.

    I would have liked to be able to craft a nt fiber sack, it would be easier for me to gather food as I walk. Sadly, it took me a whole week to weave both my tunic and sash, taking advantage of the slow and peaceful campfire nights. If I kept prolonging my stay in the cabin, I¡¯d probably never get out of that ce.

    As days went by, weather has be progressively colder. I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to get any cold resistance. So far I haven¡¯t seeded despite having continuously bathed in the cold water of theke early in the mornings.

    The same goes for heat, my instincts tell me it¡¯s possible to get all sorts of resistance to the elements, but there must be some sort of trick to it and I can¡¯t afford to waste my time unless im certain.

    Now i¡¯ve got several different skills, some arebat rted like blunt weapons and some are useful like fishing. It¡¯s good to have different skills, but since im always busy in different task, I haven¡¯t been able to focus on improving a single skill, thus all my skill levels are rather low.

    It¡¯s already noon and I stop for a moment to grab a bite in the shade of a tree. I take off the basket while I go through my supplies.

    Berries, grilled fish, dried fish, mushrooms, nuts.

    That¡¯s it, nothing more and nothing less. It¡¯s enough to get by on the road, but I don¡¯t look forward to dinnertime.

    I take a piece of grilled fish and eat it listlessly. I¡¯ve been eating fish almost exclusively for two weeks, at this point nothing would make me happier than to change my diet.

    I take a sip of water from one of my two precious water cups. I had to make them out of wood, the process of hollowing them out was particrly difficult and I made a lot of mistakes. Using the embers of the campfire I managed to burn the inside of a thick branch, then I proceeded to scrape the burned part little by little with a stone. I finally shaped it and then made a lid. I failed so many times and even after all my efforts I only got two.

    The most important thing is to always keep them upright, if they are turned over all the content will spill.

    The sound of rustling bushes catches my attention and I jump to my feet immediately. So far I have hardly found any signs ofnd animals, but I haven¡¯t been able to see any.

    I can clearly see where the sound ising from as the bushes start to rattle.

    A medium-sized doges out of the bushes. His tail is up but it doesn¡¯t seem aggressive. More than anything it seems curious and stares at me.

    Still holding a piece of fish in my hand, I move it in the air and the dog looks at my hand attentively.

    ¡°Are you hungry?¡±

    I quickly move my hand with the piece of fish up and down and down and up repeatedly, the dog moves it¡¯s head as if nodding.

    ¡°Do you want to hurt me?¡±

    Then I move my hand from right to left and from left to right in the same way and now the dog seems to shake its head.

    ¡°Hahaha, what a nice little friend! Here, you earned it¡± I say as I throw the piece of fish at him and he nimbly catches it in the air.

    Taming 1%

    ¡°Oh! I see that you¡¯re friendly!¡±

    Again a doubt assails me, is it be a new skill acquired or taming progress of this particr animal?

    Hopefuly it¡¯s the first case, since I don¡¯t have 100 pieces of fish to spare.

    I can imagine myself traveling with a caninepanion, traversing from destends to wondrous fantasyndscapes.

    A man and his dog defying nature!

    It could lie on my feet in the warmth of a campfire, covered with branches in the rain, or running in a sunny field.

    truepanions!

    The dog turns his head as if he doesn¡¯t understand what is happening. His movement snapped me out of my imagination.

    I don¡¯t have much fish, but I don¡¯t mind sharing a little more.

    I turn briefly to the basket to grab some more fish. I grab a whole piece of roasted fish and turn to the dog, but this time he¡¯s closer.

    I couldn¡¯t even hear him move, while I¡¯m looking at it, it stays still as if it were a statue.

    It keeps looking at my hand, this is getting a little dangerous.

    I threw the piece of fish right in front of him and he picks it up from the ground immediately devouring it whole.

    Taming 2%

    I use my observation skill

    Forest Jackal ??/??

    A jackal! This is not good, not good at all.

    I¡¯m confident that if things get ugly, I can beat it. After all I have my new spear and my wits, but I wouldn¡¯t want to hurt a potential fellow adventurer.

    I¡¯m hoping the percentage shown means I unlocked the skill, after all I have no reason to think it¡¯s taming progress, so far I¡¯ve only gotten such messages when my skills improve.

    I backed away slowly, this time without turning my back on him. I pick up the basket from the floor and I take out thest piece of roasted fish that I have left to feed him, while saving dried fish for me since itsts longer.

    Before I can throw it, the jackal shes its fangs at me and begins to growl lightly. It take a step forward and then back the same distance in a menacing way.

    I threw the piece of fish right behind him, but this time instead of going to look for it, the forest jackal pounces on me.

    I pick up the basket and my spear, barely able to hold onto one of the two strings I use to put the basket on my back, with my both hands aiming the spear directly at the jackal.

    I thrust the spear wildly forward trying to drive it away. This prevents him from running towards me, but it stands it¡¯s ground.

    Seems like this fight can¡¯t be avoided, it¡¯s a pity since I could¡¯ve used a pet.

    .....

    I thrust my spear forward and manage to hit the jackal¡¯s side, although it shows signs of pain, it doesn¡¯t really seem to have received much damage. Trying not to lose the grip on the spear i lost bnce, thus making it easier for the jackal to bite my arm.

    health 7/10

    *ouch*

    I must run, I have no chance to win. Even if it stood still it would take me a long time to defeat it. Pain washes over me but I manage to let go.

    I run with all my strength without even looking where i¡¯m headed, I can¡¯t think straight, The only thing i can think about is the pain im feeling right now.

    Fortunately I had rested and was in excellent condition. My body somehow became a bit lighter, did i level up or something?

    No, that¡¯s not it. I don¡¯t know when but I lost my basket.

    I no longer hear my pursuer. I turn around and can see the bastard with his head buried in my basket.

    ¡°Hey! that¡¯s mine you stupid dog!¡±

    It would be a great opportunity to attack him, but I can¡¯t risk it.

    If I had to guess, I¡¯d say we both took the same amount of damage, but considering my max health is only 10, I¡¯d go down before the jackal. I couldn¡¯t see it¡¯s max health but since two interrogation marks appeared next to it, i can only asume it¡¯s max health points are in the 10-99 range, so even if it had 10 health points and I manage to defeat it, i¡¯ll be in poor condition.

    It¡¯s best to just give up the basket and return home. There¡¯s only a slight problem, this damned dog is right in my path.

    While I was thinking what to do, lt finished eating the contents of the basket and starts chasing me again, it¡¯s very fast.

    I run with all my might again, I look everywhere without stopping. There doesn¡¯t seem to be a hiding ce, I think about turning and making ast stand fearing that it may attack me from behind any second, but it¡¯s too risky.

    I keep running in despair as far as I can, for several minutes at full speed. My body can handle it, yet during my run I couldn¡¯t think of a better solution and I start to get fatigued.

    I jump with everything I have left in me to the lowest branch of a tree and climb it. I climb two branches higher, although jackals can¡¯t climb, they can jump and just today I don¡¯t feel like losing a foot.

    ¡°Get out of here you stupid dog¡±

    I yell, it responds by twisting his head again, then turns around and disappears into the bushes.

    Around me there is only forest, I am not on a path and therefore I cannot orient myself. I don¡¯t know if I ran in a straight line, there¡¯s not much I can do. Fortunately, the backpack will serve to mark the terrain. If i manage to find it, im quite confident i¡¯ll be able to go back to my cabin.

    I check my wound, several marked teeth on my forearm, blood trickles down to my free-hanging hand and drips onto the floor.

    I have to lift the wound above my heart, that will slow the bleeding. cing a tourniquet is not a good idea, I haven¡¯t really lost much blood and if I don¡¯t have medical attention, a tourniquet can be a death sentence.

    Blood trapped in the limb rapidly loses oxygenation, cells begin to die, and eventually blood bes infected. At that point, if the tourniquet is dismantled, the entire body bes poisoned with infected blood, leading to death.

    On the other hand, a bandage could help a lot, but without medicine the wound can still get infected. I must wash it and then I will use my sash as a bandage.

    I start to climb down the tree one branch at a time, I hear a crack and see a shadow dart out of the bushes jumping quickly in my direction.

    I manage to get my feet up just before a powerful bite passes right under my innocent primitive footwear. Taking advantage of the fact that the jackal exposed his position, I use my observation skill.

    Forest Jackal 12/15

    For some reason, now i can see it¡¯s health points, it may be because now it¡¯s weaker. i¡¯ll take note about this in the future, if some creature doesn¡¯t show it¡¯s health points must mean that im not strong enough to face it. I was right after all! I definitely had no chance against it.

    Now there¡¯s no choice, from now on this tree will be my new home.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5: Don¡¯t trust strangers, please!

    I woke up to the sound of footsteps. I open my eyes heavily since I¡¯ve never slept on a tree before, or so I think. It was a very rough night, I had a nightmare where I was living on this damned tree like a savage.

    A thing figure passes some distance from my tree. I can see her long hair cascading down to her slim waist, she¡¯s a woman. Should I get her attention and ask for help?

    Between waking up and gathering my thoughts the woman was already gone. By hesitating, I missed my chance.

    It¡¯s good to think before acting, but since I haven¡¯t seen people so far, I may have lost a unique opportunity.

    I don¡¯t even know my own circumstances, what should I answer if she started to ask me even the most basic questions?

    In an ideal scenario, I hoped I could help some stranger and then ask them to give me information. Out of gratitude they would answer my questions without thinking twice.

    On the other hand, if I am the one who needs help, they will most likely take advantage of my condition.

    .....

    I take another look at my surroundings in case someone elsees after her. Before I even manage to climb down the tree, the girl came back and stood right in front of a bush. Could it be that she¡¯s looking for the jackal?

    She starts scanning her surroundings as she ces her basket in the ground.

    Did she hear me?

    Out of the blue she starts taking off her clothes, first her footwear and then pulls down her pants. I can¡¯t avoid taking a peek.

    My face starts to feel hot, is this embarrassing? And what if she finds me out now or if she thinks I¡¯m a pervert spying on he? But why on earth is she taking her clothes off?

    A sudden realization finally hits me and I look the other way out of respect. Afterall, I wouldn¡¯t like to be spied while doing my business either.

    My heart races and I freeze. An enormous pressure takes over me. I don¡¯t know why the idea of ??being found out scares me so much.

    I couldn¡¯t gather any information about her, anything I found out could¡¯ve given me an advantage, but i was too embarrassed to look at her anymore. I may not have my memory but i guess I¡¯m not an idiot, I did notice she was quite attractive and that¡¯s pretty much all I could think about.

    Since i was looking away i didnt notice when she was done.

    She seems to be almost as tall as myself and looks quite young, maybe just a little younger than me. Her hair is blond, or maybe it¡¯s white and it¡¯s just reflecting the sunlight. Her clothing looksfortable. She appears to be very clean and has a neat appearence, wich is strange considering we are out in the wild.

    Perhaps she lives nearby! It seems I finally found my way back into civilization.

    For obvious reasons I¡¯ve only seen her from above, so that¡¯s why i couldn¡¯t get much more information.

    After waiting for her to move, I climb down the tree and follow her at a safe distance, being as careful as possible to avoid making any noise, and hide behind the foliage from time to time.

    Stealth 1%

    It¡¯s exhausting but it has its benefits, after a long time of following her I got a new skill.

    This is exciting in it¡¯s own way, I¡¯m actually looking forward to meeting her, though I¡¯m still worried that there might be more people around.

    Should I get her attention or not? I¡¯ve been alone for so long that even if it means being at disadvantage, it might still be worth talking to her.

    But what if she knows I¡¯ve been following her? she may believe i was spying on her. Well, technically I am spying on her, and i did see her partially naked, but she left me no choice.

    I¡¯m not a pervert, well I¡¯m not really sure since I have no memory. What I¡¯m sure of is that I didn¡¯t mean to spy on her, but i did.

    Why am i hesitating so much? this is what i came looking for, even if there¡¯s a slight chance she¡¯ll lead me to a town or vige it¡¯ll be totally worth it. Also, i can just keep following her to see where she¡¯s going, there¡¯s no need to talk to her at all.

    To avoid misunderstandings, I decide to follow her from further away, I wait for her walk ahead until she bes a small point on the horizon.

    I feel like it¡¯s taking forever, there are fewer and fewer trees and they are also thinner. Can it still be called a forest?

    Going a little further ahead I lost her track, but even though there¡¯s no marked trail, there are clear signs that people asionally pass through here.

    Not only asional footprints, there are broken branches on the trees, some trees had been hit with the obvious purpose of marking the path. Getting lost is impossible when they make it so easy to follow the trail.

    These people are not trying to hide themselves at all. In my shelter I did my best to hide my tracks but that¡¯s because i was all by my lone self. She must be from a big town since they are so careless.

    Being so close to a town i¡¯m d I took so many precautions. If i were to find a stranger near my refuge would have been a blessing, but if a stranger was to find my cabin while I was gone, would¡¯ve been disastrous.

    I could have been robbed, ambushed or maybe even killed. Risk is too high for such an uncertain reward.

    After all, it would have been nice to get the jackal tamed. Not only would I have gotten a goodpanion, It could¡¯ve looked after my cabin while I went about my business.

    Well, there¡¯s no point in crying over spilled milk. Hey!? Where did I hear that? It¡¯s a proverb, I know it is, but I don¡¯t recall hearing it before. That would be impossible because I haven¡¯t been interacting with anyone as far as i can remember.

    Does this mean that my memory has not beenpletely lost?

    A little further on I can see smoke rising high in the sky, i¡¯m getting close so I decide to approach cautiously and climb a tall tree, this way I¡¯ll be able to gather up some more information beforehand.

    The sight in front of my eyes shocks me. There are four poorly built tents, their shape is irregr, and they look... shabby. Campfire is bare, ground is uneven and there are branches, sticks, leaves, and even food scraps on the ground.

    It is an absolute mess!

    They all seem well dressed, though they are not as clean as the girl I saw earlier. She is nowhere to be seen, however, there are three people near the campfire. A man who looks quite bulky leans in front of the campfire, it seems that he¡¯s stoking the fire, next to him a short girl seems to be having an animated conversation with the bulky man.

    It¡¯s a funny image, as she stands only slightly taller than the man kneeling in front of the fire, which makes her look even tinier.

    Thest one is a blond boy with a remarkable appearance, he¡¯s handsome, i¡¯m a man but even I can tell that much though i wouldn¡¯t say that out loud. He seems to be minding his own business, he walk towards one of the tents move the leather curtain at the entrance and i lost sight of him.

    This group is made up of at least four people, none of them looking particrly strong, save for the big man.

    I sneak away from their settlement having trouble believing what i just saw with my very own eyes. These people are in an awful condition!

    I took so many precautions back at my ce, and these guys... they practically live like savages.

    There¡¯s even some waste near where they live, aren¡¯t they afraid of wild animals? their tents are fragile and mmable. Their campfire must consume a lot of firewood and being so close to their tents... I can¡¯t even put into words how much it upsets me.

    To make matters worse, I did¡¯t see weapons nor tools anywhere, how are they even alive?

    It was a good idea not to ask for help, after witnessing how bad their living conditions are, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they try to eat me. Also, they almost certainly have no medicine, what¡¯s even the point of approaching them?

    I should just take care of my wounds on my own.

    After a sigh I move around, it doesn¡¯t take long until I find what I was looking for.

    Red berry: has medicinal properties.

    It¡¯s not a good idea to put a fruit on my wound, it will most likely end up causing even more problems.

    Not all nts with medicinal properties serve the same purpose, red berries help against stomach upsets, it¡¯s bush leaves serve the same purpose, though they provide a lesser effect.

    This means that it won¡¯t have any effect to prevent infection, however, i found out that if I eat arge amount of berries I¡¯ll be able to recover some health points.

    The underlying problem, the open wound, will still be there, but as long as I keep my health points high, I¡¯m not at risk.

    Health points 8/10

    After eating a handful of berries I feel better, I start to analyze the nearby vegetation. I¡¯m not that far from my cabin, yet the nts here are very different.

    If I think about it, the geography changed drastically after leaving the forest.

    I¡¯d like to go back for my backpack, there I have some medicinal nts that I have previously used to treat wounds. It¡¯s actually a grass, it grows as a single long leaf, then curls and falls under its own weight until it hits the ground. Seen from afar it appears as if arge ring of thin grass is buried.

    Sadly, I haven¡¯t been able to find them with the naked eye so far, I got no choice but use analyze on nts that i¡¯m not familiar with, in hopes to find something useful.

    Moon clover: edible, has a sweet taste.

    This one surprises me, it¡¯s just a clover but it¡¯s name suggest otherwise. I chew on it and... well, it tastes kind of funny, not in a bad way, but eating grass doesn¡¯t seem appealing to me.

    Silver flower: gives off a pleasant aroma. Its root has medicinal properties.

    This is exactly what i was looking for. Fortunately I still have my spear, I used it to dig a hole and removed the entire nt. Its root is quite prominent.

    I need to wash it to be able to consume it, or maybe you should try applying it directly to the wound.

    It¡¯s difficult to think of a way to take advantage of it¡¯s properties with my current means. I would like to have a mortar, so I can grind the root, extract the juice and do some experiments. I¡¯ve been thinking about this for a while, a mortar would certainly be helpful, but i spend so much time doing chores that i have almost no time to investigate new resources or to experiment with them.

    Since I don¡¯t have tools nor the time, I look around for a source of fresh water so i can at least wash the root. I wonder if the flower itself could be of any use.

    If these people live here, there¡¯s almost certainly a water source nearby. I mean, they don¡¯t seem like the mostpetent people in the world, but at least one of them must have a good head on their shoulders, or else they wouldn¡¯t be alive right now.

    After giving a wide detour to the settlement in order to avoid getting caught, I find the water source, it¡¯s a river.

    Ites from a mountain that can be seen in the distance, but it looks so far away it seems impossible to reach on foot, not counting that this forest seems to be endless. Landscape is beautiful and it takes me a minute to absorb some of that beauty into my retina, everytime I find a lovely ce like this I¡¯m overjoyed.

    Washing the wound and the sash is the first step, It¡¯s important to be thorough even if it hurts a little. Since I don¡¯t have flint or containers, I can¡¯t boil water. Fortunately, I still got some red berries since I only consumed about half of them. It¡¯s safe to drink river water as long as I have enough red berries to detox afterwards.

    My arm goes numb under the cold current of the river, it¡¯s a nice feeling. I look everywhere, I must remain alert in case there are enemies or predators.

    Everything seems to be fine so I finish washing. Then, i proceed to wash the root, flowing water makes it a lot easier. After, I run into the bushes to hide while I chew the root of the silver flower into a paste, its taste extremely bitter but not as bitter as losing an arm would be.

    I know I¡¯m acting like a wild animal, but, arent wild animals able to survive out in the wild precisely because they are overly cautious?

    I apply the paste on the wound and hold it down for a moment. As soon as the paste touches my skin I feel a sharp pain in my arm and I hold on stoically. I feel a burning sensation as if it burns my skin, for a second I doubt if it is having an effect or if it is causing more damage.

    I quickly dismiss the idea, if I was taking damage I¡¯d have received a notification of my health points. I can trust these notifications, they¡¯ve been quite helpful thisst month and It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that they have kept me alive all this time.

    After dressing up my wound I climb to a tree since sleeping on ground level would be too dangerous.

    Next morning my arm doesn¡¯t hurt at all and my health points have fully recovered. Not only that, there¡¯s not even a scar, it¡¯s as if i was never hurt in the first ce.

    .....

    This nt is really powerful, If I could get more, I¡¯d try to farm them. This flower is also quite beautiful, it¡¯s white and looks like a cup with a diagonal cut whose four petals open up to give it an elegant and delicate shape. I¡¯d love to see a garden of these flowers.

    As soon as I climb down I head towards the settlement. Everyone seems to be still sleeping although it¡¯s already day. Their campfire is out, and there doesn¡¯t seem to be movement.

    I wait around so they can see me as soon as they get up, but as the hours go by I get bored.

    These people! how can they waste daylight like that!?

    there¡¯s only so many hours in a day, and they spend their entire morning sleeping? Everything i¡¯ve seen so far makes me wonder how are they even alive.

    I walk away in the direction I came from to get my breakfast, something tells me that if I go any further I might run into that stupid jackal from the woods again. I know it¡¯s silly, but I¡¯m scared of it now.

    It¡¯s already noon, I could¡¯ve fished something in the river with my spear, but instead spent the morning gathering. I managed to find some edible mushrooms and nuts, I can¡¯t help but get excited about discovering new types of food, even though I couldn¡¯t gather enough for a full meal.

    Finally someone woke up, she¡¯s the first woman I saw, afterming out of her tent with the basket she goes in the direction of the river.

    I hurried my pace to get to the river before her, mi n is to be seen from afar so I head dowsntream, leaning on my spear as if I am very tired or hurt. There¡¯s no better way to know someone¡¯s real intentions than to be seen in a vulnerable state. If she decides i¡¯m an enemy i¡¯ll just make a run for it, on the other hand, if shees in my aid i¡¯ll just y along.

    I walk slowly and dragging my feet on the ground. I need to look as fragile and harmless as possible.

    She arrives upstreamwith her basket on the shore, she still hasn¡¯t seen me so I go on with my acting.

    Everything¡¯s going great and im very optimistic about my n, until she starts to undress.

    What happens to this girl who is taking off her clothes everywhere?

    Does she want to take a bath or maybe wash her clothes?

    Her skin is white and smooth, typical of someone her age. Her slim figure apanies the beauty of her face...

    What am i even thinking right now?

    It¡¯s best to look down and pretend I didnt see anything, I can¡¯t turn back now.

    As soon as she sees me, she lets out a huge shriek.

    *AHHH!*

    ¡°You!? Pervert! Help! a pervert! What do you want?¡±

    Of all things I really didn¡¯t expect that reaction, this unsettled me leaving me no time to think. She quickly covers herself with the clothes she brought along with her while herpanionse running.

    I can¡¯t see who they are because I¡¯m pretending to be in a weakened state.

    I start to hear quick footsteps getting closer and, when I judge they are too close, I let myself fall to the ground without thiking twice.

    ¡°Hey, who are you?¡± A deep voice resounds next to me. Too bad, he¡¯s the huge guy. Could it be a giant? Am i in trouble now?

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Says a very sweet voice that I haven¡¯t heard before, this could be the tiny girl I saw before. It¡¯s better if I don¡¯t answer to avoid getting caught in my scheme.

    Perhaps I shouldn¡¯t have healed my wound to provide some evidence of my demise, but how could i¡¯ve known that the silver flower had such amazing medicinal properties!?

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask him if he¡¯s okay! That pervert was spying on me while I was taking a bath!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, look at the state he¡¯s in, it¡¯s obvious he came here by chance. Also, what would you like us to do? It¡¯s not like we can kill him just for peeping¡±

    If they knew I was actually following her, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d go out unharmed, but it¡¯s good to know they won¡¯t kill me.

    ¡°Quick! Bob, take him to the vige¡±

    Vige!?

    isn¡¯t it a bit too much to say vige? I think calling it camp would be apliment.

    I bite my lip to keep myself fromughing.

    ¡°Helena! How many times must I repeat that you should call me by my wizard name in front of others, I¡¯m Marduk the Magnificent¡±

    What¡¯s wrong with this guy? What¡¯s up with that name?

    Well, at least they don¡¯t seem like bad people. The only way I see them capable of killing me would be through secondhand embarrassment.

    In a single movement the giant takes me in his arms, I¡¯m being rocked from side to side with each step he takes. Although he walks calmly, I realize that we are actually moving quite fast.

    If I put aside the awkwardness of this situation, it¡¯s actually quitefortable to be carried. Is this how princesses feel when carried away? Of course I wouldn¡¯t admit it, but this is fun.

    Anyway, I must pretend to be weak for a while longer, keeping my eyes closed and just let him carry me.

    I can barely hear the voices of the women who are talking a little further back, I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re saying but they seem pretty upset. I guess the long-haired girl is still mad I saw her naked. Though i couldn¡¯t even get a good look, not that I regret it anyways.

    The footsteps stop, I can hear the crackle of the fire. Bob sets me down carefully, it¡¯s awkward because he put me right on top of a branch, but I can¡¯tin.

    I literally can¡¯tin, I¡¯m supposed to be weakened.

    ¡°Who is he? Where did you find him?

    ¡°He was spying on Anne while she was taking a bath¡±

    Anne, so that¡¯s her name. I wonder howmon is to see someone naked before getting to know her name.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, I¡¯m sure he was just passing by¡±

    Says the one named Helena, I¡¯m trying my best to learn their names as soon as possible.

    ¡°He spied on me! I¡¯m sure!¡±

    ¡°Stop dreaming, the world doesn¡¯t revolve around you¡±

    This is the tiny girl talking, but judging by her voice she¡¯s not a little girl she must just be short.

    Everyoneughs at herment, I think it¡¯s a good time to open my eyes.

    I see six people looking down at me.

    ¡°Thank you for helping me, I¡¯m exhausted¡± I say with the most fragile voice I could fake.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we couldn¡¯t abandon you to your fate, where do youe from?¡±

    Best thing to build trust between people is honesty and sincerity, if you can fake both you¡¯ll be fine. Instead of lying i¡¯ll try to say as much as i can without actually giving any critical information.

    ¡°I live alone in the forest, but I was running out of resources so I decided to explore trying to find a better ce. On the way here I was attacked by a jackal so I spent the night in the open, and, when I woke up I explored the whole area. I don¡¯t know where I am, but I¡¯m just tired and a bit thirsty¡±

    I speak calmly while everyone listens carefully.

    ¡°Too bad, friend! But don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re fine now, you can stay with us as long as you want¡± says Bob in a cheerful tone.

    ¡°What are you saying, moron! Can¡¯t you see he¡¯s a pervert!?¡± Anne retorts.

    ¡°Pervert or not, we can¡¯t abandon him, he could die if we don¡¯t help him.¡± A beautiful girl says, pauses, then looks at me ¡°you¡¯d better rest while we talk and we tried toe to an agreement.¡±

    So, this is helena, her voice is very sweet and calm, which is the absolute opposite of Anne. I think I already like her. She¡¯s prettier than Anne, in a cute way.

    They help me sit up and guide me to a tent.

    Wow!, up close they look even worse than they did from afar.

    Even though they have leather, they waste it using it as a curtain. If i had any leather I would have made a waterskin or something to wear, anything but a curtain for a structure which is an insult to makeshift shelters.

    As I lie on the hard ground, I can¡¯t help but think that I¡¯d even rather be in a cave underground, I hope I don¡¯t catch a disease or something.

    Taking advantage where I am, I do my best to listen to what they¡¯re saying.

    They¡¯re a bit far, I hear voices and I think I can distinguish them, but I can¡¯t make much of what they say.

    I focus all my attention to no avail, now I¡¯m at their hands.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6: Don¡¯t expect too much from the so called heroes, please!

    The atmosphere felt tense as the six inhabitants of the settlement exchanged uneasy nces.

    After much discussion they reached an agreement, although neither party was satisfied.

    It has been just over a month since they came to this world, thanks to a benevolent god who allowed them to travel in here just moments before theirst breath.

    Each of them came to this world for different reasons, but they all have the same goal: to save humanity.

    However, so far, they have not seen a single human being. They even began to question whether there were any humans in this world. They haven¡¯t seen many animals either.

    The god who summoned them into this world, ced them in the safest ce on this entire. They have fresh water nearby, lots of fruits and a pleasant climate at their disposal. This allowed them to survive without problems up to this point, but at the same time, it made themfortable.

    Sofortable theypletely forgot that they are in a hostile world dominated by magical beings, beasts and all sorts of danger. They get upte while hardly doing just necessary tasks for the day to day necessities, and after a month has passed, the only one who still trains daily is Bob.

    .....

    The decision they made was to allow the strange young man to stay in the settlement for a while, but he will not be able to join their party, meaning he won¡¯t be a part of their group.

    But this decision was not unanimous, three people wanted the man to immediately join the group, mainly motivated by their sense of duty to save humanity. The remaining three members, wanted to kick the man out right away since they didn¡¯t trust him, and they also realized the difficult times ahead of them.

    Until now they have been consuming fruits and berries they found at the forest. Although nature is generous, it¡¯s not, by any means, infinite and little by little it¡¯s running out. Without a sustainable source of food they cannot afford to feed another mouth.

    Story would¡¯ve been different if they at least had the chance to hunt some animals.

    When they first arrived there were quite a few animals, finding them was not an easy task, but thanks to the abilities they received from the god who brought them, they were able to catch some animals.

    Now there are no animals anywhere, from time to time they can find some traces indicating that there are animals nearby, but they have not been able to find them. It¡¯s different when ites to fishing, but even working together, they have only managed to catch one fish.

    .Their main problem is that, in order to catch prey they use their abilities which, in turn, cost them mana. They only regain a small ammount of mana consuming food and resting, and since they spent it unwisely, now they can¡¯t afford to use their abilities to fish since they spend more than they get, forcing them to save as much energy as they can.

    But this only worsened their situation and they grow weaker by the day. If they don¡¯t find a solution soon, they¡¯ll have no choice but to find a new ce to live.

    ****

    ¡°I think the best thing would be for us to introduce ourselves first. my name is Helena, You¡¯ve already met Anne¡±

    A small giggle escapes her lips

    ¡°The one next to me is Ayumi, and this is her husband Hiraku. Bob is the one who brought you to our vige and the blond boy who went to fetch firewood is called Luke, he used to be our leader.¡±

    Suddenly, the man who I just learned is named Hiraku interrupted her.

    ¡°Luke used his considering skill on you, Ryu, that¡¯s why we know your name, I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    Ryu? So that¡¯s my name. It¡¯s a good thing I didn¡¯te up with a pretend name, they would¡¯ve believed that I was lying to them even though I just didn¡¯t know it myself. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll buy I lost my memory so I¡¯ll keep it a secret for now.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem, it really doesn¡¯t bother me. Did you manage to decide something?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡± says Anne ¡°we don¡¯t trust you, pervert, but we know you¡¯re harmless. A native like you wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against us so don¡¯t get any weird ideas, got it?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean native?¡±

    Anne sighs heavily as she extends a hand out as if it¡¯s obvious.

    ¡°That¡¯s what you are, a savage born in thesends. We are heroes summoned from another world.¡±

    I look at the others to confirm if what she says is true. They all nod their heads.

    So they¡¯re heroes, I guess it wasn¡¯t such a bad idea toe after all. Perhaps my days of struggling to survive are over.

    ¡°Well, then, is there a condition for me to stay or something? I lost my belongings in the woods, but I can be of help¡±

    Helena steps forward.

    ¡°Even though we would really like to help you, truth is our situation is not as good as you may think. We are quickly running out of food ourselves.¡±

    Helena fell silent, so Ayumi says

    ¡°You see, Luke said you only have 10 maximum health points, since you are that weak we can¡¯t just leave you alone and defenseless. we¡¯ve decided to protect you and send you home, but we can¡¯t feed you so you will only be able to stay for a limited time.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t have someone who can¡¯t even pull their own weight joining us in our current situation. Three days, that¡¯s the maximum time we¡¯ll allow you to stay.¡± Anne says with an expressionless face.

    ¡°Thank you very much, I appreciate your generosity. That should be enough time to prepare. Also, like i said before i could be of help¡±

    Ayumi walks a bit closer as she says ¡°I¡¯m sorry things have to be like this, we don¡¯t have much to offer either. But I¡¯m d to meet you, you¡¯re the first native we met! if you could maybe lead us to a town we could work something out¡±

    ¡°There will be time to talk¡± says Hiraku, to which bob responds

    ¡°Yeah! there¡¯s still a little light left, let¡¯s make the most of today!¡±

    ¡°I got plenty of rest thanks to you, I can go look for firewood or berries.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go together¡±

    Helena walks into one of the tents and pulls out a wicker basket.

    We walk together in the direction of the forest. I don¡¯t know how much stronger than me they are, but the difference must be overwhelming because they allow me to carry my weapons carelessly.

    Anyway, It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to try to do anything inappropriate, they don¡¯t seem like bad people after all. Even Anne, who has an unpleasant personality, showed some concern for me, a stranger. Also, if they really are summoned heroes from another world, the least i can expect is for them to have good intentions.

    ¡°That spear you carry, did you get it in your vige?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, I live alone. I made it myself¡±

    ¡°Wow! That¡¯s awesome! We¡¯ve been trying unsessfully to make tools for a long time. The only thing we have are some sticks. It¡¯s a shame because Bob has a skill that allows him to double his strength for a while, if we had an axe we could get firewood much easier¡±

    Helena is quite more talkative than I thought. She seems like a shy girl, but she¡¯s not afraid to give her opinion in front of others, she also seems to be respected by her peers. It¡¯d be a good idea to approach her in a friendly manner.

    We take a short walk talking animatedly about unimportant things. She seems to be trying to teach me basic things, it¡¯s a bit annoying but I can see her good intentions. We pick up some branches and when they start to get heavy I start heading back.

    ¡°Ah! We¡¯re not done yet, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m carrying the firewood, i may not look like it but I¡¯m quite strong.¡±

    She says while flexing her arm, then takes the firewood out of my hands and starts walking like it¡¯s nothing, she really is strong. I pick up the basket from the ground and start picking berries, mushrooms, nuts, some tubers and even some leaves from redberry bushes so I can chew in case I need to drink river water.

    In a few minutes her basket was full of useful things.

    ¡°hey Helena, this basket is quite sturdy, I tried my best to craft one but mine doesn¡¯t look anything like this one. Did you make it by chance?¡±

    ¡°I did! I used to love arts and crafts so I¡¯m in charge of crafting baskets and weaving nt fiber. That¡¯s precisely the reason why i wanted toe along, because I dont get many chances to leave our vige¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to offend, but why do you call it vige when it¡¯s clearly just some makeshift tents put together?¡±

    ¡°well, we¡¯ve had so much trouble in here you wouldn¡¯t imagine. Wee from a ce where most people didn¡¯t need to know any survival skills so even building this tents took us a while, so we try to remain optimistic¡±

    ¡°But this basket... if you were to make a tent with the same material it¡¯d be a lot better.¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but it does take a while to gather the right materials, dry them and then crafting it into something else. Hey, since you like my basket that much i¡¯ll let you have it¡±

    ¡°Oh! that¡¯s great! i¡¯ll find you something nice tomorrow!¡±

    There¡¯s little daytime left so we hurry back, if they woke up earlier things would¡¯ve been a lot smoother. I can¡¯t help but feel I wasted this entire day.

    After arriving at the ¡®vige¡¯ Ayumi wees us with a smile.

    ¡°Wee back! I see you did pretty well, hehe, why did you take so long?¡± She says coquettishly while covering her mouth with one hand. Helena blushes and looks down at the floor in embarrassment.

    This warm wee invades my heart. This whole time I¡¯ve been quite happy after aplishing things, but what I regretted the most was not having anyone to share them with.

    ¡°It¡¯s my fault, we went by a few more rounds to gather food¡±

    Bob approaches me and asks for the basket while rummaging the contents.

    ¡°Wow! It¡¯s an excellent booty! You¡¯re quite skilled! I think we could depend on you in the future, hahaha¡±

    It takes me a little to realize that he¡¯s actually a good guy, I¡¯ve only been here a short time but I¡¯m already starting to grow fond of him. No, no, it must be theck of human contact. Although they are somewhat nice, they¡¯re still ipetent and i can¡¯t let them drag me down.

    Anyway, I¡¯m joyful as i¡¯ve been longing forpany, just not being alone makes me happy at this point. It¡¯s been a whole month all by myself.

    Just when I thought things were looking bright for the future and everything would be okay, Luke walks up.

    ¡°What do you have there Bob?¡±

    ¡°These are the things the new guy collected¡±

    ¡°Let me see¡± says Luke reaching for the wicker basket as he begins to rummage through the contents just like Bob did before.

    ¡°But what kind of garbage is this!? There¡¯s almost no food in here! why did you collect useless things? And these things? This even smell bad¡± he says as he starts to throw the tubers on the ground ¡°why pick mushrooms? What if they are poisonous? Do you want to kill us? I knew you were worthless the minute I saw you but i didn¡¯t expect you to be at this level.¡±

    The others looked at his arrogant attitude with some difort. They clearly wanted to stop him, but it was their partner afterall.

    Iit seems they already knew he was troublesome and that¡¯s why they asked him to go get firewood earlier, so that he couldn¡¯t make a scene when they talked to me.

    To make matters worse, although they did¡¯t seem to agree with his attitude, they also noticed that many of the things I brought are not edible.

    They probably didn¡¯t want to belittle my efforts and so they kept quiet about it.

    So far I¡¯ve been trying toy low, but if I let this guy get the better of me now I¡¯ll probably get in a lot more trouble afterwards.

    Although it¡¯s an unpleasant moment, I may be able to use this opportunity to my advantage.

    .....

    I walk slowly over to him and start picking the tubers off the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I really don¡¯t want to cause any trouble. I¡¯m just worried about being offered your food when it¡¯s so hard toe by, that¡¯s why I wanted to collect some, to lift my own weight.¡±

    I say thest part looking directly at Anne because she said I wouldn¡¯t be able to pull my own weight.

    Then Hiraku, Ayumi¡¯s husband, a man who looks mature, but also very young, clears his throat.

    *cough cough*

    ¡°Young Luke, you don¡¯t have to go as far as to knock over what he gathered, after all the new guy worked so hard to get those things. I think the fairest thing for everyone would be that, since Ryu is not a member of our party, everything he collects belongs exclusively to him, and we split up among ourselves what we gather . However...¡±

    ¡°Well, for once I agree with you old man¡± interrupts Anne ¡°then we won¡¯t share our food with you at all, if you want something you¡¯ll have to trade with us, if you have nothing then you¡¯ll have to work¡±

    Trying to leave the awkward situation behing, we all approach the campfire. Everyone talks in betweenughs, they talk about their past in the other world and memories of when they first arrived. Even if I wanted to talk to them, I can¡¯t find the proper time.

    I¡¯m just sitting next to Helena, although she used to be very talkative, now she¡¯s just sitting next to me in silence a little blushing, I think she really felt ufortable.

    As I¡¯m trying to figure out what to say in order to break the ice, Hiraku approaches us.

    ¡°Helena, do you mind if I steal young Ryu from you? It¡¯ll only be a minute. I just want to talk to him a bit¡±

    I don¡¯t know why, but his serious attitude makes me nervous. From what little I know of them, Hiraku is the most mysterious of them all. Perhaps he is the leader in the shadows of the group. Not only is he the oldest, he is also the mostposed and appears to be the most cautious.

    ¡°No problem, just let me do something first¡±

    I throw some tubers into the fire as I stand up to follow Hiraku, the atmosphere is dense and my anxiety rises. His eyes say he knows something i don¡¯t and it¡¯s unsettling me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry young Ryu, I just wanted to apologize to you in name of our group¡±

    He says as he leans slightly towards me

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry you had to go through that, Luke... he isn¡¯t actually a bad guy, once you get to know him that is. Truth is when we first arrived I didn¡¯t quite understand anything about this situation and Luke was the most helpful, he took the time to exin us what does it mean to be a summoned hero. You need to understand that I was living a normal life just a while ago and then got pulled out by someone calling himself a god, who put me in this ce. It¡¯s been hard, but I¡¯vee to ept it.

    Luke¡¯s case is different. You see, although we all came from the same world, we only met when we came to this ce. He didn¡¯t even look surprised, he started saying from the beginning that he was the chosen hero as if he always knew this would happen. Then he tried to take control of the group and we just let him, we all agreed because no one else had interest in taking that responsibility, after all no one knew what was going on but him. We just recently realized the difficult situation we faced, I think you will also you noticed right?¡¯

    ¡°It must be something simr to what happened to me, resources are limited and there¡¯s nothing to hunt¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, and when we noticed it we started looking for solutions. But Luke didn¡¯t really bring much to the table. We naively believed that he knew what all this was about and that he would somehow help us, unfortunately the only thing he cared about was giving orders and ranting about the demon king¡±

    ¡°Well, every group needs a leader¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s true, it doesn¡¯t even need to be an outstanding leader, we just needed someone to make decissions so we wouldn¡¯t waste our precious time arguing. But, what kind of leader is one who gives impossible tasks and then mes others for his own failure? Our situation became untenable that we recently adopted a voting system, although that presents it¡¯s own issues at least we dont fight all day anymore.¡±

    Hiraku looks directly at me, he has a prating look. I don¡¯t know what he means by saying all these things to me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a jerk, but why are you telling me all this?¡±

    Hiraku clears his throatand looks me in the eye, his gaze is piercing and it gives me the chills.

    ¡°We are neers, I think the others are under the false impression that you are the one who needs help when in fact, the opposite seems to be the case. We don¡¯t know each other well yet, but if you give us a chance, you¡¯ll see everyone here is good people and their intentions are not bad. What I meant before Anne cut me off is that, while it would be fair if everyone kept what they harvested, it¡¯s not necessarily in our best interest. In a group everyone performs various tasks and can¡¯t spend all their time harvesting. We need to light the fire, explore, gather firewood, improve our tents, and many other chores. But Luke and Anne failed to realize something, most likely the things you collected are not useless, after all you live alone in the woods and your knowledge of this world must be much better than ours.¡±

    ¡°Now I understand where you want to go, but what do you expect me to do? I can¡¯te and propose myself as the leader of your group, can I? I see you guys had it difficult and did whatever you could to survive, and I did notice that they are good people too, but, here¡¯s the thing... why is it my problem?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, that¡¯s true¡±ughs Hiraku ¡°well, let¡¯s go back to the campfire, it¡¯s cold and I¡¯m not old enough to stay outdoors¡±

    For some reason, even though there¡¯s something about him that unsettles me, it¡¯s easy to talk frankly with Hiraku. His sincerityes across natural and is somewhat contagious. I think that if he had been chosen as their leader, these self-proimed heroes would have been in better shape, he¡¯s certainly the mostpetent among everyone.

    I sit down next to Helena again. I take some nuts and crack them open with some difficulty. I haven¡¯t found any near my cabin so I want to take as many as i can when i get back, but now I¡¯m hungry and i need to be at my best in case i need to make a run for it tonight.

    I happily start eating, even though they are not that tasty, they¡¯re big as a fist and it¡¯s still something other than fish. At least they seem to be nutritious since one is enough to keep hunger at bay. I throw the hard shell into the fire with a crackling sound.

    ¡°What¡¯s that fruit? are they good?¡± Helena asks me hesitantly.

    ¡°Yes, well, no... I mean, I just found out they are edible so it kinda makes me happy to taste different food from what i¡¯m used to¡±

    Silence again. Why does it have to be so ufortable?

    I¡¯m not entirely sure about this, but it seems that before i lost my memory I was a bit awkward around people. It just gives me that feeling whenever I¡¯m talking to someone. Also, my first instinct was to avoid trusting strangers, so I may have had some bad experiences previously.

    There¡¯s no use in trying to find more about myself this way and I need a way to get closer to them. Hikaru¡¯s words are floating by on my mind, he seems to want me to lend them a hand in some way, and i also need people to help me back at my ce, so... I¡¯ll sacrifice some of my hard earned harvest in hopes of building trust with them.

    ,¡±You can take one if you want, they are very difficult to peel barehanded but since it¡¯s dark already I couldn¡¯t find any rock¡±

    ¡°Oh! no, I couldn¡¯t take them from you... we just made an agreement after all¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Anne said it¡¯s ok to trade right? so, if you want we can consider it your payment for lending me the basket... though I¡¯m still going to keep my promise and look something good for you tomorrow. After all you¡¯ve been so nice to me¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    With a cheerful smile helena grabs one, with a loud crunch she begins to peel it with ease.

    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s so good! It looks like a walnut but it¡¯s the size of an apple! I can¡¯t believe we never thought of eating them!¡±

    ¡°I want one too! Give me one!¡± Ayumi says with bright eyes and a watering mouth.

    ¡°You¡¯d need to ask Ryu¡±

    Helena says as she looks at me.

    I distribute one to each. Bob took the walnut between his thick fingers and looked at it in the light of the campfire. It looks really tiny in his hands, it¡¯s both funny and sad, he must be starving.

    Cracking sounds can be heard at the same time as everyone, except Anne, start eating with a huge smile.

    ¡°Take a few more, don¡¯t hold back, I got quite a few¡±

    ¡°woa, thank you!¡±

    Bob grabs a handful, wich in his case is about three. The first one he open ends uppletely in the ground and the nut is wasted. How strong is this guy?

    ¡°Don¡¯t think we owe you anything, we already did enough for you by weing you into our vige¡± Luke says as he grabs some nuts.

    ¡°Anne, aren¡¯t you going to try it?¡± Helena says somewhat worried.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want anythinging from that pervert¡± *jum*

    We stayed a while longer by the fire. Hiraku and Ayumi went to their tent. Bob also retired, rubbing his belly and humming a tune. Finally only helena, anne, luke and me were left.

    ¡°Come on Luke, but don¡¯t get any ideas, if you dare to touch me I¡¯ll kill you¡±

    Luke seems dazed but gets up and follows Anne to another tent.

    Helena moves her legs shyly.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I ask

    ¡°It¡¯s just... the thing is... well, Ayumi and Hiraku are married and it¡¯s the usual for them to sleep together. Bob is too big so he sleeps alone and, until now, I¡¯ve always slept next to Anne while Luke sleeps alone. And we only have four tents so... well¡± Helena ends her sentence stuttering, her breath hitches and some steames out of her mouth ¡°do you... do you, maybe, do you want to sleep with me?¡±

    Charisma+1

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7: Don¡¯t bring strangers home, please! Part

    This is definitively not what I expected. I¡¯m confused, more than that, I¡¯m stunned.

    For things to turn out this way is, I don¡¯t know what it is. I don¡¯t even have any memory of my past, maybe I have a girlfriend? But what am I thinking, right now a beautiful woman wants to sleep with me and I have no reason to refuse.

    ¡°are you sure it¡¯s ok?¡±

    ¡°I invited you, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°O-o-okay, let¡¯s go. But what about the campfire?¡±

    ¡°Oh! that? Don¡¯t worry, Ayumi can light it up easily in the morning, you don¡¯t need to worry about it. Having a mage in the party has its perks¡±

    A mage? I don¡¯t know why but it sounds like something amazing. There seem to be many mysteries in this world, but the greatest of all remains as how are they even alive. Maybe that¡¯s why, Ayumi must be the reason.

    .....

    It seems like they¡¯re not going to eat me after all.

    We head to the tent, Helena opens the leather curtain letting me in first. The height is low, but the length and width of the tent is not bad... for exactly one person. I can¡¯t imagine how helena will fit in here, it will be very tight for sure.

    Once I¡¯m settled inside, it¡¯s Helena¡¯s turn, she enters slowly as it¡¯s dark, she inadvertently puts her hand on my thigh and lets out a little shriek.

    ¡°Ekk! Sorry, I can¡¯t see¡±

    ¡°Eh, no problem, I don¡¯t mind. If it makes you ufortable, I can just sleep outside¡±

    ¡°You say that after agreeing, we¡¯re already here so there¡¯s no choice. I¡¯d feel bad if you catch a cold or something because I didn¡¯t let you in. Besides we talked it over and this is what we came up with¡±

    I can¡¯t see anything, but I figure out she¡¯s blushing. I move to the side as much as i can to give her some more room to fit in. Slowly and carefully she lies down next to me, her back pointing to me.

    she¡¯s so close to me that i can feel her tenderness, i try to focus on something else but after a while I can¡¯t avoid what can¡¯t be avoided, worse of all, she seems to notice.

    ¡°Oh sorry!¡± Helena exims.

    Why is she even apologizing?

    ¡°No, excuse me, the truth is...¡±

    ¡°No, seriously, it¡¯s not a problem, we¡¯re grown up and there¡¯s no reason to make a fuss. It was my fault after all, perhaps it¡¯s better If I just turn around¡±

    How is this any better!? Am i going to die? Maybe I¡¯ve been set up so they can use me of attempting to take advantage of her. I do my best to think of something else, but there are two huge reasons I just can¡¯t.

    I can feel her softly panting, this could be heaven but, why does it feel like hell?

    ¡°I know this is awkward, Ryu, for me too... I¡¯ve never done anything like this, I¡¯m not like that at all. I just don¡¯t want you to be left out in the open.¡±

    Now I feel like a total jerk, she¡¯s been worrying about me and all I can think of is gettingid. Realizing this somehow gave me the much needed peace of mind, her breathing quickly lulls me to sleep. Human warmth is the best after all.

    I wake up with the first sunlight shine as it breaks in through the makeshift hut. I thought I¡¯d have trouble falling asleep, maybe keep an eye open the whole night, but instead I slept like a baby, quitefortably in between two gentle mounds.

    Just like the day before, everyone sleepste, so I take the chance to bathe in the river, this time taking a longer path. My n is to find a branch so i can craft a fishing harpoon. The spear I¡¯m carrying is quite handy to defend myself or even use as a tool in many cases. It¡¯s almost as versatile as my obsidian knife, but it¡¯s hard to fish with. Since it only has a single tip, it¡¯s attack width is insufficient, fish are agile and if you miss the first time they¡¯re gone for good.

    Branch: 14/14

    No, it¡¯s durability isn¡¯t bad, but the curved shape will make the harpoon useless once finished, i wonder if i could craft a bow with this. A little further down the path I finally find what I was looking for.

    Branch: 20/20

    This one is straight and long, it¡¯s perfect!

    After cleaning up, I sit on a rock while I turn the branch into a stick. Just like the previous time, I divided one end into four parts, I use two small cross-shaped tiny sticks and tie them right between the ends that I just divided. Then I carefully sharpened each of the tips using the obsidian knife, I¡¯m very satisfied with the result, it¡¯s even better than the one I left at home.

    Tool Crafting 100%

    Harpoon (Good) 20/20

    Ipletely forgot that I was so close to leveling up my tool crafting skill!

    At home I used it all the time and the progress was so slow that I simply stopped paying attention to it. It¡¯s my first time crafting a good quality item, this confirms how useful it can be to level up more skills.

    Apart from the obvious advantage of having a new quality harpoon, I feel somewhat stronger. I can¡¯t be sure, but somehow I feel more skilled. Not just crafting, I believe that if I were to try crafting something simr i¡¯d have a better chance at getting a good quality item.

    Could this be something like the message about my charisma increasing? perhaps I did increase another stat... but if that¡¯s the case, why didn¡¯t i get a message or notification?

    Or maybe, just maybe, there¡¯s a chance that, since I felt my skill increasing, that would mean it¡¯s not just a notification, it¡¯s something that I can feel within my body. Something inside me may have changed.

    Well, since it didn¡¯t take long to make the harpoon, I still have plenty of time to fish.

    The river teems with life, with it¡¯s strong currenting down from the mountains giving off a pleasant freshness. There arerge boulders nearby, but there aren¡¯t many rocks or stones that I would consider to be of an appropriate size for making tools. Not only that, even without using my analyze skill I think I can already distinguish those that have special properties with the naked eye and I haven¡¯t been able to see them.

    This ce is quite suitable for living, it has a lot of basic resources, but I daresay they are of a lower quality than the ones I find at home. Wood seems to be weaker, haven¡¯t found a any special stones and finding medicinal herbs has been difficult. I take a minute to miss my home, I wonder if everything will be okay there.

    I scan the river from a rock in the middle, sometimes I get a little ssh but I manage keep my feet out of the water.

    Finally! I found the optimal fishing spot.

    This river is very deep in some ces, but where I¡¯m located now it¡¯s shallow and the current here is not so strong due to the amount of stones present. But, just below where I am located the river begins to run with more force. This is actually a good thing because I can see the fish swimming in the shallow waters and i just need to prevent them from going downstream.

    It doesn¡¯t take long until the first one falls, a few seconds after spoting it, it¡¯s pierced by my harpoon with force. Two of the spikes managed to hit from above. So, yeah, fishing harpoons increase hit chance by a lot.

    Fishing skill 54%

    Not bad! The size of this fish is aplete breakfast. I quickly go to the shore since I just caught my breakfast. I walk a few paces with the intention of returning to camp, then I stop for a few seconds. I can¡¯t help but think of these poor castaways from another world.

    I¡¯m sure they¡¯d really appreciate eating some fish. Especially her... no, I can¡¯t get carried away by these kinds of feelings.

    well, I did promise I¡¯d get her something nice, though i was thinking on giving her a spear.

    The first thing I have to think about is my own survival. Worrying about others will only result in unnecessary trouble. But she¡¯s been very gentle with me...

    I take a couple of steps then stop again...

    however, if I can catch a few, I might get on their good side, plus, as Anne mentioned, they¡¯ll trade with me. Yes, that¡¯s it, it is a mutual benefit. It¡¯s not a cheap excuse at all, I can really benefit from them... somehow.

    Fishing 55%

    It¡¯s about time, it¡¯s almost noon. Thesezy people will be up soon, so I hastened to prepare the food.

    Fire waspletely extinguished t night, perhaps it¡¯d be better to just start a fire somewhere else. Making a better campfire. I start to bring rocks from the river and make a circle with them. Just as I¡¯m cing the firewood I see Anne walking towards the settlement with her hair wet.

    ¡°Hello!¡± I greet her with a smile

    ¡°Uh, ah, good morning¡± she replies in a weak voice as she looks at the plentiful fish I left on the ground.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to bother you but, could you ask Ayumi to light the fire? Helena told mest night that she¡¯s the one in charge of that¡±

    ¡°You can tell me yourself, you know?¡± Ayumi says as she leaves her tent.

    ¡°Everything you say is heard in here, right Helena?¡± she says with an evil grin on her face. A shriek is heard in Helena¡¯s tent.

    Ayumi extends her hand in front of the dry branches as smoke begins toe out and the mes quickly ignite.

    Since I thought it would take longer to light the fire, I still don¡¯t have the pointed sticks ready to roast the fish. Suddenly I have so many things to do that I don¡¯t know where to start.

    As I prepare to sharpen the sticks, I can see the excitement on everyone¡¯s faces, they sure haven¡¯t eaten fish in a long time.

    I begin to prepare the fish with my obsidian knife, even now, I¡¯m still amazed at how sharp it is. Although it is useless as a weapon because it could break, it¡¯s so sharp that it¡¯s dangerous to use carelessly.

    After putting the fish on the campfire, I start to prepare the next one to ce it right next to thest one. Soon the campfire is surrounded by skewers and It doesn¡¯t take long for a very pleasant smell toe out. Bob storms out of his tent as soon as he smells the fish cooking.

    ¡°What is it that smells so good?¡±

    ¡°Ryu brought fish¡± says Ayumi

    There¡¯s a ruckus inside Hiraku¡¯s tent. Apparently he¡¯s getting dressed, hurriedly he sticks his head out of his tent with excitement showing off his face.

    ¡°Oh! The new guy is smart!¡±

    Smart? what does he mean by that?

    Everyone¡¯s making a fuss as I try to focus on my task. Helena is thest to get up, she has some bags under her eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s with that sleepy face, Helena? They didn¡¯t let you sleepst night?¡± Ayumi says and everyone bursts outughing.

    If I have to highlight something good about this group, it is that they are all very happy. Even Luke seems pretty happy.

    When the first fish is done, everyone is looking impatient already.

    ¡°Give me a second, breakfast isn¡¯t ready yet¡±

    ¡°Is there more?¡± Luke asks suspiciously.

    ¡°Yes,st night I left some tubers at the fire. Their vor is too strong and their skin too difficult to remove, but if you throw them on the fire overnight, the next morning they are crispy and their vor softens quite a bit.¡±

    So, everyone received happily his breakfast, consisting on a single tuber and a fish, we enjoyed it together. It¡¯s not really much, I know it¡¯s not, but even I¡¯m enjoying the food more than usual. Eating alone is bad for one¡¯s soul, the opposite can be said of eating together.

    After finishing the meal Hiraku adopts a rigid posture and a serious face.

    ¡°Well young Ryu, what are you going to want in exchange for thisvish breakfast?¡±

    .....

    ¡°What do you mean he¡¯s going to want, old man?¡± Anne says as if she is being treated unfairly.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I say. Yesterday we reached an agreement that arose based on our selfishness for not wanting to share what little we had with Ryu, it¡¯s necessary to respect the agreement so that there are no misunderstandings between us¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not necessary, you don¡¯t need to give me anything in return, really. I¡¯m grateful that you allowed me to stay with you¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s grateful, right Helena?¡± Ayumi, who misses no chance to tease, calls out for everyone to hear.

    After some moreughter, the atmosphere became tense again.

    ¡°That¡¯s not allowed, an agreement is an agreement¡±

    After pondering for a moment, I search through the basket until I find the silver flower. It¡¯s somewhat withered but its shape and color can be clearly distinguished, I take it out and pass it to Hiraku.

    ¡°I really can¡¯t ask you for anything, but if you find any of these flowers I¡¯m willing to exchange them for fish. What I need is the root actually, but i can¡¯t show you how it looks because I already used this one and I don¡¯t have any more, with it I can make medicine to treat wounds¡±

    After a brief expression of astonishment everyone stares at me with a hint disappointment.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t want to help you¡± says Helena ¡°but we haven¡¯t seen those flowers in the vicinity. We have been searching far and wide for anything that could be useful, but so far we¡¯ve been eating mostly berries¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not necessary. Even if you find it by chance, it might be useful to me.¡±

    Why didn¡¯t i ask for something in return? It¡¯s kind of obvious, I did so to get on their good side. Hiraku seemed to understand that, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind it at all.

    When everyone finished eating, they quickly went off to do their chores. I noticed that the most appreciative out of everyone is Bob, who every once in a while makesments like ¡°I knew the new guy would be a good addition to the group, I told you so¡±, ¡°That fish was delicious¡±, ¡°Did you see that those tubers could be eaten? Haha in your face Luke.¡± Always in a cheerful tone.

    Luke doesn¡¯t take hisments badly, he doesn¡¯t even have his usual moody expression. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because Bob is really nice or if he¡¯s afraid of him because of his huge size, but he treats him nicely.

    I kind of feel sorry for Bob, someone his size must be hungry all the time and living on eating berries only must be pretty tough for him. That¡¯s why I gave him the biggest fish I ever caught.

    Anyway I think I shouldn¡¯t fish every day, it¡¯s not about the difficulty of the task, it¡¯s more because they could take my job for granted and be evenzier.

    Best thing will be to use it in my favor and at the same time motivate them to be more responsible.

    Since there¡¯s still plenty of time, maybe I should prepare a temporary shelter for myself. I don¡¯t want to bother Helena the two days I have left here. Problem is that finding the necessary materials will be exhausting and time consuming, just to make a tent that i¡¯ll have to dismantle soon afterwards.

    Yeah, it¡¯s that. its not like I wanted to sleep with her again at all.

    I don¡¯t really have much to do, there¡¯s a fire going, I have enough food for a light supper, even if I were to create tools or utensils it wouldn¡¯t be very practical since I couldn¡¯t bring them back to my cabin.

    Perhaps the best thing is to train, with the time I spend preparing to go out and explore, I did not get to practice any type of weapon.

    I have the Spear, Harpoon, and Obsidian Knife at my disposal, but they are too valuable to spend on training. I take some branches to make sticks. With about ten clubs I will have enough to train for a long time. One of the sticks seems much more robust than the others, even if the thickness is the same, something about it catches my attention.

    Stick (good) 25/25

    It¡¯s a good opportunity to test how useful they are. Now I must find a target. There are trees near the camp, practically all of them have been hit. I am looking for one that is rtively thin and used my ability to analyze.

    Young tree 256/298

    I start hitting it with the normal sticks. Damage seems to be consistent as always and since I¡¯m using minimal strenghim not dissapointed at all. My current damage per hit is five, im guessing three of those pointse out from my blunt weapons skill and the reste out from the stick¡¯s quality and my strengh.

    Blunt weapons III 59%

    Everything seems to be going well, I stay for a while hitting the tree over and over.

    Young tree 106/298

    I only have the good stick left.

    stick (good) 24/25

    Now my damage output is six per hit, now I¡¯m certain that weapon quality affects damage. That means my harpoon should also be more effective inbat than my current spear.

    Sadly, I don¡¯t have a way to be sure since I don¡¯t want to break my weapons for no reason, I can¡¯t afford to be crafting tools right now as it¡¯s very time consuming. I¡¯m trying to show everyone my worth while also not overdoing it.

    Maybe I could ask others to help me collect the materials, this could save me some time. Gathering doesn¡¯t give points in any skill, but crafting does so it could be a good deal even if I don¡¯t get anything in return.

    Tomorrow I¡¯ll offer them some spears in exchange for materials, depending on how the negotiation goes I might even get some spare resources to craft one or two spears.

    Anne returns before sunset. Her duty is to check the traps they¡¯ve put around the settlement. More than to defend themselves, they did so to catch prey. They managed to capture a wild boar and several rabbits a couple weeks ago. That¡¯s where the skins they use as curtains in their tentse from.

    Her hair looks disheveled and her clothes a lot dirtier than usual. She approaches me somewhat hesitantly but once she¡¯s in front of me, she drops a silver flower in front of me.

    ¡°Here! now we¡¯re even, I don¡¯t want to owe you anything anymore¡± says Anne as she walks away.

    That attitude is annoying, but it¡¯s actually a great help.

    ¡°It must have been difficult to find, I¡¯m grateful¡±

    I say before she¡¯s too far away to hear me. I quickly cut the root of the flower with my trusty knife and I keep it carefully between the sash and the tunic, since I am no longer injured I use the sash again as it should be worn, around the waist. It¡¯s probably not the best ce to store medicine, but I don¡¯t have any pockets.

    Night came without incident and the next day a surprise awaited me.

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8: Don¡¯t bring strangers home, please! part

    As always, I get up with the break of dawn to go wash in the river, well, at home I used to do it in theke, in short, the routine is the same. I prefer flowing water though, it has many advantages, but the most important is that it makes washing my clothes a lot easier, now i wish i brought my other set of clothes.

    Returning to camp I¡¯m surprised to see everyone standing around the campfire.

    ¡°Good morning! how did you sleep?¡± says Helena in a cheerful but sleepy tone.

    ¡°Yeah, I slept well¡±

    Why do you ask me that? Did I do something weird while sleeping?

    Now that I remember, I may be a sleepwalker. I really hope I didn¡¯t do any weird stuff, If I did, I¡¯d prefer to be conscious at least.

    Everyone is down and lethargic, yet it looks like they did their best to wake up early.

    .....

    ¡°Is it normal for you guys to get up at this time? Maybe I woke you up unintentionally, I¡¯m sorry¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry young ryu, yesterday we talked about it and we realized that we were just beingzy. This is not like our world where we had light untilte at night.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Bob continues, ¡°you¡¯re such a hard worker that we feel bad about wasting time like that. Besides, if we do our chores, you might have more time to go fishing or...¡±

    ¡°About that... I¡¯m sorry but I got no intention of going fishing today.¡±

    Instantly their faces changed and they all look disappointed.

    ¡°I see...¡± says Bob with a tone of voice off.

    ¡°However, I can lend you my harpoon so you can go. It¡¯s much easier than fishing with a spear, it¡¯s lighter, and its attack range is long and wide.¡±

    A smile lights up Bob¡¯s face.

    ¡°It would be much more practical to spend my time making some weapons and tools, if you bring me the necessary resources I could prepare some for you. In exchange for that, you¡¯ll let me keep the best resources¡±

    ¡°Best ones? how can you tell? I mean, we¡¯ve been trying to craft tools for a while and we haven¡¯t been able to find suitable materials. They all look the same but somest longer than others. Everything we make ends up breaking soon¡± Helena says intrigued.

    Now I understand, none of them have the observation skill, so even if they spend all their effort into crafting a spear, it mighte up being worthless because of low durability. While this hasn¡¯t been a problem for me at all, all i need to do is check their quality beforehand. Also, this may indicate that they don¡¯t have tool crafting skill either, because even if I only had weak materials I¡¯m confident my tools would at least be at 10 durability.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. You know the quality of an object depends on the quality of the materials and because of this, the craftsman will notice with just a nce what are the best quality materials. Plus, the manufacturing skill is also very important and i¡¯ve been crafting tools for about a month every night¡±

    Helena seems somewhat surprised by my answer but doesn¡¯t say anything.

    As everyone heads off to do their chores, Hiraku and Ayumi go spear fishing together. Bob runs off to collect materials, Helena stays by the campfire making nt fiber, Anne goes out to check the traps, and Luke, well, I don¡¯t know what Luke will do since he didn¡¯t say anything when he left the settlement.

    Meanwhile, I hit the tree with the good stick until it¡¯spletely worn out.

    Young tree 58/298

    I¡¯m so close that I¡¯m tempted to hit it with my spear, but even if I did, it probably wouldn¡¯t be enough anyway. Maybe if I used all my strength but I know for experience that stamina runs out very quickly, I may get tired even before felling the tree.

    Stamina is something I haven¡¯t figured out yet. I can¡¯t be sure since I dont get any message about it, but i know for sure that running spends quite a bit of stamina. Nevertheless, while i can run for just a little longer than my first day, now I run a lot faster, meaning that in about the same ammount of time I can cover a greater distance.

    Regaining stamina back is also not that simple. If I¡¯m well fed it recovers faster when I¡¯m resting, but the thing is, if i rest standing it gets slower than if I¡¯m sitting. I¡¯ve been trying to see how it works, but there are simply too many factors: Food, water, heat, cold, standing, sleeping, resting on the floor, on a bed... I only get a feeling that I¡¯m resting, not a notification stating how quickly im recovering. I don¡¯t even know how much stamina do I even have!

    While I was distracted in my own thoughts, Bobes back with a huge pile of dry branches, I¡¯m surprised he can drag them behind him. He leaves them close to me and leaves hurriedly.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to get some rocks now!¡±

    I find this a bit funny, it¡¯s my second night with this group and they are already working for me without realizing it. I don¡¯t know why but this takes me back to the first night, when Hiraku came to me. Was he really asking for my help? but, what can I do? I¡¯m just a neer after all.

    I check out the branches Bob brought, they are barely enough for about four spears, they really can¡¯t pick appropiate crafting materials. I separate the best ones to create spears from those that will only serve as firewood. Then, I proceed to mybour with enthusiasm.

    I¡¯m not happy with the result of the first one. Inadvertently I ruined the quality of one of the best sticks I had avable. I knowining is useless, but what can i do other than just keep hitting the tree.

    After only a few hits, I managed to knock it down. It falls to the ground with a sound muffled by the leaves on the ground, yet Helena jumps in surprise.

    ¡°How did you do that! Did you just knock down a tree with a stick?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not what it seems, I actually spent several hours hitting it since yesterday¡±

    ¡°Still, it¡¯s amazing! So far we haven¡¯t been able to take any down¡±

    ¡°Not even Bob?¡±

    ¡°Bob is strong, but It¡¯s not like back at our world. From what i¡¯ve heard from the others, physics seem to work differently in here. Bob does hit harder than us, but without tools no matter how many punches he threw, trees seemed to remain unaffected¡±

    ¡°Punches you say!?¡±

    ¡°Well yes, whenever he used sticks damage seemed to be the same and the sticks would wear out rapidly. so we never had the free time to spend on gathering them just for that purpos. We always thought it¡¯d be impossible to take down trees without proper tools, so we decided to wait until we got an axe¡±

    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s very useful! Do any of you know how to make an axe?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, no, like i told you before, we made a few attempts to craft tools. But tying a rock to a stick proved to be a bad idea, all we got was Hiraku getting injured. He was walking behind Bob when the rock came loose. Bob couldn¡¯t evennd the first hit on the tree.¡±

    ¡± I see, that¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    Helena nods.

    ¡°Hiraku was in poor condition after that, but he didn¡¯t me Bob. And we were able to heal him, so it wasnt as big of a deal as the time Bob got hurt by a boar¡±

    Just as Helena was about to tell me what seemed to be an epic tale of Bob punching a boar right in the face, he arrives with many stones in his arms, and drops them in front of me. Most of them are too big and it will take extra effort to break them apart, also there¡¯s no guarantee that they will be have the proper shape right way.

    ¡°Bob, I think I need smaller rocks. About this size¡± I tell him while gesturing with my hands.

    ¡°Understood!¡± And he runs to the river again. The river is not that far, but still I can¡¯t see myself carrying a bunch of rocks like that all the way and then running back there again.

    Does he not run out of stamina? As expected, being a giant has its perks.

    Hiraku and Ayumi return with arge fish each and a huge smile, as they chat animatedly.

    ¡°Oh! They took so long and only got two fish? Could it be that they spent their time flirting instead of working?¡±

    Ayumi pust an expression on her face as if she had been caught doing something wrong.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re saying little girl, fishing is more difficult than you think, I think we did pretty well¡±

    ¡°That may be the case, but Ryu caught many more in the same time¡±

    ¡°Ryu is ryu, we are ourselves¡± says Hikaru with a straight face.

    ¡°What they say is true, Helena, I¡¯m surprised that they got two fish so soon. When I first learned to fish I failed many times, I had to work very hard to learn how to fish. More important than that, Hiraku, I would like to talk about something, although I think it¡¯s better if everyone is present. Do you think Anne and Luke wille back soon?¡±

    ¡°What is it about?¡±

    ¡°Well, I really prefer to wait for everyone, if you want I can say it now, it¡¯s just that I don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair to yourpanions¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re probably right¡±

    Bob leaves another pile of stones, this time there are many that can be useful. I¡¯ll get hands to work.

    Spear 15/15

    Spear (good) 20/20

    Spear 13/13

    Results are better than expected, even one of the spears is good quality, I don¡¯t know what the chances are, but it¡¯s good enough.

    Bob reaches for more sticks and Hikaru asks him to stay close to hear what I have to say.

    While the fish are grilling, Anne and Luke return.

    ¡°Ryu wants to tell us something and I think it¡¯s in our best interest to listen to him¡± says Hiraku

    ¡°Is it urgent? Can¡¯t it wait until tonight?¡± Luke says somewhat annoyed.

    *Mmm hmm* I clear my throat ignoring hisment.

    ¡°As you know, I¡¯m a native of this world. From what I¡¯ve seen, my strength doesn¡¯tpare to yours, but I have other abilities that could be useful. I¡¯d like to... invite you guys to move into my home¡±

    ¡°What you¡¯re saying is great! we really could use your skills.¡± Helena says in a cheerful manner.

    ¡°Even if it were, don¡¯t you live alone? Wouldn¡¯t it be better for everyone if you move in here? Why should we risk going so far? What if you¡¯re plotting to ambush us or something? How can we trust you?¡±

    As always, Luke¡¯sments feel offensive, but I do my best to stay calm.

    ¡°In all honesty, there¡¯s no way for me to prove im trustworthy¡±

    Luke¡¯s arrogant expression intensifies, I¡¯m hating every second of this.

    ¡°However, If you keep going on like this, you won¡¯tst another month.¡±

    A general gasp was heard at the same time. Is it that perhaps these people do not realize the precariousness of their conditions?

    ¡°You have a point¡± Hiraku rifies ¡°I¡¯ve also thought about this. We have barely managed to get by so far, even depleting whatever resources we had at our reach. What will we do if the weather gets any worse? I can¡¯t even think about it¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just that, I think you don¡¯t understand the danger that your current lifestyle presents. I don¡¯t know how things were in your other world, but everything is dangerous here¡±

    ¡°I will not allow a savage who has taken advantage of our kindness to spit such nonsense¡± Anne exims vigorously while stomping on the ground. ¡°You just want to take us to your cave to do perverted things to us!¡±

    .....

    ¡°My cave!? Why would you think I live in a cave!? believe it or not, I¡¯m doing this out of the goodness of my heart. Also, no offense, but, I¡¯m really not interested in you¡±

    Ayumi bursts into a derisiveugh and Anne starts to blush.

    ¡°Anne, you guys are six people and you¡¯ve been around for how long? what have you achieved since you came in here?¡±

    ¡°Listen you caveman, we don¡¯t need your help, if anything you should be grateful we even bothered talking to you at all. If you want to stay, fine, I¡¯ll recognize your skills and I know you could help us. But why do you ask us to move all of a sudden, when you could simply stay and help us?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because you guys live in poor conditions and I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t make it¡±

    ¡°Believe it or not, we are heroes, the weakest of us is ten times stronger than you!¡±

    ¡°Heroes, heroes! you keep saying that, when I arrived I was told that you are heroes summoned from another world with the destiny to save mankind. Tell me Luke, please enlighten me, what kind of heroes get up at noon? Who are you going to save if you can¡¯t even build a proper tent?

    Not only that, your settlement is a disaster waiting to happen, your tents were too close to naked fire... you guys are so poor that when you guys took me in I seriously thought you were going to eat me!¡±

    Everyone looks embarrased now, even Anne¡¯s eyes look watery. She¡¯s looking at the ground while clenching her fist tightly.

    ¡°I know this! you think we don¡¯t know? we were living peaceful lives until we were brought in here! And the only reason we wake upte it¡¯s because we¡¯re trying to regain mana!¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but just like Luke says, you guys are ten times stronger than me, yet you can¡¯t even take care of yourselves. Listen, I dont mean to belittle your efforts, I¡¯m just pointing out that you do need help, and if you don¡¯t acknowledge that fact your situation will only worsen. I¡¯m not saying I¡¯m good by myself, that¡¯s the very reason I¡¯m inviting you. I got here because I was attacked by a single forest jackal, my life was in danger! What if instead of one there had been two? I wouldn¡¯t be here right now, I¡¯m sure.¡±

    After hearing this Luke talks to the rest

    ¡°See? he can¡¯t take care of himself either, why should we even listen to him? I say we kick him out, he¡¯s been too much trouble already and we were doing just fine before he came. Now we even have some spears, so why do we need him?¡±

    After hearing this, Ayumi finally lost her patience.

    ¡°No! I¡¯ve had enough of your rants and fantasies, you spoiled brat! This is just likest time, remember? you are not our leader anymore! now we have a voting system in ce and it¡¯s been working far better than when you were calling the shots. I, myself, don¡¯t know what to think, but one thing I know is we can¡¯t go kicking people out without even listening to them. It¡¯s the first human being we find after a whole month! and you want to kick him out!?¡±

    Wow! that was intense. Ayumi really has a temper, nobody else seems surprised so I try to keep it together, but actually she scared the crap out of me. Helena looks like she wants to say something, but Anne quickly grabs her by the arm and takes a step forward.

    ¡°So, what do you propose? That we abandon everything and follow you without question? We may not have a lot of food, but we made our shelters and got a lot of resources. If what you want is to be part of our group we won¡¯t allow it, we¡¯ve already decided we¡¯re not going to trust any strangers. But if you want to be a provisory member and have a say in our decisions, we may be able to work something out after discussing it¡± Luke retorts looking for the approval of hispanions, but everyone avoids his gaze.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I want¡± I stared deep into his eyes ¡°this is what I¡¯m offering you. You cane to live at my ce as long as you follow my orders. Without voting, withoutints, everyone working for everyone in search of themon good, but under my supervision. We could eventually get out of the forest, and only then you¡¯ll be free to do whatever you want.¡±

    ¡°This is outrageous, I¡¯ll never agree to something like that! I¡¯m a hero, I am the hero chosen to save this world! I will not be under themand of some insignificant native¡±

    On the outside I may seem calm, but on the inside I¡¯m torn to pieces. Anxiety eats at me, all I want is to run away right now and leave everything behind. I can¡¯t say anything else, my voice just won¡¯te out. Hiraku then takes the chance to talk.

    ¡°Young Ryu, first let me tell you that i do agree with you, but I also believe you may be asking too much of us¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Hiraku, I really am. But I believe my chances are better off alone than with you guys in your current state. It may take me a while, but I¡¯ll get out of this woods eventually... take it or leave it¡±

    Anne runs off and Luke goes after her.

    Bob walks over to me and puts his heavy hand on my shoulder. My first reaction was to dodge, but I can see what a friendly move it is.

    ¡± You¡¯re right, Anne and Luke are just upset because they know you¡¯re right, it¡¯s something we need to talk about anyway.¡±

    I¡¯m standing in front of the campfire, it¡¯s still early so I go back to crafting harpoons and spears depending on what materials I have on hand, when suddenly:

    Weapon Crafting 1%

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9: Don¡¯t go out for a walk at night, please! part

    When I leveled up tool crafting I stopped getting any progress in that skill. So far, whenever I level up a skill it allows me to unlock another one rted to it. truth be told, I was actually a bit scared it wouldn¡¯t be the case, now I can rest easy. I use my skill analyze on the spear:

    Stone Spear (good) 20/20

    Not only is this the best spear I¡¯ve made so far, but it also gives me a different result when analyzing it. Unlike the previous spears, this is a true weapon.

    I guess I finally managed to craft one that can qualify as a weapon, and that¡¯s why I got the new weapon crafting skill. I¡¯m not sure about this, but I also think there must be more levels avable in tool crafting and that my sess now is due to the fact that the parts of the spear that I crafted were better than what I normally use.

    This means that if I get the good quality materials from the beginning, I¡¯ll be able to level up my weapon crafting skill a lot faster.

    This is quite tempting, if I remember correctly the forest jackal had 15 health points. If we fight him together, we can easily beat him with just one hit each.

    Now everyone seem grumpy in the settlement. Maybe I overdid it a bit with the things I said, although nothing I didn¡¯t lie, maybe there was a better way to convince everyone. I hope theye with me, even though now I got a new weapon I¡¯m still worried there might be more than one. If there¡¯s a pack I¡¯d be done for.

    .....

    I understand why Luke doesn¡¯t like me, he feels special and childishly wants everything to be done the way he wants.

    But Anne, what¡¯s her problem? Ever since we met, she¡¯s been against me. I could understand that the circumstances of our first meeting bothered her a little, but there¡¯s no need to insult me ??every time she gets a chance.

    When she brought me the silver flower I thought that maybe things could change for the better, but still she continues with her bad attitude.

    Is it because of my appearance? That would make sense,st time I saw my reflection in the water was after I got sick and that was a while ago. Although I am not as handsome as Luke, I didn¡¯t find myself ugly either.

    There¡¯s not much I can do about it anyway.

    If they decide toe with me, it will be a good for everyone, chores will be easier and that will leave us some spare time allowing us to improve our skills. On the other hand, if they don¡¯te along with me, it won¡¯t be much of a problem as I took advantage of these days to get better weapons, some medicine, and I might get some food on the way back.

    Food! Ipletely forgot about our agreement regarding resources. They¡¯ll share everything among them, but not with me. And now, because I was lost in my thoughts making weapons I didn¡¯t go to gather today.

    I take the basket Helena lent me and I run into the forest with the (good) stone spear.

    As much as I search, I can¡¯t find anything. This area is really running out of resources.

    If I think about it, they¡¯ve been a whole month gathering here. If I was able to find food before, it was because they didn¡¯t know that nuts, mushrooms and tubers were edible. Now that they know, it¡¯s obvious they¡¯re picking them up too.

    I don¡¯t mind to skip dinner, but it¡¯d pretty awkward if I was the only one starving while they eat.

    I ran without thinking where I was going, putting all my trust in the markings they¡¯ve made on the trail, my false sense of security lead me to quickly be disoriented and it begins to get dark quickly.

    I barely found some walnuts. I¡¯m used to more varied meals, but still, this is a lot better than nothing.

    Since I don¡¯t have a light source, I climb a nearby tree. All I have to do is wait for the night to pass.

    This forest has trees scattered in the distance. Normally it would be a clear night, but just today it¡¯s cloudy.

    Although I¡¯m used to sleeping outside, my nt fiber tunic is somewhat stiff and not so warm. In addition, it¡¯s not that it¡¯s not a masterpiece, it¡¯s not bad considering It¡¯s only my first attempt, but I am in no way an expert.

    It¡¯s getting colder, it must be the wind.

    *Crack*

    I hear the cracking sound of a branch breaking. I just climbed this tree, maybe something was following me. I was lucky to find out earlier, I press the stone spear against my chest and crouch on top of the tree branch.

    *Crack* *crack*

    sounds get closer and closer. I stay still, close my eyes and hold my breath.

    ¡°What are you doing in that tree?¡±

    Anne asks me

    ¡°What are YOU doing here? It¡¯s night, you should be at the camp¡±

    ¡°Vige¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s our vige, if you don¡¯t like it, you don¡¯t have toe back, but you don¡¯t have to insult our efforts either¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯m sorry¡±

    I start to climb down carefully from the tree, my foot slips and Anne grabs me to prevent me from falling , then helps me down slowly.

    ¡°You¡¯re lighter than I thought, anyway, let¡¯s go back¡±

    ¡°Why are you being so nice to me? I thought you didn¡¯t like me¡±

    ¡°Stupid!¡± Anne exims ¡°it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like you, actually...¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to justify yourself, you don¡¯t have to like me¡±

    ¡°I know¡±

    ¡°And what are you doing here? Aren¡¯t you afraid to go out at night?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m an archer, I can see at night¡±

    Makes sense, she walks quite confidently.

    ¡°Is it my idea or are you avoiding answering my question?¡±

    ¡°I came looking for you¡± answers Anne weakly ¡°we made a decision and they sent me looking for you¡±

    After that small chat, we walk in silence. I don¡¯t know why, but I was hoping that maybe she hade looking for me out of concern or ultimately out of kindness. I guess I expected too much, I¡¯m a stranger after all.

    Arriving at the camp, everyone is near the campfire already. It¡¯s getting cold and their light clothes are not enough to fight the icy wind.

    ¡°They¡¯re finally back!¡± Helena exims as she approaches us.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry helena, no one¡¯s going to steal Ryu from you. You don¡¯t have to be so jealous¡± says Ayumi.

    Although Helena is quite shy and appears to be a kind-hearted girl, Ayumi has the ability to get on her nerves.

    If they decide not toe along, I¡¯ll miss these moments. Maybe I should just let theme in their own terms. I walk over to the campfire to warm up a bit, but Hiraku takes this opportunity to begin his speech.

    ¡°Young Ryu, we decided that we will go with you, although we couldn¡¯t reach a consensus. You see, that¡¯s the thing with our voting system. If we don¡¯t reach a consensus at least one group won¡¯t be happy, and if we vote unanimously... why did we need to vote anyway? We are six people, if four people decide something, that¡¯s what we should do. But, what happens when the votes are tied? We usuallye to a middle ground and that¡¯s even worse because nobody is truly satisfied.¡±

    ¡°Then?¡±

    ¡°Please be patient, we did vote but the final decision is not up to us. This time we had two votes for, one against, and three people want to go but with some conditions. These conditions are: our voting system will still be in ce, it¡¯s our safeguard in case things go sour. We need you to craft some tools for us and teach us some of your surviving skills. We also need you to promise to get us to a town as soon as you can and, finally, there will be a period of one week. If by the end of that period we decide to part from you, we¡¯ll be moving to your vicinity¡±

    ¡°And what happens if, let¡¯s say, one day you decide to vote to exile me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen without a good reason¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t see the future. I¡¯d like to believe you, but your system doesn¡¯t depend on a person¡¯s ability as much as it does on how well someone gets along with the rest. The idea of ??uniting is to be stronger and survive the winter, which seems to be getting closer.¡±

    ¡°But you have to understand that we have built a vige from scratch, we got a lot of resources and we can¡¯t take everything with us, we will be forfeiting everything we have just to follow you¡± says anne.

    ¡°Hooo, so now you have a vige? if you¡¯re so rich howe I¡¯ve seen none of it? The way I see it, this deal only benefits you guys. I feel like you guys are trying to take advantage of me, why do i even care on being your leader? The only reason I¡¯m asking you that is because I don¡¯t want any of you acting up and jeopardizing everything. I really appreciate what you¡¯ve done for me so far, tomorrow I¡¯m leaving at noon¡± Saying this with a straigh face cost me every bit of my will power. Why is it so hard for me to talk to people? I must admit I¡¯ve grown fond of them and being around people has made me truly happy, but I need to set my feet on this.

    ¡°Come on, Ryu, please don¡¯t rush¡± says Bob making a gesture with his hands asking me to calm down.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Bob, but you must understand what¡¯s going on. I extended my hand to you with the best of intentions and not only you put conditions to take it, you also put your other hand in my pocket¡±

    ¡°What do you mean Ryu?¡±

    Helena says worriedly as she notices I¡¯m upset.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you see it? If you were in my ce, would you ept such conditions? For starters, if you keep your voting system in ce I won¡¯t be the leader, am I right? at first things may go well, but soon everyone will drift to their own thing. And I¡¯m sure you guys will start wasting time in voting, and maybe even because of the result you¡¯ll end up making a poor decision that¡¯ll cost us. Take this very situation as an example, I know every condition must have been asked by different people, each one may not sound like much, but put together... just listen to yourself, you don¡¯t even agree to work under my supervision and the first thing you ask of me is to craft some weapons for you? because that¡¯s what tools are!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it! don¡¯t make it sound like we¡¯re scheming against you. We know we won¡¯t do you any harm because we¡¯re nice people, but how can we be sure you are too?¡± Anne says, starting in a high pitched voice and ends up speaking softly.

    ¡°Listen, I¡¯m grateful I got to meet you guys, I truly am. But I already made my mind about this, I¡¯ll be going back home tomorrow, that doesn¡¯t mean we won¡¯t see each other again, we can trade once a week if that¡¯s okay with you. We just have to find a middle ground and agree on a day¡±

    ¡°I have a proposal¡± Helena says timidly as she fiddles with her fingers ¡± how about we apany Ryu to his camp to make sure he gets there safely, he will pay us with some tools and if we like what we see at his ce we stay. If we don¡¯t like it, we stay with Ryu for a couple of days while we look for a better ce to live¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an excellent idea miss Helena! It does cover all our needs, we all agreed that we can¡¯t stay in here anymore. I think with this deal everyone wins. Ryu, if we find the jackal we can all fight it together, so you will have a safe trip. Our problem of scarce resources will also be solved. All in favor?¡±

    They all nod. This makes it clear that they are quite aware of their situation.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I¡¯m ok with this, why do you decide things on your own? you made it very clear from the start that I am in no way part of your group and I don¡¯t need to say yes just because you voted¡±

    ¡°But Ryu! don¡¯t you want to be together? errr I mean with us! with our group¡±

    Helena starts blushing mid sentence and loses it, strangely, Ayumi didn¡¯t take this as a chance to mock her, instead she speaks in a serious tone.

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that you don¡¯t want us toe over?¡±

    ¡°no, it¡¯s not that i don¡¯t want you toe along, but I don¡¯t want you guys to make it sound like you¡¯re doing me a favor by tagging along. You¡¯re getting way more out of this than i do¡±

    ¡°Geez! why are you so stubborn?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry ,Anne, I¡¯m sure Helena will find a way to repay him heeeehehee¡±

    Helena puffs her cheeks as everyone breaks intoughter, Bob even starts grabbing his stomach as if it hurt fromughing so much. So, now I¡¯m truly in an awkward position. there¡¯s a lot I need to think about and these guys won¡¯t take things seriously.

    Little by little everyone begins to go off to sleep. I decide to stay a while longer stoking the fire while I think about what should I prepare for tomorrow¡¯s travel. Helena stays by my side looking a bit impatient.

    .....

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to go to sleep yet? Tomorrow will be a hard day and we need to rest¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, I¡¯m just thinking on what to do tomorrow¡±

    ¡°So you don¡¯t want to go with us after all...¡±

    She looks right into the fire with a disappointed expression and adjust a strand of hair behind her ear with her delicate hand.

    ¡°No, I do, I think what you suggested is actually a great idea. But I cant help to be worried, I¡¯m no doubt the weakest of you guys and I know it¡¯s gonna be hard for your group to agree on following my instructions, but I also truly believe that it¡¯s for everyone¡¯s sake. I thought Hiraku wanted me to do this, when I first came he nted the idea... not directly but he kind of implied it. But if this is what he wanted, why didnt he stick his head out to support me? If you don¡¯t mind telling me, what do you think about going with me?¡±

    ¡°Well, if I¡¯m honest, I voted that I wanted to go, but with conditions. Living here felt like being on vacation. The first week everything was perfect. Our group was happy, we had a lot of fun and talked all the time.¡±

    ¡°When I arrived I also noticed that everyone was having fun all the time¡±

    ¡°Well, yes... But things weren¡¯t always like that, we had many discussions, especially when things started going wrong, we barely even found enough food. I don¡¯t want something like that to happen ever again, living in the forest is hard and we don¡¯t have have a purpose. That¡¯s why, I want to go to a city. If you promise to take us to a city, I will follow all your orders withoutining, no matter what you ask me¡± she says thest part in a soft voice that can barely be heard.

    ¡°I see, you endured a lot. Still, I can¡¯t promise that, truth is that I don¡¯t know any cities, towns or settlements.¡±

    Helena questions me with her eyes without saying anything, but since I don¡¯t continue talking she heads to the tent.

    ¡°Noting?¡± Helena says, blushing in a bright shade of red.

    Next morning, as soon as I wake up, I shake Helena lightly to wake her up.

    ¡°Good morning Helena, I need some help, would you mind going fishing with me today?¡±

    ¡°Good morning Ryu¡± her sleepy expression and her monotonous voice exude a charm unknown to me. A feeling of embarrassment runs through my body as soon as I realize that we just slept together, I can¡¯t help but blush.

    Past days things were easier in the morning because I left while she was still asleep.

    I start my day in a hurry. I get up and check the weapons i manage to craft yesterday: there are nine spears and three harpoons. It¡¯s enough.

    Helena leaves the tent soon after me, with her hair tousled. We move quietly to avoid waking up ourzypanions.

    Since the fire is out, it¡¯s very cold. Although the tents are poorly built, I haven¡¯t been cold at night these days. I usually end up so exhausted that it doesn¡¯t take long for me to fall asleep, but now I could say I¡¯ve never slept so well. Instead, Helena looks increasingly tired everyday.

    We head to the river, casually. I would take off my clothes to wash, but since it¡¯s all I¡¯m wearing I don¡¯t think that¡¯d be a good idea, so instead I just wash my face.

    Helena, with a harpoon in her hand, immediately begins to look for fish in the river. We need to get enough for today and something extra for the trip to my shelter. Normally I¡¯d avoid carrying any extra weight, but if Bob carries the basket it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.

    While theke is full of fish too, I n to take advantage of as many resources as I can get in here before leaving, since it¡¯s not likely we¡¯ll being back any time soon.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10: Don¡¯t go out for a walk at night, please! part

    If only it was possible to draw a map it¡¯d be very helpful. No, not yet, I¡¯m getting too far ahead of myself.

    Helena takes off her shoes before putting her feet in the water, moving forward and making some small groans at the cold. I ce the basket on the river bank and set foot inside the water at a distance from her.

    ¡°When you see a fish go down the river let me know and I¡¯ll try to catch it. If it escapes, then it will be your turn. Let¡¯s try to catch the biggest ones, leaving aside the smaller ones¡± I say to Helena as I hold the harpoon firmly.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Helena answers, it seems that cold affects her a lot because she has her arms crossed close to her body while she shivers, I can also spot two small pieces of evidence supporting my theory, but I¡¯ll be keeping that to myself.

    At first it¡¯s difficult to coordinate, but little by little it bes much easier and even fun. We are quite sessful, only a couple of fish escaped from our deadly harpoons. With the passing of time it also gets hotter, Helena takes this chance to ssh me some water and we both end up soaking wet.

    We got so many fish I¡¯m amazed, it¡¯s more than enough.

    If we were already in the cabin I could put some fish to dry, but in here there¡¯s no choice but to cook as much as we can to keep it from spoiling.

    .....

    My wicker basket is overflowing with fish and still we got a few more in our hands, so we head back.

    Just like yesterday, everyone is up already. They¡¯ve dismantled their tents using the wood they were made of to light the fire. There¡¯s no point in carrying firewood with us after all.

    Longer sticks are used by Hiraku, who fashions a sort of backpack out of them, using the leather pieces to prevent things from falling, they load a bunch of stuff on it. Bob will be taking care of carrying the heaviest load.

    My n to have Bob carry the fish up to the cabin was just ruined. Anyway that¡¯s fine, as long as most of us have our hands free, we shouldn¡¯t have a problem even if the jackal shows up.

    After cooking breakfast, everyone sits on the floor to eat. The atmosphere is more lively than usual due to the abundant fishing.

    What surprises me the most is watching Ayumi eat, I look at her dumbfounded as she goes for her third whole fish. When she realizes I¡¯m looking at her, she slowly puts it back near the campfire awkwardly.

    ¡°hey! I¡¯m not judging you at all! you can eat as much as you want. It¡¯s just that your appetite surprises me a bit¡± I try her to calm her down.

    ¡°It¡¯s only natural, when we use our abilities we consume our mana. From what they exined to us when we came, everytime you spend mana you need to recover it with energy from your body. So eating and resting are the only ways to recover mana¡± Hiraku says as Ayumi picks up again the fish and nibbles on it happily.

    ¡°Since we came in here I haven¡¯t been able to recover my energy. But it¡¯s nothingpared to Helena, her case is worse. She¡¯s been healing us using her mana, but the consumption rate of her skill is much higher than mine. After all, I only light the fire¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, but that doesn¡¯t exin why Ayumi is a bottomless pit and Helena isn¡¯t¡± says Anne.

    Out of everyone, Anne is the most demure to eat. She¡¯s the only one who has not thrown pieces on the ground, nor has she spoken with her mouth full. She only takes small bites and takes her time chewing.

    Finishing our breakfast we get up hurriedly, Bob puts out the fire, we pack up and head to my shelter. I really hope I can find the way back.

    Everyone starts walking behind me as I lead them through the forest, at first there¡¯s a clear path with markings on the trees but as minutes go by I can only walk by what i remember fromst time.

    ¡°As soon as we get to the tree where I spent the night after being attacked we¡¯ll split up to look for my backpack. Whoever finds it must immediately return to that tree that will do as a meeting point. Please don¡¯t forget to mark the path¡± I warn everyone.

    ¡°This guy, it hasn¡¯t even been five minutes since we left and he already thinks he¡¯s the leader of the group¡± Luke throws his typical snidement.

    Moody, I continue walking in the lead. I hope he changes his attitude at some point, otherwise it could be a bigger problem in the future.

    This forest is less dense than where Ie from, it¡¯s much more difficult to find trails. The path opens in all directions and because of this reason it¡¯s quite difficult to find the right way. My only hint would be the backpack, or maybe if I¡¯m lucky, i might be able to find the tree i spent the night on. I cant remember much of the way since I was following Anne.

    It¡¯s ok anyway, we got up early and everyone was quick to leave. If we hurry we could get there in the afternoon.

    It could be luck or just a coincidence, but as I was walking I started to recognize the ce, it¡¯s not like I knew the trees, it¡¯s more than just the feeling I¡¯ve been here before and since I got no memory of my past this should be a good thing.

    When we got to the tree where I spent the night after being attacked by the jackal, we took a short break and put our things on the ground. They all seem alert in case of attack, seeing them like this, they do look morepetent than their usual self.

    The only one who seems out of focus is Anne as she looks around confused. Now what got into her head?

    Suddenly she approaches a particr tree, now that I remember, the first time I saw her she was relieving herself right in that tree.

    Could it be that... does she remember the ce? Is it possible that she noticed that I could¡¯ve seen her?

    Anne turns sharply to look at the specific tree that served as my home for a night.

    ¡°Are you sure this is the tree?¡±

    ¡°Yes why?¡± I try to hide my anxiety and stay calm answering her.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing¡±

    She may be saying so, but she¡¯s got this look in her eyes. I think she realized. She stands up and nimbly climbs the branches as she closely inspects them, running her finger exactly over the same branch I slept on.

    ¡°There¡¯s blood here, and it¡¯s dried, it looks like you were telling the truth when you said you were attacked afterall. That¡¯s a relief, i thought maybe you were lying to us.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s time to split up. We¡¯ll go in pairs, in case the jackal shows up, but someone has to stay to watch things. Besides, if something happens whoever stays can go help quickly.¡± Hiraku says in a loud voice, though he doesnt sound authoritative.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea Hiraku, I remember running quite a distance, but it shouldn¡¯t be more than five minutes running, so it can¡¯t be too far. We¡¯ll avoid going in the general direction of the settlement anyway, as I¡¯m sure that it¡¯s a different direction¡±

    Ayumi and hiraku choose a random direction and leave. Luke and Bob go to the opposite end. Only Anne, Helena and I remain.

    ¡°You go with me, you can¡¯t stay alone because you¡¯re too weak and Helena has the ability to heal wounds so it is better if she stays to support the rest if necessary.¡±

    Anne takes my arm and drags me. Not understanding what happens I let myself be dragged away ufortably for a couple of meters, I can see Helena a little disappointed. I¡¯m sure she wanted to go with Anne. A littleter I struggle to let go but Anne won¡¯t release me.

    ¡°I can walk by myself, you know?

    ¡± Yes, I know... but there¡¯s something I want to ask you and I don¡¯t want you to run away¡±

    I¡¯m dead. Poison, thirst, illness, hunger, wounds, the jackal, I¡¯ve been through so many hardships, just to die at the hands of a psychopath in a forsaken forest.

    ¡°Y-yes?¡±

    ¡°That day...¡± Anne blushes a little ¡°that day, did you see anything?¡±

    Yes, I could see everything. You dropped your pants right in front of me, you have a nice figure by the way.

    There is no way in hell I¡¯m going to say something like that!!!

    ¡°like what?¡±

    ¡°That day... that day I came to gather. I know because I always mark my path. Before I came to this world I really liked to go on excursions. I¡¯m the one with the best orientation in the group as well as a good physical condition, that¡¯s why they chose me to explore. Also, even though I don¡¯t have a bow yet, I¡¯m an archer and my skills are especially useful for moving around unknown ces. So that¡¯s why I know I passed specifically through here at the same time you im you were near.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that exins why you¡¯re so strong. Well, that day I lost a lot of blood, more than sleeping in the tree, it could be said that I fell unconscious. I¡¯m sorry I cant help you¡±

    After a sigh of relief, she lets go of my arm and we continue walking in dead silence. In this short trip I¡¯ve been able to verify first-hand Anne¡¯s tracking skills.

    I don¡¯t think it¡¯s archery, rather it seems to be a technique acquired through years of practice.

    ¡°This path is not the right one, we should have found your backpack by now. Besides, there are no signs that anyone has passed through here.¡±

    We quickly retraced our steps. Everyone was waiting for us gathered in the tree as we agreed.

    ¡°Too slow! We already found the ce!¡± Bob exims loudly with his chest puffed out.

    We pick up the luggage and follow closely Luke and Bob who now lead the group.

    Everyone¡¯s walking impatiently, eager to reach our destination. They must¡¯ve explored running, both of them are giddy and jump into action before thinking things through. It was lucky they found the backpack in such a short amount of time.

    By the time we reach the spot Luke points to I¡¯m already gasping for air, we¡¯re still at a fair distance from my backpack, but I can see it.

    ¡°that jackal, we saw it, it was close by so be careful¡± Luke says addressing the group.

    ¡°Good thinking guys!!! When we get there we¡¯ll give you a bigger piece of fish than the rest¡± says Hiraku. Ayumi pulls his sleeveining, she really is a glutton.

    We approach the backpack cautiously, I check its contents:

    medicinal herbs, some berries, a couple sharp stones, flint and my two cups are now broken. Everything seems to be covered in a viscous liquid.

    ¡°That stupid dog, he left everything covered in drool! everything is ruined, to top it off the whole basket smells fishy¡±

    ¡°What else did you expect it to smell like? you were carrying fish right?¡± says Anne

    ¡°Not necessarily, Ryu taught me how to wrap fish in the leaves from the nt which we obtained the tubers. Not only does it keep the basket from smelling fishy, ??it also keeps bugs away¡± says Helena as she shows all the bundles of leaves in her basket.

    Helena is always ready to defend me, I like her already.

    ¡°Where are we going now?¡± Ayumi says, without disguising her impatience.

    Fortunately, I have a general idea of ??where theke is. As long as we get there I can see from the shore and try to set the course to my clearing.

    ¡°We have to walk over there¡± I say looking at Ayumi as I point my finger the other way. Everyone¡¯s face turns to stone.

    I don¡¯t know what¡¯s in there but every fiber of my being tells me I shouldn¡¯t look back. Is the jackal waiting for me? No, a jackal wouldn¡¯t scare them, they should be prepared to face it. I shouldn¡¯t be a coward, at least not in front of them if I want to gain their respect.

    I turn slowly, fearing what may be lurking behind my back, but the scene before my eyes is even worse than I expected.

    The jackal is nearby, although it seems distracted. Surely we could pass him by just making a small detour, avoiding it and then following the path to my cabin without facing any problems.

    But we don¡¯t do that, I don¡¯t do that, instead I run boldly towards the jackal, screaming at the top of my lungs.

    ¡°Stupid dog! Let go of that cat!¡±

    I don¡¯t think about the consequences, I don¡¯t think about the danger, I don¡¯t think about my safety or the safety of the group. I simply run screaming with teary eyes and then I pounced head first on the jackal.

    I manage to corner it against a tree but it refuses to let go of his prey. A faint meow escapes the poor kitty¡¯s snout, still half inside into the jackal¡¯s jaws. It¡¯s badly injured and it¡¯s just a kitten, it might not make it even if I get the jackal to let it loose.

    I swing my spear with all my might, not caring if i hurt it, I just need to cause it enough pain to frighten it. I somehow managed tond a good hit on its side and he dropped the kitten on the floor while running away.

    What do I do now? I¡¯m far ahead of the rest of the group, alone against the forest jackal, I have no chance in fighting alone. This sudden realization about how stupid I was left me frozen in fear.

    .....

    I look back briefly to see if I¡¯ll get help, but it turns out to be a mistake. A sharp pain pierces my leg and I feel something warm dripping.

    Health 7/10

    But the worst part of everything is what lies in front of my eyes, as the jackal pulls my leg holding tightly onto it, Ayumi is shaking on the ground, Bob is chanting something that sounds like a magic spell although it doesn¡¯t seem to be working. Helena cautiously approaches with trembling hands, Luke just watches the scene as he walks slowly. The only one who ran to my aid was Hiraku.

    He starts swinging his spear wildly as if it was a club. He hits the jackal and it doesn¡¯t even flinch, now that I remember,st time when I hit him with the spear it had the same effect. It must be that he¡¯s about as weak as I was back then.

    Then the jackal pounces on Hiraku, fearing the worst, I try to get on my feet, but the pain in my leg left me incapable of moving at all.

    The only thing I can do is analyze the jackal

    Jackal 9/15

    Not enough, not nearly enough!

    Anne threw her weapon from behind the jackal, preventing it from dodging. It was a good move, it may have even been a great move, but she was left without a weapon. It was a bad idea, the only thing I can do now is watch the fight from afar, I crawl as best I can towards the kitten.

    Moon cat 3/20 (bleeding)

    Things don¡¯t look great for the poor creature, It might even die. If it dies, everything would¡¯ve been in vain.

    Hiraku continues to face the jackal, his gaze shows his determination, he looks like a warrior that¡¯s been forged in battle, there¡¯s only one slight problem... all he does is swing the spear everywhere, without technique or awareness at all.

    When Luke arrives to help he receives a terrible blow to the face and Hiraku gets bitten. There¡¯s blood spurting out of Luke¡¯s nose, he covers his face with his hands rolling on the floor andletting go of his spear.

    What¡¯s up with this bunch of worthless heroes?

    I know that I am not one to judge, I know, my mistake forced us into a battle that could¡¯ve been easily avoided, and I was the first to be injured. Still, a group of six heroes facing a single jackal shouldn¡¯t even be an issue.

    ¡°Bob, stop yelling and join the battle! Helena, use your healing skill on Hiraku! Anne, pick up my spears and fight again!¡±

    I yell directions as loud as I can. Although their first reaction is surprise, they quickly follow my instructions.

    ¡°Surround it so he doesn¡¯t run away!¡±

    Bob hits the jackal so hard I think I even heard a cracking sound, Anne threw one of my spears right to its neck.

    ¡°Hiraku, for goodness sake stop hitting allies, if you can¡¯t, you better back off!¡±

    Bob manages tond another hit and the jackal finally drops dead. It was a tough fight, but there¡¯s no time to rest. Everyone starts checking their wounds, Ayumi is still on the ground and I¡¯m holding the cat in my arms.

    Only now do I realize that it has two tails. It¡¯s a beautiful small cream-colored kitten. I don¡¯t know how old it is, but it¡¯s so tiny.

    ¡°Helena, is there anything you can do for this kitty?¡± I look at Helena with pleading eyes, she shakes her head.

    ¡°I spent all my mana healing Luke, I still only managed to heal him for four health points. I think even if I had all my mana, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do much for the cat.¡±

    Why was she healing luke? she should¡¯ve healed Hiraku, Luke was just fine.

    ¡°Listen Helena, I asked you to Heal Hiraku... in case you¡¯re wondering why, it¡¯s because Hiraku may be infected by something... and Luke just got a hit to the face¡±

    She looks absent minded, maybe I was too harsh on her, but if this was a fight to the death it can make a huge difference.

    Now, what can i do about this cat? I could just give up, continue my journey and get on with my life. But no, I wouldn¡¯t be able to forget this moment. I think even if Luke was in this state I wouldn¡¯t care so much, why did Helena heal Luke? That guy is a waste of air.

    There might be a way but its cost will be high. I search on my sash for medicine, the silver flower¡¯s root is still there, I start chewing on it, then I take off my sash and pass the obsidian knife to Bob, who looks at me intrigued.

    I spit the paste in my hand and put it on the wounds of the poor feline.

    ¡°it¡¯s for you to skin the jackal , we can¡¯t let the skin go to waste. I think eating it would be a bad idea, though.¡±

    I continue to wrap the sash around the cat¡¯s wound to prevent blood loss and keeping the medicine in ce. It seems to be working as it starts meowing in pain, and I get a new message.

    First Aid 1%

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11: Don¡¯t pet stray cats, please! part

    Walking with the battered creature in my arms, I don¡¯t even have time to check its condition, I want to get back home as soon as possible and take care of it there. I think the state of the rest of the group is pretty good considering every stupid thing they did during the battle.

    Fortunately, I gave them instructions before things went wrong, I really don¡¯t know if they could have beaten the Jackal without my help. What I do know, however, is that I definitely wouldn¡¯t have been able to do it alone. As soon as I fell on the floor I knew it, if it wasn¡¯t for their help I¡¯d be dead meat now.

    Now that our battle is over and we¡¯re walking again. Hiraku is carrying Ayumi, who still hasn¡¯t recovered.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± Anne asks without the slightest tact.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know... she hasn¡¯t said a word. But maybe she¡¯s just scared¡± Hiraku replies with a gloomy face.

    Although we emerged victorious and got a good loot, nobody is happy. I think we all focus simply on walking as a distraction from our own mistakes.

    It¡¯s toote to realize this, but we are all absolutely useless inbat. I¡¯m very curious about what on earth was Bob doing, shouting unintelligible chants at the most critical moment, but I can¡¯t work up the courage to ask.

    .....

    A little further on, I finally find a familiar path.

    ¡°We are about two hours away, it took longer than I expected so we¡¯ll be there by nightfall.¡±

    Myment was like pouring salt on an open wound. I don¡¯t know what I was thinking when I said that, maybe I thought they¡¯d be d they were on the right track, but they didn¡¯t seem too excited to be walking at night.

    As we head deeper into the woods, the breeze hitting my face refreshes my memory with every step I take. We¡¯re getting closer!

    Wish I could light up everyone¡¯s face with a smile like Ayumi does, but I don¡¯t have her wit and charm. It¡¯s kind of impressive that she, being the oldest of the women in the group, acts like she¡¯s the youngest. I guess I hadn¡¯t given it much thought, mainly because of her short stature and youthful appearance, physically she looks even smaller than Helena.

    The small kitten is gasping for air. I¡¯m sure the medicine worked, but it couldn¡¯t possibly be enough. Although it has a small body and less medicine was needed, its injuries were really serious.

    I don¡¯t know why I acted without thinking. As soon as I saw it, I jumped without hesitation. Maybe I had a cat before, I¡¯ve never had such a hard time having no memory, at least I never felt like not having memories was that bad at all.

    I came to a halt, a few secondster the sky opens up in an intense cold rain. Water falls with intensity soaking uspletely, our clothes are not suited for this kind of weather. But not even the cold water embracing every inch of our bodies manages to break the dead silence of our group. Thick clouds obscure the path to such an extent that I can no longer guide the group properly.

    ¡°Anne, you sure can see better than me. We have to follow this path, could you lead the way please?¡±

    Anne nods and steps quickly ahead of everyone. I mixed with the group, now that I don¡¯t have to look at the road I can focus my attention on the others. Bob¡¯s usual energetic steps that seem to trample over everything are now like a gentle tapping on the ground than can only be heard because of his heavy weight.

    *thump* *thump*

    Hiraku walks behind me with Ayumi still in his arms, Luke walks looking down touching his nose with a hand from time to time, Helena tries to cover herself from the rain with her basket on top of her head. I¡¯m fatigued and my leg is killing me, I feel an intense pain with every step and instead of taking care of my own wounds I used my medicine on the cat.

    But, how could I abandon this poor creature?

    Anne stops out of a sudden, then runs for cover ducking behing a tree and everyone follows suit

    ¡°This!? How is this possible?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Anne?¡± Helena asks, her voice breaking from the cold.

    ¡°There¡¯s a house in the middle of nowhere! Be careful! it¡¯ste and the owner shouldn¡¯t be far¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re finally here!¡±

    I go ahead carelessly and open the door. Then I take everything outside Wooden spears, my old harpoon, a small primitive bench and some trinkets. I leave everything outside without caring about the rain to make some space.

    ¡°So, this is your house? It¡¯s huge!¡± Helena says.

    Luke¡¯s jaw dropped and his expresion froze.

    ¡°Anne, hahaha! and you said he was a savage!¡± Bobughs.

    ¡°Pleasee in, don¡¯t stay in the rain. There¡¯s no way to light a fire indoors so it may be a bit cold, but it should be better than being out in the rain. I didn¡¯t make it big on purpose, truth be told, cutting off the logs was too much trouble so instead I simply used them whole.¡±

    Approximately six meters wide and four meters long, the small log cabin stands near the middle of a clearing in the forest. With bark roof tiles and a door made of sticks carefully ced to leave as little space as possible, it now gives shelter to everyone from the merciless rain pouring outside.

    Loud noises produced by the rain hitting the roof can be heard, but it doesnt let a single drop inside. There¡¯s only a bed made of boards and at its foot, a small pile of folded clothes, simple pants and a shirt.

    ¡°You can put Ayumi in the bed to rest. I¡¯m sorry it¡¯s not much, it¡¯s all I¡¯ve been able to build since I got here.¡±

    ¡°Sure, thanks young Ryu. I¡¯m still amazed you built all this by yourself¡±

    The expressions of astonishment don¡¯t stop as they inspect the cabin curiously, since it is dark they keep the door open so they can see inside.

    Only Anne can see properly since she has night vision, a skill only archers possess.

    ¡°These clothes! where did you find them?¡± Anne asks turning to look at me.

    ¡°They are mine, of course¡±

    ¡°But, how is it possible? These clothes are from our world! Answer! Who are you? And don¡¯t lie to us this time!¡±

    ¡°Well, to tell you the truth, I don¡¯t know. A little over a month ago I regained consciousness, but with no memory whatsoever. I don¡¯t know where I came from, I don¡¯t even remember my name. It¡¯s not something I wanted to hide, but since I knew it must be hard to believe, I decided to keep it to myself¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re also a summoned hero?¡± Bob asks

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible¡± says Luke ¡°I saw his status, not only he¡¯s weak, he also doesn¡¯t have a ss¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been curious about that for a while now, how did you guys got your abilities?¡±

    ¡°Someone iming to be a god brought us all together, then he told us he had summoned us just before the moment of our death. In my case, one moment I was very sick and the next, I was in a white illuminated space with the others.¡± Helena exins.

    ¡°I was run over, I think...¡± Bob adds

    ¡°The important thing is what he told us¡± Hiraku clears his throat ¡°the world I will send you to is dominated by beasts, magical beings and it¡¯s very perilous. Humanity is doomed to extinction. Your mission will be to save humanity and guide mankind to an era of peace and prosperity. This world is more advanced than yours, not in technology, but in energy. The presence of mana makes possible all kinds of phenomena that you will not understand, so it will be difficult for you to survive until you learn the basics.

    To help you in this task, I will rebuild your bodies making you stronger than you¡¯ve ever been. I will be cing you in a safe ce full of resources, I cannot leave you directly in the city since I¡¯m certain they will be wary of strangers who appear from out of thin air and that could be dangerous, this world is not as peaceful as yours. Lastly, I will give you a ss, this will allow you to gain useful skills that will keep you safe.

    A ss is not something you can choose directly, it¡¯s something so powerful it can be said that it¡¯s a modification to your soul. It will enhance your bodies and the ammount of energy you can harness, but you will need some time to learn how to make the most of it.

    Also, you will be heroes which will give you an advantage over all creatures, although it also means it will take some time to grow stronger. Regarding good and evil, you have total freedom of action, as long as you fulfill the mission you¡¯ve been assigned, I will have noints.

    When he was talking we couldnt talk nor move, but it felt like he was able to read our minds.¡±

    ¡°you sure have a great memory¡± I say to Hiraku while I try to process what he¡¯s telling me.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it, everything that happened was recorded in our memory, I think that even if we wanted to forget it, we wouldn¡¯t be able to.¡± Anne¡¯s voice resounds as she closes the door and the cabin ispletely dark.

    It¡¯s notte so we continue our conversation with the rain echoing on the roof of the cabin.

    ¡°About my situation, I have no memories at all, although I do have some knowledge of the world. Thanks to that I¡¯ve been able to survive until now in the wilderness. There are things I know, but I don¡¯t know how or when I learnt them, on the other hand, there are other words I know but I can¡¯t associate them with anything¡±.

    ¡°Mmm... intriguing¡± says Hikaru.

    I can¡¯t see it, but I imagine he said it with his usual expression. Who would say this is the same guy who clumsily swung his spear at random screaming, missing, or hitting his own allies. I think my expectations on Hiraku were too high, but I can say the same about everyone.

    Someone touches my shoulder and passes me a piece of grilled fish. Instead of eating, I offer it to the injured cat resting In myp, there¡¯s a faint meowing and it opens its mouth a couple of times but doesn¡¯t seem to be eating. I break off a small piece and ce it towards its snout.

    Taming 3%

    Poor creature, it¡¯s cold, tired and eating with difficulty. Still, it¡¯s condition doesn¡¯t seem to be critical since it tried to eat.

    Anne breaks the silence that had fallen as we all were eating.

    ¡°How are we going to sleep? I was so tired to share tent with luke!¡±

    ¡°There should be enough space, but because of the bed, it will be difficult to fit us all on the floor, unless bob used the bed¡±. I answer Anne without enthusiasm, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be sleeping with Helena anymore, this weighs me down a bit

    ¡°I propose that we settle in the following way: Bob, Luke, me, Ryu, Helena and Anne¡± says Hiraku ¡°obviously I¡¯d like to sleep next to my wife, but it¡¯s not possible today¡±

    ¡°Hey pervert! You could at least try to hide your smile, there are people who can see in the dark, you know?¡± Anne says in a nasty tone.

    ¡°No, I...¡± I try to answer but my throat catches.

    Bobughs and it spreads to the rest. We are finally putting aside the heavy mood that apanied us on the way to this ce.

    Next day a wet feeling on my face wakes me up, this shouldn¡¯t be possible! I double checked for leaks! But more importantly, with my eyes still closed I can feel a warm hug. I¡¯d like to stay like this a bit longer, but since today is our first day together in here we need to make the most of it.

    I open my eyes heavily and discover a strange furry creature licking my face, cheeky cat! In front of me, Helena with her angelic face while she¡¯s fast asleep and, panic begins to take hold of me, when I see that she uses one of her arms as a pillow and the other rests on her hip.

    Who¡¯s embracing me then!?

    Hiraku sleeps soundly with a loud breath, holding me firmly. I try move his arms to free myself from his hold and, at first it seems to be working, but after getting morefortable he grabs me again with one arm even tighter. If only he used half this strenght while fighting the jackal!

    This is too embarrassing. I¡¯d like to wake him up but I don¡¯t want anyone else to see this show. I get up determinedly, avoiding moving Helena as much as possible.

    Before leaving I take a look at the group, Hiraku snores with drool in his mouth, Anne hugs Helena from behind. Luke sleeps peacefully and Bob is curled up as the ce is too small for him. The twin tailed cat tries to stand, but it¡¯s still too weak, so it snuggles into Helena¡¯s chest. Ayumi is awake in the bed seemingly judging me with her eyes.

    ¡°I saw everything¡±

    ¡°Ah!?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s my husband, you know? It¡¯s not good to get in the way¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? Well, it doesn¡¯t matter, it¡¯s good you¡¯re awake. Can you help me?¡±

    Ayumi nods her head and carefully passes between Helena and Hiraku. I¡¯m d she¡¯s back to her usual self.

    It¡¯s a beautiful morning, everything is wet making it seem like it¡¯s shinning. Fortunately, the kitchen is made of stone and mud so getting a fire going should be an easy task, as long as we manage to get some dry firewood. I go to the woodshed, the branches on top arepletely wet, but the rest are in excellent condition to set fire.

    After geting the firewood, Ayumi extends her hand and the fire quickly lights up. We both stood in front of the primitive kitchen in silence for a moment, my mind ispletely nk for a moment, just enjoying the warmth of the fire and the freshness of the morning.

    .....

    ¡°What did you need my help for?¡± Ayumi says as we walk together towards theke.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I didn¡¯t have a way to light the fire since everything¡¯s wet¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying I¡¯m as useful as a flint?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? of course you¡¯re more useful, you¡¯re a lot faster¡±

    ¡°Pretty much the only thing I¡¯ve done since I came into this world has been lighting the fire every time it goes out. I¡¯m scared to explore and I¡¯m not very good at crafting, I¡¯m so bored all the time¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. Right now we need most resources to build, dress ourselves, make daily life morefortable and also safer. If you can¡¯t go out to collect and you don¡¯t have the ability to craft things, then what else can you do?¡±

    Ayumi lowers her gaze. It¡¯s strange to see her acting mature, she looks so small and young, it¡¯s hard to believe she¡¯s Hiraku¡¯s wife. On the other hand, supposedly the god who brought them rejuvenated them, so it kind of makes sense.

    ¡°Hey! can you help me fish? I remember you went with Hirakust time!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a good idea, when Hiraku and I went fishing, I didn¡¯t do anything. He just used his precision skill to fish. He said he only wanted to take two fish to make the rest believe that fishing is harder than it actually is¡±.

    ¡°And why exactly would he do that? Since I arrived at your camp Hiraku seems to have put a lot of trust in me and I don¡¯t understand why¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand it either, to be honest, I didn¡¯t even want toe. The trip seemed dangerous¡±

    She made a pause and I took it as a chance to wash my face and fill the wooden bowls I brought with me.

    ¡°You could have told us you had a house, that would¡¯ve made things easier from the start. If I knew before I would have agreed toe without thinking twice, maybe the others too, we all missed having a roof over our heads¡±.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± Anne says from behind me, she always brings her basket with her. I¡¯m sure she¡¯sing to wash up.

    ¡°Good morning¡± we reply in unison, Anne may be nasty at times, but at least she¡¯s well mannered.

    We return to the clearing leaving Anne behind, each carrying a bowl full of water in each hand. It¡¯s a pity that I lost my wooden jugs, stupid forest jackal! it broke them while rummaging in the basket.

    Once inside the cabin, I leave a bowl of water on the floor for the wounded cat, although it¡¯s nowhere to be seen. Just when I start to worry I look at Helena¡¯s chest. The small cat entered her cleavage and seems to befortable. I can¡¯t say I me him at all... but what am I thinking?

    Putting aside any dirty thoughts I used my analyze skill on the little animal.

    >Moon Cat 7/20 taming: neutral

    It has as much health as i do already! And now a messagees out next to him. Neutral, I guess this means that he doesn¡¯t see me as an enemy, but he doesn¡¯t see me as a friend either.

    I hope he doesn¡¯t attack me, if for some reason he ys with me and scratches me a couple of times, he could send me to meet the god that thezy heroes mention so much.

    Speaking of them... Helena is staring at me with a flushed face.

    ¡°Er... good morning Ryu¡± she says stuttering.

    This is bad!

    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think, Helena, I¡¯m sorry, I...it was unintentional¡±

    ¡°You were looking at the cat, right?¡±

    ¡°Ufff, in that case it is what you think. Sorry anyway, I didn¡¯t mean to bother you¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s all this ruckus in the morning?¡± Luke growls.

    I decide to quietly retreat to avoid waking up his royal majesty the chosen hero. Why does he have to be so cocky andzy? I¡¯d trade Luke for a cooking pot any day.

    A cooking pot! I don¡¯t have the first clue on how to make one, but I came up with a good idea. I approach Ayumi who¡¯s carelessly throwing small twigs on the fire.

    ¡°Ayumi, I think i just found a way for you to to be useful to the group, no, not useful. I found a way for you to be indispensable to the group, are you interested?¡±

    ¡°Remember that I voted againsting, it wasn¡¯t just because of the dangerous trip, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to have a leader either, we already had a bad experience with that, and I don¡¯t want it to happen again¡±

    ¡°I understand, even so, it¡¯s something that can only seed if we work together¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what has you so excited but I¡¯ll y along... for now¡±

    So we sit down and start discussing the details.

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12: Don¡¯t pet stray cats, please! part

    ¡°Oh! This could work! I¡¯ll go to theke since Anne is there, I¡¯ll ask her to help me¡± Ayumi exims with a smile as she runs towards theke.

    There are no food reserves, berry bushes haven¡¯t ripened yet, so the only thing left to do is to see if there are mushrooms on the ground or maybe go fishing.

    Although mushrooms are tasty, there¡¯s no way to get enough for everyone in the group and I can¡¯t go fishing since Anne is sure to be in theke washing herself.

    Going out to look for branches is also not a bad idea, I could even try to fell a tree little by little using sticks and stones like I used to when I was alone. Although I rule out thetter because of the amount of effort required, it¡¯d be better to get some appropriate tools before.

    While I was getting some branches, the rest wake up and start doing their thing. Helena is thest to get up, with the cat still inhabiting her generous cleavage.

    ¡°I can¡¯t take it out, it must be cold and it¡¯s so cute!¡± Helena says smiling.

    Finally, I¡¯m left alone at the settlement, which gives me some time to think about the problems that we are facing and possible solutions.

    .....

    We have a shortage of food, although we may get enough and even some excess, if we do not have the means to preserve it, we will be lost before winter. Until now, the only way I had to preserve the fish is to air dry it, hanging it on a branch. Problem with this is that both wind and temperature were not constant, causing about half to be ruined.

    There are alternatives, of course, like salt, smoke or freeze the fish. Sadly, I have no salt or means to freeze fish. Maybe Ayumi can do it with magic, but what would be the point if she ends up spending more energy than she will recover consuming that same amount of food?

    The first thing will be to make some charcoal, since the smoking process requires control of temperature and airflow, I can practice making some charcoal which is much easier to get, even if I fail you won¡¯t be losing much.

    Hiraku sets off to theke with a harpoon, he will surely get enough food for today, this leaves me some spare time to try new things.

    I look for branches of all sizes and begin to build the pyre. I start with the thickest branches that I have and I surround them with thinner and thinner branches until finally I cover everything with dry leaves. Then I kneaded some mud with the water I brought from theke, it¡¯s not enough so I have to make three or four trips to fetch water.

    On the way I meet a crushed Bob.

    ¡°Hey Ryu, I couldn¡¯t find any food, is that why you were looking for some ce else in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°Something like that, it¡¯s not just for that, I decided to go out and explore further in order to find civilization. You already know how I ended being attacked by the jackal so my trip was short lived¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I see¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t worry anyway, I¡¯m sure Hiraku brings enough and I doubt he¡¯ll have a problem sharing with us. If you want, you could knock down some trees, you know, hitting them with rocks and sticks, NOT punching, seriously. Obviously you won¡¯t be able to fell the biggest ones, but young trees are good enough for now¡±

    ¡°Yes! That¡¯d be nice, I realized that you made the cabin with your own hands. the logs you used are thin but somehow you managed to fit them on top of each other. There is practically no airing in from outside.¡±

    ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t going to build another cabin right away. After all, they still haven¡¯t decided if they will stay or not¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s true! Although I already decided that I want to stay, hahaha! I¡¯m truly happy we got to meet you Ryu! you¡¯ve shown us a lot of good things and I¡¯m sure our future together will be even better¡±

    ¡°Well, we need a lot of firewood anyway, if you could chop down a tree or two it would be perfect, there are not many dry branches left in the surroundings¡±

    I continue to knead the mud and then cover the pyre almostpletely with mud. Just leaving a small air inlet up and some down.

    I light a stick and walk over to my experiment, I ce the stick in the air inlet at the top and begin to feed the fire.

    It¡¯s a tedious and exhausting task, and I¡¯m all dirty because of the mud, but this can be quite beneficial. When I see that the fire has reached the base I begin to close the venttion until it¡¯spletely covered. It looks like a small mound of mud.

    Helena sat next to me on the rustic chair. I say rustic because it could hardly be called a chair, it is just some sticks tied with vegetable fiber and it is not veryfortable, the backrest it has is just for decoration since if someone leaned on it it would break right away. I made several attempts to craft some furniture, but I¡¯m not good at it. She has been carefully watching everything I¡¯ve done while cutting long leaves as inrge strips that she then separates and hangs on a branch.

    ¡°What is that for?¡± she asks while nimbly continuing her task.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to make charcoal, it¡¯s not really a top priority, butter on it could allow us to preserve some fish. Please don¡¯tugh at me if I fail, it¡¯s just an experiment¡±

    ¡°I would never! you¡¯ve made so many cool things!¡±

    It¡¯s almost noon and all the inhabitants of this lively group begin to arrive one by one. Anne brings a bunch of long leaves for Helena to make more fiber. Hiraku returns with his basket full of fish, Bob drags two huge logs behind him. These guys may be bad at fighting, but they are really handy when ites to doing chores.

    Just when I was about to ask about Ayumi, she appearspletely covered in mud. Even her face is sttered, her hair is an absolute mess. Still, she¡¯s graced by the biggest smile I¡¯ve ever seen.

    ¡°Looks like you did well!¡±

    ¡°That was awesome! You had the best idea! How¡¯s the other stuff going?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m done, now we just have to wait to see if it works or not¡±

    The others look at us with curiosity. The only one keeping busy is Hiraku, after borrowing my obsidian knife, he proceeds to prepare the food, I¡¯m not entirely sure it can be called cooking since he¡¯s only cutting the fish and then skewering it.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to stay. I know that it¡¯s not yet the time to make a decision, but I want you to know in advance. From today on, things can improve a lot for us if we stay¡±

    Bob smiles at Ayumi while giving her a nod of approval. This time Anne doesn¡¯t seem upset, it¡¯s rare to see her in a good mood. Even Luke has avoided making his bitterments.

    The smell of grilled fish begins to fade, suddenly small moans begin to be heard and Helena moves ufortably.

    ¡°Stay still, it¡¯s not time to eat yet¡±

    The cat¡¯s little head emerges from Helena¡¯s cleavage, looks like it¡¯s recovering fine.

    ¡°No wait, maybe it is time to eat, after all it¡¯s an animal and It should be able to eat raw fish. Hiraku, could you give me the parts you were about to throw out please? Maybe our new member will like them¡±

    ¡°Sure, take what you want, it will be easier to get rid of the waste that way¡±

    Helena takes the feline out of its shelter and a loud meow is heard. I think he¡¯s getting attached to Helena, although I¡¯m supposed to be the one taming it.

    I quickly grab some fish scraps and the little creature stumbles towards me. I offer the remains, but they are too big and it still has difficulty eating, although desperate, the only thing it manages to do is bury its head between guts and fish heads.

    This is not a cute image, at all, what¡¯s more, I would say this should be censored. Still i cant hold a giggleing out of my mouth. I break smaller pieces and feed the wounded feline, I want to take the opportunity to remove the bandage, but as soon as I try, it bristles in a ball of fur and goes back to hide behind a tree with a loud hiss.

    I decide to leave the bandage alone and offer some food again.

    taming 4%

    ¡°By the way, Bob, good job getting those logs... but I don¡¯t think we have a way to use them. I don¡¯t have tools to process them, they should be thinner and hopefully all the same thickness¡±

    ¡°I understand Ryu, it¡¯s just that i thought that if I cut a couple of big logs they would serve us to sit near the fire, while at the same time that they dry a little to use them as firewood during the winter¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good thinking! I didn¡¯t think about it, and the sooner the better. This is great Bob!¡±

    Bob puffs out his chest with pride as he reaches out to pull a piece of fish from the primitive kitchen. Soon everyone is starting to get their share, everyone except Anne.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Anne? you look pale¡± Helena asks concerned

    ¡°It¡¯s not...¡± but before she finishes her sentence a loud growl can be hearding out of her stomach.

    Is it possible that she drank water directly from theke? I don¡¯t think so, she wouldn¡¯t be so careless, would she?

    ¡°Anne, by any chance did you drink water from theke?¡±

    ¡°Could be, maybe a little...¡±

    ¡°This is bad, you need to boil the water first. Didn¡¯t you guys boil water before drinking it at your camp?¡±

    ¡°Well, not always, most of the time we drank directly from the river. It was difficult to get enough boiled water for everyone and the river water was clean¡± replies Ayumi somewhat troubled.

    ¡°It¡¯s best to avoid drinking unboiled water, even if it seems clean. There¡¯s always the possibility of getting poisoned or sick. Luckily, red berries can detox you, though you¡¯ll have to get quite a few depending on the severity of your illness. We could go find some if you want, Anne¡±

    ¡°I can go aler, this is nothing¡±

    ¡°I dont think that¡¯s a good idea, there are only a couple hours of daylight left, besides going alone is dangerous. It should be a group of at least three people carrying baskets, so we can make the most of the trip¡±

    ¡°Stop acting like a leader!¡± Luke exims impatiently ¡°we haven¡¯t decided to stay yet, have you forgotten the agreement?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, I apologize, it was just a suggestion though¡±

    Everyone is busy going to and from the settlement during the evening hours, except Anne who is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile Helena managed to make arge number of strips of leaves.

    ¡°We will have a ton of fiber once it dries! I¡¯ll need some help to weave it... but im looking forward to making some new clothes!¡±

    ¡°I would help, but I¡¯m not that good at it, i could make some cordage...¡±

    ¡°yeah, I noticed your fiber clothes are not good at all, Anne even thought you were a savage, hehe, well.. I¡¯ll make you something nice for you to wear!¡±

    ¡°thank you! Helena!¡±

    I can¡¯t help but smile every time I¡¯m with her, she¡¯s so caring and tender.

    Luke has been practicing some sort of swordsmanship against a huge tree nearby. From what I could see, he has practically not done any damage, but as long as he improves his abilities, it¡¯s not wasted time.

    Hiraku and Ayumi are making y at theke, then they transport it to the settlement, where I shape it as best I can.If only we had an oven to cook the pots evenly for an appropriate time, but since the kitchen is small and to be honest, it¡¯s not well built, it barely fits a few cups.

    I made a big pot with two handles, although it¡¯s not perfect if I can cook it without breaking it will be very useful, specially to boil water for everyone.

    I make a small fire in one corner of the clearing, ce the pot there, and put a bunch of small sticks into the pot, which I also light, this way it will cook from everywhere at the same time.

    Byte afternoon the result was as follows:

    Three cups were broken, and the two dishes I made were broken.

    The pot and four cups were a sess. With this we can boil water properly.

    When sunlight started to dim we gathered in front of the kitchen. Today¡¯s dinner will also be fish. Taste is not bad, but it gets boring quickly.

    ¡°How are you feeling Anne?¡± Ayumi asks.

    ¡°I¡¯m not bad, really, I just get rumbling from time to time¡±

    Yes, you can say that, but I know what¡¯sing and it¡¯s not nice. Should I help her? but she¡¯s been so mean to me this whole time, I don¡¯t know what to do. Anyway, everyone put good effort today and we achieved a lot of things on our very first day in here, also Ayumi changed her attitude towards me almost instantly after telling her my n.

    .....

    ¡°Ayumi, thank you for helping me today. Thanks to you we now have a way to boil water, although it may be a bitte for Anne¡±

    ¡°Yes, should I start with the report, Leader Ryu?¡± Ayumi says with a smile on her face

    ¡°That!!! he¡¯s not the leader!¡± Luke says under his breath

    ¡°What¡¯s this about the report?¡±

    ¡°Well, as you know so far the only thing I did the whole day was light the fire. Then I rested until night to recover as much mana as possible. Although you tell me that it¡¯s a useful task that only I could do, I felt useless most of the time anyway¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be helped dear, after all we didn¡¯t have enough food to keep your mana pool to the max either¡± Hiraku says to Ayumi while rubbing her back tenderly .

    ¡°I know, but still, it was hard for me not being able to help. I¡¯m not very good at doing things with my hands and I freeze when I¡¯m scared. But leader Ryu had an amazing idea! Tell them!¡±

    ¡°Well, you know that we need a lot of things to get through the winter. Even if you wanted to travel before the situation bes difficult, making preparations for a long trip takes time.

    I was talking to Ayumi and then it hit me! that she could do some research. This would allow her to stay in the settlement and rest, while also doing something useful that¡¯s not risky.

    My n is for her to develop new materials, ingredients and resources, for us to make use of. Upon sess, she will give us a report at this time since we are always together in front of the fire when it gets dark¡±

    *Cough cough*

    ¡°Well, my report for today: we decided to start researching y, since it¡¯s not only used to make utensils, it can also be useful as building material. After several experiments, I found a mixture that allowed the y to be shaped and fired sessfully. I assume that the failures we had are mainly due to theck of a better oven. On the other hand Ryu made charcoal, but we won¡¯t know the result until it cools down¡±

    ¡°Good job Ayumi!¡± Helena says ¡°what are you going to investigate tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not a library, I¡¯ll take my time to figure out what¡¯s next. Ryu asked me to find a way to preserve the food, so that will be my priority for now. We just started with y because it¡¯s easy to get and very useful. In case you don¡¯t know it¡¯s not just making mud and ying with it! it was very difficult to find a mix that works, I even tried using ashes!¡±

    ¡°I see, It makes sense to find a way to preserve food, if we get additional food we won¡¯t have any hardships during winter¡±

    Then Anne abruptly changes the subject.

    ¡°Tomorrow we¡¯ll wash our clothes, Ayumi made a mess from ying with mud all day. Men should get up earlier, we¡¯ll light a fire and then go to theke. If you happen to spy on us...¡± she looks me straight in the eyes ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to take away everything that makes you call yourself men, am I clear?¡±

    ¡°Calm down Anne, you don¡¯t have to go that far! I don¡¯t think they have that kind of bad intentions¡± Helena says with her usual conciliatory tone. But Luke looks embarrassed at the ground. Still, why does Anne keep looking at me with those eyes?

    Just as it was getting ufortable, a loud growl is heard from her stomach. Although no one had the courage tough, at least her expression changed.

    ¡°We should also go get some medicine to treat your illness, Anne,¡±

    says Helena, forcing a smile.

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, I already said I can go alone¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s dangerous! We don¡¯t know what might be nearby¡±

    As conversation continues, my mind drifts away distracted by my own thoughts until bedtime. This time we decided to give the bed to Bob, because of his size he is the most difficult to amodate. This allowed us to get more room in the floor, since we traded a huge Bob for a tiny Ayumi. Hopefuly I won¡¯t have to sleep next to Hiraku.

    ¡°I dont want to sleep next to the savage, what if he¡¯s dangerous?¡± Luke says arrogantly

    ¡°Too bad this isn¡¯t your house Luke, now shut up and get to sleep¡± Ayumi can be scary sometimes.

    Next morning a curious message received me as soon as I opened my eyes:

    Transmutation 1%

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13: Don¡¯t peek, please! part

    Every ce has a history and although most of the time there are no witnesses, all kinds of unusual miracles ur in the midst of the mostmon ces, sometimes strange, inexplicable phenomena that would leave the wisest speechless. Sometimes, nature shows its ugliest face and others, an immeasurable beauty.

    On that particr day, for the first time in the history of one of the many unnamedkes,ughter filled the air. Transforming the solemn beauty of a virginndscape into a frenzy of games andughter, while three young women bathe together in its cold waters.

    Anne, Ayumi and Helena enjoy the freedom that only nudity in nature can offer. Their clothes wait on the shore, along with three nt fiber tunics they brought as spares to be able to wash their clothes properly.

    ¡°Anne, tell me, how did you keep your clothes clean all this time?¡± Ayumi asks

    ¡°I just washed them¡±

    ¡°And how did you dry it?¡± Helena asks curiously, rubbing her neck conscientiously.

    ¡°I usually put my clothes on a t rock that I cleaned beforehand and when it was cold I would just run around and dry quickly¡±

    .....

    ¡°I admire your level ofmitment, but it¡¯s useless trying to stay clean in a forest¡±

    ¡°So you say now , Ayumi, but only because you ended uppletely muddy yesterday. Seriously, why are you ying along with that pervert?¡±

    Says Anne, this time without any traces of malice.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you got against Ryu, at first I didn¡¯t trust him either, but one thing is for sure... if he wanted to kill us, the only thing he would¡¯ve had to do was let us stay there¡±

    ¡°I also think you are not being fair with Ryu. Why are you always causing him trouble? He¡¯s been nice to everyone and he¡¯s been so patient with you, it¡¯s almost hard to believe¡±

    ¡°Ehhh!? I didn¡¯t know you were the jealous type Helena¡±

    ¡°Quit it Ayumi, you know what I mean¡±

    ¡°well, truth is... I don¡¯t know, every time I see him I lose my temper. Something about him bothers me and I just can¡¯t help it.¡±

    ¡°anyway I think you should be more grateful to him, after all we will live together from now on¡± says Helena as she gets out of the water trying to cover herself from the cold wind with her bare arms.

    Once outside and dressed in the nt fiber tunics, the three begin to wash their clothes as best they can.

    ¡°And, what if you invent a soap?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not an inventor, I just have free time¡±

    ¡°But, anyway we need one! pretty please!¡±

    ¡°Let me tell you something, wee from a world full of technology and all kinds of products. We all know how to use them, right? but if I asked you how to make perfume or soap, do you think you could answer? or how to make electricity? how do cellphones even work?¡±

    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to be so serious, I was just saying that it would be nice to have soap¡±

    ****

    Transmutation, I have no clue what could be the unlocking condition for this one. Also, how is it possible to learn a new skill while sleeping?

    With more questions than answers I take a short walk in the woods, though I¡¯m not looking for anything in particr. I carry a basket anyway to collect whatever I find. After all, we really need everything we can get our hands on.

    I missed this forest so much, I feel like I¡¯m back home after a very long period, even though it was only a few days. Having been alone for so long, spending thest few days in thepany of so many peoplepletely drained my energy.

    Yesterday¡¯s conversation was very productive and I¡¯m d they believed me when I told them that I¡¯ve lost my memory. As for whether I belong to this world or theirs, I guess there¡¯s no way to be certain.

    In any case, I¡¯ll keep as much information as possible to myself. I still don¡¯t know how their abilities work or if they also get messages after learning something new. Each and every one of them is strong enough to beat me bare handed, it¡¯s not like I feel threatened, well, maybe Luke creeps me out a bit... but it¡¯s always good to take some precautions.

    At times like this, when I need to focus on my thoughts, I like to let myself go along the path, I feel like I¡¯m part of the forest and it helps me clear my head.

    What could have unlocked the transmutation skill? that question rounds my head over and over, if I don¡¯t know how did I get it, I won¡¯t know how to use it either.

    It sounds like a pretty useful thing, but it could also be problematic, just like most of the skills I have. For instance, my observation skill turned out to be very useful, then it allowed me to get the analysis skill which is even more useful, but on the other hand Luke has a skill called consider that gives him information about the characteristics of other living things. It may not sound so different to analysis, but being able to see other people¡¯s health points can help me get out of a sticky situation. I would really like to acquire that skill and I spent a lot of time thinking in a way to do so, with no sess at all.

    The same thing happens with my tool crafting skill, after unlocking weapon crafting I haven¡¯t been able to progress in the first one. While weapons are necessary, tools are much more urgent now.

    Unlike Ayumi, I can¡¯t sit around thinking all day. I feel that as soon as I take my eyes off this troop of useless people, everything would fall apart very quickly.

    Arriving back at the settlement, bringing back just a few mushrooms and tubers, I uncovered the mound of dirt to see if I was sessful in creating charcoal.

    Come to think of it, this is obviously the cause of my new ability. Everything makes sense, I transformed a type of resource into a different one, also the process was surelypleted during the night and for that reason I must have received the message in the morning.

    I start to carefully remove the soil, I still don¡¯t know if I was sessful, but I still don¡¯t want to contaminate the product. The result was a sess, a fairlyrge pile of coal was hidden under the mound of earth. In hindsight, the little basket I set aside to store charcoal in a dry ce won¡¯t cut it. I¡¯ll need several baskets just for this much coal.

    I start to pack as much charcoal as I can into the basket, when suddenly a dull red stone falls out of the pile.

    Fire Stone: Contains a moderate amount of fire attribute energy.

    If I can create fire stones this way, how did the small fire rocks get to theke?

    Since I don¡¯t have enough information I can¡¯t draw conclusions, but there is someone who has a lot of free time and it just so happens that his ss is a mage.

    Unfortunately the girls haven¡¯t returned from theke yet and it¡¯s still early so I have no reason to go looking for her, but I can¡¯t leave the fire stone within reach of others, it¡¯s too dangerous.

    If a small firestone can cause a campfire to spiral out of control, I don¡¯t want to think about the danger of one this size. I put it back in the basket and cover it with some more charcoal.

    Hiraku is practicing nearby and I decide to tag along. With his usual serious expression he looks quitepetent.

    ¡°How¡¯s your day going young Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Okay i guess, now we have some charcoal¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s very good¡± he says, putting on the ground the stick he just broke by hitting a tree.

    ¡°How¡¯s training going?¡±

    ¡°Well, although I haven¡¯t felt a change I¡¯m on the right track¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking Hiraku, Ayumi told me that the other day you used your precision skill to harpoon two fish. If your skill was effective, why didn¡¯t you use it against the forest jackal? and why didn¡¯t you use it before I joined you to fish?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m ashamed to admit it. Truth is I got nervous. In my old world I was a simple real estate broker. Even with the power they gave me, I¡¯m still just a normal person¡±

    ¡°I understand¡±

    I figured that much. I don¡¯t know exactly what happened to them, but both Hiraku and Ayumi acted in a simr way. When a person feels their life is in danger, there are two impulses that try to take control.

    It¡¯s called the fight or flight reflex. On the one hand, Hiraku got carried away by his emotion entering a state of irrational fight that prevented him from making the right decisions. On the other hand, Ayumi felt the need to flee, but the uncertainty of what could be in the forest and the fear of getting lostpletely paralyzed her. It could be said that both are normal reactions taken to the extreme.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯d be a good idea to practice realbat from time to time, I¡¯m not saying that now is a good time, maybe we should find a way to do it without putting our lives at risk¡±

    ¡°About that, it¡¯s a good idea, but ording to what Luke said, you only have a tenth of the health points that we have, so it could be dangerous for you to take part in thebats, real or practice. After all, we need to take care of our leader¡±

    ¡°Am I your leader now? you guys decided to stay?¡±

    ¡°Nothing official yet and I can¡¯t speak for anyone else. Still I think we were all equally impressed when we saw your ce. I mean, the six of us managed to get four tents and a couple logs in the same amount of time as you,pletely by yourself, you made a cabin¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal, really, I just made sure to do things patiently and take it one step at a time¡±

    ¡°Still, it¡¯s admirable. I¡¯m envious, hehe.¡±

    ¡°By the way, could you exin to me in detail how do skills work? I understand that everyone has a ss assigned to them, but how do they know when they improve a skill? How do you know how many health points you have? And also, how do you aquire new skills?¡±

    ¡°Hmm... skills are a curious thing and difficult to exin without some knowledge of our world. The thing is that when we perform certain actions, asionally we receive a message that tells us a percentage, which is progress to level that skill up.

    Luke was the one that exined everything to us. Well, I would tell you to ask him directly, but thinking about his grudge against you, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, maybeter¡±

    Hiraku sighs.

    ¡°Yes, he can¡¯t behave like a kid forever. About the rest, we are always aware of our health points. Right now I have 67 health points left out of 100¡±.

    ¡°That¡¯s both impressive and terrible. I mean, my health points total health is 10 and now I¡¯m in optimal condition. Instead you are closer to half your healthpoints, still, you don¡¯t look hurt at all¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m not, it¡¯s just that it takes us a long time to recover lost health points, the same happens with mana, both recover by eating and resting¡±.

    So far everything makes sense, but that means the forest jackal never stood a chance against our group to begin with, and here I was thinking it was a battle to death.

    Hiraku continues his speech after a small pause, as if he just remembered.

    ¡°Ah! And about how to get the skills, I¡¯m not sure either. I got my aim or precision skill easily while throwing things trying to hit a target, I told Anne and after trying for a while she got the same skill. I don¡¯t know how she got the ability to see at night, therefore I couldn¡¯t acquire that skill.

    ording to Luke there are certain ss restrictions, that¡¯s why Ayumi was able to learn to control fire and Bob couldn¡¯t. Though That doesn¡¯t stop him from trying, if you follow him for a while you¡¯ll notice that from time to time he starts muttering incantations, he¡¯s a very nice person, but dumb as a bag of rocks.

    ording to Luke, Ayumi is a magician and that¡¯s why she should be able to learn all kinds of spells to control the elements. Bob is a warrior and that¡¯s why it¡¯s impossible for him to learn magic. There¡¯s something weird about this though, Luke insists that both Anne and I are archers, but he doesn¡¯t know what kind of skills we can learn. Sadly, since we don¡¯t have bows we won¡¯t be able to know for sure¡±

    Hiraku summed up almost everything, but there¡¯s someone¡¯s ss he didn¡¯t mention.

    ¡°And what¡¯s Luke¡¯s ss?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know, his skill to consider only allows him to see other people¡¯s information, not his own. Since it¡¯s a useful skill we all tried to learn it, but we don¡¯t know the unlocking condition either. What we know is that he must be a different ss from us, because he can¡¯t use our skills¡±.

    ¡°It is, indeed, a useful skill. I¡¯d like to get it too.¡±

    Little by little the sound of footsteps approaching draws our attention. Helena and Anne walk back to the settlement and behind them, Ayumi covers her face behind Helena¡¯s back.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong dear?¡±

    Hiraku asks, always looking out for his wife.

    .....

    ¡°Don¡¯tugh or you¡¯ll sleep with Bob for a month!¡±

    Ayumi says uncovering her face. Her entire face is swollen, her eyes are barely open and skin on her face is flushed.

    As soon as she shows her face I startughing uncontroby and Ayumi starts yelling at me with teary eyes.

    ¡°This is all your fault Ryu! if it wasn¡¯t for me investigating weird things none of this would have happened, now you have to fix it somehow!¡±

    ¡°Well, I could try, but how did it happen? What exactly were you doing?¡±

    Then with a soft whisper she says

    ¡°soap¡±

    ¡°What? I can¡¯t hear you¡±

    ¡°SOAP! I was trying to make soap, you idiot! We came across a bush that had a nice smell and I thought it would be a good idea to wash my face with its leaves¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I can¡¯t believe it. Are you a kid? Howe you thought that was a good idea?¡±

    This time I can¡¯t help butugh making fun of Ayumi, while she waves her arms to her sides. Then, I turn to look at Hiraku who¡¯s looking down at the ground with a serious expression, he looks dangerous when he puts that face, I can even hear the sound of his fists clenching.

    Hiraku has always been very protective of Ayumi. Could it be... am I in trouble?

    I shouldn¡¯t haveughed so much. Anxiety calms myughterpletely, perhaps if I hurry up and apologize things will be settled peacefuly. Before doing so I make sure to look for escape routes, I can¡¯t trust that the others will protect me... I start to get really worried, until Hiraku bursts into a raucousugh as he points a finger at Ayumi mocking her. From time to time he tries to say something but he¡¯sughing so hard that it sounds like unintelligible mumblings. He actually fell to the floorughing as he rolls on the ground.

    Ayumi takes advantage of his vulnerable state to pounce on top of him and begins hitting his chest with both hands. It doesn¡¯t seem to be hurting Hiraku, but that may be enough to deplete my health points.

    I withdraw, walking backwards ever so slowly. It¡¯s just like Ayumi said to me before, it¡¯s not good to get in between a married couple.

    The rest of our day was quite peaceful, much calmer at least than when Ayumi appeared, but this made me realize the big difference it makes to not live alone anymore. If possible I¡¯d like for days to have more days like this.It¡¯s not just that I had fun today, there¡¯s also enough firewood for the next couple days, I don¡¯t have to worry about food and we¡¯re even getting some logs to build a new cabin.

    ¡°The first step is to choose the right materials, Bob, thanks to the fact that you brought several logs I think that in a week we can start the construction. Anyway, the most appropriate thing will be to gather all the necessary materials before even preparing the ground.¡±

    first is to remove all the branches from the trunks, then remove the bark and everything that protrudes. Finally, we¡¯ll need to carve with a rock both sides of the trunk so that it is t, this prevents air flowing inside and makes it easier to stack logs onto each other. Last time I could not polish the wood, that is why there¡¯s some cold wind breaching through the walls. This time we can use a coarse rock to avoid gaps between the logs.

    ¡°If there¡¯s no space in between them, it means we did a good job. Since the work ahead is heavy and the tools we have at hand are limited, each one will be dedicating exclusively to a single part of the process for today. Every piece needs to fit in like a puzzle, gathering materials isn¡¯t the hard part, it¡¯s preparing the materials¡±

    ¡°Young Ryu, I¡¯d like to be in charge of the building ns¡±

    ¡°I dont think that will be necessary Hiraku, it¡¯s only a square-ish cabin so we can just stack up logs until it reaches a certain height, thats all¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that i dislike your cabin in any way, its actually pretty cozy but there are some issues. first, bob can¡¯t even stand up properly inside because it¡¯s too low for him, the door is so small you can¡¯t get in while carrying a basket in your hand and there are no different areas¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to have visitors¡±

    ¡°But now we¡¯re all gonna live together, and we will need some extra space. The girls also need some privacy¡±

    ¡°well... now that you say so, you are right. But, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want toply, it¡¯s just too difficult. Building a cabin just like the one we have right now would be an easy task, with only the three of us we could make it in five days probably, but the bigger it is, the more difficult it bes. To get only slightly bigger logs we¡¯ll be needing to fell trees that are significantly sturdier¡±.

    ¡°I see... but I still think we need some different areas. A bathroom would be really nice and it¡¯s much needed, you won¡¯t be going out to wash yourself up in the middle of a thunderstorm, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Hiraku, but building walls is off limits, we can¡¯t afford to...¡±

    ¡°we could use hemp curtains. Please listen to me Ryu, I used to work in real estate, I know we don¡¯t have the means to build a house, but we need to prepare forter. It¡¯s a lot easier to build something thinking on the future, than having to rebuild just to fit in a chimney¡±

    ¡°so, what should we do then? without proper tools it¡¯s just gonna take us too long¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to build two small cottages, with enough space to fit in some furniture. That way we can be separated from the girls, that would make them happy.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you want to be apart from Ayumi?¡±

    ¡°Not at all! If it¡¯s ok with you, we could improve this cabin you made and make it our own. That will leave Bob, Luke and you in one, Anne and Helena in the other, and I¡¯ll be living a healthy married life with my wife atst!¡±

    ¡°do you mean...¡±

    Hiraku sighs looking depressed.

    ¡°Indeed young Ryu, it¡¯s been difficult¡±

    ¡°Then I have no choice but to follow your n on this, it also sounds nice to have some extra space to move around inside¡±

    After agreeing, we got to work and during the first day we managed to gather a considerable amount of wood, but it¡¯s not nearly enough what we need now that we¡¯re going to build two cottages. Also, felling trees is a lot easier than preparing them, and what¡¯s even more difficult is to make indentations at the end so logs will fit together. We only managed to process only one log, what¡¯s worse is we can¡¯t even be sure it will fit with the others because we have no way to measure properly.

    Then an idea takes over my mind, do I have the right resources, tools and knowledge? Not really, I mean the resources are fine and our knowledge is clearly correct, there¡¯s a standing cabin that¡¯s a witness to that. But why are we moving so slowly?

    The only possible exnation is that weck the necessary tools to make the most of our capabilities, in other words, we¡¯re wasting our effort unnecessarily.

    ¡°That¡¯s all for today, you did a good job, but I think we need to rethink the way we¡¯re doing things¡±

    They nod at me, it was certainly demotivating to see that after so much work we only managed this much. As night falls we find ourselves gathered in front of the fire again, sitting on the logs Bob brought earlier, while I¡¯m trying to figure out how to sort this situation.

    ¡°Before we continue gathering materials for the Construction I¡¯d like to get some proper tools. Bob, you can¡¯t keep felling trees with sticks, you obviously have a lot of stamina but I feel like we arepletely wasting your effort. Hiraku, your skill is enviable, but no matter how long we hit the logs with sharp stones, our progress will remain slow.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good to me, young Ryu, what do you think we should do?¡±

    ¡°We should start with a chisel, with that we could craft a sturdy stone axe, or at least a hatchet. That will save us a lot of time.¡±

    ¡°I agree, but I wouldn¡¯t know where to start¡± says Bob dejectedly

    ¡°This time we need to get a different material, something that¡¯s hard enough so it won¡¯t break when hit repeatedly, but easy enough to work with so that we can shape it. I would say the requirements are, basically, being able to break them by hitting them with other rocks and being able to sharpen them by scraping them with other rocks. In case we find a rock too hard to shape it, we can use it to break the one that could serve us. I know this soundsplicated, but I¡¯ll be able to tell if a certain material is going to work or not, im just saying this so you guys dont worry about trying to bring some metal, because we dont have the means to craft anything metal yet.¡±

    ¡°Anne, this is your chance! Why don¡¯t you go exploring with Ryu. It shows that you feel worse and worse and today you couldn¡¯t find any red berries either¡±

    says helena looking at Anne, who hugs her stomach with both arms.

    ¡°I... well, I think maybe that could be a good idea¡± answers Anne in a low voice

    ¡°Is that how you ask favors Anne? Young people really don¡¯t have manners anymore¡±

    Ayumi says mocking Anne

    ¡°Ah? Who was the one who yelled at me in in the morning so I can get you medicine for your swelling?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s different, it was your fault after all¡±

    Ayumi replied without the slightest bit of embarrassment.

    The day ends with yawns from everyone and some painful moans from Anne. Her health has been deteriorating, ifpared to how I felt, she must probably be in a lot of pain, as well as going to the bathroom a lot and quickly dehydrating.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14: Don¡¯t peek, please! part

    Before dawn, Anne woke up shivering, covered in sweat. Although I slept peacefully, I was expecting that at some point she would wake up to go out, just as it happened to me when I was sick. For this reason my sleep today was lighter than usual.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I tell her in a concerned tone of voice

    ¡°No, I feel bad and I don¡¯t want to go to the bathroom alone. Could you pleasee with me?¡±

    It¡¯s a strange asion, this is the first time that Anne asks me for something while being so nice. This rare asion makes me feel warm inside, she really must be in a lot of pain. Although at first i wanted to take revenge and make fun of her a little, this time I will be the bigger man and I¡¯ll support her unconditionally.

    ¡°Okay,e on¡± I brushed aside the little cat that was curled up on top of me and I groped my way to my feet in the dark.

    We left the cabin trying to make as little noise as possible, we went into the forest to thetrine area. They are basically holes in the ground at a safe distance where we can relieve ourselves.

    Since the road is dark and I can¡¯t see very well, I walk slower than Anne would like in her current state.

    .....

    ¡°Can¡¯t you go a little faster please? I¡¯m in a hurry¡±

    ¡°Even if you say that, unlike you, I can¡¯t see in the dark¡±

    ¡°Well, if this helps you go any faster, you can hold my hand¡±

    ¡°I still can¡¯t see, how do you expect me to hold your hand?¡±

    After an exasperated sigh, Anne walks over to me and takes my hand. Her hand is small, soft, and her fingers shyly cling to me. From time to time she squeezes harder, giving me a slight tug to avoid some unseen obstacle.

    We get to the right ce, I know because Anne stops suddenly, then lets go of my hand.

    ¡°Do you want me to walk away?¡±

    ¡°No need, actually, you can keep holding on my hand. I can see in the dark, but I don¡¯t want to fall into this filthy ce. But if you say a word of this to anyone I¡¯ll...¡±

    ¡°yeah, yeah, you¡¯ll kill me, i know¡±

    Without further ado I hear the sound of her clothes, surely she is taking them off to avoid getting dirty, then she grabs my hand again, this time holding on tight. The awkward situation takes an unexpected turn.

    Night vision 1%

    I wasn¡¯t prepared for this, now I¡¯m lost, I can see clearly at close range, I¡¯m not able distinguish colors but other than that it¡¯s as clear as day, except I can only see what¡¯s nearby. With her free hand she begins to remove her underwear while standing on one feet. If she finds out I can see her I¡¯m a dead man so I can¡¯t look away, that would be suspicious. She¡¯s nowpletely naked from the waist down and I can clearly see her slender legs flexing to push her clothing aside.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough, now you can walk away now¡±

    ¡°Fine¡± I take a step back and lean against a tree while feeling relieved.

    ¡°A little further, there, there it¡¯s fine¡± she says as she squats down.

    After fulfilling her needs, she approaches me with her clothes on. Obviously I didn¡¯t stare at her while she was at it.

    ¡°Now we¡¯ll go to theke¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s night and we can get lost¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no problem, I know the way, or do you think a soft leaf is enough to clean me? Men are really unpleasant sometimes¡± although she says offensive things, she actually has a cheerful expression on her face, she also looks calm.

    Anne takes my hand again as she guides me toward theke. I know she¡¯s on the right track because now I can see too, it¡¯s hard to pretend I can¡¯t see now.

    After returning from theke, the first rays of the sun begin to appear slowly driving away the shadows of the forest. The others are still sleeping, Anne, who still feels sick, decides to go back to sleep for a while longer. I, on the other hand, begin to prepare myself for the exploration trip that we will carry out after breakfast.

    Since Ayumi hasn¡¯t gotten up yet, I got no choice but to light the fire with my flint. It¡¯s a difficult task, but nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction thates from making a fire with my own hands. Also, this allows me to practice fire making some more, there mighte a day when I desperately need fire and I won¡¯t be able to count on Ayumi for that. This is what bothers me about the so called ¡®heroes¡¯, they don¡¯t prepare, they don¡¯t adapt nor make ns for future circumstances. maybe it¡¯s a privilege they can afford since they¡¯re actually pretty strong, but it still bothers me.

    I take the pot to theke to fetch water, on the way I pick up some leaves that are edible ording to analysis. Although they are supposedly edible, we haven¡¯t yet found a proper use for them, they have too strong a citrus vor.

    Then an idea urs to me, I put the leaves in the pot with a handful of berries, there are very few left since they cannot be easily found nearby.

    The taste, although a little watery, is not bad. The sweetness of berries softens the sour taste of the leaves, best of all is the aroma. I drink a cup while it¡¯s hot, it¡¯s really good!

    Thezy ¡®heroes¡¯ begin to rise and I offer them each a cup of my new invention. Since there¡¯s only four y cups Hiraku and Ayumi share hers, Luke and Bob each have theirs. Anne is still in bed, tired from her nightly activity and weakened by illness.

    ¡°I¡¯d also like some too¡± says Helena, who¡¯s thest of them to get up, as she approaches me.

    ¡°Give me a moment, I¡¯ll go wash the cup¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not necessary, we can use the same one¡±

    A light blush paints Helena¡¯s face as she drinks. The heat of the infusion fills us all with energy in the cold morning.

    ¡°ah! this is a nice tea!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not exactly tea, but it¡¯s delicious anyway! you made a good discovery young Ryu!¡±

    ¡°yes! in my homnd we used to drink tea everyday, and i¡¯ve been missing it badly all this time¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok i guess¡±

    Bob says and then offers to go wash the cups while Hiraku and I get things ready for our adventurous exploration trip.

    We rearranged the spears, emptied the baskets, and prepared a few packets of grilled fish to eat on the way. Finally, I feed the moon cat and leave a wooden bowl of fresh water for it. Even though it¡¯s in perfect condition now it refuses to let me take off his bandage, this is a problem because he¡¯s growing rapidly and I dont think it fits anymore.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready!¡± Says Anne leaving the cabin.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to go? You could stay with Ayumi and Luke¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in staying, as soon as I eat the red berries I¡¯ll feel better right? So it¡¯s best to do it as soon as possible, I don¡¯t think I can resist much longer¡±

    ¡°I knew you were sick, but I didn¡¯t know how bad it was, Anne. I really wish there was something i could do to help you¡± says Helena.

    Once assembled Anne, Bob, Helena, Hiraku, and I headed for theke and started walking as close to the shore as possible.

    Now I can use my analysis skill more quickly, so I use it on all the rocks that catch my attention. Since I¡¯m following Helena¡¯s footsteps who¡¯s ahead of me, it¡¯s not necessary to be so aware of the road and im able to focus my attention elsewhere.

    Theke¡¯s shore is irregr, sometimes there are stones of various sizes scattered and sometimes the terrain rises making it impossible to walk near the water, forcing you to take a detour every now and then. Although I have traveled quite a bit around my settlement, I realize now that I have never been here before.

    The first clue is the abundant presence of ck berries that have be so rare near the settlement. As there is no clear path to follow, Bob takes the lead, whipping the vegetation that cuts us off with a stick he picked up on the way.

    ¡°Bob, is it true that you have an ability that allows you to increase your strength for a while?¡±

    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s very useful for felling trees!¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you use it when we fought the jackal?¡±

    ¡°Mana is something very valuable for a good magician, it is best to save it for the right moment, when the enemy is at a disadvantage or vulnerable¡±

    What he says makes sense, but... isn¡¯t Bob supposed to be a warrior? A giggle from Helena clears up my doubts. He¡¯s definitively a warrior.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to poke into what doesn¡¯t concern me, but I heard you¡¯re actually a warrior¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, my ss is warrior... it¡¯s such a waste if you ask me, going to a fantasy world where magic is real and not being able to use it is... well, the fact is that in my old world I always dreamed of magic, being a warrior is something very painful for me¡± his tone of voice shows the disappointment it produces.

    ¡°That may be so, but don¡¯t get discouraged Bob, the ¡®god¡¯ that brought us gave you the ss with the best chance of survival... I think¡± says Helena trying to encourage him.

    As far as I know, it¡¯s possible to learn the skills regardless of your ss, the fact that What I can see at night is proof of that. Although there is also the possibility that my case is special since I don¡¯t have a ss. Still, if Bob has mana and wants to cast spells, for whatever reason, I¡¯d like to find a way to help him.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do the following. For now, make better use of the ss characteristics you have at your disposal. Learn to be a good warrior, no, the best warrior! And I will help you find a way to perform magic. It shouldn¡¯t be impossible, maybe you can change sses or use magic tools, I don¡¯t know how magic works but surely Ayumi can help us find a solution¡±

    ¡°That would be amazing! I¡¯m in!¡± Bob exims with the most genuine smile I¡¯ve seen on him yet and that¡¯s saying a lot as he¡¯s by far the nicest guy in the group.

    Anne remains strangely silent and begins to fall behind progressively, perhaps we should make a stop, she must be exhausted from the trip, after all her illness has rapidly worsened.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think we should¡¯ve found the berries we¡¯re looking for by now?¡± Anne asks impatiently.

    So far we haven¡¯t found any red berries. A month ago they were rtivelymon, but I was forced to eat them asionally. because they take longer to ripen than ck berries I¡¯m not surprised they ran out quickly.

    ¡°What if we split up to search?¡± Hiraku says.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that we¡¯d cover more ground, but still nothing ensures that we can find them even if we separate. What¡¯s certain is that the danger we will face increases. We should also look for a ce to rest¡±

    Anne is so tired that she doesn¡¯t even have energy to argue with me. We continue advancing for a few minutes until we find an appropriate ce to rest.

    It¡¯s a small hill in a clearing, the sunlight hits us directly. It¡¯s a nice change considering we¡¯re surrounded by greenery. Now that I think about it, we have been slowly but surely walking uphill since we set off. This might be the reason why we all tired more than the usual. I can¡¯t confirm this because our field of view is short due to being surrounded by so many trees and vegetation anyway, so there¡¯s nothing else to do but rest.

    I take the opportunity to analyze some trees and nts. I find nothing out of the ordinary until I notice a curious vine that I hadn¡¯t seen before.

    It¡¯s a nt that surrounds the tree in which it is located, it begins with a thin forked stem and rises until it bes a kind of green mantle over the tree, without further ado I analyze the unknown nt.

    Analysis 95%

    Elvish wheat nt: its fruit is edible.

    ¡°Hey! The vine that covers this tree has an edible fruit!¡±

    Everyone¡¯s gaze falls on the tree I¡¯m staring at.

    ¡°Fine, but now we¡¯re looking for something else,¡± says Anne.

    ¡°Actually, we came to look for some stone that we can use to make tools and you joined us. Although we¡¯ve also been looking for your medicine, we can¡¯t miss this chance¡± as soon as Hiraku finished saying these words Anne shoots lightning at me with her gaze, luckily she¡¯s not a magician.

    ¡°No need to argue, we can pick the fruit while Anne rests¡± says Bob who was interrupted by a loud stomach growl from Anne.

    ¡°Helenae with me, I need to go somewhere more private¡± Anne takes Helena¡¯s arm and they quickly disappear into the foliage.

    .....

    The three of us remained looking at the tree with an expression of doubt. Not even certain if there¡¯s fruit since I cannot see it and it is very high. Perhaps it¡¯s not even ripe yet.

    Throwing something to harvest the fruit is impossible as we don¡¯t know where it is, I don¡¯t even know what the fruit looks like so I couldn¡¯t guide someone up either. What do I do if they asks me what the fruit looks like?

    I don¡¯t want to tell everyone about my analysis skill, it¡¯s not about selfishness, it¡¯s more about survival. I still don¡¯t quite understand this thing about skills and I¡¯m at a clear numerical and strength disadvantage. Well, in the worst case I can say that I just recovered part of my memory.

    I finally decide to ask Hiraku to go up, he has way more health points than me and the risk is lower.

    ¡°Hiraku, do you think you can climb up if Bob picks you up?¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me¡± Hiraku nods. Bob bends over a bit and uses his hands to lift Hiraku, who takes advantage of the momentum to jump to the nearest branch. From there he only needed to take a couple more jumps and finally reach the vine. Then he throws us some oval yellow fruits the size of a fist. At the base of the fruit you can see the stem from which it came. The most curious thing is that it is bright, to the point that it seems to emit its own light.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot! Should I throw some more?¡±

    ¡°No, instead of that, Bob, could you clean up the vegetation a bit and mark some trees? Our priority now is different, although it doesn¡¯t hurt to get additional resources, we can¡¯t fill the basket with fruits that we may have to throw awayter in order to make space for materials. Since we¡¯re not that far away from our settlement, as long as we mark this ce we shouldn¡¯t have any troubles finding itter¡±

    Hiraku begins to climb to the top of the tree and an expression of astonishment is heard. When Anne and Helena return, Hiraku rushes down to the lowest branch, then falls to the ground cing both hands and a knee on the ground.

    ¡°wow! that was cool Hiraku!¡±

    He looks aspetent and heroic as always, if it was just by appearance he¡¯d be a true hero.

    ¡°There¡¯s a river thates from a distant mountain, surely it connects with theke, it might be a good idea to reach that ce today and then go back to the settlement¡±

    We all agree, Anne looks moreposed now. I would really like to help her but there is not much I can do for her right now. Still, I must admit that I like to see her suffer a bit. It¡¯s kind of what she deserves for being so annoying all this time.

    It has been a difficult journey so far, made worse by theck of water. Our only source of hydration is the ck berries we find along the way. By the time we got to the river it was past noon, if we don¡¯t get what we¡¯re looking for soon we won¡¯t be able to go back home before dark.

    Bob, who has an enviable energy, runs to find the stones that most attract his attention. With the practice he¡¯s had before looking for stones to make spears, I¡¯d say he knows what he¡¯s doing.

    Helena, Hiraku and Anne walk around the area using the river as a reference to find the medicine that Anne so desperately needs.

    As Bob piles up the rocks he¡¯s found, there¡¯s a thought that bothers me. The camp where I found them was near a river and my guess was that the river would somehow reach theke. So, how is it possible that we found the river if we went in the opposite direction?

    This means that there are two different rivers, one that enters theke and another that leaves it. The idea seems strange to me, but I cannot dispute the facts. The only alternative would be that during the day we havepletely surrounded theke, but for the time it took us I would say that it¡¯s impossible. If only we could find a map, but that would be too much to ask.

    In the pile that Bob collected, there¡¯s an angr rock that catches my eye:

    Imperial Rock: resistant to impact, weak to abrasion.

    ¡°This is just what I was looking for! even if it¡¯s hard, it looks like it will be easy to shape. Let¡¯s find some more to take in case...¡±

    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±

    A sharp scream draws my attention and immediately quit what I was doing.

    could it be? are they in danger?

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15: Don¡¯t y with stray dogs, please!

    ¡°Why does this have to happen to me? What did I do to deserve this? Sometimes I feel like I was brought into this world only to suffer.¡± Anneins.

    ¡°Why do you say that? Even if the situation is bad, I still think it¡¯s better than dying¡± helena sighs

    ¡°What do you mean? Oh! Right, we were supposedly summoned the moment right before of our death.¡±

    ¡°Come on, don¡¯t be like that, try to be a little more optimistic¡±

    ¡°How can I be optimistic when my stomach growls all day, don¡¯t you understand how embarrassed I feel? Ady like me has an image to protect. And I¡¯m so tired that I can¡¯t even afford to be embarrassed anymore¡±

    The two argue openly as Hiraku walks a little further ahead. For him, who¡¯s over fifty years old, the tragedy that befalls Anne is only a light matter. It¡¯s normal to get sick from time to time, everyone has been through it, more than worrying about your image, she should be worrying about her life.

    Even in the world where theye from, where there¡¯s high technology and medicine, diseases as mild as the one that afflicts Anne, if left untreated for too long, can cause death.

    .....

    After about five minutes away from Bob and Ryu, the forest begins to thin out and they can see a in in the distance. Since they are obviously not going to find red berries where there are no bushes, they decide to go back into the woods to continue looking.

    The girls keep chatting, but Hiraku pays them no mind. He¡¯s trying to keep his attention on the surroundings to find the medicine as soon as possible so they can group up again.

    ¡°Look! Those are the flowers that Ryu likes!¡±

    Helena walks briskly over to the flowers, there are about ten of them. Considering how useful they are, silver flowers are too valuable to leave behind.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t get ahead of yourself like that... HEY! be careful!

    Anne yells as a jackal appears out of the bushes.

    ¡°Calm down, don¡¯t turn your back on it... remember what happened when Ryu did it? everything will be fine as long as we don¡¯t turn our backs on it¡± says Hiraku attempting to keep hisposure. And perhaps everything would have been fine, but several growls begin to echo from their surroundings.

    ¡°We are surrounded! What should we do?¡±

    ¡°Keep calm, don¡¯t drop your weapons and... RUN!¡±

    ******

    After hearing the screams we put everything aside, we take our spears and we approach as fast as possible to the source of the loud noises. Hiraku, Anne and Helena emerge from the forest, covered in dirt and some scratches, by the river side while being pursued by a pack of jackals.

    Helena runs with a very noticeable limp as she screams at the top of her lungs. Seeing this, Bob leaves me behind striding forward with his long legs. Both his speed and stamina seem superhuman to me, I don¡¯t have anyone else topare with and this is starting to hurt my self esteem. Seeing both Anne and Hiraku drift further and further away, Helena does her best to catch up but falls on her face.

    ¡°STOOOOP, stop right there and hold your position. You can¡¯t leave Helena by herself!¡±

    It¡¯s useless, fear takes over both Anne and Hiraku all the same. Only Bob goes to help but i¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t make it in time. Hearing my voice, Helena tries to calm down, although she¡¯s on the ground, she grabs her spear firmly and turns around just in time to impale a jackal, but even though it was a great hit that took advantage of the creature¡¯s impulse, it manages to escape somehow, with the spear still skewered in its belly.

    I have no choice but to throw my stone spear, it¡¯s the best quality and although I can¡¯t do as much damage as Bob or Anne, my instinct tells me I won¡¯t miss. I take a deep breath and take a second to aim correctly. Even if I¡¯m against time, it¡¯s better to be careful since I only have one chance.

    I grab my spear from below, it¡¯s at my side now at the height of my waist and my hand grabs it from above, I let go of it just for a moment while I raise it above my head to take advantage of its inertia and start pulling my arm back with all my strength. now the spear is at shoulder height, I lift my foot in front of me and shoot the spear with all the weight and impulse of my body towards the jackal that¡¯s closest to Helena.

    Aim 1%

    I keep running forward without confirming if I hit the target or not, the message seems to indicate that I got it and I no longer hear Helena screaming, this can be good or very bad. Still I have no time to lose, I no longer have the spear, I¡¯mpletely unarmed. Realizing this my priority changes, instead of running blindly towards them I need to find a weapon. Without hesitation I pick up the nearest imperial stone and continue on my way. I remember it said it had physical resistance, so in a sense, this should make a good throwing weapon too since it¡¯s supposedly hard.

    Now I can see Helena on the ground supporting her weight on one arm, one of her legs is straight and the other is bent. it¡¯s an image that begs for help. Fortunately, both Anne and Hiraku regained their senses at some point and turned back to support her.

    Now Anne, Bob and Hiraku are pointing their spears at seven jackals who stop right in front of them. They may be beasts, but they¡¯re not actually stupid. Surely they learned by seeing the failure of their first partner.

    One of the jackalses forward, it¡¯s bigger than the rest, it must be the leader. I don¡¯t have the time to try to see their health points, this won¡¯t be an easy battle and if I lose concentration for a second someone could wind up dead.

    ¡°What do we do now young Ryu?¡±

    I managed to get where they are, but just running this distance left me out of breath and I need a few seconds to recover.

    ¡°Come on Ryu! you¡¯re our leader now and we need you! Helena needs you! we¡¯ll follow your orders, so please do something!¡±

    Anne cries in despair as I try to think what to do, but nothinges to mind. My first instinct would be to run, but with Helena¡¯s condition it¡¯s not even possible. I need more time!

    ¡°The bigger one is the pack leader, be careful with him, don¡¯t allow them to surround you. I will draw his attention somehow, attack anyone who turns his back except the leader¡±

    From my previous encounter with the first jackal, I remember that after climbing the tree, the jackal hid and waited patiently until I tried to climb down. These creatures are smarter than they seem. If I had to guess, the leader stepped forward to take a spear attack and assess the damage he receives. Based on that, he will make the decision on whether or not it is worth attacking the group.

    If Bob manages tond a good hit on it, it will surely be hurt, more so now that he¡¯s taking his warrior ss seriously. He¡¯ll be much stronger than before. Even so, we can¡¯t exchange blows with them, even if it¡¯s just a few wounds, we may be easy prey for other creatures on the way back. As if that weren¡¯t enough, with only ten health points I could get eaten in one bite.

    My best chance is to get away from the group acting as bait, if I can get the leader¡¯s attention the rest will be fine... I think. Since they¡¯re now by the river there are no trees in the immediate vicinity. As soon as I throw the stone, I will have to make a run for it.

    The pack leader tries to approach the group, but they don¡¯t back down, so it¡¯s a temporary stalemate. I slowly move away from the group and as soon as I can, I throw the imperial stone that I picked up before with all my strength towards the leader. Itnds directly in his eye, a high-pitched shriek is heard, but I don¡¯t look back.

    I run as if my life depended on it, mainly because in reality that¡¯s exactly the case. Even fatigued of my previous race, my motivation is more than enough to run the fifty or so meters to the forest.

    Damn it! I reach the forest but there are no trees with branches low enough for me to climb, what can I do? I¡¯m not going to fall here, I can¡¯t allow myself a moment of weakness. An idea that could only be described as suicidales to me.

    After reaching a robust tree I stop in front of it, turning my back on my pursuer. Its sight must be cloudy at least, I focused on hearing every single footstep and at thest second, dodged the pack leader¡¯s fierce attack. A dull noise confirms my sess, but it¡¯s too early to celebrate, I finally find a tree with a branch low enough to climb it, I hold on with all my strength and lift my weight with difficulty.

    Just in case, I climb a little higher. But the pack leader is on the ground and does not move. I¡¯m not buying it, these dogs y dirty. I won¡¯t fall into its trap, it¡¯s too easy to see through the jackal¡¯s scheme.

    A minute goes by and the jackal still doesn¡¯t move. I try to use my analyze skill on it, but I don¡¯t get any information about its health points. I¡¯m worried about the rest of the group, Anne is sick, Hiraku is useless in battle and Helena is in bad shape. I hate to admit it but even though Bob is a bit entric, he¡¯s now the most reliable.

    I scan my surroundings for something, anything that allows me to go help the rest. There¡¯s a trail of blood, it must have been left by the jackal that Helena managed to hurt, a little further on, the corpse of a jackal lying in a pool of blood gives me hope. the spear is still skewered in its belly.

    Most likely the damage wasn¡¯t enough to finish him off, but as he ran away with the spear impaled in its body, the loss of blood ended his life. If Ie down from here and the Pack leader is still alive, it will move immediately, if it doesn¡¯t it will lose the only chance at attacking me, since I¡¯ll be able to climb the tree again. In case that happens, if I already have the spear in my hand I might be able to fight him by myself.

    But taking the spear out of the dead jackal could be difficult, if i can¡¯t do it in a single move I¡¯ll be in danger. I muster all the courage I have left and drop myself to the ground without hesitation, I run as fast as I can with my cramped legs. I jump towards the spear and somersault on the ground after picking it up, without wasting a single movement I turn around to defend myself against the powerful beast that will surely attack me.

    It doesn¡¯t move, the jackal is still inert on the ground, it¡¯s definitely dead.

    The rest of the group killed the other jackals and headed towards my direction calling my name out loud.

    ¡°Hey guys! i¡¯m over here! are you alright?¡±

    ¡°we¡¯re fine! And the pack leader?¡±

    asks Hiraku panting

    ¡°I took care of it¡±

    ¡°you!? but how!? you¡¯re a weakling and you didn¡¯t even have weapons!¡± Anne exims confused

    ¡°Hey! you just said I¡¯m your leader, am I not reliable?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! As expected from Ryu!¡± Bobughs nonchntly

    it¡¯s good that they trust me, but I don¡¯t want them to have unrealistic expectations of me, or in the future they¡¯ll expect me to do this kind of thing all the time.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, it was just luck. by the way, how are you Helena?¡±

    ¡°Not great, it hurts a lot and I can¡¯t use my healing ability¡±

    ¡°Ah, did you spend all your mana?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, it¡¯s just, I can¡¯t reach it¡± says Helena looking down at the ground, covering an expression of embarrassment.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m skilled in first aids. Leave Helena with me while you retrieve the jackal corpses. After all the effort, we can¡¯t afford to waste their skin¡±

    Hearing my words, Helena¡¯s face turns bright red. Not a single wordes out of her mouth as she keeps her eyes shyly on the ground.

    ¡°Ok guys, you already heard Ryu, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Anne, Bob and Hiraku slowly walk away, shortly before disappearing into the foliage Anne turns and gazes angrily at me. Her behavior has always puzzled me, sometimes she¡¯s very rude but sometimes she¡¯s also very sweet. If she had a softer character, or if she at least ignored me most of the time like Luke does, my life would be so much easier.

    ¡°I wish I brought some silver flowers, they make an excellent medicine¡±

    Helena reaches out her hand to me with a whole flower with the root intact.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you had time to dig it out, it¡¯s in excellent condition, I¡¯m sure it will be enough¡±

    ¡°Actually, I think it¡¯s my fault the jackals attacked us. I was so happy to find so many of them that I made too much noise and they found me¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, those things are vicious, still the oue wasn¡¯t bad at all.¡±

    With the root now in my hand I go to the river, it¡¯s necessary to wash it well before grinding it. Since I don¡¯t have a mortar I have to chew the root until it forms a paste and if it has dirt it will be very ufortable, also the wound would get dirty so it can be counterproductive.

    ¡°Okay, now show me the wound to apply the medicine¡±

    Helena turns her back to me, then begins to slowly lower her pants revealing her pale skin, in a ce rarely hit by sunlight. Although I can¡¯t see her expression, I¡¯m sure she¡¯s blushing, I know this because I am too.

    I¡¯m not a child, but I¡¯m not so naive as to believe that she is seducing me. She¡¯s in pain right now and I must not abuse her trust. I move my hand to reach for my sash and, only then do I realize, I don¡¯t have it with me.

    ¡°Helena, I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t have anything to apply the medicine to you. The cat kept the sash even though it doesn¡¯t need it anymore¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s ok, don¡¯t worry about it, you can use your hands¡±

    ¡°O-okay¡±

    ¡°By the way, how much longer do you n to call it cat? you should start looking for a name for it¡±

    Surely she¡¯s looking for a topic of conversation to distract herself from the embarrassing situation we find ourselves in, but I can¡¯t answer her because I¡¯m currently chewing on the root. It¡¯s a primitive but effective technique. I must carefully check the wound, it¡¯s only a small bite on her rear but it must be deep since it caused her a lot of difficulty to walk. I put the paste in my hand and begin to spread the mixture on the wounds.

    first aid 3%

    *ahng~*

    .....

    A long moan escapes helena¡¯s lips as soon as my hand touches her, if there really is a god out there somewhere, i pray i never, ever, ever have to do this for Bob.

    ¡°You must cover yourself quickly and avoid moving as much as possible, the medicine will take effect soon but it¡¯s quite painful¡±

    ¡°yes, no problem... AYEEE! it hurts! it hurts a lot! you should¡¯ve warned me before¡±

    ¡°don¡¯t worry, at least that won¡¯t leave a scar¡±

    Upon hearing this, a smile invades her face, she must have been really worried about that. Anne, Bob and Hirakue back soon after. Bob carries the skins on his shoulders, but what draws my attention the most is Anne, she seems really happy. It¡¯s like she¡¯s a different person now, is she mocking me? what¡¯s with that face?

    ¡°why so happy anne?¡± asks Helena trying to distract herself from the pain.

    ¡°I found them! I found some red berries and ate... a lot of them. I feel better now¡±

    Her eyes are narrowed drawing an arc on her face. Her happiness must be proportional to the pain she endured these days. I remember how I felt after going through the same thing, in my case, I was so tired and dehydrated that it took me days to recover. But since she¡¯s a lot stronger than me she might be ok within the hour.

    ¡°We will camp here tonight, it¡¯s gettingte and traveling with Helena in her current condition can be dangerous. Not having a bandage to dress up the wound, it¡¯s possible that the medicine spills, thus reducing its effectiveness.¡±

    Hiraku looks nervous, but before I even get the chance to worry about him he speaks to me

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I really am. It¡¯s just that ever since I got together with Ayumi, we¡¯ve never spent a night separated. I just worry she might be scared or sad, I hope they¡¯re ok back at the cabin¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you trust Luke?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that young Ryu, it¡¯s been years together and she¡¯s my wife, so I know her. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll start crying at night if I don¡¯te back today¡±

    He might say that, but all im hearing is that he¡¯s going to cry himself to sleep tonight. I guess it can¡¯t be helped, I don¡¯t know how long they¡¯ve been married, it shows that they¡¯re very close.

    ¡°All things considered I believe we need to stay in here for the night. I would also like to ask you a few things:

    first I need everyone to tell me exactly how many health points you have left. Second, we need firewood, Bob, if you bring me stones I may find a flint among them and try to make a fire. Now that i think about this, it was dumb of me to not bring my flint. Finally, we must set up a temporary shelter, although the skins are fresh we could make use of them right away. We just need to wash them in the river. You can divide the tasks however you see fit, but I still think Bob should be the one looking for rocks and stones¡±

    ¡°I got no problem with that, it¡¯s fun and I feel like I¡¯m starting to get the hang of it¡±

    I remain silent for a moment expecting Anne to argue with me or throw in one of her usualebacks, but that¡¯s not what happens. instead, they put on a serious expression and one by one call out their remaining health points.

    Anne 33/100

    bob 171/200

    Helena 38/100

    Hiraku 90/100

    ¡°wow! my maximum health points increased!¡± Bob exims in surprise.

    ¡°Frankly, I didn¡¯t realize my health points were so low, especially now that I¡¯m feeling good¡± Anne sighs

    ¡°it¡¯s normal, red berries can cure your disease, but to heal even one health point you have to eat a heap, eating enough to fully recover must be impossible.¡±

    As the others walk away, I keep an eye on Helena, scanning the surroundings for any flint or something useful until our eyes meet.

    ¡°it¡¯s incredible¡±

    ¡°what?¡±

    ¡°When we just met, I didn¡¯t think you were so... capable¡±

    ¡°It seems that the only ones who trusted me from the beginning were Bob and Hiraku¡±

    ¡°hehe, they are like that. At first they had a lot of faith in Luke too, although he didn¡¯t always make the right decisions, he always seemed to be confident in what he told us and that calmed us down.¡±

    ¡°Luke, he hates me right? I almost never see him, he always leaves early and I don¡¯t see him until lunchtime. Why is he avoiding me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe both of you can talk about itter, but now that you mention it, I haven¡¯t seen him muchtely either. maybe he¡¯s going to explore or something¡±

    Bobes running with his usual energy and brings the stones he had collected earlier. After analyzing them, I start sorting them into different groups. Some of them will help us to make the campfire, but most of them arepletely useless at this moment. While Bob goes for more stones I pick one of the imperial rocks up and hit it against a normal stone.

    I¡¯m pleased with the result, while the imperial stone retains its shape, the other one broke easily. After experimenting with the imperial stone for a while, I realize that it is very difficult to break, even hitting two imperial stones against each other doesn¡¯t seem to work. So, instead of doing the same thing over and over like a caveman, I start scraping it against a huge rock that just happened to be nearby.

    After only a few minutes of polishing it, I manage to file their angles. Every imperial stone I¡¯ve seen so far has a curious shape, almost as if they had spikes, for this reason they are easy to distinguish once you know them, I hope we can take several back to the cabin. Perhaps they have this shape because of its physical resistance.

    Because they are practically impossible to split, shaping them will take a long time. Despite this, I¡¯m sure that it was a good call toe to this ce, it doesn¡¯t matter if it takes hours to make a tool, it will most likely save us days of work and allow us to do a much better job.

    By the time night fell, all the tasks had been sessfullypleted. We had tents made out of branches and skins, a perfectly functional campfire, and feasted on some grilled fish we brought from home.

    For greater security, every tent was ced one in front of the other, very close to each other, forming a kind of triangle. Anne and Helena would sleep in one, bob alone as usual and I get to share my tent with Hiraku. However, due to the risk of being attacked by wild creatures, we decided to stand guard.

    Bob took the first turn, so I was able to use his tent for a while, then Hiraku, and finally me. Only the men were tasked with guard duty since both girls needed to recover, they were very weak and their health points dangerously low. Even though my health points are lower than everyone¡¯s even though I¡¯m in perfect condition, I don¡¯t need to recover and therefore I can afford to get up earlier than everyone else.

    Since I took thest shift, i was already awake when everyone started to get up. We started packing things up early and then gathering different resources nearby. First, we needed to grab every silver flower we could get our hands on, this is mainly because they are so rare, but also because we don¡¯t n oning back anytime soon.

    Finding this ce was a true blessing, there¡¯s water nearby, some berry bushes, but more importantly, I get the feeling that these imperial stones will y a huge role in our development. It amazes me how durable it is, sadly that same trait is also the reason why I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be using it as building material. Nevertheless, getting our hands on some quality tools is now possible, this alone will be aplete upgrade for everything. There are a couple issues with it, like its weight for example, but there¡¯ll be enough time for experimenting back at the settlement.

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16: Don¡¯t lose your tools, please!

    After loading Bob with the heaviest cargo, Hiraku grabbed some stones himself, the rest of us only carried some silver flowers, nt samples and the things we brought on this trip. We need to make some space to gather as many fruits as we can from the strange vines. It looks amazing and I¡¯m sure it will be pretty useful forter, sadly I didn¡¯t even get the chance to analyze it since Hiraku was the one to gather them and I still want to keep my analyze skill a secret from everyone.

    The way back was quite short, mainly because Hiraku was constantly quickening his pace with the excuse that he was worried about Ayumi, he¡¯s not really fooling anyone though. Midway we stopped at the marked spot to fetch the fruits and we also took the chance to rest.

    As soon as the cabin came into view, Hiraku shot out like an arrow, running wildly and screaming

    ¡°ayumi! I¡¯m back my darling¡±

    ¡°ah, wee¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for worrying you, you must¡¯ve endured a lot while I was away¡± Hiraku says as he hugs Ayumi who ufortably tries to keep walking.

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m busy so...¡±

    .....

    *sigh*

    She finally gives in to her husband¡¯s hug and rubs his back. The whole scene is touching, I wonder if someday I¡¯ll have that kind of rtionship with someone. I inadvertently looked at Helena who was also absorbed looking at the merry couple.

    ¡°We brought some good loot!¡± Bob exims happily.

    Luke walks over eagerly to see what¡¯s he talking about.

    ¡°Oh! that¡¯s a lot of skins! with this we can make clothes!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, jackals are quite small. Only one of them was a decent size and that¡¯s Ryu¡¯s. If I had a sewing kit I could probably make clothes for the winter¡±

    ¡°What are you saying? just put the furs on and that¡¯s it¡± Bob replies cheerfully

    ¡°For some reason, it¡¯s too easy to imagine you dressed like the barbarians of old, with a skin on your shoulders and a ne made of wolf fangs¡± Luke jokes

    ¡°Ayumi, I¡¯d like you to check the resources we have at our disposal and count them. I¡¯ll be dedicating myself to making tools and, perhaps, with some luck for tomorrow we can start building¡±

    Everyone¡¯s face lights up at the possibility of getting a new ce to live, they probably imagine that it¡¯ll be something easy, but in reality it requires a lot of effort and patience. Even to create something small like the one I did.

    I¡¯m a little tired from the trip, especially because of Hiraku who rushed us too much, but I immediately go to theke to continue my task of filing the imperial stones. Now I must carefully choose which tools to make with each of the stones, they are quite varied in shapes and sizes so this may be a difficult task. After choosing what kind of tool I can make out of each stone, I start filing them, it¡¯s so repetitive but the concentration needed is not much and this allows me to think about what we should do next.

    The first thing is to make a chisel, it doesn¡¯t have to be big, I just have to make sure it¡¯s sharp and t at one end and blunt at the opposite end. Since there are alsorge rocks near theke, I sit on one of them and use the water to gradually file down the shape of the chisel.

    chisel (good) 960/960

    To be honest the durability doesn¡¯t impress me, as far as I can tell a tool can only take a limited number of hits. each hit reduces one point of tool or weapon resistance, this may not seem like much, however with repeated use the impact is significant. But, since it¡¯s made out of imperial stone, it should have physical resistance

    At first the sticks I crafted had such a low durability that I could barely use them and they broke very quickly, the same with weapons. If I have to point out something good, it is that when durability reaches 0 the tool does not actually always break. As I was able to verify with some pointed sticks, some would break in half making them useless, while others simply turned blunt and could no longer be called pointed sticks.

    Why is this a good thing? Well, you just need to sharpen them again and you can use them again. Materials are not lost and the only cost is that the maximum durability is reduced.

    I continue scraping a stone, this one is muchrger than the previous one and I think it would work well as an ax head, problem is that due to itsrge size, it¡¯ll most likely take several hours to finish it.

    Afternoon is quite calm, this ce is soothing, who¡¯d say that at this same time yesterday we were having a death match against wildlife. After reminiscing yesterday¡¯s events, the memory of Helena spontaneously arises in my mind. Although I did my best to suppress my darkest thoughts, at that moment I couldn¡¯t help but notice her naked body. Now that I¡¯m alone I allow the image to spin in my head but the guilt quickly ovees me and I shake my head andplete my task without further interruption.

    tool crafting II 1%

    After returning to camp I devoted all my effort and wits to making tools. Sure, getting materials is essential, discovering the imperial stone was a great help, but what to do with them is the real challenge. We need all sorts of tools, from wooden mallets to household implements. I crafted a ton of tools and barely made 10% progress in Tool Crafting II.

    Despite all the effort I invested in the manufacture, if it weren¡¯t for the invaluable help of Ayumi, who helped me carry out multiple experiments with the type of handle that the ax should have, among other things, it would most likely have taken much more toplete the axe.

    The end result is admirable, even if I do say so myself. The ax is ideally proportioned to be used by both Bob, who is huge, and Ayumi, who is small in stature, although thetter has rarely used it so far.

    Imperial stone is grayish-green in color, opaque, and quite heavypared to other stones. Although the weight could be considered a critical disadvantage, it is not so much since they are heroes summoned from another world. This is why they can make full use of the two advantages of the imperial stone axe, the first is its hardness and the second is that its edge is very easy to maintain.

    The damage it causes to trees is enormous, previously it took us a full day to prepare a single log to use in the future construction of the cabin. With Bob¡¯s new tool, he was able to fell and prepare five logs in one day.

    Although the felled trees are of moderate thickness, that does not detract from their merit at all. The trees I used for the construction of my cabin were smaller and I got them with sweat and blood.

    Days went by as I kept on crafting tools, so focused to even notice that a whole week went by. And that¡¯s when things started to getplicated. The axe has been lost.

    ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t have it Ryu?¡± Anne yells in exasperation

    ¡°Why should I have it? wasn¡¯t Bob thest one to use it¡±

    ¡°Hey! don¡¯t look at me, after using the axe I left it in the same ce as always¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry bob, it¡¯s not your fault¡±

    ¡°what do you want the axe for anyway?¡± Hiraku tells Anne in the softest tone he can use.

    ¡°That¡¯s my business, if you don¡¯t have anything to do with it, don¡¯t get involved¡± Anne replies impatiently

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have anything to do with it either, so I can go too... no, wait a minute. If the axe doesn¡¯t appear it¡¯s a serious problem for all of us. We don¡¯t have the materials to craft a new one, and this may put our building to a halt. There¡¯s no choice but to look for it!¡±

    ¡°Young Ryu, before rushing to conclusions, it¡¯d be best to wait until everyone is gathered and we can discuss things. Until then, let¡¯s stay nearby until Ayumi and Lukee back¡±

    ¡°Agreed, let¡¯s stay close for now¡±

    Since I can¡¯t get far from the settlement, I start to go over the pending tasks. The first thing is to check warehouses. Using sticks we make small shelters with a bark roof for various resources. If possible we store each resource in a basket. Ayumi has done a good job inventorying everything we have, although we don¡¯t have paper to write on, we created a whole system to keep track in real time. The first thing was to quantify everything in units, obviously it is an approximation, but so far it looks like it quite well.

    It¡¯s important to keep food and medicine dry so we store them inside the house, but that¡¯s not the case with the elven wheat fruit, it doesn¡¯t seem to spoil even when left outside which is a good thing.

    The case of wood and stone is different, instead of measuring in baskets, we use the volume they upy after being stored. this was a bit moreplex, but Ayumi¡¯s math skills are pretty good and that made our job a lot easier.

    Coal is the easiest to measure in units, we simply ask Helena to craft several baskets of a simr size, that way we know that there¡¯s a simr amount of coal in each basket, therefore each full basket is a unit. We didn¡¯t do this with food as we don¡¯t have enough to measure it by basket, plus one or two pieces of fish can make a big difference.

    To know exactly how many resources we have in each storage, we ce a small basket next to the store. For each unit that we deposit in the warehouse we put a small stone inside and for each unit that we withdraw we take a stone out of the basket.

    It can not be any easier!

    Seriously though, it can¡¯t, we cracked our heads just to try and find something more simple but without paper it¡¯s just not realistic.

    After verifying that the resource units present in the storage are correct byparing them with the units indicated by the number of stones located in the basket, I move on to my next task.

    The next thing will be to check the fire stones, for a long time I have kept them hidden inside a charcoal basket since I want to avoid idents, but as time goes by they will be more and more difficult to hide.

    Every time I make charcoal I get at least one fire attribute stone. At first it was a surprise, I even got a new ability called transmutation. currently my transmutation skill has about 30% progress.

    If I go by how things have been so far, I¡¯d say as soon as I hit 100% I¡¯ll unlock a new skill and also possibly get fire attribute stones on a regr basis. Something simr to what happened with tool manufacturing, as soon as I reached 100% I started to get better quality tools.

    At first, following the progress of each skill was quite entertaining and I kept an eye on each one. Now, however, since the progress is usually so slow and repetitive, I hardly pay attention to it. when I want to know how I am doing in a certain skill, I simply practice it until I receive a message.

    Since there¡¯s not much else to do, I sit down for a moment to think about my next step. There¡¯s a mystery that has been with me for a long time, the fruits of elven wheat.

    We got them when we went to get the medicine for Anne and the imperial stones, at first we brought a lot thinking they will be useful. They¡¯re yellow and shiny, Luke said they look like a gemstone called amber. I don¡¯t know if they look appetizing, but they certainly look beautiful.

    The main advantage of this fruit is that it doesn¡¯t spoil, since we brought them in they¡¯ve been carelessly stored in a basket outside for a week, unlike the rest of the food found inside the cabin. Despite this, it has not presented any changes at all, it maintains its characteristics perfectly.

    Even so, no matter what we try, it is impossible to eat. so far we try to peel them, cook them, dissolve them in water, cook them in water, split them. when I analyze it, it tells me that it is edible, but it does not give me a clue as to how to do it.

    The main problem is that they¡¯re very hard. The closest thing to a sess we got was when Bob lost his temper and broke one into several pieces. Ayumi picked up one of the pieces and put it to cook on the pot. the smell that came out was incredible, but even so, eating it was impossible. we only managed to scrape the surface of each piece while its center remained hard as a rock.

    Thinking about that, after scraping it if we could get something edible, although little of it.

    Maybe there is a way to eat this fruit after all!

    I¡¯m going to get a big rock from our rock pile, obviously there¡¯s no roof over the pile since it doesn¡¯t matter if the stones get wet. it¡¯s heavy and difficult to carry, I hold it with both hands and the weight prevents me from walking properly. I drop it heavily near the kitchen and go for a smaller, oval-shaped rock, small enough to manipte easily with both hands.

    With the imperial stone chisel and using a wooden mallet, one that was fairly easy to create, I start tapping the edges of therge rock to give it a round shape. with a bowl of water I clean the surface of the rock and ce on it an elven wheat fruit.

    I start by hitting the fruit gently with the medium egg-shaped stone, the blows are not hard but they are repetitive and the fruit ends up yielding to the pressure and breaks into several smaller pieces. It¡¯s a sess, so I continue hitting the smaller pieces.

    Curious at the sound, the two-tailed cat approaches me with both tails raised. Is it my idea or is he getting fatter?

    Anyway, this is a boring task that just requires patience and so I¡¯ll let you y to your heart¡¯s content. It climbs up my back, rubs against my arm, bounces around. How weird, he had never treated me this way before.

    moon cat 60/60

    taming: friendly

    hey! that¡¯s good! Maybe it¡¯s time to give it a name.

    I continue my work much happier, grinding the elven wheat fruit little by little until I finally achieve my goal, with the ground fruit hitting the rock would be inefficient. instead I move the egg-shaped rock back and forth over the crushed fruit until a soft yellowish powder forms. I haven¡¯t seen this before, even so I know its name, it¡¯s flour.

    I take some water from the pot on the stove, wait for it to cool down, and then pour a small amount onto the stone. As the warm wateres into contact with the fine powder of the elven Wheat Fruit it begins to absorb it rapidly.

    The amount of water it can hold is impressive, only after the second bowl of water I pour over the mix does it begin to saturate and be malleable. it is quitefortable to knead, I dedicate myself to it for a while until I get a smooth texture and let it rest for a moment on the stone.

    I don¡¯t have many possibilities to cook the mixture, I can only boil or roast it. Since this is an experiment, I split the mixture in two and decide to try both methods. Although the first thing is to see if it tastes good, I take a small raw portion and put it in my mouth.

    It has almost no vor and it dries my mouth a lot, it¡¯s an unpleasant sensation. I turn to drink a ss of water and as soon as I am distracted, a mischievous figure leans out to sniff the dough. The lunar cat seems especially attracted to it, although it hasn¡¯t made an attempt to eat it.

    ¡°Oh, I see you like it, wait until it¡¯s cooked and it will surely taste better¡±

    To roast the dough I cover it with ashes and throw it directly into the fire, although I don¡¯t know how long it will take to be ready, or even if it will really be edibleter, I have no other way to do it at the moment. It¡¯s somewhat simr to the method of cooking the tubers, in order for them to be eaten normally they must spend the whole night on the campfire.

    On the other hand, boiling the dough is much easier. Taking advantage of the fact that there is already a pot on the stove with hot water, I make some balls of dough of various sizes and throw them directly into the water. In this case it will be easy to know when they are ready since I will be able to see them directly.

    To get the water up to its boiling point it will be necessary to add more fuel to the stove, I go to the woodshed for dry branches, I sit in front of the stove and start to break them into small pieces to feed the fire.

    It doesn¡¯t take long for the water to start boiling. Satisfied with the result, I set out to find afortable ce to rest for a while.

    .....

    In the distance I can see Anne concentrating on her target practice. Ever since the confrontation with the jackals in the forest, she has been somewhat worried that she may not be able to defend herself.

    Hiraku, who has be our best fisherman, returns from theke with today¡¯s bounty. Although he¡¯s not very reliable inbat, he has a lot of talent for manualbor and is also able to control the rest of the group a bit. Both he and Ayumi are the oldest and, even though neither of them is interested in the position of leader, both have been indispensable in keeping the peace in the group.

    Every time a problem arises, Hiraku tries to mediate situations to prevent them from escting. If he is unsessful, Ayumi intervenes, she never fails to get a goodugh out of us, thus attenuating the group¡¯s discontent. Bob says that they¡¯re like the parents of the group, although it is rareing from a guy of his size, anyway every time he says something like that, Ayumi jumps to p him on the back of his head, scolding him for treating her like an old woman.

    By the way, Bob is at his regr magic practice. Every day, without fail, he spends a good portion of his morning shouting incantations with his hands outstretched in all directions. Sometimes he draws strange symbols on the ground saying that they are ancient mysterious forms that have immeasurable power.

    ¡°Yuck! what¡¯s this, why are there some things floating in the water?¡± Luke exims in disgust with a ss of water in his hand.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, it was my fault¡± I say in a regretful tone. I didn¡¯t even realize when he appeared behind me, when did hee back? I hardly ever see luke and rarely notice his presence before he shows up out of nowhere. We¡¯re all used to it by now, but it doesn¡¯t make it any less worrying.

    ¡°We¡¯re back!¡± Ayumi says casually

    ¡°how did it go?¡±

    ¡°It was okay, we¡¯ve already demarcated the area, now all that¡¯s left is for Bob to cut down the trees¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not going to be possible dear¡± Hiraku says as he walks up to us ¡°the axe is lost, we wanted to ask you if you took it by any chance , but it seems not to be the case¡±

    ¡°What!? How is it possible!? that Helena is going to see what¡¯s what once I finish up with her!¡±

    ¡°Helena!?¡± several voices say in unison.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17: Beware of the cat, please!

    Out of everyone, Helena was the least likely to be the culprit. Up until now she had not even shown interest in using it and her work doesn¡¯t require the use of heavy tools, it¡¯s not that she cannot use it since she¡¯s actually quite strong, rather she doesn¡¯t want to. she usually spends her time making nt fiber for different purposes, she can even make fiber thread with which she had previously made us some robes.

    We still don¡¯t shake the shocked expression when we see Helena dragging a medium-thick log with one hand and the axe with the other. Yes, she is stronger than she seems, but still it must be a lot of work to carry both.

    Seeing her, Anne quickly approaches her

    ¡°what are you doing? why did you take the axe without telling anyone?¡±

    ¡°Hey? but I did ask Ayumi for it and she told me I could use it as long as I didn¡¯t lose it¡±

    ¡°And what did you want the axe for anyway?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, it¡¯s just that the boys will soon start building their cabin and, although the one we live in now isn¡¯t too bad, it¡¯s hard to live there because it smells like fish. So I thought it was a good idea to get additional materials to build another one, so we could live separately from the boys¡±

    .....

    ¡°I refuse, I refuse, I reject, it¡¯s the worst idea I¡¯ve ever heard!¡± Hiraku says with a disproportionately angry expression. anything that takes him away from his wife seems to strike a chord.

    ¡°No need to be angry husband, building another cabin was already in our ns anyway. For that same reason, I apanied Luke to mark the trees that we need to cut down for it.¡±

    ¡°Why do you want to divorce me? Haven¡¯t I been a good husband? Tell me what I must do to change, I will do anything, even if it costs me my life!¡± exims Hiraku with tears on his face

    ¡°Don¡¯t be dramatic, we need to separate. The main reason is that with the means we have we cannot cut down thergest trees in the forest and, even if we could, we don¡¯t have the means to work that wood properly. That means that necessarily the constructions we make will end up being the approximate size of the one that Ryu built, probably a little bigger.

    Don¡¯t take this the wrong way Ryu, but we¡¯re too cramped right now and storing food where we live has been awkward too. on the other hand, we need furniture and some basicforts. It¡¯s unfair that Bob can sleepfortably in a bed while the rest of us sleep on the jackal skins on the floor.¡±

    Though what he says makes sense, Hiraku¡¯s expression doesn¡¯t change. The only one who got upset was Bob, who was quick to apologize.

    ¡°I... I¡¯m sorry for the difficulties I¡¯ve caused you all, I always tell you that I can sleep on the floor if you want¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s not your fault Bob, it¡¯s just that you¡¯re too big to sleep next to us, whenever you want to move, you crush someone¡±

    Although the situation seems funny to me, nobody isughing. I¡¯m lucky that I¡¯ve never had to sleep next to him. Although I think I prefer that to sleeping next to Hiraku, every time I sleep next to him, he ends up hugging me, thinking I¡¯m Ayumi.

    ¡°Our idea is to have a warehouse and two habitable cabins, each one with basicforts. table, two chairs and a bed for each inhabitant. Do you realize the kind of space all that would need? that doesn¡¯t even take into consideration the eating space. not even the bathroom¡± continues Ayumi

    ¡°well, then there was no point in me going to get materials for the new cabin¡± Helena sighs as she puts the axe down.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your effort won¡¯t be wasted, actually we all need to work together to finish as soon as possible. We don¡¯t know when winter wille¡±

    When I finish saying this, Helena gives me a warm smile.

    ¡°perhaps... are you nning to do a bathroom too!?¡± Anne exims with one of her rare and beautiful smiles.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s nothing like the toilets in our world, but I think we can do something that¡¯s at least practical. I did some designs with the help of Hiraku, he was a real estate broker so he knows a bit about construction.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s why you asked me so many questions about rural house designs? now I understand¡±

    ¡°But... Hiraku and I already talked about making a new cottage, he said he wanted some privacy with you. I mean, the two of you are married after all¡±

    ¡°Exactly young Ryu, I¡¯m not against building another one... It¡¯s just that i refuse to use our current ce as a storage room!¡±

    ¡°But we can¡¯t keep living with smelling fish inside! that¡¯s why I took the axe!¡±

    ¡°Ok, we need to discuss a lot of things, but to keep matters civil, we will all state what are we looking for and we¡¯ll try to amodate everyone. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard since we haven¡¯t even put the first wood log¡±

    ¡°Ok, so I¡¯ll start. As you guys know I used to work real estate, this means I can amodate our needs... but that¡¯s just on paper, I¡¯m not an engineer nor a carpenter so it¡¯ll also depend in our building capabilities. Please don¡¯t ask for running water or electricity¡±

    ¡°But running water doesn¡¯t seem that difficult, we just need to set up a water tower and let the pressure do its work¡±

    ¡°ok, that¡¯s actually a pretty good idea Ryu¡±

    It¡¯s so rare for Anne topliment me that I get derailed and couldn¡¯t even finish what i was saying.

    ¡°Fine, so, even if we can¡¯t add a running water system yet, we can still add it in our ns so it¡¯ll be easy to implementter¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct as always dear. We can also think of a way to make a sewage system¡±

    ¡°I want a chimney, since I¡¯ve been sleeping on the bed I can¡¯tin... but it¡¯s getting colder. At least you are all together in the floor¡±

    Then Luke lifts his hand

    ¡°we¡¯re not at school Luke, you can just speak¡±

    ¡°Ok, so Ryu wants running water, Helena wants men and women separated, Bob wants a firece, Anne wants a bathroom... But how can we manage to put everything inside such a small building. Hear me out, there¡¯s seven of us and we barely fit together at our current ce. Let¡¯s say we finish two small cottages, both being the same size, only a little bigger than the cabin...¡±

    ¡°Yes young Luke, that¡¯s correct... but we may need topromise though. I¡¯ll do my best to design something that fits all our needs¡±

    After this conversation, the general picture looks pretty good for the future. Although we still don¡¯t have the means to solve all our current problems, little by little we have found solutions.

    Now that everyone is silent, I could finally notice an incredible aromaing from the kitchen. It¡¯s a sweet and appetizing fragrance, although I don¡¯t know how to describe it, I feel that this smell represents by itself everything that a home should be.

    Suddenly, as if struck by a spell, everyone¡¯s eyes red on the kitchen.

    ¡°What¡¯s that smell, its so good!?¡± Ayumi exims with exaggerated emotion.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to cook the fruit we got¡±

    ¡°I thought you couldn¡¯t cook it¡± Anne says trying to hide her excitement

    ¡°it¡¯s all thanks to Bob, remember when he broke one of the fruits and we got to taste a little of its vor? Well, I did something simr¡± I tell them while I point to the stone I used as grinding stone.

    ¡°Ryu! You¡¯re great! you just made flour!¡± Ayumi loses her temper and lunges at the pot on top of the stove.

    With a wooden bowl, she takes one of the dough balls out of the boiling water and blows on it, spreading the desirable aroma even more. Then she takes it in her hand to continue cooling it until she can finally take a bite.

    ¡°Oh! it has the same texture as mochi! This is by far the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life!¡±

    ¡°What is that Ayumi?¡± Helena asks with curiosity

    ¡°Its a food from my homnd, it is... hmmm, how to say it... mofu mofu?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no point dear, she won¡¯t be able to understand what mochi is. Oh! it is, indeed, like mochi and it¡¯s delicious!¡±

    Soon, everyone starts eating the elven fruit mochi balls, since I made them in various sizes to test the different cooking times I¡¯m worried that some may not be ready yet. While I¡¯m lost in my thoughts I realize that only my portion remains.

    Its small, but I really don¡¯t mind, I just want to taste its texture and vor to learn how to make them better next time. Cooling it down a bit and getting ready to take a bite, I feel sharp ws grab onto my leg. The intense pain causes my food to drop on the floor as I scream at the top of my lungs.

    health points 6/11

    taming 47%

    This is terrible! I can feel my skin tear and I feel a warm liquid running down my leg. My health points dropped dangerously low just from an idental scratch.

    health points 5/11

    ¡°Quick Helena! use your skill! he¡¯s bleeding out!¡±

    yells Anne worriedly. Blood escapes from my body and I start to hear everything as if I was very far away from its source. I get carried away by this strange feeling of cold and my sight begins to dim. It¡¯s not necessarily a bad thing, I can hear a whisper calling onto me. I don¡¯t recognize the voice, it sounds like a woman, it¡¯s a very feminine voice. A strange nostalgia pours from my heart, I feel like I know her but I still can¡¯t tell her name. I can¡¯t wait to find out who¡¯s calling me.

    health points 4/11

    Suddenly an feeling of warm pleasure surrounds me, it feels like a loving hug that keeps my feet on the ground.

    health points

    11/11 ¡°ufff, that was close¡± says Helena.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Ayumi says while chewing the portion that corresponded to Hiraku,pletely unaware of the situation.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I think the cat happened to tear an artery.¡±

    ¡°That was scary, but I¡¯m fine now. I¡¯ll be more careful with the cat from now on.¡±

    ¡°we should get rid of that furball.¡± exims Luke

    ¡°No, if you think about it, if Ryu manages to train it, it could cause that same damage to our enemies. It¡¯s too good an opportunity to pass up.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine, really. Seriously Bob, stay away, I already said nothing happened to me. It wasn¡¯t even painful. I¡¯m actually surprised it managed to lower my health points by 7 with a simple scratch¡±

    Bob clings tightly to me and checks me everywhere to see if I¡¯m okay.

    ¡°Well, well, leaving everything that happened aside, what will you name the new food?¡± Ayumi asks

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I haven¡¯t thought about it. We could call it Mochi¡±

    as soon as the cat hears the word mochi its two tails get tense at a ny degree angle and meows loudly. Fearing that it might hurt me, I back away, but it chases me slowly all the way down to my feet.

    ¡°what¡¯s wrong with the cat?¡± Helena asks as she takes it in her arms.

    Anne who was watching everything from afar says

    ¡°I think she liked the new food a lot¡±

    ¡°Well, then that will be its name, do you like mochi?¡± Mochi lets out a meow that is overshadowed by a soft purr.

    ¡°Ryu, I know we have a lot to do and I promise that our group will do everything possible to advance the construction, but I think your efforts will be better spent if you prepare some more flour and food.¡±

    As expected of the gluttonous Ayumi, shees over and asks me to keep cooking. Although the scene in front of me is a little different than I expected. Everyone, including Luke, nods and cheers at Ayumi¡¯s words.

    .....

    was it so delicious? now I really regret not getting the chance to taste the mochi.

    ¡°And why don¡¯t you prepare it yourself?¡± I ask jokingly, but Ayumi answers me with all seriousness.

    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of great importance, to begin with, wee from a different world, until now the only thing we¡¯ve eaten that existed in our world is fish, the wild boar that we huntedst month and the rabbits. We still don¡¯t know if you¡¯re also from our world, but having no memory you try things that we wouldn¡¯t think of¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true, honestly we never would have thought of doing that, in our world normally flour is made with grains that are very small¡± Helena fully supports Ayumi.

    Apparently I can¡¯t say no, so I humor them and start preparing more right away. While the others begin to seriously discuss if they should go collect more elven wheat fruits for the winter. Since they don¡¯t have my analysis skill they don¡¯t know that the fruit is called elvish/elven wheat fruit and they call it flour fruit, wheat fruit, amber fruit, they can¡¯t decide on its name.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get on with this. However, Ayumi I think you should practice your skills, so far I¡¯ve only seen you use your ability to light fire, aren¡¯t you supposed to be able to learn spells or something?¡±

    For some reason Bob¡¯s eyes begin to shine with emotion. Ayumi then clears her throat.

    ¡°Well, we already sorted the food problem so, I guess if I spend my mana I can get it back quickly. I¡¯ll do my best to check the extent of my ability¡±

    While I grind the fruit little by little, very carefully to avoid it being thrown everywhere because the mortar I¡¯m using is too t, I suddenly realize that I have nowhere to store the flour once finished and therefore the only thing I can do is prepare more ¡®elven mochi¡¯, since it can be stored in a wicker basket easily.

    Unfortunately I already use the water that was in the pot. One of the biggest difficulties I¡¯ve faced in this time, not counting the bipr cat, has been organizing my time.

    I always do my best to prioritize tasks based on their urgency or importance, I don¡¯t know where I learned that habit, but it is very useful, or at least I thought so. The problem is that whenever I start one task, two others arise and that messes up my itinerarypletely.

    I set myself the goal of building a cabin and suddenly I¡¯m going to look for wood to erge the bed so that Bob is morefortable. It might seem like the two are unrted, but Bob is our best lumberjack and he can haul wood a lot easier than the rest of us. One day he woke up contracted, his muscled were all tense in pain, and he couldn¡¯t go to look for wood, as a result of this the construction of the cabin was dyed a full day.

    At first I just wanted to build a square building, something pretty easy and we could do it in less than a week, but then Hirakues and asks for it to be a cottage. It may not seem like a big difference, but it is! We need bigger logs, more wood, more bark tiles for the roof, we also needed better tools.

    I¡¯m ok with this because building a proper house can make a huge difference, now we¡¯re looking into ways of having a sewage system, flowing water and a chimney. Our living conditions will improve tenfold, but this makes things so much moreplicated that I¡¯m still not sure if it¡¯s even worth it. What would happen if winteres before we¡¯re ready?

    I¡¯m too scared to even think about this, the whole point in teaming up with them was to have a better chance at survival, but they fail to realize our current situation. Our resources are scarce, they may have the knowledge and strength to acquire materials, but are they skilled enough to properly build?

    I need to think of a better way to organize ourselves or we may end up wasting time needlessly. Assigning roles to everyone might be helpful, since they¡¯ll get a sense of purpose.

    Helena is quite handy with nt fiber, she¡¯s been crafting wicker baskets and clothes for everyone. She¡¯s always busy because our clothes keep wearing out, it¡¯s only natural since materials at our disposal are limited. If she was able to craft a nt fiber sack that¡¯s tightly knit we could store elven wheat fruit flour there, thus helping a little with food scarcity, but it¡¯s still not enough.

    Bob is so strong that he¡¯s obviously the most effective in gathering heavy materials like wood and stone. His strength alsoes in handy when building so, right now he¡¯s the most important member of our group.

    Since Ayumi dedicates herself to investigation, mainly because she¡¯s useless at every other task, i can¡¯t assign her a new role.

    Hiraku is our fisherman right now.

    There¡¯s only Luke and Anne without roles, but I¡¯ll need to think about this some more.

    I get up to go fetch some water. After emptying the water from the pot into theke I dedicate myself to washing it thoroughly, then, I fill itpletely. Normally I¡¯d prefer to use running water, living near a river made things a lot easier, but I still prefer thiske over the ce where they were living before.

    Small particles that came in the water used to boil the elven mochi slowly dissolve on the surface of theke, surprisingly small minnowse to eat. apparently the elvish wheat fruit attracts animals.

    I wonder what uses I could give this new information...

    It has worked so far with the cat and with this small fish, we may be able to use it as bait somehow. Right now Hiraku is our best fisherman, spearfishing with harpoons has be his main task, but he spends quite a lot of time just looking for his prey, plus he needs to be in the water.

    I may be able to craft a fishing rod, it may be handy to fish mid winter and it could be the answer I¡¯ve been looking for all this time.

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18: Watch your hands, please!

    Anne walks away from the settlement, everyone¡¯s busy getting everything ready to start the construction. Her main task since she came to this world has been to explore and gather, but she felt that her talents were not put up to good use.

    One of the things that worries her the most is that she¡¯s supposed to be an archer ss, even so, she doesn¡¯t have a bow. For now, the only way she¡¯d get a bow would be to ask Ryu to make one for her, but she wouldn¡¯t fall so low as to ask him for help.

    It¡¯s not really that she despises Ryu as the others think, she knows that he¡¯s capable and that without him they would have been lost at this point. The real problem is her own uselessness.

    Since she was little, Anne has always lived surrounded by superfluous people, even as a child they always instilled in her that appearances were everything.

    She was apletely normal girl, very energetic and sincere with her feelings. She loved to y in the dirt, in the field, running everywhere. like any child her age, and just like every child she couldn¡¯t help but get dirty from time to time but, when that happened, her mother would beat her mercilessly at home, caring not to leave marks anywhere visible.

    The situation only got worse over time, as she grew into her teens, whenever she left home and whenever she returned, her mother performed aplete check on her outfit. If she found even one defect, the consequences would be dire.

    She grew up to be a superfluous girl and, just like her mother wanted, she hid her true feelings behind an emotionless mask to protect herself. when interacting with others, she was never able to form a true bond with people, although this was not her fault since her whole life was woven out of falsehoods, for this very reason the only thing she could offer to others was her appearance.

    .....

    Despite the difficulties she faced in her family, she always kept the hope of being free someday. Thanks to socialworks, she finally got her mother¡¯s approval to dedicate herself to activities in nature.

    With the excuse of going to take photos to gain poprity among her peers, she visited all kinds of ces, forests, rivers, caves and, as soon as she came of age, she even ventured to other countries climbing mountains and challenging all kinds of climates .

    She never dared go against her parent¡¯s will, with her father¡¯s political career at stake and her mother¡¯s cruel punishments, there was too much at stake to do so.

    Although during her life she had taken dance, modeling, art sses, she never really enjoyed these activities so much. Her greatest passion, always, was nature and her adventures abroad became her reason to live.

    Unfortunately for her, although everything finally seemed to be going well in her life, it was precisely one of these adventures that would seal her fate.

    In an attempt to reach the top of a mountain in Latin America by herself, she managed to reach the top in record time and left behind an extensive video record that would serve as a witness to her sess, but also her demise. The world would mourn the death of a young woman with a promising future, although her family secretly celebrated the great political boost they would receive in exchange for losing one of their five daughters.

    But no one knew that this wouldn¡¯t be the end of Anne, who after descending from the summit faced a drastic change in climate that threatened her safety. With no means to protect herself, she tried to dig a shelter to temporarily shelter herself from the snow, but while looking for a suitable ce she fell down a slope. At that moment she was transported into this world, giving her a new chance in life. This would have been the dream of her life a couple of years ago and even now she is optimistic about her situation, but she never got to experience the freedom of being a normal girl.

    She was always smothered by her family, the only way she could be somewhat free was to go as far as adventuring into ces that not even locals dared to. Thinking back, the only thing she wanted was to get a taste of what a normal girl would call an average day.

    Now, she¡¯s watching a tall young man wash a y pot on the shore of ake. In other circumstances she would¡¯ve loved to be asked out by him.

    ¡°Everything would be easier if I could be useful too¡± Anne sighs as she looks at Ryu with aplicated expression on her face.

    ¡°You should be more honest with your feelings¡±

    Ayumi who was behind Anne says behind her back, who felt as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown at her in surprise.

    ¡°You!? What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I left the group to practice magic as Ryu asked¡±

    ¡°Why did you need toe so far? do you think it¡¯s dangerous? haha, They¡¯re basically just party tricks¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I don¡¯t want to make Bob feel bad, he wanted to be a magician so badly. anyway, don¡¯t try to change the subject so tantly¡±

    Anne blushes as she does her best to hide her expressions, although she can control her gestures, her body responds even if she doesn¡¯t want to.

    ¡°Ah, if it¡¯s because of Bob that¡¯s ok¡±

    They¡¯re both silent for a moment as they watch Ryu carefully wash the pot.

    ¡°He tries really hard, you know? yet you and Luke have been mean to him, even though he could have managed on his own, he still goes above and beyond and helps all of us all the time¡±

    ¡°I know, I know¡±

    ¡°Yes You know, then why don¡¯t you talk honestly with him? If you don¡¯t hurry, Helena will keep him for herself¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Ayumi!¡± exims Anne stomping her feet

    ¡°It¡¯s none of my business, but he¡¯s quite handsome, even if its not Helena, sooner orter they might take him away from you¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re interested in him too?¡±

    ¡°What are you saying crazy girl!? talking nonsense to a married woman like that! I have Hiraku and although it may not seem like it, I¡¯m much older than all of you. however, seriously speaking, the truth is that I¡¯m very grateful to Ryu. He didn¡¯t just help us when we were at our worst, he also gave me a task that I can actually perform well... perhaps you could ask him what to do... Oh! and I almost forgot that he cares for everyone too. When the jackals attacked you, he acted as bait so he could save you all, right? I wasn¡¯t there but Hiraku told me everything.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I want to be asking Ryu any favors, it¡¯s true... he does care for all of us, but I¡¯m just worthless. I... nevermind. Weren¡¯t you going to practice magic? I¡¯d like to see if it¡¯s possible¡±

    Ayumi takes a little distance heading towards the shore, the first thing she does is extend her hand forward but nothing happens. after a long minute Anne loses patience.

    ¡°what are you doing? I don¡¯t see anything.¡±

    Ayumi, who was trying to hide her failure, blushedpletely and waved her arms energetically.

    ¡°Be patient, this isn¡¯t easy, you know?¡±

    ¡°What exactly do you want to achieve by pping your arms like that? are you trying to fly or something?¡±

    ¡°Oh, shut up would you! That¡¯s the problem, I can¡¯t really imagine anything... when I manipte fire it feels natural. The first time I did it, it could be said that it was a mere coincidence. We were desperate trying to light a fire and, when it was my turn to try, no matter how hard I rubbed the sticks, nothing happened. Then, just before I gave up, the fire just ignited as if by magic. No, rather, it was lit precisely by magic¡±

    ¡°Perhaps if you try something simr, it could work. Maybe you could try digging to manipte the earth or drink very hot water and try to cool it down¡±

    ¡°Forget about hot water, seriously but maybe digging could be a good idea¡± Ayumi answers without expression on her face and bends down to start digging with her bare hands.

    ¡°Wait! you¡¯re going to getpletely dirty,st time we spent half an hour trying to clean your hair and not to mention the clothes! you better take everything off first¡±

    ¡°But what if someonees? besides, Ryu is close¡±

    ¡°Calm down, let¡¯s wait for him to go away, he¡¯s cooking remember? the others are busy building, the only one who coulde is Helena and that shouldn¡¯t be a problem¡±

    While they waited for Ryu to leave, they both spent the time to looking at thendscape. In their old world technology was advanced to the point where it was easy to get almost anywhere by car, natural ces were increasingly scarce. Especially where Ayumi came from, the few ces that had not been ruined by man became nature reserves.

    As soon as Ryu returned to the settlement, Ayumi stripped naked and began digging with her hands. Not really knowing what to expect, she tried to replicate the same feeling of the first time she made fire, but to no avail. As much as she had the intention of digging a hole, she had no real need and therefore could not evoke same feeling as before.

    After a while, they had no choice but to surrender. After taking a quick bath, they both headed back to the settlement and when they were close, a cry of pain from Luke urged them to speed up their pace.

    *****

    After returning from theke, I hurriedly grind the elven wheat fruit in the grindstone. From my position I can clearly see how everyone works in the construction. This process is actually quite interesting:

    Bob goes back and forth with logs at an impressive speed, cing them on top of each other. Although the one who surprises me the most is Hiraku, who untiringly hits the trunks using the imperial stone chisel and the wooden mallet, making them t enough so they fit perfectly together.

    After the week we spent collecting wood, we could say that we have a decent amount stored, not enough for the construction of two cottages, but we decided to start building now. Our wood stockpile upies more and more space in our settlement, maybe it would not be a bad idea to expand it.

    At first we used the chisel by hitting it with a stick, but the sticks broke too quickly. The wooden mallet allows us to hit the chisel hard without fear of breaking it. It¡¯smon for a weapon or tool to lose a point of durability with each hit, but this is not the case for tools made of higher quality. Not only they have a higher amount of durability points, they also don¡¯t always lose a point whennding a hit.

    I can¡¯t be sure yet, some testing is still needed, I think the hardness of the material also affects it. For example, a wooden stick hitting another results in the durability of both being reduced. The one being used normally would lose one point of durability and the one being hit would lose points of resistance depending on the force of the hit. This results in the tools resisting somewhat more than the object being hit, regardless of whether they both have the same maximum durability.

    The idea seems simple, but it is not easy as it seems. Because that¡¯s only the case if you are dealing with two objects with the same hardness. If a stick is hit with a stone, sometimes the stone does not lose a point of resistance when hitting the stick. As if that were not enough, the imperial stone has a physical resistance.

    At the moment, I¡¯m the only one aware of this characteristic of the imperial stone. There¡¯s too much information that I keep hidden from the rest of the group. I don¡¯t do this with bad intentions, first, I¡¯d like to check the limit of the skills before sharing them. Second, I don¡¯t want them to be overly confident in my abilities, they¡¯ve gotten so responsible I wouldn¡¯t want to ruin that by spoiling them too much. Lastly, since they don¡¯t know how do skills even work, they¡¯ll try to investigate for themselves, that way they could give me new information.

    The one who hase closest is Luke, who apparently spends most of his time looking for creatures to hunt and investigating what he calls ¡®the system¡¯. There¡¯s not much information that he¡¯s willing to share with the rest either, but he has told us about the sses and the supposed roles they should perform. He sounds particrly annoyed when Bob attempts to do his enchantments and every time he sees him practicing, he scolds him saying that a warrior has no talent for magic.

    Despite this, Bob works hard day after day, even if his efforts are in vain, I still find it admirable. Although Luke scolds him, Ayumi makes fun of him and Helena looks at him withpassion, day after day he continues with his magic practice without letting anything discourage him. Not only that, he¡¯s always the most lively and enthusiastic of all.

    A dry, rhythmic sound runs through the settlement as Hiraku painstakingly goes about his work.

    ¡°If we continue at this rate in a couple of days we will finish building¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that, Hiraku, you see... when I built the cabin I didn¡¯t think long term. I thought about creating enough space to live alone, it was supposed to be just a shelter. For that reason it¡¯s not so high, I never meant to have guests either. because of that we, can¡¯t turn on any kind of heating inside now. With the number of people who sleep there, without proper venttion and the low ceiling, air would be consumed too quickly¡±

    ¡°So, will the new ones have heating?¡±

    ¡°Well, we did speak about this, Ayumi is currently looking for a way to make a firece out of stones. Problem is that y is not suitable for that. Speaking of which, where¡¯s Ayumi?¡±

    As I chat with Hiraku about the progress his wife has made, I realize I¡¯ve alreadypleted my task. Hiraku, who is a little tired, hands the chisel to Luke and gives him some instructions on how to shape the logs so that they canter be made to fit together when building.

    Luke climbs on top of the upper wood log in the wall that¡¯s currently being built and starts following Hiraku¡¯s instructions.

    Now that I already have a considerable amount of elvish wheat fruit flour I can get started with cooking. This time I know I¡¯ll be sessful so I did three times the amount I made before, that means I¡¯ll need a lot of water.

    The mixture of warm water with flour begins to look good, this flour rapidly absorbs all the moisture and begins to grow in size little by little until it reaches an incredible volume.

    After letting the dough rest for a moment, I realize that even now it¡¯s still expanding. That must be the reason why, despite having so much water inside, once the mochi isplete it is lighter. Although I didn¡¯t get to eat it since the ungrateful cat took my portion, I managed to feel the smooth texture it had with my hand.

    Lunch time is over and I¡¯m very hungry, I¡¯m the only one who couldn¡¯t even grab a bite.

    With the potpletely empty, I have no choice but to go fetch more water. I wonder if it would be possible to create a bigger water container or maybe dig a well so I don¡¯t have to go to theke every time water is needed.

    As I get closer to theke shore I notice Anne who¡¯s looking at the ground with a curious expression on her face. I keep going further and only then I realize what¡¯s she looking at, it¡¯s Ayumi... she¡¯spletely naked ying with mud. Just what¡¯s going on?

    I can¡¯t let them know I¡¯ve been here so I use my stealth to walk away and go somewhere further away on the shore to fetch water.

    Once I¡¯m back, I put the pot overflowing with water on the kitchen stove, it will surely take a long time to boil and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s convenient to put the dough in cold water. it would spend too much time submerged in water and risk disassembling or absorbing too much water.

    Helena, who¡¯s making nt fiber as always, stands up and approaches me.

    ¡°Let me help you, Ryu, I¡¯ll bring some branches to feed the fire¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Helena. Sometimes there are so many things to do that my day flies by before I manage to finish anything¡±

    ¡°I know what you mean, though I usually get upter than everyone else¡±

    Helena goes to the woodshed with small steps but very quickly, giving the impression that she¡¯s in a hurry even though she¡¯s not running. After a minute she returns where I am with a few branches.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, that¡¯s all I could get, woodshed¡¯s empty now so I¡¯ll go gather firewood right away¡±

    .....

    sometimes she¡¯s just as giddy as the rest, but she¡¯s right. What she brought me is enough to get the pot to boil, but if there¡¯s no more firewood it can be a serious issue.

    Nevertheless, now we have the possibility to cut downrger trees and, technically, we could make enough firewood to get us through the winter in a few days. Truth is that it wouldn¡¯t be possible, fresh wood doesn¡¯t burn properly and produces way too much smoke. It should normally be allowed to dry for a period of time before it can be used.

    Due to this, it¡¯s much more convenient to gather firewood on a daily basis, fallen branches are a good source of dry firewood. unfortunately, we need to venture a little further everyday to gather firewood, but as long as the others help we¡¯ll be ok, since they can bringrge quantities much faster than me.

    I quickly split the dough into small pieces while making spherical shapes, immediately throwing them into the pot now that it¡¯s boiling. It doesn¡¯t take long and its pretty easy. When I was finally done, I used a stick to scoop out the ash-covered dough I previously threw into the fire.

    I shake off the ash that envelops it and I¡¯m greeted by what I could only describe as a lump of charcoal. yes, it was in the fire for too long. Still I don¡¯t give up and use my obsidian knife to split the ckish loaf.

    To my surprise, when I cut it, some steam begins toe out and the same aroma of mochi tickles my nostrils. I scrape off all the burnt crust and what hides beneath that unpleasant appearance is something simr to a bread, with the texture of a cookie.

    The smell alone whets my appetite immediately and after the first bite, a heavenly taste runs through my pte. Although its somewhat crunchy and dry, its not really difficult to eat. its sweet and aromatic vor is incredibly delicious.

    I walk away from the kitchen since I was a little tired of the constant heat, and there¡¯s still a while for the mochi to be ready. As I eat, I watch carelessly how Luke works.

    It seems that my presence annoys him as he starts to work slower and slower until he finally explodes into rage

    ¡°Hey! why do you look at me so much? do you like me or something? I¡¯m sorry but You¡¯re not my type, and even if that were the case, I definitely wouldn¡¯t get near you¡±

    ¡°there¡¯s no need to be so offensive Luke, I know you don¡¯t like me but... i was just curious¡±

    It¡¯s like talking to a tree, he ignores mepletely and continues his work. I stay in the same ce watching him while his blonde hair shakes with every movement he makes. this seems to unnerve him until he loses concentration and suddenly hits his own hand with the wooden mallet.

    ¡°AHHH!¡± luke yells as he carelessly falls off the trunk he was on, tripping over his other hand that held onto the chisel tightly. A small pool of blood forms beneath him, lying face down on the ground.

    Everything happened so fast that it was impossible to avoid it, also I never imagined that events would take such a dark turn. Part of me wants to say ¡®oh well, he was a good man, may he rest in peace¡¯.

    Seeing him on the ground in such a delicate state makes me think, just for a brief moment, a mere instant, that it¡¯d be easy to put him out of his misery right now.

    Luke 67/100 (bleeding)

    thief

    consider 1%

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19: Choose your allies wisely, please! part

    Consider killing!!!???

    The way the consider skill is unlocked is by considering killing another human being!?

    This means that Luke, at some point before he met me, considered killing someone in the group. This thought paralyzes mepletely.

    I understand that he doesn¡¯t like me and that I came to take the ce that he feels is rightfully his. Even so, he gets along so well with everyone, it¡¯s really hard to think that he ever seriously thought about taking the life of any of them.

    And what about that ss? thief? other than clothing, all things in the settlement are for public use. Even if he wanted to, what could he possibly even steal?

    Also, thinking about it, is that really a ss corresponding to a hero summoned from another world destined to save humanity that is on the brink of extinction? Isn¡¯t thieving kind of an inmoral thing to begin with?

    Questions hit me one after another as I watch the pool of blood slowly grow beneath Luke.

    .....

    Luke 41/100 (bleeding) (unconscious)

    ¡°AHHHH!¡±

    The heartbreaking shriek of Ayumi, who¡¯sing with wet hair shakes mepletely. As much as I dislike him, Luke hasn¡¯t really done anything wrong to me and he¡¯s still part of the group so I should do what I can to help him however I can.

    ¡°What are you doing Ryu? what happened? Luke¡¯s going to die if he stays like that! we should do something!¡± Hiraku exims as he runs over.

    Apparently no one saw what happened as everyone was immersed in their own business and too far away.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, everything happened very fast¡±

    I know what I should do, I have to act but I feel everyone¡¯s eyes as if they mistrust me and suddenly I can¡¯t move anymore.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me, I couldn¡¯t help it¡±

    my voice barelyes out of my throat.

    Ayumi also seems to be in shock and Bob is the only one to react. He gently turns Luke over revealing the chisel stuck in his abdomen, the wound bleeds profusely and a trickle of blood runs down his cheek to the ground.

    ¡°you!? What have you done Ryu? why did you stab him? why Ryu! answer! please tell me he attacked you first, that happened right?¡± Hiraku says with a face of concern and disbelief.

    It was just then that I realized that Bob was about to pull the chisel out of Luke¡¯s body.

    ¡°STOP! stop! if you take it out he¡¯ll die!¡±

    I tell him as I jump forward.

    ¡°Bob, put Luke down as gently as possible and don¡¯t move him. Anne! Quickly go get Helena, she said she¡¯d go get firewood so I¡¯m sure she¡¯s not that far away.¡¯ll try to stop the bleeding.¡±

    I run to the cabin and search the medicine basket for one of the silver flower roots, starting to chew on it as I walk back to where Luke is.

    I use consider on luke again, only to see that his life points have dropped dangerously. He only has 30 left. I kneel on the floor next to Luke and take a careful look at the situation.

    My first instinct is to spread the medicine on the wound as before, but there are several factors to consider. First, the chisel is still embedded in his body and could cause all sorts of problems if the wound is closed improperly or with a foreign body inside.

    ¡°what are you doing Ryu? why don¡¯t you use the medicine? give it to me, I¡¯ll apply it¡± asks bob desperately

    ¡°Calm down Bob, he knows what he¡¯s doing¡± says Hiraku, although he can¡¯t hide the concern on his face.

    ¡°I need clean water and cloth to dress the wound. Bob, even if you try, you probably won¡¯t get the same result since I have a first aid skill. I guess it¡¯s ideal for cases like this. Our goal will be to stop the bleeding and stabilize Luke until Helena arrives.¡±

    As I speak, Bob quickly cuts a strip from his shirt and Hiraku brings clean water in a y cup.

    ¡°Is that enough young Ryu?¡±

    I nod, then pour the water over the wound as I use one end of the cloth to gently clean everything around the wound. with the opposite end of the cloth strip I begin to apply the medicine only to the edges.

    first aid 7%

    ¡°well, this medicine is fast acting, also my skill seems to have taken effect. Bob, could you go wash the fabric in the river? Hiraku, we¡¯ll need more fresh water¡±

    Hiraku removes all the mochis from the pot and leaves them in a basket, then goes to theke to wash it and get more water. Bob stays next to luke.

    To check Luke¡¯s status I have to consider killing him, it¡¯s a pretty awkward contradiction, but it¡¯s the only way I have to activate the ability.

    The bleeding stoppedpletely, he¡¯s still unconscious but has not lost any more health points.

    ¡°It can be said that he¡¯s stable now, as soon as Helenaes back we¡¯ll have to consider removing the chisel before she uses heal, otherwise there could be problems. We don¡¯t know what effects it could have¡±

    Bob¡¯s eyes are moist, it seems as if he¡¯s going to cry at any moment. From the great concern that everyone shows about Luke¡¯s state, I¡¯m even more surprised that he unlocked the ability to consider. Even if it was a ss skill, the requirement to unlock it should be the same.

    After ten minutes of waiting Annees running with Helena following closely behind. she throws herself next to Luke wordlessly and holds her hands out in front of him.

    ¡°wait a moment Miss Helena¡± Hiraku says as he gestures with his hand to stop her

    ¡°ording to young Ryu, Luke¡¯s condition is stable at the moment and if you¡¯re going to use your healing skill, its necessary to take into ount all the possibilities¡±

    Helena hesitates for a second and then nods with head.

    ¡°Could you exin the situation to me?¡±

    ¡°he was... stabbed! Ryu did it! We shouldn¡¯t have trusted Ryu after all!¡± Ayumi says slowly, her face contorted.

    ¡°That¡¯s not possible Ayumi! keep calm!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s put aside spection please, Ryu, tell us the truth, what exactly happened? don¡¯t skip a single detail¡± anne says coldly

    ¡°Well, I was making mochi when I realized that the dough I threw on the fire was ready, in fact, it waspletely burned¡±

    ¡°Enough! you¡¯re just stalling while Luke is torn between life and death¡± Ayumi quickly loses control of her emotions.

    ¡°Ayumi hush, Ryu, get to the point please¡± Anne continues calmly, but as she speaks she doesn¡¯t take her eyes off me.

    ¡°Luke is stable, there should be nothing to worry about. In any case, it was something important to understand but, in short, Luke got upset because I was watching him while he was working on building. He got upset and lost concentration, then hit his hand by mistake and lost his bnce, it was just bad luck that he happened to fall on his hand that held the chisel¡±

    ¡°And you really expect us to believe that?¡± Ayumi, who can no longer contain her tears, lunges at me but Hiraku stops her at thest second.

    ¡°Stop dear, what young Ryu says must be true, after all he was the one who gave Luke first aids, otherwise he would be dead already. Plus, as soon as Luke wakes up we can ask him and confirm if what Ryu¡¯s saying is the truth after all¡±

    ¡°But you saw the same thing as me, right? Ryu stared at him, he was right in front of Luke while he was bleeding to death, still he did nothing to help him. You know those two don¡¯t get along, Luke has always been suspicious of Ryu!!! we trusted Ryu and look what happened! it turned out that Luke¡¯s been right all along¡±

    Then anne interrupts Ayumi raising her voice enough to draw everyone¡¯s attention. It¡¯s the first time she¡¯s raised her voice to someone other than me.

    ¡°And what did you do, Ayumi? Didn¡¯t you stand there paralyzed doing nothing too? Should we me you for what happened? if what Ryu says is true, then Luke deserves what happened to him, let¡¯s hope he recovers and learns his lesson¡±

    ¡°How can you say such cruel things Anne? I didn¡¯t expect this from you!¡± Helena says while covering her mouth.

    Although Anne¡¯s words are hostile, she actually managed to calm Ayumi down. Helena didn¡¯t seem to realize the situation and now argues with Anne. Luke¡¯s situation is bad, but his life doesn¡¯t appear to be in danger, at least not for now. However, dividing the group in this way could be dangerous for everyone, our survival is on the edge of a cliff.

    ¡°Stop! there¡¯ll be enough time to discusster, now the most important thing is to find a way to heal Luke, or do you not agree?

    My attempt to calm them down was sessful, the whole group now remains quiet and they look at me expectantly. I don¡¯t know what they expect me to do, I already did everything I could for Luke. There¡¯s still some medicine left, but even if we used it all, I¡¯m not confident it¡¯ll work.

    ¡°Helena, why don¡¯t you tell us about your healing skill? anything you say could be useful¡±

    ¡°Ok! my ss is priestess, I have the ability to heal wounds and increase health points, but it has no effect on adverse conditions such as intoxication or disease. If that was the case i would¡¯ve helped Anne when she was sick. Before you joined our group, I had already used heal several times.

    Back then, we captured a boar and Bob was severely injured trying to save Ayumi, at that moment my healing ability closed his wound and recovered some of his health points, but itpletely consumed my mana. I¡¯d say my ability has at least two drawbacks that I¡¯m aware of. Itpletely spends my mana and heals one health point for every ten mana points invested¡±

    ¡°That sounds troublesome, how much max mana do you have and how much do you have left now?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, Ipletely used up my mana points when I healed you after the mochi incident, I¡¯ve only managed to recover five mana points since then¡±

    ¡°Although that might make me fully recovered, it probably wouldn¡¯t make much of a difference for Luke. I have a theory, but putting it to the test has its risks and I don¡¯t want you to end up ming me if things go wrong¡±

    ¡°What is it about? As the situation is, I don¡¯t think it can make things worse¡±

    ¡°Both our skills and our health and mana points increase with use. Bob has a higher amount of maximum health points than the rest and surely Ayumi has a higher amount of mana points than yours since she lights the fire every day. We will be able to check it if, once luke recovers, his maximum health points are increased.

    About my theory, since health points represent the life of a person, if someone loses, for example, a limb, their maximum health points should be reduced. If it is a clean cut and bleeding is avoided, your health points should be at maximum. That is, a lower amount of health points, but he would be in perfect condition and his life should not be in danger.

    If that¡¯s the case, Luke must have been injured in a vital organ or must have lost too much blood, which is why his health points decreased so quickly, Hopefuly his maximum health points would be the same or higher than before¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see where you¡¯re trying to get with this¡±

    ¡°The thing is, if we now remove the chisel from his body, he will most likely lose more blood and we also risk further damage if, by chance, we happen to touch any vital organs by mistake. Since we don¡¯t know if there will be any adverse effects from using your ability with the object still inside his body, it¡¯d be best to wait for Luke to recover some of his health points before treating his wound, that way even if we make a mistake or lose blood , you will have enough health points to help him survive at least.

    I think it¡¯s the only alternative since you don¡¯t have any mana left, but even if you used up all your mana, he won¡¯t fully recover.¡±

    ¡°What young Ryu says makes sense, as long as luke¡¯s condition doesn¡¯t get worse there¡¯s no need to take unnecessary risks. If, on the other hand, he begins to get progressively better with the use of medicine, it will be much safer to remove the chisel from his body. But why do you say it is risky?¡± Hiraku says intrigued

    ¡°because if Luke doesn¡¯t wake up, or if he dies, you guys will me me for his demise¡± I say with my head down.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Ryu, it¡¯s not your fault, you really saved luke¡¯s life. Don¡¯t take ayumi¡¯s words into ount. So what you¡¯re basically proposing is that we wait before using my ability. Regardless of whether or not I fully recover my mana, because my ability won¡¯t be enough to get him out of harm¡¯s way.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, not only that... what would happen if your skill seals his wound with the chisel still inside? removing it will be a lot harder. Anyway, we must move Luke, it¡¯s risky to move him but he can¡¯t spend the night outside. Perhaps the best thing would be to make a stretcher taking advantage of the fact that there are still a couple of hours before nightfall¡±

    Everyone¡¯s morale is low, normally when I give my ideas more than one usually offers to help immediately. This time not even Bob, who¡¯s the most enthusiastic, offers to help me.

    I originally intended to tie a pair of skins to two long poles, so that it would be easy to carry, but this might cause the wound to open. it is best to assemble a rigid stretcher.

    With the limited time we have, I have no choice but to improvise. I take one of the boards from the construction site, cover it with a couple of skins tied with nt fiber and that¡¯s it. It¡¯s not a big deal but it should work.

    .....

    Bob and Hiraku carefully lift Luke onto the board, then carry him to the cabin andy him on the bed. When disarming the stretcher, the skins that are now free, are used as nkets to cover Luke.

    Although he remains unconscious, from time to time some moans are heard, he must be in pain.

    Helena stayed by Luke¡¯s side the entire time, I¡¯m not proud of this, but it makes me kind of jealous. Helena has been paying me a lot of attention since we met, and she¡¯s also been nice and kind to me all this time. It¡¯s not like she wasn¡¯t like that to everyone, even to Luke, but I felt that she was nicer to me than anyone else.

    Even during dinner, everyone was silent, although it¡¯s not obvious I feel like there¡¯s a wall separating me from the rest. More so now that Helena, who usually eats by my side, is now on Luke¡¯s bedside.

    How would they react if they knew that Luke actually considered killing one of them? No, I can¡¯t tell them that because then they¡¯d know I did the same thing to him.

    Usually, at this time Ayumi gives us her daily report, then we talk for a while to finally go to sleepte at night, because the days have been getting shorter little by little.

    This time everyone went to sleep early, one by one they went to lie down in their usual ces. Since Luke is upying Bob¡¯s bed, Bob lies down in the corner where Luke usually sleeps.

    I lie on the skin of the jackal leader of the pack and I realize that I had more space than usual to sleep. everyone keeps their distance from me, it feels bad that they distrust me like this. I¡¯m positioned at the corner and Anne is by my side, keeping her distance.

    I can take full advantage of my nightvision now, Helena is by Luke¡¯s side, resting her upper body on the bed, grasping Luke¡¯s hand with both her hands. She looks worried, even though I can only see her back, somehow I know she¡¯s frowning.

    By this time every night, a loud snoring noise fills the silence inside, but tonight everything is quiet. I think everyone¡¯s having trouble sleeping.

    I can see Anne, she¡¯s staring at the roof with a void expression.

    After everything I¡¯ve done for them, I still feel like an outsider. Even though this is my home, my ce, and I invited them over, this ce doesn¡¯t feel my own anymore. I¡¯m a stranger for them, even if they¡¯ve only known each other for just a month longer than they¡¯ve known me, at least theye from the same world.

    Everyday I listen to them talk about their marvelous lives, how well they were doing until they were brought in here. How plentiful their lives where, how much food they had, and they even name every possible vour there is. well, Ayumi is the one who talks about food the most.

    But the point is, they had stories, families, friends, and all I have now is a weird cat that tried to kill me and a group of ungrateful freeloaders that are just starting to carry their own weight.

    Perhaps I was better by myself after all, maybe I should just endure until after winter passes and look for a town or city to move in. It¡¯s not like I need them anyway, even leaving this ce behind seems like a small price to have some peace of mind.

    Lost in my thoughts my mind drifts away into a peaceful dream.

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20: Choose your allies wisely, please! part

    After a light night¡¯s sleep, I¡¯m awakened by the soft rays of sunlight that sneak through the small cracks between the doorposts. If we really want to spend the winter here, it will be necessary to find a way to make hermetic doors, perhaps wooden boards might do the trick.

    The first thing I do is check the status of Luke using the consider skill on him.

    Luke 34/101 (sleeping)

    Thief

    I¡¯m relieved as it seems everything¡¯s going well and if he continues like this, he¡¯ll recover enough health points to be able to finish his treatment in a day or two. That¡¯s not all, he¡¯s no longer unconscious, this means he¡¯s progressing positively.

    I check the other members of the group and, to my surprise, Ayumi is already awake, although she doesn¡¯t look me directly in the face.

    I quietly leave the cabin, today we¡¯ll also have to wash Luke¡¯s wound, so we¡¯ll need a lot of clean water. I take the pot that¡¯s on the rudimentary kitchen that I made and the filter made with nt fiber and I go to theke.

    .....

    After cleaning up, I go in until the water reaches my knees and submerge the y pot with the nt fiber mesh that acts as a filter. When lifting the pot it bes much heavier as soon as it leaves the surface of the water. Once on the shore, I slowly begin to remove the filter so that it can do its job, thus cleaning theke water of impurities.

    When I return to the settlement, Ayumi sits in front of the kitchen with the fire on and ready to boil the water. Since its quite cold, it doesn¡¯te as a surprise that she¡¯s by the fire.

    When i put the pot on the stove Ayumi speaks to me in a very soft voice that can barely be heard.

    ¡°Ryu, I... I¡¯m really sorry for my behavior yesterday¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s ok, you don¡¯t need to apologize¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s necessary, I had no reason to think It was your fault, even so I judged you without listening to you first. I¡¯m not strong enough to handle these situations and I let my emotions take over all the time. For that I am extremely sorry. Now because of me, everyone distanced themselves from you, which is actually the opposite of what I wanted in the first ce¡±

    ¡°Even if you say that, nothing will change. The only thing we can do now is help Luke recover and hope he¡¯s honest enough to tell the truth¡±

    Since the pot we have is made of y and we need to boil arge amount of water, we have to stay in front of the kitchen for a long time to get it to boil. If itcks fuel, the process will be dyed and there¡¯s no one else awake yet, we have no choice but to stay and watch the fire together while feeding it with branches and blowing air onto it.

    Ayumi goes to and from the wood stockpile, constantly bringing some dry branches to feed the fire.

    ¡°By the way Ryu, yesterday I tried to manipte earth using magic¡±

    ¡°oh! that¡¯s great! if you manage to do it, you could make a drain that reaches theke, which would allow us to incorporate bathrooms into the cottage¡±

    ¡°I did not¡±

    ¡°what?¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t do it¡±

    ¡°why not? exactly how did you fail?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I have no way of knowing. It¡¯s just that, even though I really wanted to save myself the hard work of digging with my hands, I felt like I didn¡¯t really want to do it.¡±

    ¡°Is it about motivation?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I really tried, but it seems that I can¡¯t be useful even with the abilities that were given to me and all I can do is cause you more problems¡±

    Ayumi is on the verge of tears, where¡¯s Hiraku when I need him?

    ¡°I think you¡¯re misunderstanding something. Ayumi, the abilities you have, which were supposedly bestowed on you by a god. They are something incredible, it could be said that they defy logic, however, the true power of people does not lie in their strength or in their magic, but their will¡±

    ¡°will? What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°You may not understand because you guys are much stronger than me, but the first day I have memory of I got distracted while walking and fell. I just scraped my knee a little, it was nothing serious, even so I lost a health point¡±

    ¡°that... it can¡¯t be that bad¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s not bad if you have a total of 100, in my case, I only had 10 health points maximum. When I realized that only ten light falls would be enough to end my life, fear took over mepletely, can you imagine what happened next?¡±

    ¡°Obviously you stayed put until you recovered, right?¡±

    ¡°No, if I had stayed there I would have been in an even worse situation. Even if I was afraid, I knew that my only option was to keep going, and every step I took required all my willpower¡±

    ¡°So, are you saying that I am the weakest?¡±

    ¡°What I mean is that if you are not able to control yourself, to know that the situation is critical and still take a step forward. Tomorrow, or maybe some day soon, when everyone depends on you, someone will get hurt. That day you¡¯ll have no one to me but yourself. and I am afraid that if you did not do absolutely everything in your power to help, you will not be able to ovee the feeling of guilt¡±

    ¡°I understand what you are saying, but that does not mean that it is easy to simply understand and do it ¡±

    an idea, although somewhat strange, suddenlyes to my mind. I take a fist-sized stone from the stone bin and hand it to Ayumi.

    ¡°Here, turn this stone into a cube¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not possible, I can¡¯t even move the earth¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because you hadn¡¯t realized the situation. What would you think if I told you that the difference between us all surviving the winter or not depends solely on whether you can shape this stone precisely here and now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d say that¡¯s impossible¡±

    ¡°Ayumi, if we don¡¯t get a heat source inside, no matter how much coal or firewood we have, there¡¯s no way we¡¯ll survive the winter... I didn¡¯t want to rush you, but its just like that¡±

    Ayumi¡¯s face contorts and sweat begins to appear on her forehead when he finally understands.

    ¡°There¡¯s a reason why I asked you to investigate all possible resources, since I have no memory, every passing day I learn a lot about the world, but that also consumes most of my time. Instead you already have a knowledge base, it may not be applied exactly the same as in your world, but at least you will have a better chance than me.

    If you think about it, there must be some reason why you¡¯re a mage and Bob is a warrior, I guess it¡¯s about the affinity that each one has with the ss that he got. Otherwise Bob would be a wizard¡±

    ¡°And wouldn¡¯t it be possible for someone else to shape the stones? I mean, could they just carve them¡±

    ¡°How would we put them together? who would build the cottage? This time there¡¯s no escape, our very survival is in your hands. Today I¡¯ll dedicate myself to taking care of Luke, and I hope you seed today. Even if it¡¯s not enough to build a chimney, anything can be helpful¡±

    The others got up one by one, what happened yesterday was a lesson that I¡¯ll not allow myself to forget.

    This group is full of ipetents and even bob won¡¯t hesitate to distance himself from me at the first problem. I won¡¯t get anything by just feeling bad, I must find a solution quickly and as soon as winter ends find my way to some city and live a peaceful life in that ce. These so called heroes are much more trouble than they are worth.

    ¡°I need someone to go with me to get medicine¡±

    Everyone seems to avoid looking at me directly, just like yesterday, everyone is down andcking motivation. But now there¡¯s no need for me to be delicate, I¡¯m their leader and they should listen to me, otherwise I¡¯ll just let them be and worry about myself only.

    ¡°Listen to me, we need medicine for Luke, or do you think it¡¯s for me? if no onees with me to help, the only thing you¡¯ll achieve is to decrease his chances of survival¡±

    Helena shyly approaches me

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you Ryu, let¡¯s go¡±

    They¡¯re usuallyzy and get up whenever they feel like it, I¡¯m not going to give them rest hereinafter. The closer winter gets, the shorter the days will be, and if they continue to waste the daylight hours this way, they¡¯ll only be a burden. I¡¯ll stop worrying about their feelings, I¡¯ll just lead them the hard way, and if they don¡¯t listen I¡¯ll just abandon them.

    I guided Helena through the forest to reach the usual ces where we collect the simplest medicinal herbs, this nts seem to be rings buried in the ground, although in reality its only a curved leaf. Then we¡¯re going to pick big ck berries, I still remember the unpleasant numbing sensation that it produced in my tongue and throat, it was so strong that I couldn¡¯t even stop myself from swallowing it. This means that it probably works well as a pain reliever.

    ¡°This time there is no need to pick red berries, let¡¯s just go back to the settlement¡±

    *mmmhmm*

    Helena, who has been following me around, silently behind me all the time, barely makes a sound to let me know that she heard me. This whole situation is really annoying, I just want to run away, escape from all this, my heart feels tight. She¡¯s usually so nice and talkative and this only makes me feel even more left out.

    At that moment, when my negative feelings began to overtake me, when I felt that none of this was worth it, out of nowhere a slight tingling in my fingers catches my attention. Slowly a delicate hand with the weight of a feather holds mine.

    ¡°Ryu, you¡¯ve been walking fast all this time and haven¡¯t spoken to me since yesterday. I know you must feel bad about what happened with Luke, that¡¯s why I wanted to give you some space, but please, don¡¯t let the whole gravity of the situation overwhelm you¡±

    ¡°So, are you saying that I¡¯m the one who has moved away?¡±

    I don¡¯t understand the situation, I don¡¯t know if I want to understand it either. All I know is that a cold hand has never felt so warm.

    Returning to the camp, I let go of Helena¡¯s hand, as much as it hurts, if the others saw us like this it would only create misunderstandings. Despite everything, she is very kind and only did it tofort me.

    ¡°By the way Helena, how much mana did you get during the night?¡±

    ¡°Around 40 points, it¡¯s not much, truth is that I didn¡¯t rest well. I woke up several times during the night to check on Luke... but there wasn¡¯t much I could see anyway¡±

    ¡°I understand, you should rest and recover your manapletely as soon as possible¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The others are already divided into their different tasks, only Ayumi remains in front of the kitchen, still with the stone in her hands, as soon as she sees us she runs in our direction.

    ¡°look Ryu! look! I got it!¡±

    The stone, previously irregr in shape, is now a perfect cube with a smooth surface.

    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Helena says without really understanding what was going on

    ¡°how much mana did it cost you?¡±

    ¡°Almost nothing, only 10 points, I could do this all day if I wanted!¡±

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t show off your mana pool in front of Helena please. I need you to make me a stone mortar and pestle, plus a few y bottles with a lid, no, the lid should be made of wood so I¡¯ll take care of that part¡±

    ¡°Okay, but what are you thinking?¡±

    ¡°Do you think I want to be chewing on roots all day? My jaw hurts already, we need a mortar anyway. Also, I think that, as long as I dedicate myself to it, I¡¯ll be able to refine the medicinal properties of various nts into a single medicine¡±

    As Ayumi carefully focused herself topleting the task assigned to her, a slight moan begins to rise until it transforms into loud wails thate directly from the cabin.

    ¡°Luke woke up!¡± Helena yells as she runs to the cabin.

    .....

    ¡°Don¡¯t be in such a hurry, I¡¯ll go see him as soon as Ayumi finishes the mortar¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll give him something to drink in the meantime¡±

    Ayumi rushes to the task, the process of molding the stone seems simple, but Ayumi¡¯s face is evidence to the opposite. The stone begins to deform quickly at first, taking an approximate shape, then as she adjust the details the time it takes bes longer. I¡¯m amazed that even a simple shape like this can take so long to bepleted.

    ¡°This is the best I can do at the moment, I hope it will suffice¡±

    ¡°yeah, this should be enough, don¡¯t worry¡±

    I open the door taking with me the new implements, although it¡¯s not that big it¡¯s still heavy due to the material its made of. I would even go so far as to say that it is heavier than amon stone which is weird. To get rid of any doubts I use my analyze skill.

    650/650 mortar

    its durability is not bad, it should fulfill its function properly. Now the question remains, if it is possible to refine medicine with this method.

    After sitting silently on the skin of the leader of the jackals, I begin my task of slowly crushing medicinal herbs. I know its properties are milder than silver flower, but it¡¯s a of a lot more abundant so I¡¯m putting my hopes on quantity over quality.

    I¡¯m focused on my work, but I can¡¯t help but notice that Luke is watching my every move.

    There are no sounds in the cabin other than the faint sound of rock against rock and Luke¡¯s asional groan.

    When a portion of the herbs transform into a green paste, I begin to add more herb to the mix and patiently grind it until It seems to be enough, then add a wholerge ck berry.

    This berry is poisonous, I know it is, I¡¯m not sure if it will decrease Luke¡¯s life points but the effect shouldn¡¯t be too strong since it will be diluted. Also, when I was affected by it, I got poisoned but didn¡¯t lose health points until I got sick too. The color of the paste turns dark green and it seems to be ready for the next step.

    I take a wooden bowl and fill it with boiling water, wait a moment to cool it down and then pour the mixture into the bowl, continuing to mix and dissolve the paste in the water until it bes smooth. Finally, I pour the contents into the three bottles that Ayumi managed to make.

    alchemy 1%

    potion of healing minor wounds (low)

    analyze 98%

    I can¡¯t really say that I¡¯m surprised that I got a new skill since that was one of the reasons I decided to do this. What surprises me is that I was sessful on the first try.

    Taking advantage of the fact that I¡¯m so close to leveling up my ability to analyze, I use it as much as I can in all the things that I have in front of me. At 100%pletion a new skill was unlocked. It¡¯s called identify.

    Through my experience, I realized that both my observation and analysis skills don¡¯t always deliver the same amount of information. Sometimes I get additional information and other times all I get is a question mark. My assumption is that the objects have different levels of difficulty to be analyzed and that the three abilities are actually the same but in different levels, it also seems that the more time and concentration I invest the more information I¡¯m able to obtain.

    Light Healing Potion (Low): A potion created by Ryu, restores 5 to 10 health, has an analgesic effect. It can be consumed or applied on wounds.

    Since I couldn¡¯t fit all the potion mix inside the three small bottles that Ayumi made, a considerable amount remained inside the wooden bowl. I walk over to Luke and bring the bowl to his mouth. He obediently drinks its contents without even asking, from his expression it seems that the taste is not good at all.

    Helena entered the cabin at that precise moment

    ¡°how do you feel luke?¡±

    still with a dry throat and a very low voice

    ¡°As if I had been stabbed with a rock and poisoned with a ck berry¡± says luke looking me in the eye.

    ¡°poisoned!?¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you saw what I put in the potion and you drank it anyway?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding, if you wanted to kill me, I¡¯m sure you had better chances than this¡±

    ¡°Helena, make sure he drinks this at noon and before sleeping at night. There¡¯s hardly enough for today, I¡¯ll try to prepare more tonight. It should help you deal with the pain Luke, but if you feel worse call me right away. Now I have things to do¡±

    I quickly leave the cabin, I don¡¯t know why, but I feel calmer now that Luke woke up. At least he didn¡¯t wake up yelling at me and using me of strange things, although well, technically he did use me.

    When I go out, the first thing that catches my attention are the rain clouds that areing, most likely it will be a rainy night, which means that I must make the most of the day.

    Bob and Hikaru kept up the pace of the build on their own, although they normally joke around and take breaks often, now they take the jobpletely seriously and that¡¯s reflected in their progress.

    When the next night fell Helena had finally fully recovered her mana points and Luke was able to finish his treatment. Thanks to the analgesic properties of the potions, he stoppedining of pain. The hardest part was keeping the wound clean and not being able to remove the chisel.

    Now Ayumi, Helena and myself are at the cabin while Anne, Bob and Hiraku wait outside.

    This time we set everything beforehand: clean water, medicine, nt fiber bandages weaved by Helena and some potions. Luke¡¯s health points are maxed now and he says he feels ok. It could be said that these are the best possible conditions to operate. Even Ayumi, who now can manipte stones with magic, is ready to act in case its necessary.

    ¡°are you absolutely sure you can do this? if you lose control as soon as you see blood it could have severe consequences. If you¡¯recking in confidence it¡¯d be better if you let Ryu take care of this¡±

    Helena shows her concern to Ayumi, who keeps a determined look on her face.

    ¡°I¡¯m as ready as I¡¯ll ever be¡±

    After hearing Ayumi I get ready to start.

    ¡°Fine then, lets review the n. You remove the chisel with your hands while aiding your efforts with magic. Then, I quickly wash the wound and keep pressure over it using my first aid skill and as soon as I¡¯m done with that, Helena finishes with Using heal¡±

    ¡°yes!¡± They both say in unison nodding their heads at the same time

    ¡°Only onest thing left, Luke, are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Just get it over with!¡±

    ¡°Ok, it¡¯ll be at the count of three¡±

    ¡°1, 2...¡±

    *AHHHHH*

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21: Don¡¯t forget to prepare for winter, please!

    Ayumi removed the stone chisel from Luke¡¯s body using her magic in one motion and blood began to spurt out immediately. While I wash the wound with plenty of water I use consider on luke.

    luke 51/109 (bleeding)

    Thief

    Damage was incredibly high, especially considering that a hit with all my strength using a stone spear should now be around 7 to 10 damage.

    ¡°As expected, a vital organ had been affected¡±

    Imented as I poured some of the potion on the open wound

    ¡°Do it now Helena!¡±

    .....

    The potion¡¯s effect along with Helena¡¯s healing ability immediately closed the wound and greatly restored Luke¡¯s health points.

    ¡°This definitely confirms that even though health points represent our life, being hit in different ces can cause different effects. It¡¯s important not to get overconfident despite having max health potions. Although now that I think about it, if we had had potions and your ability at the time Luke was injured, he probably would have spared himself these days of suffering¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s okay, I kind of deserved it¡± says luke looking at the ground.

    I still don¡¯t like Luke, but since he regained consciousness he¡¯s been a lot nicer to me.

    ¡°Can we go inside now? hurry up it¡¯s raining!¡±

    Hiraku yells from outside the cabin causing Ayumi¡¯s anger

    ¡°how can you be so inconsiderate? What would have happened if we were at the critical moment and you interrupted us with that shout, eh? Hey?¡±

    Sometimes, just sometimes, ayumi is really scary.

    ¡°But darling, it¡¯s cold, please let us in, we can hear you¡±

    A jointugh relieves the tension of the moment, Luke has finally recovered and we are all fine.

    The following days were much more bearable. Although not much worth mentioning happened, wergely achieved our goals, the new cottage is almost ready. thanks to Ayumi¡¯s new ability to manipte rock and stones we got a stone firece for both our old cabin and the new cottage.

    Best thing about this is that now we can keep warm and have some light inside the cabin even when it rains, it changed our lifestylepletely. Now it¡¯s easier to dry clothes, cook, everything is simpler and faster, as if that were not enough, we can not only use firewood, but also charcoal since the gases are expelled out thanks to the shape of the chimney.

    I¡¯d say that all of this happened at the right time as the weather is getting worse with each passing day and the hours we can spend outside have been reduced even more.

    Of all the members of the group, without a doubt the happiest out of everyone is Mochi. It spends long hours sitting in front of the chimney lying on a jackal skin. He¡¯s sozy that I¡¯m surprised its species can even survive in the wild.

    Even so, its very strong for it¡¯s size and I am really d that there hadn¡¯t been more idents like the time it almost killed me.

    Its an intelligent animal, if there¡¯s food to gain, it learns quickly. Although it¡¯s generally quiet and independent, ites asionaly to me or Helena for cuddles or ying.

    It¡¯s favorite game by far is chasing things, anything. from the fiber thread that Helena weaves to stones or anything that is thrown at it. Its agile, fast, strong and cunning, those are the best qualities of a good hunter. The only problem is that, although he¡¯s very good at chasing and finding things, he¡¯s not good at retrieving them.

    In addition, its periods of activity are too short as he prefers to sleep most of the time.It kind of reminds me of thezy heroes when I met them.

    Still, Anne wants to take it on a hunting trip. After the situation with Luke was solved, she came to me and asked me to assign her a role like I did with the rest. Since my main worry at that moment was food, I told her that she could learn how to hunt, since she¡¯s good at exploring and tracking.

    But she¡¯s been bothering me to take Mochi with her, I think she just doesn¡¯t want to go alone. But ording to her, its for the best. She believes that Mochi can be trained to hunt by itself. I¡¯m really not sure exactly what she wants to achieve with that, this cat is way toozy, and the only way Mochi will go hunting with her is if I go too.

    As a test, we made some short hunting trips. We didn¡¯t achieve much with this, just a couple of skinny rabbits. However it was indeed a good practice.

    I dont have much time to spare, so I haven¡¯t been able to actually learn something. So far, the only thing I¡¯ve learned is that I feelpassion for the animals and its hard for me to do the killing. Even so, if it is about surviving, I think it¡¯s more than justified.

    ¡°Hurry up Ryu, how much longer are you going to take?¡±

    ¡°Just one more moment, it¡¯s better to be prepared than sorry, after all today we¡¯ll go further away and even spend the night out¡±

    ¡°Yeah! But it¡¯s only one night, you don¡¯t have to exaggerate things¡±

    ¡°and what if we meet another pack of jackals?¡±

    ¡°Well, you take care of them, just likest time, there won¡¯t be a problem¡±

    I knew it¡¯d be a problem. The fact that I was able to kill the leader of a pack was just luck, but now they believe I can do it whenever I want. To make matters worse, Anne rushes me too much and distracts me before my preparations, if I forget something we could be in troubleter, like the time I forgot my flint.

    ¡°Listen anne, I agreed to go hunting with you once in a while just because otherwise you couldn¡¯t take Mochi with you. But remember the conditions, I¡¯m in charge. if I say wait, then you need to wait¡±

    Anne holds her defiant gaze for a moment before turning around and sitting on a log.

    Sometimes I really forget that I¡¯m surrounded by monsters, the fact that they have ten times more health points than me, also means that they could beat me ten times before I can even beat them once.

    Anne is dressed entirely in a vegetable fiber outfit, not only to avoid ruining the clothes she brought from her home world, but also to better camouge herself in nature. Once woven, the vegetable fiber takes on a lighter greenish-brown color until it finally turns yellow, at which point it bes useless and more clothing needs to be made.

    Because of that, Helena spends long hours manufacturing and weaving vegetable fiber, sometimes Anne helps her too. I¡¯d like to help too, but my results have never been good, although I can make functional garments, both the quality and the appearance leave a lot to be desired.

    In addition to the clothes she¡¯s wearing, on her back she carries three stone spears made by me and on her side an imperial stone knife made by Ayumi.

    My equipment is simr, but instead of carrying spears on my back, I carry a sack made of jackal skin. Since my back is upied by the sack, I¡¯ll carry a spear in each hand and Anne will carry a basket and a spear in hers.

    I¡¯d say that it¡¯s the optimal arrangement. If ites down tobat, Anne can quickly drop her basket and move around unhindered. In my case, I carry medicine, food and some useful tools in the bag. If we find danger I must hide, and the weapons I carry should be only a spare for Anne, except of course for my obsidian knife.

    After verifying that we have everything in order, I begin to analyze the objects to see that their quality and durability are appropriate.

    stone spear 98/100 good stone

    spear 100/100 good

    imperial stone knife 369/404

    Lately I¡¯ve realized that the more I craft an item, the easier I can craft it afterwards. This is not due to a skill, but rather to my own experience applied to the task. Once I learn an optimal method and get the best possible quality, I just have to repeat the process with simr materials and I will get the same result. for this reason every stone spear is of the same quality.

    ¡°Come on Ryu, if you don¡¯t hurry up we won¡¯t be able to reach the silver flowers that you like so much before nightfall¡±

    ¡°How impatient, well, I¡¯ll take advantage of checking the durability of the rest of our gear while we walk. You win, let¡¯s go¡±

    Bob and Helena wave us goodbye. Anne picks up her pace and doesn¡¯t turn around, while I can¡¯t help but feel like I¡¯m forgetting something.

    The cat!

    ¡°Mochi!e over here!¡±

    Quickly the agile feline joins us, running with its little short legs. It has grown a little, but its still just a small cat. The best advantage of bringing Mochi is that it will alert us if there¡¯s prey or danger nearby, it could mean the difference between life and death. With its pointed ears and its animal sense of smell, we¡¯ll hardly be caught off guard.

    We follow the path from the shore of theke to the river and, just like thest time we traveled using this path, it¡¯s quite bumpy. Sometimes the ground rises and sometimes it falls, although in general I would say that it rises more and more. Especially since getting to the river was much more difficult than going back to the settlementst time.

    The further we get, the more I regret not doing this trip with Helena. Anne has be more friendly and her treatment to me is more natural than before, even so, she hardly ever speaks. It¡¯s the opposite with Helena, when I¡¯m with her it¡¯s difficult to find a moment of silence and peace.

    A bnce between the two would probably be best. Ah, I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m thinking anymore. As if she could read my thoughts Anne breaks the silence, bringing me quickly back to my senses.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget that we started this trip to hunt, we¡¯ll only make a small stopover in the sector where we saw the flowersst time¡±

    ¡°That seems fine to me, I¡¯d like to collect as many as I can. if only I could nt them back home it would be much more efficient¡±

    after a brief moment of silence Anne speaks in a soft voice

    ¡°home... I like the sound of that¡±

    After this brief interaction we continue walking with the sun getting higher and higher in the sky. I know that Anne walks slower than her usual to avoid leaving me behind, I know this not only because every one of them is faster and has more resistance than me, but also because from time to time she turns her head back to see me.

    She still sounds hostile towards me at times, but I can feel her consideration towards me in her actions and that is something I really appreciate. I wish I could tell her, but knowing her as I do, I¡¯d most certainly get some unpleasantment from her.

    We arrive at the part of the journey where the terrain begins to rise and its increasingly exhausting to advance. With Anne leading me I can¡¯t help but stare at her butt, which is located almost right in front of me, its round and voluminous shape like a ripe peach partly contrasting with her slim and elegant body. It¡¯s not my fault its in front of my face, is it?

    Though I would normally avoid looking, with travel fatigue it¡¯s thest thing on my mind. Moreover, taking advantage of the situation, I take the chance to analyze her nt fiber pants. It¡¯s a garment made by Anne herself, and it fits her perfectly. Since it¡¯s made of nt fiber it loosened a bit, causing it to fall slightly off her hips, though not enough to look indecent. She might have taken this into consideration when designing it.

    nt fiber pants (good) 38/40

    As I ponder the quality of the pants and why are they better than the rest of the clothes we wear, Anne turns around only to find my eyes sticking on her butt. I feel the heat rise to my face, but before I can say anything Anne cuts me off.

    ¡°Listen, I¡¯m not going to tell you anything just for looking, if you want to entertain yourself while we walk be my guest, but don¡¯t try to take advantage of me. Don¡¯t forget I¡¯m much stronger than you¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment Anne, I was actually looking at your pants¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, of course you are. *sigh* Men are all the same. Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m giving you permission? You should thank me in silence instead of trying to deny the undeniable¡±

    I have no way to defend myself, she knows exactly what to say to leave mepletely speechless. Arguing with her feels like being stuck in quicksand, the more I struggle the more I sink.

    Mochi walks without noticing anything, taking small hops in the vegetation, sometimes jumping the obstacles and other times surrounding them. With its small body walking this path is easy, I thought it would get tired much faster than me, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be the case since I¡¯m practically exhausted.

    ¡°How about if we take a small break? I¡¯m a little tired¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s not a good idea, if you can keep going for a while it¡¯d be better, that way we can hunt as soon as we get there. we are close, you¡¯ll be able rest in a safer ce¡±

    She¡¯s right, I can go a little longer. This path was made by Bob who was making his way through the vegetation and because some time has passed, little by little nature is reiming this path again. we have no visibility to the sides, it looks like a long corridor that seems to disappear every time it changes its direction even slightly. It¡¯s a strange feeling to be surrounded by greenery on all sides, It¡¯s both soothing and terrifying at the same time.

    A few minutester I feel like I can¡¯t take another step, even if I know it¡¯s not a good ce to rest I¡¯m about to give up. Pain is oveing my muscles and I start walking stiffly.

    ¡°How much left? I¡¯m exhausted¡±

    ¡°don¡¯t worry, just a little more¡±

    It annoys me to see that she¡¯s not tired at all, but she seems quite understanding with me. Being honest I expected her to put me down for myck of energy. Not only that, the fact that she tells me that there is little left to go gives me a little strength to continue forward.

    .....

    health 13/14

    *gasp*

    ¡°I lost a health point!¡±

    ¡°what!? How is that possible! Quick, sit on the floor. we¡¯ll rest here!¡±

    Anne exims with genuine concern on her face, no, she actually looks scared.

    ¡°How could I let this happen? I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s my fault! I¡¯m so sorry Ryu!¡±

    She continues saying while she removes my leather bag, searches among its contents for a y bottle and puts it in my hand while saying ¡°Quickly! drink this!¡±

    ¡°Hey! this is a light healing potion, I shouldn¡¯t drink it for so little. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s just a health point. I was just surprised, that¡¯s all¡±

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t let you suffer because of me. I¡¯m sorry I was being selfish¡±

    ¡°Calm down Anne, I think I just need to drink water and rest¡±

    If I think about it, even though my health points have increased little by little, my maximum health before leaving was 13 points. This means that more than losing a point, I got a maximum health point. So why do I feel so bad? My muscles ache so bad i can¡¯t move at all. Now that I remember, whenever my maximum health points increase I also recover a point of health.

    In other words, this time I lost a point of health, but gained a point of maximum capacity. In itself, it¡¯s actually not a bad thing, however, I lost the health point due to fatigue, which means that if I keep walking I¡¯ll continue to lose health points until I end up dead, and I am not naive enough to believe that I will continue to increase my maximum capacity. I¡¯d be dead before I got another point.

    ¡°I really need to rest, otherwise it might be dangerous.¡±

    Anne looks really unsettled, as if she doesn¡¯t know what to do to fix things, I probably just need to rest for a while but she¡¯s looking everywhere as if she was to find a miracle cure on the spot. I take a long drink of cool water and lean my back against arge tree.

    When Anne sees me do this, she sits right next to me, puts her arm behind my head and draws me to her chest. A faint fragrance blows over my face and I find this position incrediblyfortable, using her chest as a pillow my body rxes and it somehow eases my pain. I¡¯m so tired I don¡¯t even feel anxious for being this close, I can even hear her breathing.

    After a few minutes I start to worry about this situation, still I don¡¯t want to make a fool out of myself. I guess before I lost my memory I didn¡¯t have much luck with women since anxiety begins to take over my thoughts.

    ¡°are you upset?¡±

    Anne says as if sensing that something is bothering me.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, but...¡±

    ¡°Is it that you, perhaps, don¡¯t find me attractive? I¡¯m sure you¡¯d rather be like this with Helena. If it really bothers you I can let go¡±

    she says that, but she doesn¡¯t let go of me, surely she expects me to answer. I can only give up, it¡¯s not that I feel bad or anything like that.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t mind?¡±

    She then presses me a little closer and starts stroking my hair. Her fingers feel cool and I allow the wind to lull me to sleep and I close my eyes a while longer feeling the softness of her breasts.

    When I woke up Anne was still caressing me and Mochi was sitting on myp.

    ¡°How long did I sleep?¡±

    ¡°Just a few minutes, how do you feel?¡±

    ¡°Much better, thank you, I¡¯m ready to leave whenever you want¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, could you... I mean, if you want, can we stay like this for a moment longer? don¡¯t get me wrong I... No, the truth is that I¡¯m enjoying this, resting under a tree on a sunny day with a guy. It makes me feel that my life is normal, as if this were my old world¡±

    ¡°I understand¡±

    As I slept in the position I had been left in, I¡¯m somewhat ufortable now. This may be a bit daring, but I extend my arm around Anne¡¯s waist to find a morefortable position. She allows it without saying anything and we stay like that for a long time.

    A dark cloud seemed to turn off the sun suddenly, only then did we realize the sudden change in climate that was taking ce. Although it doesn¡¯t rain, the mere presence of the clouds is enough for the cold to pierce our bones.

    Without a word, we got up and continued on our way. This time much more quickly since there¡¯s a lot of terrain to cover and we¡¯re behind schedule. We arrived at the river, found the ce where Helena had found the flowers and I quickly started digging to get the ones we couldnt bringst time, trying to take the root intact.

    As I did so, Anne set out to walk around with Mochi.

    Beyond the forest there¡¯s a in where you can see practically only grass, but there doesn¡¯t seem to be many trees or bushes. Although with the distance I couldn¡¯t be sure either.

    Once I harvested most of the flowers, Anne came running towards me.

    ¡°I found a cave, let¡¯s spend the night there... if it¡¯s okay with you¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll go get firewood¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go together, the wind is getting stronger and I have a bad feeling¡±

    We walk slowly through the forest, bending down from time to time to pick up some branches. After getting enough I start to follow Anne to the cave.

    ¡°It¡¯s this way, we have to cross the river but if we jump over the rocks there shouldn¡¯t be a problem¡±

    ¡°In that case wouldn¡¯t it have been better to collect the firewood from the other side of the river?¡±

    Anne blushes slightly.

    ¡°Actually, it didn¡¯t ur to me¡±

    I feel like I¡¯m getting to know apletely different facet of Anne, a much kinder and more humane one. She takes with her most of the firewood we collected and we jump from rock to rock until we cross to the other side.

    The cave she found is narrow but quite deep, it doesn¡¯t seem to be inhabited by any animal and it will be a good shelter from the cold wind. While I make a fire at the entrance of the cave with a flint Anne goes out to explore the surroundings to explore the terrain. She returns just before nightfall with the basket full of berries, nuts, mushrooms and some herbs that she hadn¡¯t seen before.

    While we roast the mushrooms in the heat of the fire, a soft and light white powder begins to fall outside.

    ¡°it¡¯s snowing!¡±

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22: Don¡¯t y outside in the snow, please! part

    As soon as I opened my eyes I realized that Anne was already awake. We lie very close next to each other, my head resting on her corbone as she slides her hand over my head, slowly caressing me.

    My head goes up and down at the mercy of her breathing, I¡¯mfortable and it¡¯s quite a nice situation. Especially knowing that she¡¯s not going to yell at me or anything, after all, the fact that she¡¯s caressing me indicates that she¡¯s happy too, I guess...

    ¡°Good morning Anne¡±

    ¡°good morning Ryu, how did you sleep?¡±

    She whispers with a smile. She looks really beautiful, her fair skin almost seems to glow in the morning light. This whole situation seems almost like a dream, but I know this isn¡¯t a dream, I couldn¡¯t picture something like this, not even in my wildest fantasies.

    ¡°Well, yes... and how are you?¡±

    ¡°Not bad, actually, I think it was the best night¡¯s sleep I¡¯ve had since I got here, hehe¡±

    .....

    If someone saw this from afar, they would think this is just a normal couple, heck, I haven¡¯t even seen Hiraku do something like this. Our faces are so close together that we could even kiss if we wanted to. Does she want me to? my heart skipped a beat at this thought.

    I quickly get up, pick up the jackal skin thatwe slept on and re-tie the rope to turn it back into the sack I brought. I put inside all the objects that I took out the night before so that I can use the skin. Now I just need to get some fire going.

    ¡°What are you doing? we should go out right away¡±

    ¡°That would be a bad idea, I know you¡¯re anxious to hunt something ande back, but it snowed a lot yesterday and it must be very cold outside. If we are not careful we could suffer from hypothermia.¡±

    ¡°I see, since you take a long time to light a fire, if we have an emergency it would be faster to return to the cave than to start a fire from scratch in another ce¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct, but why do you make it sound like it¡¯s my fault that setting the fire takes time? I¡¯m not like Anne who can just reach out and...¡±

    As I say that I jokingly hold out my hand in front of the wood left over from the day before, but to our amazement a small trickle of smoke followed by a healthy me began to appear on the dry wood.

    Fire attribute 1%

    mana 0/1

    ¡°Are you a mage!?¡±

    ¡°What!? NO! I don¡¯t know! How am I supposed to know if I have no memory!?¡±

    We are both extremely shocked and unintendly started to yell at each other

    ¡°Ah! I always forget, I¡¯m sorry¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, I don¡¯t know how it happened, but this is a good thing! though I only have one mana point maximum... ording to Ayumi she consumes 10 mana points with just a slight modification on a rock, so I¡¯m not sure how useful can this be¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate, but it¡¯s still amazing! now you can light a fire without a flint!¡±

    Now that Anne looks at me smiling sincerely with her eyes, it really feels different. I feel morefortable with her. Maybe it was a good idea to travel together. But if this is what it takes to get along better with luke, I¡¯ll make a note to never travel alone with him.

    The soft crackling of the fire apanies our breakfast, Mochi stretches its front legs leaning as it yawnszily. It¡¯s a quiet morning and this cave is quitefortable, I wouldn¡¯t mind staying here for a while, but everyone¡¯s waiting for us back at the settlement.

    ¡°Would you like to go out now? if you want we can wait here a little longer¡±

    Anne says sheepishly. What¡¯s with that new attitude? she¡¯s being too nice, before starting the trip I wouldn¡¯t have imagined it possible. In any case, I prefer not to get my hopes up, I¡¯m sure that as soon as we return she will return to her usual self.

    I guess I should take advantage of this while itsts.

    ¡°there¡¯s not a good reason for staying, but it¡¯s early in the morning and my guess is that its really cold outside... why don¡¯t we stay a bit longer?¡±

    ¡°Ok, If you insist¡±

    Judging by the way she sounded, she¡¯s excited I decided to stay.

    ¡°you said you brought some nts and herbs that you haven¡¯t seen before, maybe if I take a look I can see if they¡¯re useful¡±

    Anne gets up and starts looking for everything she gathered the day before, she passes them to my hands directly, identally touching my hand. Now she¡¯s blushing just like Helena usually does. Whatever happened to Anne, I¡¯m starting to grow fond of her.

    I start inspecting the nts, seeds and herbs she gave me and my findings are nothing out of the ordinary.

    ¡°I guess some of these are edible, though their vour is too strong. Perhaps they can be useful for cooking, sadly we only have one big cooking pot and it¡¯s mostly used for water¡±

    ¡°I see, so there¡¯s nothing useful¡±

    Anne lets out a long sigh, looking somewhat depressed.

    ¡°Whats the matter Anne? You know you can tell meif you need help¡±

    ¡°No Ryu! I dont need any more help! its the other way around, I¡¯m worthless... Everyone has been useful in their own way... even Luke! When we just got here I was the one in charge of exploring, gathering and caring for the traps we set up. I was needed! but now, Helena who always sleepste has been weaving fiber everyday. Even Ayumi who¡¯s scared of everything and so clumsy she can¡¯t even take a walk without hurting herself, now has a job she can perform well, not only that, it turned out to be the most important out of everyone¡¯s¡±

    ¡°Anne, you don¡¯t need to beat yourself like that. You¡¯re our hunter now!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a hunter but what have I hunted? I¡¯m an archer and I dont even have a bow!¡±

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you ask me, I don¡¯t really know how to craft a bow, but I would have tried¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m so ashamed... I was mean to you when we first met and we¡¯ve depended so much on you... I¡¯m too embarrassed to ask you for anything, but the fact is, we all keep depending on you even though we are so much stronger than you¡±

    ¡°Thenpensate me¡±

    ¡°W-what d-do you meanpensate you?¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who suggested we traded instead of shared our gatherings?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but now that you¡¯re our leader we¡¯ve been sharing everything¡±

    ¡°I know, but you¡¯re still embarrassed to ask me for a bow... I¡¯m not even certain I can make something remotely useful, but you should have brought the issue to me instead of feeling like that all the time¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just about the bow, its everything you¡¯ve done for us... every time you guide us, you make our lives easier or even when you discover new things for us I feel bad. Can you even imagine how I felt when you yed bait for us? I was a coward who left a hurt friend behind all by herself, and you just risked your life for everyone¡¯s. I know it¡¯s because you like Helena but...¡±

    I don¡¯t know how to talk to people, let alone women. I intended to make her feel better, but now she¡¯s flushed red and teary.

    ¡°Anne, when I met you I thought you were so beautiful I couldn¡¯t even believe it... I still kinda do And i really hoped we could be friends. But then your personality drove me away pretty fast, I didn¡¯t know what did I do for you to be so cold to me and that confused me a lot. What you¡¯re saying now makes sense and now that I know you better I¡¯m starting to believe that we can get along... let¡¯s make a deal, we¡¯ll forget about past issues and start over, what do you say¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯ve been so mean to you even though you¡¯ve been nice all the time¡±

    ¡°well then, you got a lot topensate me for¡±

    ¡°Yes! I promise you I¡¯ll never treat you like that again¡±

    Her smile really is something, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m being manipted here but in all honesty I couldn¡¯t care less about it¡±

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go before we start wasting daytime. Mochi lead us to some prey, okay?¡±

    Mochi replies with a meow, there¡¯s no way she understood, is there?

    Anyway, I have faith that it¡¯ll find something to eat, after all, I haven¡¯t fed him today and I¡¯m sure he¡¯s hungry. It may seem cruel, butst time it ate something wasst night. I find it hard to believe that a wild cat can afford to eat three meals every day.

    Since it skipped breakfast, Its quite motivated to look for prey. As soon as we leave the cave it shoots out, sniffing the air. We can follow him without much trouble since its little legs cannotpete against ours.

    The cave is in what looks like a big rock, or maybe it¡¯s a hill. I can¡¯t be sure. We follow the cat that makes a detour through the hill, walks up the river skirting the rock wall that we have on our left.

    We can see that a little higher up the big rock, terrain is leveled there. Everything is covered in snow, but its not deep at all., more than the soft creak that¡¯s heard when stepping, it doesn¡¯t affect our speed at all.

    Mochi, who¡¯s going in front of Anne suddenly makes a chirping sound, there¡¯s something nearby. Just like we agreed previously, if we found prey we wouldmunicate with signals.

    Anne gestures to me to indicate that its probably a rabbit, and although both she and Mochi look ahead following small footprints that could well be made by a rabbit, I look the other side beyond the river, next to us there¡¯s a huge animal with horns branching upwards.

    I try to get Anne¡¯s attention but it¡¯s impossible, we shouldn¡¯t speak or the creature could be scared. I¡¯ve no choice but to gently tap her hand to get her attention, she quickly turns and I indicate the direction in which the creature is.

    Its barely thirty meters away drinking water from the river bank. It¡¯s vulnerable and should be easy to hunt. I use my consider ability on the creature

    Snow deer 103/150

    Anne tells me that she¡¯s about to attack it and readies her spear for the task, I do the same in case the creature attacks back.

    With just a couple steps she builds up some momentum. Anne throws her spear with amazing precision hitting the creature¡¯s neck squarely, without hesitation I give her another spear and she repeats the process. Now she¡¯s running at full speed after the fleeing snow deer with two spears stuck in its body, while taking one of the spears from her back and ending the life of the creature. Her movements were so elegant and agile, I¡¯m not even sure if it has something to do with her being a hero at all.

    My heart feels heavy for a moment. It was a beautiful innocent creature that now lost its life so that we can live. There¡¯s no point in shedding tears, but neither can we allow its life to be in vain.

    Although she achieved her goal, Anne doesn¡¯t celebrate either. we slowly approach the carcass of the deer.

    ¡°It¡¯s huge, it must weigh about 200 kg¡±

    Anne says trying to hide a bitter expression on her face.

    ¡°That¡¯s good, it¡¯ll get us through the winter¡±

    For a moment I feel the need tofort her, but I stop my urge. We don¡¯t have that kind of rtionship, or so I think.

    ¡°What I meant is... how do we get him back?¡±

    ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought about that. It¡¯s quite a difficult problem to solve with what we have at hand, I really thought we¡¯d get some rabbits or a wild boar. we¡¯ll have to skin it¡±

    Anne hesitantly takes the imperial stone knife in her hand, but instead of the usual firm grip, her delicate hand trembles slightly as she takes jerky steps closer to the deer.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to do it if you don¡¯t want to¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong Ryu, after all I killed it. besides, you don¡¯t know how to skin such arge animal and we have to take advantage of both its meat and skin, although I don¡¯t have much practice I¡¯ve already done it before. What kind of a hunter would I be if i couldn¡¯t skin what I hunt?¡±

    As if she had regained some of her confidence, she begins to skin the deer, due to its size I¡¯d say it¡¯s a much more difficult task than skinning rabbits.

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity we don¡¯t have a rope, we could have hung it from a tree to make it easier¡±

    She says that, but it seems quite difficult to hang a creature that size from a tree, why would we? is that a hunter¡¯s thing?

    Working together, the process speeds up a lot, Mochi gets excited by the smell and approaches again and again trying to get a portion of the prey.

    ¡°Wait your turn Mochi! don¡¯t be so impatient¡±

    Talking to it seems like a natural thing to me, even if it doesn¡¯t understand me I feel that talking to it strengthens our bond. Of course the most important thing is that I have to keep it fed, that¡¯s why I don¡¯t allow it to eat on its own.

    Shortly before noon the prey was skinned and the meatid out on the snow turning red what should naturally be white.

    ¡°Now we just need to wash the skin¡±

    ¡°Yes, thanks for your help Ryu. Now it will weigh much less¡±

    Despite the snowstorm the day before, today the sun shines brightly on us, melting the snow slowly but surely. Mochi that feasted on the parts we won¡¯t be taking with us almost looks like a ball sitting on the shore. Distracted looking at the cat licking its whiskers over and over again, I realize something that powerfully draws my attention.

    Upstream the road is quite high, so we cannot see what lies beyond, however arge amount of smoke betrays what could possibly be a settlement.

    ¡°Anne! there seems to be a city!¡±

    ¡°A city? how do you know? where!?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really know if it¡¯s a city, but look over there, there¡¯s too much smoke for it to be just a campfire¡±

    ¡°stay here Ryu, I¡¯ll go take a look, no, better go back to the cave it¡¯s too dangerous to stay here... no, no... better let¡¯s go back together to the cave, let¡¯s take everything there trying to cover our tracks and then we¡¯ll go together¡±

    ¡°ok, but make up your mind...¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, what do you think is better?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go with thetest, I¡¯m not excited to stay alone in the cave all day waiting for you to arrive, and if something happens to you I wouldn¡¯t know. This way I can at least lend you support¡±

    We hurried back to the cave carrying the newly collected meat and skin on our backs. Now that Mochi is satisfied we can leave it to take care of the meat while we explore for a while without fear of it eating it behind our backs.

    ¡°Mochi, stay here and take care of the cave¡±

    *yawn*

    Mochi yawns as it circles around and curls up into a ball.

    Leaving the cave we followed the same path that led us to the snow deer, when we arrived at the ce we found the trail of blood still fresh. To avoid being discovered we covered the signs as best we could with some snow. It¡¯ll eventually wash away once the snow melts, but we can¡¯t be careless.

    This reminds me a lot when I first saw Anne. Even though I was looking for people, I still didn¡¯t talk to her right away because I didn¡¯t know what kind of person she was or if she was alone. This got me thinking on why is she being so cautious, I mean, its the right approach but I thought everyone in this group was the kind to act first and thinkter.

    We climb up the hill until the big rock is level with the in. A great valley appears in front of our eyes and, thanks to the light of the wonderful sunny day, we can see thendscape in its entirety.

    The riveres from a big mountain that stands right in front of us, it must be the one Hiraku mentioned earlier. Even though it¡¯s so huge, back in the forest it was impossible to see, trees over there are so tall they prevented us from seeing anything at all.

    Taking advantage of the height at which we are, I follow the flow of the river downstream with my eyes and I see it descend between rocks with a wide bank that seems to open a path in the forest downstream. The trees in the forest are so tall that they make it impossible to see theke from here. It probably can only be seen from the mountain. This reassures me a bit since this mean it¡¯ll probably be difficult for anyone to notice our presence from this height, and even if someone was on the mountain they probably wouldn¡¯t notice just a couple fireces going.

    Near the river, upstream on the in just before thend descends into the valley, there¡¯s a town. from a distance it looks very small, although we really shouldn¡¯t underestimate it. As we still don¡¯t know if they are friends or enemies, it would be best to prevent them from finding us.

    ¡°What do you say? do we get a little closer?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure Anne, it¡¯s too risky if it¡¯s just us. Maybe if Bob had joined us we could at least try¡±

    ¡°But with Bob we¡¯d be discovered right away, although he doesn¡¯t talk much, he¡¯s the loudest¡±

    ¡°Mmm, you¡¯re right about that... well, let¡¯s get as close as we can from the forest. we will climb a tree and watch as long as we can. Fortunately it¡¯s still far away from the forest so even if we¡¯re seen we could try to escape¡±

    ¡°What should we do if we encounter someone?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, unless they see us first. But if that¡¯s the case I think the only thing we could do is run¡±

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23: Don¡¯t y outside in the snow, please! part

    ¡°Snow! snow! It¡¯s snowing!¡±

    Yells ayumi with a big smile looking through the half-open door of the hut

    ¡°what!? are you for real!?¡±

    Exims Luke trying to take a peek through the door. Hiraku, on the other hand doesn¡¯t look excited at all.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong dear? you don¡¯t look happy¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know what this means? It¡¯s winter already and we haven¡¯t finished the construction yet¡±

    ¡°perhaps it was too ambitious to try to build two cottages at the same time¡± says Helena

    .....

    ¡°Hey wait a minute, let¡¯s see the positive side, one is almost finished¡±

    Bob intervenes looking at the scenery outside through the crack in the door above Ayumi and Luke. Hiraku approaches and ms the door shut.

    ¡°Hey! I was still watching!¡±

    Although they tend to keep busy during the day, at night there¡¯s not much they can do. Now that they have a firece they can heat the interior and they have a light source, even so, the night hours are usually long and boring for everyone. Especially for Ayumi, who usually spends all her time in the settlement and rarely strays away.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry dear, but I don¡¯t think this is the time for that, We got a lot to discuss¡±

    Everyone sits in a semi circle near the fire waiting for Hiraku to start the meeting.

    ¡°As you remember, we agreed on holding this meeting today taking advantage of the fact that young Ryu left early today and probably won¡¯t be back until tomorrow night. Since our goal is to decide what to do next, we can¡¯t go to sleep until we sort things out¡±

    Everyone nods solemnly at Hiraku¡¯s words

    ¡°First I will present the issues we¡¯ll have to discuss, we need to make a decision on whether to stay under themand of Ryu or not, for this I¡¯d like everyone to present their opinion on how things have been going since we came to this ce. Then we¡¯ll to discuss about our supposed mission, if we fulfill it and how we¡¯ll do it.¡±

    Ayumi giggles when she sees that Helena is the first to raise her hand

    ¡°Since Ryu joined our group I feel like things have been getting better every day, plus I thinking to this ce was the right call. Can you imagine what would have happened if the snow caught us still living in those horrible tents? Although you all know that I¡¯ll support Ryu, you should know that I talked to him before and I told him that I would only agree with him being the leader if he took us to a settlement after winter. I say we follow him at least until then, so we can see whether or not we part with him¡±

    Bob raises his hand next and clears his throat

    *hhhmh*

    ¡°I think Ryu is the most skilled of all, he¡¯s weak, very weak. Even so, I feel that he would be fine without us, but we would not be fine without him¡±

    After Bob¡¯s words, a deathly silence was formed in the cabin, you could barely hear the sound of the wind and the crackle of the fire in the chimney. Both Ayumi and Luke remainpletely silent, Ayumi seems self-conscious about something while Luke stares at an empty corner of the room.

    ¡°Luke, I think we¡¯d all like to hear what you have to say. After all, it was you who asked for this meeting.¡±

    ¡°No, before that... I¡¯d like to give my opinion. You guys know how I behaved the other day and I¡¯m not proud of it, as I¡¯m the oldest I should be able to keep myposure but, as you know, there¡¯s no point in hiding it. Difficult situations always get the better of me, but with Ryu¡¯s help I was able to go much further than I ever imagined. First, he¡¯s always calm even in perilous situations, we all tend to act before thinking and so far I¡¯ve only seen him do that once, when the cat was being attacked by a jackal. Second, he always seem to be well prepared for situations toe, without his insight we wouldn¡¯t even be close to ready for winter. Andst, so far Ryu has been listening patiently to our demands and ideas, which is a great trait for a leader. I feel like we owe him a lot¡±

    After her words, Ayumi sighs in relief as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Now everyone is looking intently at Luke, who seems to be hesitating whether or not to speak.

    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t like that guy one bit. Yes, I agree that he¡¯s been useful in many ways and that he¡¯s helped us a lot, but also since we met him we¡¯ve had nothing but problems. If instead of ying house we had done what I said from the beginning, which was to look for a city, we could have introduced ourselves as heroes there and started our mission already¡±

    ¡°Yes, just as I figured young Luke, that¡¯s why I think this meeting is so important. Young Luke, I believe that without the help of the young Ryu, fulfilling our mission will be an absolutely impossible feat. The words he said that day I haven¡¯t been forgotten them, have you?: ¡®what kind of heroes are we that we can¡¯t even survive on our own in the wild?¡¯ Even jackals can do it and we can¡¯t. I believe that our mission has already begun and that this is only the first step. If we hurry, the only thing we¡¯ll achieve is that our lives here will be painful and short ones¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that we have an alternative right now, I was just saying that we should have looked for people before. After all, our mission is to save humanity. We must not forget that we are summoned heroes with a great destiny ahead¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, we have heard those fantasies of yours a thousand times. But in the end things are quite not as you imagined right? I mean, at the end of the day we didn¡¯t show up inside a city and, so far, we¡¯ve barely found any animals. Under these conditions we can¡¯t do anything. The bottom line is whether or not is it worth betraying Ryu, so stop beating around the bush and just name a single reason why we shouldn¡¯t take him as our leader even after we find a city¡±

    Ayumi rudely interrupted Luke with these words that echoed in the cabin causing tension to rise in the group.

    ¡°What did you say? I don¡¯t think any of us are naive enough to believe that¡¯s a good idea. More than that, i think young Ryu might be the one to leave us and we need to find a way to convince him to stay with us instead. That day, when we fought the jackals, he acted as bait for us to fight, he could have abandoned us and we could have easily lost a member¡±

    ¡°Convince him you say? What¡¯s so special about him that we heroes should get on our knees to beg him?¡±

    But after Luke¡¯s words, all it took was a look around for him to realize that everything they had right now was thanks, directly or indirectly, to Ryu, so he decides to resign himself.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s cut the ceremony short. I agree. Ryu will be our leader until we vote again. Although it weighs me, I have to admit that he saved my life. Maybe when we get to the city we can give him some financialpensation and finally be able to separate from him¡±

    ¡°Young Luke! what you¡¯re saying is the answer to all our problems!¡±

    Hiraku celebrates intensely

    ¡°Up until now, my biggest concern has been that young Ryu may decide to leave us at any time. But if we offer him financialpensation as soon as we assume our role as heroes, we won¡¯t have to feel bad about being a burden to him. Besides, saving humanity is our mission, not his, it would be unfair to ask him to risk his life with us for no reason¡±

    ¡°That was my point dear, we¡¯ve all been talking about whether or not to betray Luke since we joined him. I know that¡¯s because we decided not to trust humans of this world in order to avoid problems, but that was decided before we even met him! we shouldn¡¯t even talk about betraying him, if he wanted us killed all he has to do is go live somewhere else and we¡¯re done for¡±

    ¡°Ok then it¡¯s settled, when hees back we¡¯ll offer him a substantial pay, a fair share equal to ours. If he agrees he¡¯ll be in charge of leading us up until we get to civilization, and we¡¯ll pay him as soon as we can¡±

    Everyone¡¯s spirits light up in an instant, most of their conversations never reached practical solutions and ended in votes where neither party was satisfied. Now that they had finally made up their minds, all the doubts that gued them dissipated into thin air as if they had never existed.

    Helena was satisfied thinking that she wouldn¡¯t have to separate from Ryu anytime soon. Both Bob and Ayumi were grateful to him, so offering him a reward sounded pretty good. Luke, who proposed the idea, is now looking forward to the moment when he can deliver a bag of gold to him and get rid of the annoying antagonist of his heroic story. Lastly, Hiraku, who was carrying the weight of all the members¡¯ concerns, finally found some peace.

    The next day, with renewed energy, the group gets up at their usual time. Bob and Hiraku leave to check the state of the buildings, Luke goes away to look for firewood, but Ayumi and Helena stay inside the cabin.

    Ayumi lights the fire again preparing to boil water. As soon as she gained the ability to manipte rocks, many of the tasks were greatly facilitated. She was able to create a stone kettle that can be hanged inside the firece to boil. Removing it from there isplicated, to avoid burns she holds it with wooden tongs and ces it on a t rock on the floor just in front of the firece.

    ¡°Ayumi, I¡¯d like to make fur clothes, I think I can make thread using the fur of jackals, but I need a needle that¡¯s strong enough to pierce the skins¡±

    ¡°And what do you expect me to do? we don¡¯t have metal... Oh! imperial stone! Yes! sounds perfect!¡±

    After eating some mochi apanied by ck berry juice, Ayumi starts ying with a small piece of imperial rock trying to shape it into a needle. If Ryu were with them, he could use his observation ability to tell her when she managed to create something good enough to be called a needle.

    Since this is not the case, they have no choice but to try again and again.

    Unfortunately, as much as Helena tried, she was unable to craft a thread strong enough to hold the skin together. With the practice that she has making nt fiber clothing, she already knows that the fiber is quite fragile and would not be good enough for the task. She tried different methods until she finally gave up, the same thing happened with Ayumi, since most of the needles she managed to make were either not able to prate the hard skin or they broke easily.

    But the morning is long and Ryu would not return anytime soon. Both wanted to show results to feel useful for the rest of the group, but even more, Helena wanted to show Ryu how skilled she is. For this reason, both devoted themselves to their work with care.

    Before noon Helena finally had an idea, since the skin is so hard and difficult to pierce, if they somehow managed to cut long strips of skin, she could use them as thread. Aftermenting this to Ayumi, her task also became a whole lot easier since the needle didn¡¯t have to be small.

    Ayumi¡¯s solution was a little different from what Helena expected. Even if they are heroines with great power, it was still not practical to use thin needles to pierce the skins since they would break easily. So, she simply crafted a stone awl and a stone needle.

    The idea is to use the awl to punch a hole and then easily pass the needle through it, putting a lighter burden on the thin needle and more load on the awl. Satisfied with the result, now all that remains is to solve the problem of the thread. Although no matter how hard they tried, the imperial stone knives they had at their disposal were not sharp enough to cut a straight strip.

    ¡°Turns out we do need Ryu after all, surely his obsidian knife can easily cut the leather¡±

    Disappointed and with nothing to do inside the cabin, they decide to go outside. Its still snowing lightly causing a smallyer of snow. Ayumi excitedly jumps straight into the snow, realizing toote how shallow the snow was.

    *ouch!*

    Helenaughs at her and this doesn¡¯t seem to please Ayumi as she tries to gather enough snow to throw a snowball at Helena, but when she finally seeds, Helena is nowhere to be found.

    ¡°You¡¯ll see when I find you, little girl! I¡¯ll teach you to make fun of your elders.¡±

    Finding herself alone, Ayumi begins to survey the terrain while Bob and Hiraku struggle toplete the roof of a cottage.

    The unexpected arrival of the snow was also too premature. Along with Ryu they nned the construction of a drainage system that would allow the use oftrines inside the cabins. The girls especially were quite excited about this, however the difficulty of every task increases exponentially with the presence of snow.

    As soon as Luke returns to the camp, Ayumi approaches him

    ¡°hey Luke, how are you doing today?¡±

    ¡°what do you want grandma?¡±

    ¡°Grandma! what grandma? I¡¯m going to...¡±

    *sigh*

    ¡°I need your help to mark the ground in order to make the drain¡±

    ¡°I knew you wanted something, well, it can¡¯t be helped... after all I¡¯m indispensable to this group¡±

    Luke says shrugging. This attitude deeply bothers Ayumi, why can¡¯t he be more humble like Ryu?

    The first step is to locate wooden stakes and use twine to tie them together. This allows not only to check that they are straight, avoiding jams, but also makes it easier to check the inclination.

    Fortunately all every building has a floor made of logs, which gives them a certain height by increasing the slope, this is essential since if the slope is not enough, the waste will get stuck regrly.

    As Luke marks the ground based on Ayumi¡¯s instructions, she begins to join several stones together with magic and then changes its shape into a tube. The wider the tube, the more problems will be avoided in the future.

    Although they are not sure if this settlement will be permanent, they¡¯ll spend at least a couple months here anyway. So it is important to do things right, it¡¯s much better to take a little longer toplete the task than to do it quickly and then have to solve problems on the go, or even worse, having to do everything from scratch.

    Satisfied with the thickness of the tube, she begins to follow Luke¡¯s path of stakes and twine. when she finally reaches it she realizes that Helena is helping Luke.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get distracted Luke, it¡¯s crooked, a little more to the left, yes, it¡¯s fine there!¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go to the next one!¡±

    Between the two of them the progress is much faster than Ayumi expected, so she then returns to the cabin determined to spend all her mana today trying to craft as many stone pipes as possible. The snow continued to fall all afternoon, although it didn¡¯t seem like much, it eventually umted.

    When afternoon came the sky was already almostpletely dark, the sun didn¡¯t seem to be able to prate therge number of clouds that floated in the sky anxious to spread their white mantle over the earth.

    Every member of the group became aware of the dangerous situation as soon as it got dark, but Helena was the first to react.

    ¡°Ryu hasn¡¯t arrived! We must go find him!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go¡±

    .....

    Bob says with the intention of leaving immediately without even making any preparations, Hiraku stands in front of him to cut him off. The difference in height bes noticeable, he would have felt intimidated if it weren¡¯t for Bob¡¯s soft character.

    ¡°Calm down young bob, we don¡¯t know what situation they are in, Anne has an excellent sense of direction and if things get dangerous I¡¯m sure Ryu will find a shelter for the night. Besides, even if they really are in trouble we can¡¯t do anything, if you go to the forest in the dark and with this snow, the only thing you will get is to add another victim¡±

    ¡°But we must do something! It¡¯s so cold! we can¡¯t leave them alone¡± Helena exims desperately with her hands pressed firmly on her chest.

    Without someone who could make decisions, they remained arguing without taking any action for a while until night finally came. After noticing the situation, they finally agreed to make a big bonfire on the shore of theke, so they should see it from a distance, and another one in front of the settlement.

    Thanks to the long stakes driven into the ground, it wasn¡¯t difficult to find the way to theke and they carried out their n, building a pyre on the shore of theke with some firewood.

    It wasn¡¯t untilte at night that Ryu and Anne arrived,pletely covered in snow, exhausted, their skin pale and their lips purple from the cold. Even Mochi waspletely covered in snow.

    They didn¡¯t announce their arrival, they simply dropped their cargo near the entrance and came inside the cabin.

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24: Don¡¯t forget about the cat¡¯s croquettes, please!

    ¡°Ryu! you¡¯re back!¡±

    ¡°We were so worried for you!¡±

    Both Helena and Bob exim as sooon as we open the door.

    ¡°Helena! can you at least pretend that you were worried about me too? we had a hard time on our way back. Anyway, quick Ryu get near the fire, you¡¯re freezing¡±

    ¡°Hmm, thanks¡±

    Anne shakes some of the snow on top of me and starts rubbing my back rapidly to help me get warm. I actually thought that as soon as we got back she would turn back to her old emotionless self, which is why I tried to make the most of this trip, attempting to get on her good side.

    ¡°Oh! Ryu! you¡¯re finally back!¡± says Hiraku as he opens his eyes heavily.

    .....

    ¡°Yes, and I¡¯m afraid we have important news for everyone. Luke, are you up too?¡±

    Luke, who¡¯s lying on top of a jackal pelt with his eyes closed, responds in a muffled voice

    ¡°yeah, what¡¯s this fuzzy all about?¡±

    ¡°Everyone, we found a town!¡±

    Different reactions to my words came out at the same time, some were joyous while others were worried. It was so fast I couldn¡¯t really tell who said what.

    ¡°Come on Ryu! hurry up and tell us!¡±

    ¡°Please calm down, we¡¯re just back from a long trip and I¡¯m still freezing¡±

    After hearing me stuttering from the cold Ayumi finally calms down, but res at Anne instead.

    ¡°Anne, it¡¯s your duty as our scout to inform us everything that happened in your trip. Helena, prepare some tea for them in the meanwhile¡±

    Helena nods as she gets up. At least now they¡¯ll let me get some rest, I feel bad for Anne though, she must be tired too. It¡¯s also weird to see Ayumi taking charge like that.

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll do my best. After we got to the river we had very little time to hunt, so instead we decided to gather medicine and whatnot. We also found a cave near the river, It¡¯s well protected from the weather outside,st time we could¡¯ve stayed over there instead of camping out in the open. we... we s-spent the n-ni-night at the cave¡±

    ¡°Why are you stuttering suddenly? are you doubting yourself? could it be you¡¯re hiding something from us?¡±

    ¡°Calm down Luke, she¡¯s just cold, aren¡¯t you Anne?¡± Ayumi says winking at her.

    ¡°Yeah, anyways, next day we managed to hunt a snow deer and then we found it, a town. At first Ryu thought it was a city, but I think its more likely a miner town. That¡¯s because the town is on the mountain¡¯s slope, there¡¯s a noticeable road that goes up to a mine, and besides there are not many crops around it. If it was a city, there should be at least enough crops to sustain itself.¡±

    ¡°As expected from our scout a clear and concise report. Did you manage to get any more information?¡±

    ¡°yes, but... I think Ryu should be the one to tell you guys¡±

    Now everyone¡¯s looking at me with curious eyes, i got no way to avoid this. My first instinct is to always avoid responsibilities and they keep adding up more weight on my shoulders. After sighing inwardly I grab the tea mug Helena offers me and start reporting.

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll continue from where Anne left it. So, we stood watch for a while on top of a tree, that¡¯s why we came back sote, and there¡¯s a few things i need to inform you. First, we couldn¡¯t actually see any people around the city, so we¡¯re not even sure if they¡¯re human. Anne told me you had reasons to believe that there might be more sentient races other than human, sadly we couldn¡¯t confirm this. Second, their houses have a pointed roof and this indicates that snows falls heavily, at least over there. Andst, judging by the state of the forest I¡¯d say it¡¯s bigger than a vige, I cant really assume their wood consumption by just looking at the tree stumps we saw, but at least it gives me an idea¡±

    ¡°is that all? like, you didn¡¯t even talk to someone, yet you woke me up for this. We can just go see for ourselves tomorrow¡±

    ¡°didn¡¯t you hear a word I just say Luke? I think you¡¯re underestimating the issue. We can¡¯t go at all. The fact that we didn¡¯t see people around and the shape of their houses indicate they¡¯re expecting a heavy snowstorm, that means we should prepare too. We need to finish both buildings, but before that we need to modify their roof so it can withstand heavy snow. Also, we won¡¯t be able to go to the river again, at least until winter season¡¯s over. We¡¯ll have plenty of time to get stronger and n ahead our approach to the town, but I strongly suggest we stay close to our settlement¡±

    ¡°I agree with young Ryu, we need to be careful. The fact that there might be people there doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re good people at all¡±

    ¡°Ok! Ryu and I need to rest now so we¡¯ll go to sleep. We can worry about everything tomorrow¡±

    Anne says as she pulls my hand so I don¡¯t have a choice but lie down next to her in front of the fire. Helena sees this and immediately puffs her cheeks out.

    ¡°Anne! what are you...¡±

    But before she can even finish her sentence Anne replies harshly

    ¡°Do you expect us to sleep away from the fire just so you can keep Ryu to yourself? how selfish can you be? we just came back, it¡¯s only natural we sleep next to the fire¡±

    ¡°oh, I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t thinking¡±

    Helena lies down next to me, so now I¡¯m surrounded by two beauties. Still, there¡¯s no way to actually enjoy this. My clothes are wet, I¡¯m cold and I couldn¡¯t even finish my tea. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, I feel like this whole situation can be troublesome in the future. Just as I was thinking about this a sudden message shifts my attentionpletely.

    cold resistance 1%

    Finally! It¡¯s been so long that I wasn¡¯t actually expecting this. I notice firsthand how useful it is, I still feel cold yet it doesn¡¯t feel as bad as before.

    Next morning I awake in the most awkward position with the two girls tightly embracing each of my arms, this kind of deadly trap is more dangerous to me than walking straight into the unknown town. I hurry myself to get up doing my best to avoid waking up the others, but Luke is already up and getting ready to go outside. As soon as he opens the door an icy wind cleaves through the door suddenly waking up everyone. Severalins can be heard and Luke reacts by quickly apologizing.

    ¡°oh, sorry! i didn¡¯t mean to...¡±

    A white mantle covers everything outside but at least it¡¯s not snowing right now. It¡¯s cold, but thanks to my newly acquired skill... no, actually I still feel too cold to be outside. But I can¡¯t afford to stay inside. We really need to get some warmer clothes for everyone, it¡¯s so cold that we would be in deep trouble if they weren¡¯t so strong.

    Today I need to check up on the building progress, cook all the meat I can to better preserve it and find a way to get running water inside. But first I need to fetch some water and boil it, I head to the river with the cooking pot but I stop midway.

    I don¡¯t actually need to go there!

    The sudden realization makes me smile. Up until this moment we needed to get the cooking pot and a fiber mesh to grab filtered water from theke, which by the way is not far but also not that close either. It¡¯s tiresome and takes a lot of time that could be spent in other more meaningful ways.

    Right now there¡¯s snow everywhere, its shallow but deep enough to be clean. I hurry back to the cabin and get some firewood into the chimney, with both my hands pointing ahead of me a small thread of dust emerges and then a me appears.

    ¡°Ryu! you can use magic!?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m sorry i forgot to tell you Ayumi, back at the cave I did it by chance¡±

    ¡°by chance you say? what else happened in that cave that you¡¯re not telling us Ryu?¡±

    Ayumi squints her eyes and then giggles mockingly.

    ¡°Anyways Ryu, this is great! now you can help me build the pipes for the drainage system and I also need some help in building the chimneys for the new ces¡±

    ¡°Hey! hold your horses! I only have 1 mana point! what do you expect me to do with that?¡±

    ¡°Oh! that¡¯s a bummer! but your mana pool will rise eventually. Every hundred mana points spent you¡¯ll get one maximum mana point, oh wait... that may be our case because we¡¯re considered heroes but I¡¯m not certain it¡¯ll be the same for you¡±

    ¡°That would be nice, but even if I regain my mana points during the day and I immediately spend them... I should only be able to do so about five times a day, this means that if, and this is a big if, I get my mana pool increased every 100 points spent...¡±

    Then I stop speaking to break the numbers, but and as soon as Ayumi sees me struggling with my fingers she intervenes.

    ¡°If you spend 5 points a day, it¡¯ll take you twenty days to increase your mana pool. After that you¡¯ll have 2 points, which means it¡¯ll take you half that time, only ten days. Then, with 3 points seven days, and with 4...¡±

    ¡°ok, ok! i got it, stop bragging... By the way Ayumi, I think i have an idea that could help us get running water, but if it¡¯s too much work i can think of something else¡±

    ¡°Well now, this is interesting, tell me¡±

    ¡°We can set a stone tank on top of the roof so that it collects clean snow and even rain water. Heat generated from the firece will melt the snow and on the output we can ce a fine mesh so that it filters any impurities like leaves or dust that falls onto it¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a good idea, I¡¯ve already been thinking on something of the sorts, but it¡¯s kind of difficult... I wanted to build a water tower so that we could get running water for every building. Your idea is a lot more simple and since it will use the excess warmth of the chimney it should get enough water even with snow! What do we do when it doesn¡¯t snow or rain?¡±

    ¡°We simply set up a staircase so that we can easily ess the tank and refill it manually¡±

    ¡°uhmm... ok, I¡¯ll get on it as soon as i finish my other tasks... it may be a while but we still have time, right?¡±

    ¡°That depends solely on the weather, we just need to get things ready before the snowstorm¡±

    ¡°Tell me Ryu, why are you so certain there¡¯ll be a snowstorm?¡±

    ¡°Is there a reason to think there wont be? I mean, so far things have been going well... but we can¡¯t be certain everything¡¯s gonna be the same all the time. It¡¯s not that I¡¯m certain a snowstorm will happen, but I¡¯m certain if it does and we¡¯re not prepared, we¡¯ll perish¡±

    Ayumi puts up a grim face, she scares really easy, it wasn¡¯t my intention but she must acknowledge the fact that we can¡¯t close our eyes and hope for the best. Helenaes inside the cabinpletely unaware of our previous conversation with her usual smile drawn on her lips.

    ¡°Good morning Ryu! you woke up early today as always. What are you going to cook for us today? I took a peek at the meat you guys brought and it looks delicious!¡±

    ¡°I was just thinking the same thing!¡±

    Exims Bob who was behind Helena in a cheerful manner as always.

    ¡°yeah, we¡¯ll eat meat, But I¡¯m gonna need someone to help me cook¡±

    ¡°Ryu! that reminds me that Hiraku asked me toe and tell you the first cottage is ready! we even finished the pointed roof you wanted¡±

    After hearing this we all rushed out to see the new finished cottage. But not only it is finished, it even has a functional kitchen!

    ¡°Hiraku! how? when did you finish it?¡±

    ¡°Actually, we finished it yesterday, we just needed to put the roof in ce, problem was the snow, today I just had to clean the floor and ask Ayumi to finish the kitchen¡±

    Ayumi puffs her chest out proudly.

    ¡°Oh! I was just about toe check the progress you made, guys you¡¯re amazing!¡±

    ¡°Well, young Ryu, if it wasn¡¯t for Luke it would¡¯ve taken us longer. He¡¯s quite handy... when he¡¯s not distracted¡±

    ¡°What are you saying old man? be grateful I even showed up!¡±

    Why does Luke always sound so grumpy? they always say how Luke was so excited toe into this world and have his own adventures... oh, that must be it, he probably never thought he¡¯d have to man up and work hard.

    ¡°So, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you Hiraku, but what¡¯s even the difference between a cabin and a cottage?¡±

    ¡°Cabins are smaller and only made of wood, if you look closely you¡¯ll see that we used various materials, including stone for the firece and even some y for instion. This made the cottage almost air tight, also we have a shared bedroom and a bathroom. Cabins usually only have a single room¡±

    .....

    ¡°I see... can I cook in here today?¡±

    ¡°by all means!¡±

    Anne was thest toe inside, she must have been washing up, that¡¯s her daily routine anyways.

    ¡°do you need help Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Anne, I¡¯m going to help him! you can keep on with whatever you were doing¡±

    Is it my idea or they are bing increasingly hostile? Anne and Helena got along very well until we came back from the river, they even seemed to be close friends. Now they re at each other and avoid getting close at all costs. A small chill goes all over my body.

    ¡°Oh, that would be nice, thanks Helena, I¡¯ll keep on gathering firewood then¡±

    *phew*

    It seems that it was only my imagination after all.

    The kitchen is actually pretty well stocked. It has an oven and a stove, both with their own fire sources. I¡¯m actually grateful for this, and the best part is that they have a joined chimney to pull the smoke outside. It doesn¡¯t just look beautiful, it also seems to be both safe and practical. there¡¯s arge table that divides the kitchen with the rest of the cottage, making the illusion that it¡¯s a separate ambient. It¡¯s made out of polished stone, it looks heavy but it¡¯s actually thin and hollow so it¡¯s probably not as heavy as it looks. There¡¯s a space that looks to be ready for drawers to be put in ce, but of course we need to craft them first.

    It¡¯s not exactly furnished and I¡¯mcking a lot of tools, but it¡¯s actually functional and ten times better than our current one since now at least I can cook standing up.

    ¡°what¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°I made it myself! thanks to being able to manipte stone I was able to create a lot of new things. that¡¯s a water barrel¡±

    ¡°doesn¡¯t look like a barrel¡±

    ¡°Call it whatever you like, but it¡¯s a ce to store clean water¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s gonna be helpful, thanks Ayumi. Helena, you said you didn¡¯t mind helping right? could you please bring in the ingredients? bring everything you can because I¡¯ll try and cook all the meat today.¡±

    ¡°what? why?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯llst longer if cooked. Anything that we cant cook, we¡¯ll dry or freeze.¡±

    ¡°understood!¡±

    Helena runs outside andes back soon with a lot of herbs and nts, even some tubers and nuts. After cing the basket in the table she makes another trip.

    ¡°Wow! we have a lot more food than I thought!¡±

    ¡°Yes! and with all the meat you brought I think we¡¯ll be fine this winter!¡±

    ¡°let¡¯s not get ahead of ourselves, even if we had a ton of food it¡¯d be worthless if it spoils before we can eat it¡±

    ¡°so, what¡¯s your n?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s something on my mind that I¡¯d like to try. Helena, please grind as much fruit as you can to make flour¡±

    I set both the stove and the oven on fire while Helena was going to get the grindstone. Then I started my endeavor.

    First, I make a meat pie using some herbs and ground tubers. That was pretty easy to make, even more so while having Helena to keep mepany.

    While that cooks and since water is not boiling yet, I sliced some mushrooms, peeled some tubers and then put a citrus leaf in the pot. As soon as it¡¯s aroma started leaking it meant it was ready, so i cut up meat in medium sized chunks and put it in the cooking pot. after a while i put inside the rest of the ingredients.

    Every time I cut up the meat I save some of the fat forter, It has many different uses, we may even be able to tan some leather.

    While everything cooks Helena managed to finish a considerable amount of flour, so I chop some meat into very small pieces with my knife and mix it up with flour. It¡¯s a good thing Mochi was left outside because now I¡¯m mixing its two favorite ingredients into a single dish.

    After mixing them, the flour starts to absorb the meat¡¯s water content and it dries really fast.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Ryu? why are you smiling?¡±

    ¡°Is it so rare to see me happy?¡±

    ¡°that¡¯s not it, but you seem excited!¡±

    ¡°yes! it worked! not only this fruit doesn¡¯t spoil but it also absorbs water! just as i figured, now we may be able to preserve meat for a long period¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great! It looks like meatballs¡±

    ¡°These are meat balls, so looking like meatballs means they¡¯re not that great¡±

    ¡°No I mean... nevermind. why are they in different sizes?¡±

    ¡°Since this flour tends to absorb so much water, it may be difficult to eat, maybe even harmful. So bigger ones are made to be put into a soup or stew, and the smaller ones for eating. Also, Mochi will need food too and it¡¯s growing bigger, what happens if we run out of meat during winter?¡±

    ¡°Oh right, we can¡¯t forget about its croquettes hehe¡±

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25: Don¡¯t fall into a love triangle, please! part

    ¡°Tonight we¡¯ll hold a feast!¡±

    Yells Bob at the top of his lungs just aftering outside of the cottage. Everyone in the group is excited at the thought of eating their full.

    Anne, who just finished tying the deer skin into a wooden frame to stretch it ces the whole thing next to the cabin. Sweat runs through her forehead as she sits in front of the old outside stove.

    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡±

    Luke, who¡¯s helping Hiraku to build the other cottage, turns around to look at Bob.

    ¡°Why tonight?¡±

    ¡°Young Luke, did you forget we just inaugurated the new building!? we worked so hard for it to be finished and now we can finally live a morefortable life¡±

    .....

    ¡°Is that all you care about old man? I¡¯d be fine even sleeping outside if we were on adventures¡±

    ¡°No you would not... there¡¯s snow everywhere! you¡¯d freeze to death the first night out. Why do you think we went through all this trouble in the first ce?¡±

    Everyone keeps busy until nightfall, when the new dishes were finally ready.

    ¡°It took a lot of trial and error but I think I¡¯ve finally made some real dishes!¡±

    That¡¯s what I say, though I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s at least decent since I unlocked the cooking skill while at it. It did take me by surprise, because I¡¯ve been cooking for a long time, but it seems just roasting fish doesn¡¯t qualify as cooking for the system.

    The system thing is so strange, Luke ims it has to be rted to their status as heroes, but I disagree... there¡¯s nothing heroic about having 10 health points, and that was my maximum health when I regained consciousness on that fateful day.

    Everyone goes inside the cottage since it¡¯s getting dark already, and they¡¯re weed by a delicious smelling from the kitchen. They all sit in front of a low wooden table, it¡¯s so close to the floor it¡¯d be impossible to use while sitting in a chair.

    Apparently Hiraku made them based on what was familiar to him, it¡¯s his culture so I can¡¯t reallyin. Also he did it by himself and that¡¯s actually impressive.

    ¡°Oi oi! don¡¯te inside wearing shoes alright!?¡±

    ¡°What are we supposed to do, take them off outside?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a fair point miss Anne, I didn¡¯t think of that¡±

    ¡°Why take our shoes off anyway? we¡¯re not in wherever you came from¡±

    ¡°Come on Luke, don¡¯t be disrespectful, we¡¯re supposed to have fun today¡±

    Helena¡¯s voice acts as a soothing balm to whoever hears it, even Luke can¡¯t stay grumpy when such a beautiful girl asks him to calm down.

    ¡°Ok, so the first dish is a deer stew made with some vegetables we had. hope you all enjoy!¡±

    ¡°Wait... Ryu, I was told this was going to be a feast, but this is just a small bowl of soup!¡±

    This is actually the first time I¡¯ve seen Bob upset, even though he¡¯s a big muscr man and has a scary face, he¡¯s actually a softie.

    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry my friend, it¡¯s just that I want you guys to try all the dishes we made. Plus, we don¡¯t even have bigger bowls¡±

    ¡°Oh, my bad¡±

    ¡°Ryu, don¡¯t be so humble you did this all by yourself, I just passed on the ingredients¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true Helena, I couldn¡¯t have done it without your help. You ground up so much flour! also you helped me keep an eye on the cooking time. Seriously, if it wasn¡¯t for you we would only have charcoal for dinner tonight¡±

    Everyone busts into aughter, it¡¯s weird since I didn¡¯t say anything that funny, i think... so I look around me and I see Ayumi¡¯s bowl is already empty and there¡¯s food smeared all over her face.

    ¡°Hiraku tell Ayumi to watch her manners please¡±

    Anne says coldly, this behavior brings back memories, but not in a good sense. Everyone seems to be having fun which was the purpose so I join them and start eating too.

    ¡°Ryu can I have some more please?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to wait for me to finish up my stew first¡±

    ¡°A Ryu don¡¯t be so cheap,e on, please...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your husband Ayumi, I won¡¯t be moved if you try to put on a cute face¡±

    ¡°Oh! so you finally noticed my dear wife¡¯s beauty? took you long enough young Ryu. But you can¡¯t hoard all the girls for yourself! if you touch my wife I¡¯ll fight you, mwahahaha¡±

    ¡°What are you saying Hiraku!?¡±

    To avoid this awkward line of thought I get up to fetch more food, Helena helps me retrieving the empty bowls.

    ¡°There¡¯s some roasted meat, cooked meat even grilled meat! but I don¡¯t want to bore you with the same thing over and over... so here¡¯s the next dish. These are meatballs made with flour, it¡¯s dehydrated food and it should be able to withstand long periods without spoiling, but I want you guys to try them anyways. Also you can tell me if there¡¯s anything to improve, or maybe throw some ideas for new dishes¡±

    I put a te filled with meatballs and three bowls in the table.

    ¡°these are different sauces made with herbs, one of them even has berries in it giving it a sweet taste. To be honest I didn¡¯t like it at all but Helena insisted that Ayumi would love them¡±

    ¡°Oh! let me try!¡±

    Ayumi is the first one to reach for a serving and starts eating before i couldn¡¯t even finish speaking.

    ¡°This is so delicious!¡±

    Hiraku takes one too and his face changes immediately

    ¡°This would go great with some beer!¡±

    Everyone starts eating and talking to each other and I go get a small bowl for Mochi, who sits obediently next to Anne.

    ¡°What are those?¡±

    ¡°This is another version of the meatballs, though they are so dry they can probablyst a longer period, but they are too dry to eat as is. Instead, they make great cat food¡±

    Mochi stuffed its face on the bowl and a loud crunching noise is heard, even though Mochi is a glutton it only manages to grab a few pieces.

    ¡°Cat food! you even thought of that! that¡¯s great!¡±

    ¡°I must say I¡¯m impressed young Ryu...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much really, it¡¯s just my duty as its owner¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about that, I mean, this food is delicious, I never thought we would be able to eat something like this before even reaching a town!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go sentimental on me Hiraku, or Ayumi might be jealous¡±

    ¡°Haha, what are you saying? If you keep feeding her like this I might lose her to you¡±

    Hiraku shrugs his shoulders as everyoneughs at his remark, I can¡¯t believe good food can make such a difference in morale. I cant even eat that much since I¡¯ve been trying food since this evening, but sharing a meal together warms up my heart.

    ¡°By the way young Ryu, I¡¯ve been meaning to tell you... how do you feel about working as our leader?¡±

    ¡°isn¡¯t that what I¡¯ve been doing already?¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, getting paid¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t follow¡±

    ¡°We discussed the situation with the rest while you were outside, we feel bad because you¡¯ve been putting up with our problems. We are supposed to be on a mission to save humans from extinction, and you somehow got in the middle of this, even though it¡¯s not your responsibility¡±

    ¡°yeah, you¡¯ve been taking care of us, and we feel like we owe you something¡±

    ¡°Wait, everyone agreed on this?¡±

    ¡°Not everyone of course, Anne was with you at the time, young Ryu, but everybody else did¡±

    ¡°Even Luke?¡±

    ¡°Hey! don¡¯t look at me. I may not be the nicest guy, but even I can see things how they are. We would¡¯ve been lost without your help and it¡¯s only fair you¡¯repensated before parting ways¡±

    ¡°I see now, so what you¡¯re telling me is you want to pay me off so we can part in good terms?¡±

    ¡°precisely¡±

    ¡°Luke, don¡¯t go saying things like that! that¡¯s not it Ryu, we just want to repay you somehow¡±

    ¡°And how exactly do you intend to do that?¡±

    ¡°Luke has told us that when heroes present themselves to the king of a nation, they provide gear and money to them in order to help their cause¡±

    ¡°And so far, has Luke been right about everything, right?¡±

    An awkward silence filled the room and nobody was willing to break it, only the soft echo produced by the wind could be heard. Then finally Anne speaks up.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about any missions, actually, we set our course of action based on what was told to us when we arrived. Right now we need to take care of ourselves, before even thinking on going on a mission we need to survive this winter. I believe it¡¯s fair that wepensate Ryu, so I agree with you guys partly, but what¡¯s this all about?¡±

    ¡°So you also agree on this? let me get things straight... I know you all may mean well, but what I¡¯m hearing is a bit different from what you say Hiraku. You¡¯re saying you may pay me, if you getpensated by a king we don¡¯t even know¡±

    ¡°if you put it that way...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just that, I have to be honest with you guys. I¡¯ve been thinking a lot on leaving this group for a long time. At first it became clear to me that you were close to each other and I did my best to fit in, this lead to some unpleasant situations... sometimes I even thought you were hopeless. So all this time I¡¯ve been asking myself what am i getting out of all this¡±

    Everyone looks depressed

    .....

    ¡°Are you saying, you¡¯ll leave us right after winter?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that, Helena. What I mean to tell you guys is that I have my own issues. I don¡¯t know who I am, if I have a family or friends. I don¡¯t even know where do Ie from! All this time you¡¯ve been thinking of me like an outsider, but to me, you¡¯re the only people I know and I cherish each and everyone of you. If you ask me to help you, I¡¯ll do it, if you need something from me I¡¯ll give it to you. You don¡¯t need to think of a way to repay me for every single thing I do. Now it¡¯s be clear you still see me as an outsider, and that hurts¡±

    ¡°We actually never thought of this young Ryu, I¡¯m sorry... we¡¯re sorry for going behind your back¡±

    ¡°so what you¡¯re saying is... you¡¯ll help us?¡±

    ¡°Do I even have a choice at this point? If you say humanity is going to be extinct, am i not human too? Also, if by helping you I get to learn from my past or meet people I used to know it¡¯ll all be worth it!¡±

    Everyone looks at each other awkwardly, then Hiraku speaks

    ¡°Young Ryu, I¡¯m touched by your words. The fact that you stayed so far is proof of your good nature, you¡¯re even willing to help us. We really appreciate everything you¡¯ve don for us and we¡¯ll continue to count on you¡±

    ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t possibly be asking Ryu toe all the way with us! He only has 10 Health points, how can we protect him if he gets in harms way?¡±

    ¡°Hey! I got about 15 max health points now! also, I¡¯m not saying I¡¯ll be joining any fights. Everyone has their shorings, but there should be a way topensate them¡±

    ¡°Ok then let¡¯s make a final vote. Those who are against Ryu permanently joining our group raise your hands and state your reason¡±

    Since nobody did so Hiraku continues

    ¡°Young Ryu is now part of our hero¡¯s party. Since young Ryu took it upon himself to help with our mission, he shall be considered from now on a hero too!¡±

    Everyone cheers but Luke, who seems to be fighting the urge to say something nasty

    ¡°Even if you don¡¯te from our world you¡¯re a hero now Ryu!¡±

    ¡°And all it costed me was making dinner!¡±

    ¡°congrattions Ryu! I think you deserve this!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re all set then, Ryu will help us and we¡¯ll also try to help him get back his memories!¡±

    Things didn¡¯t go quite as I expected at the beginning, even though nothing really changed, I hope they stop treating me as an outsider. I¡¯m actually excited to see if I can find more about myself by sticking around with this bunch of worthless heroes.

    ¡°So, now that we have a finished cottage you¡¯ll all be sleeping in here today. Me and Ayumi will go to the cabin and we won¡¯t be expecting any visitors¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about dear I wanted to...¡±

    But before she could even finish her sentence, Hiraku stood up and grabbed her hand, dragging her outside as the sound ofughter and mocking arose.

    Two days after the feast the next cottage was finished too, at first we thought about building two cottages leaving Helena and Anne in one, Luke, Bob and myself in the other, and both Hiraku and Ayumi at the cabin. But it proved to be much more difficult to improve the cabin to a standard where it can be inhabited during winter, cold wind does breach through the walls, its roof is in the wrong angle and it¡¯s impossible to add the drainage system to it.

    So, instead of that we had to divide into just two groups male and female. This past days Hiraku has been begging me to go to the girls cottage so Ayumi can go sleep with him. When I went to Ayumi for help, she actually sided with Hiraku¡¯s nonsensical request!

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just trade ces with me? You know Hiraku has been bothering me too! and im sure both Anne and Helena won¡¯t be against the idea of you moving in¡±

    *sigh*

    ¡°If only it was so simple¡±

    Its not. Ever since I went with Anne on the hunting trip things have been awkward with Helena. I don¡¯t know what did she expect from me, but she¡¯s being clingy and trying to be always by my side. It¡¯s not that it bothers me at all, but she¡¯s be very territorial with Anne.

    They used to be friends, but now it¡¯s like they don¡¯t even know each other anymore. I don¡¯t know what kind of game they¡¯re ying but it only makes things difficult for everyone.

    ¡°I believe you¡¯re mistaken Ryu, it¡¯s actually pretty simple. You either switch ces with me now or Hiraku¡¯s gonna be so annoying that you¡¯ll end up agreeing anyway. Trust me, I know him and he¡¯s not going to budge on this¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t know what to do... I think they expect something from me but I can¡¯t handle this situation¡±

    ¡°Man up Ryu, you¡¯re not a kid¡±

    ¡°I feel so anxious about this situation, and you say it like its nothing¡±

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you just ask them? let¡¯s do something, we¡¯ll talk with them and if they don¡¯t want you living there we can tell Hiraku we tried and he¡¯ll start pestering them instead of us¡±

    ¡°Ayumi! that¡¯s the smartest thing you¡¯ve ever said!¡±

    ¡°Hey! that was uncalled for!¡±

    ¡°heh, my bad¡±

    We go towards the newly inaugurated cottage where the girls are living right now.

    ¡°Anne! Helena! we need to discuss something!¡±

    They bothe answering to Ayumi¡¯s call immediately. She might be childish sometimes but they sure respect her.

    ¡°Listen up girls, Hiraku¡¯s been asking me to switch ces with Ryu so we can be together so, what do you think?¡±

    Helena¡¯s eyes started shining intensely

    ¡°Is that true? are you moving in here Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Not really, we just wanted to ask you so we can get some peace of mind for a while¡±

    ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that you want him to bother us instead? why don¡¯t you just move in and end this situation?¡±

    ¡°Would you really be ok with that Anne?¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s no other choice¡±

    Anne shrugs her shoulders trying to act cool but, Is it my idea or she looks happy?

    ¡°So its settled then, Ryu from now on you¡¯ll be sleeping in here and we¡¯re all gonna be free from our torment¡±

    That very night I moved into the new cottage. It¡¯s the same size as the other one but this one looks a bit different. There¡¯s also a low table but right in the middle there¡¯s a vase with some wild flowers. There¡¯s a curtain in the ¡®bathroom¡¯ which still doesn¡¯t have flowing water nor a sewage system, but it gives enough privacy to change clothes or to wash with a towel. The bedroom just has some skins lying in the floor and pillows made out of nt fiber, Helena¡¯s so handy with nt fiber she can make almost anything!

    There¡¯s also a pillow for me, which makes me happy. Everything would be perfect if it wasn¡¯t for a simple detail. I have the feeling there¡¯s a waring and I don¡¯t know which side I¡¯m in. I can tell right now that this is going to be a big issue tonight. Should I just sleep in front of the firece? perhaps that¡¯s a solution.

    ¡°Thanks for agreeing with this, I hope I¡¯m not troubling you. If you want I can still tell Ayumi so she cane back¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy? you¡¯re here already so... what are you doing? you got to ce your stuff in the bedroom¡±

    ¡°Anne stop being mean to Ryu, but yes, she has a point. You can¡¯t sleep in here when there¡¯s still so much space in the bedroom¡±

    ¡°I see that, but... I¡¯m not sure where am I supposed to sleep. I don¡¯t mean to bother you¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? you silly, you should sleep right next to me¡±

    I¡¯m so screwed right now.

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26: Don¡¯t fall into a love triangle, please! part

    As soon as Helena said that the battle started. Both of them did their best to avoid showing their anger but at the same time ring intensely at each other.

    ¡°Why do you say that? what makes you think you have the right to make that choice for him?¡±

    ¡°But Anne, you¡¯ve been mean to him all this time, and I¡¯ve always slept by his side, I¡¯m ustomed now so...¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who came first, Ryu and I slept together when we went to the cave!¡±

    ¡°YOU GUYS DID IT!?¡±

    Helena¡¯s words ignite Anne¡¯s face filled with red leaving her almost out ofbat. Now Helena is furious and she¡¯s looking right into my eye.

    ¡°How could you do this to me Ryu? I thought we had something special¡±

    .....

    ¡°But that¡¯s not true! we didn¡¯t do anything! we just slept on the cave floor, we had to sleep somewhere! Anne why did you make it sound dirty?¡±

    ¡°I-I didn¡¯t intend to make it sound that way, but we were so close and I even let you...¡±

    Anne¡¯s cheeks are still bright red from the intense emotion and stops speaking, yet again causing Helena to misunderstand her.

    ¡°What are you doing now ying shy? you went behind my back and seduced Ryu! I told you I wanted to be with him¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do that! he came to me when he was tired¡±

    ¡°And you took advantage of him?¡±

    ¡°Girls please calm down!¡±

    ¡°Shut up Ryu! this doesn¡¯t concern you at all, its between Anne and me!¡±

    What have I done? I fell right into the wolf¡¯s mouth! I knew this was a bad idea, I¡¯m left speechless as they keep arguing about who¡¯s right.

    ¡°You betrayed me Anne, I called dibs on him! I really thought we were friends!¡±

    ¡°But we are friends!¡±

    ¡°Friends don¡¯t do this to each other!¡±

    ¡°Why are you acting like that? nothing really happened between Ryu and me, we just held hands a couple of times and I let him sleep on my chest! that¡¯s all!¡±

    ¡°Wait, is that everything?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± we both say at the same time

    ¡°So... you really didn¡¯t do it?¡±

    This time I simply nod, to be honest Helena¡¯s kind of scary right now. I never thought it was even possible for her to be this mad. It¡¯s like she¡¯s a whole different person.

    *whew*

    ¡°Then there¡¯s no problem... as long as you two keep your distance I won¡¯t have an issue¡±

    ¡°Wait Helena, that¡¯s not fair! I like him too, why do you get to make this call? shouldn¡¯t he be the one to choose between us who he likes?¡±

    I feel so ignored right now, they¡¯re talking like I¡¯m not even in the room.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? friends don¡¯t get in between, when one of your friends calls dibs on a guy its reserved. It¡¯s only natural that you keep your distance from him¡±

    ¡°why are you acting like a kid right now? Let¡¯s just let him choose! what happens if he doesn¡¯t even like you?¡±

    ¡°you can¡¯t make a move anyways, because he¡¯s reserved, or do you want to hurt your friend? you¡¯re supposed to side with me on this!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know ok! I never had a boyfriend! I couldn¡¯t even talk about boys with my friends back in our world¡±

    Helena¡¯s face freezes in shock as she sees Anne with a new set of eyes, Its a mix of pity and awe.

    ¡°You never had a boyfriend!? what about a first kiss?¡±

    ¡°stop asking me this questions in front of Ryu Helena!!! It¡¯s embarrassing¡±

    They both seem out of breath and I take it as my queue to go to the kitchen and fix something to eat. I take some seasoned meat out, it¡¯s already been prepared so I just need to heat it. I could heat up each piece by separated, but I prefer to put it all in the oven at the same time. The fire is on and I just need to stoke it a little.

    I hear them talking, but since there¡¯s also a curtain at the entrance of the bedroom I can barely hear them. This ce feels a lot bigger than the cabin. I guess this is because there¡¯s only three people living in here now. There¡¯s enough space to move around, at least Mochi seems to be loving its new home, but I don¡¯t think I can stay in here after all. Not if I want to avoid a bloodbath.

    ¡°Dinner is served!¡±

    I call the girls as I set a te with some seasoned meat, bread cut into slices, some berries and three cups of tea. they both side on opposite directions, but don¡¯t seem to be mad at each other anymore. Instead, they¡¯re looking at me directly.

    ¡°Ryu, between the two of us, who do you choose as your girlfriend?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°Because we need to get things clear from the start! or else we¡¯ll keep on fighting until who knows when. geez!¡±

    Helena seems dead set on making me choose, but the problem is I can¡¯t really see a future where this won¡¯t be a bigger problem. There¡¯s no way to escape now though, and only by answering I may be able to get out of this one alive. Just like Ayumi said before, i need to man up.

    ¡°I can¡¯t give you the answer you want, but let me finish please, I don¡¯t want to choose either of you¡±

    ¡°what do you mean? you...¡±

    ¡°I said let me finish please! We¡¯ve known each other for a short period and I¡¯m still getting to know you. Who said I want a girlfriend right now? can we even afford to be talking about this?¡±

    ¡°But Ryu, now you know how both of us feel and I thought maybe you too felt something for one of us¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s too much trouble then I just have to stay away from the both of you, I¡¯ll be asking Ayumi to switch ces with me tomorrow and that¡¯ll end this argument¡±

    ¡°You cant run from this Ryu, I¡¯m not saying I agree with Helena¡¯s approach but she¡¯s right in one thing, we can¡¯t remain the same. We¡¯ve been fighting over little thingstely and if we don¡¯t find a solution things might escte¡±

    ¡°And how is that my problem? If it¡¯s because I¡¯m your leader that¡¯s the solution I came up with. But if you¡¯re asking me on a personal level, then I¡¯m not interested. Who said we had something going Helena? I¡¯m not saying there was nothing, but why do I find about your feelings in this petty way? Could it be that you just wanted to beat Anne over this?¡±

    ¡°No way! that¡¯s not it!¡±

    ¡°If you truly had feelings for me you should¡¯ve talked to me long before it came up to this point. And Anne, I don¡¯t think I owe you nothing, I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m too honest here, but just a while ago you were spitting nastyments at my back whenever i showed up. I¡¯m not saying that feelings don¡¯t matter, but it¡¯s not a priority for me right now¡±

    Now that I spoke my mind i actually feel a lot better, they both look guilty now and we start eating our dinner in silence. When it was time to go to sleep, I simply lied on my jackal fur on the opposite corner of them, leaving enough space to fit two more people in between us.

    By the next morning everything was as awkward as it wasst night, but it can¡¯t be helped. Theypletely forgot the situation we¡¯re in. After using my mana to light the fire the whole room was illuminated by the firece. Its morning already, I¡¯m pretty sure since I wake up everyday at sunrise, but there¡¯s something different today, its still dark.

    At first I thought this was due to being in a different type of building, and I was pretty impressed that the sun didn¡¯t breach in. But then I realized something that truly worried me, the door wasn¡¯t opening. The door was made with wooden boards and a stone handle, it¡¯s sturdy and a bit heavy but not heavy enough to be this difficult to open. It feels as if it was jammed.

    I quickly go to the bedroom looking for help, Anne wakes up to the loud sound of my steps and she gets up as we speak in a soft voice to avoid waking up Helena.

    ¡°Whats the matter Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Anne, I think we¡¯re trapped in here¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡±

    ¡°But I can¡¯t open the door!¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you break it then?¡±

    ¡°what would be the purpose of a door if you need to break it to get out?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡±

    As soon as we go to the entrance Anne opens the door in a single movement and I feel so ashamed of my weakness that I can¡¯t even speak anymore. When the door waspletely opened we were greeted with apletely different scenery than the day before. It looks like snow fell the whole night and it¡¯s deep enough to almost reach Anne¡¯s knee. By the worried look drawn in Anne¡¯s face I see that I¡¯m not the only one who understood what happened.

    On the other cottage a shadow can be seen exiting through the door and waves its arm towards us, It must be Hiraku but we can¡¯t see him at all. Only a blurry shade in the distance, that¡¯s because it¡¯s dark and its still snowing.

    ¡°Anne, wake up Helena... we need to get ready, I¡¯ll go talk to Hiraku. Hey! Hiraku! can you hear me?¡±

    He doesn¡¯t respond so we walk closer to each other until we can finally hear each other clearly. Even if it wasn¡¯t a great distance yesterday, today it felt like both buildings were really far from each other, even walking that small distance felt tiresome.

    ¡°Young Ryu I think we¡¯re in trouble¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t say¡±

    ¡°Why are you so moody?¡±

    ¡°if it wasn¡¯t for you I wouldn¡¯t be on my current situation¡±

    ¡°what do you mean by that?¡±

    While we were chatting, Anne and Helena started yelling at us so we came back at the girl¡¯s cottage.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you guys notice? we started losing health points as soon as we got out¡±

    ¡°Hiraku, can you get back to your cabin?¡±

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem young Ryu, but why so soon?¡±

    ¡°Ask Ayumi to finish the water tanks for today, even if they are small... its better than nothing. Ask bob to divide our supplies and to deliver them to both cottages, if possible I¡¯d also like him to bring me as many stones and imperial stones as he can. I can¡¯t go out anymore and since I¡¯ll be trapped in here I may as well do something useful¡±

    The whole ce was covered in snow, if it wasn¡¯t for Bob¡¯s incredible strength and endurance I¡¯m not sure we would have made it in time, but by the end of the day we were stocked in everything we needed and Ayumi finished the stone water tanks for both cottages. Since Luke is both agile and lightweight he could climb into the roof to install the water tanks without a problem.

    .....

    The stone water tanks were designed to be attached to the chimney itself, by taking advantage of the heat produced by the firece it slowly melts the snow. there¡¯s a pipe going down and it goes to both the bathroom and the kitchen, at the end of each pipe there¡¯s a water tap.

    Our cottage is so filled with food, firewood and stones that it looks like a dumpster, this seems to have affected Anne¡¯s mood and now she¡¯s as grumpy as she used to be when I first met her, but at least she¡¯s not mad about our previous argument.

    Now we¡¯re at the kitchen waiting for the pipe to fill up, Helena¡¯s so impatient to try the water tap that she stays close to it the whole time.

    ¡°Be patient Helena, it¡¯ll eventually fill up but it¡¯ll take time¡±

    ¡°But Ryu! we¡¯ll have running water! you don¡¯t know how much I need this!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just water...¡±

    Helena keeps stoking the fire even though it¡¯s wasteful I just let her be, if we were to run out of firewood we still have a lot of charcoal... The fire stones!!!

    ¡°Girls, we¡¯re in trouble... I asked Bob to split supplies evenly but I forgot about something¡±

    ¡°What, did you leave your man pants in the cabin or something?¡±

    So... it turns out she¡¯s still mad at me. Now, how do I tell them about the fire stones without them feeling betrayed.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s better to just show you, also, I can still switch ces with Ayumi¡±

    Anne scoffs at me for ignoring herment, I¡¯m regretting staying in here already. I search for a charcoal basket and put my hand deep into it, after rummaging into it for a bit I finally find what I¡¯m looking for.

    ¡°This is a small fire stone, I found them into the charcoal piles everytime I make charcoal...¡±

    ¡°It looks pretty! let me see!¡±

    Says Helena with glowy eyes

    ¡°That¡¯s the thing... these are dangerous and I¡¯ve done my best to keep them hidden from everyone¡±

    ¡°why would you do that Ryu? don¡¯t you trust us?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a trust issue, its a safety measure, if they make contact with fire the fire grows wildly... I¡¯ve been meaning to tell Ayumi so that she can make some experiments, but now there won¡¯t be a chance¡±

    Anne ces her hand in the forehead and looks down disappointed.

    ¡°Ryu, why would you put such a dangerous stone inside the charcoal baskets? what happens if the others use the charcoal in a basket and there¡¯s a stone in there?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s precisely why I¡¯m telling you, we need to find a way to tell the rest to avoid using them...¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be possible and you know it, Even Bob had a hard time outside, none of us can go there so we¡¯ll just have to trust that they won¡¯t be as stupid as to put something they don¡¯t know inside a chimney¡±

    ****

    Two weeks have passed after the snowstorm hit the settlement and they can finally get out of their shelters. Bob is the first to go out and a beautifulndscape greeted him, trees were dressed in white and the sun reflects on every surface giving birth to the most shiny day he has ever seen.

    Everyone is in top condition, they had running water, food, shelter, a fire, every need was covered but they still missed the outside. It was hard on everyone to stay inside for so long, even though their bodies were fine their mind was a different subject.

    Without much to do inside and being unable to even open their door, they craved some fresh air more than anything.

    One by one everyone goes outside being Ryu thest one, he looked really tired and had bags under his eyes. It didn¡¯t go unnoticed and Bob couldn¡¯t help but joke about it.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Ryu, was it that hard to keep up with two beauties at the same time?¡±

    Ryu didn¡¯t answer, he looked and acted like a different person.

    Ayumi was about to barge in but decided otherwise, even she felt pity for Ryu¡¯s condition, he seemed so gloomy that even she could tell that he needed his space. Only after he went to theke she asked Anne.

    ¡°What did you girls do to him?¡±

    ¡°Come on darling, don¡¯t be so nosy... I¡¯m a bit jealous though¡±

    ¡°Well, you shouldn¡¯t he¡¯s been... busy¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! I knew it! you dirty girls! At least you solved the issue¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it Helena, read the room!¡±

    ¡°what are you talking about Helena, we¡¯re outside¡±

    ¡°You know what I mean, he¡¯s been worried sick about you guys... its about the fire stones, he thought all this time that you guys may use them by mistake and end up burning down your ce to the ground¡±

    ¡°you mean this things?¡±

    Ayumi said while showing Helena a small red stone in the palm of her head.

    ¡°yes! so you did found them after all¡±

    ¡°yeah, Bob wanted to throw one in the chimney and see what happened but I stopped him¡±

    ¡°So Ryu was right after all... We¡¯ve been telling him all this time that you couldn¡¯t possibly be so stupid as to do something like that¡±

    Anne said

    ¡°What can I say, they would have been lost if it wasn¡¯t for me. anyways, that can¡¯t be it, he seems really tired¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about that¡±

    Anne replied trying to keep her usual poker face, but failed miserably.

    *****

    ¡°What the hell is wrong with them!?¡±

    I can¡¯t avoid talking to myself. Ever since I politely declined being anyone¡¯s boyfriend things started to go downside, and being trapped with them in the snowstorm was actually the worst that could have happened. If I knew from before how things would turn up I wouldn¡¯t have agreed to switch ces in the first ce.

    I thought that they were mature enough to ept my decision and everything was fine. It all started a couple days after we were forced to shut in... small ¡°idents¡± started to happen and I didn¡¯t think much of it. I would ask if someone was in the bathroom and after waiting for a bit with no reply, i would get inside only to find Anne washing herself up. Other times, small bumps into each other when I was cooking with Helena.

    They seemed to notice what the other one was doing and it was like apetition. Everything escted up to the point that thest days were pure hell, they would even sleep naked!

    I can¡¯t take this anymore!

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27: Don¡¯t fall into a love triangle, please! part

    At nightfall the whole group meets at a midpoint in between both cottages, usually Ayumi would give her daily report informing us about the amount of supplies avable, in addition to the daily advances in construction and technology, but this time it¡¯s different. After spending two weeks apart, both groups have a lot to talk about and, although the cold is getting more and more unbearable, everyone is excited to be able to spend time outside.

    ¡°We have to go to the vige as soon as possible!¡±

    Luke exims, insisting again on the need to explore the new world.

    ¡°Luke, we¡¯ve already talked about this, we¡¯re not ready yet and there will be plenty of chances to do so¡±

    Ayumi replies in a condescending tone

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I think Luke has a point¡±

    Ryu, with ck circles in his eyes and a tired expression on his face joins the conversation

    .....

    ¡°Young Ryu, you too?¡±

    Hiraku seems surprised

    ¡°It¡¯s true we weren¡¯t prepared before, but I think the time hase to expand our area of ??action. If our goal was just to survive we could stay here for years without a problem. However, if what you say is true, we have a limited time to prevent the end of the human race¡±

    Ryu¡¯s words trigger an unprecedented event, something that has not happened since they came to this world, for the first time, Luke smiles straight at Ryu with a sincere expression. This did not go unnoticed by the rest of the group, leaving them astonished.

    ¡°But what do we do if it starts to snow in the middle of the road? Besides, the cold decreases our health, if it¡¯s dangerous for us your case must be much worse Ryu¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯ve been working non-stop¡±

    Ryu says as he stands up to go get some things from his cottage. Returning, he hands Hiraku a bow and some arrows.

    ¡°This is incredible!¡±

    Hiraku says as he slightly tightens the rope, releasing it produces a vibrating sound that draws everyone¡¯s attention.

    During the period that Ayumi, Bob, Hiraku, and Luke¡¯s group spent the majority of their time locked up, they talked, ate, and rested. Their biggest enemy was boredom, some puns and songs had a positive effect the first week, but the entire second week of lockdown was almost torture.

    Instead, Ryu¡¯s group dedicated themselves to improving their chances of survival. The first thing was that Ryu, with his limited mana capacity, made some small stone arrowheads. While it was a task that could have been done manually, he used it as an opportunity to develop his mana pool. His efforts paid off shortly and he managed to significantly increase his mana capacity, mainly because he was well fed and forced to rest most of the day, thus allowing him to recover about 15 mana points per day.

    Mental exertion produced a series of diforts such as dizziness, headaches, insomnia, among other simr symptoms. Apanied by the difficult situations in which he was involved by the repeated attempts at seduction by his roommates, Ryu¡¯s mental state was on the verge of copse.

    The production of bows is apletely different subject, their sess was due in part to perseverance in the face of many failures they experienced. With Helena¡¯s help, they managed to create a string strong enough to withstand the tension a bow would require, but finding a properly shaped wooden stick to craft a bow proved to be an impossible task. After many experiments, Ryu finally settled on immersing the wood in water for a while, thereby making it easier to change its shape. Thanks to his analysis skills, he was able to choose the most resistant materials and evaluate in advance whether or not they were suitable for what he needed.

    ¡°It should work fine and since your ss is Archer, you¡¯ll be able to get more out of it than we can. Even so, its important you remember that it will wear out sooner orter and repairing it or making a new one will be difficult. For this reason you should use it only when necessary. Ammunition is easy to make and should be able to be reused many times so at least that is not a problem¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very grateful young Ryu, with this, I feel safer already... but what can we do about the cold? its not like we can just take a stroll whenever we want¡±

    ¡°Actually, the bow is the solution, we will have to hunt animals to get more skins, we will divide into two groups and go out to hunt in short periods. when the cold starts to affect us we¡¯lle back. But first, we will be the only ones to go, at least until you learn how to hunt properly¡±

    Anne responds to Hiraku

    ¡°And I can take care of making the clothes! Anne, show everyone your new shoes!¡±

    Helena waves her arms excited to share her achievement with the rest. Anne lifts a foot out of the snow and, after shaking it with her hand, you can see a kind of leather boot tied with strings that wraps around her foot until it reaches five fingers above Anne¡¯s ankle.

    ¡°Let me see if I got it right, Anne and Hiraku will go hunting until we have enough fur so we can all go outside without fear of the cold, then we¡¯ll go to the town. But what will the rest of us do during all that time?¡±

    Bob asks fearing to be forced to stay inside for another season, finding a fur big enough to keep him warm would be next to impossible and therefore he had little hope.

    ¡°We will set traps near the settlement and mark them so that everyone can recognize them to avoid idents. Also, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem with going out asionally, as long as you¡¯re careful to monitor your health points and don¡¯t stray too far.¡±

    Little by little, the members retreated to their respective abodes, but one among them seemed reluctant to move. Ryu, worried about what might happen next, wanted to extend his time away from his cottage as long as possible. Once he waspletely alone, in front of a budding fire, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the sounds of nature.

    At the break of dawn Anne and Hiraku met in the center of the clearing in the forest as agreed the day before. Together they entered the forest paying special attention to possible animal tracks.

    Thanks to the snow, finding tracks was easy enough, but this time they weren¡¯t interested in hunting rabbits. They went quite far from the camp looking forrger prey. To create a single coat they would need dozens of rabbits, whereas with a single boar they would have enough fur to create aplete outfit for Ayumi, especially thanks to their small size. Obviously the most difficult to dress would be a Bob, but that doesn¡¯t discourage them at all, it only meant they¡¯ll need a bit more time.

    The path thaty before them was at once familiar and unfamiliar, had it not been for Anne¡¯s exceptional sense of direction they would have been quickly lost. Every once in a while they stop and check their surroundings to see which way to go.

    Although they were able to distinguish the presence of all kinds of wild animals from the first day they came to this world, due to theck of tracking ability, it was almost impossible for them to find prey during all this time. Now they found what they believe are the tracks of a wild boar, judging by the size of its footprints it must be a mature animal.

    Meanwhile at the settlement, Luke and Ryu head out to theke with fishing harpoons. This time it was Luke who invited Ryu to fish and, although they do not talk at all, its not the typical awkward silence that usually formed between them, rather each one focused on their task at hand.

    At nightfall Anne and Hiraku return with some rabbits and a boar on their backs, thanks to the ropes that Helena provided them it was possible to drag the prey, however after the great distance traveled both werepletely tired and dragged their feet with each step. During thest leg they even lost some health points, but since they were so close to the settlement they decided to stay the course.

    ¡°Young Ryu, are you there?¡±

    Ryues out answering Hiraku¡¯s call with a questioning expression on his face

    ¡°Young Ryu, we need a sled¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me, but why do you ask me? Luke is way more skilled with wood and Bob is the only one who can fell trees with ease¡±

    ¡°I went to Luke but he told me that I should ask you beforehand, just in case you needed him for something else tomorrow, you are our leader after all¡±

    An expression of astonishment spread over Ryu¡¯s face, but itsted only a short time. Anne walked past him with heavy steps and her face pale as snow, she entered the room and fell heavily on her jackal pelt.

    ¡°You can ask both of them for help. Something seems to be wrong with Anne, I¡¯m going to check up on her¡±

    Hiraku had the intention of following Ryu, but decided against it since there wasn¡¯t much he could do anyway.

    ****

    ¡°How are you doing Anne?¡±

    ¡°I feel tired, that¡¯s all, don¡¯t worry¡±

    ¡°How do you want me not to worry? remember I went through the same thing and I know how it feels¡±

    For the first time since I¡¯ve known her, Anne looks miserable, she has always taken special care of her appearance, even after exercising or traveling long distances she barely sweated. I sit next to her to use my consider ability on her.

    Anne 34/130 (exhausted)

    Archer

    The situation is bad, but luckily she¡¯s out of danger.

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring you a potion, I¡¯m sure it will help you recover faster¡±

    ¡°Do I look so bad?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, it¡¯s just...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just tiredness, just like you told mest time it¡¯s not worth wasting a potion just for this. If you want to help me, why don¡¯t you do for me what I did for youst time?¡±

    Anne recovers some color in her face, I highly doubt very much that it is because she¡¯s recovering. So it must be her blushing even though she¡¯s cold and tired. It¡¯s not night yet so Helena must be busy, I don¡¯t want her to arrive and misunderstand the situation, that would only cause me more problems. However, to some extent I feel I owe it to Anne.

    I carefully lift Anne up and let her rest on my chest as I gently stroke her hair. A delicate smile spreads across her face and she rxespletely over me.

    ¡°I see that you did quite well on the first day of hunting¡±

    ¡°yes, it wasn¡¯t all bad, we got a boar! did you see the size of that thing?¡±

    ¡°Thats great. I have a question, howe Hiraku returned with so much energy? It could be my idea, but I think you¡¯re in better physical condition than him¡±

    ¡°Wow, are you flirting with me? I think the cold affected me, besides, I forgot to eat breakfast. Ayumi got up earlier than him and prepared something for him¡±

    ¡°and why didn¡¯t you do the same?¡±

    After a brief silence, Anne frowns at me

    ¡°it¡¯s just that the fire wasn¡¯t lit and I didn¡¯t want to bother you, since we left so early, you were still sleeping when I got up¡±

    Ipletely forgot!

    Ayumi and I are the only ones capable of lighting fire using magic, although sometimes it seems that Ayumi is a little cold towards Hiraku, she actually cares a lot about him. She always checks that he¡¯s well dressed before going out and takes care of washing his clothes.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anne, from now on feel free to wake me up if necessary¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t, I don¡¯t want to be a burden¡±

    ¡°Between getting up a little earlier and having to worry about you every time youe home from hunting, I prefer the first option¡±

    ¡°Does it bother you that much to be so close to me?

    ¡°Don¡¯t put words in my mouth, that¡¯s not what I meant¡±

    I quickly rub my hand over her silver hair messing it up

    ¡°don¡¯t do that Ryu, now I must look even worse¡±

    Says Anne with her hair disheveled without any remaining force to fight back

    ¡°If you still care more about your appearance than your well-being, A situation like today¡¯s could be repeated again, only worse. You need to take care of yourself or I¡¯ll worry¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not such a bad thing, then¡±

    Anne takes my hand and shuts her eyes as she sighs. I cannot reject her advance, as much as it pains me, I remember with great affection the day we traveled to the river.

    The shared warmth, the crackling of the fire, and thefort soon lull Anne¡¯s consciousness into a deep sleep. I avoid moving as much as possible so as not to wake her up, although she doesn¡¯t weigh much, the position that was quitefortable before is now difficult for me to maintain. I feel a tingling in my legs so I move slightly causing Anne to moan softly in a cute yet arousing way.

    .....

    I put my arm around her, pulling her even closer to me, and continued stroking her hair. I really wouldn¡¯t know who to choose between them, Helena has been nice to me from the beginning, but since she shed with Anne, her personality took a bit of a dark turn. On the other hand, Anne has been cold to everyone, but her attitude is noticeably insincere. Now that I know her better, I can see that she¡¯s just trying to hide her true feelings behind a poker face mask.

    If I didn¡¯t have to choose, the situation would be much easier, I would just have to decide if I either want to be in a rtionship or not. Though every time I see Hiraku and Ayumi together I wonder if one day I can be as happy as them. The trust between them can be felt, although Ayumi seems somewhat unlearned, she actually always cares about Hiraku. He, on the other hand, is always talking about Ayumi and tries to spend as much time as possible with her.

    Neither of them is very skilled, but together they are capable of achieving almost anything. Hiraku has the confidence that Ayumicks and she has the ability to read the environment and boost the morale of everyone in the group. I think they are aware of the fact that neither of them can really take on the leadership role, as they are not capable of taking all the responsibility on their own.

    To a certain extent I¡¯m grateful that I had the support of both of them, otherwise these ipetents would not even listen to me. Now even Luke respects my leadership position.

    Now that I think about it, why would it be that both Anne and Helena took a liking to me? In Bob¡¯s case I get it, he¡¯s a nice guy and very kind too, but he¡¯s not very talkative and hisplexion makes him seem like a brute. Luke¡¯s case is different, he is a little shorter than me, but he has a more developed physique and even I can see that he is more handsome!

    Although Luke¡¯s personality is somewhat twisted, if he was interested in any of them he could at least pretend a little in front of whoever she likes.

    That day... the first day, when I had to sleep with Helena in her tent, Anne and Luke slept together.

    Is it possible that they have been a couple and things have gone wrong?

    Maybe that¡¯s why Helena insists that they support each other, I¡¯m almost certain that she doesn¡¯t want to hurt their feelings by meddling.

    So that means that if I ept Anne¡¯s feelings, I¡¯m condemning my newborn friendship with Luke. Obviously he would be jealous and things would go back to being as bad as before, maybe even worse. Now I am forced to reject Anne, for the good of the whole group. That doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll ept Helena just yet, but at least it¡¯ll make things easier.

    But... why does she smell so good? even exhausted and fresh from a hard hunt, I can smell a faint sweet scent. We don¡¯t even have soap, how is she doing this?

    As I¡¯m lost in thought I hear the sound of the door slowly opening, footsteps, and then a hand peeks through the bedroom curtain pulling it aside.

    Helena barges in with her teary eyes as she covers her mouth with her hand.

    ¡°Ryu!¡±

    This is bad, as in really bad!

    My heart is pounding fast, I know I have only one chance at fixing this or everything will go to hell very quickly.

    ¡°It¡¯s not what you¡¯re thinking¡±

    Is all I manage to do, am I braindead now?

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to exin anything to me, I see you made your choice. I wish you two have a bright future together, I¡¯ll ask Ayumi and Hiraku to switch ces with me now¡±

    Oh no! this turn of events is even worse than I expected, being forced to live together with the merry couple is as bad as it can get. This will be the couple¡¯s cottage now? the lovey dovey cottage?

    Now that I think about it, it doesn¡¯t sound so bad. Perhaps I could just let things follow their natural course and maybe I could enjoy myself. I¡¯m not saying I¡¯m in love with Anne but I¡¯d have to be blind to say she¡¯s not appealing.

    Even after saying those words Helena¡¯s still in the room, maybe she does expect me to exin myself. Why are women soplicated? I can¡¯t be so selfish thinking only on myself. Everyone will be hurt from this if I don¡¯t do something fast. Should I let Anne go?

    After taking a deep breath a sudden peace invades my mind.

    Calm mind 1%

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28: Don¡¯t fall into a love triangle, please! part

    ¡°Quickly! go heat up some soup for Anne, her condition is very bad¡±

    I order Helena. My mind feels more agile, clear, it is as if all the distractions dissipated and allowed me to concentrate on the problem in front of me.

    Helena hesitates for a second before letting go of the curtain and heading into the kitchen, I can hear the sound she makes as she reaches for the utensils she needs to heat up the stew for lunch.

    What Anne needs is not only rest, she must also eat a proper meal. I¡¯ve long thought of stamina simply as the amount of energy we can expend before getting tired, but since we¡¯ve long since had enough food to go around, Ipletely forgot the importance of eating properly.

    Surely Anne would recover anyway if she didn¡¯t eat now, but eating will allow her to recover much faster. If my assumption is correct, the pieces of this puzzle are fitting little by little.

    Health points represent just that, health. But it¡¯s not as simple as thinking that just because you have arge number of health points you are invulnerable. Luke¡¯s ident taught me a lot about it, while he was bleeding his health points decreased rapidly and, if he had reached zero, the obvious result would be his death. There are other conditions that also produce a gradual decrease in health points, such as poisoning, illness, cold, fatigue, and I imagine many more. But, what would happen if someone was decapitated, I can only assume that the result would be instant death regardless of how many health points they had before the event.

    Thetter is just a theory, I also imagine that the more health points a person has, the more difficult it is for that to happen.

    .....

    The case of stamina is almost solved. To recover stamina its necessary to rest, but also to feed properly. Where else would the energy needed to movee from? surely you also need to drink water. In Anne¡¯s case, she most likely drank water, but that wasn¡¯t enough.

    The only thing that seems out of ce to me is that Anne has gotten so tired, regardless of Hiraku¡¯s state, Anne¡¯s condition is bad. Could it be that the cold has something to do with it? perhaps the cold made her spend more energy than usual, causing her hunger to worsen.

    That¡¯s it!

    Cold consumes energy, therefore its necessary to take care of the diet, on the other hand, the heat makes us sweat, therefore it is necessary to take care of dehydration. If the theory is correct, on hot days you could also get the negative state of exhaustion by not drinking enough water.

    My new skill is really useful, although actually more than a skill it seems like a change in my mind.

    Sending Helena out to get some food gave me an excuse for the situation I¡¯m in and also some time alone to focus on learning more about stamina. When shees back I won¡¯t have to say anything to her, I imagine she¡¯ll have realized the situation by herself. On the one hand I¡¯m happy to be able to take this weight off my shoulders, but I also feel a little guilty for manipting her that way. I don¡¯t really mean to create any trouble, sometimes I miss the time spentpletely alone in the woods. Maybe if I had met Mochi earlier, I wouldn¡¯t havee out of the clearing and none of this would have ever happened... well, there¡¯s no point in thinking about it.

    ¡°It¡¯s just the broth, is Anne¡¯s condition serious?¡±

    Helena says as she hands me a bowl of soup

    ¡°Fortunately it¡¯s not serious, she just needs to eat and rest. From now on it¡¯s important to remind everyone that they can¡¯t leave the camp without emergency rations¡±

    ¡°Ehhh, Ryu, I¡¯m sorry for my previous reaction¡±

    ¡°No problem¡±

    Yes there is a problem! she spends two weeks trying to seduce me, and as soon as she thinks she¡¯s lost the battle, she goes into full drama mode. I¡¯ve made up my mind, I¡¯ll choose not to approach either of them and I¡¯ll make it very clear to them as soon as possible.

    I gently shake Anne to wake her up.

    ¡°No Ryu, stop, they could see us here, no... please don¡¯t touch me there, not there, mhmm¡±

    ¡°What are you dreaming you pervert!? wake up, you got to eat something!¡±

    Anne suddenly opens her eyes, she¡¯s still a little pale but her reaction was much more animated than I expected.

    ¡°uh? what am I doing here? I was... no, wait... what are you doing here Helena?¡±

    ¡°What are you saying? I live here!¡±

    An intense stare fight unfolds in front of me.

    ¡°We had agreed that the loser would move to the other cottage, you have nothing to do here anymore. Ryu chose me, you can go now¡±

    Her icy gaze collides with Helena¡¯s fiery gaze. Before it esctes into a fight again I put the bowl of soup in between them.

    ¡°You must eat Anne, you¡¯ll feel better immediately. Also, stop arguing over stupid things, will you? I¡¯ve already made my decision, I won¡¯t choose any of you and you must respect it or else I¡¯ll just go and tell Anne and Hiraku to switch ces with me¡±

    ¡°Do you not find either of us attractive enough for you?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that, I just don¡¯t have the time or the energy for these games, there are bigger problems to worry about. Also, no matter whoever I choose, issues will arise in the group anyway, in the end someone will get hurt and that will only create conflict within the group¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true!¡±

    They both say in chorus

    ¡°Then can you promise that there will be no hard feelings? the one who has to move will not be jealous? If things go wrong with whoever I choose, will they still respect me as a leader? can you really promise it?¡±

    ¡°But you must understand us Ryu, our feelings...¡±

    Before Helena finishes her sentence I interrupt her abruptly

    ¡°And what about my feelings? Did you ever stop to think about how I feel? Didn¡¯t I tell you I have no memory? if you just want to hang out, I¡¯m not going to refuse, but still you put your feelings on my shoulders as if it¡¯s my duty to respond to them. I¡¯m too concerned about the well-being of the group to add anything else to worry about¡±

    *****

    ¡°that was harsh¡±

    Helena says now that Ryu has left the room.

    ¡°yes, since when is he so cold?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but he¡¯s right, I think we¡¯ve been too selfish¡±

    ¡°Yes, I feel bad now... do you think we should apologize?¡±

    ¡°No, best thing would be to give him his space. By the way, are you feeling better now?¡±

    Anne nods and takes another sip of hot soup. That night Ryu slept in front of the chimney, despite the warmth emitted by the firece it was the coldest night he had in a while since he had to sleep alone this time.

    The following days the group continued with their efforts, Anne and Hiraku went hunting just like the day before and Helena stayed at home preparing the skins to make appropriate clothing for the cold.

    Bob and Luke are in front of the woodpile choosing the best materials to make a sled.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you it can¡¯t be that big! the pathways are too narrow in some ces, even if it is small it will still be useful¡±

    ¡°But if it is very small its capacity will be limited, in that case what would it be used for?¡±

    ¡°in that case we can make it longer¡±

    ¡°Fine, but it should also be wider¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand your insistence¡±

    Both have been arguing for more than half an hour about how the sled should be and they still can¡¯t agree, anyway, they want do whatever they can to avoid taking the issue to Ryu. In Bob¡¯s case its because he knows that Ryu is busy with Ayumi on an important task, while Luke does not want to admit that he¡¯s not capable of solving problems on his own.

    ¡°It just has to be wider and that¡¯s it¡±

    ¡°If you give me one reason why it should be as wide as you want, I¡¯ll give you the reason¡±

    With these words Luke shrugs as if giving up

    ¡°it¡¯s just that, well, I don¡¯t know how to say it¡±

    ¡°spit it out already!¡±

    ¡°I just want a sled that¡¯s wide enough to ride on¡±

    Luke¡¯s facepalmed so hard it could be heard in the whole settlement, distracting Ryu by a split second before he turned back to face Ayumi who¡¯s showing him her advances in studying the fire stone .

    ¡°So, Ryu as I was telling you, it¡¯s not that the rock itself is dangerous. I think that if we heat it slowly instead of throwing it directly into the fire like a caveman we can get a little more information about its use¡±

    ¡°What makes you think that?¡±

    ¡°Fire is not something physical, its the fuel that releases its energy, do you understand?¡±

    Ryu nods his head pointing out that it¡¯s something obvious

    ¡°well, if you understand that, everything will be easier. When you burn wood some smoke is produced, its waste that could not be burned properly. When you burn coal, a gas is released that is dangerous to health. Fuels are not perfect, they have impurities and also form substances that can be burned at different temperatures. What was left when you burned the fire stone?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Ash maybe?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my point, we don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not an expert in the matter, but as far as I know, there¡¯s always a residue and, since we do not know what the residue was, we could at least learn that if we repeat the experiment in controlled conditions¡±

    ¡°okay, so if we burn a stone of fire and we see that there is only residue, what will we get from that?

    ¡°Ah little Ryu, the great Ayumi will help you understand. Firestone is a material that wasn¡¯t avable in my world, but at least we know it¡¯s some sort of fuel. This means that in the worst case scenario we can take advantage of its heat. However, I think we could get even more out of it, I think it¡¯s a magic stone¡±

    The expression of disgust on Ryu¡¯s face at being called small turned into one of astonishment when Ayumi mentioned magic. Just thinking of all the possible uses it could have filled his heart with hope.

    ¡°A magic stone! what makes you believe that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple, since I¡¯m a mage ss I have a certain sensitivity to magic. Although I¡¯m not entirely sure, it¡¯s a strange feeling. when I get close to the fire stones I can feel an energy that feels simr to heat, but instead of temperature it is as if it emits a force that attracts me and propels me at the same time¡±

    ¡°I see, and have you felt that at some point? another moment?¡±

    ¡°Yes! near the silver flowers and Mochi¡±

    ¡°Near that gluttonous cat?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is! don¡¯t let that hairy potato form fool you, I think one day he will be quite powerful¡±

    Both cannot contain theirughter after turning to see Mochi who is washing its lower parts carefully and when it finishes it has its tongue stuck out giving him ridiculous appearance.

    ¡°Impossible¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right, maybe my perception is not so urate sometimes, but about the fire stone I¡¯mpletely sure¡±

    .....

    ¡°Well, what do you need for the experiment?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the tricky part, I think we¡¯ll need a lot of ssware and someone skilled to work it¡±

    ¡°that¡¯s out of reach at the moment¡±

    ¡°I know, but it was necessary to share this with you anyway, we should ask the rest of the group to stay tuned in case they find more stones of this type¡±

    Both continue to drink their herbal tea calmly while noises of knocking on wood begin to be heard.

    ¡°They finally started, do you think they can finish today?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, making a sled that works is easy, making a good one will beplicated¡±

    ¡°we should go see how they are doing¡±

    ¡°Leave them Ryu, they need to believe that you trust them enough to give them a task and let them sort it themselves¡±

    ¡°but that¡¯s not true¡±

    ¡°I know, but still... by the way, I see that you already solved the problem with the girls, what seems strange to me is that they both look happy. Did you already give them what they wanted?

    Ryu blushes slightly before replying

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t hide anything from me Ryu, but whatever, as long as there are no fights I don¡¯t care if you reject them both or if you make a threesome, although I must admit that I thought that you would choose Anne.¡±

    ¡°What are you saying crazy woman! stop meddling in other people¡¯s personal lives¡±

    While Ryu and Ayumi talk, somewhere in the forest a sneeze is heard

    ¡°cheers!¡±

    Hiraku says, crouching down to look at the footprints closely.

    ¡°what do you think it is?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Miss Anne, but it¡¯s big and it¡¯s close.¡±

    ¡°How can you tell?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s looking at us right now.¡±

    They both draw their bows as they take aim at the strange creature in front of them, a low growl begins to be heard, but the creature doesn¡¯t advance.

    ¡°Should we shoot Miss Anne?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it looks like it¡¯s warning us, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be a carnivore¡±

    Its round shape and big eyes give it a cute appearance, contrasting with its menacing growl and apparently aggressive behavior. Because the creature is covered in snow they cannot clearly distinguish it, however it seems to have quite long fur making both hunters wonder if hunting it is worth risking their lives. However, they both decide to back away slowly keeping their weapons at the ready.

    Seeing that they leave, the creature stops paying attention to them and continues on its way.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why but that animal gave me goosebumps¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think we made the best decision by retiring. If only we had seen it from farther away, perhaps we could have hunted it without risking it, but at that distance it was too dangerous¡±

    ¡°Not only that, I think it was too big to take back. We should go back, I think we have enough¡±

    They both retrace their steps and recover two boars that were hanging from a tree. Thanks to the new rope that Helena gave them, they can keep their prey off the ground, safe from predators. Due to the inconvenience that Anne suffered the day before, this time they decided not to stray too far from the settlement and in just an hour they managed to return with both prey on their backs.

    Bob and Luke are disappointed to see them arrive before they have finished the sled, they worked hard all day to finish it as soon as possible and even so their effort was useless. Instead, Hiraku seems excited to see his progress.

    ¡°I see that you made a lot of progress¡±

    ¡°yes, but it wasn¡¯t enough¡±

    Answers Bob dejectedly, but before the atmosphere gets heavy Hiraku stands next to him and pats his back repeatedly

    ¡°don¡¯t say that young Bob, it looks incredible! ¡±

    Although at the moment the sled is just a couple of loose parts and boards, Hiraku could clearly imagine the end result. Even Anne is surprised.

    ¡°It will be huge! why did they make it so long?

    ¡°It is not clear? In this world we are stronger, we can carry much more weight so pulling a bigger sled shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Bob wanted a sled to ride, but I think it¡¯s too soon for that¡±

    Luke shrugs as he looks at Bob

    ¡°and how did you get him to drop his idea?¡±

    ¡°It was easy actually, I just told him that it doesn¡¯t need to be as wide as him since he can stand on it¡±

    ¡°You also said you¡¯d give me a ride!¡±

    Just imagining Luke carrying Bob on his back made Hiraku¡¯s back ache.

    ¡®Bob is not small by any standards, Luke must have a lot of self-confidence to offer to carry him so easily¡¯ Hiraku thought. Reality was different, however, Luke simply told Bob what he wanted to hear to start building the sled as soon as possible, but the more they progressed in the project, the more afraid he felt of having to really keep his word.

    As soon as Ryu heard that Anne was back, he immediately left his cottage and ran to check on her. He put both hands on her face and reached out to check herplexion and the color of her skin. As well as her temperature, once he was satisfied he nodded.

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you arrived safely, you both look good and even brought two boars this time¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, young Ryu, although this time they are a little smaller than yesterday¡¯s. The hard part is finding them, the killing part is so easy it feels like cheating and it¡¯s all thanks to the bows you made for us!¡±

    ¡°Ryu! we found a mysterious creature!¡±

    After taking refuge from the winter cold inside the cottage, Anne tells him in detail everything she remembers about the mysterious beast that appeared in front of them. After patiently listening to the story, Ryu congrattes Anne by patting her on the head.

    Anne allows herself to be caressed docilely and genuinely enjoys the moment.

    Helena who was inside can¡¯t help but feel jealous, but at the same time she remembered what happened the day before and decided not to intervene. An idea that would bring many difficulties to Ryu began to take shape in her mind ¡®what if we both agree not to interfere with each other¡¯s advances? It may be a bit difficult, but I¡¯m confident that I will win in the end¡¯. Although Helena always shows her kindest side to everyone, and she does not consider herself a bad person, in her mind she¡¯s clear that in war and in love all is fair.

    Ryu,pletely unaware of Helena¡¯s thoughts, stands up excitedly.

    ¡°I think you¡¯re ready to go hunting separately! Helena, please give them their mew coats¡±

    Helena picks up from the floor, since they don¡¯t have furniture to store clothes, two coats made with pelts. Both their appearance and their quality do not reflect the fact that they were manufactured in such a short time. This is due to Helena¡¯s experience making clothes, so many times she had to repair or remake vegetable fiber garments for the whole group that she already knows everyone¡¯s measurements by heart.

    Although the style of the coats reflects the scarcity of tools and materials, both Anne and Hiraku found the result more than satisfactory, which is saying a lot for Anne¡¯s high standards.

    ¡°Thank you so much Helena! This coat is beautiful! something like that would have cost a fortune in our world!¡±

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29: Don¡¯t take it personal, please! part

    ¡°Are you sure this is going to work?¡±

    ¡°Nothing is certain, but at least it will give us a second chance if things go wrong on the first try¡±

    Ayumi and Ryu exchange words while the rest of the group shows signs of anxiety. The n is to split up before entering the city, Bob and Luke going first and spending the night there, if things go well they¡¯ll spend two nights there and everyone will reunite.

    Ryu provided them with some food and trinkets to trade, telling them tirelessly to pay attention to everything they see. Luke is eager to be the first to make contact, so he walks outside the cave, his excitement overflows and for the first time he looks genuinely happy.

    ¡°Hurry up Bob, we¡¯re wasting time¡±

    ¡°But Ryu said we¡¯ll take our time, it must give the impression that we¡¯vee a long way¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a spoilsport!¡±

    .....

    ¡°But if things go wrong we will bepletely alone¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared man, just do what I tell you and nobody will mess with us. Just put on your best poker face and don¡¯t say anything, just by seeing you they¡¯ll shit their pants¡±

    When they get to town they are surprised to find no one in the streets, despite the fact that smokees out of most of the houses. Buildings look solid, but old and some in very poor condition. Compared to the cottages in the clearing they are ugly, but much more robust and alsorger.

    ¡°check it out!¡±

    Bob says pointing to a house bigger than the others, two stories high.

    ¡°What about that house? it¡¯s bigger, that¡¯s all¡±

    ¡°that¡¯s not, they have amp hanging at the entrance and the door is not closed¡±

    ¡°should we go in?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe it¡¯s better to go around the town first¡±

    Despite the cold, they decided to postpone their entry into the strange house in order to obtain as much information about the town as possible before being forced to leave. Ryu¡¯s distrust is contagious, especially after telling them about some of the possible results of an unsessful first interaction.

    They could be mugged, scammed, killed, even imprisoned for not having some form of identification. Despite this, Luke maintains a blind optimism to be recognized as a hero and admired by all the inhabitants. Due to the size of the town it was not difficult to cover itpletely in a short time, apart from some somewhatrger buildings and themps that are lit outside, there is nothing else to highlight.

    ¡°What do you think happened Luke? why are there no people around?

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, surely if they knew we were heroes they woulde out to wee us ordingly¡±

    ¡°shhh! remember Ryu told us to keep the hero thing a secret.¡±

    Luke nods, even he thinks it¡¯s a good idea to keep his hero status hidden. The moment a hero is revealed as such is important as it marks the beginning of a series of incredible adventures and rewards of all kinds. After returning to the house they saw at the beginning, they push the door gently.

    ¡°Excuse me¡±

    Luke says as he steps inside. All the people seem shocked to see them.

    The ce is well furnished and looks like a kind of medieval tavern. There are about twenty people spread out among all the tables, but most of them are at the bar. Behind the bar, an astonishing redhead girl seems busy taking orders from those who drink, while a young blonde takes care of delivering food orders to the tables.

    Luke confidently walks to the bar,pletely forgetting about Ryu¡¯s n, as Bob follows close behind. His goal is to flirt with the bartender without thinking about anything else. However, before reaching his destination a group of men stops in front of them and cuts them off.

    ¡°This is a mining town, here there are only miners and whores and you don¡¯t look like a miner¡±

    Says the man who seems to be leading the rest of the group with a crooked smile. Luke, who was distracted by the miles of cleavage that the bartender boasted, was not prepared for this interruption and his mind wentpletely nk unleashing everyone¡¯sughter.

    Bob, who was supposed to keep a poker face throughout the encounter, can¡¯t help butugh while patting Luke on the back. Luke, red with shame and anger, grits his teeth as the sounds ofughter increase.

    ¡°Hey! you do look like someone who can wield a pickax,e sit with us we¡¯ll buy you guys a drink¡±

    Despite the humiliation Luke received, they both nod and sit next to the men. The awkward moment caused Luke to regain enough mental rity to remember that he is on a mission and that the oue is of the utmost importance.

    ¡°Tell me, where do youe from? bring any news from the north?¡±

    ¡°No, sorry, we don¡¯t bring news, wee from a small vige that happens to be nearby¡±

    Luke replies looking at the skinny and gangly man who asked him the previous question.

    ¡°As far as I know there are no nearby viges¡±

    The man shrugs. The group consists of four men of dissimr appearance, thergest in size being a man who stands silently drinking a pint of what appears to be beer. At his side is the Leader, a man less robust but just as muscr. The other two are next to Bob, both look skinny and in poor health but all wear the same cloth clothes and leather shoulder pads.

    The young blonde approaches the group leaving six pints of foamy beer on the table, but she doesn¡¯t miss an opportunity to wink at Luke, who shows no interest in her.

    ¡°We are here to trade¡±

    ¡°trade?¡±

    Tthe leader asks with greed in his eyes as he hands out the drinks in front of everyone. If all goes well, he could get a good profit, in addition to making contacts outside the town, he is now happy to have been the first to approach the couple of unknown travelers. Inviting them to drink was a test to see if they were nobles or not, since a noble would never ept a drink from amoner.

    ¡°lucky that we met then, do you sell or buy?¡±

    ¡°To buy first we would have to sell¡±

    ¡°Are you saying they don¡¯t have money?¡±

    The whole group seems to suddenly lose interest in both of them. However Luke was already prepared for this and continued talking as if he didn¡¯t realize anything.

    ¡°Yes, it is true, we do not have a single dime on us. Do you think my boss would let me travel with money in my pockets to an unknown ce?¡±

    The leader¡¯s curiosity was piqued once again

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see what you got¡±

    Bob gestures to Luke, who opens the vegetable fiber sack one by one taking out various objects, pieces of various skins, vegetable fiber rope, a bag of mochi, another of croquettes, a piece of polished wood from each tree that they have been able to cut down in the forest, dehydrated fish, meat and some trinkets.

    ¡°These are products from our vige, if you are interested in any of them, we could reach an agreement, as long as you have the means to invest of course.¡±

    The leader carefully observes the various products in front of him and begins to separate those that interest him from the others that don¡¯t.

    ¡°Fish is quitemon in this ce, after all we live near the river, we have better quality rope than this and we have no shortage of wood. On the other hand, the pelts and the meat do interest me, what is found in those bags?¡±

    In his mind, Bob is surprised that Ryu guessed the result beforehand, even though it wasn¡¯t luck. Ryu and Ayumi thoroughly discussed the topic of trading before deciding which items to disy, how to disy them, and what price to ask. As they did not have the slightest knowledge of the currencies of this world or the price of things, the first thing is to check the value of the various services that they can acquire. That¡¯s why they only provided enough for them to get by and some product samples. Bob¡¯s job is just around to make sure no one steals from them, but Luke¡¯s job is much moreplicated.

    Luke has to make sure he gets a good price, and negotiating blind is a pretty tough task.

    ¡°I see that you are interested in our food, as far as I know, it cannot be found anywhere else¡±

    Thest part is not a lie since Luke actually does not know other ces.

    ¡°Interesting, can I try it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t offer free food to everyone who is interested or else I¡¯d run out of merchandise before I make the first deal¡± Luke says with a heartless smile

    ¡°you¡¯re right kid, at first I took you for an arrogant dumb kid, but you actually have a good head on your shoulders. Well, how about this, since the drinks are on me this time you will provide the snacks¡±

    ¡°You cannotpare the cheap beer of this ce with the incredible quality of our products¡±

    ¡°that¡¯s correct, because I have not yet tried them¡±

    He shrugs, certain that Luke will fall to his provocation. But Luke¡¯s smile remains unblinking.

    ¡°First of all I would like to know if there is an inn and how much it costs for one night. I need at least the necessary money for a two-day stay, otherwise, even if we reach an agreement, I could not fulfill it even if I wanted to, since we would be forced to go back¡±

    ¡°why two days?¡±

    ¡°Because more people from my vige wille, of course¡±

    ¡°Are they escaping the winter?¡±

    ¡°I am not at liberty to discuss those details¡±

    ¡°Well, at this inn they will charge you five copper coins for bed and board per day. In the brothel, though the price is higher, service is much better. Here Rina will do nothing but ignore you if you flirt with her, and in the worst case she could kick you out¡±

    ¡°In that case, since you are willing to buy meat, how much do you think will be enough to cover twenty copper coins?¡±

    Says Luke ignoring hisst remark. Bob took it as his queue and ced another bag in front of the gang¡¯s leader. who, after inspecting the quality of the meat, sets aside a lot indicating that this will be enough.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget this is the beginning of what could be asting business rtionship, you don¡¯t want to start off on the wrong foot, do you?¡±

    Luke sneers. Upon hearing this, the gang¡¯s leader takes a smaller portion for himself while faking a cough.

    ¡°Excellent, it will be a pleasure doing business with you. I¡¯m Luke by the way¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Rudd Ironwood¡±

    They both shake hands in a sincere gesture and finally drink the beer that had been served on the table for some time.

    ¡°Ahhh! It¡¯s so good, Hiraku would surely kill for a drink, why the long face Luke?¡±

    Bob says while patting him on the back using a bit too much force

    ¡°I¡¯ve never had beer before, it¡¯s...disappointing¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a spoilsport and drink some more, it¡¯s a special asion after all, for a long and prosperous business rtionship!¡±

    ¡°Cheers!¡±

    .....

    They all exim in unison and take a long drink. Rudd wipes his mouth on his sleeve and ms the mug down on the table.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it time we tried the snacks you brought? Uh?¡±

    Luke resigns himself and opens the bag in the middle of the table for everyone to taste. Without the slightest hint of manners, the four miners take out handfuls of food at a time and chew it loudly.

    ¡°This is great! I have never eaten anything so good!¡±

    The skinnier miner says happily, until his gaze meets Rudd¡¯s, then he falls silent. Although they all agreed with their partner¡¯s opinion, they couldn¡¯t be so open about it or else they would have a hard time reaching a lucrative agreement.

    ¡°Yeah, I guess it¡¯s not bad,¡±

    Rudd says casually, but this interaction didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Luke, who starts to smirk.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you liked it, it¡¯s actually very rare. The first thing you tasted is called Mochi, it¡¯s a first ss delicacy, not so much for its sweet taste as for its smooth texture. On the other hand, the croquettes are prepared with great care by an expert, I cannot reveal the ingredients but I can assure you of their high quality¡±

    Rudd fearing that he has lost his advantage in the negotiation ponders for a while and then replies

    ¡°Its such a pity that in a mining town like this there are no rich people willing to payrge sums of money for such exquisite food, even if they want to do business it will be difficult¡±

    Luke cheers inwardly as Rudd seems to have fallen into his trap

    ¡°oh this? Although mochi can be considered a dessert, croquettes are actually preserved food. We don¡¯t know its duration but so far we have never seen it go bad. Its just an everyday food¡±

    As much as the miners wanted to hide their astonishment, their faces immediately gave them away

    ¡°So, this... how much is it worth?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know, it¡¯s a secret that has been developed for a long time in our vige and to this day it has never been traded before. But, we might consider your offer as long as it amodate the market¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t actually offer much right now¡±

    ¡°Nevermind then¡±

    Rudd gulps down his beer and stands.

    ¡°we can discuss matters tomorrow at noon, it¡¯s been nice meeting you two, so we¡¯ll be taking our leave now¡±

    ¡°aren¡¯t you forgetting something?¡±

    Luke snarls

    ¡°Oh right, right!¡±

    Rudd takes some copper coins and ces them on the table. As soon as Luke and Bob are left alone they examine the coins.

    ¡°Yeah! we did it!¡±

    Bob celebrates

    ¡°Be quiet Bob, remember our mission. But everything went great¡±

    ¡°You seem distracted Luke, what is it?¡±

    ¡°can¡¯t you see that redhead beauty over there?¡±

    ¡°uhm, yes, she¡¯s pretty, so what?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to her, wait in here¡±

    Luke goes straight to the bar as soon as he notices the girl is idle.

    ¡°Good morning miss¡±

    ¡°Good day sir, how can i help you?¡±

    ¡°me and my friends are travelers, we just got here and we don¡¯t know much about this town, do you mind showing me around?¡±

    ¡°This is a tavern, if you want beer I¡¯ll serve you beer, if you want cider I¡¯ll serve you cider, if you want to die then keep flirting¡±

    Luke hesitates for a second then goes back to his table, the crowd doesn¡¯t miss this and start mocking him loudly.

    ¡°now it¡¯s my turn¡±

    Says Bob as he walks straight to the barmaid.

    ¡°Good morning miss¡±

    ¡°Good day sir¡±

    ¡°Please excuse my friend, he didn¡¯t mean to bother you¡±

    ¡°no problem sir, anything I can help you with?¡±

    ¡°yes actually, what kind of services do you provide?¡±

    The girl remains unfazed and was just about to say something simr to what she said to luke but Bob keeps talking.

    ¡°You see, we¡¯re very tired and need a ce to rest. Also, I¡¯d appreciate it if you tell us the name of this town¡±

    ¡°Oh, excuse me sir I thought... nevermind. it¡¯s 3 copper per day, 5 copper if you want food too¡±

    ¡°We need to stay two days so 12 copper is it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct sir¡±

    Says the barmaid, bowing lightly towards Bob as soon as she receives the payment. It¡¯s not usual for clients to pay upfront and this made her very happy. Ever since she bought the tavern she¡¯s been regretting it.

    What seemed to be a very lucrative line of work, turned out to be much more work than its worth. Even more after the brothel started to allow men to stay in the whole night. This was actually a confabtion between the tavern¡¯s previous owner and the brothel¡¯s madame, who wanted to scam Rina out of some money and forcing her to marry. Now she¡¯s every passing day more and more indebted.

    ¡°Please call me Bob by the way, I don¡¯t feelfortable being called sir¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Rina¡±

    she replies smiling. Luke who¡¯s been watching the interaction between them couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Not only she bowed to Bob but also kept smiling the whole time, leaving Luke bbergasted. Also, nobody mocked Bob and he just went back and sat next to him.

    ¡°that¡¯s how it¡¯s done¡±

    ¡°wait are you saying...¡±

    ¡°no, I¡¯m just messing with you, i asked her for two rooms¡±

    Luke sighed in relief when he heard that, otherwise his self esteem would have been crushed mercilessly.

    They stayed at the tavern for a while trying to eavesdrop on anything that could be useful, but it proved to be useless. Most of what they could hear was just chit chat andments about the two travelers that darede mid winter.

    Judging by everyone¡¯s words it was actually pretty rare to receive travelers this time of the year and that¡¯s why everyone was so surprised to see them arrive when they did. They also learned why there was no one outside in the streets, it was because its cold.

    They both felt stupid when they realized how obvious it was.

    At night they went to their rooms, they werefortable enough and each had just a bed, a night stand a chair and a cloth hanger. The bed, though, was a real soft bed. It wasn¡¯t a straw bed, but a real soft bed with sheets and nkets, the pillows were filled with soft feathers.

    It was the first real night sleep Bob had ever since he came into this world.

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30: Don¡¯t take it personal, please! part

    The next day Both Bob and Luke woke up refreshed by the best night sleep they ever had. After meeting up at the entrance Rina greeted them politely.

    ¡°Good morning dear clients, did you find your amodations to your liking?¡±

    ¡°Yes! the bed was sofortable I fell asleep as soon as I lied down¡±

    ¡°Hehe, thought so, since it¡¯s past noon already. Your vige must be really far that you were so tired¡±

    ¡°Miss Rina, has mister Rudd arrived yet?¡±

    Rina chuckled after hearing someone speaking about Rudd with respect.

    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s been waiting for you since morning, he asked me many times if you were still sleeping¡±

    .....

    After thanking Rina they went downstairs and found Rudd standing up looking impatient. After exchanging pleasentries they sat down to discuss business.

    ¡°So, mister Ironwood are you ready to talk business?¡±

    Luke smirks

    ¡°Yes, I gathered all the funds I could beforeing. But first I¡¯d like to ask you a couple questions. Why did you choose to do business with me when you could¡¯ve just sold your meat to Rina. Don¡¯t get me wrong I¡¯m more than happy to make a little cash out of our deal but you didn¡¯t strike me as a naive person¡±

    ¡°The reason is simple, we need a middleman. We just arrived and don¡¯t know the ropes, also, what would you think would happen if we were to start to sell our goods openly?¡±

    ¡°Well... merchants might get upset¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Now, instead of attempting to coerce us they will be forced to persuade us. And that would only be possible if you didn¡¯t do your job properly¡±

    ¡°My job?¡±

    Rudd now realizes that what he thought was a strike of luck and his own skill was actually Luke¡¯s n all along.

    ¡°Yes, your job is to protect our business from those greedy merchants. As long as you pay fair prices to us we¡¯ll continue selling only to you, and as long as you keep supplying other merchant¡¯s stores instead of selling directly to people they won¡¯t have a reason to take us down¡±

    ¡°Fine by me, I¡¯m going to y fair as long as you keep your end of the deal. To think that I rushed in today to keep you from doing business with others when you already thought of all this. You could¡¯ve spared me the trouble. Anyway, I took the liberty to show your food products around and there is market as long as the price suits our purses¡±

    Bob yawns missing his bed, all this talk and nothing to do left him feelingpletely useless.

    ¡°Bob, you can leave the goods and take a stroll if you want¡±

    Before Luke even finishes speaking Bob rushes out of the door at a speed that didn¡¯t suit his size.

    ¡°Excuse my friend, winter doesn¡¯t agree with him¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s got that kind of energy he could make a living at the mines¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have proper tools, and we don¡¯t know the first thing about mining nor how does this town works. Please take the sack and feel free to sell its content, you can pay me after you take your cut¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine but this much is not nearly enough¡±

    Says rudd taking a look inside the nt fiber sack

    ¡°This is nothing but a sample, the first batch should arrive tomorrow... unless something unexpected happens that forces me to send a signal to ourpanions to call off the deal¡±

    ¡°You guys are seriously paranoid¡±

    ¡°Like I said, we¡¯re facing the unknown here. Why don¡¯t you tell me more about the town? take into ount that I¡¯ve never visited any towns nor viges¡±

    ¡°You sound too well educated to be just a country bumpkin¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I¡¯m uneducated, just ignorant in some aspects¡±

    Luke shrugs his shoulders. Even though his words sounds humble he¡¯s got a smug expression on his face.

    ¡°This is the town of Ironwoods, I¡¯m the first son of the town¡¯s mayor. Most people in here are miners, but my crew and I are also hunters. The old mine is open to anyone willing to risk it, but it¡¯s a bit dangerous if you can¡¯t fend yourself since it¡¯s also their of many creatures. This ce was founded by my great grandfather, after he was cast out from the city he lived in, he gathered as many people he could and started anew in here¡±

    ¡°What kind of ores do you mine?¡±

    ¡°Mostly copper and iron ore, but sometimes we find some elemental stones. It¡¯s not much but it keeps us afloat. Every so often minor noblese down iming they own thisnd, but after no more than two weeks they give up and turn tail¡±

    Ruddughs wholeheartedly as he stands up to pick up the bag.

    ¡°Before I leave let me give you a piece of advice. whatever you do, stay as far away as you can from Rina, she came of age recently and has many suitors among the most powerful people in town¡±

    Luke was left disappointed, even he knew that meant trouble for the whole group and he had no choice but to back up from his intentions. Still, it wasn¡¯t like she was the only pretty girl he¡¯ll meet and there¡¯ll be plenty of chances to fulfill his lust at the brothel once they get a steady source of ie.

    As soon as Rudd got outside, his crew joined him in silence. They were eager to help in his new endeavor, so much so that they willingly emptied their pockets to help him shoulder the cost of the merchandise they¡¯ll receive.

    Their first stop was at the grocery shop, where he had previously agreed to deliver all the meat he could get. As a hunter he already had a close rtionship with the store owner, also his team was the most prolific at hunting so they were able to provide the biggest amount of food even during winter. But this didn¡¯t mean it was enough to satisfy the ever growing hunger in town, everyday people fell due to starvation, and even if they had money it amounted to nothing if there was nothing to buy at the stores.

    Some were even desperate enough to venture themselves into the forest only to nevere back. Others recurred to selling themselves into very as ast resort to have the slightest chance at surviving just one more winter.

    The store owner greeted Rudd with an amicable smile.

    ¡°Good afternoon Rudd, did youe back from a hunting trip already?¡±

    ¡°Not really, but I got my hands into some meat nheless¡±

    ¡°What do we have here? boar, deer and fish. You know fish is going to be cheaper than meat right?¡±

    ¡°I know, just pay the coins and I¡¯ll be out of here¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just curious why would someone attempt to fish on this season, I mean, it¡¯s almost as difficult as hunting and the price will still be low for a couple weeks until the river freezes. You didn¡¯t rob someone did you?¡±

    ¡°Listen, I¡¯m not going to spill the beans so just pay the price or I¡¯ll go somewhere else¡±

    A single deer provided enough food tost for weeks, even if it took five days to hunt one it¡¯ll still be worth it, but no amount of fish was worth the effort to spend hours under the cold breeze fishing. This raised suspicions on the storeowner who nevertheless paid the price in full and went back to stocking up his shelves.

    The next stop was the brothel, this time the madame was not pleased to see his new business partner.

    ¡°What took you so long kid?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re not married nor visit my ce you¡¯re a kid no matter what you say¡±

    ¡°Listen, if you¡¯re not interested in what I showed you yesterday I can...¡±

    ¡°How much you did you manage to bring?¡±

    Rudd ces two small bags into the counter to which the madame frowned.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t nearly enough¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll have to do until tomorrow¡±

    The madame, a well dressed woman on her mid fifties, she was well mannered and always had a smile drawn on her face, but she lost her patience with Rudd years ago since he¡¯ll never fall into her ws.

    Most citizens would visit the brothel to dine or stay, especially after a long shift at the mines, making her business the most lucrative in the whole town. At this point there wasn¡¯t much her money couldn¡¯t afford, thus making her focus in politics more than money. To her a simple customer meant nothing, but failing to bring under her wing the first son of the town mayor was a big let down.

    He wouldn¡¯t fall in honeytraps nor in bribes, so as long as he was destined to rule over the town after the mayor¡¯s passing she won¡¯t be able to fulfill her ns. To add insult to injury this new food source can take down the efforts she¡¯s been doing for the past years to force people into heavy debt until they had no choice but to sell themselves into very.

    ¡°Remember, I¡¯ll keep buying this new food products as long as you don¡¯t sell to anyone else. If you keep your word I¡¯ll buy as much as you can get¡±

    ¡°Understood, now if you¡¯ll excuse me¡±

    Rudd didn¡¯t want to spend a single spare minute inside that ce. He and his crew were among the few citizens that avoided the brothel like the gue. Its not that he didn¡¯t enjoy thepany of a good woman, but he wasn¡¯t interested in paying for that kind of service. For as long as he can remember the madame has been trying to bring him over to her side, but he¡¯s always been wary of the cunningdy.

    Bob, on the other side, didn¡¯t have thest clue about the madame¡¯s intentions nor did he know he was in that kind of ce. At the same moment Rudd was having that conversation, Bob was enjoying the attention of a girl who he thought he met by chance.

    Despite his looks he was actually only twenty years old and very inexperienced in anything rted to the opposite sex. On this world, people became adults at the age of fifteen and they were expected to get by on their own, but on Bob¡¯s world he was still a student living at his parent¡¯s house.

    His kind demeanor added up to his naive upbringing were the reason why he was in his current situation. The moment he stepped foot into the brothel without knowing, his fate was sealed.

    ¡°What do you mean I have to pay you?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you thought I fell for you on first sight¡±

    Says the curvy beauty as she starts dressing herself

    ¡°Of course I thought so! you should have warned me beforehand!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no free meal honey, if you don¡¯t have money I¡¯ll have to call in the guards¡±

    Bob was frozen on the spot

    ¡°Call Luke! tell him I¡¯m in trouble and he¡¯ll pay for me¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know any Luke, now if you don¡¯t pay you¡¯ll end up bing a ve¡±

    Bob¡¯s mind started to spin its gears wildly but he couldn¡¯t find a solution, yet he didn¡¯t give up.

    ¡°Rudd! call mister Rudd and he¡¯ll settle the debt!¡±

    The woman walked out, went downstairs and found her madame speaking precisely with Rudd at the precise moment he was about to leave the ce

    ¡°Madame Bianca, could you spare me a minute? there¡¯s a guy who won¡¯t pay, he says he knows Rudd¡±

    .....

    Rudd lifts up an inquiring eyebrow. His crewmates aren¡¯t supposed to be at the brothel. Madame Bianca was also astonished but did her best to cover it up behind her usual smile.

    ¡°Call him down dear, and what have I told you about interrupting me when I¡¯m doing business¡±

    The woman bit her lip realizing just now the mistake she made. In her mind she wanted to take the chance to speak since Rudd was already there, she was more concerned about the money than anything else since that¡¯s how she earned a living. If a client doesn¡¯t pay, she doesn¡¯t get paid. But to the madame it was such a waste to let go of a chance to make Rudd owe her a favor.

    When Bob came down the stairs, walking slow in shame, Rudd startedughing his ass off.

    ¡°Bob? what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think!¡±

    ¡°so you didn¡¯t....¡±

    ¡°He did!¡±

    The pretty woman by Bob¡¯s side, who was clinging to his arm not only to lead him but also to make sure he wouldn¡¯t escape, eximed loudly. Rudd couldn¡¯t hold hisughter and he almost fell to the floor.

    ¡°How much is it?¡±

    ¡°One silver and fifty coppers¡±

    ¡°This is robbery!? what the hell did you ask for!?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t disclose my client¡¯s information¡±

    ¡°I know, im asking him¡±

    ¡°you can¡¯t expect me to tell you...¡±

    ¡°listen kid, if I don¡¯t know what you did I won¡¯t know if you¡¯re being scammed¡±

    After hearing this, Bob went pale, but mustered the courage to whisper into Rudd¡¯s ear everything he did with thedy.

    ¡°Good graces kid, howe she¡¯s even able to walk straight?¡±

    His remark didn¡¯t go unnoticed by the woman who, for the first time in years, blushed genuinely.

    After settling the bill both men went outside in silence. Rudd was bbergasted, five coins would go a long way inside the brothel but what he spent was almost enough to buy a ve.

    ¡°Thanks for what you did for me Rudd, I¡¯ll ask Luke to reimburse you as soon as I see him, but please don¡¯t tell him what happened¡±

    ¡°You put me in a tough situation. I can deduct the amount from what I earned by selling your goods, but Luke will notice right away¡±

    Bob stares nkly at Rudd making him shudder in fear for a second, but he was just thinking on what to say and didn¡¯t mean to intimidate him.

    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s do this, I¡¯ll forward you the amount but you¡¯ll go to the mines to earn what you owe me. Just be careful on the future or you could end up being sold as a ve and once it¡¯s done it can¡¯t be reversed¡±

    A cold sweat runs through Bob¡¯s forehead despite the icy wind that runs on the street.

    ¡°Thank you so much mister Rudd, I¡¯ll make sure to repay you soon¡±

    ¡°Nevermind that, I¡¯m just d I was at the right ce at the right moment. By the way, I¡¯m going to buy some supplies, we can go together so you get what you need to go mining¡±

    Rudd says as he hands Bob a coin purse with a single silver coin.

    ¡°just this?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m surprised it even amounted to this. Usually a whole deer would be this much, its only because of your novelty food that we got so much. You may think I¡¯m being unfair but I only got eight coppers to myself, I meant to take 10 copper for my troubles but I¡¯m toozy to break a silver for measly 2 copper coins¡±

    The group consisting of Bob, Rudd and his crewmates went downstreet to get some supplies. Bob decided to take the chance to get as many supplies as he could since he was with Rudd, thus avoiding falling into the ws of dishonest merchants.

    He got two rusty pickaxes for fifteen copper, a small roll of cloth for fifty copper, and threenterns for three copper each. Thest thing he needed was fuel for themp, but he couldn¡¯t find any.

    ¡°Where do you guys get oil for yourmps?¡±

    ¡°Why would we waste oil? these are powered by elemental stones. A small stone shouldst for a day¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to power it¡±

    ¡°Just ce a fire stone inside the lowerpartment like this¡±

    As soon as Rudd closed thepartment themp started to send off a small light that grew in size and brightness by the second. Then he moved a small lever making it shine brighter, after that moved the lever to the other side and it started to fade until it was almost extinguished.

    ¡°Ryu is going to love this thing¡±

    ¡°who¡¯s Ryu?¡±

    For a second, Bobpletely forgot that he couldn¡¯t share any information about hisrades to anyone. In his mind, Rudd was his friend already, it didn¡¯t matter how many times Ryu asked him to not trust any strangers. But after remembering how he fared on the brothel he realized the importance on being on guard.

    ¡°Nevermind, it¡¯s just a guy I know¡±

    After returning to the inn they were staying, Bob attempted to go unnoticed but Luke was already waiting for him. He was so happy to see Bob return with so much stuff and even some spare change that hepletely missed that he wasn¡¯t being his usual self.

    Bob would always smile and shrug off any difficult situation they were in, he was the strongest out of hispanions not only physically but he also supported everyone¡¯s emotionally. He didn¡¯t have to speak, just his cheery smile would be enough to reassure hispanions.

    But something inside Bob broke that day. When he met the girl at ¡®the other tavern¡¯ he was wiped off his feet by all the female attention he got. Every single female tried to hit on him, he was even more bbergasted when the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life tried to flirt with him.

    Her full lips and curvy figure left him speechless but she didn¡¯t mind it at all, she was so assertive that he just couldn¡¯t deny what his body wanted. Whatever he wanted to do, whatever he felt like touching, caressing, biting or kissing, nothing was out of bounds.

    The joy of being looked at with desire for the first time in his life, of finally bing a man, waspletely shadowed by the overwhelming guilt he now felt for being so naive as to fall head first into her cunning act.

    The worst part was that he let everybody down and that feeling was eating him on the inside.

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31: Don¡¯t take it personal, please! part

    ¡°A bit more to the left Ayumi, watch out you¡¯re gonna cut him¡±

    ¡°Shhh, I know what I¡¯m doing¡±

    Ayumi does her best to cut Hiraku¡¯s hair and she¡¯s so scared to hurt him that her hand trembles. We¡¯re about to head to the town and the reason Hiraku had to take the risk of being cut is that we need him to look as neat as possible since he¡¯s supposed to be our boss.

    ¡°Now the only thing is to tie a bow in Mochi¡¯s tails so it can pass as an average one tailed cat, we need to avoid rising any kind of suspicion¡±

    As soon as we¡¯re ready we head outside the cave and set our course straight to the town. Pulling the sled has proven to be quite a difficult task since it¡¯s full to the brim with pelts, meat, mochi, croquettes and some trinkets.

    Bob and Luke are waiting for us just outside the town and they wave their hands at us as soon as they notice our approach. Hiraku walks ahead of us and as soon as we get close to them they bow politely in front of him.

    ¡°Good morning boss¡±

    .....

    ¡°Hello guys, so, how did you fare?¡±

    The bow was intended for other people to see, since we¡¯re on guard we noticed there was a group of people nearby staring at Luke¡¯s back.

    ¡°Great, we managed to find a middleman and we sold out everything. We also bought some stuff¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice to hear. Where are we going to stay by the way?¡±

    ¡°Please follow me boss¡±

    I never thought I¡¯d live long enough to see Luke show respect to Hiraku, he usually just calls him names and he barely pays any attention to whatever he says.

    Anne and Helena are going to be following me instead of Hiraku, the idea is to make sure we are seen as Hiraku¡¯s rivals, just in case we need to start over. This way, if they screw up I can provide the same products to the same people leaving Hiraku out of the picture.

    Luke guides us to a local tavern, it looks messy and somewhat ruined, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. This means they didn¡¯t go on a spending spree as I thought initially and noticing this makes me sigh in relief.

    Luke gets inside with Hiraku, still roleying as employee and boss respectively, while Ayumi and Bob stay outside watching the sled. I go in a separate way to speak with the barmaid, but soon a group of four cuts me off.

    ¡°What do we have here uh? this town has only miners and whores, and you don¡¯t look like a miner¡±

    What the hell is wrong with this guy? is he trying to bully me or something?

    ¡°If your mom¡¯s not a miner I¡¯ll go pay her a visit then¡±

    I reply coldly, but instead of the expected punch to the face I was expecting, a sudden burst ofughter breaks the previous silence. Everyone at the tavern starts spilling their drinks andughing to tears.

    As soon as the barmaid gathers her breath she speaks to me in a polite, yet still humorous, manner.

    ¡°What can I help you with dear client?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna need amodations for all the members of my group if that¡¯s not too much trouble?¡±

    A huge smile paints her face when she hears that, I could swear her eyes shined for a moment.

    ¡°Of course, bed and board is 5 copper coins a day¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to confirm how many days we¡¯re going to stay in here, I¡¯ll be back in a minute¡±

    Ipletely forgot about money, I don¡¯t even know how much we have. As if it wasn¡¯t enough everyone went outside leaving me all by myself. I could go check on them, but since I¡¯m already talking with someone I may as well get some information.

    ¡°My group just went outside so I guess I¡¯ll have to wait a bit¡±

    ¡°Oh! you¡¯re with mister Bob, why didn¡¯t you say it before!? here, this one goes on the house¡±

    She says as she hands me a beer. its bitter taste is quite refreshing, Its a whole new experience for my taste buds.

    ¡°He¡¯s not even been here for two days and he¡¯s reputable already?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, but he¡¯s been well mannered, the same cannot be said about blondie¡±

    She snarls waving her shoulder length red hair, and I can¡¯t help but notice the jiggling on her chest caused by her sudden movement. She probably caught Luke eyeing her bosom, so it¡¯s better if I avoid falling in the same mistake.

    ¡°Excuse my associate¡¯s behavior please, we alle from a small vige and he¡¯s not ustomed to talking with pretty girls¡±

    My remark makes her blush slightly, but she keeps her cool and replies without even flinching.

    ¡°Are you flirting with me?¡±

    ¡°I am not, just stating a fact¡±

    I shrug, she seems to have changed her attitude towards me and now starts acting colder

    ¡°So can I help you with something else?¡±

    ¡°Are you hitting on the barmaid Ryu? You are so shameless¡±

    A very familiar feminine voicees from behind me, giving me the chills.

    ¡°I¡¯m not, Anne, what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°Making sure you don¡¯t do something stupid¡±

    She says as she grabs me by the arm and pulls me outside.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for being rude to you Ryu, I didn¡¯t know you were associated with Luke, hope we can get along¡±

    ¡°and you are...?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Rudd¡±

    Says the muscr man as he extends his hand towards me seeking for a handshake.

    ¡°What¡¯s all this about Hiraku?¡±

    I say ignoring Rudd¡¯s gesture

    ¡°What do you mean young Ryu? he¡¯s our business partner¡±

    ¡°Your business partner, I just want my share and I¡¯m out¡±

    Even though it¡¯s hard for me to act so rude, I need to distance myself from the group as soon as I can.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so impatient, we need toplete the transaction first¡±

    ¡°Yeah, as I was saying to your friends... partners... whatever you guys are, you really brought a lot more than I thought and I don¡¯t think I can sell all this in one go, or if it¡¯s the best course of action¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Winter is just staring, in a couple of weeks it¡¯s gonna be so cold that no one will be able to even get out of their houses without risking frostbite and that¡¯s the best time of the year to be selling food. Prices triple if not more, and what you brought amounts to a small fortune if handled properly¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care I want my money now, so, how much is it?¡±

    ¡°Hold your horses Ryu, I worked my ass off finding someone trustworthy, if you rush things we¡¯ll end up losing money¡±

    Luke says in a harsh tone that reminds me too much of when we first met.

    ¡°Whatever¡±

    I want to punch myself in the face. Calm mind really helps me keep my cool or I would have blown my cover already. Rudd continues checking the merchandise along with his crewmates for a few minutes, sometimes shaking his head and others nodding.

    ¡°I cant just throw a number, but If I had to guess I¡¯ll say we have at least 80 silver coins. You got good quality pelts, a lot of food and several fire stones. I¡¯m sorry to say this, but this ornaments are as good as thrash, nobody here can afford such items, not in this cold winter at least. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s inside this y bottles but it doesn¡¯t seem expensive, so I won¡¯t be selling those either. Lastly, I¡¯m interested in this contraption, what do you call it?¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s a sled¡±

    ¡°It seemspletely useless in spring, but it¡¯ll make my life so much easier in winter. Since I want it for myself I can¡¯t put a price on it so I¡¯ll go with whatever Luke deems fair¡±

    After pondering for a little while Luke replies

    ¡°Since we¡¯re going to be business partners you¡¯re entitled to use it however you see fit, but, since it belongs to us, and Ryu intends to build his own business I think you¡¯ll just need to pay him his share. I¡¯d say the price of this sled rounds a piece of silver so...¡±

    ¡°Me and Helena discussed it and we¡¯ll be joining Ryu, so we would like to getpensated for the sled too¡±

    ¡°ok, so its about...¡±

    When Ayumi noticed Luke¡¯s struggling with numbers she barges in to save the day, even though nobody called her.

    ¡°How many copper coins is a silver coin worth?¡±

    ¡°a hundred¡±

    ¡°Then, one seventh of a silver coin should be a bit more than 14 copper, I think 45 copper should be enough¡±

    Ayumi puffs her chest as she usually does whenever she¡¯s helpful.

    ¡°Are you serious? I¡¯m notining but it looks a lot more expensive than that. I usually hunt once every three days and the least I get is a silver coin, this sled thing should be more expensive¡±

    Rudd seems honest, but I won¡¯t let appearances fool me, he might as well be trying to lure us just to empty our pursester. Even so, we need to keep it as fair as we can.

    ¡°No, I think the price is ok. Even though I¡¯ll need a lot of money to start a business of my own, this sled was made in a hurry so asking for more would be just greed. If you wanted a better quality one we could build it, though it¡¯ll cost a lot more. Anyways, I Don¡¯t mind he gets the sled, as long as I get back my potions¡±

    Hiraku nods in agreement

    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled Ryu, as soon as you get your share we¡¯ll part ways. Since we¡¯re in a new town I can¡¯t let you all by yourself though. Since mister Rudd will need some time before selling everything, I¡¯ll give each of you five copper coins, and you can also keep antern, a pickax and the cloth roll, we don¡¯t have an use for it anyway¡±

    .....

    ¡°That¡¯s great but, why so generous old man?¡±

    Mimicking Luke¡¯s behavior makes me cringe but it can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°I¡¯ll deduct the costs from your share anyway so don¡¯t worry about it¡±

    I grab a bag with the cure light wounds potions, and the girls get the rest. Rudd goes on his way to sell everything.

    ¡°What do you think Ryu?¡±

    Luke inquiries

    ¡°He looks like a nice guy, but don¡¯t let your guard down. Appearances may be misleading. At least he¡¯s smart enough to see that there¡¯s more profit in working with us than by himself. Ayumi, how many more shipments can we provide?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not short in flour, we got plenty of pelts though I still think it¡¯d be better to sell clothes...¡±

    ¡°If we mess up with the merchants we¡¯ll end up in trouble. Remember we¡¯re gonna be around for while. We should focus in gaining allies and people loyal to us. Instead of selling directly orpeting against the merchants, we should try to provide new products and services, if there¡¯s no other choice then try looking for a job¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we should avoid standing out as much as we can. For what I¡¯ve seen so far, this town doesn¡¯t seem to like strangers very much. Also, don¡¯t let appearances fool you, this town poption is much higher than what it seems. People live crowded in their homes, and for every inhabitant in here there¡¯s two in the mines¡±

    ¡°They live underground?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, they live in their houses in turns. At first I was surprised by how many two story buildings I saw, but they are not for single families. Miners spend three days inside the mines and three days outside. Rudd told me a hunter¡¯s job is to clear the galleries before every shift change so the miners can walk safely in and out of the mines¡±

    ¡°So we can¡¯t go by ourselves?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just more dangerous. Bob asked me to go mining solo today, but I wanted to ask you before agreeing¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea Bob, at least wait until we¡¯re settled¡±

    We get inside and share a meal together while we keep discussing our next move.

    ¡°By the way, we should stay at different ces if we want everyone to see we¡¯re disbanded¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ahead of you, there¡¯s only this inn and the brothel, that¡¯s why this ce doesn¡¯t even have a name. Everyone calls it Rina¡¯s because she owns the ce. From what I¡¯ve learned the brothel is more expensive but it provides other benefits...¡±

    Luke smirks making Ayumi cringe

    ¡°I¡¯m not letting my husband anywhere near those filthy...¡±

    Before she can continue her ranting Luke stops her

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said I¡¯m ahead of you, I spoke with Rudd who¡¯s the eldest son of this town¡¯s mayor, he said that you can buy a plot ofnd for just one gold coin¡±

    ¡°That guy said that if he managed to sell everything he would get something about 80 silver coins, so we don¡¯t have enough¡±

    ¡°I know, that¡¯s why I asked him if he could arrange us a meeting with the mayor and he agreed. He¡¯s going to see us tomorrow¡±

    ¡°Luke you¡¯ve done such a great job! you¡¯ve proven to be very reliable¡±

    ¡°Why do you sound so shocked Ryu? it¡¯s me you¡¯re talking about, of course I¡¯m reliable¡±

    Everyoneughs at his joke, though judging by his expression he wasn¡¯t joking at all.

    ¡°So, we still need to figure out how to get more money¡±

    Ayumi scoffs and the table goes silent again.

    The tavern looks pretty run down, there¡¯s not a single decoration, its just a big room with many tables and a bar. My expectations are quite low about my room, even though five copper coins is not a small sum.

    When Rudd said that a silver coin is what he earns in a single day¡¯s work I thought that maybe it was near the usual, but it turns out he¡¯s one of the richest persons in town. But this is not because he¡¯s the mayor¡¯s son but because he and his team are quite good at their jobs. Everyone in their crew earns about ten silver coins a month just hunting, but they are also skilled miners.

    Most people in town are miners since there¡¯s a huge market for ore and elemental stones, but the difficulty of the trade routes to bigger cities makes it a risky business. Once a month, except during winter the town forms a caravanprised of skilled hunters and merchants and they go from town to town growing in size until they reach the closest city where they sell their goods. But, since regr people live on a day to day basis, whenever they need quick money they go to the mines and then sell their findings at a reduced price to someone else.

    I¡¯m still wondering about what he said regarding food price, if it gets so expensive it means there¡¯s either shortage or people trying to take advantage at the expense of poor families. But that¡¯s not my problem.

    I go upstairs to my room and find myself pleasantly surprised. There¡¯s only a bed and a nightstand, but everything looks tidy andfortable. The bed has sheets, nkets and a feather pillow. It¡¯s not thatte yet, nevertheless I fall asleep instantly.

    The next day I wake up dizzy butpletely renewed, It was as if I was sleep deprived for weeks. My sleep was so good I didn¡¯t even have the chance to feel lonely.

    It seems I¡¯m the first one to wake up, everything is silent and I walk downstairs without making a sound thanks to my stealth skill. Once I¡¯m at the first floor im surprised to see Rina is already up and keeps busy brooming the ce.

    ¡°Good morning¡±

    I say using my morning voice which is, of course, to avoid waking people up.

    *eeek*

    A cute muffled squeak escapes her mouth

    ¡°What are you doing up so early mister client?¡±

    ¡°I could ask you the same¡±

    ¡°I need to keep the business running you know. How can I help you?¡±

    ¡°Do you have something for breakfast?¡±

    ¡°Please excuse me mister client, I¡¯m not a good cook and ire hasn¡¯t arrived yet so the kitchen¡¯s closed¡±

    ¡°I could take care of it if you don¡¯t mind¡±

    ¡°Go ahead, but you¡¯ll still need to pay¡±

    How greedy can a person be? since I don¡¯t have anything else to do right now and I¡¯d be doing the same even at the settlement I get inside the kitchen. Everything is clean and the cookware is not bad at all. I¡¯ll be cooking using metal pots for the first time.

    First I light up the fire, since I¡¯ve been practicing a lot of magic now I have a bigger mana pool. It takes me a while to know what¡¯s what, but once I¡¯m familiar with the kitchenware I start my job.

    Making bread with regr flour in a decent table with the proper utensils proved to be so much easier. I start using my analyze skill at everything I can see, but nothing has good quality.

    There¡¯s salt!

    That¡¯s why the food tasted so damn good yesterday. Since I can¡¯t remember anything about my past I didn¡¯t even know I missed it so much!

    After I finish preparing enough bread for about twenty people all I have to do is wait by the oven until it¡¯s ready and boils some water to prepare tea.

    When everyone else woke up we had ourst breakfast together before we parted ways. Starting today Hiraku and I will be business rivals, at least in the eyes of people from this town.

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32: Don¡¯t take it personal, please! part

    ¡°Hey miss Rina! ire did a hell of a job with today¡¯s breakfast!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like some more bread please!¡±

    ¡°Me too!!!¡±

    Everyone is cheerful at the tavern, it seems that they liked my cooking even though I only made some regr bread. The only one who seems down is ire since she knows she wasn¡¯t the one behind today¡¯s breakfast sess. I don¡¯t pay her any mind though and just enjoy my breakfast.

    When Rudd arrived we¡¯re all ready to go. Meeting the mayor is one of the milestones we need to cover in order to be part of the town and earn the trust of its inhabitants. Once we are outside he takes out a coin purse and hands it to Luke, who in turn passes it to Hiraku.

    ¡°I hope this is enough for you, I had a hard time yesterday running from ce to ce making deals but I managed to sell everything. The pelts were a big hit, but most of the coinse from selling mochi and the croquettes¡±

    Rudd looks happy making Helena chuckle. This would be an awful time to tell him that those were intended as cat food.

    .....

    Everyone gets 11 silver coins but me, since Hiraku told me he would deduct what he gave me yesterday.

    ¡°My father is expecting you, but first I have a question for you. Are you really going to go your own way?¡±

    to which I nod.

    ¡°Then you can¡¯te. I¡¯m sorry but the mayor is a busy man and he only agreed to meet one group today. I¡¯m sorry kid, it¡¯s just business¡±

    ****

    ¡°What do you mean we can¡¯te!?¡±

    Anne exims offended.

    ¡°Like I said, if you want to set up a meeting you¡¯re free to go through the regr channels. I¡¯m not going to make it any easier on thepetence. So, if that¡¯s all, we should depart soon or we could miss the appointment.¡±

    Ayumi, Bob, Luke and Hiraku start walking to the mayor¡¯s house with a heavy heart. Even though they were expecting some difficulties they weren¡¯t ready for things to escte so quickly. The worst part was that everyone knew it was for the better good of the whole group so they did their best to avoid showing any hint of disappointment.

    The mayor¡¯s house was the biggest in the town, but not the more luxurious since madame Bianca has contacts at the city who provide her products that a simple mayor of a poor town couldn¡¯t afford. But this didn¡¯t make the group any less surprised with what they saw.

    At first sight it didn¡¯t stand out, but on the inside things where different. It was decorated with taste, it was well maintained and had plenty of servants. It was elegant but not to the point of making guests ufortable.

    A tall woman on her mid thirties dressed in what seemed to be an uniform greeted them at the entrance and guided them to the mayor¡¯s study.

    ¡°Mister Ironside our guests have arrived.¡±

    She says bowing politely.

    ¡°Let them pass and bring some tea, please have a sit¡±

    A man with grey hair and a serious look said without even looking at her. He¡¯s well dressed with tailor made clothes that fit him perfectly making him look refined and intellectual. But his build made it so that if he was wearing miner¡¯s clothes he wouldn¡¯t stand out at all. He was a self made man, even though he inherited his father¡¯s title of mayor, it was due to his efforts that the town prospered.

    ¡°Thanks for receiving us mister Ironwoods¡±

    Says Hiraku extending his hand looking for a handshake. At first the mayor wanted to ignore him, but once he saw Hiraku¡¯s sharp gaze and outstanding appearance, despite being dressed with in clothes, he decided against it and gave him a firm handshake.

    ¡°So, what brings you to my town? My son told me you guys are faring with unusual goods¡±

    The mayor says while putting away his documents.

    ¡°Wee from a nearby vige and...¡±

    Before Hiraku can finish speaking he gets cut short by the mayor.

    ¡°See? that¡¯s what unsettles me, as far as I know there are no nearby viges¡±

    ¡°I appreciate your time mister mayor, but if you interrupt me again I¡¯ll just pack up and leave¡±

    Rudd gets really anxious after hearing Hiraku¡¯s words, but the mayor remains unfazed.

    One of the reasons they wanted to split was precisely in case they had to y hard to get, they could afford screwing up a first encounter just so the other group gets a better deal. But it¡¯s also a double sided weapon, even though the mayor really wanted to bring in more people and different goods, especially in winter, he knew there was a second group who would be able to provide the same products.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to rush things mister... Hiraku is it? we¡¯re among friends.¡±

    The mayor says looking at his son. The maid came in bringing a te with tea and pastries.

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying, if you don¡¯t need us here we can always go to the next town.¡±

    Hiraku shrugs making the mayor realize his mistake. Even if there was another group willing to deal with him, part of the supplies would go to the nearest town.

    ¡°Like I said, there¡¯s no need to rush things. I¡¯m sure we can reach an agreement that will surely benefit us both.¡±

    The mayor didn¡¯t like to have his arm twisted by a stranger, but he couldn¡¯t afford to turn down a steady source of food. People able to hunt during winter were a treasure by themselves, but this group not only brings meat with them but also a new kind of food that doesn¡¯t go bad, is highly nutritious and taste good.

    ¡°We would like to build an outpost for trading, but even though we have the goods, we¡¯recking in funds. Rudd here told us that you charge a gold coin for a plot ofnd, and that¡¯spletely out of our budget.¡±

    ¡°That can be arranged, the gold coin cost is a mere formality. I¡¯m sure you figured out by now that we don¡¯tck money, but food. I¡¯ve been struggling to keep this town alive but all the citizens care about is making a quick buck, so they spend more time than they should at the mines. It¡¯s not that unreasonable considering is the least dangerous activity.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you nt crops then?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not forck of trying, but we¡¯re so far south that the climate is unforgiving with nts and people alike¡±

    ¡°So, about our outpost.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still one more thing, I need to make sure you don¡¯t upset local merchants. You¡¯ve only been here for a couple days and I already got people knocking on my door making a fuzz about your new products.¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t be selling directly to people, we¡¯ll continue to supply stores with our goods. The only exception being our food specialties, we already made a deal to sell them exclusively to madame Bianca¡±

    ¡°Rudd vowed for you, so I¡¯ll give you a hand. I¡¯ll allow you to build on the outskirts of the town and provide you with someborers for the task.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be necessary.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be my treat nheless, winter is just starting and we have many unupied people.¡±

    Back at the tavern Anne, Helena and Ryu sit in front of a table trying to figure out what to do next.

    ¡°Everything was going ording to n, I didn¡¯t expect Rudd to be so ruthless. What can we do now Ryu?¡±

    Helena frowns taking a sip of her tea with a displease expression.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, if we put together our funds we have 33 silver coins, it¡¯s not bad but it¡¯s not nearly enough to buy ourselves a plot ofnd. If I don¡¯t have a ce to cook and craft we¡¯ll have a hard time getting more cash. If we sell flour, people are going to start asking questions.¡±

    ¡°what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°They use regr flour in here, the reason behind our sess lies solely on our secret ingredient. If we sell raw flour we¡¯ll lose our advantage.¡±

    *sigh*

    ¡°Excuse me mister client.¡±

    Rina approaches the group with an awkward smile

    ¡°Please, call me Ryu.¡±

    ¡°I was thinking, do you happen to be looking for a job?¡±

    ¡°Not really, I have my own business.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s such a shame mister Ryu, people have been asking non stop for more bread and we¡¯re all out¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you bake more?¡±

    ¡°Actually, our clients liked the bread you baked so much that I thought maybe you could lend us a hand.¡±

    ¡°How much do you offer?¡±

    ¡°5 copper coins a day.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same price you charge per night? wouldn¡¯t I be working just for food.¡±

    ¡°Take it or leave it.¡±

    ¡°I leave it, thanks.¡±

    Rina leaves only toe back a few secondster, this time making sure to emphasize her bosom.

    ¡°Please Ryu, I can¡¯t afford to pay any more, I¡¯m already drowning in debt.¡±

    ¡°That seems to be a problem, but is it my problem?¡±

    Rina who¡¯s not used to have her feminine charm so tantly ignored is left astonished, while Anne and Helena nod in agreement. Even though Rina has her pride hurt, she doesn¡¯t get discouraged and grabs Ryu¡¯s arm making sure to make some skin to skin contact in the right ces.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll help you out just for today¡±

    ¡°Yay! I knew you had a heart, after all, if you didn¡¯t you wouldn¡¯t have two beautiful wives by your side¡±

    Rina winks at both girls making them blush up to the ears. Ryu stands up and rolls up his sleeves as he gets inside the kitchen.

    ire is on a corner with clear signs that she¡¯s been crying. As soon as Ryu sets foot in the kitchen he starts making the dough with incredible skill leaving both Rina and ire bbergasted. After finishing the dough he starts making the next batch immediately.

    ¡°What¡¯s today¡¯s menu?¡±

    ¡°What? you¡¯re going to cook too? we only need you to bake some bread, if people find your food more appealing you¡¯ll leave ire jobless.¡±

    .....

    Ryu shrugs and goes back to the table, only to find both girls still embarrassed for being mistaken as Ryu¡¯s wives.

    ¡°This may be a blessing in disguise.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean Ryu?¡±

    Anne said, still blushing lightly.

    ¡°We need a ce to prepare some food, and there¡¯s a perfect ce to cook. I¡¯ll try to make a deal with Rina.¡±

    ¡°What about us?¡±

    Asks Helena worriedly.

    ¡°You could make us some clothes, so far we only have this fur coats. Don¡¯t get me wrong they are great and look amazing, but we still need spare clothes and maybe, just maybe, you could sell some of them. About you Anne, I think you¡¯ll need to go hunting or find another upation.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so impatient Anne, take things easy for now. We need to go shopping.¡±

    Just hearing the word shopping both girls jump from their seats as if they were on fire.

    ¡°What are you waiting for Ryu? they¡¯ll close the stores before we even have the chance to buy anything.¡±

    Weather is cloudy but not so cold as to keep people from going outside, there¡¯s few people on the streets but at least looks more lively than when they first arrived. The road is covered in a thinyer of snow making a crunch sound at every step.

    After walking a while they notice themps just outside some houses, realizing this meant that they were open stores. The first ce they visited just happened to be a grocery shop. Ryu frowned upon the low variety of products that were on the shelves but didn¡¯t say anything.

    Helena scanned the whole shop as if she was looking for something, but she couldn¡¯t find it. Anne on the other hand takes her time studying the prices. The storeowner didn¡¯t greet them nor did he pay any attention to his customers, making everyone feel ufortable.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go somewhere else¡±

    Ryu ordered and the girls followed him like ducklings.

    Next stop was a tailor, then a butcher shop and finally a carpenter. They all had two things inmon, they couldn¡¯t find anything useful and the owners didn¡¯t even bother speaking to them.

    Ryu was so upset that a vein popped on his forehead.

    ¡°It¡¯s so bothersome that they don¡¯t even have a sign outside to see what kind of service they provide, and they don¡¯t even have windows so we must get inside to know what¡¯s their trade¡±

    Anneins.

    ¡°Why would they bother putting signs, this town is so small I bet we can cover it all in a day¡±

    Ryu replies getting inside the next shop, this time trying a different approach. When they get inside, they realize it¡¯s a textile, both Anne and Helena start browsing through the existences excited. But Ryu goes ahead and ces his coin purse filled with silver coins yfully on the counter. The shopkeeper, lured by the sound that¡¯s like music to his ears, quickly gets closer and greets their customers.

    ¡°Good day sir, how may I help you today?¡±

    His attitude towards the group improved greatly and he took the time to show Helena different kinds of fabric. In the blink of an Eye Helena had spent 15 silver coins already and they were heading back to the tavern.

    ¡°This sewing kit is just like the ones we had at our world! I¡¯ll be able to make all kinds of clothing¡±

    Helena walks as if she was walking on a cloud, excited to have all sorts of materials and dyes. Anne on the other hand was lost in her own thoughts. If she had to go hunting, that meant Helena will spend a lot more time with Ryu than with her, unless she manages to bring him along.

    Back at the settlement she used the excuse of needing hispany to take Mochi with him, but now the cat was left back at the settlement and it will remain there until the storage is depleted.

    The tavern was lively and cheerful so they decided to grab a beer before going to sleep, but Rina was waiting for Ryu.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, thank you for helping me out today. Did you decide if you¡¯re going to be helping us?¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, I don¡¯t have anything against working on the side, but I don¡¯t think just being rent free is going to cut it¡±

    Rina¡¯s face freezes on the spot

    ¡°Don¡¯t act like that, I¡¯m not going to ask anything crazy. I was thinking, maybe we could work something out. I¡¯m willing to bake enough bread for the day as long as you let me use the kitchen for my own business¡±

    ¡°What kind of business is it?¡±

    ¡°Like I said before, it¡¯s nothing crazy. I just need to prepare some food, it doesn¡¯t take much time either and I won¡¯t interfere with your affairs at all. Of course I would also be rent free¡±

    After pondering for a good minute Rina offers Ryu a handshake, thus making their business rtionship official.

    Helena tries her best to hide her jealousy, but Anne is still to distracted to even care.

    Meanwhile Hiraku and the rest decided to stay at the brothel until the building is ready. Even though the mayor provided thend and workforce, they still need to pay for the materials used so it could take a while.

    Since they came prepared, Hiraku already has an approximate idea of what he wants, so he just needs to supervise the builders. Bob and Luke will be helping in the construction to speed things up.

    Even though they are going to stay at the brothel out of necessity, since they need to be apart from Ryu¡¯s group and the only avable ce is madame Bianca¡¯s ce, for Ayumi and Bob it turned out to be a sour experience. She¡¯s been pouting through the whole dinner while Hiraku does his best to avoid drawing any attention to himself. Bob is praying inwardly that the girl he spent some quality time with doesn¡¯t spill the beans on what happened.

    The only one who¡¯s happy is Luke. He¡¯s behaving like a kid in a candy store. The only thing that keeps him from jumping on the first professional lover is that he needs to keep his reputation as hero even before revealing himself as such. Inside his mind he¡¯s been tested from the moment he got into this new world and, even though sometimes his temper gets the best of him, tries to act as a worthy hero. The more he struggles, the better reward he thinks he¡¯s going to receive.

    It was already troublesome for him being stranded in the ass of the world with newbies who don¡¯t know the first thing about fantasy worlds. He instead, has read all sorts of novels about it and he used to daydream how would his life be if he ever got pulled into a parallel world. But the worst thing was that he either didn¡¯t get a cheat skill or hasn¡¯t discovered it yet.

    This is the reason why while everyone worked from early morning, he only roamed the outskirts of the settlement looking for beasts to fight or treasures to get stronger immediately.

    After all the hardships he faced, after all the humiliation he received from those who he deemed to be his sidekicks, just thinking on how the girls rejected him or how Hiraku scolded him daily makes his head ache.

    But all this was nothing but the prologue of the heroic tales of the biggest legend on this world, and that¡¯s why he can¡¯t afford to jeopardize his reputation.

    That¡¯s precisely the reason why, when the curvy brte with a tight dress leaving little to the imagination drew closer to him and whispered a few sweet words in his ears he replied:

    ¡°let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33: Don¡¯t overdo it, please! Part

    A week passed like it was nothing and the only one missing their settlement was Ayumi who couldn¡¯t stand the sight of another woman hitting on her husband. Meanwhile everyone else was faring well, the most sessful were Hiraku and Helena, the first was making a killing on his trading business while thetter was so skilled in tailoring that the richest people in town would fight for a set of clothes.

    Anne, Bob and Ryu decided to join Rudd in one of his mining expeditions. Since Rudd was also a hunter, it was his duty to keep everyone safe on their way to their mining spot.

    It was the coldest morning they¡¯ve faced, but they were not alone in this trip. Every three days hundreds of people would gather at the north entrance for what they call the shift change. There weren¡¯t many professional miners, but most inhabitants would go into the mines every so often so everyone knew the basics.

    Ryu analyzed the equipment everyone had but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Most people carried a cloth sack or leather bag with food and some utensils, amp and a pickax, others instead of a pickax carried a toolbox with small prospecting tools, and some others carried only luggage.

    ¡°What are they carrying in those boxes?¡±

    Ryu asks

    ¡°Prospecting tools, how else would the rest know how to mine?¡±

    .....

    Rudd replies while looking at his surroundings. They could be attacked anytime by beasts and spotting them a second earlier could mean the difference between life or death to dozens of people.

    Even though Rudd didn¡¯t allow Ryu to meet the mayor, he was happy to ept him on the mining trip. His vast experience tells him that the more people the safer a trip to the mines is, and this is likely thest big group to go mining since the earlier signs of the freeze were starting to appear.

    The group was so big that it looked like a small army, to keep everyone safe the ones tasked with leading them were the hunters. Most of them carried big blunt weapons while others carried small sticks instead.

    Rudd¡¯s crew was geared with light leather armor and a fur cape that came out from their shoulderpads and only his weapons varied. Their biggest member carried a big weapon made of Iron, Rudd had a shortsword and several knives, the other members carried a pickax each and the luggage. This teamposition was traditional in Ironwoods since it allowed them to dispatch their enemies quickly, and time was money after all.

    ¡°Why is everyone staring at us?¡±

    Anne asks trying to hid behind Ryu¡¯s back.

    ¡°It must be that you¡¯re carrying unusual weapons, spears could be useful on the outside, but inside the mines they¡¯repletely worthless, and bows are as good as being bare handed. Also, it¡¯s rare to see a team with only three hunters, the usual is two members focused inbat and two in support.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    Ryu inquiries, Rudd seems annoyed but replies nheless

    ¡°If your weapons break you¡¯re a walking meal for beasts, and since fighters need to have their hands free it¡¯s necessary to bring people to carry spare weapons. Figure this: you have four daggers and four mates, one of them hits hard, the other can fend himself and the other two can barely graze a beast due to theirck of strength. It doesn¡¯t matter who wields the weapon, either way its going to break. Isn¡¯t it better to arm only the strongest ones?¡±

    Ryu nods in agreement.

    ¡°By the way, why isn¡¯t Luke with us today?¡±

    Rudd asks Bob who was still trying to figure out the reasoning behind the teamposition.

    ¡°He¡¯s otherwise engaged.¡±

    That¡¯s what Luke instructed him to say, but in reality he just doesn¡¯t go out of the brothel much these days. He¡¯s been trying all the different vors of pleasure madame Bianca¡¯s ce has to offer, but even though it¡¯s been a week already, he still has to spend as much as Bob did on just one day.

    Back at the town Hiraku could finally leave the construction site unsupervised, Both Ayumi and Helena took this chance to head back at the settlement and bring with them thest supplies they had stored. This time they won¡¯t sell anything, if they were living by themselves it would be just enough tost through winter but now that they live in Ironwoods there will be plenty to spare.

    Also, they need to bring the cat with them before the freeze or it¡¯ll be as good as dead. Even wild animals perish if they don¡¯t have a proper ce to take shelter from the cold. But that¡¯s not everything, ever since Ryu tamed it, it became impossible for Mochi to live by itself on the wild, because once tamed a creature bes loyal to his master.

    As soon as the crowd starts walking, Rudd¡¯s crew walk faster in order to be on the front. Ryu¡¯s group is left behind and they follow the crowd. Everyone walks in silence, which was fine for about half an hour, but then they started feeling uneasy. It¡¯s as if everyone agreed beforehand to not say a word during the whole trip.

    One hourter the road starts getting sloppier, making those who were carrying heavy luggage walk even slower. Luckily, Ryu¡¯s group managed to finish two medium sized sleds with a limited capacity, but a lot sturdier than the first one they had. If it wasn¡¯t for Luke they wouldn¡¯t have finished them in time, it was only for this reason that they indulged his behavior at the brothel.

    As long as he keeps pulling his weight they can¡¯tin, he¡¯s his own person and able to decide what kind of life he wants to live.

    ¡°WOLF!¡±

    A loud scream can be heard, the hunters quickly get in position, surrounding the crowd as they repeat the rm. The weakest among the crowd move into the middle and then everyone stops moving.

    Up on a hill a huge wolf-like creature standing on a hill to the west lifts his snout pointing at the sky and howls for a long time making everyone shudder. Soon other wolves join them and even if none is as big as the first one, they still strike fear into everyone¡¯s hearts.

    Even veterans have a hard time stopping themselves from shaking out of fear. Some youngsters start crying andmenting themselves for being naive enough to risk their life just for a quick revenue.

    Bob quickly gets in front and Anne draws her bow, both awaiting instructions from Ryu. It¡¯s been a long time since they fight for their lives, but they practiced their strategies time and time again.

    A second howl echoes and every wolf, except for the pack leader, runs forward with their mouth watering. This kind of attack is not the usual, but if a wolf pack is not able to get enough food tost the winter they be desperate, sometimes enough to even attack human settlements.

    Win or lose they still manage to survive, if they win they get food, and if they lose their numbers diminish, thus needing less food to survive. Only the strongest wolves can survive in the harsh environment of the far south, and among the wolves the strongest one is their pack leader.

    Its a huge wolf almost the size of a horse, its blue and silver color mimic perfectly the white of the snow on the ground and the open sky respectively. The mere sight of its fangs is enough to make some faint, and he stands proud on top of the hill grimacing at the carnage taking ce down the road.

    The first wolf to reach the group passes by the hunters ignoring thempletely and pushes past the helpless people cowering in fear. A young man who¡¯s on his first trip to the mines is grabbed by the leg and pulled far from everyone, the mid sized wolf moved so quickly that most people couldn¡¯t even see its shadow.

    Loud screams can be heard all around and even some hunters lost their will to fight thinking that maybe if they let the wolves eat their full they would be safe. Blood stters on the soft snow painting a macabre picture on thendscape.

    A woman is being pulled outside of the crowd as the helpless husband fights to free her from the firm grasp of the beast. Everything breaks into chaos as more wolves join the onught.

    Those at the back of the group run in the direction of the town, only to fall prey of the smaller wolves in the pack and their cries of despair form a pitiful choir. Those who die immediately are the fortunate ones, the rest can only beg for help with whatever strength they have left as they¡¯re being eaten alive.

    Among the mess of blood and guts a man stands his ground swinging his spear from side to side chanting in a mysteriousnguage. His clothes are dyed in red but it¡¯s not his blood. He¡¯s an unmoving totem in the midst of a flesh river.

    From the distance, a medium sized wolf walks slowly towards his target, he considers Bob to be a suitable meat source for the one who will challenge the alpha as soon as the winter ends. A low growl is the only heads up to what seemed an impossible jump for a beast that heavy. Bob countered the beast tackle with a powerful swing of his spear.

    The wolf took the pain and carried its momentum attempting to make Bob fall but he proved to be a worthy opponent and didn¡¯t budge an inch.

    Meanwhile the battle carried on with heavy casualties on the human¡¯s side, making it a gruesome spectacle for those who were unable or unwilling to take part.

    Taking advantage from the confusion, Anne ran through the battlefield trying to remain unnoticed. Whenever she finds a safe spot an arrow whistles followed by the thump sound of a wolf dropping dead on the ground. As long as she avoids the medium sized wolves she¡¯ll be out of harms way.

    People took notice of her battle prowess and did their best to follow her around and hide behind her, thus making her strategy useless. She realized this a second toote when a medium sized wolf was lured by the amount of people taking cover behind her.

    To make matters worse, a man old enough to fight for himself and dressed in fine clothes, grabbed her by the fur coat she was wearing.

    ¡°Hurry up and shoot woman! kill it!¡±

    He said trying to use her as a meat shield as the wolf came closer by the second. Anne was put in a tough spot because she knew if she moved, everyone behind her would die, but if she stayed still she¡¯d be in danger.

    ***

    ¡°Bob stay your ground.¡±

    Were thest words I managed to say before the crowd dragged me into the center of the formation. By the time the first wolf easily broke the ranks I realized this would be a massacre.

    Much to my despair I¡¯m surrounded by strangers who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to put their lives on top of mine.

    I scan my surroundings looking for anything useful but there¡¯s not a single tree or rock I could climb to be safe, it¡¯s as if the animals knew exactly what would happen. Though to think that they¡¯re capable of making a strategy goes against everything I know about animals, something tells me its not a coincidence they chose this spot either.

    I didn¡¯t hesitate to leave everything in the sleds behind, but now I¡¯m all by myself loaded with stone weapons. Even if I could manage tond a hit I highly doubt it¡¯d be more than a nuisance to a wolf. For what I¡¯ve seen even stronger people than me are falling like flies even though they¡¯re armed to the teeth with Iron weapons and leather armor, so a head on encounter would be the end of me.

    I forcefully make my way through the crowd, only to find that there are half eaten corpses on the ground. On the upside, if I wanted an iron weapon I could easily grab one. Realizing this I drop every weapon on the ground except for my best spear and run straight to the abandoned sled.

    I bet that people would try to steal from us if the battle wasn¡¯t so tilted towards the wolves. I drop everything useless on the ground until I find a bottle of oil. Now I¡¯m d I didn¡¯t trust these magicalnterns and brought some oil to make torches in case of necessity.

    After wrapping the tip of my spear with what was intended to be a cloth bandage, I dip it in oil and lit it on fire using magic.

    Because I was so focused on this, I failed to notice the wolf approaching me from behind on time and it manages to bite my ankle and refuses to let go. It scared me more than it hurt and with a firm grip on the spear I strike it¡¯s side setting it¡¯s fur on fire.

    This alone is enough to make it run for its life making the other wolves be wary of the mysterious bright force I¡¯m wielding.

    Another look on the battlefield and I see Bob is right were I left him, I had the hopes that he would be nearby but not in the exact same spot. I walk crouched in the direction where Bob is, this and my stealth skill will hopefully help me go unnoticed until I reach him.

    Bob is surrounded by wolves corpses and ispletely bathed in blood, he seems to be engaged in battle with a medium sized wolf but he doesn¡¯t move forward nor takes a step back. I think he may have took my words a bit too literal. I can¡¯tin though since it helped me locate him quickly and also forced the wolf to take his time studying its enemy.

    It looks like a stalemate until Bob¡¯s spear breaks after hitting his target on the neck leaving him with just a broken stick on his hand. The wolf quickly manages to bite his left arm, interrupting Bob¡¯s usual chantings and making him scream in pain.

    I run with everything I got and throw the spear at the wolf using the aim skill.

    ¡°Bob grab it!¡±

    I scream to the top of my lungs to help him locate me among the chaos, my intention was to hit the wolf but Bob¡¯s reflexes were so impressive that he managed to grab the ming spear in mid air and then thrusted it into the wolf¡¯s side.

    After being punctured by the sharp end of the spear the wolf seems to be in pain caused by both the hit and the fire, but now it¡¯s Bob who won¡¯t let go of the wolf and grabs him by the snout immobilizing it and keeping it close enough that he can beat it with his bare fists until the wolf drops unconscious.

    As soon as the wolf drops on the ground Bob picks up the spear and finishes it off.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Anne?¡±

    ¡°I think I saw her move around but she¡¯s too fast¡±

    That¡¯s great, but if we don¡¯t find her in time she may end up in trouble because she¡¯ll soon run out of arrows.

    We move cautiously through the battlefield while Bob makes quick work of every single wolf stupid enough to get within reach. I take the chance to analyze weapons lying on the floor, even though none is that great there¡¯s one that draws my attention.

    Warhammer 115/240

    As soon as I grab it I realize it¡¯s way heavier than I can carry, let alone wield.

    ¡°Bob,e pick this up! this will be your new weapon.¡±

    Bob gets near but turns pale like a ghost

    ¡°what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°This...this is...¡±

    He stutters while pointing behind me. A big man with one arm chopped off and his entrails scattered on the ground lies on the ground lifeless. Something on his face unsettles me, is it his expression?

    It can¡¯t be, I¡¯ve seen my share of pain and guts today and I¡¯m unmoved. As I get closer I finally understand Bob¡¯s reaction, he was the big guy on Rudd¡¯s crew.

    .....

    Bob is on the verge of tears, but before he speaks a single word I p him with all my force on the face. If it hurt him or not he didn¡¯t show it, nor I have the time to use consider on him. But at least it was enough for him to get back on his feet.

    ¡°Get it together Bob! if we don¡¯t find Anne she might be next.¡±

    Bob picks up the warhammer and puts it to good use making our way clear, when we finally reach Anne she¡¯s being held by a man from behind and a wolf is running right at her.

    ¡°Anne duck!¡±

    Anne snaps out of her apparent confusion, takes off her fur coat and crouches just in time for the wolf to tear apart the man who was cowering behind her. Anne turns back and shoots an arrow making the wolf yelp in pain, after making a U turn the wolf attempts to tackle Anne, but she¡¯s too fast and the Wolf meets Bob¡¯s hammer instead.

    After this, we finally have a much needed moment to rest as we are covered in sweat despite the cold. Anne is panting but looks to be unscathed, so I move past her and pick up the man¡¯s sword.

    Bastard sword 250/250

    It¡¯s brand new!

    Not only that, it¡¯s well bnced and sharp. I try to give it to Anne who declines immediately

    ¡°What are you doing picking up a dead man¡¯s belongings?¡±

    ¡°It will do him no good, but it can save our lives. I¡¯m sure he would be ok with this.¡±

    ¡°No, he wouldn¡¯t... he tried to use me as a meatshield.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s consider this apensation.¡±

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34: Don¡¯t overdo it, please! part

    Soon after Ryu¡¯s group reunited, the wolves retreated ending the battle as quickly as it started. Among the survivors there were few standing, making Ryu realize how close they were to end up among the casualties. When he met bob he was about to fight a wolf barehanded and Anne would have been a sacrifice just to earn a couple seconds more to a lowly scum who wouldn¡¯t even fight for himself.

    Some people were mourning the dead while others walked around trying to help any survivors. Ryu noticed that there were those who would die after a single bite and those who survived even the most gruesome wounds, but still perished due to blood loss orck of treatment.

    As soon as it hit him, he went back to the sled and picked up some potions and bandages looking for survivors.

    ¡°Let me help you Ryu¡±

    Anne said and Ryu replied nodding silently.

    They lit a fire with whatever they had at hand while Bob went to look for survivors. Anne started to melt some snow to boil water and brought the sleds near the campfire.

    Ryu grabbed some rope and sticks to improvise a tourniquet for a young man who was bleeding out due to a wolf bite. After he was sure he was stable he dragged him near the fire and went looking for another survivor.

    .....

    Bob was bringing people on the verge of death and Ryu did his best, but much to his dismay several patients died anyway.

    ¡°Anne, grab ten potions and tend to the wounded. If they still have a chance to survive pour some in their wounds, ignore the ones that are close to death please, we don¡¯t have much time nor medicine¡±

    Ryu orders and Anneplies. Bob was dumbfounded by their coldness, he couldn¡¯t hold on his tears anymore and was about to let all his frustration out when a loud scream apanied by a powerful fist to the face brought him back to reality.

    ¡°Why are you carrying that!? where¡¯s big bro?¡±

    One of Rudd¡¯s skinny crewmates hit Bob. When Rudd notices what happened put a hand on his grieving friend¡¯s shoulder and shook his head.

    ¡°Please excuse my friend Bob, can you point us in the direction of his body?¡±

    Bob pointed the way and tried to hand them back the warhammer, but Rudd refused.

    ¡°You can keep it, it¡¯s so heavy none of us can use it properly¡±

    People were piling up the bodies to start a pyre, they couldn¡¯t afford to leave their friend¡¯s corpses to be eaten by wild beasts but they can¡¯t carry them all the way back to town either.

    A man on his mid twenties with deep wounds in his stomach was lying on the floor, he couldn¡¯t move nor did he have any energy to beg for help. Many passerby circled around him leaving him for dead, now the only thing left for him is waiting for the bitter end. He closes his eyes surrendering to his fate when a soaring pain forces him to open his eyes, only to see the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.

    With a silvery hair and a skin as white as the clouds Anne was the incarnation of beauty to this man.

    ¡°Stay still or your wounds might open again¡±

    Anne smiled gently to the man. The effect of the potion was quick and it closed up the wound and healed his health points, but the energy his body consumed to heal added to the fatigue from the battle made him loose consciousness.

    Anne walked the grounds tending to the people who couldn¡¯t be moved and sending those who could walk to Ryu¡¯s campfire. He was preparing a meal for everyone and added a cure light wounds potion to the soup so everyone could benefit from it.

    It turned out to be very effective but since it was diluted no one noticed. Instead many were talking about the silver goddess who brought people back from the dead.

    ¡°Ryu, can you give me some potions too?¡±

    Bob whispered to Ryu who was stirring the cooking pot

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Bob, but I can¡¯t¡±

    ¡°Why not? people are dying?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already doing all I can. You¡¯re supposed to be on Hiraku¡¯s side, if you start using them too people will assume it¡¯s one of Hiraku¡¯s products and we won¡¯t be able to sell it freely¡±

    ¡°Are you saying money is more important than people¡¯s lives!?¡±

    It only took a single nce from Ryu to make Bob shut up. His eyes were as cold as the snow they were standing on. There was no mercy, no kindness in his eyes, it was like staring into the bottom of a well, making Bob take a step backwards in fear.

    Even though Bob knew he was way stronger than Ryu, his instincts reacted to an invisible threat that came from him. He couldn¡¯t believe it was the same mild tempered Ryu who would endure Luke¡¯s tantrums, who would cook for everyone with a smile, the same Ryu that would put his life in danger for the sake of others.

    People were starting to gather in great numbers near Ryu¡¯s campfire, despite everyone¡¯s efforts, only about half of the people who came survived. Rudd took it upon himself to lead the people now that most hunters were either dead or injured.

    ¡°Listen up, we suffered great losses and I know many of you want to head back to town, but since we¡¯re so close to the mines it¡¯s better if we keep going. Those who want to go back can wait near the entrance. We¡¯ll start moving as soon as we can so rest while you can¡±

    Those who were in good condition started to gather the belongings of those who passed away, the others sat on the snow trying to recover as much stamina as they could.

    Anne came back and took a bowl of soup for herself and sat next to Ryu.

    ¡°What should we do now Ryu?¡±

    Anne asked

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Rudd, are wolves corpses worth anything?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, each small wolf is a silver coin, medium sized wolves should be between 5 and 10 silver each. Everyone will be making a fortune today¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? most people didn¡¯t even kill a single wolf¡±

    Ryu asked fearing that they would divide the loot among everyone who survived, almost making him regret saving so many people.

    ¡°I forgot you guys are new around here. Whenever a crew member dies everything he had is divided among them. If a crew is exterminated, it¡¯s finders keepers, but since people can¡¯t carry everything they hold on to the most valued items and pile up the rest. Since so many people died I¡¯m sure everyone will get a decent loot. About the wolves, the one who killed it owns the corpse.¡±

    He said thest part looking at Bob

    ¡°I saw you fighting, I knew you were strong but that was too much. Man! You didn¡¯t even move when the wolf tackled you, when we go back I¡¯ll buy you a beer¡±

    Rudd said patting him on the arm. Everyone stared at them in admiration, if it weren¡¯t for them most of them would¡¯ve died that day. It was the biggest wolf attack in Ironwoods history, making the surviving rate impressive. But Bob was unaware of this fact and couldn¡¯t shake the frustration of not being able to save more people.

    After looting the battlefield every crew gathered, formed a line and started to drop whatever they wouldn¡¯t take with them in a single pile, from which others would im the best items they could find. Rudd was next to the pile, but everything was done in an orderly fashion and Ryu was surprised to see no one was fighting over the spoils.

    Only then he noticed that no one was quarreling over the fallen wolves, making him wonder if he was mistaken for distrusting people¡¯s honesty. What he didn¡¯t know though, was that on every mining trip hunters were able to kill any thief on the spot, making it impossible for them to cheat their way out of someone¡¯s loot.

    When it was Ryu¡¯s crew turn he asked.

    ¡°Rudd, do you know whose sword is this?¡±

    Rudd took it in his hands and nodded

    ¡°This belongs to Niki, one of the wealthiest merchants in Ironwoods. His crew was wiped out so you can keep it. Since you don¡¯t know our ways, it¡¯s our custom that the one who keeps another man¡¯s weapon pays his respects to his family. The same goes for you Bob¡±

    Anne didn¡¯t pick anything from the dead, nor did she take anything from the pile. The mere thought of wielding a dead man¡¯s weapon gave her the chills. But that didn¡¯t prevent others from gifting her with their most valuable items.

    Everyone was so grateful to her because she saved so many people, that soon she was overloaded with equipment hindering her movement.

    After loading one of the sleds and ced an unconscious young man on the other, they resumed walking towards the mine. Anne and Bob killed so many wolves that they could only carry a small amount, when people noticed this they offered themselves to help them. Normally people would charge for such services, but out of gratitude not a single one of them even mentioned money, they just tied a rope to their waist and started dragging the corpses uphill. They were so close to the mine that even though they were walking slower than before they reached the entrance in less than an hour.

    The next shift was already waiting outside and when they noticed how loaded everyone was, they understood what happened. Usually, even after being attacked people would still go in the mine, but now everyone was so overloaded that it just wasn¡¯t possible.

    Despite it being the worst massacre Ironwoods ever faced, for those who survived it was the most lucrative shift they ever enrolled to. There were those who got loot in the battle, those who managed to kill a wolf or two and, of course, those who came back from the mine.

    Much to Ryu¡¯s surprise they were almost empty handed. This was because it was impossible for carriages to move in the snow so they would pay a fee to store the ore inside a warehouse in the mine and a foreman would take note of everyone¡¯s belongings. This was the main reason why Rudd was so interested in the sleds, since it would make possible for him to carry a huge amount of elemental stones back to town.

    Since Ryu wanted to see the mines and get some elemental stones for himself, he was tempted to stay along with the injured and wait until the next trip back, which was supposed to be in three days. But reality was different, Only a small amount of people would stay in the mines since the weather would soon be so cold it would make it impossible to get outside. They had amodations for enough people to live inside for a long period, so they let the injured stay, but it was different for healthy people. Everyone was forced to go back and the mine was to remain closed until spring. Beasts would be starving after the freeze, making it much more dangerous.

    The main issue with this was that little less than half Ironwoods entire poption lives at the mine at any given time, so the amount of people going back to town was massive, making everyone fear that a group that big might attract stronger beasts than just wolves. Still many people stayed at the mines to protect it.

    ¡°Anne, Bob, should anything happen just drop the cargo and hop on a sled. Going downhill will be fast and safe, besides this people are not our responsibility¡±

    ¡°Can you say that after you let so many people die because you wouldn¡¯t spare some potions?¡±

    Bob confronted Ryu for the first time, but Ryu remained unfazed.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t let a single person die on purpose, I did my best to keep everyone alive but I¡¯m only human after all. Now you see everyone acting all generous and gentle with you because you showed your strength, but so far people in town have either ignored us or tried to scam us, do you think they would spare their own potions or even their own food if they had nothing to gain?¡±

    Bob was really upset and Ryu¡¯s words didn¡¯t reach him, he felt responsible for all the people he failed to save. There were boys no older than sixteen among the group and elders too, most of them died because wolves would instinctively target the weakest.

    He was about to reply to Ryu but he saw Anne looking sad. Only then he remembered that she would have been dead, and not because she made a mistake or her opponent was stronger than her, but because a self entitled man tried to trade his life for hers.

    On the way back to the town, Bob felt bad forshing out at Ryu. He still thought that Ryu should¡¯ve spent all the potions he brought along, but still he wanted to apologize to him. But since everyone walked inplete silence the opportunity didn¡¯te.

    Hunters were anxious because of the past attack and did their best to stay alert, talking would only distract them.

    Meanwhile Ryu¡¯s group was heading back to town, Hiraku was ecstatic to see that the warehouse was finished.

    It was a simple square building but big enough to storerge quantities of products. Ayumi insisted on going over there to sleep, but they were too used to sleeping in afortable bed so they postponed it until they could get some beds.

    Hiraku¡¯s n was to build a trading outpost, this meant that they also needed to get some animals. The good thing was that since the plot ofnd was located on the outskirts the mayor told them they could use as muchnd as they wanted, as long as they understood that it would be their duty to defend the ce from beast attacks.

    Usually, if someone wanted to build something on the outskirts, it¡¯d be the mayor¡¯s duty to provide workforce to build and some town guards. That¡¯s why he asked for a gold coin, it didn¡¯t cover the costspletely, but his n was to expand the city since every winter it became crowded due to the many peopleing back home.

    But Hiraku didn¡¯t need to defend the storage until Helena and Ayumi came back with thest cargo, because up to that point Rudd stored everything in his own house. Even though the group didn¡¯t have much time to prepare, they made gathering the elven wheat fruit a top priority before heading to Ironwoods, so they were stocked up on elven wheat fruit flour. They could¡¯ve gathered even more, but it was pointless because they didn¡¯t even have enough nt fiber sacks to put the flour and they needed to keep the fact that the elven wheat fruit was edible.

    One of the first things Ayumi bought was a paper, ink and a quill. This was due to the necessity of keep track of the amount of resources Rudd had stored in his house, and also to make a daily bnce of their funds. This was a big set back for Hiraku, who wanted to go on a spending spree to make a barn for the horses he didn¡¯t have yet, shelves for the goods he didn¡¯t have yet, and even on a garden.

    If it wasn¡¯t for Ayumi they would¡¯ve been enved already. When she came back to Ironwoods along with Helena, the first thing she noticed was that the warehouse was finished and couldn¡¯t wait to move in. Every single day at the brothel was like an emotional torture she had to endure.

    Not only madame Bianca¡¯s girls were good at their jobs, but also at promoting the merchandise. More than once she caught Hiraku eyeing a ravaging beauty¡¯s bosom, and whenever that happened she would grab Hiraku¡¯s ear and pull it until it became red.

    The worst part was that Hiraku was quite handsome, even though he was on his mid fifties and already had some grey streaks inhabiting his ck mane, since his body was rebuilt his skin was without any imperfection making him look at least twenty years younger.

    By the time Anne, Bob and Ryu came back it was past noon. Since there was a huge amount of peopleing home, streets were crowded And Rina¡¯s tavern was full to the brim, but the brothel was so full they had to make a line as long as three blocks.

    Bob, who now not only has a great reputation but also was staying at the brothel¡¯s pension, was able to cut the line without problem. Many girls were standing at the entrance as if they were going to war, but reality was much worse. They were about to endure the weight of their client¡¯s prolonged abstinence and judging by the size of the line, things wouldn¡¯t settle at least for a few days. This was the only time of the year when they didn¡¯t need to go looking after clients or sweet talk them at the bar, but when they saw Bob every avable girl marked him, specially after hearing how much he spent on a single night.

    One of the most experienced prostitutes, to avoid mentioning the world ¡®old¡¯ which they consider to be offensive, drew close to Bob and reached for his arm. But as soon as she saw his face she realized what happened.

    He was bearing the guilt of the battlefield, his eyes were void as if he was dead inside, his face looked more like that of a dead fish than a human being. Then, instead of hitting on him as usual she grabbed him by the arm and led him straight to his room hissing at the other girls to leave him alone. He was so devastated that he didn¡¯t resist.

    .....

    Even though it meant that she would lose clients, even though she knew the other girls would hate her for keeping Bob to herself, she still took Bob to her room and once he lied on the bed she put his head on herp and sang him a soft song tofort him and nothing else.

    But that meant the world to Bob.

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35: Don¡¯t over do it, please! part

    The worst part of the trip was that even after spending so much time, effort and resources, I couldn¡¯t get my hands on the elemental stones everyone speaks about. I can always make some more potions, though the silver flower is rare, Hiraku is already nning on sowing them, but I really wanted to see why is this town so crazy about mining. I mean, how can they even afford to go mining when there¡¯s so many poor people who in a week or so won¡¯t even be able to buy groceries.

    Ever since we came back from the mine Rina has been bothering me non stop to bake more bread because the tavern is always full. Normally I would have rejected since I got my own business to attend, but since my skill in cooking is getting better I can¡¯tin.

    It¡¯ste night but the tavern is still open, this is due to the cold but also because many clients have the habit of passing out in the tables and as long as they don¡¯t get on Rina¡¯s bad side she doesn¡¯t mind.

    She¡¯s just a kid but she¡¯s so tough it scares me sometimes, but now she¡¯s all sugar with me because I¡¯m doing her a favour. We also had the chance to speak a lot this past days.

    Turns out she¡¯s an orphan. Her parents died when she was thirteen and since she was the only daughter she inherited everything including the tavern. She was already blossoming into a beautiful girl at the time, but since she was too young to be considered an adult they tried to overtake her tavern iming that they would ¡°run the business¡± honestly and give it back after she came of age.

    One of the merchants, a man named Thomas, was specially interested in the tavern but was patient enough to wait until it went downhill due to poor management. But since Rina worked at the tavern since she was little, she already know the ropes and kept the business afloat.

    When Thomas got enough backers he went to the mayor making a im that thest will of Rina¡¯s parents was that he kept the tavern until Rina was old enough, and that without his help Rina¡¯s business would never flourish. This was, of course, a tant lie, but the mayor was willing to agree only to shake Thomas off his shoulder, but Rudd intervened asking his father for a trial period.

    .....

    If Rina seeded in running the tavern for a month she should keep it. Thomas agreed thinking that it would take nothing but a simple sabotage to ruin her business for a whole month.

    He started sending people to cause trouble, sometimes to fight inside the tavern and break the tables and even encouraged people to drink without paying their tabs. But after a couple days Rudd¡¯s crew started to hang around at the tavern, hindering his ns.

    That¡¯s the reason why Rudd bothers travelers, because every so often Thomas would still send people to cause a ruckus.

    ¡°Rudd is such a nice guy¡±

    Rina nods agreeing with my statement

    ¡°Not only he protects this tavern, he has never asked for money nor discounts, not like other people I know¡±

    Rina res at me with eyes that could freeze a river

    ¡°I¡¯m just getting to know you¡±

    I shrug, only to continue kneading the dough on the kitchen table.

    ¡°So, tell me Ryu, why did youe to this town? your talent would be a lot more appreciated in the big city¡±

    ¡°Which one of my talents are you speaking of?¡±

    ¡°you didn¡¯t strike me as the kind of person that would brag in front of ady¡±

    ¡°I am certainly not, let me know when you spot ady and you¡¯ll see¡±

    Rina chuckles at my joke

    ¡°By the way Rina, I¡¯m curious about something. If there¡¯s so many people drinking here, howe you can¡¯t afford to pay a cook?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all because of Thomas¡±

    Her mood takes a 180¡ã turn.

    ¡°so, he seeded in sabotaging the inn at the end?¡±

    ¡°Kind of, you see... after the mayor Agreed on the terms and I seeded in keeping my tavern, Thomas didn¡¯t try anything for a while. Except for the asional thug he sent to cause trouble, but it was nothing that Rudd couldn¡¯t handle¡±

    To be honest, I¡¯m not that interested in the story at all, but being alone in a dim light room thiste at night is so damn boring I would fall asleep if I didn¡¯t have someone to talk to. Sadly Anne and Helena went to sleep early, leaving me alone with Rina.

    After she came of age, Thomas changed his approach. Instead of sabotaging her business he tried to woe her. Despite the age gap, Thomas would constantly court her, always respecting thew and keeping appearances as if he was an old man in love, thus preventing Rudd to take any action.

    Rina would reject him every time, and things were going great. That was until the first snow this year, It must have been at the same time I was with Anne at the cave.

    Since snow came earlier this year, the trading caravan that was supposed to arrive with the goods didn¡¯te forcing her to buy at a higher price. What she didn¡¯t know was that the brothel wouldn¡¯t raise their prices so, if she was to raise her prices nobody would bother going to her ce.

    Even now she¡¯s selling at a loss with the hopes of making it until spring.

    Everything would have been fine if it wasn¡¯t for a single detail. Whenever a caravan arrives it will sell whatever they brought, but since Ironwoods is thest town in the south it¡¯s also thest town they visit and when caravans reach in here they are almost empty.

    To cope with this, Ironwoods formed their own caravans, which is why there are so many merchants living here despite the fact that this is a run down small miner town. The problem is that she needed to forward half the price of the goods she asked for, and since they didn¡¯t arrive she was forced to buy the goods already avable in town at a much higher price forcing her to take a loan.

    To make matters worse, the food merchant asked her to put herself as guarantee because no one would be crazy enough to run the tavern that Thomas is so hell bent on getting. But that too was one of his schemes, because as soon as she agreed on this Thomas bought her 3 gold coin debt to the merchant at double the price.

    ¡°Now everything makes sense. You were forced to spend money you didn¡¯t have to keep the tavern running, got into debt, the evil merchant Thomas bought your debt and now you¡¯re indebted to him. If you don¡¯t pay 3 gold coins after winter you¡¯ll be his ve. Also, the missing caravan also exins why everyone was so interested in our food products¡±

    ¡°that¡¯s pretty urate¡±

    Rina nods

    ¡°but it still doesn¡¯t exin why can¡¯t you afford to pay a decent cook. ire¡¯s cooking is so bad I¡¯m amazed people don¡¯t drop dead on the spot¡±

    ¡°Quit joking Ryu, my life is on the line here!¡±

    ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you sell the tavern?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s thest memento I have from my parents! this ce is everything I have¡±

    ¡°I have a solution¡±

    ¡°you do!?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I can lend you the money¡±

    ¡°But I would be left on the same situation I¡¯m in right now, only to a different person¡±

    ¡°But this way you¡¯ll be able to use your tavern as a guarantee, saving you from very¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t use the tavern as guarantee, it would be the same as selling it for measly three gold coins, because I won¡¯t have enough money after winter¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled, you¡¯ll end up as his ything and the tavern will be his anyway¡±

    Even though Rina looked just fine a couple seconds ago, my words made her burst into a pitiful cry and she came close to me looking forfort. I didn¡¯t mean to make her cry and the only thing I do is pat her on the back as she sobs and fills my shirt with snot.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Rina, but I¡¯m not going to sugar coat it either. Like you said, buying the tavern from you would be a liability and to be honest, you¡¯re cute but I doubt you¡¯re worth 3 gold coins. There are ves as cheap as a silver coin on the market.¡±

    ¡°then why do you want to loan me the money? if you were sincere I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to take your offer, if you said you wanted me as a ve I wouldn¡¯t doubt your motives¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tter yourself, I¡¯m not interested in you at all. Not even if you were on discount. I like this ce and if I was the owner I¡¯d be making a killing out of it, instead of spare change¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know the first thing about keeping an Inn, let alone tend to clients. what makes you think you would do a better job than me?¡±

    ¡°For starters, you consider things like hiring professionals to be an unnecessary spending, you don¡¯t have a secure supply route and you¡¯re too afraid to make changes¡±

    ¡°oh! so you weren¡¯t joking!?¡±

    Rina gasped

    ¡°Not in the slightest. I¡¯ll tell you what, I¡¯ll forward you 3 gold coins so you pay your debt tomorrow morning and you¡¯ll let me run things in the tavern until winter. If I make a better job than you I keep the tavern, if I don¡¯t you don¡¯t have to pay me back. This it would be me under the pressure to make things work, and worst case scenario you¡¯ll see your beloved tavern flourish in the first seat¡±

    ¡°Sounds interesting, but how can we decide if you made a better job than me?¡±

    I must say I¡¯m surprised she¡¯s so calm.

    ¡°We¡¯ll make the numbers speak for themselves¡±

    ¡°what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s simple, you tell me how much money you have at your disposal and I¡¯ll make due with that. That will be my budget, of course it will be my own money¡±

    ¡°This sounds too good to be true... but you don¡¯t expect me to sit on my ass while you work the tavern right?¡±

    ¡°You are not allowed to sit on mine though¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious. I¡¯ll help you, this way if you fail there will be no hard feelings¡±

    Rina says as she rushes for a handshake. I know the terms are too tilted to her advantage, but still seeing her agree so quickly makes me hesitate for a second.

    ¡°it¡¯s a deal Ryu! you can¡¯t go back on your word now!¡±

    After that I go to sleep without being able to shake off the unsettling feeling I¡¯ve been yed with.

    Is it possible that what I thought was my n to take over the tavern, was actually Rina ying me like a fiddle?

    The next morning I wake up early as usual and start baking some bread. Rina is already up and greets me cheerfully. She looks refreshed as if it was the first night sleep she had in years.

    When Anne and Helena join me for a quick breakfast and I put them up to date.

    ¡°You idiot!¡±

    Anne attempts to p me but she stops at thest moment

    ¡°If you weren¡¯t so weak I would hit you Ryu, why are you so stupid?¡±

    ¡°Calm down Anne, don¡¯t make a scene¡±

    Helena scratches her cheek

    ¡°Why are you acting up like that Anne? you promised me you¡¯d never treat me like this again, or you forgot what happened back at the cave already?¡±

    ¡°How can you say that when you¡¯re flirting with other girls and end up falling in honeytraps¡±

    ¡°what do you mean?¡±

    .....

    Cold sweat runs through my forehead

    ¡°You told us before you wanted to use this tavern as our headquarters, and that was fine. We don¡¯t actually need to own it in order for us to use it, you could¡¯ve just kept working in here as a cook and everything would¡¯ve been fine. Now you put almost our entire funds on this bet with a high risk and low reward. Even if you managed to get the tavern, it¡¯s not even worth it because of the merchant who wants it. I bet you were staring at her breasts the whole time and you didn¡¯t realize she said she wanted to ¡®help¡¯ when in reality she meant to sabotage this ce¡±

    ¡°Why would she do that? its her tavern and she said she loves it dearly¡±

    ¡°How can you be so smart sometimes and then do something so stupid? this time I mean no offense¡±

    Anne¡¯s harsh reprimand makes me long for Helena¡¯s sweetfort, but when I look at her things go different than I expected.

    ¡°I¡¯m hurt Ryu. You distrusted us for so long, yet the minute you met a pretty girl you loose your mind. I didn¡¯t take you for a yboy¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re missing the point Helena, this has nothing to do with Rina, its about an opportunity we can¡¯t let go¡±

    ¡°Ok, I believe you, but let me understand, what¡¯s so valuable about this ce? it¡¯s in bad condition and fixing it would be more expensive than just building it from scratch¡±

    ¡°what!? are you serious? you can¡¯t possibly believe him, he drools every time he stares at Rina¡¯s huge...¡±

    A shadow casts on Anne interrupting her rant

    ¡°She¡¯s right behind me, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s just a miner¡±

    ¡°breasts!¡±

    she finishes the sentence she was about to say before, only to find that it was in fact Rina standing behind her.

    ¡°Excuse me miss milky skin, I beg your forgiveness for being the way I am! I didn¡¯t choose to be like this, and if anything it¡¯s only brought me trouble nonstop since the day I developed¡±

    Anne sinks into her chair as if she had just hit an Iceberg

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t mean that¡±

    ¡°Ryu, we need to go to the mayor¡¯s office now¡±

    ¡°why is that?¡±

    ¡°To make our deal official we need a witness, and who better than the mayor¡±

    After asking both Anne and Helena to take care of the business, we head to the mayor¡¯s office. There¡¯s people already waiting for us at the entrance and they lead the way to the mayor¡¯s study.

    ¡°Good day mister Ryu, Rina told me you need me to bear witness to your deal¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice being able to finally meet you mister Ironwoods¡±

    The mayor nods and shakes my hand firmly. His grip was so tight it actually hurt me, I lost 2 health points. I guess he not only has the looks of a soldier, but the strength too. I do my best to hide my pain but it seems he noticed, yet he didn¡¯t apologize.

    ¡°Is everything ready?¡±

    Rina says eager to get it done with.

    ¡°Not yet miss Rina, mister Thomas hasn¡¯t arrived yet¡±

    ¡°What!? but he doesn¡¯t concern him at all¡±

    ¡°On the contrary Rina my love, I¡¯m here not only to collect what¡¯s rightfully mine but also to make sure you don¡¯t get cheated¡±

    An old man who I can only describe as the incarnation of a pigman, with a bloated belly and a scarce beard,es from behind and tries to put his hand on Rina¡¯s shoulder, but Rina¡¯s reflexes were on spot and she dodged as if her life depended on it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve met mister...¡±

    ¡°Ryu, I¡¯ve heard a lot about you mister Thomas¡±

    ¡°Good things I hope¡±

    ¡°Of course, who would dare bad mouthing an outstanding citizen like mister Thomas?¡±

    I say staring at Rina.

    *cough cough

    The mayor interrupts the awkward moment.

    ¡°ording to Miss Rina you made a bet, please read this document and tell me if everything is correct¡±

    The maid who led us in here hands me a piece of paper with everything about the bet already written on it.

    ¡°Everything seems fine¡±

    The maid then hands a copy to Rina and Thomas respectively and they both agree on the terms, after that she leads them into another room leaving me alone with the mayor.

    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind my intrusion Mister Ryu, but Since I¡¯ve been asked to act as a witness of this deal made in good faith I need to make sure you¡¯re not being extorted or ckmailed into this deal. Why would you agree on such terms?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean Mister Ironwoods?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, but I don¡¯t see what everyone sees about the tavern. It¡¯s in a nice spot, but even if you invest on it you won¡¯t make much out of it. Most people eat on their houses, there are no travelers during winter and even when we have people around they prefer to stay at the brothel¡±

    ¡°If i win the bet, I¡¯ll get a tavern for free¡±

    ¡°not really...¡±

    The mayor says awkwardly. I¡¯m not liking the direction in which this conversation is headed

    ¡°What you just agreed to is to buy Rina¡¯s debt, whether you win or lose you already spent your money. Should you win, Rina will be indebted to you and if you loose you won¡¯t get anything out of it... the thing is, the whole tavern with everything inside is worth less than 2 gold coins¡±

    ¡°Really? I heard from Hiraku that you ask for a gold coin for a plot ofnd¡±

    ¡°well, yes, but he got as muchnd as he can im, workers and security, even the building materials. A single gold coin is more than the tavern earns in a whole year¡±

    ¡°Well... if that¡¯s the case I¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mister Ryu, you already agreed on the terms, I just needed to make sure there wasn¡¯t any foul y and your face tells me everything I needed to know¡±

    What have I done!?

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36: Don¡¯t overdo it, please! part

    ¡°Move your legs Helena! there are clients waiting!¡±

    ¡°No I-I, I can¡¯t do this after all, Anne, please tell Ryu I can¡¯t¡±

    ¡°If you didn¡¯t want to put on the new uniform you shouldn¡¯t have made it in the first ce¡±

    Helena and Anne just finished getting dressed with the new uniform of the tavern. It¡¯s a short skirt and a very revealing shirt made out of high quality, yet thin, fabric. It¡¯s so tight that it highlights Anne¡¯s plump rear and the V cut cleavage is so low Helena¡¯s big and tender breasts are almostpletely exposed.

    Ryu is waiting just outside the room to check if everything is alright, or at least that¡¯s what he said, but in reality he just wanted to be the first one to see the bountiful treasures the girls had to offer.

    Aftering back from the mayor¡¯s house Ryu realized what a dumb move he made, he could¡¯ve gotten the same results without spending that much money. Now that he knows how much money the tavern made in the past at least he knows he can win the bet, but even if he does it doesn¡¯t take out the fact that he spent three gold coins needlessly.

    It was all because he didn¡¯t know the actual market price of anything, since there¡¯s not much to buy in town. They can¡¯t even gather any more elven wheat fruit because the cold snap town¡¯s people call ¡®the freeze¡¯ can hit any minute and when it does it kills anyone that¡¯s not properly sheltered within minutes. This is the reason why no one ventures far from town in winter and also why there aren¡¯t any towns south.

    .....

    Even tough it saddens Ryu, he discussed the matter with Ayumi and Hiraku and decided to abandon the settlement for good. Of course, since they¡¯re the only ones who know about the ce, it could still be useful as a hideout or even as a hunting lodge.

    ¡°Are you girls ready yet?¡±

    Ryu asks impatient, soon the door opens revealing two girls dressed in the same clothes, but since their figures are so different they look likepletely different clothes.

    ¡°Ryu...¡±

    Helena starts stuttering again, but Ryu cuts her short.

    ¡°You look gorgeous!¡±

    Even tough he meant the both of them, each one took it as if it was meant just for them, making them blush on the spot.

    ¡°But Ryu I really can¡¯t wear this uniform, it¡¯s too embarrassing¡±

    Helena says almost whispering

    ¡°Yeah, I know, I can¡¯t let you go like that¡±

    ¡°Thanks Ryu, I knew you would understand¡±

    Ryu takes two pieces of cloth and straps them to their waist

    ¡°You can¡¯t go without the apron or the uniform wouldn¡¯t beplete¡±

    The small aprons are merely decorative and don¡¯t cover them in the slightest, on the contrary it gives a luscious appearance.

    ¡°Now get going, the tavern ispletely full and we need to get our money back somehow¡±

    Both girls start walking so slow they almost drag their feet on the wooden floor and Ryu seizes the opportunity to p Anne on the ass. The loud pping sound followed by an *eeek* sounding from Anne¡¯s mouth was enough to make them walk so fast it looked as if they were running.

    ¡°Hurry up! there¡¯s more where that came from!¡±

    Ryu eximed with a devilish grin on his face. Ever since he unlocked the skill calm mind it¡¯s like he¡¯s apletely different person and that¡¯s not a coincidence. Unbeknownst to Ryu, calm mind is the first passive skill a mage is supposed to unlock, without it it¡¯s almost impossible to focus enough to properly handle mana, but it has many downsides. The most important downside is that it gives priority to rational thought overshadowing emotionspletely. It¡¯s not that they disappear, but before they can manifest they have to pass through the mind filter.

    All this turned in Ryu¡¯s favor since if it wasn¡¯t for calm mind he would¡¯vepletely lost it on the battle near the mine, it was a bloodbath that no sane person can face with the calm attitude Ryu manifested. And also, it helped Ryu ovee the problem with both girls, since he now has a more rxed approach, allowing him to enjoy every second of the yful p he just dealt on Anne¡¯s soft bum.

    ¡®What¡¯s the worst that could happen¡¯ he thought. Because even if things went sour with Anne, he could still be with Helena. What he didn¡¯t know was that he just got out of the frying pan into the fire that was Helena¡¯s jealousy and herpulsive need to beat Anne.

    When the girls reached the stairs and starting walking down several gasps could be heard at the same time and the room went silent. then every single miner present started to whistle and scream loudly.

    ¡°Hey! it¡¯s the silver goddess!¡±

    ¡°Marry me please!¡±

    ¡°No, marry me instead, I¡¯ll treat you better¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave my wife for you¡±

    Once again Helena felt her legs shaking, but this time it was not embarrassment nor anger, she felt so ignored she wanted the earth to swallow her whole.

    Rina was already busy serving drinks, the tavern was so full it was nigh impossible to walk. It wasn¡¯t just that the people from the mines came back, it was all going ording to Ryu¡¯s n.

    The day before, when Ryu came back from the mayor¡¯s house he was so let down by the realization everything he did was a waste of time and money that he went to visit Hiraku.

    What he found instead, was that Bob, Hiraku and Ayumi had already left to live at the trading outpost.

    Much to his surprise, Luke was still living at the brothel. When Ryu walked inside he was greeted by the prostitutes eager to get a dime out of him, but he ignored them and went straight to the brothel¡¯s bar and there was Luke, with a beautiful girl on each side drinking his beer happily.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time Luke¡±

    ¡°Ah! Ryu,e join me please! *hic*¡±

    Ryu noticed Luke had one too many beers but still decided to join him.

    ¡°How are you doing Luke? I heard you don¡¯t go out much these days¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding, what could I possibly find outside? there¡¯s nothing but snow and miners, nah, I¡¯ll stay in here until winter passes. What brings you here? I¡¯m not one to judge, but you got Anne and Helena waiting for you¡±

    Luke said trying to not sound envious, nevertheless Ryu was already aware that Luke had feelings for Anne.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to seek your advice¡±

    Suddenly, Luke¡¯s expression changed and he became serious and his eyes became sharp as knives.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorrydies, but I have something to discuss with my friend. Ryu,e to my room¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, we can talk in here, its nothing secret actually¡±

    Ryu replied, but Luke insisted.

    ¡°You came here looking for my advice, the least I can do is offer you my sincere help¡±

    Luke released the two girls he had embraced and led me to a room upstairs, it was all messy and the foul stench gave Ryu a hint of what kind of activities had been performed in the room previous to his arrive. Luke remained unfazed and just threw on the ground the dirty clothes he had on the chair.

    ¡°Please, have a sit¡±

    Luke moved the chair pointing it at the bed where he sat afterwards.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok Luke I can...¡±

    ¡°I know why you came here and I can help you¡±

    It took everything Ryu had to keep fromughing at his face, because not matter how hard Luke tried to appear sober, it was more than clear that he was in no condition to talk, let alone to solve Ryu¡¯s issues. He sat on the chair nheless, it didn¡¯t matter to him if he had to waste another five minutes as long as he can keep improving his rtionship with Luke.

    ¡°I know about your bet and I must say I¡¯m impressed you noticed it too¡±

    Ryu nodded as if he knew what Luke was talking about, when actually he had no idea what was he talking about.

    ¡°I knew you were not as ipetent as the other bunch, but I didn¡¯t think much of you until this morning when I heard about the bet. Hiraku nagged me for hours to go live with him at the trading outpost, but my mission in herees first.¡±

    ¡°Just so we¡¯re in the same page, can you exin me what you¡¯re talking about?¡±

    As soon as Ryu said that Luke stood up from the bed and patted Ryu on the side.

    ¡°Come on! don¡¯t be so distrustful *hic* we¡¯re among friends now. To show you my good intentions I¡¯ll tell you everything I know first and then you tell me. Don¡¯t tell anyone but actually I came to the brothel to investigate¡±

    Luke said with a straight face, even though what he had been investigating is closer to human anatomy than to their dilemma.

    ¡°When I came to the brothel I noticed that the prettiest girls in town where all in here, well, mostly. There were only two exnations, the first and most usible was that after the girlse in here they use make up and look better. The other exnation was that they were chosen among the inhabitants. Now you may ask, what does it have to do with anything?¡±

    Ryu nods trying to figure out what the hell is Luke talking about

    ¡°I found out every single woman in here is a ve, the ones that are not beautiful enough are sold to a big city located about ten days north from here. It¡¯s actually pretty close if you... nevermind that! did you discover why madame Bianca was so interested in buying Mochi, croquettes and pretty much any kind of food we brought?¡±

    ¡°she has a business to run¡±

    ¡°Are you serious? she doesn¡¯t even offer them in the menu, so what is she doing with all that food?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s waiting for the prices to go up of course, she¡¯s specting with the market¡±

    Ryu scratched his head

    ¡°I knew you figured out that much, but it goes way deeper! I know I sound tin foil hat crazy right now, but listen, madame Bianca¡¯s business is not procuring prostitutes, but ves. She wants everyone to starve so they are forced to sell themselves into very, and she keeps the better looking girls only to keep her facade... though I think maybe the prettiest ones she sells outside of town¡±

    ¡°I had that figured out too, I also know what role does Thomas y in all this¡±

    Ryu lied through his teeth

    ¡°I must say I underestimated you. That¡¯s correct, Thomas bribed thest winter caravan so they dy their departure at mountainside, the nearest town. This made it impossible for the caravan to reach Ironwoods before the first snow, it wasn¡¯t that snow came earlier this year like everyone keeps saying. The reason why Thomas was willing to pay 6 gold coins to buy a 3 gold coins debt was that he needs Rina¡¯s tavern to go out of business, because he¡¯s working under the tables with madame Bianca¡±

    ¡°Holy shit Luke you¡¯re a genius!¡±

    ¡°I know I am, but why do you say it like it surprises you?¡±

    ¡°I came here looking for answers, but what I found instead was enlightenment!¡±

    Ryu was so happy he was about to jump from the chair and run to the tavern at full speed, but Luke stopped him before he could move.

    ¡°That¡¯s not all Ryu, I know how can you win the bet and beat madame Bianca on her own game¡±

    Luke then proceeded to exin him about the adventurers guild he knew from the other world, just enough to spark in Ryu the n he executed as soon as he came back.

    .....

    First, he asked for a wooden sign to be hanged outside with ¡°Silver goddess tavern¡± written on it.

    Then he asked Helena for the luscious uniforms, he was dead set on having them wear it.

    Andstly, he had a billboard made for petitions, Luke insisted on naming them quests and Ryu agreed without knowing what he was getting into.

    And that bring us to today¡¯s events, where Anne, Helena and Rina are dressed in what clothes so scarce it could make even madame Bianca¡¯s girls blush to death.

    Ryu insisted on keeping everything about the bet a secret, although many people had heard about it, as soon as the wooden sign was ced they started believing that what happened instead was Anne bought the ce from Rina and the bet was a mere rumor.

    Miners from every part of town wanted toe to the inauguration, even some merchants wanted to attend but they were pressured by Thomas to stay away from the tavern.

    The billboard turned out to be a huge sess for everyone, especially for Ryu who was finally able to get his hands on some elemental stones. The following quests were posted on it:

    Gather an unknown nt: rewards depends on the nt rarity and quality, please bring the whole nt intact.

    Kill wolf: the wolf pelt must be turned in as a proof of killing.

    Dig a moat: Head to Hiraku¡¯s trading outpost for more information, reward 10 copper coins per day.

    Snow shovel: for more information head to the mayor¡¯s house.

    Assistance: bring hot soup to Sena¡¯s grandma everyday, 1 copper coin each day.

    Rina helped Ryu by talking with many people asking them if they needed help in anything and how much were they willing to pay. It was aplete surprise for him to see Hiraku¡¯s name on the board and he wondered why didn¡¯t he just dig the moat himself with the help of Bob.

    ¡°Miss Rina! please let me take Sena¡¯s quest please!¡±

    ¡°No, you can¡¯t take it¡±

    ¡°oww why not?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my job to decide who¡¯s capable enough to fulfill a quest, I know you and you¡¯re alwayste, what will happen if Sena¡¯s grandma doesn¡¯t get her soup in time? do you think she¡¯ll eat it if it¡¯s cold? if you fail you don¡¯t get paid and we don¡¯t get paid¡±

    Rina kept her business attitude. ¡®She turned out to be quite skilled in dealing with people, no wonder I fell for her trick¡¯ Ryu thought as he stared at her ten seconds too long for it to be appropriate.

    Rina stayed behind the counter the whole day, she had never been so busy serving drinks and answering all kinds of questions. People would pay to have their quest posted on the board and the reward money came straight from the pocket of the one who posted it.

    This way Ryu could earn a bit more without actually investing a dime, so he didn¡¯t break the deal of spending not a single coin more than what the tavern had at the time he took charge. Also, since Ryu still had some funds, he posted the quest to gather unknown nts so he would be able to get his hands on many rare nts and hopefully some silver flowers too.

    Ryu¡¯s n was beyond his expectations and the tavern made an all time record on its first day. The only downside was that, since people there was so many people gathering at the tavern, he had to spend the whole day ving at the kitchen. It came to a point he regretted sending ire back to her house since he needed all the help he could get, but he had spent every single dime on the sign, the board and the uniforms.

    There was something else worrying him, if things kept going like the first day, there won¡¯t be enough supplies to satisfy the demand. Food was one thing, they could afford to buy some food even if prices skyrocketed, and that¡¯s because he just needed to adjust the price.

    Now madame Bianca was powerless, even if she wanted to lower her prices to boycott the tavern she wouldn¡¯t seed. Ryu started charging people just to get inside the tavern and people happilyplied just to take a closer look at the beautiful girls. They could either pay daily, or get a pass at a lower price that wouldst for a whole week.

    Since paying for the whole week was cheaper, people were led to believe that it was good deal, when in fact it was a way to keep theming to the tavern instead of going to the brothel.

    Ryu¡¯s strategies were so sesful that the brothel was almost empty, the prostitutes were so desperate to get clients some even got naked on the spot, but it was useless because there just wasn¡¯t enough people.

    The girls who worked at the brothel were all ves, but it didn¡¯t mean they didn¡¯t get paid. Depending on their performance they got enough money to pay for their food, makeup and clothes. It was a vicious circle in which if a girl was sessful enough she would stay in business, if she wasn¡¯t she would be forced to cut on her food first because without makeup she¡¯d be as good as out of the game. Cutting on the food meant getting thinner, thus attracting more clients.

    But should everything fail, madame Bianca didn¡¯t provide a single crumb of bread. To make things even worse, if a girl fell so low that she couldn¡¯t get back on her feet, madame Bianca would either mercilessly kick them out even in mid winter or would sell her to the big city up north.

    Even though Luke was giving in to low desires, he didn¡¯t let go of his heroic fantasy, making him stumble on Ironwoods darkest secret by sheer luck.

    But luck is also an important feature for a hero.

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37: Avoid bar fights, please! part

    There¡¯s seven rooms at the inn, currently five of them are upied. Anne, Helena, Rina, a young miner and myself. we¡¯re charging five copper coins per room, even to ourselves since I can only invest in the tavern what we earn because of the deal I made with Rina. The only problem with that is that the bnce of the tavern was only 5 silver coins and 70 copper coins and after my spending spree It was only 1 silver coin and 10 copper coins.

    Even if the Inn was full we could make only 35 copper coins a day, so it would be better to just shut down the Inn and use the three rooms as workshops. I already have some things in mind, but first I need to finish today¡¯s bnce.

    Charging a copper coin just to enter turned out to be a great idea, on the first day we pocketed 1 silver coin and 60 copper coins without taking into ount those who after getting inside paid 5 copper for the weekly pass.

    Then there¡¯s the food, we raised the prices from 3 copper to 5 copper a meal, and from 1 copper to 2 copper a piece of bread. People startedining, but staring since the one breaking the news was the silver goddess herself it didn¡¯tst long. She said it was because they hired a new cook that came from far awaynds with new recipes and cooking techniques. She may have oversold it a bit, but as long as they liked my food and kept paying I¡¯m ok with it.

    Rina advised me to not touch the price of the beer, unless I wanted to be killed on the act. She was so serious I couldn¡¯t tell if she was actually joking or not, but anyways I don¡¯t feel like risking it. But since so many people came, and they couldn¡¯t be bothered to drink water for a change, our beer supply was heavily damaged.

    There were 25 full beer caskets in the storage, and now there¡¯s only 21. It doesn¡¯t sound bad, since we made a killing on the first day, but its a huge problem. It was supposed tost the whole winter, and the minute the tavern runs out of beer the tavern will be forced to shut down.

    I don¡¯t even want to imagine what would people say if they pay to get inside, only to find out there¡¯s no beer. A cold shiver runs down my spine just by the mere though.

    .....

    Now I¡¯m forced to turn to Ayumi for help, she¡¯s knowledgeable and pretty cunning too. Her emotions always get the best of her but I¡¯m certain she can find a solution.

    Since I need to stay at the kitchen at all times, Rina needs to tent to customers at the bar and the girls are busy serving the tables, my hands are tied.

    I could send a message, but I don¡¯t know who to trust. The only person thates to mind is the guy staying at the Inn. He looks decent, and that¡¯s a lot to say since at this town everyone looks like a battle hardened thug. I hate to say it, but even Rudd has the looks of a criminal, even tough I know he¡¯s helped Hiraku¡¯s group.

    ¡°Rina, do you know the guy who¡¯s staying at the inn?¡±

    ¡°You mean the weird skinny guy who looks like a castaway? he works at the kitchen¡±

    ¡°Ha Ha, very funny. I meant the teen boy next to Anne¡¯s room¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah, he¡¯s an orphan who went on thest mining expedition. I¡¯ve seen him around in town, but he never came to the taverns so I don¡¯t know his name¡±

    ¡°Can you call him please? I need to speak with him¡±

    Rina asks Helena to cover for her at the bar while she goes to find the young miner. I can¡¯t leave the kitchen since I need to keep using my analyze skill, as soon as the food quality bes ¡®good¡¯ I take it out of the stove. There¡¯s a small time window when the food reaches the ¡®good¡¯ quality, then it bes normal again, that¡¯s why people like my food so much.

    After a couple minutes Rina walks into the kitchen followed by the young miner.

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    He said

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Ryu¡±

    I say as I reach for a handshake but he doesn¡¯t reply the courtesy.

    ¡°Listen, I¡¯m busy, if you called me in here to waste my time I¡¯ll just leave¡±

    ¡°I was about to ask you to work for me, but it seems you¡¯re not interested¡±

    ¡°Why would I? I made enough money for this winter on thest trip and I don¡¯t know anything about cooking¡±

    the young miner replies annoyed

    ¡°Who said anything about cooking?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just the cook¡±

    I don¡¯t know where does this hostilitye from, but since he¡¯s staying in here hiring him would have some benefits, also he¡¯s one of the few miners I¡¯ve met that doesn¡¯tck in personal hygiene.

    ¡°Listen kid...¡±

    he cuts me short before I can even finish my sentence

    ¡°I¡¯m not a kid, I¡¯m an adult so¡±

    ¡°Then why do you behave like one? I introduced myself and you haven¡¯t even told me your name¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m not interested¡±

    ¡°Why are you still in here then?¡±

    He¡¯s so mad a vein pops in his head, he stares at as if he was ready to punch me in the face, but since I¡¯m taller than him he gives up on the idea and goes outside of the kitchen. He seems naive and eager to prove himself, just the kind of person I need to hire, but sadly everything went wrong.

    Just when I was thinking on who else I could hire, the kid walks into the kitchen with Anne.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Dn? why did you bring me to the kitchen?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s about the cook, he disrespected me and I¡¯m a client, please silver goddess do something¡±

    Anne looks at me with a confused look.

    ¡°is that true Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to hire him to do some errands, but mister adult here thinks he¡¯s too big to be earning 10 copper a day¡±

    Dn¡¯s face betrayed the instant regret he felt as soon as he knew how much he would have been paid if he took the job. Most miners were idle while at town, that¡¯s the reason why they spent all day at the tavern or the brothel, unless they had a family, on which case they would spend the time outside just to be far from their family responsibilities.

    ¡°If you didn¡¯t like Ryu¡¯s offer you could have just turned it down¡±

    Anne sighs

    ¡°But he¡¯s just a cook! how could I know he could pay so much¡±

    ¡°You would have known if you took the time to listen to me, kid. Like any sane grown up would do, now scatter I¡¯m busy¡±

    Anne starts to leave, but she¡¯s interrupted by Dn¡¯sining

    ¡°Are you going to let him talk to me like that?¡±

    Dn was embarrassed, but it did nothing to diminish his anger.

    ¡°I can¡¯t do anything, he¡¯s my boss¡±

    Anne spilled the beans on what was supposed to be a secret. Dn was astonished, opening and closing his mouth without emitting a sound, he looks just like a goldfish. Anyways, since I need this kid to keep the secret I have no choice but to bring him over.

    ¡°Are you willing to listen to me now?¡±

    Dn nodded still with his mouth wide open.

    ¡°I need you to work for me, but nobody must know I¡¯m your boss. Anything you hear from us must be kept a secret and you need to swear this on your life. If you ept I¡¯ll provide lodging and food, I¡¯ll also pay you 10 copper coins a day. You won¡¯t be working specifically at the tavern and I¡¯ll be asking different tasks from you¡±

    ¡°Yes sir!¡±

    Dn replies in a loud voice.

    Rina paid 5 copper coins a day to ire, without providing her lodging, only food whenever there were leftovers, and she had to work from dawn to dusk everyday. taking that as a base I¡¯d say the deal I¡¯m offering is more than juicy.

    But will he be able to keep our secrets safe?

    ¡°I swear upon my life that your secrets will be safe with me, sir!¡±

    He says as if he was able to read my mind, and this time as soon as i extend my hand he goes forward for a handshake.

    ¡°Fine, I need you to send this letter to Hiraku¡¯s trading outpost and give it to Ayumi. Do not read it¡¯s content. Also, please ask ire toe back, if she doesn¡¯t want to I¡¯ll look for someone elseter¡±

    The kid nods and runs off. Only Anne stays by the kitchen.

    ¡°What are you still doing in here Anne? do you want another p in the ass?¡±

    I lift my eyebrow, Anne shivers and blushes at the same time, but heads to the tavern without saying a word making me chuckle.

    Now that I¡¯m alone I can finally focus on my task. The ingredients I have at my disposal are much more varied than those i had back at the settlement, thus giving me a lot of different choices and that¡¯s precisely what¡¯s giving me a headache.

    I have enough flour to feed an army, oil, different kinds of meat and fish, potatoes, onions, corn, carrots, eggs, milk, lemons, but not as many vegetables as i wish, since the weather in here is so cold that getting my hands on fresh vegetables is almost impossible, especially this time of the year. The only upside is that there¡¯s a lot of different spices.

    It¡¯s still early in the morning, but so many people eat lunch in here that I need to start cooking right away.

    Since people are happy with my cooking I can make just about anything, as long as it¡¯s hot enough for people to cope with the harsh climate. Hot soups are always a good choice, but that¡¯s not enough to feed the hungry miners.

    I start by peeling off the vegetables, thanks to Rina the kitchen was already spotless when I woke up, and that saved me a lot of time and effort. Once the potatoes and carrots are ready I slice them into big pieces, I chop the meat into bite sized chunks and put the meat at the bottom of the biggest cooking pot along with some oil.

    The fire is already burning and once the meat starts sizzling I stir it up a little, then put on the vegetables along with some salt and once it looks ok I add the water. From what Rina told me, ire would just put everything at the pot at the same time along with some water and barely even stirred the pot, so at this point the result would already be better, but that¡¯s not everything.

    This soup will be the same every single day, this will help me get rid of the huge amounts of potatoes and carrots lying around in the storage.

    I cook some beans to mix them with some carrot sticks to make a sd. And I make mashed potatoes with grilled meat as a side dish.

    As for the spices, since I¡¯m not yet ustomed to their taste I go easy on them. My n is to improve my cooking step by step so I can learn different recipes. I may have a cooking skill, but people would get tired of eating everyday the same things.

    A knock on the door draws my attention, when I open the door ire is standing on the other side with both hands nuzzled together on her belly.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, a young man came to my house saying you wanted to speak with me¡±

    She speaks shyly, this takes me by surprise since she was always so upbeat. Her eyes are red and her face is dry, she has been cryingtely.

    ¡°Yes, of course. I want to employ you, if you¡¯re ok with this of course¡±

    She nods with a slight smile, squinting her eyes as small holes poke her cheeks. She looks so cute I want to ruffle her hair but I contain myself. Even though she¡¯s just fourteen, she¡¯s almost an adult in society¡¯s eyes. Her clothes are old and tattered, it shows that the fabric they were made of was once white but now it¡¯s brown due to constant use. Her dress has been patched so many times that it looks more like a flour sack. Now that I¡¯m already examining her clothes I may as well use my analyze skill.

    Patchwork dress 36/40

    .....

    Since I stayed silent for so long staring at her, she seemed to have misinterpreted the meaning of my words. She blushed wildly and her eyes got teary, but she started to take off her dress slowly.

    ¡°P-Please be gentle with me, It¡¯s my first time mister Ryu¡±

    As soon as her dress hits the floor her soft skin is revealed, showing two magnificent mounds that defy thews of physics, and a slim yet curvy figure that would go head to head against Anne¡¯s. Her most private parts are covered by her hand and her long and blond hair cascade down her body. It seems that her poor attire somehow was able to hide her stunning beauty, now that she¡¯s naked the sight is so appealing I can barely resist my lower desires.

    Even though it¡¯s embarrassing to admit it to myself, the only thing that keeps me from taking advantage of her is the fact that someone mighte, and if either Anne or Helena find out about this they would kill me in the act.

    ¡°Cover yourself please, ire, I didn¡¯t call you in here for this¡±

    I say this, but she hesitates, it seems she noticed my mini Ryu¡¯s excitement.

    ¡°You can¡¯t me me for this, It has a mind of his own¡±

    I shrug and she dresses up so quickly that her tender flesh jiggled all over as she pulled it up. A gentleman should look to the other side, but I¡¯m so deprived I can¡¯t help but make the most of the eye candy in front of myself.

    ¡°Then, what can I do for you mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I need you to help in the kitchen but first You need to fix your appearance a little. Your beauty is lost in those rags. Also, you¡¯ll need to learn before you¡¯re even able to touch a single utensil¡±

    She nods silently

    ¡°Last but not least, you¡¯ll need to stay in the tavern¡±

    Myst words turned her smile upside down

    ¡°But, mister Ryu, I can¡¯t stay in here. I can¡¯t afford it and also... my sister is sick and I need to take care of her¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem as long as you don¡¯t mind sharing your room with her. Now go talk with Helena and tell her I asked her to make an uniform for you tonight so she can take the evening off to rest¡±

    It was a tough day, it doesn¡¯t matter how much I cook people keep asking for more. Contrary to my expectations, every single client asked for the side dish and I didn¡¯t prepare that much beforehand so we kept running out of it and I was forced to extend lunch hours to satisfy the demand.

    ¡°i¡¯m wrecked¡±

    I say as I take a long sip of my beer. The tavern is closed now and the Inn is closed until further notice, so we don¡¯t have any guests staying over. I¡¯m sure this will make madame Bianca happy, but I don¡¯t have a reason to keep it open for mere five copper a day, instead I¡¯ll get as many loyal employees as I can to further my influence in Ironwoods.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t force yourself that much Ryu, you know we¡¯re here to support you¡±

    Anne says reaching for my hand

    ¡°Yeah, at first I was mad about the uniform too but seeing how much you went through I need to endure at least this much¡±

    Anne said showing her tight dress emphasizing her voluptuous bosom.

    I¡¯m sharing the same table with Anne, Dn, Helena and Rina.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, I have a question¡±

    Dn said as he slowly put his beer jug on the table and then grabbing it with both hands and leaning forward.

    ¡°Why is the tavern called the silver goddess now instead of Ryu¡¯s tavern?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think people woulde over from every part of town just to see me wearing the uniform. Scratch that, they may as well do it but just to mock me¡±

    Everyone chuckles and then I turn to Rina.

    ¡°I must say I¡¯m impressed miss Rina¡±

    ¡°Drop the miss Ryu, you¡¯re making it sound too serious¡±

    ¡°It kind of is, you were sly as a fox¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not really my fault that you didn¡¯t know your money¡¯s worth before bargaining¡±

    Rina shrugs exaggeratedly forgetting she¡¯s wearing thinner clothes that she¡¯s used to, making her two unclimbed mountains tremble wildly. I stared just a split second before getting a poke on the ribs by Anne, who now looks at me as if I was her mortal enemy.

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but im intrigued. I asked if you were interested in selling me the tavern and you said you were against it. Instead you made a pointless bet where I¡¯ll end up owning it anyways and you¡¯ll get nothing out of it¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true. If I had sold the tavern to the first foreigner, they would just go straight to Thomas and sell it for double the price. Instead, you took charge of it and made it flourish in a single day with so many ideas, good food.

    This is the most happy I¡¯ve been since my parents died, and it¡¯s all because of you. I know I¡¯ll end up being your ve, but I don¡¯t mind, as long as you keep your promise and allow me to stay at the tavern I love. I won¡¯t mind even if you asked me to warm your bed tonight¡±

    When she started speaking she sounded emotional, but as she kept talking she got in her usual jokingly tone and even winked at me flirtatiously. Most men would be honored to have such a beauty say such things at him, but the only thing I can think of is shes of my own death crushed in between Anne¡¯s and Helena¡¯s fists.

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38: Avoid bar fights, please! part

    The scene in front of me is quite different from what I expected. Both heroins look at mepletely bbergasted.

    ¡°What do you mean ve!?¡±

    Helena says with a kind smile whose dark intent is only betrayed by an uncontroble twitch on her right eye.

    ¡°Exin yourself now Ryu¡±

    says Anne with an icy re I know all too well.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t know what to say, I¡¯m as surprised as you guys are¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll exin. Ryu and I made a bet, if he was to win I would be indebted to him instead of Thomas. It¡¯s clear now that he already won, there¡¯s no fighting it, but how do you expect me to pay three gold coins?

    .....

    The tavern itself is not worth that much, and even if it was, I¡¯m not willing to sell it to anyone but Ryu, since he¡¯s the only one who I know for sure will take good care of it. Also, even if I sold myself as a ve nobody would pay me three gold coins, that¡¯s just too much money. The only chance for me to keep being a free citizen would be that I either stumble upon a gold mine or if Ryu forgives my debt¡±

    ¡°For a moment I thought Ryu yed one of his dirty tricks on you¡±

    Anne sighs in relief

    ¡°Then it¡¯s solved, Ryu, please spare Rina, she¡¯s a good girl and I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll find a way to repay you somehow¡±

    Helena says

    ¡°You say that, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s convenient for us. Also, don¡¯t forget how you guys reacted when I told you about the risk I took by taking on this bet, so you don¡¯t have a say on this matter¡±

    ¡°But Ryu, this is going to far. very is evil, it was abolished in...¡±

    ¡°No more discussions!¡±

    I say loudly to cut Anne short before she mentions shees from another world. Maybe I went too far, but It was dangerous. We¡¯re just getting to know these people and we don¡¯t know if they are to be trusted with a secret that big.

    A knock on the door breaks the silence in the vast room and Helena stands up to open the door.

    Two girls covered with nkets over their shoulders and bags on each hand get inside. The first is ire and next to her a girl who looks just like her, only slightly shorter a lot thinner and with a sickly and frail body. Her body fat seems so low the skin is tight on her cheekbone, making her look as if there were holes in her eyes sockets instead of eyes.

    ¡°Excuse me, mister Ryu, I did as you asked and brought my sister over¡±

    ¡°Ryu, you know I¡¯m not as violent as Anne, but you better provide a crystal clear exnation for this or I¡¯ll be really mad, I may even consider going to Hiraku¡¯s¡±

    Helena puffs her cheeks looking angry and cute at the same time

    ¡°That¡¯s no way to greet your new co worker and her sister, I¡¯m disappointed you think so low of me Helena, besides, you made her uniform so you can¡¯t fake surprise now¡±

    So, turns out I¡¯m dead after all.

    ¡°Please take a sit¡±

    I grab two more chairs and put them on the table making it crowded. Both blond girls take a sit on the open chairs, but not before bowing in front of me.

    ¡°Thank you for this opportunity mister Ryu, I promise I won¡¯t let you down¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great, now let¡¯s discuss the terms¡±

    I intertwine my fingers and lean forward making my best impression of Hiraku¡¯s business stance. Anne notices this andughs on the side. ire nods awkwardly, it seems the presence of so many people at the same table has made it ufortable for her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll pay you 10 copper coins per day, food will run on my ount, and you and your sister will be able to stay in here for free as long as you share your room. is that ok with you?¡±

    The look of surprise when I mentioned how much I was offering made her eyes almost pop out from the shock.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll perform any duty you may require of me, even if you wanted my body¡±

    She said with a straight face, making me facepalm so hard I took 1 damage to my health points.

    A fiery aura covers both Anne and Helena, both staring at me.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t say that sort of thing, I just need you to cook and clean¡±

    *cough cough*

    ¡°Excuse me, mister Ryu, I¡¯m Sera, ire¡¯s sister, we¡¯ll be in your care¡±

    The sickly girl says in between coughs. She seems to be very ill, I hope it¡¯s not contagious.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, and from now on just call me Ryu. Nobody must know that I¡¯m the one running the business, since it¡¯s thanks to Anne saving so many people on the battlefield¡±

    Dn responds to my words nodding profusely

    ¡°Yeah! if it wasn¡¯t for the silver goddess I¡¯d be dead. I was at the death¡¯s doors when she came and gave me the magical medicine¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not magical and it was supposed to be a secret Dn, which reminds me I need to speak alone with Anne, so pleasee to my room before heading to bed¡±

    I frown looking at both Dn and Anne respectively, but both jump scared when I mentioned their names.

    ¡°Anyways, It¡¯ste and I¡¯m beat, ire pick whichever room you prefer and go to sleep with your sister, you need to wake up early to help me in the kitchen, the rest can stay a bit longer, especially if you help Helena finish ire¡¯s uniform¡±

    At mymand everyone stands up and I go to my bed, a couple minutester there¡¯s a knock on my door. Anne walks stiffly inside as soon as I open and closes the door behind her.

    ¡°If this is about what happened early, I forgive you¡±

    ¡°What? no, I don¡¯t regret it in the slightest, if anything I¡¯d like to repeat it¡±

    ¡°Does that mean you already made up your mind? there¡¯s no way I¡¯m letting anyone but my boyfriend touch me that way¡±

    ¡°Too bad, because you¡¯re in for a good ol¡¯ spanking¡±

    ¡°now you¡¯re not making any sense¡±

    Anne squeaks those words as if she was choking

    ¡°I¡¯m being serious Anne. You can¡¯t go around telling people youe from another world, I¡¯m not as naive as Luke to think that it¡¯d be a good thing if people were to find out. Best case scenario they will treat you as weapons and try to gain control over you. Worst case, I don¡¯t even want to think about it¡±

    ¡°But if it¡¯s our employees it¡¯s alright isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Anne looks paler than usual

    ¡°On the contrary, they need to prove their loyalty before we tell them something that big. The only exception would be Rina, and only if she bes a ve. Her life would be rightfully on our hands, hence she wouldn¡¯t be able to say a thing about it. Do you think Dn can keep a secret? he talked about the medicine you gave him¡±

    ¡°Ryu, I think we have a problem¡±

    ¡°please don¡¯t say it¡±

    ¡°Dn told everyone already¡±

    ***

    ¡®Miss Ayumi,

    I hope that you¡¯re in good health with your husband,

    I¡¯m writing you this letter because I need secure supplies for the silver goddess tavern,

    I¡¯d be grateful if you allowed me to set up a meeting with Hiraku.

    Ryu¡¯

    ¡°pfff hahaha, did Ryu have a stroke or something!?¡±

    Ayumi couldn¡¯t hold herughter after reading Ryu¡¯s letter, it would be one thing if he was polite about it, but asking in such a formal way ispletely out of character. That thought lit up the spark of doubt inside Ayumi¡¯s mind instantly stopping herughter.

    Ryu could have many ws, especially when ites to dealing with women, but he never does anything without thinking.

    Ayumi walked outside of the warehouse, where she was living with Hiraku and Bob for the time being.

    It¡¯s just a square wooden building, but it¡¯s sturdy and has enough space to hold more goods than they can even dream of acquiring.

    Hiraku was outside supervising the workers he hired from the billboard at the tavern, Dn was standing next to Hiraku making small talk.

    Southern people are considered among the strongest, and that¡¯s because they need to endure the harsh climate and every single citizen is raised to be able to work at the mines. Those who are not able to do so, can either start their own business if they have the funds or work for someone who does.

    This is the reason why the digging was so fast that in a single day they were almost ready for Ayumi to start using earth maniption to build an aqueduct.

    Ayumi¡¯s n was to get flowing water from the river to the trading outpost, her ideas amounted to Hiraku¡¯s experience in nning modern house renovations were several steps ahead in the technology known in this world. But not even in her wildest dream she thought it was possible for things to be finished so soon.

    ¡°Young Dn, what you¡¯re telling me can¡¯t be the truth¡±

    ¡°It is, miners don¡¯t work all the time, there are some regtions in ce so that people can¡¯t spend more than six days at the mines in a row, nor can they work at the mines more than 12 days a month¡±

    ¡°But why is that?¡±

    ¡°What do you think would happen if everyone was able toe and go as they please? they would mine everything they could and then go to the next town to sell at a better price by themselves¡±

    ¡°That makes sense, they would take advantage of the safety measures the mayor provides but they wouldn¡¯t live at Ironwoods, they would just drain the mine without leaving a single coin¡±

    Dn nods to Hiraku¡¯s words

    ¡°Thank you for your time young Dn, here take this¡±

    .....

    Hiraku says as he hands him two copper coins.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I can¡¯t ept your generosity mister Hiraku, I¡¯m currently being employed by... I¡¯m under someone else¡¯s care and if people saw me taking money from you it could raise suspicions¡±

    ¡°If you mean Ryu it¡¯s all good, wee from the same vige and we know how careful he is, is it Ryu?¡±

    Ayumi joins the conversation prompting Dn to tell her, but he refuses

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t say¡±

    ¡°Good, because if you did I would tell him, now if you excuse us I need to speak a word with my husband¡±

    She mocks Dn showing her tongue

    ¡°Thank you for understanding miss, I¡¯ll take my leave now¡±

    Ayumi and Hiraku discuss the matter about Ryu¡¯s letter and decide to go to the tavern the next day leaving Bob in charge to guard the warehouse.

    The outskirts are the cheapest zones to live in because every so often there¡¯s attacks from beasts and many people go missing, but since Hiraku¡¯s trading outpost is located at the north side it can be considered a mid level zone. since it¡¯s also the closest to the mines and its a great spot for any kind of business.

    Dn is now headed to the widow¡¯s lodging. Its a huge barrack where women of all ages live. Even though it¡¯s provided by the mayor, it¡¯s not free to live in. It costs a mere copper coin per person and only women are allowed to live in there. Even though its near the southern side of town it¡¯s still kind of dangerous, but the mayor provides guards at all hours to keep them safe from beasts and bandits.

    The barrack was built due to the necessity of amodation for widows, since they lost their husbands they couldn¡¯t stay at the miners houses, a lonely woman living among miners would only create problems of all sorts. But in time it also became a safe spot for orphan girls who were all by themselves, and as long as they could pay for their stay everyone was fine with it. Even the widows were happy to cohabit with younger girls and sometimes they would even educate them about the basics.

    That kind of ce was where ire and Sera lived.

    ¡°ire sis, please don¡¯t do this! I¡¯ll be fine somehow¡±

    ¡°I already made up my mind and there¡¯s nothing you can do about it. There¡¯s no way we can make it through this winter together, but if I sell myself I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get at least ten silver coins, that should be enough for you to start your business. Who knows, maybe you¡¯ll be able to buy me back soon¡±

    ire said with a bitter smile, knowing that it was highly unlikely. Ironwoods was not the kind of ce where people would take pity on the poor, it was a dog eat dog ce and only the strongest made it.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for that bad man you would still be working at Rina¡¯s and we wouldn¡¯t be in this situation, I hate him!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that Sera, it¡¯s not his fault. He¡¯s a better cook than I am, besides, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it¡±

    The fact that her sister was willing to sacrifice her own freedom for her was eating Sera from the inside, she feltpletely powerless. One of the elders came walking hurriedly towards the girls who were hugging each other with tears on their eyes.

    ¡°ire, there¡¯s a handsome man looking for you outside. I told him men can¡¯t get inside but he insists he must speak with you¡±

    When Ryu spoke with ire back at the tavern she had already given up, she was so helpless she was actually willing to sell herself just to give her sister the chance to survive this winter. But what happened changed their situation so fast it was hard for her to believe it. Even Sera was astonished, she didn¡¯t trust this Ryu person in the slightest, but everything ire told her was true.

    At first, when they got inside the tavern Sera couldn¡¯t help but notice that there were two beautiful dressed with revealing clothes girls sitting next to Ryu, making her distrust him even more. But what could they do, even if he wanted to have his way with them they couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Perhaps it would even be a good thing, since at least they should getpensated. As long as it was enough to keep her sister from selling herself as a ve there would still be hope.

    But there was one thing that she couldn¡¯t understand. He knew that men were likely to notice her sister ire, since she was so beautiful. But she herself was rather thin, a bit on the ugly side and so sick that nobody would ever be interested in her as a woman.

    So, why would a sane man go so far just to get his hands on two poor girls with nothing to offer?

    She couldn¡¯t wrap her head around it making her feel uneasy. Now both sisters were sharing the same bedroom, the room size was adequate, even spacious, but there was a single bed and a night stand. Rina couldn¡¯t afford to furnish the rooms appropriately. For them, though, it seemed like a luxurious room, something they hadn¡¯t even dreamed about.

    ire was used to cleaning the rooms and she would do so everyday, but she has never stayed, not even a single night. Rina paid her as much as she could, but that was merely enough to save her earnings during the rest of the year to prepare for winter.

    ¡°So, what do you think he¡¯ll do with us sister?¡±

    Sera asked ire in whispers

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I even offered myself and he declined. Am I so ugly?¡±

    ire replied in the same tone as her sister

    ¡°No way! if you¡¯re ugly what about me? anyway, that¡¯s what scares me, the fact that she hasn¡¯t asked us for anything dirty. Maybe he wants to turn this ce into a brothel¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Sera, if he wants me I¡¯ll do it, but I won¡¯t let him touch you, I swear¡±

    They kept chatting for a while sitting on the bed and as soon as they lied down on the soft and mushy bed they dozed off.

    Next morning came sooner than ire would¡¯ve liked. She needed to wake up early to make sure everything was ready for Ryu to start cooking. As soon as she opened the door there was a brand new dress waiting for her. It¡¯s fabric was so soft and it was so thin that it felt as if it was made out of air, she had never touched something so valuable. She walked down the stairs and found out Ryu and Rina were already up and working.

    Ryu was an early bird, while Rina was used to working from dawn to dusk due to her debt.

    ¡°Good morning ire, I see you found your uniform¡±

    Ryu said

    ¡°is it for me?¡±

    ire asked awkwardly

    ¡°It is, Hurry up and wash yourself before putting it¡±

    ¡°But you need help, let me at least...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself, appearances matter in this line of work, you need to look at least as gorgeous as Rina here¡±

    ¡®He does want to turn this ce into a brothel after all, that¡¯s the only exnation why he hired so many beautiful girls and a guard¡¯ ire thought, but she kept it for herself. Since she already knew the ce she took a bucket of hot water and went to the storage room, it was somewhat covered from the cold and it was secluded and away from peeking eyes.

    Then she proceeded to undress and clean herself with an old rag. Only after drying herself she put on the dress, much to her dismay it was as revealing as those the other girls were wearing, to make matters even worse, it fit like a glove.

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39: Avoid Bar fights, please! part

    ¡°No, no, no! This can¡¯t be possible!¡±

    Madame Bianca was throwing a tantrum.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you do, I don¡¯t care how you do it, you must take out that filthy ce before winter ends or I¡¯ll have someone kill you¡±

    ¡°With all due respect madame, it¡¯s just not possible. They are beyond paranoid, they read all of my movements and now I¡¯m even afraid they mighte for me¡±

    Thomas, the pig faced merchant, replied meekly.

    ¡°Did I not pay enough to get the job done? are you telling me I made a wrong decision by choosing you to make it happen? You know the stakes, so make it happen now!¡±

    ¡°But, madame, you¡¯re missing the point. I think they already knows about our association¡±

    .....

    ¡°What makes you say that?¡±

    Thomas cleared his throat before answering.

    ¡°Even tough there¡¯s still time before the freeze they¡¯re already trying to secure a food supplier, I made the numbers and they should have enough tost for almost the entire winter. Why would someone bother buying any more food if they know it¡¯ll spoil anyways? it¡¯s to show us that they know about our ns and they¡¯re supporting us¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying they are going to help us to produce famine? that¡¯s preposterous! what does he get out of it? nothing, so it¡¯s impossible¡±

    Madame Bianca is getting angrier by the second, she can¡¯t stand ipetence and when she associated with Thomas she thought he was the most capable man in town, but so far he¡¯s been disappointing her time after time.

    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re connected with a noble house and we haven¡¯t heard about it yet¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even mention it, that¡¯s impossible... and even if it were true it would be in our best interest to y dumb¡±

    Madame Bianca scoffed at Thomas

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you talk with those Hi... Heerakoo is it? with those guys who came with them, perhaps they can convince the silver goddess to sell us the tavern¡±

    ¡°That would be impossible, we have one of them staying at the brothel and he has a loose mouth. He really hates that Ryu guy, the new cook at the tavern, it¡¯s almost all he talks about. It¡¯s true that they parted way enemies and now are business rivals¡±

    That made her think of a possibility, something that could help them aplish their goal without getting her own hands dirty.

    Since Ryu took over the tavern the brothel waspletely empty at lunch and dinner hours, as in absolutely devoid of people, making the girls quarrel over even the worst clients. The only upside was that they shut down the inn, so they still got enough money from the night activities, but even if she had no clients at all she already had enough money to live a long life at the big city.

    She didn¡¯t need any more cash, what she wanted was political influence and a high position in society. For that reason she had been associating with many nobles throughout the years providing them with top quality ves for any kind of physicalbor, but despite her efforts, years passed by and all the promises they made her were nothing but shallow words.

    Now that she was getting too old for marrying she decided to lower her expectations and associated with a lowly baron who would marry one of his sons with her, as long as she could provide enough wealth to be worth the trouble and the social mockery of marrying an old hag that started as a prostitute and fucked her way up in society.

    In order to live up to her end of the bargain she needed to provide the biggest load of ves she had ever put together, onest time, that¡¯s all she needed. She can¡¯t just sabotage people directly, because if she did so they would use her of conspiring, she needed to enve as many people as she could and at the same time appear to be the heroin that saved the town.

    For years she had been preparing for this moment, but now everything was going downhill due to this country bumpkins that appeared on her doorstep.

    ¡°Since they¡¯re rivals, the only thing we need to do is support one side and let them destroy the other one¡±

    Madame Bianca said with an evil grin painted on her face.

    ¡°Then I better hurry, I was told by my informants that the silver goddess asked Heeraakoo, heera- those pesky guys, for a meeting¡±

    Thomas stood up and left the room, leaving madame Bianca seeping wine from a crystal clear ss carelessly.

    At the same time at the tavern things were getting messy.

    ¡°No, you¡¯re doing it wrong! you need to do it a bit harder!¡±

    Ryu told ire from behind while grabbing her hair, as the counter she was leaning on knocked on the wall over and over due to the repetitive movement.

    ¡°Is it better like this? mmmhm¡±

    ire replied moaning

    ¡°Yes, keep going, do it faster, faster!¡±

    Ryu eximed in a loud voice. ire was already giving her best, sweat ran through her forehead but she didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Does it feel good?¡±

    Ryu asked

    ¡°Yes, yes! it does!¡±

    She said panting

    ¡°Congrattions ire, that was great!¡±

    Ryu said after using his analyze skill to confirm the quality of the dough ire just kneaded.

    ¡°It was all thanks to you mister Ryu¡±

    ¡°I said it already, drop the mister or people will start to suspect I¡¯m the one running the business. Where¡¯s Helena with the hair band I asked?¡±

    Ryu said tapping his foot on the floor.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, I can make due without a hair band¡±

    ¡°No, you can¡¯t get your hair dirty with flour and I won¡¯t be able to hold your hair everytime you knead the dough¡±

    Rina, who heard everything from the beginning poked her head through the door.

    ¡°Man! I¡¯m so disappointed! I thought you were doing the dirty... Come in Helena, it¡¯s safe¡±

    Helena walks in pushing past Rina making her stumble forward.

    ¡°What were you two doing? Rina wouldn¡¯t let mee in and I heard some weird noises¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, it was all inside Rina¡¯s mind. I see you brought the hair band, finally! put it on ire, this will keep you from dirtying your hair¡±

    ¡°I could just cut it, it would be less trouble, I can¡¯t ept something so valuable¡±

    ire says embarrassed

    ¡°Nonsense! every girl working in here must look at her best at all times!¡±

    ire took the hair band and tied it on her hair making a pony tail, her long blond hair falls down to her waist even when tied up making Ryu fall in a short daze.

    ¡°If that¡¯s everything I¡¯ll go tend some tables¡±

    Helena blurted out

    ¡°Actually no, I¡¯m going to need your help after closing time so please make some time.¡±

    Ryu said

    ¡°You¡¯re overwoking me Ryu! I need to sleep too!¡±

    Sheined and quickly left the room before Ryu could reply.

    Meanwhile ire started to make another batch of dough, it took her much longer than Ryu to make a good quality product, and she had to run it through Ryu every so often to get his approval. But sooner orter she would learn how to bake and cook like Ryu does and that kept her hopes up even in the face of multiple failures.

    Most of the time Ryu would just ask her to peel potatoes or slice vegetables, but even so, she felt she was learning so much she couldn¡¯t keep her excitement.

    Time passed and before she could realize it, it was already closing time. She went to her bedroom as quick as she could to tell her sister everything about her day. Sera was waiting for her still awake, she was bored because it only took her about an hour to tidy up the room and organize what little belongings they had, and the rest of the day she waspletely unupied.

    At the barracks at least she had people to talk to, and sometimes elder women would ask for her help in exchange for food or stuff they didn¡¯t need anymore.

    But now she feltpletely useless, there wasn¡¯t much she could do during the winter anyways, her health condition would get a lot worse during cold days. Sometimes it was so bad she couldn¡¯t even get out of bed and her body ached so much that she couldn¡¯t sleep either.

    Just by the time they were about to go to sleep a knock on the door made them jerk in surprise.

    ¡®I knew it, now Ryu is banging on our door because he wants to take advantage of us, but I won¡¯t let him touch Sera, I¡¯ll do whatever I have to¡¯

    ire opened the door and she wasn¡¯t surprised to see Ryu waiting outside.

    ¡°May Ie in?¡±

    Ryu whispered, making ire realize that whatever he wanted, he needed it to be a secret. This thought gave her some hope that in case he wanted to try anything with her sister she could scream and foil his dirty ns. Just before she could start undressing herself again Ryu stopped her hand.

    ¡°What are you doing ire? please stop¡±

    He hissed in a low yet audible voice. After Ryu came in, Helena followed him inside and closed the door behind her. He had a bag on his hand and Helena was holding a y bottle.

    ¡°What can I do for you sir?¡±

    ire said sheepishly.

    ¡°Actually, we¡¯re here for your sister¡±

    Helena giggled thinking on what Ryu told her when they were outside the door, he told her that If a man was to knock on her door thatte, ire would surely think it was a booty call

    When ire heard that they came to see her sister, the worst possible scenarios besieged her mind, but the fact that they were being so polite calmed her down a bit.

    ¡°Hi Sera, we¡¯re here to help you, but before we continue I need you two to swear that whatever happens will be kept a secret, no matter what¡±

    Ryu said, still whispering. Both ire and Sera were so surprised they couldn¡¯t find any words, so they just nodded instead.

    .....

    ¡°We don¡¯t know yet what¡¯s wrong with you, but we may be able to help. I don¡¯t want to give you false hopes but we¡¯ll do the best we can to help you. I need you to sit on the bed to allow us to get a closer look, also, you may feel a slight difort when I look at you¡±

    Sera did as she was told and Ryu leaned forward and used considerate on her.

    Sera 16/85 (starving)

    Ever since they came into town Ryu avoided using considerate on people, because even tough most people didn¡¯t notice whenever he used his skill, Luke was somehow able to notice it. Luke also told him that he feels uneasy whenever he did, that¡¯s why Ryu prepared Sera beforehand.

    ¡°Helena, I think I know what¡¯s wrong with her, but before I do anything, you should give it a try¡±

    Helena ced her hands on Sera¡¯s back and used her healing skill. But when Ryu used his considerate skill on Sera again, nothing had changed.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my sister? please tell me mister Ryu!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok sister, we don¡¯t have enough to pay for the treatment anyways¡±

    Sera said with a saddened face, doing her best to keep the tears from flowing.

    ire begged as she grabbed Ryu¡¯s shirt tightly.

    ¡°Please, give us some space ire!¡±

    Helena huffed, but ire was so desperate she couldn¡¯t let go of Ryu.

    ¡°Please help her, I¡¯ll do whatever you ask of me, anything, I¡¯ll be your mistress, your ve, anything but please help her!¡±

    ire was starting to raise her voice, so Ryu put his hand on her mouth to shut her.

    ¡°First, I¡¯m doing this for Sera, so she will be the one paying. But she will only have to pay if I manage to cure her, so if she¡¯s doesn¡¯t get better you won¡¯t have to pay a single copper. And second, please stop it ire or Helena will think badly of me¡±

    Ryu grumbled, and he only let go of ire once she calmed herself down.

    ¡°Helena, since your help here is no longer needed I¡¯ll have to ask you to get out since it¡¯s a little crowded in here¡±

    Helena handed Ryu the y bottle and went to her room obediently. She wasn¡¯t sure what was Ryu going to do, but at least she knew that he wasn¡¯t the kind of man that would take advantage of people in need, or at least she hoped so. But she was so tired anyway that she just went to sleep without caring for the world.

    ¡°Please take off your dress Sera, I¡¯m not trying to pull anything crazy it¡¯s just to examine you¡±

    Contrary to what both sisters thought, he was beingpletely honest about it. What he didn¡¯t know though was that in this world underwear was not usual for people, the closest thing that could be found were corsets and only noble women wore them.

    Both sisters thought that it was Ryu¡¯s way to ask for payment upfront, nevertheless, Sera started undressing anyway. Her blond hair looked like straw, theplete opposite of her sister¡¯s silky hair. Her ribs stood out and her abdomen was almost non existent. Her arms and legs were thin as branches. In summary, she was all skin and bones.

    The sight shocked Ryu and re alike. Despite being sisters, ire would work long hours and only went to the barracks to sleep, leaving Sera alone most of the time. Whenever her sister was out, Sera would save every coin instead of spending it on food and only ate when ire brought leftovers from work. Yet Ryu had an hypothesis he wanted to put to test.

    ¡°Good news is you¡¯ll get better, bad news is that the treatment willst for the rest of your life¡±

    Ryu managed to say

    ¡°What is it doctor? is it expensive?¡±

    Sera asked, without a single drop of blood on her body to spare for blushing for being naked. Without her clothes on she looked more like an undead than a human being.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a doctor, and yes, it can be expensive¡±

    Ryu put the bag on Sera¡¯s hands.

    ¡°You need to eat as many of these croquettes as you can, whenever you can, but do it slowly since they¡¯ll make you thirsty. ire bring some water please¡±

    As soon as Ryu used his considerate skill on Sera he knew the situation, but he needed to perform a body check to keep the appearance that he noticed after seeing it with his own eyes.

    The most important thing was that, thanks to Helena¡¯s failed healing attempt, he figured out something important. Whenever a person is healed, be it with medicine or Helena¡¯s skill, it consumes part of their stamina making them feel tired. If theycked stamina, their bodies wouldn¡¯t be able to recover health points.

    When he first met hispanions he thought they were all a bunch ofzy people, when actually it was that theycked the stamina needed to move properly. Even when they had enough rest they would get tired soon because their bodies didn¡¯t have enough energy to replenish their stamina. The first clue to this was that Anne was the one in the best condition and the only one able to walk and move properly and both Ayumi and Helena were theziest among them.

    Anne used to walk long distances and gather berries and food, thus keeping her body in a somewhat good condition. But both Anne and Ayumi spent too much mana and without proper nourishment their bodies couldn¡¯t take the burden and needed to rest for longer periods.

    ire came back from the kitchen with a jug of water and a wooden mug and put it in the night table. Sera took it as her queue to eat a croquette.

    Ryu knew from watching Mochi that the croquettes were an excellent source of energy. The same cat that would eat a lot of meat, could only nibble on a few croquettes before getting stuffed.

    With Sera it was the same, but her body was in such condition that she couldn¡¯t force herself to eat more than one.

    ¡°Was that all? will she be ok?¡±

    ire pleaded

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet, I¡¯ll need to examine Sera daily if that¡¯s ok with both of you, I can¡¯t do it alone or I¡¯d be killed on the spot. I need someone to bear witness that I¡¯m only doing what¡¯s necessary for your sister to recover properly. About the treatment, I told you it was a treatment that you would need to take for life because you were starving and you will need to keep yourself well fed for the rest of your life. But, if my suspicions are correct, there¡¯s something else and to be sure I¡¯ll need to examine you until you get back on good health.

    Before I leave I need to make sure you understand this, you can¡¯t skip a meal and you need to bring that bag with you at all hours. Whenever you feel like you could eat a croquette you need to do so right away and when you run out of them just ask me for more. For now you¡¯ll remain in bed until I say so and every night before sleeping you¡¯ll take a few drops of the content in the sk. That¡¯s a powerful medicine but it will make you sleep within seconds so be careful. If you don¡¯t follow my instructions I won¡¯t help you anymore, is that clear?¡±

    ire kept her hand covering her mouth wide open ever since Sera undressed and only managed to blurt out a few words of thank you.

    If Ryu¡¯s theory is correct the reason behind Sera¡¯s condition is not just that she skipped a few meals, ording to ire her sister got worse suddenly. The only exnation was that Sera was either a mage or a priest and spent her mana without noticing it. Without someone¡¯s help, even if she ate three meals a day it wouldn¡¯t have been enough to keep her healthy, since it was her own power the reason behind her sickness.

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40: Avoid bar fights, please! part

    Today the tavern was full as usual, it¡¯s been a week since Ryu took charge and things have been going better than anyone could have expected. Most people were d to have a ce to hang around and make a bit of cash doing quests now that the mines were closed. There were others that came to the tavern to see the stunning beauties working there, and there were even some of the merchants that went to the tavern exclusively to eat Ryu¡¯s cooking. But today there were two tables put together filled with beer and the best snacks the silver goddess tavern had to offer.

    The heroes were finally able to reunite with the excuse of meeting to discuss business. The only thing Ryu did was give Hiraku a piece of paper with a list of supplies he wanted to acquire, once he read it Hiraku nodded and that was the end of the business discussion.

    They felt as if they had been separated for a very long time and so many things happened that they felt the need to gather and have a good time.

    ¡°Drink! drink! drink!¡±

    Luke eximed cheering Bob to finish his drink in one go. Ayumi was busy getting stuffed on Ryu¡¯s cooking and Hiraku wasughing to his heart¡¯s content. Since Ryu was the one making the snacks he wasing and going from the kitchen.

    ¡°Ryu, I need to know what exactly did you do to convince the girls to wear that dress? I never thought something like that was possible¡±

    Ayumi asked with her mouth still full of fries, but instead of Ryu, Anne replied excitedly.

    .....

    ¡°Actually I don¡¯t mind wearing clothes like this, this dress is superfy and the design is lovely! It made me so happy to finally have some nice clothes¡±

    Luke couldn¡¯t take his eyes off of Anne, when she noticed it she got back to her usual cold re making Luke flinch.

    ¡°You say that, but even though I made this dress myself, I¡¯m not ustomed to wearing something so revealing. And because of my... figure... it looks perverted. Men won¡¯t stop staring at my cleavage, I can¡¯t remember thest time someone looked at my face while asking for their food¡±

    Helena said shyly, trying to cover her bosom to no avail.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that Helena, you look so pretty¡±

    Said Ryu jokingly staring nkly at Helena¡¯s chest, making her blush and the othersugh wholeheartedly.

    ire was doing her best to tend to the tables, but since both Anne and Helena were having fun with their friends instead of helping, it proved to be an impossible task. The ce was so crowded and they were so understaffed that even Dn had to serve food, making the old miners frown when they noticed they weren¡¯t being served by one of the tavern¡¯s beauties as they expected.

    Rina was so focused serving drinks that she didn¡¯t notice when a man she knew all too well walked in through the door. Even though she hated his guts, since he was an ¡®outstanding¡¯ citizen and he had done nothing illegal she couldn¡¯t ban him from the tavern. But every time Thomas came to the bar she would do her best to serve himst and sometimes even making small mistakes like serving him uncooked food or pouring a beer on hisp. These were, of course, honest mistakes that she identally made on purpose to make him understand that his presence was not wee at the tavern.

    Thomas sat on a table at the corner of the room just like any client and asked for his beer to be served on the table. Instead of joining the joyousughter of everyone around him, he just stared at Hiraku¡¯s table trying to eavesdrop on anything that could be useful.

    Thomas was desperate to take the tavern out of business before winter ended, but no matter who he sent to mess things up, they either came back covered in bruises or iming to be in love with the silver goddess.

    Hisst resort was to side with Hiraku¡¯s business betting on the alleged rivalry between the two groups. But not matter what, all he saw was just a group of friends hanging together, they didn¡¯t even seem to be discussing business.

    He knew Luke and Bob since he saw them at the brothel every time he went there to speak with madame Bianca, but the rest were a mystery to him.

    Ryu seemedpletely harmless, not only he was a wimp but also he seemed to be in a low position in the group since he had to stand up every so often to serve them food. Helena looked like a gentle big sister to the group, with a kind smile always painted on her pretty face, but he didn¡¯t spend much time looking at her face anyways.

    Even though he knew it was Ryu who made the bet, Thomas suspected that it was under Anne¡¯smand. She was tall, with a slender yet curvy figure and her silvery hair was so charming it earned her the nickname silver goddess. She must be the one behind everything since, not only she proved to be quite strong in the battlefield, but also she saved many lives that day with a mysterious medicine. She was powerful, resourceful and most important of all, she was single. Some could argue that being single doesn¡¯t mean anything, but Thomas knew from experience that if a man wanted a woman they would do anything in their power to get her, so that meant that no one was more resourceful nor more powerful than her.

    If only he was ten years younger he would have seduced her, but now even that poor barmaid was able to get out of his clutches.

    When the food came to his table, Thomas made a disgusted expression. It was a simple stew and a measly sd, he stirred the soup with the spoon as if he was looking at one of the uncooked dishes Rina would serve him every time he came to the tavern.

    Only this time she didn¡¯t even notice his presence.

    Usually he wouldn¡¯t even try the food since it may even be contaminated, and even if it wasn¡¯t, his experienced pte was not ustomed to peasant¡¯s food. But the aroma that came out of his bowl with every movement of his spoon woke up his stomach who urged him to try a bite.

    Every cell in his body was drooling to eat, the more he resisted, the more he wanted to try it.

    His trembling hand held on the spoon and slowly put it in his mouth with a fearful expression on his face, as if he was going to eat a spoonful of hot charcoal. What he expected to be the dull vor of the random mix of ¡®whatever there is in the kitchen¡¯ turned out to be the most delicious meal he has ever tasted.

    Meat would melt in his mouth as if it was made of clouds and the vegetables were soaked in the juicy vors of the soup. Every single ingredient had a voice of its own in what seemed to be a celestial choir of angels driving his senses into oblivion.

    When he finally snapped out of it there was no more food on his table. Asking for seconds would be improper for someone of his social standing, but before he could notice it he was already calling ire to his table.

    ¡°Is there something wrong mister Thomas?¡±

    ¡°Of course there is, this food was almost edible, but I¡¯m afraid I might get an upset stomach. Why are they eating different food? I wanted to try that¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, that¡¯s not possible¡±

    ¡°And why would that be?¡±

    Thomas was starting to lose his temper,pletely forgetting the actual reason why he even came to the tavern.

    ¡°Because only the cook knows the recipe, and as you can see he is currently busy¡±

    Just when he was about to make a scene, a loud bang drew his attention to the table where the heroes were drinking.

    ¡°I dare you to say that again, you bitch!¡±

    Luke mmed his hand on the table and everyone went silent.

    ¡°I said it, you¡¯re just a yboy whopletely forgot about his duties to hisrades¡±

    Anne shrugged, she was just stating a fact and didn¡¯t mean to offend Luke, that was just a bonus.

    ¡°How dare you call the silver goddess a bitch!¡±

    Dn popped out of nowhere, but he was quickly sent out flying to the table next door, Luke swatted him like a fly, but everyone else kept quiet seeing the scene unfolding in front of their eyes.

    ¡°At first I thought you rejected me because you were having trouble adapting, but then you started moving your ass in front of Ryu seducing him, don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice! and now you¡¯re building yourself a male harem. How low you¡¯ve fallen¡±

    Luke sneered, causing Anne to blush from embarrassment and anger at the same time.

    ¡°I refused you because I didn¡¯t like you in the slightest, you are as handsome as you are devious. I¡¯m so thankful you showed your true colors or else I might have ended with a self entitled bastard like you. As for my personal life, it¡¯s none of your concern¡±

    ¡°Luke, I think you overstayed your wee in this ce, you should go now¡±

    Ryu attempted to calm things getting Luke out of Anne¡¯s sight, but Luke wasn¡¯t going to leave peacefully.

    ¡°You imbecile, it¡¯s all your fault, everything! If it wasn¡¯t for you I would¡¯ve been with Anne and the group wouldn¡¯t have separated. You think you¡¯re a big shot ying the boss, but you¡¯re just an overrated cook, we all know who really owns the ce¡±

    Ryu remained calm, but Bob couldn¡¯t stand seeing Luke insult Ryu, he was his friend and he still hasn¡¯t apologized for what he said back then. Bob¡¯s heart felt heavy every time he remembered the things he said to Ryu after the massacre at the hill, and this led him to try to appease Luke by putting his hand on Luke¡¯s shoulder.

    When Luke felt Bob¡¯s hand he shook it off turning the table upside down, Anne was so mad she punched Luke on the face causing him to bleed. Helena and Ayumi took cover behind the bar while Anne and Luke started a fist fight that looked like a martial arts disy.

    None of them actually knew what they were doing, but their stats made them faster and stronger, just having enhanced reflexes allowed them to fight like professionals.

    Except they didn¡¯t know what was going on their surroundings.

    When Dn stood up he tried to help Anne, but he was too weak and too slow to even get close so he did the only thing he could. He grabbed a chair and threw it at Luke, but he dodged it with cat like reflexes causing the chair to hit one of the miners nearby.

    Everyone joined the fight without knowing what they were even fighting for, lots of drunk miners and only a few girls led to an all out brawl. Violence spread like a wild fire and even Rina joined the fray.

    Rina punched a guy who was standing on a table directly on the nuts, he kicked another who had a chair on his hands straight into the family jewels and then he kneed a guy¡¯s balls who was leaning on the bar trying to reach for the beer.

    She had developed her own fighting style after tending the bar for so long, it was so brutal that miners twice her size would cower in fear whenever she got angry, and she wasn¡¯t scared to use her discipline to keep her tavern from suffering any more losses.

    Helena and Ayumi were both ying dodgeball with the many mugs and bowls being thrown near where they were standing.

    Hiraku was the only calm person on the whole tavern, he was still sitting at his chair making the minimal movements required to dodge anything that came at him while sipping on his beer. When someone was about to fall on him he stood up and walked a couple steps, still sipping his beer.

    Meanwhile Anne and Luke were giving it all in a skirmish that could¡¯vested forever since they weren¡¯t taking any damage. Luke would block every kick and Anne was so quick to dodge that Luke was helpless.

    Thomas crouched behind a table not wanting to miss a moment of the fight, when he noticed something.

    There was a guy on the floor, a puddle of blood had formed beneath his head, he wasn¡¯t moving. It was the cook, he saw the exact moment when he was hit by the chair Luke dodged, Ryu was so unlucky that he received it with the back of his head and soon after he lost his consciousness.

    Everyone was so focused on the fight that no one noticed this but him.

    And evil grin appeared on Thomas face, he might have just solved every problem without even lifting a finger. He just had to make sure that Ryu dies and everything he ever wished for would be true.

    As soon as Ryu dies, no one would be able to cook the food that kept the tavern afloat. They will soon be forced to close the tavern for good and the only ce with enough food stored would be madame Bianca¡¯s brothel. As soon as the tavern closes its doors madame Bianca would buy the ce and eventually raise the prices, forcing people to sell themselves into very just to see another winter.

    This would not only allow her to get many ves at a bargain price, but also she would be seen as the town¡¯s savior, since she¡¯s willing to feed the poor people who would die a horrible death otherwise.

    Thomas was already thinking on different ways to spend the money he would get after this and the first thing that came to his mind was buying Helena for himself.

    He wouldn¡¯t dream of acquiring the silver goddess, since madame Bianca already had ns for her, but the busty one would do a great work warming his bed.

    Every passing second got him closer to his goal as the puddle of blood grew in size, when suddenly, a skinny girl dressed in rags that appeared out of nowhere fell on the floor right next to Ryu.

    She was crying but she couldn¡¯t muster the strength to scream, she did the best she could to cover Ryu with her body from the stuff being thrown all over the ce. She yelped in pain every time she was hit, but wouldn¡¯t let go of him. She even attempted to drag him out of harm¡¯s way, but she was too weak to do anything.

    It was Sera, who after hearing the loud noisesing from the tavern, walked downstairs only to see the violent encounter. Everyone was so drunk they couldn¡¯t care less if someone got hurt. Her eyes scanned the whole tavern to see if her sister was safe, but what she saw instead shook her to the core.

    Ryu was dying in front of everyone and nobody helped him.

    He was the only person besides her sister ire who had ever helped her out of the kindness of his heart. Not only did he save her life without asking for anything, he also treated her with respect. That was something unthinkable in this town where everyone would strive to survive and care only for themselves.

    She had never thought of having a boyfriend before, but since Ryu treated her, she thought about him the whole day. Even though only a couple days passed, she had so much free time that she already developed feelings for him.

    She wasn¡¯t so optimistic to ever think that Ryu would look at her as a woman, but she wanted to at least let him know her feelings.

    When she saw him covered in his own blood her mind stopped working, all she wanted was to keep him safe, she walked as fast as she could, once she got close to him she endured the pain of being hit over and over with the hopes that the fight would end soon.

    But Thomas thought differently. He couldn¡¯t raise a hand against Ryu because it was known that he was under the protection of the silver goddess. But that filthy girl was another thing entirely, he could just say that he tried to save Ryu¡¯s life from a beggar that wanted to kill him after robbing him.

    He was just about to draw his dagger to stab the girl when a loud scream stopped everyone on the spot.

    ¡°The cook is dying!¡±

    Rina yelled to the top of her lungs. Anne and Luke stopped their fight and Helena ran to heal Ryu, but Anne was faster. She popped the cap of a y bottle and poured the liquid into Ryu¡¯s mouth.

    .....

    After that Rina stood on a chair and asked everyone to leave the ce, without even caring if they paid for their drinks. Only Ryu¡¯s friends remained with a grim expression marked on their faces.

    Hiraku tried to say something but Anne stopped him.

    But not everything was lost for Thomas, he could stillnd the killing blow just not in the way he thought at first.

    ¡°He was hit by the chair the young man behind the silver goddess threw¡±

    Thomas said as he left the ce, now, even if Ryu survives, at least he knew for sure that both groups would be enemies, allowing madame Bianca to back up Hiraku¡¯s group in exchange for acquiring the tavern.

    Soon after, Ayumi, Bob, Luke and Hiraku left the tavern and walked back to their ce in absolute silence.

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41: Bring your coat, please! part

    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t he wake up?¡±

    Anne asked pleading with her eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s all my fault, I wanted to hit Luke and I didn¡¯t even notice I hit the boss by mistake¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault Dn, now both of you, if you¡¯re not going to be quiet I¡¯ll ask you to leave me alone so I can focus¡±

    Everyone at the Silver goddess tavern was on the first floor watching Helena while she was trying to heal Ryu. The potion Anne gave him was not enough and heal turned out to be useless. ire and Sera were hugging each other crying silently, while Dn was so embarrassed that he was sitting in the corner. They all seemed to be worried about Ryu, his bleeding stopped but after two hours he still hasn¡¯t woken up.

    ¡°Why are you so calm Rina!? is it because if Ryu dies you¡¯ll win the bet and keep the tavern? how can you be so cold!¡±

    Anne didn¡¯t know what to do, the only thing that would calm her was to vent her frustration on someone. She thought that maybe Rina was somehow relieved, since she was the only one who kept busy.

    .....

    Instead of standing next to Ryu, she was cleaning the tavern and picking up the pieces of furniture that were left lying on the ground.

    What Anne failed to notice was that Rina, just like everybody else, was on the verge of tears.

    The mood on the tavern was so gloomy that it looked just like a funeral.

    ¡°What if we give him more medicine?¡±

    Dn asked

    ¡°Impossible, that was thest bottle we had left¡±

    Anne shook her head.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you make more?¡±

    ¡°I have some medicine left!¡±

    Sera was so excited she almost yelled.

    ¡°That won¡¯t work, I don¡¯t know if what Ryu gave to you was the same medicine he gave us before¡±

    Helena replied, her head was spinning thinking on the same thing everyone else was thinking ¡®what can I possibly do to help Ryu?¡¯.

    They all had different reasons to be grateful to him and they were worried sick for him, still, there was nothing they could do.

    Helena knew that, because she was a priest ss, that Anne expected her to somehow save Ryu. but she wasn¡¯t a medic, before they arrived she was even scared of blood.

    She tried to focus desperately, but her mana wasn¡¯t even channeling. Whenever she healed someone she could feel a portion of the pain of that person, not enough to suffer, but it allowed her to know what was wrong in the other person. After activating her skill she would see a bright lighting out from her hands and into the injured person, followed by a stream of warm pleasure apanied by the relief she felt herself after dissipating the pain.

    Now the only thing she could feel was hunger.

    ¡°I know this may sound weird, but I¡¯m hungry¡±

    Helena said, a rainbow of emotions filled Anne when she heard that, the situation was so dire and yet Helena had the guts to ask for food, she didn¡¯t know wether tough or to cry.

    ¡°I¡¯m ahead of you, while you were all moping and sitting in your butts, I cleaned the ce and heated up some stew¡±

    Rina said prideful as she poured a bowl of hot soup and handed it to Helena, but when she received it she realized that she couldn¡¯t eat. And then it hit her.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not my hunger what I¡¯m feeling but Ryu¡¯s!¡±

    She said excitedly as she tried to spoon feed him, but he was still unconscious and was unable to eat. Everyone was intrigued watching the scene of Helena making a mess with the food while sloppily trying to feed Ryu.

    Even if they wanted to protest, there was nothing of help they could say, so they just kept quiet and watched until the bowl was empty and the soup was everywhere except for Ryu¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°That¡¯s not going to work, maybe you need to pass it on using your mouth¡±

    Dn said, but before Helena could even give it a try, Anne brought a bowl and a funnel. After cing the funnel in his mouth she proceeded to, very carefully, pour the whole bowl of soup into Ryu¡¯s throat at once.

    Helena was still cing her hands over Ryu and she could feel the difort that Ryu was feeling, it felt horrible, but at the same time her mana was starting to flow inside Ryu heading straight into his head.

    Ryu started coughingpulsively and tried to stand up but fell right after, hitting his head again. It happened so fast that nobody could do anything to stop him from hurting himself, and everyone was so shocked but what they just saw.

    ¡°It seems that it worked, now his head is only a bit bruised, he just needs to rest¡±

    Helena dered after a sigh of relief, then she attempted to pick up Ryu by herself, when Dn saw this he quickly grabbed Ryu by his feet and helped carry him up to his room.

    Everyone was so tired that they went straight to their rooms, except for Helena who stayed at Ryu¡¯s room.

    ¡°You can go now Dn, I¡¯ll stay by Ryu¡¯s side until he wakes up¡±

    Helena nodded and Dn went to his bedroom.

    There were no windows on the room, it was quite spacious but it only had a bed, a night stand and a hanger. There was a pile of stuff on the corner, most of it were tools and materials, but on top of everything lied the obsidian knife Ryu crafted by hitting a shard of obsidian against a rock repeatedly.

    After seeing the mess Helena chuckled and looked at Ryu caressing his forehead ever so gently.

    ¡°You¡¯re such a hoarder, I hope this doesn¡¯t get out of hands¡±

    Helena has liked Ryu since the moment she met him. She had some past experiences in love affairs, but she never felt something so strong as what she felt whenever she looked at him.

    At first she was just attracted to him, it wasn¡¯t his appearance but his wits. He was handsome, but not as handsome as Luke was, but something on his face made her think that he was reliable. The first night they spent together, when they were forced to sleep in the same tent, she was ecstatic.

    She never slept with someone of the opposite sex. Back then, when she ¡®mistakenly¡¯ put her hands on Ryu¡¯s thigh she realized that she wouldn¡¯t be able to resist the temptation. She made her best effort to make it look like an ident, but she made sure to rub all the right ces trying to arouse Ryu, expecting that he would take the initiative, but he never did.

    Every night they spent together she tried over and over to seduce him, at first it was genuine attraction, but then it became the need to prove herself. It hurt her so bad that Anne got so close to Ryu after their ¡®escapade¡¯ that she couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. Her self esteem was hurt over and over.

    Now she had him all to herself, with the perfect excuse that she needed to take care of him, her silky dress slipped down through her body and fell on the floor.

    She got into Ryu¡¯s bedpletely naked with a naughty giggle and embraced him while he was asleep. She let her hand roam free, just like she used to do back at the settlement when they slept together.

    Helena was as kind and caring as she seemed to be but she was a woman too. Ryu was a bit on the thin side but his skin was smooth and he was fit too, he wasn¡¯t the muscr type, but on her mind he was just perfect. Her delicate fingers ran through his abdomen, but she wouldn¡¯t dare move her hand below.

    The situation was so perfect on Helena¡¯s mind she could barely hold the nose bleeding, her face flushed red and her breathing intensified. She was, indeed, desperate for body contact and ever since they came to Ironwoods she has slept alone.

    Time passed and she kept herself upied on Ryu¡¯s body, it was as if she was sculpting him on soft y with her bare fingers.

    Before she wanted to realize it, it was morning already and the sudden movement in the next room brought her back to her senses and she jumped out of the bed and got dressed in the blink of an eye.

    A knock on the doorter and she stood up and opened the door.

    ¡°How is Ryu doing?¡±

    Anne said with bags under her eyes, she couldn¡¯t sleep at all during the night because she was still worried about Ryu.

    ¡°He¡¯s fine, he¡¯s been sleeping the whole time, a part of me hoped he would wake up at dawn as always¡±

    Helena sighed disappointedly

    ¡°Is that drool on your your face!?¡±

    Anne looked at Helena with a disgusted expression.

    ¡°I may have fallen asleep a little¡±

    Helena said as she brushed off the saliva on her cheek. She was so focused on her touch that she failed to notice the stream running down her mouth, but at least she was d that no one will ever know the true reason.

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42: Bring your coat, please! part

    When ire and Rina woke up they hurried up to serve breakfast, Helena went downstairs while Anne stayed with Ryu. After all they¡¯ve been through they knew Helena had to be in top shape in case she needed to heal Ryu.

    Not even a single day has passed since Ryu was unconscious and everyone was already missing him. ire¡¯s cooking wasn¡¯t that good since she only had a couple days to learn from him. Nevertheless, it was way better than before since she never had someone to properly teach her the first thing about cooking and she just learned from experience.

    It was about noon when Ryu woke up, he had the weirdest dream where he was tied up and being tickled with feathers. Despite this, he feltpletely renewed and when he opened his eyes the first person he saw was Anne sitting besides him.

    ¡°Finally!¡±

    She said as she threw herself on top of Ryu and hugged him tightly.

    ¡°hey! calm down, you¡¯re stronger than me!¡±

    Ryu managed to growl while being asphyxiated by her tight embrace.

    .....

    When Ryu came downstairs everyone was there except for Dn, there was only one table in good condition and most of the chairs were broken too.

    ¡°Ryu, im d you¡¯re awake but you shoould be resting¡±

    Helena calmly grabbed his hands and took a closer look at him.

    ¡°Hey hey! the man is finally back on his own feet! I was about to start looking for another job!¡±

    Said Rina patting him on the side.

    Everyone took turns to greet him as if it had been a long time since theyst met, but Ryu was so hungry he couldn¡¯t think on anything else. When Rina served him breakfast he thought it was the most delicious meal he has ever had, he ate so fast it was impossible to miss the resemnce with Ayumi¡¯s table manners making Anne and Helena giggle.

    When ire noticed that Ryu was eating the food as soon as it was served, she was on cloud nine. Not because she fancied Ryu, which she did not despite being so grateful towards him, but because she felt honored that someone loved her cooking.

    ¡°Ryu, you should go to the mayor¡¯s house as soon as you get better¡±

    ire said after she finally snapped out of her moment of self realization.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you see he¡¯s still recovering? he can¡¯t go out, doctor¡¯s orders¡±

    Helena dered with her eyes closed.

    ¡°But it¡¯s about Dn, he felt so bad about what happened he was going to confess¡±

    ¡°Is that so bad that he needs to go right now?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly what¡¯s going to happen, but if the mayor finds him guilty he can go to prison or worse¡±

    Rina said, wondering how can they be so knowledgeable and yet ignore the simplest aspects of everyday life in town.

    Ryu didn¡¯t reply because he was busy stuffing his mouth with food and as soon as he finished his meal he got up and left the tavern without saying a word.

    The streets were so empty and everything was so calm it looked like a deserted town. The only noise that could be heard was Ryu¡¯s steps on the snow, it was past noon but ever since the miners came back from the mine they didn¡¯t have anything to do. That¡¯s the main reason why the tavern was always full, but Ryu didn¡¯t know this because he had been working from dawn to dusk because of the bet he made with Rina.

    Since he¡¯s been so busy, he didn¡¯t know his way in town, even though it was a small town, every building looked the same because they were covered in snow. An icy wind and a message indicating him that he just lost one health point were the sour reminder that he forgot to bring his coat. He headed back to the tavern but mid way he met with Rina who was out of breath and with an extra coat on her hands.

    ¡°Hey boss! you forgot your coat!¡±

    Ryu was shivering already and he was rubbing his arms quickly to try to get some warmth.

    ¡°You don¡¯t say¡±

    He scoffed and grabbed the coat from her hands.

    ¡°Why did youe instead of the girls?¡±

    Ryu asked

    ¡°Ehh! You hurt my feelings Ryu, I am a girl too, you know¡±

    Rina brushed an imaginary tear from her eye

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that, I meant why didn¡¯t theye?¡±

    ¡°Your wives were too tired fromst night, Helena stayed upte and Anne said she couldn¡¯t get enough sleep, so I volunteered myself. It¡¯s been months since I got the time to stroll through town and now that the tavern is closed I got all the time in the world¡±

    ¡°How many times do I need to tell you, they¡¯re not my wives!¡±

    ¡°So, are you saying you¡¯re single?¡±

    Rina inquired

    ¡°Well, yes...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a date then!¡±

    Rina grabbed Ryu¡¯s arm surrounding it in between of two warm and soft mounds of tender flesh, making Ryu thank the heavens for being alive.

    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s have a date¡±

    ¡°Wait, are you being serious right now?¡±

    Rina felt a void in her stomach when she heard Ryu say that. Up to that moment Ryu has been one of the very few men in town that never tried to woe her, she felt safe with him because of that, but if he was interested in her she may have to distance herself from him. But, can she afford to do that?

    Rina knew she lost the bet already, winter was the best season for her business, yet on the first few days Ryu made almost as much money than she did past seasons. She will lose the tavern to Ryu and still be indebted to him, she wasn¡¯t a naive girl so she knew she would end up a ve. But seeing the tavern flourish like that made her so happy, she had too many conflicting feelings and for once, she was out of words.

    ¡°Why not? You¡¯re single, I¡¯m single, and I don¡¯t remember thest time I dated¡±

    ¡®mainly because I don¡¯t have memories from my past¡¯ he thought.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say, I never thought of dating¡±

    ¡°Too bad, you can¡¯t reject me because it was your idea¡±

    Ryu chuckled as they kept walking arm in arm, but now Rina was so ufortable. She felt every movement on Ryu¡¯s arm brushing off her breasts with every step, but if she withdrew now it would be even more awkward.

    ¡°Our first stop will be the butcher shop, but I don¡¯t know the ce so lead the way miss Rina¡±

    Ryu said making an exaggerated cheesy movement making Rina realize he might as well be joking.

    ¡°Oh, I see you do know how to treat ady¡±

    They bothughed and the uneasiness on Rina¡¯s side dissipatedpletely.

    Once they got to the butcher shop, Rudd was in there too.

    ¡°Yo Rudd! what are you doing in here?¡±

    ¡°What a surprise Rina! I came to collect Bob¡¯s wolf furs, And you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on a date with Ryu!¡±

    Rina said sticking out the tongue in a mockingly manner. Only then Rudd noticed the presence of Ryu.

    ¡°We came to collect our furs too mister Rudd¡±

    After hunting most people would ask the butcher to do the dirty job, not only because it was a difficult job but also because he was so experienced that he never ruined the materials. He would skin the animals and take out their ws, fangs or tails depending on the species, but most importantly, he knew how to get the best cuts of meat in the best possible condition. If a hunter was overloaded, they sometimes would attempt to do it themselves on the field, but it was so wasteful that most of the time they just gave up on whatever they weren¡¯t able to bring back.

    ¡°I see you recovered well, that medicine sure is great¡±

    Rudd grunted. He didn¡¯t like Ryu one bit, not just because of the humiliation he suffered the day he met him, but also because he was in love with Rina and it took him one year to be as close as he is with her now. Yet, an outsider came and in less than a month he already got a date with her.

    ¡°Your products are ready Rudd! These are the best quality materials I¡¯ve seen in maybe thirty years! I¡¯ll offer you a great deal if you sell everything to me¡±

    Said a fat, yet muscr man as he came from a door behind the counter. When he saw the cook standing behind Rudd his expression shiftedpletely.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have your stuff, I lost it! now scram!¡±

    The butcher yelled at Ryu, but before he could reply Rudd said calmly

    ¡°Don¡¯t y games fatty, you know I¡¯m a hunter, you can¡¯t cheat your clients like that or I may have to turn you in¡±

    The fat man started sweating buckets and cleaned his forehead with a handkerchief.

    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding Rudd, you know how this is...¡±

    ¡°In that case you won¡¯t have a problem if I stay here to see that you pay them a fair price¡±

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43: Bring your coat, please! part

    Rudd examined Ryu¡¯s products and he made sure the butcher got it delivered to the tavern, since this time Ryu didn¡¯t want the money but the furs and fangs. Because of this the butcher was entitled to a part of the loot or a fair price, once Rudd finished negotiating with the butcher they left the store.

    ¡°Where are you heading now?¡±

    Rudd asked trying to act natural

    ¡°To the mayor¡¯s house, we need to sort something out¡±

    Ryu replied as he offered his arm to Rina, who took it without blinking since it was too cold for her revealing attire. She was wearing the tavern¡¯s uniform out of habit, and though it did provide proper instion it left too much skin exposed, if it wasn¡¯t for the fur coat she borrowed from Anne she would be frozen right now. The only problem was that Anne wascking where Rina had to spare, making her wish she asked Helena¡¯s coat instead.

    But Rudd misunderstood the situation, he froze on the spot and looked pale as a ghost. There was only one person capable of marrying a couple in the whole town, and that was the mayor. All his hopes of being together with Rina were destroyed that instant.

    ¡°Rina... you...¡±

    .....

    Was all he managed to say before Rina burst inughter.

    ¡°What!? No! hahaha, geez you¡¯re such a muscle head! We are not getting married¡±

    Rina exined to Rudd what was going on, making him sigh in relief.

    ¡°In that case, let me apany you. I can help you solve this and also get the chance to say hi to father¡±

    He was so relieved that Rina was not getting married he could even hug Ryu.

    When they got to the mayor¡¯s house the maid greeted them with respect and lead them to the office.

    ¡°Hi Kaya, how are things going?¡±

    ¡°Good evening young master, there¡¯s a young boy with your father but he should be able to see you anyway¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let Dn hear you, he¡¯s a bit sensitive over his age¡±

    Rudd chuckled as he got into the office.

    ¡°Good evening father¡±

    Rudd said in a polite manner with his back and puffing his chest out. He usually looks like a thug, but seeing him like that he really does look like the son of the most important person in town.

    ¡°Good evening Rudd, so you finally decided to honor me with your visit¡±

    The mayor scoffed at him.

    ¡°You know how it is, I keep busy this days. I see you¡¯re busy, should Ie back some other time? I came with visitors. Mister Ryu, miss Rina,e inside please.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense, have a seat please¡±

    Everyone sat down and Kaya retreated after bowing respectfully.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you came for the same reason mister Dn here did¡±

    Dn was standing in front of the mayor¡¯s desk, after he saw Ryu he couldn¡¯t hide his embarrassment and wished only for a quick death. The others instead were sitting on the couch since they were honored guests. The mayor couldn¡¯t deny that Ryu has provided wealth and prosperity to the town, and even in the face of danger his group managed to save many people.

    He wasn¡¯t like the rest who thought Ryu was a mere cook, He could tell there was something special about him, but no matter how much thought he put into it he couldn¡¯t put his finger on it.

    The only thing he was certain was that he must not underestimate him under any circumstances, which is why he decided to treat him with respect. He was even thinking on convicting Dn for his assault with the harshest punishment just to gain some of Ryu¡¯s favor.

    ¡°I think so¡±

    Ryu nodded.

    ¡°I wish to have Dn free of all charges¡±

    He continued.

    ¡°Are you sure? he confessed the assault and regrets it immensely. If you don¡¯t let him pay for his crime, how can he atone for what he did to you?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a crime at all, so he doesn¡¯t need to atone for anything. Everything that happened was a ruse to lure madame Bianca into a trap¡±

    Everyone in the room was astonished, even Dn, and the mayor didn¡¯t fail to notice it.

    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t take this the wrong way but mister Dn seems as surprised as I am about your statement, leading me to think that you¡¯re not telling the truth¡±

    The mayor argued.

    ¡°On the contrary, the fact that he didn¡¯t know doesn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t aplish his role. If you allow me to exin everything will be clear¡±

    The mayor nodded in silence recovering his usual poker face.

    ¡°As you surely know, madame Bianca is conspiring to enve a great number of citizens after causing a famine that will lead this town to copse¡±

    ¡°Those are some serious usations you¡¯re making! you can¡¯t possibly believe that one of our biggest benefactors could possibly...¡±

    The mayor started to lose his conviction with every word that came out of his mind until he remained in silence, which Ryu took it as his queue to continue.

    ¡°She¡¯s been selling ves for a long time, while iming that she¡¯s just trying to give them a better life. I understand why would someone would be desperate enough to sell themselves as ves, they may not get anypensation since ves don¡¯t have the right to hold any wealth but at least their families are paid enough to survive, and if they are lucky enough they can buy their loved ones back.

    Everyone seems to agree on this and I¡¯m not one to judge, but what she¡¯s been doing behind the scene is impoverishing the town enough for people to starve and be desperate. She is, in fact, twisting their arms into very, instead of helping the ones in need as she ims.

    There¡¯s plenty of evidence to all of her deeds, most of ites from her own ves, which she keeps working at the brothel. But, since that may not be enough for you to pass judgement we kept quiet about it¡±

    Everyone was so shocked to hear all this they remained inplete silence the whole time. Only the mayor nodded from time to time as if he was unraveling the mystery himself.

    ¡°She¡¯s been hoarding all the food and as soon as she notices that the stores are starting to get empty she just raises the prices and people fall into her trap. She doesn¡¯t need to get her own hands dirty, as long as she ims that she has a low amount of food and is forced to raise the price because of this, no one can argue with her.

    Even if the food spoils, it doesn¡¯t matter to her, because she¡¯ll get plenty of coin after selling the ves at bigger cities¡±

    ¡°What you¡¯re saying does make sense mister Ryu, but what does it all have to do with what happened at your tavern?¡±

    After everything Ryu said, even without proof, he couldn¡¯t deny that it was a possibility, because the town he¡¯s been working so hard to keep afloat has been struggling more and more every passing year.

    ¡°I made an agreement with Hiraku, all we needed was to start a fight at the tavern and leave me unconscious and madame Bianca would start backing him up to take us out of business. The only reason why Dn was surprised was because it was an agreement between me and Hiraku¡¯s group and nobody else knew, it had to be believable. Luke was supposed to beat me, but he and Anne got into a real fight before he could do it, so if anything I need to thank Dn¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s say you¡¯re right, why are you telling me all this? do you know that what you did can be considered a felony?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to believe my words, but if she does, it means that she¡¯s not interested in money but in controlling the town¡¯s supplies.

    All I ask is that, if madame Bianca associates with Hiraku and attempt to take us over, you allow us to raid her manor and recover the food she¡¯s been hoarding. I assure you that you won¡¯t have to take any action whatsoever.

    Not only that, I would only raid her ce if she ims that she ran out of food and starts raising the prices. So if I raid her ce and don¡¯t find anything it means that she¡¯s innocent and as long as I don¡¯t get caught there won¡¯t be an incident¡±

    Time flew by as everyone threw bits of information and they all tried to fit all the pieces together. The mayor was consternated to say the least, but he decided to not take any action against Ryu because if he was right, he was the only one with enough freedom to act on his own and maybe, just maybe the hopes of Ironwoods rested on his shoulders.

    Thest straw was when the mayor heard from Ryu that Luke had informed him that madame Bianca bribed the caravan so they didn¡¯te this year. He was so mad that he stood up and shook Ryu¡¯s hand without saying a word, dropping the hint that he was in, but he couldn¡¯t say it because it was against his ownw to conspire against a free person.

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44: Bring your coat, please! part

    Just when everything was settled and the mayor was about to ask Kaya to lead them outside, Rina got up clutching her hands.

    ¡°I want to forfeit the bet!¡±

    She said as she jumped up from the couch.

    ¡°Miss Rina, we¡¯re all tired, this is no time for jokes¡±

    The mayor replied condescendingly.

    ¡°I mean it! everyone knows I¡¯ve been saved many times. When my parents died and I was all by myself, you bought the tavern from me and allowed me to work in there to pay for their funeral, I know you did it to keep the other merchants from taking it over from me because you let me buy it back at the same price. Then Rudd helped me against Thomas thugs on several asions. for what you¡¯ve done for me I¡¯m truly grateful and I won¡¯t have enough life to pay you back for your kindness.

    But now it¡¯s be clear to me that I was being childish by attempting to keep the tavern as a memento when it was supposed to be a business. Seeing it thrive under Ryu¡¯s management opened my eyes and I¡¯ve never been as happy as I am today, but the truth is I took a loan and couldn¡¯t pay it.

    .....

    The bet with Ryu allowed me to sleep easy for the first time since I bought back the tavern and I¡¯m finally having fun.

    But it¡¯s time to take responsibility for my own actions.

    Ryu, you win, you can keep the tavern, and since I¡¯m don¡¯t have a way to repay you, it means I¡¯m your ve now¡±

    Rudd lowered his gaze and covered his eyes with his hand and even the mayor looked sad.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want this, you can¡¯t withdraw from the bet. Who knows maybe you¡¯ll win¡±

    Ryu replied

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like that Ryu, she¡¯s not asking you, she announced her loss, dered she can¡¯t pay back and offered a properpensation, all in front of the mayor of this town. Even if you wanted to refuse, you can¡¯t. You could sell Rina to someone willing to pay 3 gold coins if you want your money back, but I highly doubt someone will be as stupid as to pay that much. I¡¯m sorry¡±

    Meanwhile Rudd was inwardly thinking on different ways to gather enough money.

    ¡°Fine, guess I¡¯ll be responsible for you now. I¡¯ll squeeze the money out of your body if I have to¡±

    Ryu joked, but no oneughed and they walked out in silence.

    By the time they got outside it was already dark, winter season had shorter days, but they were inside the office so long that Ryu couldn¡¯t tell the time.

    Dn hurried back to the tavern, all the conspiration talk made him hungry, leaving Rina and Ryu alone.

    ¡°Why did you do it Rina?¡±

    Ryu asked her with a voice that sounded so serious it almost made her tremble.

    ¡°It was meant to be, I was going to lose anyway so...¡±

    ¡°Cut the crap Rina! You know what I mean!¡±

    Ryu raised his voice almost yelling.

    ¡°When you were lying on the floor bleeding, everyone thought I was relieved because it meant that I would win back the tavern if you died¡±

    She made a pause looking at Ryu straight in the eye.

    ¡°To tell the truth, I actually did think that. Their suspicions turned everyone against me for a moment, and for the first time I felt as if i didn¡¯t belong in there and I don¡¯t want to feel that way again. When you revealed madame Bianca¡¯s n and that you were trying to help this town, you sounded like a hero to me. Maybe you did it over greed, I know heroes aren¡¯t real, they¡¯re just made out stories to help people have some hope, but the people of Ironwoods are like my family and I¡¯ve seen many people struggling to survive or even perishing because they couldn¡¯t afford a measly bowl of soup. If you do it, if you save this town, what I did today would have a meaning... because I did it on my own volition¡±

    Since she was smaller than Ryu, she had to look up the whole time, and she kept her hands over her chest to cover herself from the cold wind that ran through the street.

    ¡°What a crappy first date we had...¡±

    Ryu sighed.

    ¡°Hey, the night is still young. Maybe we can continue our date elsewhere¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not fond of the idea of dating a ve. Now even if things went great, I wouldn¡¯t know if it¡¯s because you felt something or if it¡¯s because I¡¯m your master¡±

    ¡°Oh! so you think only because I¡¯m your ve now you¡¯ll get lucky tonight uh?¡±

    She ced her hands on her slim waist, faking an anger that was betrayed by her huge smile.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, take me to dinner and I¡¯ll think about it¡±

    Rina said in a coquettish manner.

    ¡°You do know that the only ce we can go now would be the brothel right?¡±

    The thought of going in madame Bianca¡¯s as customers made them giggle childishly, but they didn¡¯t want to go back to the tavern just yet and it was too cold to take a stroll.

    They headed up to the brothel, neither of them have ever been inside, just like madame Bianca has never set foot in the tavern, even before Ryu took charge of it.

    It was an adventure for both of them and even though they didn¡¯t have any ulterior motive than just having dinner, it felt as if they were doing something forbidden.

    When the hostess saw theme in she whispered something into a young girl that was nearby and then turned to Ryu.

    ¡°Wee mister client, how may I help you?¡±

    She said bowing politely.

    ¡°We need a table for two¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we don¡¯t have any tables avable¡±

    Her face remained professional, but he could sense there was something off.

    ¡°Then I¡¯d like to grab something to go, please¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be possible either mister client, I¡¯m afraid the kitchen is closed,e back some other day¡±

    The moment Rina got inside the brothel she felt uneasy, the adrenaline rushing through her body dissipated when she noticed the hostess attitude, and she pulled Ryu¡¯s arm looking up to him to convince him to leave the ce.

    But he wasn¡¯t a wimp like everyone thought, he was outraged. Rina thought it was because of her, that he didn¡¯t want to see her humiliated, but reality was different.

    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t care about her feelings, but nothing could stand in between Ryu and his food. He was starving so bad, if the hostess didn¡¯t let them in he might even bite her, just to get something in his stomach.

    Just when Ryu was going to insist and make a scene, a woman who looked mature but still attractive came in. She had a fake smile stuck in her face and she was adorned by jewelry, it was madame Bianca herself.

    ¡°What are you saying Mary? our ce is always open to our dear customers! You must be miss Rina, and this handsome man is...?¡±

    She scolded the hostess and greeted the couple.

    ¡°I¡¯m Ryu, It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you madame Bianca, I see the rumors of your beauty are understatement¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too kind mister Ryu, I¡¯ve heard a lot about you too, You must let me try your cooking one of these days. I was expecting you toe to my ce and you never did, I can see why now¡±

    Thest part she said staring at Rina.

    ¡°Mary, make sure they are properly served at the restaurant, I don¡¯t think they want to be eating at the bar, surrounded by people¡±

    The hostess stood up and quickly took them to the restaurant. Rina was in awe looking at the luxurious chandeliers, the smooth tiles on the floor and the beautiful furniture. Everything in there looked like a piece of art, making her feel embarrassed by the state of the tavern.

    She always thought that she was a worthy rival of the brothel, when in fact, people came to the tavern just because it was cheaper.

    The restaurant was the most expensive saloon in the brothel, even the waitresses were dressed in elegant night dresses and, despite being prostitutes, they looked like properdies.

    Hiraku¡¯s group never ventured in that room, not only because it was more expensive, but also because they didn¡¯t have the necessity of such services. But it was perfect for Ryu, he just wanted to distract himself and have a nice dinner.

    Being hit on by girls everyday was more than he could handle and he feared he might fall into their charms not out of love, but just because of his low desires. Anne and Helena had him stressed to the point he was about to burst, he couldn¡¯t have just a fling with either of them and whoever he chose would mean the other would be mad at him.

    Rina was different, she was just an upbeat girl he met recently. She wasn¡¯t dense like Anne nor oversensitive like Helena, she said what she had on her mind without a problem and Ryu enjoyed herpany.

    The restaurant was quite impressive, luxurious but not tacky, and very spacious. Tables were so separated they couldn¡¯t hear what the other people were saying.

 Chapter 45

    Chapter 45: Bring your coat, please! part

    Mary led them to their table and she took their coats. The table was set, there was a flower vase and some candles, even though the room was already well illuminated by the hanging crystal chandeliers.

    Soon, a waitress came to take their orders but since they didn¡¯t know what to ask for Ryu just asked for their best course. It wasn¡¯t just the hunger that drove him to ask for the most expensive meal, but also his rational thinking, if he was there already he might as well take the chance to learn some new recipes.

    Rina felt so small in that ce, she felt that she was witnessing something that wasn¡¯t made for her eyes and felt unworthy of such beauty. Not even in her wildest dreams she ever thought of the chance that one day her tavern would look like this. She was, after all, just a small person in a huge world. Just when she thought she couldn¡¯t bear the embarrassment anymore, she took a nce at Ryu who instead of looking at the ce like her, was looking at her with concern.

    ¡°Are you ok Rina?¡±

    ¡°This is too much Ryu, I don¡¯t think I can afford eating in here¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Look around you! everything is so beautiful, even the silverware, gods! even the napkins seem to be more expensive than all the furniture at the tavern¡±

    .....

    ¡°I can¡¯t afford to look around me when there¡¯s a beautiful girl right in front of me¡±

    With those words Rina¡¯s heart was melted. She felt that, as long as Ryu was by her side, she didn¡¯t feel out of ce anymore.

    But, it turned out Ryu¡¯s attentionsted only until the first dish came.

    It was a small herb spiced quail and nothing else, he fought the impulse to lift the te and see if they were hiding the actual food beneath it.

    ¡°So, Ryu, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you. Where exactly do you guyse from?¡±

    ¡°We came from the forest in the south¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re joking right? I¡¯ve heard that ce is dangerous and no one that ventured in there had ever came back¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that, if people don¡¯te back, could actually mean that they found a better ce?¡±

    Ryu had a point, but still Rina couldn¡¯t believe they came from the woods because Ironwoods was thest town before the forest and it meant that they should¡¯ve passed through the town, yet nobody knew them before they arrived with all their new products. Despite this, she decided not to ask anymore, if he didn¡¯t want to tell her that was his decision to make.

    The next dish was a small te of sweet potatoes with goat cheese and the third one was a clear soup.

    Rina was delighted trying different vors than what she was used to, but Ryu was still starving. Not only that, he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that the dishes were served in the wrong order, he would¡¯ve preferred the soup first and the quail after the sweet potatoes.

    ¡°Since you asked me a question, I have one of my own. How do you feel now that you¡¯re technically my ve?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel any different, but if that means you¡¯re taking me to dinner more often, I could get used to this¡±

    She giggled.

    ¡°We do need to reach an agreement Rina, I didn¡¯t mean for things to end like this. If you want I can just give you the coins so you can pay your debt to me¡±

    ¡°And why would you do that? no, wait. even if you did, I¡¯d probably just spend the coins in something else¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make things more difficult for me, I don¡¯t want things to change between us¡±

    Ryuined with a saddened voice, though the reason he was sad was that his dish disappeared in just two bites. Rina took a sip of wine and looked at him.

    ¡°I told you, I don¡¯t want the rest to think bad of me. I made my bed and now I need to lie on it¡±

    ¡°Then, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to date you anymore. I¡¯m not interested in taking advantage of someone in that position¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that Ryu, I was having fun and you¡¯re ruining the moment. You were on the right path before all this chatter¡±

    She shrugged and both chuckled.

    The room wasn¡¯t full, but there were some tables upied. At first, when they saw who they were they thought that they were just peasants that didn¡¯t belong in there. One of the wealthy merchants that was eating even imed that his appetite was ruined by their presence. But all changed as soon as Rina took off her coat, showing the delicate dress with an exquisite design apanied by the most stunning figure they had ever seen. Some people even gasped in surprise and they couldn¡¯t take off their eyes from her chest.

    Now that they were talking and chuckling they looked like lovers, filling every male in the room with envy. The only reason why they didn¡¯t go and rescue the pretty redhead from the clutches of the man sitting in front of her was that madame Bianca didn¡¯t take people making scenes at her ce lightly. If they had known that she considered them her enemies and would¡¯ve actually paid them well if they did precisely that, they would¡¯ve been all over the couple.

    As soon as they finished a dish another would take its ce. ¡®too many dishes for so little food¡¯ Ryu thought. He kept chatting with Rina about anything and everything not rted to their circumstances nor the job and the mood improved rapidly until the dinner was finally over.

    Then, the same waitress that had been serving them came to their table.

    ¡°Was everything to your liking sir?¡±

    Ryu nodded disappointed and the waitress didn¡¯t fail to notice it, it was her job to do so.

    ¡°Forgive my rudeness sir, but maybe you¡¯d like to try our new desert. It¡¯s quite expensive but everyone who¡¯s ever tried it said it was worth it¡±

    Hearing this made Ryu¡¯s eyes shine. He couldn¡¯t let the opportunity to learn a new recipe and fill his stomach at the same time.

    ¡°Then I can¡¯t refuse¡±

    What came to their table was a white mushy substance sliced and tipped to the side, showing differentyers at the same time. There was a thin sauce line and a mint leaf decorating the te.

    Ryu was surprised to see that something so small was supposed to be shared, he looked at Rina and couldn¡¯t help but think of a way to eat it all to himself.

    Rina was the first to grab a slice, and after smearing just a bit of sauce on it, she put it in her mouth. Ryu was staring so hard that he didn¡¯t miss a split second of her movement, when her full lips came in touch with the white substance he felt drawn to them, but resisted the impulse of kissing her in the spot.

    Rina never had something so delicious in her whole life and her face showed it, prompting Ryu to grab a bite himself and soon enough he understood everything.

    ¡°I must tell you Ryu, at first I thought that your food is better than this, but now that I tried this dessert I have to admit I was wrong. Whoever made this was a genius¡±

    Rina said with both hands on her cheeks, still shaken by the pleasure she felt after savoring it.

    ¡°Makes sense, since I was the one who made it¡±

    Ryu puffed his chest

    ¡°No way! you¡¯re lying to my face now, how do you exin that this ended in here instead of my tavern then, uh?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple, I made it for Hiraku to sell and we split the earnings. That¡¯s why I came with enough funds to start a business in here in the first ce. By the way, its called mochi like my cat¡±

    To say Rina was impressed would be an understatement. This was, without a doubt, the best day of her life.

    Ryu too had a great time, he didn¡¯t expect much at first, but Rina was an excellentpany. She managed to keep his mind out of his concern and his stress dissipatedpletely. Every time the conversation became dense, she smoothly would change the subject. She was so easygoing that theyughed to their hearts content the whole evening.

    The waitress came back with the bill, it was almost the same price that he had thought, only it was in silver coins instead of copper coins. He didn¡¯t show his surprise anyway, it wasn¡¯t so expensive, he could even afford to eat there everyday. Wine was 1 silver coin, food was 3 silver coins each and the dessert was 1 silver coin.

    Back at the tavern, everyone was already asleep when they came back but at least they left themps on for them.

    Coming back to her beloved tavern and see it in shambles made the contrast with the restaurant even bigger. For a second Rina¡¯s face was saddened, but Ryu kissed her on the forehead.

    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be fine, I promise you¡±

    Hearing this got Rina back to her usual self.

    ¡°So, is it gonna be my room or yours?¡±

    She slid her fingers down Ryu¡¯s chest looking at him in the eye. It was so alluring that he was about to give in.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not rush things Rina, I had a great day, lets go out some other day¡±

    Rina replied by kissing his cheek and rushing upstairs, leaving him wondering if he did something that upset her. Nevertheless, what really happened was that she was so happy for the wonderful day she had, and the fact that Ryu didn¡¯t want to defile her on the first night of her very relieved her beyond words.

    She made all kinds of jokes and flirted a lot with him because she just wanted to get it over with, it wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t like him, but it was just like Ryu said. Just knowing that she was a ve now did change things, but what he did now made her realize it was all inside her mind and she actually felt something for him.

 Chapter 46

    Chapter 46: Don¡¯t fall for your ve, please! part

    Ryu woke up early as always and he expected to meet Rina downstairs like usual, but he was the first one to get up this time. Only when he saw the mess downstairs did he realize that since the tavern was closed, Rina didn¡¯t have a reason to get up early.

    He felt lonely and fought the impulse to wake her up just to get somepany. Not only because he had fun yesterday, but he was also worried because of the way she disappearedst night after he rejected her advance. He wondered if he should¡¯ve agreed to spend the night with her, but at the same time it would be awkward if he didn¡¯t make things clear with her partners before.

    Anne and Helena have been attempting to seduce him since they were at the settlement, at first it was subtle, but they became more assertive every passing day.

    Before doing anything, he needed to make sense of his own feelings, is it just a fling he¡¯s after? if so, why didn¡¯t he just ept Rinast night?

    He was starting to get stressed again, but cooking helped him clear his thoughts and the kitchen was already clean. Just when he was about to start baking some bread he remembered that he put a quest in the billboard asking for rare nts.

    He went to the storage room and sorted through the many bags he received. What he found weremon nts, mostly weeds. Ut wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing though, since Rina would pay ordingly, which means he got them very cheap and even weed may have it¡¯s use.

    Ryu took a sample of each nt and grabbed some pieces of paper. He wished he had a book, but despite paper being affordable, books where an entirely different matter since no one in town dealt with books nor had the tools to craft them.

    .....

    He started drawing each nt the best he could, added a short description and an estimate value. This would help Rina know how much to offer for each different species and they could use the page to ask for a specific one at the billboard.

    Since there wasn¡¯t a single silver flower among the nts people brought, he made a page and posted it in the billboard reading:

    Silver flower: An aromatic flower, bring the root too. 1 copper each.

    People will be highly motivated to sell them since they could gather five of them and call it a day, but the best part would be that they could just pick them whenever they found them and make a bit of money on the side. The only problem was that no one wille since the tavern will remain closed until they refurnish it.

    People were staring to wake up so Ryu went back to the kitchen, since he didn¡¯t get the chance to bake bread and it took some time, he just grabbed some eggs and put them in a big bowl. He put the frying pan in the stove with some oil, then he seasoned the mix with salt and pepper.

    ire got into the kitchen and asked Ryu if she could help, but Ryu just asked her to learn the recipe.

    He skillfully sliced some vegetables and put them apart. Once the frying pan was at the right temperature he poured the mix and started tilting the frying pan until it waspletely covered he added the sliced vegetables.

    ire was impressed by Ryu¡¯s disy of skills and wondered if she would ever be as good as him at cooking.

    She took the first two servings to the table where Anne, Helena, Rina, Sera and Dn were already waiting in silence.

    It¡¯s not that they didn¡¯t have anything to say, on the contrary, everyone wanted to speak their minds to Ryu, but he was currently busy, so they just sat awkwardly at the table waiting for him toe. The first ones to be served where Anne and Helena respectively, ire was aware that Ryu knew them from before and that they were the closest ones to him.

    ¡°An omelette! and it looks fantastic!¡±

    Helena said excitedly

    ¡°It does, I wonder what got Ryu into such a good mood today?¡±

    Anne stared at Rina, but she didn¡¯t pay any mind to her words since her mouth was watering too much.

    ¡°Is this food from your vige?¡±

    Dn asked Anne intrigued

    ¡°It is, It¡¯s pretty popr for breakfast, I¡¯m sorry we didn¡¯t wait for everyone to be served but this is supposed to be had while hot¡±

    Anne replied in between mouthfuls.

    Soon after everyone had their serving and Ryu came out of the kitchen with his own te, he sat down and proceeded to eat in silence.

    Ryu and Rina exchanged looks every so often and this didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Anne, who already suspected something was going on between them.

    ¡°Why are you two acting like that? did something happen yesterday?¡±

    She asked Ryu

    ¡°Lots of things happened¡±

    Ryu told them about the agreement with Hiraku, the n to take on madame Bianca and the reason why they¡¯ll remain closed. Once they discussed everything about it while having some tea, he asked Dn to wait outside and proceeded to clear his throat.

    ¡°So, about what you asked Anne. Yesterday at the mayor¡¯s house Rina forfeited the bet and became my ve¡±

    Both heroines stared at him nkly.

    ¡°We were prepared for that, but it doesn¡¯t exin the lovey dovey vibe I¡¯m getting¡±

    Anne didn¡¯t change her expression in the slightest

    ¡°Rina and I had a date yesterday¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s so wrong Ryu and you know it! how can you take advantage from a ve who can¡¯t defend herself!¡±

    Helena eximed

    ¡°Why are you talking about me as if I wasn¡¯t sitting right next to you Helena!? I¡¯m the same Rina¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry dear, did that pervert made you do something dirty? you can cry if you want we¡¯re on your side¡±

    Helena looked genuinely concerned about her.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that! we just dated¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it takes guts to ask a girl out on a date if she¡¯s a ve. Ryu I¡¯m disappointed in you¡±

    Anne grumbled

    ¡°It was me who asked him out! and technically I wasn¡¯t a ve at the moment. Also, even as a ve I wouldn¡¯t let anyone take advantage of me, I¡¯d rather take my own life!¡±

    Ryu was between a rock and a hard ce, but Ayumi¡¯s words resounded in his mind. Back at the settlement she told him to man up and that was precisely what he intended to do now, although not as the girls would have preferred.

    ¡°Listen girls, I know how you feel, but this doesn¡¯t concern you. Rina was the first one who instead of pressuring me asked me out and we just happened to have fun, we may have a second date or maybe not, but like I said, it¡¯s none of your business. About Rina¡¯s current situation, I agree that we need to find a solution to this, so I¡¯m open to suggestions¡±

    Everyone at the table remained in silence, it was a difficult situation for everyone, especially for Rina.

    Anne was mad at Ryu, but she knew she didn¡¯t have the right to reprimand him for dating another girl since they didn¡¯t have a rtionship.

    Helena wasn¡¯t that mad, because she had just spent a night with him and it somehow relieved her desire.

    But the fact was that no one could think of a proper solution that would keep everyone happy. Ryu neededpensation for his gold, Rina needed everyone to trust her so she can continue to work at the tavern, and the girls wanted Ryu for themselves.

    Ryu was troubled because all he wanted to do was have a peaceful time and maybe a fling.

    ¡°Since no one has a solution I¡¯ll ask you to cut me some ck. I¡¯ve been working my ass off since we came in here and I was hurtst night, yet, instead of making things easy for me you always think of yourselves first. I had fun for the first time and instead of being happy for me, you throw yourselves at my throat. Also, I¡¯ve been blueballed for too long and I need to clear my head so I¡¯ll be heading to the brothel today and I really hope no one gets on my way unless, of course, you¡¯re willing to help me with that¡±

    Ryu¡¯s tone showed how tired he was, making the girls feel guilty, yet Rina wasn¡¯t going to miss the chance. Yesterday night she thought long and hard about Ryu and, despite the fact that they don¡¯t know each other that well, she realized no one had ever treated her like him and she found him attractive too, that was way more than many girls could ever dream of.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind¡±

    She said, but she was quickly rebuffed by him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Rina, but I meant what I said earlier. I can¡¯t possibly date you until we solve your situation¡±

    ¡°Hold your horses handsome! who said anything about dating, I¡¯m just stating the obvious. You¡¯re about to pay to getid, when you could just do it with me, a ve, isn¡¯t that what ves are for? to getid without consequences. Also you¡¯ll save a bit of money¡±

    ¡°You make a good point, but I pass anyway¡±

    Even Sera, who stayed quiet the whole time, wanted to say something, but she couldn¡¯t muster the courage to do it.

    Ryu grabbed his coat and left the tavern. Dn had been waiting obediently outside and they walked off, leaving the girls dumbfounded and remorseful at the same time. They did put him in a tough spot and pushed him right at the brothel¡¯s doors.

 Chapter 47

    Chapter 47: Don¡¯t fall for your ve, please! part

    ¡°What was that about boss?¡±

    Dn asked while following Ryu.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like speaking about it, at least not now that we¡¯re going to have some fun together¡±

    Ryu said mischievously making Dn question his words. Why on earth would a man like Ryu reject the silver goddess so tantly? he¡¯d seen her practically throwing herself at him, yet he never spend the night with her, nor any other girl.

    ¡®Could it be that he likes men?¡¯ Dn started sweating buckets as he kept following him.

    They walked through the now popted streets in a sunny day, there was still some snow lying around and it was cold, but southern people were more than ustomed to this. This kind of weather was considered warm for them, Even for Ryu who developed cold resistance, yet he had learned his lesson and would wear his coat nheless.

    Once they reached the brothel, Dn¡¯s worst fears were flourishing.

    .....

    ¡®Is he going to rent a room?¡± he swallowed his saliva so loudly that Ryu could hear it. While the brothel did provide femalepany, sometimes, couples would rent rooms to have their fun, the main reason behind this was that buildings in Ironwoods were crowded and getting some privacy was almost impossible.

    ¡°In case you¡¯re wondering, I¡¯ve noticed that you take good care of your appearance and you¡¯re always clean, that¡¯s why I brought you here with me¡±

    Ryumented and now Dn¡¯s throat was dry as a desert.

    ¡°Listen boss, I¡¯m honored but I don¡¯t like men... I can return my wages if you like, and I promise I won¡¯t tell anyone anything about anything so please...¡±

    ¡°What are you thinking? I¡¯m not into men either, actually, I brought you here because I didn¡¯t want toe alone, I justmented on your appearance since you¡¯ll be the one dealing with the girls¡±

    Dn was embarrassed, but as soon as he heard thest part his awkward smile turned into a genuine one.

    ¡°Does this mean you¡¯re paying for everything right?¡±

    ¡°Depends, if you do your job and we get some spare time I may, unless you ask for special kinks. There was a rumor going around at the tavern that a guy spent almost 2 silver coins, that would be too much. As long as you mind the cost and don¡¯t tell the girls anything about what happens today I¡¯ll be more than happy to pay for everything¡±

    Mary, the hostess, was at the entrance and greeted both Dn and Ryu politely. This time though, instead of heading to the restaurant they went to the bar so she didn¡¯t follow them. Her job was to greet everyone, but provide special treatment to VIP customers.

    The floor was tiled too, but there wasn¡¯t expensive furniture nor chandeliers. It looked like a regr tavern, only a bit more fancy and a lot bigger than Rina¡¯s.

    When they set foot in there the girls that weren¡¯t currently busy gathered around them and started filling them withpliments. Ryu wasn¡¯t in a hurry so he just sat on a table that had a round sofa. It was clearly designed to providefort to people drinking with girls.

    Even though they were prostitutes, their job wasn¡¯t as simple as taking the customers to a room. Their duty was to tend to clients and make sure they spend as much as they can, since there were so many girls it was impossible to control everyone but madame Bianca would punish those who made any kind of scene in front of the clients.

    Which is why they came up with something like a code. Whenever a client entered he was game for everyone, but if he showed interest in someone she would be the one tasked with apanying him to his table and she too would decide who gets to serve the table. That provided order in the midst of chaos, it looked peaceful and coordinated, but it was more simr to a battlefield.

    Dn quickly picked the first girl who got close to him, but Ryu didn¡¯t find anyone to his liking. Some girls were disappointed seeing that he wasn¡¯t interested in any of them, especially since it was known that he was a big spender.

    Not only the girl who gets to satisfy his lust would be wellpensated for her job, but also the one serving the table.

    No matter how many sweet words they would say, all Ryu could think about was Rina¡¯s smile when he took her to the restaurant.

    The ce was filled with miners and prostitutes, which made him remember Rudd¡¯s words when he walked in Rina¡¯s tavern the day he arrived.

    And there he was thinking about her again. The prostitutes were buzzing around him, but their words sounded far away from him and didn¡¯t reach him. Prostitutes knew that he was hit on the head recently and thought maybe he wasn¡¯t yet in good shape, some even gave up on serving him.

    When he realized his silence was starting to get awkward there were only two young girls by his side. They were skinny, too much to be healthy, which reminded him about what Luke told him. Prostitutes who couldn¡¯t pull their weight wouldn¡¯t be paid. Feeling pity, rather than arousal, he just went ahead and took them by the waist. They walked to the same table where Dn was and sat on the opposite end.

    While Dn was enjoying his drinks, Ryu couldn¡¯t help but be concerned about the well being of his femalepany.

    Both girls were excited to have been picked by Ryu and couldn¡¯t wait to bed him and squeeze as much money from him as they could. But they had been sold to madame Bianca recently and had yet to have their first client, they didn¡¯t know how to please a man nor how to seduce him. Madame Bianca just told them the rules and to let men have their way with them however they wanted, as long as they didn¡¯t forget how much they should ask for.

    Instead of ordering just beer like Dn, Ryu asked for three meals and snacks. Ever since he got hit on the head he¡¯s been so hungry at all times it drove him crazy.

    When food came to the table the girls were dumbfounded. Clients were known to buy drinks for the girls to make thempany, and if they were drunk enough, sometimes they would be thankful and give an extra service.

    They never heard of a man buying food for the prostitutes, both girls looked at the most experienced woman in the room with pleading eyes, not knowing what to do. She had a regr client so she no longer needed to to the usual job, instead she would help the other girls. But this time she didn¡¯t know what to do either and just shrugged.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? you don¡¯t like it?¡±

    Said Ryu while cutting the steak without even looking at them.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that... it¡¯s just... is this ok?¡±

    The girl on the left asked to the other one.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡±

    the other one looked as anxious as the former.

    ¡°Are you new or something?¡±

    They both nodded.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll tell you. I don¡¯t feel like eating alone, and now that I¡¯m apanied by two finedies my appetite woke up. As long as I¡¯m paying shouldn¡¯t that be ok?¡±

    The girls were too afraid to break the brothel¡¯s rules, but after hearing this they started eating.

    ¡°I need to discuss something private with thedy boss, is that ok?¡±

    Ryu nodded at him and Dn stood up and went to a room holding hands with the prostitute of his choosing.

    ¡°What were your names again?¡±

    Ryu asked

    ¡°I¡¯m Eiri¡±

    ¡°and I¡¯m Kairi¡±

    ¡°Let me guess, you two are sisters, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    They both looked simr, and since they names also matched Ryu thought.

    ¡°Yes sir, we are¡±

    ¡°How long have you been in here?¡±

    ¡°We just started¡±

    Ryu caught a glimpse of sadness in her eyes, this was considered taboo in their profession since the clients mood would be ruined by this and their earnings would diminish. But since Kairi was new, she couldn¡¯t help it.

    The girls chatted with Ryu through the meal, while throwing the asionalpliment at him. Their social skills were good enough to entertain someone, but their experience and looks were not enough to seduce a man, let alone someone like Ryu who had his mind set on someone else.

    He finished his meal, but waited until they finish. Then he tipped them 5 copper coins each and stood up.

    Both of them grabbed his arms and tried to follow him, but he gently shook them off.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry girls, I¡¯m not in the mood today¡±

    The tip was enough already, but if they wanted to buy their freedom back they needed to earn big.

    ¡°Mister, if youe with both of us we¡¯ll make you a discount, weck experience but we¡¯ll let you do whatever you want¡±

    Eiri said looking at the tiled floor, almost breaking into tears.When the most experienced prostitute noticed this she came close hurriedly. Crying in front of a client was against madame¡¯s rules, at least outside the bedroom, inside they could cry but this would only trigger the most violent men even more.

    ¡°Is everything alright mister client?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone with a bit more experience actually, would you mind spending some time with me today?¡±

    ¡°Of course mister client,e this way¡±

    She led him through a hallway, most doors were closed which meant the rooms were either upied or being cleaned, and they walked until they found a room with the door opened.

    The woman started undressing as soon as they got inside, but before she could say a word Ryu spoke in a low voice.

    ¡°I want to use your mouth¡±

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48: Don¡¯t fall for your ve, please! part

    When the fight at the tavern ended they went straight to the trading outpost. Once they arrived they could finally speak freely.

    ¡°Are you sure he¡¯s gonna be fine?¡±

    Ayumi asked

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry dear, he assured me he could take it, also none of us has any healing skill so there¡¯s nothing we can do¡±

    Hiraku shrugged

    ¡°Yes, but that hit must have really hurt him¡±

    ¡°I said don¡¯t worry, it was one of his employees the one who hit him so he must have known the n¡±

    .....

    The warehouse was big enough to hold a lot of products, yet it was almostpletely empty. They already sold almost everything they had back at the settlement so the only thing they could do now was buy ore and elemental stones to the miners and since they had their stock at the mine, they didn¡¯t need to rush things.

    Instead of buying, Hiraku asked Bob to gather as much wood as possible and Luke to make some sleds while he was busy gathering information, getting acquainted with the people in town and making deals.

    Ayumi¡¯s job was to make sure Hiraku didn¡¯t spend too much and also investigate new materials, technologies, or pretty much anything that fell into her hands.

    They¡¯ve been so busy that they needed to hire people to help in building the small aqueduct, but they also needed people loyal to them in order to perform other kinds of tasks that needed to be kept secret.

    Hiraku proposed that they bought some ves, Ayumi was against it at first, but then she gave in because it was the only solution that made sense. Bob and Luke were spending too much on prostitutes and even she couldn¡¯t keep up with her workload.

    So they decided to leave it into Luke¡¯s capable hands, since he was actually the best negotiator they had.

    The day after the fight at the tavern urred Luke and Bob headed to the brothel after breakfast. They had to spend the night at the outpost since they needed to discuss things, but once they managed to convince Ayumi to get some ves the only thing they cared about was going back there.

    ¡°Good morning, you two look as handsome as always¡±

    ¡°You too miss Mary, I need to discuss something with miss Bianca, is she avable?¡±

    Luke asked Mary, she turned to the girl next to her and nodded.

    ¡°Wait a minute please¡±

    Since Bob had nothing to do with the negotiations he went straight to the bar. It was always slow in the morning, but because the clients would often spend the night in there it was still crowded.

    Prostitutes were used to seeing Bob around, even though he spent most nights at the trading outpost, he still came to have breakfast, so they knew he wasn¡¯t interested in any of them.

    The most experienced prostitute came rushing to his table.

    ¡°Good morning mister Bob, the usual?¡±

    ¡°Yes please, miss Veronika¡±

    Veronika went to the kitchen and came back with hot soup and a piece of bread, then she sat beside him.

    ¡°Miss Veronika, are you free after breakfast?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m always free for you dear¡±

    She replied with a lovely voice. Bob had his breakfast in silence as always, he wasn¡¯t a good talker and Veronika was used to this. Instead of pressuring him to speak, she just sat beside him and smiled the whole time.

    Once he finished eating out of habit, since he already had breakfast at the outpost, they went into the first room they found avable.

    Bob sat on the bed and she started undressing in front of him, looking at him in the eye. It was their routine and she would repeat it wlessly everytime.

    She had a beautiful but mature face and didn¡¯t look a day past thirty, her ample bossom was envied amongst the other girls and it filled her with pride. But that wasn¡¯t the reason behind her sess.

    As soon as the other prostitutes started showing signs of aging they wouldn¡¯t draw as much attention as the younger ones so they made their lives impossible causing all kinds of trouble. This was allowed to a certain extent by madame Bianca, but it didn¡¯t matter if they had been for years at the brothel, as soon as they couldn¡¯t pay for their upkeep they would be sold to the city. The luckiest ones were bought back by their families before that happened, but those were very few.

    Her case was different, she didn¡¯t have a family nor did she have anyone that cared for her outside the brothel. So, instead of making the lives of the younger and prettier prostitutes difficult, she helped them. This lead them to be grateful to her and would share their earnings with her, in exchange she would teach them all sorts of techniques she picked over the years and would take care of them whenever she could.

    Every time a girl got sick and couldn¡¯t work, Veronika helped her to get back on her feet and then they would pay her back.

    But, she barely had any clients since her best years were past her.

    But Bob didn¡¯t care about this, he considered himself lucky he found someone like her in this ce and when she came close to himpletely naked he received the warmth of her embrace with open arms.

    Her breasts pressed against his face provided much neededfort every time he felt down, since the day he came back from the massacre near the mine.

    Every girl knew Bob had a big coin purse and when he came back from the massacre they fought among themselves for a piece of him. But Veronika stood in front of them and took him to a room, risking her rtionship with the other prostitutes.

    That day, she lulled him to sleep and didn¡¯t charge him a single coin. The next day he asked for her again, and she rested his head on herp.

    After seeing so much death, so much pain, so many innocents pass away in front of him, he was severely traumatized. But with Veronika¡¯s help he managed to get back on his feet.

    Now the only ce that he could be himself and let go of all his emotions was precisely where he was right now. In between two warm mounds with a gentle caress on his head. Nothing else mattered to him and he would even cry himself to sleep sometimes, he feltpletely safe in there.

    But today was different, when she got close to him he stopped her.

    ¡°Miss Veronika, there¡¯s something I¡¯d like to ask you¡±

    He said in a somewhat shy voice that worried her. She too enjoyed the they spent together, more than working, she could feel a special bond in between them. She didn¡¯t know if it was love, but it was the closest thing she had ever felt for a client.

    ¡°Can I hug you while we speak?¡±

    She probed. Not only because she wanted to know how serious it was, but also because she was used to this and whenever Bob didn¡¯te she felt lonely.

    ¡°Its better if we speak face to face¡±

    Those words scared her, but she was a professional at hiding her emotions. She sat next to him with the same smile she had before painted on her face.

    ¡°I want to know if you would like me to buy your debt from miss Bianca¡±

    His words took her by surprise, she was ready for him telling her that he wasn¡¯t going to be seeing her anymore, that he preferred a younger prostitute or that he was going out of town. But those words that would have made any prostitute happy, turned her world upside down.

    ¡°This is too sudden mister Bob, I don¡¯t know what to say. There¡¯s still many girls in here that need me, without my help they would be doomed¡±

    She said as shepletely dropped her smile.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them, you need to worry about yourself. I hear from Luke that you don¡¯t have any other clients and you won¡¯t be able to pay for your upkeepter. Or do you prefer to be sold at the city?¡±

    ¡°I... I really don¡¯t know what to say. You could buy me even if I didn¡¯t want it, why did you ask me?¡±

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to force you¡±

    ¡°Why do you want to buy me? I¡¯m too old, there are younger and prettier girls in here that dream of being rescued every single day. Also, I don¡¯t know how to do anything else, what use could you have for a ve like me?¡±

    A part of her wanted to follow him blindly, but she knew that she was safe at the brothel, at least for the time being. If she was bought by him her fate would be entirely on his hands. If he ever got tired of her or if something happened to him she would bepletely helpless again and she doubted madame Bianca would buy her again.

    Besides, at least at the brothel madame Bianca allowed them to earn coin for themselves, if they were to be bought she would discount the money they had from the price as long as they agreed to it. But once they were sold to someone nothing guaranteed they could buy themselves back, which led to most girls only asking to madame Bianca to discount their price with their own money when they were being bought by their own families.

    ¡°We need help at the outpost, and I¡¯ll treat you well¡±

    Bob said as he grabbed her hand. But even after pondering for a while she couldn¡¯t find an answer.

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49: Don¡¯t fall for your ve, please! part

    ¡°So, what brings you here mister Luke?¡±

    Madame Bianca said after exchanging pleasantries with him.

    ¡°I need to buy some ves to work at the outpost¡±

    ¡°My my! you would be taking away half of our revenue with you¡±

    She joked, making Lukeugh awkwardly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not looking for someone just for myself, I need at least ten people¡±

    ¡°Are you, perhaps, thinking on expanding your business?¡±

    .....

    She inquired with suspicion on her tone.

    ¡°Something of the sorts, we do have something in mind. If it is about funds we have plenty¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about the money Luke dear, ten girls would be enough to start your own brothel and I don¡¯t feel like having a business rival¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not our trade, we only need people to manage the store, haul cargo and tasks like that¡±

    Luke replied

    ¡°Anyhow I don¡¯tck the money, but... there is something else I¡¯m interested on¡±

    Madame Bianca squinted her eyes

    ¡°Just say the word and if it¡¯s within my reach I¡¯ll do my best¡±

    ¡°You see, I have a friend who¡¯s interested on buying a property. But sadly it¡¯s not on the market. I would be happy to help you, as long as you help me. They say one hand washes the other¡±

    ¡°I think I know where this is headed¡±

    ¡°I knew you were a capable young man Luke, and you¡¯ve earned my trust. Every single girl in here speak only wonders about you and I knew they weren¡¯t exaggerating¡±

    Madame Bianca lied through her teeth, the onlyments she received from the girls were how much he despised Ryu.

    ¡°I heard that your trading group is going on hunting expeditions right after the freeze, and you¡¯ll probably get your hands on a lot of meat.

    Now, I wouldn¡¯t ask you to do something illegal, the only thing I ask of you is that none of that reaches Rina¡¯s ce. Thomas is madly in love with her, yet that cook intervened and even went as far as enving her. But, if you have any other means, I wouldn¡¯t mind as long as you remember I didn¡¯t have anything to do with it.

    If you don¡¯t do it to help me, do it to save that innocent young girl. And as long as you keep your deal I¡¯ll lend you my full support. ves, equipment, funds, help me destroy the tavern and you¡¯ll be properlypensated¡±

    Madame Bianca was so convincing that if Luke didn¡¯t know the truth, he would¡¯ve beenpelled to save the poor enved girl from the clutches of the evil cook.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure If I can make that decision. I may need to ask our boss before agreeing¡±

    ¡°Why of course. In the meantime, why don¡¯t you pick the ves you want and I¡¯ll give you a good deal¡±

    Madam Bianca ordered her assistant to line up the prostitutes that weren¡¯t busy at the time and Luke followed suit. Bob was waiting for him at the hall. One by one prostitutes started toe in an orderly fashion. Despite being ustomed to seeing them, Luke couldn¡¯t hide his excitement and his face showed an unsightly grin.

    Bob, instead, was distracted and barely paid any mind to the girls that were entering the hall and greeting them.

    Once everyone was in there Luke inspected them, he leaned close to some of them and grabbed their chins, other times he put his hands in improper ces while nodding with a serious expression on his face.

    If the first time he came into the brothel he behaved like a kid in a candy store, now he was acting like a fox in a hen house.

    Once he finished his meticulous exam Luke stood next to Bob and started calling the prostitutes by name. He did know all of them after all, even the ones he had yet to try.

    He skipped the ones that looked too skinny, the ones that didn¡¯t catch his eye and those that he knew were problematic.

    Most of them were happy to be picked by Luke and took a step forward.

    Bob called for Veronika, of course. Madame Bianca was surprised to see that he was interested in the oldest one, but didn¡¯t care at all, she took Veronika in when she was barely sixteen but she didn¡¯t care for any of the girls and she saw them as if they were just cattle.

    After the ones that weren¡¯t chosen left the room, madame Bianca asked who among them would be willing to use their savings to give their buyer a discount, if they, she would keep the money in case they were bought back by the brothel. She didn¡¯t do this out of the kindness of her heart of course, it was only a way she devised to make them work even harder to earn their freedom, but they didn¡¯t know that as long as they were in Ironwoods their fate would always be on her hands.

    Again, almost every single girl took a step forward, there were two exceptions. Bob already knew Veronika was hesitant and couldn¡¯t help it, but the other one left Luke dumbfounded. His favorite girl, a hot brte little older than him, the one he would constantly pick for his night activities didn¡¯t take a step forward.

    In the end, only Bob, Luke, madame Bianca, Veronika and Taffy, Luke¡¯s favorite.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you girls want these fine gentlemen to buy you?¡±

    Madame Bianca scoffed, she just wanted to get it over with. The first one to answer was Veronika.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, but I would be grateful if mister Luke found it in his heart to give me a couple days to think¡±

    Luke looked at Bob who nodded at him.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok miss Veronika, we can wait for you to decide¡±

    ¡°And you darling?¡±

    Madame Bianca asked Taffy, who had been smiling the whole time.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mister Luke, but thanks to your patronage I¡¯m pretty close to buying myself¡±

    ¡°But Taffy, that¡¯s not for sure, and even if you did, how will you be able to support yourself?¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but my decision is final. I can¡¯t oppose if you bought me paying the full price anyways, though I would prefer if you didn¡¯t¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not my desire to go against your wishes, I really thought we had something special, but Ipletely understand¡±

    Luke said with a poker face, but inside he was destroyed. He had been ying with many girls since the day he set foot on the brothel, but Taffy was her favorite of them all. [Most girls ttered his ego, but Taffy created the illusion that she was in love with him making Luke longing to fulfill his fantasy of being the hero he believed himself to be, saving a woman that fell into a horrible situation.

    They went to madame Bianca¡¯s office again and signed the paperwork, she kept her word and offered them a good deal, which amounted to whatever savings the girls had led to them spending only a fraction of what they thought initially.

    By the time they finished it waste already so they grabbed something to eat and headed to the mayor¡¯s house, they needed him to act as a minister of faith proving that their contracts were valid. Then, they went back to the brothel to pick up the girls they just bought.

    They were walking slowly, none of them showed the slightest signs of excitement. But when they arrived at the brothel they saw something that managed to shift their moodpletely.

    They saw a girl with a short red mane and a scrawny guy walking next to her, just about to enter the brothel.

    Both Luke and Bob were happy to see that Ryu was back on good health again. Luke wouldn¡¯t admit it, but he did grow fond of Ryu, especially after spending some time away from him. All the bad memories turned into good ones, as if it were the good ol times.

    He had long forgotten about the resentment he held against Anne for rejecting him over and over, thanks to the quality time he had been spending at the brothel.

    For a second Bob thought on saying hi to his friend, then he reminded he still hadn¡¯t apologized for what happened, making him feel awkward. Luke too wanted to go, but he had a keen eye on reading people and he noticed he was involved in something romantic with Rina so he just let go of the idea.

    They got inside the brothel after them, but Ryu failed to notice them because he was too focused on the hostess who wanted to deny providing any service to them.

    When Luke noticed this he quickly went to madame Bianca¡¯s and convinced her to intervene and agree to serve them at the restaurant. Not only that, he convinced her that it was in her best interest to provide the best service avable, so people wouldn¡¯t suspect of their confabtion.

    ¡°Miss Bianca, if you don¡¯t let them in and people find about this, they may suspect you¡¯re involved into whatever happens to them. Or at least they will know you consider them as rivals and will suspect about something¡±

    She hated Rina¡¯s guts from the very core of her heart. She felt that she owned every beautiful girl in town, and failing to acquire her was like a thorn in her heel. She had nothing against the cook, except that he didn¡¯t work for her, because he was indeed talented. Thinking about this made her realize that by mistreating him, the only thing she would aplish would be scaring him away. Who knows, maybe if she does treat him well enough he might consider moving in to the city to work for her once she marries with the baron¡¯s eldest son.

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50: Don¡¯t fall for your ve, please! part

    The girls had already gathered their belongings, which consisted on some make up and a change of clothes. When the guys came in for them, they were so happy to finally be out of the brothel that threw themselves at their saviors arms. Some of them were even crying tears of joy, they still couldn¡¯t believe their luck and still felt it was all a dreame true.

    Life at the brothel was harsh, thepetition was savage and they had to constantly look over their shoulders while worrying about getting enough money to pay for their own food. Some of them did have some savings, but none of them had more than 2 silver. Even after working their asses off, quite literally, they were nowhere near of buying themselves back so their best shot was to be bought by someone who treated them well.

    Luke wasn¡¯t, by all means, a nice guy. But at least he wasn¡¯t violent like other clients and he was always neat, besides he was very attractive. Some girls had really fallen for him and dreamed to be bought by him.

    Bob¡¯s situation was somewhat different, he was the nicest guy they had ever met. He was always well behaved, never bothered anyone and treated them with respect. But there were unsettling rumors going around about the things he, allegedly, did to one of the prostitutes. Whenever that girl was asked about what happened she never said anything, but she couldn¡¯t work for the rest of the week making them scared of him. From that day on, the only one who could take on his kinks was the most experienced of the brothel, Veronika.

    But even falling in the clutches of someone like Bob was still many times better than being bought by a miner, who would save every penny to get them and then wouldn¡¯t be able to provide a good life for them.

    It was already dark when they headed out of the brothel, the way up to the trading outpost was joyful and filled with giggles. Luke and Bob had a girl on each arm and the rest followed closely behind.

    It all crumbled when they reached their destination, it was a square building, there were building materials lying around in the ground near the warehouse and the only source of light was a cheapmp hanging outside. Not only that, but it was located in the outskirts, which meant they were going to be attacked by beasts often so, not even their safety was guaranteed.

    .....

    Things would only be worse after they got inside, it was mostly empty, there were only a couple beds and some skins lying in the floor. Everything was made out of wood and there wasn¡¯t any furniture besides a desk and a shelf with some papers lying around.

    When they got inside they were greeted by Ayumi, who they knew all too well since she always fought them to keep them away from her handsome and wealthy husband.

    The girls got inside awkwardly, bowing to Ayumi as they passed next to her. She kept frowning the whole time and Hiraku had an awkward look on his face. Bob and Luke enteredst and sat on the floor, they had a long day and since things didn¡¯t go well with the girls they liked, they were both a bit depressed.

    ¡°I want you to know the house rules, first you will not seduce nor try anything with my husband Hiraku, even if he was the one who made a move you¡¯ll take the me. In case that happens you need to tell me and I¡¯ll deal with him. Second, you will not speak of anything you see or hear in here with anyone outside of this room. Third, you¡¯ll follow ourmands without asking questions. If you don¡¯t follow this rules you will be punished ordingly, are we clear?¡±

    Despite Ayumi¡¯s petite size and her mild appearance, the girls were terrified to the bone and the only thing they could do in response was nod rapidly. One of them even was about to loose control of her dder. After the tense moment, Ayumi¡¯s frown turned into a pitiful look.

    ¡°Now girls, tell me, did you have something to eat?¡±

    They kept quiet staring at the floor, which Ayumi quickly understood and started serving them some food she had prepared earlier. She wasn¡¯t as good at cooking as Ryu, but they were wealthy in this town¡¯s standard so, even their everyday food would be considered luxurious by them.

    Everyone ate their full, except for Bob and Luke who were fast asleep.

    When morning came, Sophie was the first to wake up. She had an awful sleep, but she considered it an upgrade anyways since at least it seemed that they would feed them without setting conditions.

    Since everyone was asleep and she didn¡¯t want to wake up her new masters, she opened the door and headed outside. It was little bit past dawn, yet sunlight was bright enough to reveal apletely different scenario than what she thought at first.

    There was a pile of huge wood logs and there were some building materials lying around, but that wasn¡¯t everything. There was also a nice looking wooden fence surrounding them and there was a two story house being built inside the fence. There were about three sleds outside the warehouse and many pelts hanging from wooden frames. Not only that, there was a stone structure that drew water from the river and it passed right next to the house moving an immense wooden wheel that carried the water up to a water tower located at the second floor.

    At first she thought her new masters were poor, but now she could see things clearly. It didn¡¯t matter the size of their purse, as long as they could provide her enough to sustain herself she would be willing to follow them as long as they could show them more wonders like that wheel.

    She was a smart girl on her twenties, she didn¡¯t fall into very for her own mistakes but due to her father¡¯s debt at the same brothel she ended up working at. Her mind was dazzled with what she saw in front of her, she could instantly tell the purpose of the sled and the wheel and couldn¡¯t get enough of it.

    While her mind was drifting in between the tools and trinkets that were lying around she noticed there was someone standing behind her.

    ¡°If you¡¯re thinking on running away I won¡¯t stop you¡±

    Ayumi said using her most annoying voice

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare do that master Ayumi, I was just admiring the huge wheel near that house¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s called a water mill¡±

    ¡°Please forgive my ignorance master Ayumi, I see that it carries water up to the top so it¡¯ll flow inside the house. I¡¯ve never seen anything like that before¡±

    ¡°I must say I¡¯m impressed by your keen eye, what¡¯s your name girl?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Sophie, it¡¯s an honor to serve you master Ayumi¡±

    She said bowing politely.

    ¡°Since you got a good head on your shoulders you¡¯ll be helping me and Hiraku directly. As soon as the house is ready you¡¯ll move in with us. Just don¡¯t forget the rules¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare do that master Ayumi¡±

    Every time she heard Sophie call her master Ayumi something inside her made her feel powerful and aroused at the same time. She didn¡¯t like women at all, in fact, she¡¯s always seen other girls as nothing butpetition.

    When they arrived at this world and she realized they were forced to cohabit with Anne and Helena, both being young and pretty to anyone¡¯s standards, she worried about Hiraku being unfaithful to her. When both of them rejected Luke she felt even more endangered and that led to some trouble in the group.

    When Ryu came and she noticed that they both liked him, she couldn¡¯t wait for him to make a decision, even if it meant that he kept both girls for himself. As long as Hiraku was out of reach she didn¡¯t mind anything else.

    But now there was this tall and beautiful young woman, with a perfect and round bosom that she should¡¯ve envied, yet she didn¡¯t feel threatened by her. Instead, she felt somewhat allured to her figure and fought the urge to touch her inappropriately.

    Sophie was used to the vibe she was getting from Ayumi, it was the same one she felting from the miners whenever she served them drinks. But being as smart as she was, she managed to get by for two years without selling herself even once.

    She would always lure the customers and convinced them to drink so much they couldn¡¯t perform, the next morning she would charge them for services she didn¡¯t provide and customers were happy to pay as long as it was kept a secret that they ¡®weren¡¯t man enough¡¯.

    Sophie didn¡¯t care for that, she just did whatever she needed to do to survive, but to her eyes it was clear that the way the brothel worked was tilted towards madame Bianca¡¯s benefit and it put girls on a tough situation just to make them work harder.

    After chatting with Ayumi for a while they both realized that a spark had been lit by chance, yet none of them would say it out loud. But instead of a love affair, they both felt as if they had finally made a friend.

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51: Don¡¯t fall for your ve, please! part

    Veronika was kneeling bare chested in front of Ryu. It has been so long since she took care of a client she already forgot what she was supposed to do, but her body remembered it. The gross feeling of a man¡¯s thing in her mouth, the forceful movements of their hips as they tried to push deeper than she could resist, yet she had to endure it so many times over the years.

    Despite being already on her knees, she regretted talking to the client. Even if it was to save the two new girls, she didn¡¯t want to serve the man in front of her. She wouldn¡¯t mind if it was Bob, in fact, she may have enjoyed it.

    Yet, there was nothing she could do. One of the most important rules at the brothel was that they couldn¡¯t reject a client, as long as he had the money they had to provide any kind of service they wanted.

    Ryu was standing in front of her, with his pants still on, she couldn¡¯t see his face nor did she care. He wouldn¡¯t even spare her the humiliation of having to undress him, but it wasn¡¯t his fault either.

    She was the only one to me and she knew it. She should have taken Bob¡¯s proposal, she knew Bob was kind and caring, if she had said yes she would already be with him.

    Her heart ached for a second thinking on Bob, on how he would lean on her breast and caress her hips. On how he would embrace her without showing any sexual desire, it was the closest thing to love she had ever experienced and the only body contact she had actually enjoyed in years. Every time sheforted him, it was as if she was actuallyforting herself after so many years of suffering.

    A cold hand reached for hers stopping her advance.

    .....

    ¡°Do you not find me to your liking mister client?¡±

    She said trying to hide her relief as best she could.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, you¡¯re beautiful and any man should consider himself lucky to be in my position. But, you see, I came for something different¡±

    Ryu¡¯s voice sounded embarrassed, making her flinch for a second. It wasn¡¯t unheard of men having all sorts of kinks and he already said he wanted to use her mouth, so if he didn¡¯t want what she thought her reality could be a lot worse than that.

    ¡°I need advice from someone more experienced in this matters, I just need to talk¡±

    He continued. Veronika felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest, the relief she was experiencing almost drove her to tears ¡®I¡¯ll send a message to Bob as soon as possible to tell him I¡¯lle with him¡¯ she thought.

    ¡°Tell me handsome, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but first, could you please cover yourself up?¡±

    He was a man after all and couldn¡¯t help but feel attracted to a woman as beautiful as her. Despite being old for this line of work, her age didn¡¯t matter at all to him. She quickly put on her dress and sat on the bed, patting the spot next to her. Ryu sat where she indicated and sighed.

    ¡°I¡¯m having trouble with some girls¡±

    He said.

    ¡°You can tell me anything you like, no one will ever found out about it, we keep much darker secrets in here¡±

    Ryu proceeded to tell him about everyone. Helena was his first crush, she was so cute and at the same time so appealing to him that if it wasn¡¯t for her personality he would have already chosen her. Anne, the girl who treated him poorly at first butter on she showed him another face that led them to be close. Andstly, about the situation with Rina.

    Veronika would nod every time Ryu provided a piece of information that could be important for the case, but remained in silence until he let out everything.

    ¡°Oh sweetie, you¡¯ve had it rough haven¡¯t you. There are two obvious solutions, the first one would be to be with them all and the second one would be to reject them and have fun at the brothel. But if you didn¡¯t do any of those I suppose that¡¯s not what you want¡±

    Ryu nodded silently.

    ¡°What is it you want then?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the problem then, how can you solve your situation if you don¡¯t even know what is you want¡±

    ¡°Wow that was helpful!¡±

    Ryu sneered.

    ¡°No, but I¡¯m being serious. You focus too much on what others think on what they want. You evenined that they didn¡¯t think about your feelings, yet, you do the exact same thing. If you cared for your own feelings you would¡¯ve just epted whatever they had to offer with a smile.

    Even if you found love at first sight, you wouldn¡¯t know unless you give it a chance. My advice to you is to be a little bit more selfish, try different things and don¡¯t be so dense. Enjoy whatever life has to offer you and, when the timees.

    You can only regret the things you do, but if you do nothing your life will be empty¡±

    Veronika¡¯s words reached Ryu, it was as if his eyes were finally open. There were many important things he needed to aplish in order to thrive in this world, but would any of that matter if he didn¡¯t enjoy living his own life.

    For a split second he thought on relieving himself with Veronika, since he had already paid for her services. But there were many girls waiting for him at home.

    He didn¡¯t make a decision, he didn¡¯t make a life choice, he just realized that he was missing on his life by being too worried about things that were supposed to feel natural.

    ¡°Thank you miss Veronika, I won¡¯t forget what you did for me today. I may pay you a visit some other day¡±

    ¡°you¡¯re wee mister Ryu, but I don¡¯t think there will be a chance for that¡±

    Ryu would¡¯ve been concerned for her well being, but her face held a genuine smile.

    Everything Veronika told Ryu was also applied for herself. She worried too much about others, when no one but Bob has ever worried for her. She never felt that she deserved to be loved as a woman, her body was tainted, yet Bob worshiped it like a temple.

    Ryu left the room in a hurry, as if he was being chased by a jackal. He wanted to go back to the tavern as soon as possible and sort things out with the girls, so he walked as fast as he could without running when he bumped into madame Bianca being followed by the two skinny girls with reddened eyes.

    ¡°Good evening madame Bianca¡±

    ¡°Evening mister Ryu, I¡¯m d to see you¡¯ve been enjoying our services. If you don¡¯t want your lover to find out you can use any of the side entrances we provide to our customers¡±

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I did enjoy my time in here, but I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have the time toe in here as often as I wanted¡±

    ¡°That witch is overworking you to the marrow, cant you see she¡¯s taking advantage of you?¡±

    Ryu nodded at madame Bianca¡¯s word as a grin was painted on her face.

    ¡°Are you, perhaps, interested in acquiring some ves? I¡¯ll give you a discount for these two, they haven¡¯t been here for a week and they¡¯re already bad for the business¡±

    Her line of thought was that, since the freeze wasing they would die anyway at the dungeon, she may as well earn some coin with them. After the freeze, if they survived, she could always buy them back from Ryu if she needed more ves to fill the quota. Though she didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be possible since they werepletely useless.

    They lost their first client and they cried in front of the ones that came after without even performing their duty. Also, they were so skinny she doubted they would survive at all.

    Ryu was dumbfounded but since she was, in fact, selling them cheap, he took the chance and left with them after making the paperwork. He took the signed documents with him and because it was a small deal with only a few silver coins involved, madame wouldn¡¯t even care to wait and just send them on their way.

    Ryu opened the tavern door and got inside holding each girl by the waist.

    ¡°Go wash yourselves and we¡¯ll talkter¡±

    Both girls giggled and did as Ryu told them.

    Anne, Helena and Rina were downstairs waiting for him, they¡¯ve been there moping the whole day and drinking beer, so they weren¡¯t at their best.

    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this Ryu!?¡±

    Said Anne aggressively.

    ¡°Its meaning is none of your business¡±

    He replied coldly and went upstairs to see Sera.

 Chapter 52

    Chapter 52: Don¡¯t fall for your ve, please! part

    ¡°How could he do this to us?¡±

    Helena melted over the table.

    ¡°Its kind of your fault, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Rina shrugged.

    ¡°What do you mean by that!? are you on his side now?¡±

    Anne was starting to get mad at her.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m on his side, as you should¡¯ve been from the start. Are you so dumb you can¡¯t realize you pushed him too much? First, both of you tried to seduce him, yet none of you would actually care for him nor give him what he needed. You cared more about beating the other than you cared for him¡±

    .....

    ¡°I know Rina, but what can we do now? he probably spent the whole day gettingid with many girls at the brothel and now he even came back with two of them!¡±

    Anne startedining but ended up raising her voice in anger.

    Even Ryu, who was upstairs, heard that and chuckled mischievously. He was in front of ire¡¯s room and he knocked on the door, she opened the door and let him in.

    ¡°Thanks foring mister Ryu¡±

    ire bowed slightly

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, but please just call me Ryu¡±

    Sera had been expecting his visit, she had followed his instructions, but she didn¡¯t feel much better. She stood up in front of the bed just likest time and took off her patchwork dress.

    She was as skinny as the first day, since not much time had passed, but something different drew his attention. She waspletely covered in bruises and small wounds. Her torso looked like a rotting fruit and her right arm had a nasty swelling.

    He intended to use his consider skill, to see how many health points she had left, but when he noticed the bruises he was so shocked and enraged, a different skill triggered.

    Killing intent 1%

    Sera embarrassed herself in front of Ryu as she lost control of her dder. A powerful instinctive fear took over her emotions as tears started to flow silently from her eyes. She couldn¡¯t move a muscle nor she could say a word, the pressure she was feeling prevented her even from rational thinking.

    Ryu snapped out of it when he saw her reaction, so he went ahead and held her tightly.

    ¡°How did this happen!? who did this to you?¡±

    ¡°I- I just wanted to save you¡±

    She managed to stutter as the horrible sensation disappeared as if it never existed.

    Thanks to his calm mind passive skill he managed to go back to his usual self, despite feeling an unstoppable anger and a boundless sadness that would have otherwise made him cry a river.

    Ryu left headed to the storage room to grab some medicinal herbs to treat, at least her arm. But what he found instead were two beautiful girls butt naked cleaning themselves.

    He was in a hurry, but couldn¡¯t avoid checking their bodies as he went in and out the storage room with what he needed.

    Eiri and Kairi giggled as they didn¡¯t mind it at all and just kept on washing themselves properly.

    He passed through the tavern again and went upstairs, and the girls in there followed him with curious eyes.

    Once he was back at ire¡¯s room he asked Sera to eat before he started the treatment, since it will deplete her staminapletely. Then, he chewed on the ring herbs, a mild medicinal nt that should be effective enough for the swelling on her arm.

    The pain receded almost immediately, but her arm was still swelling.

    ¡°I¡¯ll check you again tomorrow morning, if it doesn¡¯t get better I¡¯ll find another way. ire, if she gets a fever don¡¯t hesitate to get into my room, I¡¯ll leave the door open¡±

    ire bowed at Ryu and Sera tried to do the same but she was feeling groggy already. Instead, she fell on the bed and started snoring softly in what could be considered funny, yet both ire and Ryu were too worried tough at all.

    He was so tired he just went to bed.

    Later that night, a small creaking sound could be heard waking Ryu up. His sleep was light because he was expecting ire toe inside if Sera¡¯s condition took a turn for the worse. He was just about to get up when he felt someone get into bed with him.

    When he tried to see who it was, he couldn¡¯t activate his night vision skill no matter how much he tried.

    The girl next to him just lied down on his chest, unmoving. He didn¡¯t know who it was, but since Mochi didn¡¯t get startled it must be someone it knew from before.

    He could tell it wasn¡¯t Helena nor Rina, since it would have been impossible for them to hide the size and quality of their femininity.

    Instead of getting aroused by the feeling he just fell asleep again holding whoever it was with his arm.

    Morning came and he was surprised to see it was none other than Eiri by his side. She was already awake.

    ¡°Good morning master¡±

    ¡°Good morning Eiri, what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to serve you, in case you needed me¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t order you to do that¡±

    Ryu said whispering by instinct.

    ¡°I know, but we want to serve you nheless¡±

    Only then did he realize that Kairi was on the ground with both knees on the floor.

    ¡°Good morning master, would you like me to take care of that?¡±

    Kairi giggled as she pointed at what seemed to be a tent forming in the nkets making Ryu blush.

    ¡°No, but I appreciate the offer¡±

    Ryu sighed. He didn¡¯t want to take advantage from someone in a lower position than him, that meant he couldn¡¯t be with ves nor employees. And if he had to choose between Anne and Helena, who were hispanions, the other one would be angry. The only other choice would be Sera, but she was his patient.

    After talking with Veronika at the brothel he made up his mind and thought he¡¯d just have fun and do whatever he wanted. Only after a night¡¯s sleep he realized he didn¡¯t feel like gettingid so much as he wanted to not feel lonely. Because after sleeping tight with Eiri next to him he feltpletely refreshed.

    He got out of bed and both girls wouldn¡¯t take their eyes out of him. He was shirtless, they had seen a fair share of shirtless men, especially on the spring festival, yet none of them had a skin as smooth as Ryu¡¯s. Also, most men were hairy and muscr, even the skinny ones, yet Ryu was just skinny. He looked more like a woman into their eyes, but they kept their thoughts to themselves.

    When he went downstairs the smell of freshly baked bread wasing out of the kitchen, when he got inside he found ire was already cooking. The bags under her eyes showed that she didn¡¯t get any sleep.

    ¡°Is Sera ok?¡±

    He asked and ire just nodded.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯ll get better after getting some rest¡±

    Ryu said as he put a hand on ire¡¯s backforting her. If he had done something like that before the bar fight she would¡¯ve certainly believed he was trying to take advantage of her, but now she trusted Ryupletely and let herself beforted by a the simple gesture he offered.

    When he came out of the kitchen Anne, Helena and Rina were already sitting in there. There was only one spot avable to sit since they moved out all the other chairs, forcing Ryu to sit in front of all three of them.

    ¡°We made an agreement Ryu¡±

    Anne said before he got the chance to say hi.

    ¡°Do you like miss Rina?¡±

    Helena asked

    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet¡±

    Anne and Helena looked at each other and nodded.

    ¡°We decided that we will back off from trying to seduce you and we won¡¯t intervene in any way... As long as you stay out of the brothel¡±

    ¡®What gives you the right to make decisions in other people¡¯s life?¡¯ was what he wanted to say, but didn¡¯t get the chance.

    ¡°The main problem is that Rina remains a ve, but we have a solution. We will buy her debt from you, this way you both will be free to do whatever you like, until she manages to pay off her debt. Of course, since we¡¯ll be taking a risk by forwarding the money, instead of 3 gold coins she will own us 6. This means she will have to work in the tavern for a while¡±

    ¡°Are you ok with this Rina?¡±

    ¡°Of course I am! I was the one who gave the idea to raise the amount of the debt, it¡¯s the only way I could make the deal fair. Usually a ve wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to buy herself back, so this works in everyone¡¯s favor¡±

    ¡°This way she will be free to refuse anything you ask of her, but she won¡¯t be free to run away with the money. All we need to do is send a signed contract to the mayor and it should be all settled¡±

    Helena nodded as she handed Ryu a letter they prepared beforehand, the only thing missing was his signature which he happily provided.

    ¡°Now, I heard you¡¯ve been misbehaving Ryu... How can you go to the brothel while dating a girl?¡±

    Rina joked in her usual upbeat tone

    ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t do anything... I just needed to hire Anne¡¯s and Helena¡¯s recement¡±

    Everyone at the table was in shock, the very reason they cracked their heads devising this solution was because they didn¡¯t want Ryu going to the brothel. Not only because it would¡¯ve been expensive, but also because being so close to madame Bianca would have been dangerous. Anne and Helena sighed, yet they didn¡¯t regret their agreement. For the first time they were thinking on Ryu¡¯s well being instead of their own.

 Chapter 53

    Chapter 53: Don¡¯t fall for your ve, please! part

    Dn woke upte, as soon as he went downstairs Ryu tasked him with sending the letter off to the mayor. He couldn¡¯t grab breakfast because he got upte, but couldn¡¯tin either because the reason he woke upte was how much he yed at the brothel.

    When he opened the door there were people outside just about to knock on the door.

    ¡°I came to deliver the goods from the butcher shop, please confirm everything is ok before signing it¡±

    Said a bulky man as he handed Dn a piece of paper with a list of everything they got out of the wolves Anne killed near the mine. Since he was just an employee he handed the paper to Ryu who proceeded to check the products.

    Pelts were piled outside, and there were some boxes containing wolf meat and a small bag with fangs. After checking everything he signed it and the bulky man retreated. He feared the butcher would have made a poor job considering how Rudd treated him at his store, but he turned out to be a professional and the pelts were of high quality.

    ¡°We came to deliver the goods from the cksmith¡±

    Two men spoke at the same time, they looked like siblings.

    .....

    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask anything to the cksmith¡±

    Ryu looked behind him to see if the girls were behind it, but everyone shrugged.

    ¡°There was a request sent to the cksmith along with more than enough funds for it with this note¡±

    Said one of them as he handed him a piece of paper that said:

    ¡®Please deliver this to the tavern as soon as possible and hand this letter to the cook. Ryu, what you asked for was impossible for us, but this should help¡¯

    Ryu had requested beer and cider to Hiraku, he had more than enough food to keep the tavern running the whole winter, but they were in dire need of beer. If they ran out of beer no one would bothering to the tavern until spring and that would certainly kill the business. Even more if they consider that some people already paid for their weekly subscription to the tavern, and they wouldn¡¯t be happy if the tavern didn¡¯t provide them something to drink.

    ¡°Along with the note came several pages of very specific instructions on how to build this contraption, but it said that those were meant for the cksmith and he should keep them. The cksmith sends his regards, he said it was hell to make it and he hopes to try whatever food needs this kind of cooking pot to be prepared¡±

    The crate was so heavy he couldn¡¯t lift it, Anne and Helena helped him carry it inside. When they opened it they noticed it was, indeed, a cooking pot. It looked like an ordinary cooking pot, except for its huge size.

    Distiller: designed to produce alcohol.

    Ryu was both astonished and ecstatic, when he opened the lid he noticed there were other containers inside of it with copper pipes attached. He wanted to ensemble his new toy as soon as possible, but Rina had other ns.

    ¡°Ryu, we need to buy supplies today, do you want toe with me?¡±

    ¡°Hey, you sound like a nagging wife already¡±

    He mocked her and bothughed to their hearts content. Seeing this, Anne could do nothing but sigh, much to her dismay, they did look cute as a couple.

    ¡°Anne, are you ok?¡±

    Helena asks concerned

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m just... nevermind. What should we do now that they¡¯re outside?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯ll be busy making uniforms for those two¡±

    Helena smiled squinting her eyes pointing behind her. Eiri and Kairi were standing behind Helena, the whole time they¡¯ve done nothing but stand and stare at everyone. When Anne wanted to notice, Helena was nowhere to be seen, leaving her alone with the silent duo.

    ¡°Rina, why go out all of a sudden?¡±

    Ryu asked her as they walked among the crowd.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you notice?¡±

    Ryu took a second to look around him, and it waspletely crowded with people, most of them were carrying bags.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot people, is there a reason behind it?¡±

    When he looked at Rina he saw her looking at the sky, he took a long second to take a good look at her cleavage before lifting his head. There was a subtle light in the sky, it looked like a line of sorts.

    ¡°Does it have a meaning?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it means the freeze is here. Tonight people will confine themselves in their houses or at the refuge so everyone goes to the stores in order to get supplies. Food¡¯s price is tripled so only merchants can afford to buy some, the less fortunate go from house to house begging for anything people can spare. The mayor provides a single bag with supplies to everyone, but since the caravan didn¡¯te this year my guess is it won¡¯t be enough¡±

    ¡°If food price is tripled why are we heading out then?¡±

    ¡°Because everything else is cheaper. Every merchant will be selling almost at cost today, in order to get as much money as they can to go buy foodter, that¡¯s why I¡¯m telling you we need to hurry¡±

    Rina said grabbing his hand and walking faster. Making way in the crowd was difficult for them since they both were skinny and everyone was in a hurry but it was, in a weird way, fun too.

    Once they got to the carpenter he was outside calling for clients, but no one wanted to go inside, everyone was desperate. Now that Ryu knew the reason behind the amount of people outside it was hard for him to miss that everyone looked troubled.

    ¡°Good morning miss Rina, I¡¯ve been expecting you since the other night¡±

    ¡°You mean the night when people destroyed my ce? uh?¡±

    Rina knew how to handle men inside the tavern, but Ryu didn¡¯t expect her to be the same outside.

    ¡°Are you here to buy new furniture? I¡¯ll give you a good deal¡±

    Both got inside the shop,st time Ryu got inside it was by mistake and the storekeeper didn¡¯t even greet them. Now he was following them everywhere exining details about his products while rubbing his both hands together. He was a thin man with a long mustache dressed in fine clothes and, like most merchants, he had a smile frozen in his face the whole time.

    ¡°What do you think about this one Ryu?¡±

    Rina said as she pulled him closer to her, she wanted him to take a look at a table, but all he could care about in that moment was the soft feeling on his elbow as it bounced against her bosom.

    ¡°That¡¯s a fine piece, if I say so myself, the carpenters paid special attention to it¡¯s appearance. I¡¯m sure it¡¯d look nice at your tavern Miss Rina¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not my tavern anymore, it¡¯s his¡±

    Rina said pointing at Ryu, who stared at the merchant in the eye making sure he remembers how he treated himst time. When the merchant realized this, he started sweating buckets.

    ¡°Actually, we¡¯re looking for something specific. We need eight tables for four people and three for six. We also need six dressers, a desk, four low tables and six, no, make it ten shelves. I don¡¯t care of the looks, only about the price. Also, everything must be delivered today.¡±

    The merchant¡¯s eyes started glowing intensely and showed Ryu the choices he had that met his requirements. When they made a deal, the merchant called for help and four men came from behind the counter and went back after receiving instructions.

    ¡°Everything will be delivered today at noon¡±

    Ryu didn¡¯t even bother saying goodbye, he just paid and left with Rina.

    ¡°Now I get the feeling you¡¯re the one in a hurry Ryu¡±

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I am. If we¡¯re going to be confined during two weeks we need to buy a lot of things¡±

    Now instead of Rina pulling his arm to walk faster, Ryu dragged Rina as if she was a kite he wanted to fly. Ryu went on a spending spree and got all kinds of fabrics, some tools and utensils, ss bottles of different sizes, firewood, nails and cleaning supplies. Also, he noticed that there were people selling their stuff on the streets or exchanging it for food, so he finally got to buy some elemental stones for himself.

    Rina was bbergasted by all the stuff they got, let alone the money he spent, she didn¡¯t even know he had that much. Since they couldn¡¯t carry most of the stuff they asked for everything to be delivered at the tavern and they simply carried a small bag each, mostly with elemental stones.

    When they reached the tavern doors it was night dark already, and the formerly subtle lights, were now shinning bright in all shades of purple.

    Rina and Ryu were both standing just outside the tavern, watching the deserted street. If it wasn¡¯t for the amount of footprints in the snow it¡¯d be impossible to tell that it was so crowded earlier.

    ¡°Ryu, I know the girls and I made a deal, but if you¡¯re not ok with it we can just be friends. I don¡¯t really know how I feel yet, but I have a lot of fun with you even when doing stuff I¡¯m used to. If you just want to be friends, I¡¯ll be ok with that too you know?¡±

    Rina said as she looked at him in the eye. Since she was always upbeat and a bit lightheaded whenever she got serious about something she looked like a different person.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how I feel either, but... let¡¯s figure it out together¡±

    Ryu said as he reached for her hand, and they both stared at the southern lights for a few minutes inplete silence.

 Chapter 54

    Chapter 54: Survive the freeze, please! part

    Anne and Helena were going crazy, the ce was filled with furniture and stuff that had been delivered earlier. They didn¡¯t know where to put things anymore and everything was a mess.

    ¡°What are you guys doing?¡±

    Said Ryu as he got into the tavern along with Rina.

    ¡°It¡¯s all your fault, you bought too many things!¡±

    Anneined arms crossed.

    ¡°Uhhh, yeah, but there¡¯s plenty of space at the storage room. Tavern¡¯s gonna be closed for a while now and we will need the space. You know what, forget about that, just gather everyone, we need to talk¡±

    Ryu said as he walked upstairs and came back with Sera on his arms. Her face was bright red and she clung on to Ryu¡¯s neck with all her might. Anne and Helena came running, they didn¡¯t know what happened in between Ryu and Rina, but since they were out most of the day and bought a lot of stuff they didn¡¯t know what to expect.

    .....

    ¡°Helena, I need you to take a look at her arm and see if you can do something¡±

    ¡°Show me your arm sweetie, I¡¯ll see what I can do¡±

    Helena spoke as if she was talking to a child making Sera blush.

    ¡°Uhm, Helena... Sera is my elder sister¡±

    ire exined awkwardly. The fact was that Helena couldn¡¯t be med for thinking Sera was a child, her features were not feminine at all, she just looked like a scrawny kid because of her undernourishment.

    Helena ced her hand on Sera¡¯s swollen arm, it looked gruesome but she didn¡¯t feel any pain.

    ¡°Try to move it a little please¡±

    When Sera tried to move her hand, Helena couldn¡¯t bear the pain she felt from bond she established and yelped, making Sera flinch. Sera was already familiar with the pain and didn¡¯t think much of it, but to Helena it was something unbearable.

    ¡°I- I Think its broken. I don¡¯t know If I can help with this¡±

    Helena said with teary eyes. Everyone else kept quiet.

    ¡°could you try to heal her anyways?¡±

    When Ryu nodded at Helena, her hands started shinning in an intense light that almost blinded everyone in the room.

    ¡°You¡¯re a priest!?¡±

    Dn jaw dropped to the floor.

    ¡°I am! but how did you know!?¡±

    ¡°My mom was a priest and my father a warrior, they taught me everything about it! Now everything makes sense! you all have sses, that¡¯s why the silver goddess is so beautiful... errr I mean, so strong¡±

    ¡°Dn, you need to tell me everything¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think I swear! I haven¡¯t done anything, I just love her, I mean, I saw her naked once but... No! that¡¯s not it she saved my life and now I¡¯m hers, I- I mean¡±

    ¡°Dn stop talking nonsense, I mean about the sses¡±

    Ryu grunted while Anne was blushing. She did recall when she was cleaning herself in the storage and she left the door unlocked thinking that Ryu might show up, but it turned out to be Dn.

    ¡°O- Ok, First I need to know where do you guyse from, my parents were from the sacred empire and there might be some differences¡±

    ¡°Wee from different ces, but if we told you, you¡¯d probably think we¡¯re crazy¡±

    Ryu replied

    ¡°Not crazier than being from a vige nearby... no one ventures south from here. I¡¯ve never believed for a second you came from the forest¡±

    Rina shrugged. Everyone was a bit tense, except from Eiri and Kairi who didn¡¯t know anything about anything.

    ¡°Just continue please, and for your information Rina, we dide from the woods. I can take you to our settlement once winter is over if you want¡±

    Seeing Ryu talking with such confidence made her doubt, but she has seen with her very own eyes many people going into the woods only to never be seen again.

    ¡°Whenever someone reaches adulthood, a ceremony is performed in the oracle, which allows tomunicate with god. Once the connection is established, said person might choose a ss as long as they meet the requirements. There are four different basic sses: Warrior, Archer, Thief and Priest.

    Warriors have powerful physical skills that allow them to perform beyond what a human being can, Archers are nimble in their feet and have high stamina, Thieves are evil doers that use stealth tomit crimes and finally priests are the most sacred and powerful basic ss. Priests are chosen only by god and once they be priests they are provided with unlimited knowledge and power, they have the ability to heal people with nothing but a touch and can cure any disease¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think your description is a bit biased¡±

    Anne said staring at him, while Helena limited herself to smile awkwardly when hearing thest part.

    ¡°How does one get more energy?¡±

    Ryu prompted Dn to continue

    ¡°By killing, anything you kill gives you a small amount of their energy¡±

    ¡°What about the stats?¡±

    ¡°When two people have a baby, the newbornes into this world with random stats, but there¡¯s a chance they may inherit one or more of their parent¡¯s stats. They can be acquired by training too, that¡¯s why people goes crazy about the mine in this town. While you can get some stats by plowing thend or chopping wood, the fastest way to be stronger is through mining, once people gets strong enough to fight without dying in a single hit they be hunters. Everyone starts as support, but again, when they be strong enough they be front liners¡±

    ¡°That exins why some people were still alive after receiving horrible injuries when we were attacked by the wolves¡±

    ¡°Yes, that reminds me. In the empire people were ranked with a letter. F rank are themon people. E rank would be people like me, that are yet to receive the god¡¯s blessing. D ss are people like miss Helena, people with a basic ss. C ss would be the ones with more than one basic ss, but those are pretty rare. B ss are those that received an unusual blessing, allowing them to be a different ss entirely, when my parents were at the empire there was an arch bishop at the head of the church and they told me there was also a holy knight. Beasts are ranked too, but I dont know about that¡±

    ¡°Ok,st question, you told me about skills, but what about messages?¡±

    ¡°Messages are sent by god through the obelisk, there was a holy crusade to hold control of the obelisk and the sacred empire won. Most people in Ironwoods don¡¯t have a ss because even if they met the requirements, we don¡¯t have an oracle in here. The mayor does provide an alternative, but it¡¯s expensive and people who get a ss usually leave town. About you...¡±

    ¡°Anne is an archer and Helena a priest, I don¡¯t have a ss yet¡±

    Ryu shrugged

    ¡°That¡¯s no necessarily a bad thing, you can pick a ss whenever you want. I¡¯ll be going to the oracle as soon as the ice melts¡±

    Ryu was so focused talking with Dn that he failed to notice the temperature in the room started to drop drastically. Only when his breath was visible to the naked eye and the cold gave him goosebumps did he notice that something was off.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    ¡°You really didn¡¯t know? this is the freeze. It¡¯s so sudden that sometimes people get caught off guard outside, if you¡¯re not inside a house you¡¯re as good as dead¡±

    ire said as she took an iron brazier and turned it on, it was fueled by elemental stones and emitted a constant stream of hot air that soon warmed the whole tavern. Ryu took a look around and noticed that there was ice under the door and the wood creaked as if it was being twisted by an invisible hand.

    ¡°If this is as bad as it gets, I can get used to it¡±

    Anne said getting.

    ¡°It¡¯s not bad as long as you stay inside with one of those. These braziers are the main reason why miners live so crowded in a big building. With just one of these you can keep a whole building at a decent temperature. We shouldn¡¯t have a problem but I rmend you to keep your doors open the whole time or temperature will drop rapidly¡±

    Rina exined and everyone nodded.

    After the chat they started organizing everything as best as they could, they ced the tables and chairs, some dart boards. After decorating and tidying up it looked like a different ce, it wasn¡¯t high end as the brothel, but it looked warm and lively, except for the fact that there weren¡¯t any clients inside.

    ire and Ryu went into the kitchen to fix something to eat. After the freeze she will be taking charge of the kitchen, that¡¯s why Ryu needed to get her ready before that. In only two weeks she needed to be at least as good as him, which meant they were going to spend long hours at the kitchen.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for troubling you with my sister¡¯s health condition¡±

    ire said abruptly while peeling off a potato.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, she¡¯ll feel better soon, just be patient, I think... ahhh!¡±

    Ryu replied, when he was suddenly interrupted by Rina¡¯s hand that pinched his ass firmly.

    ¡°Oh, darling are you already cheating on me?¡±

    ¡°what!? no!¡±

    ¡°Then why did you get so scared?¡±

    She grinned mischievously.

 Chapter 55

    Chapter 55: Survive the freeze, please! part

    ¡°It was your fault! you did it out of the blue!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s now my fault you made it so easy¡±

    Rina shrugged making ire chuckle.

    ¡°You two really are something¡±

    ire said covering her smile with a hand.

    ¡°But I¡¯m hungry!¡±

    Rina pouted

    .....

    ¡°Yes yes, now go and wait for dinner as everyone else, I don¡¯t y favorites¡±

    Ryu said as he dragged Rina out of the kitchen. When dinner was ready, Dn and Helena were discussing priest skills, he told Helena that his mother had a skill that could heal broken bones but he didn¡¯t know how to acquire it. His mother learned it from a scroll that was for sale at the empire and it helped her to unlock it.

    Since Sera¡¯s arm couldn¡¯t be healedpletely by Helena¡¯s healing skill, she did her best to fashion a splint to help her. The mood at the table was gloomy because of Sera¡¯s condition. Ryu did his best to avoid showing his own guilt since not only he failed to heal her when he promised, she also got hurt when trying to save her.

    When the meal was finished everyone went to their rooms to sleep. ire and Sera went to their room together, everybody else had their own room except for Eiri and Kairi. The day before they slept with Ryu because nobody told them that they were able to sleep at one of the tavern¡¯s rooms, so they just assumed they had to fulfill their duties as ves and went to sleep with him.

    But after spending the night with him they were worried because he didn¡¯t even touch them, and it got them thinking that maybe he didn¡¯t like them at all and they shouldn¡¯t be sleeping with him. In the end, both of them remained downstairs and slept on the ground until morning.

    Everyone slept peacefully with their doors open to allow the heat from the brazier to enter their rooms. The first one to wake up was Ryu, but instead of walking downstairs by himself he thought it would be best if everyone woke up early. The first room he went into was Rina¡¯s, he stood outside and knocked on the door.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Ryu? it¡¯s the freeze, we¡¯re supposed to sleep untilter¡±

    She said as she sat on the bed rubbing her eyes.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time to get ready for what¡¯sing, so I need everyone to wake up earlier than usual¡±

    ¡°This is unfair! the freeze is my only vacation!¡±

    Rina said patting the bed with both hands making a tantrum. Only then did she realize that she waspletely naked and Ryu was not looking at her face. Instead of feeling embarrassed, she thought in using this to her advantage.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you prefer to join me in bed?¡±

    She said seductively as she lifted the nkets and made a spot for him. Ryu gulped his saliva but managed to escape before losing to his own desires. the sight in front of him was alluring, and staying in bed a little longer was tempting, but there was a time for everything and now wasn¡¯t the time for resting.

    One by one he woke up everyone, although now he was more careful when knocking on the girl¡¯s rooms. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of peopleining as they started getting dressed. But when he came to Eiri¡¯s and Kairi¡¯s room he noticed that the bed was made, and the girls were nowhere to be found.

    ¡®These airheads¡¯ he thought inwardly.

    When everyone was downstairs Ryu stood in front of them.

    ¡°I know you guys wanted to sleep more now that we can¡¯t get outside, but you¡¯re not being paid to sleep. Even if there are no clients we need to take the chance to improve ourselves and the tavern. This is why, starting today, everyone will be waking up at the same time and we are going to be performing different exercises and tasks to improve our stats¡±

    Dn sleepy face shifted into a wide smile.

    ¡°Yes sir!¡±

    Ryu went one by one asking everyone to perform different exercises like lifting sacks of flour, doing sit ups, push ups and jumping a rope. Sera wanted to participate too, she had a look of determination on her face, but when Ryu came he asked her to follow him to the storage room. There was a desk and a pile of papers in front.

    ¡°Your first task will be to read all this notes, learn the names and purpose of every nt and herb in here¡±

    Sera¡¯s face was a bit saddened, everyone was doing exercise but Ryu asked her to do something entirely different, but she would never defy his orders. In her eyes, Ryu was an existence beyond her reach and his words were hermands. Even with her broken arm she would¡¯ve done push ups if Ryu asked her, in fact, that¡¯s what she wanted so she could show him how much effort she was willing to put into anything he asked of her.

    Everyone kept exercising even after breakfast, but for Anne and Helena it was nothing. They had better stats than everyone else and the same amount of exercise wouldn¡¯t even be enough as warm up for them. Ryu knew this, but he thought it would be good for everyone to see how stronger they could get if they trained enough.

    The ones struggling the most were Eiri and Kairi, not only because they were in and physical shape and malnourished, but also because they slept poorly on the ground. ire was doing ok, but it showed that she was putting a lot of effort into it, while Dn was the most enthusiast.

    When he reached Rina, she was trying to make it look like she was exercising, but she would barely move. He caught her in the middle of a poorly executed sit up and he didn¡¯t miss the chance to p her in the rear.

    ¡°Kyaa! what are you doing?¡±

    Rina shrieked.

    ¡°What am I doing? what are YOU doing? put your heart into this or I¡¯ll do it again¡±

    After a while ire went to clean herself and then joined Ryu at the kitchen to make lunch. He was slicing the dough in thin lines to make noodles, he mixed five parts of regr flour with one part of elven wheat fruit flour.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ire asked looking at the strange flour Ryu was using.

    ¡°This is a special ingredient with a high nutritional value that will keep everyone in good shape after their physical effort¡±

    They served a bowl of noodles to everyone and they were so hungry that by the time they came back with their own servings, people were already asking for seconds. After the meal they were relieved when Ryu told them they could rest, but they were disheartened when he told them that it would be their morning routine from that day onward.

    At dinner they drank some beer and yed darts. Anne, of course, was the best at the game, she was so good at it that she could hit bullseye from far away.

    ¡°Eiri, Kairi,e over here. Why did you sleep downstairsst night?¡±

    ¡°Because we didn¡¯t want to trouble master and we learned that master is dating Rina, so...¡±

    ¡°But there was a room ready for you¡±

    ¡°We are nothing but ves, we don¡¯t deserve such generosity. Also, miss Anne told us that master intended to use that room as a workshop¡±

    Ryu recalled that he mentioned it after taking charge of the tavern, making he feel even more guilty than before. He¡¯s been so focused on many things that hepletely forgot about their amodation, now that he¡¯s responsible for their well being he needed to figure out where to set up his workshop, especially now that he had a distiller.

    Ryu asked Rina toe upstairs with him and she followed with an intrigued expression.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter boss? I swear I¡¯ll take the morning exercises more seriously, you don¡¯t need to worry about that¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, did you know Eiri and Kairi slept on the ground yesterday?¡±

    ¡°uh, why didn¡¯t they sleep in their room?¡±

    ¡°Because no one told them that it was supposed to be their room. But there¡¯s something troubling me, I need to set up a workshop and there¡¯s not enough space avable. ording to Ayumi¡¯s instructions the distiller produces mmable fumes so it would be dangerous to ensemble it in a room without proper venttion. So... that¡¯s why...¡±

    Noticing the awkwardness in Ryu¡¯s voice tone Rina replied.

    ¡°So you want to sleep with them¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, I don¡¯t want them to think that I want to take advantage from them¡±

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you ask the girls to sleep with Dn? I bet he¡¯ll be happy¡±

    ¡°Because... I don¡¯t want him to take advantage from them either¡±

    Rina was confused about it, they were ves so it really didn¡¯t matter how he treated them and they knew it. But then she remembered how Ryu treated her for the short period when she was a ve and everything made sense to her.

    ¡°Listen Ryu, being a ve is bad, but being your ve is not nearly as bad as it would be if they were someone else¡¯s. Trust me on this, they will serve you and do anything you ask of them, I bet they¡¯re grateful to you just for the meals you prepare for them. Even free people would kill for this kind of treatment, if other girls in town knew how they were going to be treated as your ves they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to sell themselves. Just sleep with them and have fun, everything will be solved, they¡¯ll have somewherefortable to sleep and you¡¯ll get your workshop¡±

    Rina exined

    ¡°That¡¯s not it Rina... would that really be ok? I mean, we¡¯re dating and...¡±

    ¡°Oh!? I thought you weren¡¯t interested in me anymore, after you turned me down. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t mind if you have sex with other people. Even married men y on the side or go to the brothel, there are some miners with more than one spouse too and I wouldn¡¯t mind that either¡±

    Ryu pondered for a second before asking Rina.

    ¡°Rina, would you like to move into my room?¡±

 Chapter 56

    Chapter 56: Survive the freeze, please! part

    ¡°Does this mean we¡¯ll be sleeping together?¡±

    Rina said smiling nervously.

    ¡°Would that be a problem for you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I mean, Would Anne and Helena be ok with that?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know. But I¡¯ve been worrying about others too much. The only thing that matters is if you¡¯re willing to move into my room or no¡±

    ¡°What would happen if I said I¡¯m not ready yet?¡±

    ¡°Then I will be sharing my room with Eiri and Kairi¡±

    .....

    Rina lowered her gaze and started scratching her head as if she was trying to shake off her own thoughts.

    ¡°This is all tooplicated, I don¡¯t want Anne and Helena to be mad at me. I really like you and it¡¯d be unfair if you sleep with Eiri and Kairi instead of me, but I don¡¯t know what to do. Before I make a decision I must know, Do you even like me?¡±

    Instead of replying, Ryu sealed her lips with a long kiss and pulled her closer. All of Rina¡¯s doubts disappeared and she let herself go in the warm embrace and the soft caress on her lips. Rina was eager to let herself drown in the pleasure and the tingling sensation she was experiencing for the first time.

    When the kiss ended Rina dragged Ryu into his room and they dropped on the bed still holding on to each other. Rina ced her hand on the back of Ryu¡¯s head seeking for another kiss, they were kissing in between breaths. Before Ryu could even realize it, Rina was sound asleep on his chest, she was just too tired after the long day of working out and refurnishing the tavern and nothing else happened in between them. Still, confirming their feelings made them the happiest couple at the tavern.

    Even more so than Eiri and Kairi that couldn¡¯t believe how lucky they were to be bought by Ryu. The food they had was better than the ones they were used to when they were free and for the first time in their lives they were sleeping in a spacious room by themselves. The bed was sofortable that they fell asleep almost as soon as they covered themselves with the warm nkets.

    Even the people that lived in the tavern were nice to them and didn¡¯t make them work tirelessly as they thought initially, not only that, they even treated them with respect despite being ves.

    The next day everyone was ready to do their morning exercises, but this time Ryu put in front of Anne and Helena a couple of spears.

    ¡°Since working out is not nearly enough training, I¡¯ll ask you to train yourself in the use of spears. just move some tables to make space and spar everyday¡±

    They both nodded and started doing as instructed. Ryu went on and checked how everyone was doing. Eiri and Kairi were both already tired so Ryu asked them to rest, when he stood in front of Dn he noticed that he still had a lot of stamina left so he instructed him to pick up the pace.

    Then he went to the storage room to see how Sera was doing.

    ¡°Did you finish memorizing every page?¡±

    Sera nodded shyly in response

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be asking you some questions, if you answer them correctly we will move to the next task¡±

    Ryu questioned her about every single herb and nt that was listed on the pages, but there was one page that wasn¡¯t among them and it was the silver flower. Ryu knew this, but still decided to put Sera to the test.

    ¡°What about the silver flower?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an aromatic flower, it¡¯s worth a copper coin if brought with the whole root. Also, that¡¯s why miss Anne smells so good¡±

    ¡°What? seriously?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she always rubs some petals on her neck, I¡¯ve seen her do it multiple times¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pleasantly surprised, you answered everything correctly and even remembered the one that¡¯s posted at the billboard, so, the next step is something a bit more difficult. I tried to sort the herbs before they went bad, but I didn¡¯t have the time so I¡¯ll ask you to sort every different herb. Once you¡¯re finished we¡¯ll talk about the next step¡±

    Ryu wanted to head back into the tavern but Sera grabbed his hand and stopped him.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, I¡¯ve been feeling ill. If it¡¯s not much to ask, would you check up on my health?¡±

    ¡°Sure, but your sister ire is currently busy¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to worry her, its ok if its just you¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes,st time I... embarrassed myself in front of you and I don¡¯t want her to see me like that again, but if it¡¯s you I don¡¯t mind¡±

    Ryu agreed and Sera started undressing but had some trouble because of the splint Helena made for her, so he had to help her. The first thing that Ryu noticed was that her skin was no longer dry and bruised, thanks to Helena¡¯s healing skill and her new diet her skin was smooth as silk. But that wasn¡¯t the only thing that improved.

    ¡°anhh¡±

    Sera moaned softly as Ryu¡¯s hand brushed her buttocks when trying to pull down her dress.

    ¡°Excuse me please, your dress is a little tighter than before¡±

    He said awkwardly.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok if its you¡±

    Sera said turning back to him, since Ryu was crouching to pull off her dress, she identally ced her soft mounds right on his face. He was in awe, not only because of the soft feeling he was experiencing, but also because Sera was quickly recovering her womanly figure. After a couple seconds he attempted to stand up, but Sera embraced him with both arms, making it impossible for him to release himself without hurting Sera¡¯s fractured arm.

    ¡°Thank you, thank you!¡±

    She said with teary eyes.

    ¡°You gave me and my sister a ce to live, you provide us with everything we need and never asked for anything in return. For that I¡¯ll be forever in your debt, I¡¯m yours now and forever, I¡¯ll follow you wherever you go... I¡¯d do anything for you¡±

    ¡°hmfh mhmfm hmf¡±

    Ryu managed to mumble through her soft breasts, but his muffled words were unintelligible. When Sera noticed this she reluctantly let him go.

    ¡°Excuse me mister Ryu, I didn¡¯t mean it¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok Sera, but you need to understand I¡¯m with Rina now and...¡±

    ¡°I understand, I only ask you to let me stay by your side¡±

    Ryu was shocked, Sera¡¯s words were not the only thing that took him by surprise. He had seen her naked many times, but he was amazed at the rate she recovered. She gained weight in all the right ces emphasizing her natural beauty and shy demeanor. Her beauty was nowhere near as striking as Rina¡¯s but Ryu was bursting with desire. Before he made a mistake he ran out of the room.

    When Ryu got to the tavern he found out Rina was still working out with the rest, she was all sweaty and somewhat tired. But he didn¡¯t give her the chance to say a word. He simply grabbed her hand and without saying a word he took her upstairs.

    Anne looked at the scene developing in front of her with a saddened expression, causing one of Helena¡¯s sloppy attacks to hit her in the head.

    *ouch!*

    Anne eximed as a small bump formed on her forehead.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anne! are you ok?¡±

    Said Helena getting closer to Anne who was crying, hiding the sorrow in her heart behind the physical pain she was feeling.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, I just got distracted¡±

    Ryu closed the door without caring for the freeze weather, that would sooner orter convert the warm room into a walk in freezer.

    The new couple started kissing, fighting the freeze with their hot bodies. Ryu¡¯s yful hand discovered all the sweet spots hiding on Rina¡¯s body. She meekly allowed him to caress, pinch or kiss whatever Ryu wanted replying with soft moans that wanted to escape the room. Her feminine allure was more than any man could take with an innocent mind and her youthful body was too sincere to any of Ryu¡¯s advances opening the path to everything that followed.

    By the time they left the room lunch time had already passed, so it was more than obvious everyone noticed their absence. Rina came downstairs with her shoulder length red hair disheveled, while Ryu had the widest smile everyone had ever seen on his face.

    Dn felt the impulse to cheer jokingly, but decided against it after seeing Anne¡¯s and Helena¡¯s long faces. Still, all they did was to smile sourly at Ryu trying not to ruin his current mood.

    Ryu showed an impressive appetite, he ate three servings and felt like he could still have some more. Rina, who usually was very energetic and loud, was now tired and distracted. her flushed face was all the evidence people at the tavern needed to notice she had a great first time.

    It wasn¡¯t unusual in Ironwoods that couples would have intercourse first and then start dating, in fact, it was understood that a rtionship only started after they did it for the first time. Also, since people lived in crowded buildings and had little to no privacy, whenever a couple formed people who heard them or see them acted as witnesses in case a child was born and the father attempted to avoid his responsibilities.

    So now, Ryu and Rina were an official couple in front of society.

 Chapter 57

    Chapter 57: Survive the freeze, please! part

    Later that day Rina went to visit Sera, who was still busy at the warehouse. When Sera noticed who was at the door she felt a bit scared, thinking that maybe she did something wrong, but her fear was unfounded, because as soon as Rina got inside she kissed Sera¡¯s cheek.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you said or did to Ryu, but I have a lot to thank you for girl!¡±

    Sera knew the meaning behind Rina¡¯s joyful mood and, despite feeling a bit jealous, she was truly happy for both of them.

    It took Sera two full days of work to sort every different herb that was in the storage, when she told Ryu that she finished her task he went in to check everything was alright. After that he grabbed a sack with ring herbs and headed upstairs.

    In those couple days when everyone kept busy training, he set up his workshop upstairs. Since it was dangerous to operate the distiller in closed environments he had to device a way to keep the fumes from gathering inside. He made some vents and pipes, which added to stone floor, were supposed to keep idents from happening in there. He was finally ready to try his new distiller.

    Ryu grabbed enough ring herbs and followed Ayumi¡¯s instructions that were written on the note he got, keeping the temperature in check was a difficult task so he needed to supervise the whole process, and he also wanted to see if his vents were working properly, anyway he decided to spend the whole time inside the workshop.

    When it reached the optimum temperature, a soft noise simr to a leaking pipe was all he needed to know he had done things properly, but that wasn¡¯t the end of it. He also got a system message:

    .....

    Transmutation 53%

    Transmutation 54%

    His skill progressed one percent in about fifteen minutes and he was beyond ecstatic. Everything was going ording to n, even hispanions were rapidly developing thanks to a proper diet and a lot of hard work.

    Finally a clear green liquid started filling out the finished product pot and Ryu used his identify skill.

    Ring herb extract: powerful medicine that can¡¯t be applied on wounds, poisonous.

    ¡°If it can¡¯t be applied nor can it be drink, what good is it?¡± he mumbled to himself.

    But he wouldn¡¯t let something like that stop him. He grabbed three small ss bottles that he bought along with many supplies before the freeze, and filled them with water, then he proceeded to put a couple drops of extracts in one.

    Ring herb concentrate: mild medicinal properties that can¡¯t be applied on wounds, poisonous.

    He proceeded to do the same two more times, but the result always ended in a poisonous substance.

    After all his effort he was disappointed in the result. The worst part was that he needed to properly clean the equipment before using it to make something else, but then he remembered he had a couple of ves that remain idle most of the day.

    He didn¡¯t like the idea of taking advantage from them, but since he was paying them 5 copper coins per day in order for them to buy their own freedom sometime, the least they could do was earn the money with honest work.

    Eiri and Kairi were more than happy to help Ryu, but it turned out that both of them were a couple of airheads and their learning speed was much less than Ryu expected. He showed them how to properly clean every part of the machine, but when Eiri bent one of the pipes because it was in the way, Ryu politely asked them to get the hell out of the workshop and don¡¯t evere back.

    ¡°Ryu, what was all that about? you never yell like that¡±

    Rina came into the workshop when she saw Eiri and kairi running out with teary eyes.

    ¡°I know, I feel bad too... I asked Eiri to help me clean the distiller and she almost broke it¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry darling, I can help you! After all I¡¯ve been washing dishes and mugs for years¡±

    Rina said cing a hand on her arm making a pose that was supposed to show her muscles meaning ¡®I can do it¡¯, yet all Ryu saw was her breasts pressing against her arms.

    ¡°You can touch all you want, we¡¯re all alone you know¡±

    Rina said with a grin after catching his perverted eyes staring at her bosom.

    ¡°No way Rina! if you help me in here I need you to focus on the job, its of the utmost importance that we clean it properly or the next batch could be ruined¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I will try to keep my hands to myself then, I can¡¯t promise anything though¡±

    She shrugged, making Ryu chuckle. Ryu did enjoy his time with Rina before their naked fun time, and he feared that things might be awkward, now he was certain that it was all inside his mind and she was still the same Rina he met before, only a lot closer to him.

    He considered himself lucky for many reasons and there were many things that made him happy, but his rtionship with Rina was at the top of the list.

    With Rina¡¯s assistance Ryu managed to make extracts from every nt they had at their disposal, including potatoes and grain. Rina was so happy when she found out that the mysterious machine was also able to make liquor, because that meant that they wouldn¡¯t run out of drinks and they will be able to serve customers at least until spring season.

    With many different extracts at his disposal he mixed them in many differentbinations and ratios, and this time the products were even better than he expected.

    Whenever he mixed a medicinal extract with a detoxifying one the result was something that kept the medicinal properties untouched but eliminated the poisonous effect. But that wasn¡¯t the end of it, he was able to make medicine for burns, frostbite, light wounds, medium wounds and even serious wounds. The results varied so much that he needed to write the exact recipes and that took him a lot of time and effort, especially since Rina couldn¡¯t help him with that.

    ¡°What got you so motivated to work so much into this? I think the potato alcohol you made is more than enough for our needs¡±

    Said Rina moving on her chair as if it was a rocking chair, making the most annoying creaking sound.

    ¡°I need to find something to help Sera with her broken arm¡±

    He said still taking notes about hisst experiment.

    ¡°Is it even possible?¡±

    She asked intrigued.

    ¡°Give me your hand¡±

    Rina extended her arm without hesitation and Ryu ced a droplet of a mysterious bubbling liquid on her hand. At first she didn¡¯t feel anything, but then her whole hand went numb and she couldn¡¯t move it at all.

    ¡°That¡¯s a paralyze potion, I wanted to make an anesthetic, but it came out wrong¡±

    ¡°My hand! I can¡¯t move it!¡±

    ¡°I know, that¡¯s why it¡¯s called paralyze potion¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the point in making something like this?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just making some experiments for now. Every time I make a new potion it has so many properties that I need topensate adding more substances. Some substances counter side effects while others, when mixed together, createpletely different effects. For example, I managed to create a pretty good medicine for burns, but it had a nasty side effect that weakened a person¡¯s strength for a while. In order to get rid of that side effect I stumbled upon a fire resistance potion¡±

    Ryu said as he drank a vial and then ced his hand directly on the fire beneath the distiller. He felt just a little bit of pain and his hand wasn¡¯t burned in the slightest.

    ¡°It only works for a couple seconds, but my guess is that there¡¯s a way to make the effectsst longer, I just need to experiment a bit longer¡±

    ¡°How do you know the effects a potion has before you drink it?¡±

    ¡°This has been a secret for a while, but I have a skill called identify¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯ve heard about that skill, there was a merchant that was supposed to have it, I can¡¯t remember his name though¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice to hear, at least I¡¯m not a weirdo¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly darling, even if you had the weirdest skill or none at all, you would still be the weirdest person I¡¯ve ever met¡±

    Rina said, making Ryu feelforted at first but when he noticed she was mocking him he put his hand on her head and messed with her hair.

    ¡°Ahh! violence! my boyfriend is so violent!¡±

    She joked squinting her eyes with her hair disheveled, but when Ryu heard himself being called her boyfriend a sweet sensation ran down to his stomach, it felt like vertigo but in a pleasurable way. He leaned close to her and kissed Rina deeply, leaving her flushing and panting.

    ¡°Why did you do that?¡±

    She said trying to keep Ryu from noticing her arousal.

    ¡°Am I not your boyfriend? anyways, you¡¯re distracting me too much, I need you to let me focus on this¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair, you can¡¯t start things and then send me on my way¡±

    She pouted.

    ¡°Oh, so now you¡¯re telling me what I can or can¡¯t do... At least wait until we¡¯re married¡±

    He joked, but just by hearing the word ¡®married¡¯ stiffened her limbs and he walked sheepishly outside.

    Anne just happened to be in the hallway upstairs when Rina exited the room, when she noticed her expression, her bright red cheeks, her disheveled hair and two small buttons that stood out on her dress, she thought that Ryu and Rina just had some action.

    Anne¡¯s heart shattered in a thousand pieces and a bitter smile inhabited her face.

 Chapter 58

    Chapter 58: Survive the freeze, please! part

    Bob was spooning Veronika while holding in his hand a soft treasure he found hidden on Veronika¡¯s chest. He was busy kneading it absent minded and she dly allowed him to have his fun. Things may have gone even further, but there was a loud knocking on the door at Hiraku¡¯s trading outpost.

    The southern lights had just appeared in the sky and people were already busy in town trying to get enough supplies for winter.

    ¡°Mister Hiraku! please open up! it¡¯s an emergency!¡±

    Rudd yelled to the top of his lungs, startling Bob who identally pressed Veronika¡¯s breast a bit too hard making her yelp, more surprised than pained. Bob got up hurriedly and put on his pants.

    ¡°Good morning Rudd, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Bob, my friend! I need help, Is Hiraku awake?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, me and Luke are in charge of the warehouse for now, Hiraku and Ayumi are at the house¡±

    .....

    Bob went to wake Luke up and they headed to the house with Rudd. Hiraku was already awake because he heard Rudd yelling, and he let everyone in.

    They sat on the table as Ayumi started to serve breakfast to everyone. Sophie was now in charge of cooking every meal, but she liked to serve the table anyways, especially since she was already used to tending her husband.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for bothering too early in the morning, but Ironwoods is in trouble and we need your help. Today the southern lights appeared, meaning that the freeze will start anytime now. I was busy patrolling the town when we received a messenger from the mine, the ce was overrun by beasts and they are barely holding on.

    I was wondering if mister Hiraku would consider lending me Bob to help in protecting the mine. I¡¯ve heard you made some deals with elemental stones and ore, so I think it¡¯d be in your best interest to protect the mine too. If the mine copses it¡¯d be impossible to get anything out of it¡±

    ¡°Before agreeing I need to know how dangerous it will be, I won¡¯t be sending anyone if it¡¯s unsafe¡±

    Hiraku replied.

    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be as dangerous as the battle he already survived, the only problem is that we will be locked inside the mine until the freeze is over and we won¡¯t be able to get any reinforcements if things don¡¯t go as expected¡±

    ¡°Listen, I would love to help, but we are nothing but a small trading group and I¡¯m sure there are more capable hunters in town¡±

    ¡°To bepletely honest, that¡¯s not true. If it wasn¡¯t for Bob, the wolves would¡¯ve taken many more victims. Please consider this mister Hiraku, you will be paid in advance and the people of Ironwoods will be grateful too¡±

    Rudd sounded anxious the whole time, the fact was that once he lost his crew mate the other two left the crew in bad terms. They were angry at him not only because they lost a member, but also because he let Bob keep Big bro¡¯s warhammer instead of selling it and splitting the coin as it was ustomed.

    It¡¯s not like he had much choice in the matter since it was a weapon so heavy that carrying it was already a tiresome task. The only one who could carry it effortlessly was Bob.

    ¡°You must understand mister Rudd that it won¡¯t matter how much we get paid if we lose one of our members, Bob is not just an employee, we¡¯re like a family and it¡¯s my duty to keep him safe¡±

    Hiraku¡¯s words made him wonder just how strong was Hiraku that he could afford to worry about Bob¡¯s safety, since Bob was the strongest man he¡¯d ever seen except for his own father.

    ¡°Hiraku, I think I should go¡±

    Bob said with a determination face, he didn¡¯t look scared nor worried.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say things like that so lightly, you could die...¡±

    ¡°I owe it to mister Rudd, I am indebted to him and this may be my only chance at repaying him for his kindness¡±

    Hiraku intertwined his fingers and leaned forward.

    ¡°I can¡¯t stop Bob, but... I need to know, who else is going?¡±

    ¡°Just me, Bob, my father and one of his guards that will be acting as support¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go too¡±

    Said Luke suddenly standing up with a fist clenched.

    ¡°Mister Luke, I don¡¯t mean to belittle your courage, but this will be a dangerous endeavor. The only reason my father, the town¡¯s mayor, is going is because he¡¯s the strongest in here¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a weakling either and I won¡¯t let bob go alone¡±

    Rudd pondered for a minute, but decided to agree with Luke.

    ¡°My father will being in here soon since this ce is on the way to the mine. We will bring supplies for everyone and weapons too, but we would appreciate it if you were to bring some croquettes with you, those things are like a full meal in a single piece and since we only sell to madame Bianca they are impossible to find on the market¡±

    Bob and Luke started getting ready for their adventure and grabbed with them some basic supplies. Veronika took care of dressing Bob with his leather armor and his coat, she even took care that everything was properly ced before allowing him to go outside. Luke felt a little envious by seeing the lovely scene, he didn¡¯t have a close rtionship like that with any ve, but Bob was the closest to him among hispanions and he was happy for him too.

    Whenever Luke felt down, Bob would cheer him up by talking about fantasy books or games. It wasn¡¯t that Bob wasn¡¯t talkative like everyone thought, actually he enjoyed talking a lot about the things he loved. They could spend hours talking about magic and special abilities, about characters, shows and many other things. But since both were a bit embarrassed about it, they kept it somewhat hidden from everyone else.

    Once the mayor came with his guard he frowned when he noticed Rudd came with Luke.

    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this Rudd? you know we cant go with extra weight¡±

    But before Rudd could answer, Luke replied with a straight face.

    ¡°You can put me to the test if you want, mister mayor¡±

    ¡°Fine¡±

    The mayor said as he unsheathed his sword, he stood tall and looked mighty with a heavy studded leather armor and a cape.

    Look didn¡¯t take a fighting stance, he just walked to the mayor barehanded.

    Being the veteran he was, the mayor wasn¡¯t nning on going easy with Luke, the only way a spoiled brat would understand how big the world is was to teach him the hard way. When Luke was almost in range, the mayor took a step ahead with a quick blow from above, but Luke dodged it by crouching and stood close to the mayor¡¯s face with a knife pointing at his throat.

    Luke hated his thief ss, but he couldn¡¯t deny how useful it was for dueling.

    ¡°I yield!¡±

    The mayor said reluctantly.

    ¡°It seems mister Bob is not the only strong man at Hiraku¡¯s group. You maye mister Luke¡±

    The mayor said before sending his guard back to his manor.

    Veronika was worried sick for Bob, her time with him has been too short for her liking and one of her biggest fears came true. She didn¡¯t like the idea of him going into a dangerous task so soon, she didn¡¯t even have enough time to adapt to her new life at Hiraku¡¯s trading group.

    Everyone was well fed, dressed and treated with respect, which surprised her. It was way better than she expected at first. There was also some sort of hierarchy among ves at Hiraku¡¯s group, and she was at the top next to Sophie. This meant that she had the authority to order the younger ones around if convenient.

    But the only thing she really cared about was Bob, he was her everything. More than a master he behaved like a loving husband. The sight of him leaving pained her because she knew how broken he was and even if he came back it would be her task to pick up the pieces and put them together.

    But Bob walked with his head held high until he eventually became nothing but a spot on the horizon. Despite the carnage he witnessed and the guilt he felt for not being able to save everyone when they were attacked by wolves, he wasn¡¯t worried in the least but he was a little anxious.

    Although he wasn¡¯t scared to face danger and he would always put other people¡¯s safety before his own, now he had a reason toe back safe. That was the reason why he couldn¡¯t find the strength to turn back and look at Veronika onest time before leaving.

    Still, he had a debt he needed to pay to Rudd and he couldn¡¯t ignore his plea for help. When he had trouble at the brothel Rudd saved him sparing his own coin and even though he was grateful towards him, it wasn¡¯t until he saw the hardships everyone faced that he realized that it was actually a big deal. Two silver coins could mean the difference between life and death to an average citizen and Rudd didn¡¯t hesitate to spend them to save him, a stranger at the time, so Bob intended to repay his kindness however he could.

    Even if it meant putting his own life on the line.

 Chapter 59

    Chapter 59: Survive the freeze, please! part

    Four men walk at a slow pace dragging two sleds uphill, the road is broad and vegetation is scarce allowing them to see everything from afar. They¡¯ve kept quiet the whole time to avoid getting caught mid way by beasts.

    Bob told Luke almost everything he could about the massacre that urredst time, but Luke¡¯s mind omitted every tragic part. He was a hero after all, if he was there his fame would be even higher than Bob¡¯s and people in town would acknowledge him.

    About half way the mayor signals everyone to stop and he sits on a rock.

    ¡°We should take a small rest in here for a while¡±

    ¡°Are you tired already old man?¡±

    Luke sneered.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t speak like that to the mayor, Luke¡±

    .....

    Rudd grunted getting closer to him, but he wasn¡¯t easily intimidated. Not only his stats were better than an average person, but also he had an idea of how strong everyone was since he used his consider ability on them.

    While the mayor was indeed strong by Ironwoods standards, he wasn¡¯t even near Bob, giving Luke enough confidence to speak casually to him. In his eyes, everyone at Ironwoods were below him.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright Rudd, we¡¯re not at Ironwoods now and they graciously epted our request. Also, I¡¯m not here as the mayor, I¡¯m just another hunter so we are in equal footing. This kind of behavior only shows how immature you are¡±

    Contrary to Rudd¡¯s expectations, the mayor wasn¡¯t offended in the slightest by Luke¡¯sck of respect. Instead he found it refreshing. He started as a hunter just like Rudd, he had all kinds of adventures along with hispanions but they were all long gone and those times were nothing but memories from the good old times. Everyday he spent at the office pushing papers he longed for just one more adventure, he was always a man of action and being trapped inside killed him slowly.

    Now it¡¯s been so long since he ventured out of the city that he already forgot what was it like to speak with other people as equals.

    ¡°I¡¯m Karl by the way¡±

    He said as he stretched Luke¡¯s hand. Rudd was bbergasted, the mayor was very strict as a father and he couldn¡¯t remember thest time he saw him smiling the way he was smiling at Luke now.

    ¡°Anyway, we need to rest here because we need to be in top shape from now on, most attacks happen a bit further up this path, most beasts should be already in their caves or nests, but the ones that couldn¡¯t find enough food tost through the freeze will be desperate¡±

    Rudd exined while taking out a meat stick from his sled and started chewing on it.

    ¡°yes, but why here?¡±

    ¡°Because we have a nice visibility from here and the road starts to get narrow from this point on¡±

    Bob and Luke sat on the empty sled and Rudd stood still scanning the area. They tried to talk as little as possible to avoid distracting him, even Luke was starting to get anxious since nothing has happened so far.

    At first he expected the trip to be some sort of beast ying adventure where they would find enormous amounts of weak creatures that he could kill in order to level up. He had a vast experience grinding his way to the top on several MMORPGS back on his world, but so far it¡¯s been more simr to a hike.

    So far almost everything he had experienced in this world has disappointed him. At first he was joyful when he found out that two of hispanions were hot girls about his age, but everything went downhill as soon as he tried to flirt with them. He was rejected, and not in a subtle way that he could have thought that he just needed to try harder.

    When Ryu joined them he was already desperate for attention, so when Anne told him she preferred to sleep with him rather than with Ryu, once again his hopes were sparked. But when he tried to have some fun with her, she kicked him out of the tent forcing him to sleep in the cold.

    Magic was real, but it wasn¡¯t shy like in the games he¡¯d yed, Ayumi just ced her hands over some firewood and it would ignite.

    They all had sses, but he was a thief, the one ss he always thought was crap.

    Water would make them sick if they didn¡¯t boil it and gathering food was hard work, he felt more like a castaway than a hero.

    And to make things worse, everything took a long time, even walking.

    The one good thing he found in this ce was the brothel, he could y with girls all he wanted, eat and drink his full whenever he wanted and he was even able to buy ves. This made him think that maybe it wasn¡¯t all that bad.

    Now the only thing he needed was to seed in leaving a good impression on this trip.

    But it was too cold, tiresome and boring for his taste.

    They resumed their walk, only this time a lot faster. Even if it was for different reasons, everyone was impatient to get to the mines. But walking faster also meant being louder, the few beasts that were not in hiding were actively seeking for prey and soon enough the group was surrounded by wolves.

    ¡°Wolf!¡±

    Rudd managed to scream as he unsheathed his sword skillfully, but before anyone could move Luke had already taken care of the enemies.

    ¡°Good job Luke!¡±

    Bob eximed, but the mayor and Rudd were stunned. They didn¡¯t even notice when did Luke move, all they saw was four wolves standing and in the blink of an eye they were already dead on the snow.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, I didn¡¯t even break a sweat¡±

    He said with a smug smile as he was getting ready to keep walking.

    ¡°What are you doing Luke? we need to take the corpses with us¡±

    ¡°isn¡¯t that just a waste of time?¡±

    Bob asked.

    ¡°Not at all, you may not know this, but people at Ironwoods are already starving and the freeze hasn¡¯t arrived yet. Every year I make sure to give every single citizen that needs it a bag with supplies, but even on a good year it¡¯s not enough to keep them fed during the freeze and this has been our worst year so far. Thest caravan didn¡¯t make it so all I could do was give them as little I could, but people were already hungry. If we somehow manage to bring back some meat to Ironwoods by the time the freeze is over could mean the difference between life and death to many¡±

    Said the mayor as he and Rudd tied the wolves corpses and started dragging them uphill.

    Not even an hour passed when they realized the mistake they made by bringing the corpses with them as every single carnivore started following them, forcing the group to go from walking to running full speed.

    ¡°Father cut the rope, carrying the wolves is useless if we don¡¯t make it!¡±

    Rudd eximed desperately, and the mayor had no choice but to do so, but it only bought them a few minutes. The hungry beasts were already on to them and wouldn¡¯t let them go easily.

    The mine was already on sight when they noticed that something even worse than the wolves was standing right outside the entrance.

    It looked like a huge grizzly bear, but it had protruding fangsing out of its maw and its eyes looked fierce.

    The group stopped in their tracks without caring about the dozens of wolves following them close.

    They turned back to face what they thought were the weaker opponent and started delivering deadly blows to every single small wolf that got near, but their howls drew the attention of the bear who started to sniff the air.

    Karl and Rudd were strong and made quick work of the smaller wolves, but among those were some mid sized wolves and those were a lot more troublesome for them.

    They were all unscathed, but it took them time to fend off all the iing attacks from every direction and time flew by until the bear finally found the source of the noises and the smell of blood.

    Luke was having trouble dispatching a mid sized wolf that was biting his dagger while Bob separated from the group and started heading towards the bear that was running in all fours straight towards them.

    ¡°Luke, whatever happens, make sure they reach the mine safely¡±

    He said as he walked towards the bear, wielding his warhammer firmly with both hands.

    ¡°What are you doing! it¡¯s going to kill you!¡±

    Luke knew the bear was stronger than Bob, because he used consider on it as soon as he saw it, but all Bob did was turn back his head and look at him in the eye smiling.

 Chapter 60

    Chapter 60: Ration your food wisely, please! part

    It was a quiet morning in Ironwoods and everyone was either at their homes or at the refuge. The first door to open was the Silver goddess tavern¡¯s and no other than the silver goddess herself came out running on top of the deep snow swift as an arrow, her steps were so light that she didn¡¯t even sink an inch in the snow. Her long and silvery hair waved in the cold wind showing a carcaj full of arrows behind her back.

    After two weeks of lockdown the freeze finally receded and everyone at the tavern was eager to put their newly acquired skills to the test, especially Dn. But this time the only one allowed to go outside was Anne, since they were low on food.

    Thanks to all the hard work Anne managed to unlock the light steps skill that increased her move speed and allowed her to tread without leaving footprints, Dn unlocked strength boost, ire finally learned the cooking skill and Sera learned analyze. Rina, Eiri and Kairi just increased their physical condition but it made a huge difference, tasks that used to be impossible for them, like lifting flour sacks, now were just a bit tiresome.

    Despite all the effort Helena put into her workout, she didn¡¯t learn a new skill nor her stats increased, but she didn¡¯t mind because the only reason she had to learn a new skill was because she wanted to heal Sera¡¯s arm and Ryu already took care of it with his new skill.

    Ryu spent as much time as he could into the workshop researching different extracts and crafting potions with different effects, after his transmutation skill capped at 100% he got a system message indicating that he unlocked a skill called alchemy.

    At first he didn¡¯t know how to use it, it didn¡¯t level passively by simply distilling herbs, instead it leveled whenever he mixed different extracts.

    The only problem with all this was something they weren¡¯t prepared to face, all the energy they spent training and crafting made them hungry. That amounted to Ryu¡¯s fascination with the distiller they started running out of herbs and vegetables, if it wasn¡¯t for the wolf meat they had they would have ran out of everything. By the time the freeze ended they were already on a meat only diet, making them desperate for vegetables.

    .....

    Thankfully, Rina made sure to set aside enough vegetables to cope with at least the first day after the lockdown, because she knew that people woulde out of their houses starving and if they didn¡¯t provide food people would be so upset they might even tear the tavern apart. But Ryu was desperate, he ran out of materials for his potions on the first week and the only way he could cope with being idle was to spend some quality time with Rina.

    At first Rina didn¡¯t mind it, they were both discovering a whole new world filled with pleasure and intimacy, but it came to a point that she almost begged him to put his ves to good use. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t matter how much she tried to convince him, he would always refuse, leaving her no choice but to give in to his desires and that was the main reason why she couldn¡¯t learn a new skill.

    Ryu kept her really busy in bed, so much so, that she would be left exhausted before even the day began and she couldn¡¯t train nor work out properly. On the upside, at least her endurance increased by leaps and bounds and, despite the bags under her eyes, there was a smile drawn on her face everyday.

    But not everyone at the tavern was as happy as the new couple, especially Anne. She asked Eiri and Kairi to switch rooms with her, because she couldn¡¯t stand hearing whenever Rina and Ryu were going at it. They tried to be as silent as they could, but it was useless. Every time she heard them it was as if a burning iron was shoved through her heart and she couldn¡¯t shake the regret she felt, knowing that she could¡¯ve been with Ryu if she had been more understanding and less selfish.

    When Rina pointed out that neither Anne nor Helena actually cared about Ryu, Anne didn¡¯t want to believe it and thought that maybe she was saying that just so she could keep him for herself. It wasn¡¯t until she saw them acting as a couple that she understood how true her words were. Rina would always wash Ryu¡¯s clothes herself, she warmed water when he went to wash himself and sometimes even joined him, at the end of every day she served him a beer while filling him with sweet words andpliments. She also supported him on his experiments and they talked long about them, even though it was clear that she didn¡¯t understand the first thing about them.

    In summary, Rina showered him with love and attention everyday. That¡¯s why as soon as she noticed that the food supplies were running low she proposed to go on a hunting trip as soon as the freeze was over. Somehow she managed to hide her sadness from everyone, but once she was outside the tavern she couldn¡¯t refrain her tears anymore.

    Helena¡¯s situation was worlds apart from Anne¡¯s. She did have feelings for Ryu, but what troubled her the most was the craving she felt inside her for physical contact. Instead of sadness, she felt even more turned on whenever she heard the couple have intimacy and she relieved herself the only way she could, which was of course by herself. That was enough, at least for the time being, but she was already plotting in a way to get into Ryu¡¯s bed.

    Helena got closer to Rina and, somehow, she convinced her that she was experienced in the ways of love and would give hints on how to please a man. Although almost everything she knew didn¡¯te from experience but from all the novels she read back on her world.

    From all the summoned heroes, she was the one that talked the least about her past life. Ayumi would always talk about her career as a college professor, Hiraku about his real state job, Luke wouldn¡¯t shut up about his life even if his life depended on it, Anne would sometimes talk about her travels and even Bob, who didn¡¯t speak much, at least answered when asked about his past life.

    But Helena, despite being very talkative and social, would always find a way to answer without providing much information about anything. They only knew what she liked and that she used to do a lot of arts and crafts, and that she had a boyfriend.

    The reason behind this was that she suffered from an incurable disease called multiple sclerosis that left herpletely paralyzed. She was diagnosed when she was still a child but she managed to live apletely normal life until she turned sixteen.

    At first she only experienced mild pain and some stiffness, butter on her symptoms worsened to the point she wasn¡¯t even able to walk. At that moment her boyfriend left her and she fell into a prolonged depression.

    She had always been a nice and kind girl and because of this she had a lot of friends, but once she wasn¡¯t able to go outside by herself they quickly drifted apart.

    She tried everything to keep herself busy and she made friends over the inte, but she kept her condition hidden from everyone afraid that as soon as they found out they would stop talking to her. Her symptoms got worse and worse every passing year, but her biggest fear wasn¡¯t dying but being left alone.

    She dreamed of a way to be healthy again, to be able to run and walk, to be able to love just like everybody else and she foundfort in reading all kinds of novels. All the possibilities and the different worlds embodied in novels were the thin thread that kept her from going crazy.

    Through reading she experienced a thousand different lives with all kinds of situations that made her life worth living. She wouldugh and cry along with the characters, living her life through them.

    But her illness was a Damocles sword hanging on top of her head that would get closer by the day, ever so slowly but relentlessly.

    She needed to keep all this a secret because she feared that she would suffer from the same disease again. She knew her body was rebuilt when she was summoned, but she couldn¡¯t be sure if she was sick or not.

    But that wasn¡¯t the only secret she needed to keep from everyone, there was an even darker one, a secret so terrible that only thinking about it made her shudder. Back on her world, her illness eventually took her sight leaving herpletely helpless.

    That¡¯s why she took her own life.

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61: Ration your food wisely, please! part

    ¡°Everyone, remember the n and don¡¯t ck off, the future of the Silver goddess tavern lies on your hands!¡±

    Ryu said as he carried the biggest cooking pot they had outside. With some stones he fashioned a rustic outdoors kitchen. The rest of the group were carrying a table, two chairs and some kitchenware for ire to cook outside.

    This time the workload was so heavy that everyone helped peeling vegetables and hauling ingredients while ire skillfully sliced the meat in bite sized chunks.

    ¡°Eiri, Kairi it¡¯s your turn¡±

    She said while sealing the meat in a frying pan to keep all the juices in. As soon as ire gave the go they started gathering enough snow to fill the huge cooking pot to melt it. Then, she started filling the pot with the ingredients she had at her disposal.

    It was so cold that people in town were still sheltering themselves, at least until Rina started walking the streets of Ironwoods yelling to the top of her lungs.

    ¡°Come by the Silver goddess tavern for a hot bowl of soup, only one copper coin!¡±

    .....

    As soon as people heard this they slowly starteding out of their houses and they gathered near the tavern. Dn was busy trying to get people to form a line, it wouldn¡¯t have been a difficult task if it wasn¡¯t for the magnificent smell that came out from the cooking pot, making people¡¯s mouth water.

    Eiri and Kairi served the bowls since ire needed to keep preparing the ingredients for the next batch and Dn made sure that the ones that looked the weakest would go first in the line, and after them all the women and children.

    The first person to be served was an elderly woman that was almost all skin and bones, she put a copper coin inside a small wooden chest that was at the table in front of Ryu and received a bowl of soup that Eiri handed to her with a smile.

    After the very first sip she took from the bowl she opened her eyes wide, her paleplexion became lively again and even her hunched back straightened.

    ¡°This is the most delicious stew I¡¯ve ever had!¡±

    She eximed and quickly finished her dish and was instructed by Kairi to leave the empty bowl in the table.

    ¡°Is it possible to have seconds?¡±

    The elder woman pleaded, to which Ryu replied coldly that she would have to go back to the end of the line if she wanted to have seconds. But she wasn¡¯t even disappointed by this, even if she had to wait hours it would bepletely worth it.

    More and more people gathered nearby and people startedining about the long wait, some merchants tried to buy their way in the line even offering a silver coin, but Dn wouldn¡¯t allow such behavior and would send them back to the end of the line.

    The small wooden box was being filled to the top and despite everyone¡¯s best efforts to wash the dishes, the empty bowls were starting to pile up quickly on the table. Also, whenever they ran out of stew, it would take a long while before the stew was ready, making people impatient.

    It wasn¡¯t long before some people started making trouble,ining and trying to cut in the line. Dn was starting to feel overwhelmed when Ryu finally intervened.

    ¡°The next person that doesn¡¯t follow Dn¡¯s instructions will be banned for life here at the Silver goddess tavern!¡±

    And that was all it took to make people calm down instantly.

    ¡°Excuse me, mister cook¡±

    A young woman with two small children that made it to the front of the line, patiently and obediently, said in a voice so low that was almost a whisper. Instead of replying, Ryu raised an eyebrow prompting her to speak quickly, it was the busiest they¡¯ve ever been after all.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mister cook, but I don¡¯t have any money. I lost my husband at the massacre near the mine and my inws kicked me from my home without a single coin to my name. We managed to survive this long by selling whatever I managed to take with me but it¡¯s been four days since my children had something to eat¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s sad indeed, but how is it my problem?¡±

    ¡°Please, I¡¯ll do anything, just feed my sons, I don¡¯t want anything for myself¡±

    She was in her mid twenties and judging by her looks she seemed to be a wealthy woman, she had blond hair and light blue eyes, her figure was slender making Ryu realize that it wasn¡¯t just a sob story and she was actually starving.

    ¡°When you say you would do anything, do you really mean it?¡±

    ¡°Anything, I swear!¡±

    ¡°Eiri, Kairi, serve them two bowls each¡±

    When the woman heard this words, she started crying and thanking everyone profusely. As soon as they finished their two servings, the woman stood behind Ryu expecting him to ask her for something in return, but it wasn¡¯t until the cooking pot was empty and ire started to prepare another batch of stew that Ryu stood up and grabbed as many empty bowls as he could.

    ¡°Come with me¡±

    The woman did as instructed and followed Ryu after asking their children to wait for her sitting inside the tavern.

    ¡°Now, before anything, just to make things clear I do not need any kind of ¡®special¡¯ favors. All you have to do is wash the dishes, if you do your job properly I¡¯ll pay you thirty coppers by the end of the day¡±

    The woman was relieved to learn that she would be performing an honest job, even more so when she saw the woman inside the kitchen washing dishes.

    ¡°Sera, this will be your hired help for today, please teach her since it seems she doesn¡¯t have any experience¡±

    The day went on like this and some other people made it to the front of the line without having enough money to pay, but they were served anyway, Ryu took note of everyone so they pay their debt after.

    It waste afternoon when they ran out of ingredients, the only thing they had was some meat and just one sack of elven wheat fruit, so they closed the kitchen and came back inside.

    ¡°I must say Ryu, cooking outside inrge quantities really paid off¡±

    Said Rina staring with shining eyes at the incredible amount of coins they got.

    ¡°And we helped the poor too!¡±

    Helena eximed excitedly as she sat on the table, she had spent most day peeling vegetables. It was a boring and repetitive task, but whenever she thought of the people smiling after being served, she felt as if she regained her stamina back.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t bad, but I wonder why didn¡¯t we see anyone from Hiraku¡¯s group¡±

    Ryu crossed his arms reflecting on the possibilities.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know but you shouldn¡¯t worry, they¡¯re a smart bunch and I heard they got some ves to help them prepare for the freeze. Besides you know Hiraku, he¡¯s very reliable¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because I know them that I¡¯m a bit worried, anyway, there¡¯s nothing we can do to help¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, mister Ryu¡±

    The woman they hired to wash the dishes said shyly.

    ¡°Sera said you did a fine job helping her, good job. Oh! right, right... I forgot to pay you¡±

    Ryu said while taking some coins from his purse, but she looked troubled.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, I was wondering, may I know where did you get that sword?¡±

    She said pointing at the bastard sword Ryu had on his side. It¡¯s the best one he¡¯s seen so far, but the system doesn¡¯t recognize it as good quality.

    ¡°I picked it up the day of...¡±

    A cold sweat ran through Ryu¡¯s forehead, hepletely forgot that he was supposed to go pay respects to the family of the deceased. The woman fell to the floor as if she was a puppet who¡¯s strings were cut and her two small children came running to her side and started crying.

    It took everyone by surprise, but both Ryu and Helena didn¡¯t waste time gasping or asking useless questions. They quickly drew closer and Helena attempted to heal her while Ryu was checking her condition.

    ¡°She¡¯s just malnourished and tired, she¡¯s gonna be fine after a night¡¯s rest¡±

    Helena sighed in relief.

    ¡°What should we do? we can¡¯t leave her like this, but we don¡¯t have any spare room¡±

    Rina was worried but couldn¡¯t find a solution.

    ¡°Ryu you...¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t even let me finish!¡±

    Rinained.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care what is it, the answer will still be the same¡±

    ¡°What got you in such a bad mood darling? we had a great day and everything went ording to n¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just... I think I screwed up¡±

    ¡°What do you mean Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I think this is the widow of that man¡±

    He said pointing at the sword, everyone at the tavern knew the story on how he got that sword. It wasn¡¯t an epic tale or anything, but that man¡¯s cowardice almost got Anne killed.

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62: Ration your food wisely, please! part

    ¡°That¡¯s terrible! how can you forget something like that!¡±

    Rina yelled, making Ryu flinch.

    ¡°Calm down Rina, its not that big of a deal is it?¡±

    Helena said as she put herself in between the couple.

    ¡°It is a big deal! Whenever someone dies in the mine or at the mountains, it¡¯s almost impossible to take their corpse back. Instead, we bring back the main weapon to hold a funeral and since it¡¯s the most expensive and useful gear people would always bring them back. The person who picks the weapon needs to go inform the family of the deceased and in exchange for that courtesy the family allows the person who brought back the weapon to keep it. Now, what do you think happens when someone dies and no one brings back the weapon nores to visit?¡±

    They¡¯ve never seen Rina so mad, not even when people tried to hit on her, Ryu was about to reply but he didn¡¯t get a choice as she kept scolding him.

    ¡°If no one brings back the weapon they can¡¯t hold a funeral. And that¡¯s a big deal, a really big deal actually, that must be the reason why her inws were able to kick her out of her own house. Her husband¡¯s crew was wiped so no one came to her house to inform her that he died, even worse, you picked up the sword which meant that you took the responsibility of doing it. Since you didn¡¯t show, her family must have imed that she was abandoned by her husband, leaving her helpless and her sons disowned. How could you do something like that!? We bring back people¡¯s weapons even if we didn¡¯t like the person, even if we despised them. Heck, that¡¯s considered even worse than killing a man!¡±

    .....

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what happened¡±

    Niki¡¯s widow said, still lying in the ground with a tired expression.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any excuses, Rudd told me I had to go pay my respects to the family and I didn¡¯t think much of it¡±

    Ryu was visibly ashamed.

    ¡°Do you know how much I hated you? I cursed you everyday and my only wish was that you fell on your sword and died. Every single day I prayed for that. I thought you were an evil man who did everything on purpose, I know my Niki wasn¡¯t an honorable man and he may have deserved what happened to him, but what you did brought shame and dishonor to me and my sons needlessly. You had to be an evil man, there was no other exnation¡±

    She cried desperately, Helena tried to keep her from standing up but she was determined to tell everything to Ryu face to face.

    ¡°And now, when I finally meet you, it turned out that you were a kind young man who just didn¡¯t know our customs. Now I don¡¯t even have someone to hate and me for everything that happened to me¡±

    ¡°Is there any way I can undo this?¡±

    Ryu asked Rina Since the widow was busy wiping her tears.

    ¡°Not really, I mean, even if you showed up now, they would hold their im that Niki abandoned her wife and then died for any other reason. It doesn¡¯t matter anyway, because if they managed to kick her out of her house it means that they disowned Niki¡¯s sons legally and there¡¯s no turning back¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not all your fault mister Ryu, you didn¡¯t know, but my inws knew perfectly fine what they were doing. It¡¯s not umon that widows get kicked from their husband¡¯s house by greedy familiars, that¡¯s why there¡¯s a refuge for widows after all. But I always thought Niki¡¯s family loved me and my sons¡¯ they never showed signs they were capable of doing something so cruel¡±

    ¡°If you really wanted to help them, the only choice would be to marry her and adopt her children as your own¡±

    Rina said reluctantly.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of something like that. Now that I know the kind of people my Niki¡¯s family are I wouldn¡¯te back even if I could, the only thing I want is to be able to raise my sons properly¡±

    She said staring awkwardly at the chest filled with coins.

    ¡°I need to meditate on this, in the meantime you may stay in her with your sons if you want. Dn, you don¡¯t mind lending them your room, right?¡±

    Dn wanted to keep his room, but suddenly a thought struck him. If he had to give up his room he would need to share room with Eiri and Kairi, since all the other rooms were upied.

    ¡°Of course boss, you know me, I¡¯m always happy to help¡±

    He said with a huge smile that confused Ryu, still he appreciated his good will and smiled back.

    ¡°That¡¯s great Dn, I knew you were a good guy, gather your stuff, I¡¯ll ce some skins in the warehouse¡±

    Dn was disheartened by this, but he managed to hide his disappointment from everyone thanks to Ryu¡¯spliment.

    ¡°Before you go to rest, madame, may I know your name?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Ksenia and these are my sons, Viktor and Pavel¡±

    She said bowing politely, leaving Rina pleasantly surprised by this woman¡¯s character.

    ¡°If I was her I would hate your guts and find a way to take my revenge, I can¡¯t believe how nice she is. She cared more about her rtionship with her former family than she cared about the money, you need to figure out a way to help her Ryu¡±

    She said after Ksenia went upstairs with her children.

    ¡°I know, but my hands are tied for now¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? you can give her today¡¯s earnings¡±

    Rina insisted.

    ¡°We depleted our food reserves and worked hard the entire day, yet all we got in return were about six silver coins. It looks like a lot of money because it¡¯s in copper coins, but if we give it to her she will onlyst a couple weeks¡±

    ¡°Give a man a fish and he will be hungry soon, teach him to fish and he will never be hungry again¡±

    Helena sighed, but that gave Ryu an idea. If he taught her how to distill, he would be able to get enough resources to keep experimenting with extracts, and since he doesn¡¯t level transmutation anymore by distilling it would be pointless for him to do such menial task.

    The first day after the freeze was always the busiest for the tavern, but despite having more people working it was still too much to handle and everyone was spent already. The only reason everyone staid downstairs was because they were waiting for Anne toe back.

    A couple hours passed, it was already dark and they were starting to worry, when the door opened. A shivering, pale Anne with blue lips walked in empty handed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I really am. I couldn¡¯t find anything, not even a rabbit¡±

    She said trying to hold back her tears. Helena came rushing to hold her in her arms, while checking her condition.

    ¡°How is she?¡±

    Dn asked worried sick.

    ¡°She¡¯s passed out, but she¡¯s in good health¡±

    Helena replied making everyone sigh in relief at the same time.

    Helena took Anne to her room and undressed her since her clothes were cold and wet. Anne¡¯s slender figure amazed Helena and she felt a bit envious. Despite Helena being a very well endowed woman, she had a healthy amount of fat making her feel a bit insecure. Especially after seeing that Anne¡¯s body had the fat in all the right ces, her feminine attributes were just a bit less than hers¡¯ but highlighted her beauty with her thin and elegant figure.

    When Anne¡¯s body started to recover some of her warmth after Helena covered her with nkets, she slowly opened her eyes.

    ¡°Helena, I¡¯m worthless, I¡¯ve been idle most of the time since I¡¯m only good at hunting and I failed, I¡¯m such a failure¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, It¡¯s not your fault¡±

    ¡°I just wanted Ryu to notice me, to see that I work hard¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about that, I¡¯m sure he knows¡±

    ¡°Then why is he with Rina? he just met her, she¡¯s nothing to him. We¡¯ve been with him longer, yet he doesn¡¯t even look at me anymore. All he cares about is Rina¡±

    Anne felt weak and tears ran through her cheek. She vented all her frustrations on Helena, who listened patiently to everything she had to say.

    ¡°I too feel bad about it, but there¡¯s nothing we can do. He¡¯s doing fine with her and we should be happy for him¡±

    ¡°I know this, but it pains me to see them getting closer everyday, I can¡¯t stand it. I think we should go somewhere else¡±

    ¡°Are you being serious? what could we possibly do?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe we can go to Hiraku¡¯s or go to the next town. All I know is I don¡¯t want to be here anymore¡±

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63: Ration your food wisely, please! part

    Early in the morning a lot of people were gathered in front of the Silver goddess tavern, but when the doors finally opened it wasn¡¯t for the reason they expected.

    ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry dear customers, but we don¡¯t have enough food to even open our doors today and our hunter is currently sick. If you were so kind to stop knocking at our door we would really appreciate it¡±

    Rina repeated word for word what Ryu asked her to say in front of the crowd with the best smile she could fake.

    ¡°Hey Rina, don¡¯t be like that, we all know that your tavern is loaded!¡±

    People started yelling andining in loud voices, one of them even dared to pry the door open but Rina was holding it with tightly.

    ¡°I said we have no more food you idiotic braindead musclehead! now scram before I get mad for real!¡±

    She yelled to the top of her lungs, making everyone in the crowd flinch and she closed the door behind, she leaned on the door behind her breathing heavily.

    .....

    ¡°Those idiots, even after what we did for them yesterday they still have the guts to try and get in by force!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not their fault miss Rina, they must be starving¡±

    ire said still holding the broom tightly as if it was a sword. Helena walked down the stairs hurriedly.

    ¡°What was that noise?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Helena, it was just a bump. How is Anne doing?¡±

    ¡°Not great, her fever is even worse thanst night and Ryu doesn¡¯t know what to do¡±

    Ryu was upstairs tending to Anne, he was holding her hand while soaking a wet towel on cold water. Ever since he grabbed her hand she hasn¡¯t let go, making it impossible for him to leave the room and he had to do everything only with his left hand. she was making tending to her difficult, but Ryu didn¡¯t mind, all he cared about was for her to get better.

    Last night Anne asked Helena to leave town with her, and since she found it weird she put a hand on her forehead noticing the high fever. She called Ryu and he¡¯s been tending to her sincest night, without resting or eating.

    He watched in horror how her health was diminishing every passing hour, and he couldn¡¯t think of anything he could do to help her.

    She¡¯s been in and out of consciousness speaking nonsense and holding onto Ryu¡¯s hand. Dn, who has been waiting outside the whole night, entered the room with aplete poker face.

    ¡°is there anything I can do to help boss?¡±

    ¡°Yes, actually, go ask ire to make some soup for Anne¡±

    The situation was dire and everyone knew it. Anne got sick in the worst possible moment, since they don¡¯t have enough food supplies nor funds. Helping everyone in town seemed to be a great idea at first, but now that they don¡¯t have enough food even for themselves they knew no one was going to help them.

    The guy who tried to open the door early in the morning ran to madame Bianca¡¯s brothel as soon as he could with a huge smile on his face.

    ¡°Tell me dear, do you bring any good news?¡±

    ¡°Of course madame, i wouldn¡¯t daree if I didn¡¯t. The tavern is closed and they even im their hunter is ill¡±

    ¡°Oh Oh Oh, Good job, thanks for informing me¡±

    Sheughed as she put a silver coin on the man¡¯s hand and the miner retreated swiftly.

    ¡°See? this is how you get things done¡±

    She said to Thomas.

    ¡°You can¡¯t possiblypare your skills with mine, I¡¯m but a lowly merchant¡±

    He said humbly, knowing she could end not only his career if she decided he was useless.

    ¡°At least you know your ce, you know what to do, right?¡±

    She said thest part very slowly, making it sound more like a threat than a question.

    ¡°Of course madame, leave it to me, i won¡¯t fail you again¡±

    Thomas was sweating buckets, but at least he was given a chance to redeem himself.

    As soon as madame Bianca received the news that the tavern was low on food she raised her prices and asked Thomas to buy up to thest grain of food he could on the stores.

    The timing couldn¡¯t have been better since the mayor went to an expedition before the freeze and he didn¡¯te back after it ended. The only exnation was that he was dead, even Rudd went with him so everything in town was ripe for the taking.

    She set all her ns in motion and in just a couple days it was paying off.

    After people noticed that the tavern wasn¡¯t going to open any time soon, people started heading off to the brothel to eat. The only problem was that madame Bianca had already raised the prices asking for 15 copper coins a meal. She did so with a sad smile, she even managed to cry a little in front of everyone.

    ¡°We simply don¡¯t have enough food for everyone, though I wish I could help you all, you know how this is¡±

    People bought her act and started falling in her clutches not long after. At first parents would sell their weakest children to the brothel, just so they could live. Then, the elderly and the weakest ones started selling themselves, either to people they knew or to madame Bianca. But, since the mayor was not at his residence, people sent the documents to madame Bianca asking her to be a witness.

    This was unexpected, but it wasn¡¯t so surprising to her. It meant that after the mayor, she was acknowledged as the next most important person in town, feeding her inted ego even more.

    A week after the tavern closed the results of madame Bianca¡¯s n were showing up, hundreds of people were dly selling themselves as ves and the only one with enough money to buy them was, of course, none other than madame Bianca herself.

    There were some unfortunate souls that preferred to take their own lives before bing ves, but it didn¡¯t matter to her, Ironwoods was almost done for and no one could do anything to stop her.

    There were so many ves that she didn¡¯t have enough space to amodate them, the brothel was full to the brim, her barracks were full and also, her hidden dungeon was full too. The only sensible thing she could do now was wait until spring, when her fiancee woulde to pick up thest batch of ves she would ever provide.

    Everything she had worked her entire life for was within her grasp, she could already savor her future life in the big city, hosting parties and bing part of the high society as a noble. A baron was a bottom tier noble, but a noble nheless, and even if it wasn¡¯t her first choice, she was too old now to worry about small details.

    ¡°Are the preparations ready?¡±

    She red at Thomas.

    ¡°Yes madame... I mean, yes mydy. Just say the word and I¡¯ll be on my way¡±

    He corrected himself as soon as he saw a disgusted expression on madame Bianca¡¯s face, she was going to be wed to a baron after all and a lowly merchant needed to address her properly.

    ¡°You may go now¡±

    She said arrogantly, even if nothing had changed she felt the power of nobility already.

    Thomas hurriedly went out of the room, found his way on the brothel¡¯s hallways, reached the exit where twenty armed men were already waiting for him.

    They headed downstreet, turned to the right, went past the mayor¡¯s house, kept going just in front of the Silver goddess tavern. Thomas took a second to look at the now run down tavern, people in town had been harassing them the whole week throwing mud and stones over the walls, it was a pitiful sight. He wondered how was Rina doing, even though he didn¡¯t actually love her and it was just an act, she was indeed the most beautiful girl in town. If only she had epted him she would be living a life of lushness with him, instead of suffering at the hands of the same people she tried to save.

    Thomas let out a heavy sigh and then he kept walking until they reached the northern outskirts.

    A big house with a mysterious moving wooden wheel was in front of the small band of armed men. Thomas, who was ahead of everyone stood in front of the wooden fence. For just a brief second he was amazed at the contraption on the side of the house, but then he remembered that it was his own head at stake on this asion. If he failed, his only chance at surviving would be to seek shelter in a far awaynd.

    Even if that was the case, he couldn¡¯t help but fall prey to the envy that besieged his heart.

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64: Do not trust prostitutes, please! part

    ¡°Master Ayumi, there¡¯s a group of uninvited guests outside the fence¡±

    Sophie said in a cold voice.

    ¡°Gather everyone, quick¡±

    Ayumi replied after looking through the window.

    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s madame Bianca who¡¯sing to thank us for taking out Ryu¡¯s tavern?¡±

    Hiraku says after letting out a big yawn.

    ¡°Darling, don¡¯t get offended but sometimes, just sometimes, I wonder why did I even marry you¡±

    .....

    Ayumi said with a scoff.

    Veronika headed outside to ask their intentions bying unannounced and in big numbers, but as soon as she set foot outside the men started walking towards her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take her first¡±

    One of the men said while grinning. It wasn¡¯t everyday he got to enjoy having a woman against her will, without paying at least, and just the thought was enough to arouse him. But before he could take a step, about ten women went out behind Veronika.

    Every single one of them, except for Veronika, was young, but they were all pretty and well dressed.

    The band quickly broke formation and ran out towards the girls with a mix of excitement and malevolence, but the one in front of them received an arrow to the chest.

    Hiraku was upstairs, in a vantage position, with the bow Ryu made for him. He hadn¡¯t had many chances to practice archery, since he only had one bow and Ryu warned him that it¡¯d eventually break, but he did practice his aiming skill, along with night vision.

    Hiraku¡¯s arrows made a whistling sound and not a single one missed its mark, but they were wearing studded leather armor made from wolf pelts, making it difficult to end them in a single shot.

    It wasn¡¯t something they hadn¡¯t predicted, which is why every single one of the ves was wielding spears, except for Sophie who waspletely useless with a weapon.

    They had chosen spears because they were able to cause blunt, piercing and shing damage depending on how they were used. It was also one of Ryu¡¯s ideas back at the settlement, and it proved to be a game changer. The main reason was that since spears had a long range, the armed men couldn¡¯t reach the girls without risking getting hurt, they weren¡¯t trained soldiers nor did they have any loyalty towards madame Bianca nor Thomas. All they cared was about the money, and money waspletely useless if they died.

    No one wanted to get hurt and they used each other as human shields, pushing each other into the girls formation making the ones who got stabbed scream in pain.

    When they got tired of trying to push their way inside the house, they took a little distance.

    ¡°Look for a back entrance¡±

    Thomas ordered to one closest to him.

    From his point of view, they did a lot of damage to his men in the first attack, but now they were just sitting ducks. Hiraku was left without arrows and the girls didn¡¯t know how to fight properly, all they did was form two rows and ce the spears so the men couldn¡¯t pass without getting hurt.

    It was, indeed, a great strategy. But if they found another way in it would send the girls into panic.

    ¡°There is a back entrance, and its open!¡±

    The man said loudly after disappearing from Thomas view. A victory smile was about to be painted on his face when a bright light was seen behind the house.

    ¡°What was that!? did they have a trap!? someone go take a look¡±

    But the men were too busy skirmishing against the girls, it looked like they were standing still, but actually they were busy prickling and poking at the men who got close. It wasn¡¯t enough to hurt them seriously, but it was enough to make them wail and flinch. All they were doing was buying time.

    It wasn¡¯t until Ayumi turned around the corner and showed herself up in front of everyone that Thomas finally understood what had happened.

    A petite woman, who they could¡¯ve confused with a child if they didn¡¯t know about her from before, walked fearlessly towards the men nking them.

    ¡°Now!¡±

    Ayumi yelled, and the girls retreated, at the same time Hiraku started throwing oil jars at them. They were of low quality and broke easily, but that was precisely the idea.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? why are they wetting us with... uh oh¡±

    The band dispersed immediately, leaving Thomas all by himself.

    ¡°What are you doing you bunch of cowards!? I¡¯ll make sure madame Bianca¡¯ hangs you all if you don¡¯te back right this instant¡±

    Thomas shouted, but it was in vain, they didn¡¯t even turn around.

    Ayumi kept the pace, she did feel somewhat relieved that she didn¡¯t have to be a mass murderer by killing twenty people at the same time, even risking burning her own house. But it wasn¡¯t like they had a choice. Bob and Luke were supposed to be back as soon as the freeze was over, but they haven¡¯t even sent a message. They were worried about them, but they couldn¡¯t afford to go look for them, they had their hands full with madame Bianca¡¯s schemes.

    ¡°Hello mister Thomas, I¡¯ve heard a lot about you, would you like to grab a cup of tea?¡±

    Ayumi said once she was in front of him. The contrast between her minute size and his bloated figure was a sight to behold. He didn¡¯t know why, but she scared the crap out of him, but this was hisst chance and he knew it.

    Deep into his heart there was a hint of doubt, she looked like a child and despite being a selfish merchant who didn¡¯t hesitate to make coin at the expense of other people¡¯s suffering, he had always thought of himself as a good man. Every time he saw the consequences of his actions hitting innocent people he wouldfort himself saying that he only did what others would have done in his ce and that if the other person was in his shoes they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do the same to him. But hitting a child was too much, even if he knew that she wasn¡¯t a child, he found his sword heavier than usual.

    ¡°You... how dare you attack us!?¡±

    He said, trying to justify his actions in the eyes of a non existent audience.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t you who came uninvited? didn¡¯t you bring armed men to our doors?¡±

    ¡°Shut up! I don¡¯t have to listen to anything you say¡±

    Thomas said thrusting his sword forwards with his shaking hands, but Ayumi dodged effortlessly. Over and over he tried to stab and sh at Ayumi, but she was a small target and too fast for his sloppy movements.

    ¡°I yield!¡±

    She didn¡¯t even have tond a hit, soon he was so tired that he dropped his sword on the ground gasping for air.

    ¡°Would you like that cup of tea now?¡±

    Due to his big size he knew he couldn¡¯t outrun them, as soon as he turned his back he was a dead man, but if he proved to be useful they might let him live to see a new day. He wasn¡¯t as scared of madame Bianca now as he was scared of the petite girl in front of him.

    Defeated, Thomas went inside the house ready to be tortured or worse. But what he found, instead, was that all the girls were into their everyday clothes without any weapon. They even greeted him as he passed.

    Sophie was busy at the kitchen making tea and Hiraku was already sitting at the table nibbling on a cookie.

    ¡°Please, have a sit mister Thomas¡±

    ¡°Thank you mister Heraa... hee... thank you mister¡±

    Ayumi sat besides her husband and Sophie poured a cup of tea for each one of them.

    ¡°So, care to exin what did just happened mister Thomas?¡±

    Hiraku said leaning forward and cing his elbows on the table.

    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think, please excuse my rude behavior from before,dy Bianca, no... it¡¯s all Bianca¡¯s fault, she made me do this¡±

    ¡°uh!?¡±

    Ayumi eximed trying to do the same as her husband, but her small limbs barely reached the table making it look funny. Yet, Thomas didn¡¯t dare tough at her.

    ¡°Then you can rest assured mister Thomas, no harm wille to you as long as you¡¯re in our house. You¡¯ll be our guest of honor, as long as you tell us everything you know from the start¡±

    What followed after looked more like a friendly reunion among friends instead of an interrogation, even so, every question was answered. By the time they finished their conversation it waste already, and they invited their new guest to sleep in one of the many guest rooms they had avable.

    Once Thomas found himself free from his extremely nice interrogation, he could finally notice the many wonders that house had to offer. It had running water, beautiful furniture and, although it was decorated in a strange way, he could feel the coziness and warmth everything exuded, making him realize that he may have made a lot of bad decisionstely.

    Everything he had done for madame Bianca amounted to nothing in her eyes, all he got in return were a couple of good deals and some special treatment at the brothel. His life was vain and he had no one that actually cared for him, suddenly the envy he felt for what he had seen, became sorrow.

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65: Do not trust prostitutes, please! part

    After madame Bianca raised the prices and Thomas acquired most of the supplies in town, the situation at the Silver goddess tavern was desperate. They had been surviving with whatever they had left after their kindness act of feeding the town at a cheap price and they had to face people constantlying at their door to beg or cause trouble.

    ¡°Please, it¡¯s ok if its just scraps¡±

    Begged a child from the other side of the door.

    ¡°For thest time, go away! there¡¯s nothing in here for you¡±

    Ryu screamed angrily making Helena frown.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so cruel to children Ryu¡±

    ¡°What am I supposed to do? we¡¯re starving and this people are convinced we¡¯re swimming in food. Anne barely survived and she¡¯s in no condition to go hunting, as if that wasn¡¯t enough, we¡¯re trapped in here. If we so much open the door, people will try to break in¡±

    .....

    Ryu walked from side to side looking more like a caged predator than a human being. His hunger is pushing his sanity to the very limits, he even started looking at Mochi with entirely different eyes.

    ¡°Come kitty kitty¡±

    He whispered with a watery grin leaving Helena in shock.

    ¡°Ok Ryu, get a hold of yourself! you¡¯re scaring the cat now¡±

    Rina growled making hime back to reality.

    ¡°This is so unfair, we were doing so good and now everything¡¯s gone overboard. If only I hadn¡¯t spend so much before the freeze¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, besides, even if we had the money madame Bianca would have found a way to keep us from buying anything¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but still, it¡¯s been so hard¡±

    ¡°Here here¡±

    Rina said embracing Ryu and pulling his head close to her chest, providing him enough mental rity to listen to his own thoughts. Everyone was dispersed among different tables at the tavern, they all looked depressed and, of course, they too were hungry. They made the extra effort to keep Anne well fed by reducing their own rations, but it was just enough to get her back in good health.

    The only ones who lookedpletely normal were Eiri and Kairi, they were used to much worse and hunger alone wasn¡¯t enough to bring their mood down. Even with theck of food they were already a lot better than they were when they were free. They have a nice soft bed, a room just for the two of them, they get paid more than fairly and they have fun hanging out with everyone at the tavern.

    But Ryu didn¡¯t see things like that, all he saw was that he took upon himself the responsibility to look out for everyone and, so far, he¡¯s failed. It¡¯s not that they were not prepared for the freeze, on the contrary, Ryu had made sure that he had enough supplies tost until spring, but he made a huge mistake. When he started researching different extracts he got addicted to it, and he spent all the food on making all those useless extracts.

    ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry, I failed you in many ways and it¡¯s my fault we¡¯re currently on this situation. I would understand if you want to leave the tavern, I won¡¯t have anything against you if you left now¡±

    Ryu said after standing in front of everyone and bowing apologetically.

    ¡°No way mister Ryu, you did nothing wrong, if anything it¡¯s our fault for eating so much. Please don¡¯t bow your head in front of us¡±

    Sera pleaded and everyone joined her.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, I know it¡¯s not my ce since I¡¯m thest one to join the tavern. but I¡¯m more than grateful for how you¡¯ve treated us¡±

    Ksenia said with a tear on her eyes. Ryu made sure that even if he didn¡¯t have food for himself, her sons would still have enough for a week.

    ¡°I¡¯ll follow you to the bitter end, boss!¡±

    Dn eximed creating an emotional ambient and everyone¡¯s eyes got teary. But Rina wasn¡¯t that kind of person, she¡¯s faced many hardships her entire life, even when her parents were alive, but she¡¯s never let anything defeat her. So, instead of saying words of support like Sera, or courage like Dn, she just leaned close to Ryu and gave him a huge bump in the head leaving everyone at the tavern bbergasted.

    ¡°Enough drama for today, just tell us how much more are we supposed to wait until your friendse to help us¡±

    Just after Rina finished speaking a loud knock on the door resounded on the tavern, lifting everyone spirits. But when ire went to open the door she noticed it wasn¡¯t Hiraku, nor anyone from his group. It was one of the brothel¡¯s guards, with two guards standing behind him.

    ¡°Good afternoon miss, may Ie in¡±

    He said smiling at ire, who in turn looked at Ryu asking for approval. Ryu nodded and she let the men in. Every bit of Ryu¡¯s instincts was screaming that they were dangerous and all that smiling was nothing but a facade, still he had no choice but to let them in.

    Ryu sat on a table and gestured them to have a sit, yet only the captain sat in front of Ryu, the other two stood still behind their leader.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have much time¡±

    He said politely declining the beer that Rina herself put in front of him.

    ¡°Its just one beer, I don¡¯t think madame Bianca¡¯s gonna be mad if you¡¯re just a few minuteste¡±

    Said Ryu inviting him to drink with him.

    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s just one I don¡¯t see any harm in it¡±

    And they both took a long gulp from their mugs.

    ¡°So, what brings you here today? as you can see, we¡¯re not open¡±

    ¡°Madame Bianca heard that you are having a hard time and she wishes to invite you to her manor, she also sent you this because she¡¯s worried of your well being¡±

    When he spoke that words the guards standing behind him put two heavy sacks on the floor, one contained flour and the other contained potatoes. Both were the most basic ingredients, but it was enough to feed everyone at the tavern for a week, if they don¡¯t take into ount Ryu¡¯s unusually high appetite.

    Rina epted the gifts with a huge smile on her face, even if it wasn¡¯t a sincere gesture, it would feed them all the same.

    ¡°How can I refuse madame¡¯s invitation when she¡¯s been so kind to us¡±

    Ryu said after finishing his beer and cing the empty mug on the table loudly. He knew exactly what was going to happen, but there was nothing anyone could do to avoid it. Rina was worried sick for him and Sera wanted toe along, but he stopped them both.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon¡±

    He said smiling in an attempt to reassure them that everything was going to be fine.

    As soon as they exited the tavern the men led Ryu to the brothel since madame¡¯s manor was next to it and they were connected. He wasn¡¯t apprehended nor was he treated violently, but Ryu couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that he was going to face the gallows.

    Once inside the brothel the guards followed him right to madame Bianca¡¯s office.

    ¡°So you came, mister Ryu¡±

    Madame Bianca greeted him with her usual fake smile

    ¡°Did I have a choice?¡±

    He replied coldly.

    ¡°Come on dear, don¡¯t be like that, this is just a friendly invite¡±

    She said with a scoff while rummaging through some documents.

    ¡°But, is it really? you¡¯ve taken us out and half Ironwoods belongs to you now. Tell me what do you want and lets get it over with¡±

    ¡°What I want is you, of course, I only need you to sign this document stating that you¡¯re my ve now and everything will be fine¡±

    ¡°And why would I do that exactly?¡±

    ¡°Because my personal guards are outside your filthy tavern at this precise moment, and if they don¡¯t hear from me in the following hour they will burn it to the ground. I swear If you weren¡¯t so capable I would¡¯ve just sent to kill you long ago, when I first heard that you were plotting against me¡±

    Ryu¡¯s expression stiffened and he lowered his gaze.

    ¡°so you knew?¡±

    ¡°I must say I¡¯m impressed, not only by your cooking skill but also by your wits. In fact you did had a chance at beating me, but you were too naive to notice. If only you kept your ns to yourself, if you had let Dn pay for assaulting you, you wouldn¡¯t be on this position now. If youe with me to Crent I¡¯ll spare the lives of your ythings, they would be mine, though¡±

    ¡°How... How did you know?¡±

    ¡°You are so predictable, you were betrayed of course. Come inside dear!¡±

    She said loudly and the door immediately opened and a woman on her thirties came inside. She was good looking and was dressed in an uniform that emphasized her curves, her neat appearance and serious demeanor allowed Ryu to recognize her on the spot.

    It was no other than Kaya, the mayor¡¯s assistant.

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66: Do not trust prostitutes, please! part

    ¡°Now, tell this young man what you told me¡±

    ¡°Yes, madame Bianca¡±

    Kaya bowed politely in front of her and stood besides her.

    ¡°I was there that day, when you came to save that young brat. He went to the mayor¡¯s house to turn himself for assaulting you. After confessing the mayor made him go out and he discussed with me what kind of penalty should he give him. Of course I asked him to be severe, as I always do, and he was considering exiling him to the forest. But then, just when he was about to pass sentence, you came and said all about your n right in front of me, I couldn¡¯t believe my luck. You told Karl all about madame¡¯s Bianca¡¯s n and how you intended to raid her ce once she raised the prices¡±

    Madame Bianca had a smirk the whole time andughed at the mention of Ryu¡¯s intention to raid her ce.

    ¡°Now that¡¯s what I call a bold move mister cook, to this day I still cannot figure how exactly did you intend to raid my ce. I even considered letting you do your move before taking you, just to satisfy my curiosity¡±

    She sneered exaggeratedly.

    .....

    ¡°About that, Hiraku¡¯s group...¡±

    Ryu tried to speak, but he was cut short by her.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, that group is now officially dissolved. There¡¯s nothing they can do to save you. Even better, now that the mayor is dead and even his eldest son is dead, I¡¯m the only one who can rule over Ironwoods. Things went better than expected I must say¡±

    ¡°You do love hearing your own voice a lot, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Ryu scoffed and, for the first time, madame Bianca dropped her fake smile.

    ¡°How dare you, you insolent brat, I should kill you right where you stand right now¡±

    Ryu flinched after hearing her, but tried to keep his bold attitude. He¡¯s been trying to figure a way out of this situation the whole time, but even Kaya was stronger than him and madame Bianca was surprisingly strong. Now the only thing left for him was to try and talk his way out.

    ¡°Please excuse my rude behavior, I¡¯m just frustrated because you beat me at my own game¡±

    He sighed as he took the document and signed it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll spare you the punishment this time, only because you act so obedient, but the next time I¡¯ll il you myself¡±

    ¡°Thank you, madame Bianca¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a good dog, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll treat you well¡±

    She leered at Ryu making him shudder.

    ¡°Both of you, follow me now and keep quiet¡±

    Ryu and Kaya followed madame Bianca to the brothel¡¯s main entrance. Before her guards brought Ryu she was informed that a small crowd was starting to gather at the brothel¡¯s doors and she needed to go calm things down. While she was still alone at her office, she found out the perfect way to calm the people and take out her rival at the same time.

    When she reached the entrance she noticed that all of her guards, except for those she sent to the tavern,. where busy trying to control the crow that grew in size by the minute. It waste and some of them were holding torches, there was no better stage for the y she was about to perform.

    ¡°Everyone silence!¡±

    Shouted the captain of her guards, the one that brought Ryu, but the crowd only went quiet after they saw madame Bianca.

    ¡°My dear clients, I know your suffering and it pains me to see you like that. The hunger you feel, all the suffering you¡¯ve endured is not a coincidence but the scheme of some greedy people with no scruples and now I stand before you to reveal the culprits identities¡±

    Ryu was beyond shocked, he thought for a second that she was talking about herself and that she was going to reveal herself in front of everyone. But, of course, she had no such intentions. All she wanted was to keep people calm until spring so her fiance would finallye for her.

    ¡°This year has been the hardest so far and we¡¯ve all suffered greatly and just so happens that the Silver goddess tavern, as they call it now, flourished more than ever. As i said before that¡¯s no coincidence, I know this because I ordered my most loyal guard to investigate the matter. Please dear, care to exin what were your findings?¡±

    The captain took a step forward and spoke loudly so everyone could hear him clearly.

    ¡°We did our best to investigate the matter and found out that the problem wasn¡¯t that wecked hunters nor that our poption was too great, but that someone was buying everything from the food suppliers as soon as it they got it, before even reaching their counters. Madame Bianca has been struggling to stock her ce and that¡¯s why she was forced to raise the prices, so I questioned the merchants. Every single food supplier kept quiet, it didn¡¯t matter if we tried to bribe them or threaten them, they didn¡¯t tell us a thing. So today I kept watch over the Silver goddess tavern and found out that they were hoarding all the food inside their storage¡±

    The captain said in a monotone voice as if he was reading it, when in truth he had memorized it from before but he feared to make a mistake since madame Bianca would punish him.

    ¡°That¡¯s a load of bullshit!¡±

    A voice could be heard from amidst the crowd, a redhead girl with shoulder length hair and a very sizeable bosom walked forward.

    ¡°Don¡¯t believe a word he¡¯s saying! he...¡±

    Rina tried to exin, but the guards pushed her giving madame Bianca a chance to speak again.

    ¡°If that¡¯s not the truth then how do you exin this?¡±

    When madame Bianca said that words, two guards came pushing a handcart with some difficulty over the snowy road. It was filled to the brim with sacks of food.

    ¡°That¡¯s not ours! We didn¡¯t even have enough food for ourselves!¡±

    Rina yelled desperately. Everyone at Ironwoods knew her, she didn¡¯t have a kind personality and only had a good attitude with customers that behaved themselves, but no one thought her capable of hoarding food just to get more money.

    ¡°Do you deny having food then? Captain, were you able to bring everything?¡±

    ¡°No madame, there were two sacks that we couldn¡¯t fit in the cart¡±

    They tantly lied in front of everyone making everyone murmur and leaving Rina incapable of speaking, all she could do was cry. It wasn¡¯t sadness but pure anger and despair.

    ¡°Now that our dear mayor Karl has passed away, we don¡¯t have someone capable to pass sentence, but mister Ryu hase forward and confessed everything to me, in hopes that the people of ironwoods would forgive them if they became my ves. It moved my heart that someone innocent who¡¯s only me was to fall for the charms of a greedy and evil wench, so I agreed to intercede on his behalf¡±

    She took a few seconds to look at the crowd¡¯s outrage, they even surrounded Rina and started insulting her, yet no one dared to harm her since Anne, Helena and Dn protected her. Madame Bianca took this opportunity and pointed her index finger at Rina.

    ¡°This woman hoarded all the food in Ironwoods, despite knowing the harm she was causing to us. She even dared to feign worry and despair for the less fortunate. You all know I did my best to save as many of you as I can, yet my purse and supplies are both limited and I can¡¯t take responsibility for feeding everyone¡±

    She wiped a fake tear from her eyes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t ask you to forgive her for what she has done, but if you find it in your heart to let me pass sentence, I¡¯ll enve her and make sure she atones for her sins... As apensation, I promise that I¡¯ll let any man to use her freely any time youe to my brothel¡±

    When she spoke that words every single man, young or old, thought the same thing. Even in Ryu¡¯s mind, dirty pictures of a specific kind of punishment started filling his imagination, yet instead of desire all he felt was concern.

    Everyone was staring at his girlfriend with a new set of eyes and they drew closer to Rina step by step.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you daree closer!¡±

    Anne screamed, but instead of stopping people in their tracks as she expected, it was as if someone signaled the start of a race. Anne was getting ready to kick the first one who came closer to oblivion, when a petite woman stood next to madame Bianca and tugged on her dress.

    ¡°Not now dear¡±

    She said without even looking at her, she was too focused on how the events in front of her were developing. The reason she owned a brothel wasn¡¯t just because she used to be a prostitute, but also because she enjoyed inflicting pain into others.

    Madame Bianca licked her lips when she saw the crowd surrounding Rina, when Ayumi couldn¡¯t stand being ignored anymore and signaled Hiraku, who shot a ming arrow just in front of Rina.

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67: Do not trust prostitutes, please! part

    Ryu wasn¡¯t aware of Ayumi¡¯s presence, all the gears in his mind were spinning to find a solution to his current situation in order to save Rina from a horrible fate. Things weren¡¯t going as expected by a long shot and he lost all his confidence, besides, his stomach was grumbling non stop begging for food, making him lose his focus constantly.

    Thanks to Hiraku ming arrow he could snap out of it and he quickly scanned the area.

    Hiraku was standing on a roof nearby, Ayumi was standing right next to madame Bianca, but Bob and Luke were nowhere to be seen. Instead, a bunch of girls armed with spears and leather vests made a formation surrounding Rina, allowing him to finally focus on his own situation.

    When the captain of the guards finished speaking, he went back to stand right next to Ryu. His leather armor looked sturdy, he looked for a way to kill him swiftly but instead of activating his consider skill he felt as if he was going to fall asleep on the spot.

    He knew that his skill didn¡¯t spend any mana, and even if it did he should¡¯ve had his full mana capacity. He didn¡¯t feel tired either, but just attempting to activate the skill drained him.

    Pondering if the captain was just too strong or if something inside him had changed, Ryu stood still as a fight broke out. Some people tried to capture Rina, who they thought was responsible for the winter famine, while others attempted to protect her since they either knew her or were till grateful to her for feeding them after the freeze. After all, if it wasn¡¯t for that many more people in town would¡¯ve been dead by now and they owed their lives to them.

    Madame Bianca knew that a fight was likely to happen and was prepared for such eventuality, with just a nod of her head, several guards left the brothel and joined the fray. They actually didn¡¯t care if people tried to help them or not, their orders were to attack anyone on sight since their final objective was not to rule over Ironwoods but to raze it to the ground. Madame Bianca was leaving after spring and, as long as there were some people left in Ironwoods, she was at risk of having her misdeeds known to the public.

    .....

    A baroness couldn¡¯t afford such scandals so she nned on leaving no witnesses. By the time the snow melts only those that were loyal to her and her ves would be left alive. She had been to Crent many times and she knew that, despite very being legal, ves were a raremodity and the demand surpassed the offer by far. Still, this didn¡¯t mean that they would overlook thew and if it was known that she caused the famine, that she forced people into very and all the crimes shemitted, she would be harshly punished.

    The guards quickly surrounded Rina¡¯s group, but they couldn¡¯t move a step forward without risking being stabbed by the spear wielding women covering her. They did their best effort to push past them, but all they got in return were painful wounds aimed towards non vital points.

    Anne drew her bow and proceeded to fire arrow after arrow, causing many casualties among madame Bianca¡¯s men. Dn, instead, stood by Rina¡¯s side covering her from any harm that maye her way, but in doing so he neglected the rest of their group and one of Hiraku¡¯s group ves fell to the ground badly wounded. Her loud scream of pain announced the break of their formation and the tide of the battle shiftedpletely.

    When Ryu noticed this he made up his mind, he couldn¡¯t stand idle a second longer and attempted to unsheathe his sword, but no matter how much strength he put into it, he couldn¡¯t get it out from its scabbard. Realizing how futile were his efforts he tried to activate stealth, fearing that it might fail as his consider skill did. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t fail and allowed him to put himself behind the captain.

    Now that he wasn¡¯t able to use his sword, he was left with no choice but to wield the obsidian knife. He never actually used it for battle, despite being so sharp it always amazed everyone, because it was so fragile a simple hit could break it to pieces.

    Just thinking on losing it pained Ryu, he¡¯s always used it mostly for cooking and other non violent activities, but he always kept it by his side. Still, no knife in the world would be so valuable as to not being used to protect someone he loved, and he truly loved Rina.

    He took the knife from his new leather sash and before the captain could react he slid the knife over his neck from behind. Because he didn¡¯t know how strong was the captain, he did so with the intention to kill him in a single movement, but the captain was wearing a leather gorget that prevented his cowardly attempt to assassinate him. Instead, he noticed Ryu was right behind him and hit him with the hilt of his sword on the ribs.

    Ryu felt to the ground and rolled in pain losing the grip of his knife. When the captain came close to finish him, Ryu kicked with both his legs trying to keep distance, but instead of moving the captain Ryu slid on the ground the other way.

    ¡°What are you doing kid? Don¡¯t you realize that madame Bianca is doing all this to save you?¡±

    The captain snarled

    ¡°Save me from what? from her lies? no, thank you, I¡¯d rather die a dog¡¯s death than seeing everyone I care fall on her filthy hands¡±

    His words were brave, but in truth he was left bare handed, skilless and alone facing a much stronger opponent. All he could do now was close his eyes and pray for salvation. But he wouldn¡¯t do that, if what hispanions told him about god is true he doesn¡¯t care about good or evil so praying would bepletely useless. Instead, he resigned himself and embraced his fate, at least he wouldn¡¯t live long enough to see hispanions defiled or worse.

    Ryu kept his eyes closed and gritted his teeth as the captain let out a scream of pain.

    ¡®Was it one of Hiraku¡¯s arrows? Maybe Ayumi finally learned to cast spells and did something¡¯

    Ryu thought while scanning his whereabouts, but what he saw was apletely different picture than he expected. Hiraku¡¯s bow was broken and he was fighting with a spear, Ayumi was fighting with madame Bianca, though by the looks of it, it was more like she was acting as her sandbag. Madame Bianca wasn¡¯t skilled in fighting, but she was so strong, fast and devious that Ayumi was helpless.

    The one who saved Ryu¡¯s life was no other than his beanbag shaped fluffy cat. Mochi was fiercely scratching and biting at the captain, who in turn tried to fend with everything he had. His face was bloody and his expression showed his fear and shock, he didn¡¯t understand where did that cate from nor how could it be so strong. Every time Mochi climbed on his leg, arms or even his back, and the captain managed to somehow take it off of him, the cat would take with itself a piece of his armor or a bite of his flesh.

    Onlookers were horrified as the captain was falling to pieces, the more he struggled the more wounds he received. Bleeding profusely and too tired to continue fighting, the captain passed out unconscious.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough Mochi, go help Rina!¡±

    Ryu said as he ran towards madame Bianca, he took a vial out of his pocked and threw it at Ayumi.

    ¡°Ayumi, that¡¯s a healing potion!¡±

    Her face was bruised and swollen and there were scratches all over her body, but she was smiling. The reason for that was that madame Bianca was on the ground rolling to the sides trying to put off the fire on her bulky dress.

    Ayumi grabbed the potion and drank it on a single gulp, the healing properties were so strong that her wounds closed at a speed visible to the naked eye, but it also meant that her stamina was going to be depleted really fast. She wobbled from side to side and just before she fell to the ground, Hiraku caught her on his arms.

    When the guards noticed that they failed to protect their boss, they had to admit defeat. One of the reasons they even bothered following madame Bianca was because she was really strong, If she wasn¡¯t they would¡¯ve just taken the money and ran to the next town. If even she was defeated they knew there was nothing they could do.

    The fight slowly subsided creating a prolonged silence that people used to gather their breaths and ponder the consequences of their own actions.

 Chapter 68

    Chapter 68: Do not trust prostitutes, please! part

    Hiraku came closer to Rina and the others with Ayumi still in his arms. They were breathing heavily but most of them were unscathed, one of the youngest ve girls from Hiraku¡¯s group was heavily injured but after Helena healed her she was as good as new.

    Helena¡¯s mana capacity was much bigger than it used to be thanks to the constant treatment she had to apply to Sera¡¯s fractured arm.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Ryu?¡±

    Rina asked Hiraku who instead of replying pointed towards the brothel¡¯s entrance.

    As soon as the battle ended Ryu hurried inside the brothel to seek for food, his mental state waspletely lost on his hunger. Only after breaking in, pushing past some prostitutes that were cowering inside raiding the kitchen and eating with manners that would make a wolf lose its appetite Ryu regained his consciousness.

    With both hands he lifted a sack of flour, he may have satisfied his hunger but he was still worried about Ksenia¡¯s children and the rest of the group that stayed at the tavern, so he brought the flour outside with half a bread still in his mouth.

    ¡°Ryu! are you ok!?¡±

    .....

    Anne came to his side taking the heavy load from his hands.

    ¡°Mmm mfm gmgm¡±

    He mumbled with the bread still on his mouth.

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak with your mouth full, that¡¯s gross!¡±

    She said as she was about to try to take the piece of bread from his mouth, but when she saw Ryu¡¯s eyes she realized that would¡¯ve been a bad move.

    ¡°Can someone please exin me what the hell just happened¡±

    Rina was still in awe, everything happened to fast, but she still believed it was one of Ryu¡¯s schemes.

    ¡°No Idea¡±

    Ryu shrugged after swallowing thest bit of bread.

    ¡°You really expect us to believe you had nothing to do with this?¡±

    Anne frowned. Ever since they met Ryu they noticed that, despite him being a good guy, he was far from naive and wouldn¡¯t fall head first on someone¡¯s trap. In fact, he was so cautious and cunning that he always managed to turn bad luck into blessings for everyone.

    ¡°He really doesn¡¯t know, this was all my dear wife¡¯s n¡±

    Hiraku said leaving everyone astonished. Ayumi, who had just woken up from her torpor, patted Hiraku¡¯s arm asking him to leave her on the ground. She was in perfect health but exhausted and couldn¡¯t wait to go back home, but it had been so long since they met each other that she couldn¡¯t just leave without providing an exnation. So she invited everyone to the trading outpost to talk things over.

    Everyone from the Silver goddess tavern was shocked to see the renewed trading outpost. It wasn¡¯t a simple square warehouse anymore but a huge house with a water mill and a small aqueduct that ran next to the house, both feeding the water deposit on the roof and discarding waste.

    Sophie, who had stayed at home because she waspletely useless in battle, opened the door and let everyone in.

    ¡°Wee back master Ayumi, Master Hiraku and dear guests¡±

    She said bowing politely and leading them to the dinning room where a wonderful hot meal was already served. Both Ryu and Ayumi jumped on top of the table wolfing down a full serving before even sitting down.

    If Anne and Helena were not starving too, they may have lost their appetite at the sight, but since their condition was so bad they couldn¡¯t reject the food they were served.

    Only after satisfying their hunger they started speaking as Sophie served everyone a cup of tea.

    ¡°What did you mean it was all Ayumi¡¯s n Hiraku?¡±

    Anne was the first to speak, her condition wasn¡¯t as bad as the rest because she had been fed properly to help her recover from her sickness.

    ¡°Just as he said Anne, it was I nned everything¡±

    Ayumi puffed her chest out and closed her eyes striking a pose everyone knew too well. Whenever Ayumi had been helpful and expected to be praised, she would stand like that until someoneplimented her or at least thanked her. But this time she was too eager to exin things.

    ¡°Before the freeze we got everything ready, bought some ves, supplies and built this house. During the freeze I had plenty of time to think on our situation, since whenever I trained I needed some time to recover my mana. Anyway, whenever I thought on how things developed there was something that didn¡¯t add up so after the freeze, the same day you guys fed the whole town we kept busy.

    We went to the brothel to eat, it was really expensive, but our objective wasn¡¯t eating, darling why don¡¯t you exin this part?¡±

    She said taking a sip of tea, Hiraku nodded at her and continued the story.

    ¡°Yes, so my dear wife asked me to contact Taffy, Luke¡¯s favorite prostitute. At first it was difficult for me to find her because she looked nothing like she used to before the freeze. She was so thin and didn¡¯t wear any makeup. She was so youthful and pretty, but when I saw her it was as if life had been drained from herpletely. She looked pitiful¡±

    ¡°Wait, didn¡¯t you say you bought some ves? why didn¡¯t you just buy her?¡±

    Rina interrupted Hiraku¡¯s recount.

    ¡°Young Luke did try to buy her, but she rejected him and he didn¡¯t want her toe unwillingly. Anyway, I asked her for an hour of her time and she obliged. When we got into a room I asked her what happened to her and she told me that, as soon as Luke left the ce she told everyone that she had rejected Luke because she was close to buying herself back. When that got to her family¡¯s ears they came to the brothel and said that they could help her.

    Her full price was 5 silver coins, and she was about 50 copper from buying herself back. Since it was her own family, of course she trusted them, and they paid the rest to buy her. She was blissful to finally be free from the brothel, only her family sold her back to madame Bianca immediately after buying her instead of setting her free¡±

    ¡°No way! how could someone do something so cruel to their own blood!?¡±

    Helena eximed with tears on her eyes.

    ¡°Well, miss Helena, not everything is ck and white. The freeze wasing and they were desperate to get supplies, by doing that they walked with 5 silver coins and managed to survive the freeze, even if it was at the expense of Taffy. She was starved during the freeze since there were not enough clients, only a few stayed inside the brothel instead of their own homes since this winter had been so harsh on everyone. Soon enough she didn¡¯t have enough money to pay even for her make up. Veronika, one of our ves, usually helped the young prostitutes that couldn¡¯t afford to buy food during the freeze, but since we bought her, Taffy was left with absolutely nothing.

    I¡¯m not particrly proud of this, but Ayumi had foreseen this situation and that¡¯s why she asked me to find Taffy and turn her into our spy. All it took was a single silver coin and a promise to buy her and she was willing to even risk her life to gather information for us¡±

    Ayumi grinned maliciously when Hiraku mentioned her.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s her fault after all. She could¡¯ve let Luke buy her and she wouldn¡¯t had been in that situation¡±

    Ayumi¡¯sck of scruples gave everyone the chills and made Rina realize how lucky she was that Hiraku¡¯s group didn¡¯t frequent the tavern that much, because if they did, she would¡¯ve ended a ve, not by choice and certainly not for a short period.

    ¡°What does all this have to do with what happened today?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡±

    Ayumi scoffed at Anne¡¯s question.

    ¡°Luke had made a deal with madame Bianca, we were supposed to take you guys out of business and then she would provide us with equipment, gear, materials and money. we went to the brothel iming that you werepletely out of food and that it was our fault, soon after a short man came by and informed her that you guys were, in fact, starving so she had no choice but to pay us sooner than she expected. It was then that Taffy informed us that Bianca was plotting something weird with Thomas and that she distrusted us. We only found out recently that it was Kaya¡¯s doing, she told Bianca that we were still associated. after a few days they attacked us and captured Ryu, and things went down as they did¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impressive Ayumi, we wouldn¡¯t have made it without your help. Still there¡¯s something I don¡¯t understand. What was Bob¡¯s and Luke¡¯s role in all this?¡±

    Ryu asked honestly surprised and intrigued, but Ayumi¡¯s smile turned upside down and her face turned grim.

    ¡°About that... well, they are currently missing¡±

 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69: Do not trust prostitutes, please! part

    ¡°How can you be so calm!? they¡¯re missing and you¡¯re not doing anything!¡±

    Anne eximed without giving Ayumi enough time to exin.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do is there? also, no one hase back from the mine yet so they must be dyed. My best guess is they¡¯re resting and taking care of the wounded. They should have enough supplies tost until spring, maybe even more so...¡±

    Ayumi started with a poker face, but her eyes filled up with tears as she kept talking breaking her emotionless facade.

    ¡°I agree with Ayumi, there¡¯s nothing we can do to help them, but there¡¯s people back at the tavern waiting for us and it¡¯s reallyte¡±

    Ryu said as he stood up, Anne, Helena and Rina quickly followed him. Ayumi and Hiraku apanied them to the exit and, after saying their goodbyes they headed to the tavern. Since the brothel was on the way they could see the aftermath of the battle.

    Corpses were lying on the ground, the brothel¡¯s guards and even madame Bianca were surrounded by people armed with spears and torches.

    .....

    ¡°Ryu, aren¡¯t you going to do anything?¡±

    Rina poked his ribs.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°People are going crazy and the mayor is nowhere to be seen, if you don¡¯t do something they¡¯ll kill everyone¡±

    Ryu pondered for a second before replying.

    ¡°And how is that my problem? they were willing to do unspeakable things to you and...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what they¡¯re gonna do to everyone at the brothel if no one stops them. Most of the girls are innocent and they¡¯ll pay for Bianca¡¯s doings¡±

    Ryu let out a tired sigh and got closer. Madame Bianca was unconscious and being tied to a pole, she was stark naked but since Ayumi burnt her clothes, her body looked like charcoal with fleshy cracks covering her.

    It was a gruesome sight and made Helena shudder, she wanted to run over there and heal her to stop her suffering but when she thought of what would¡¯ve happen if Bianca won, she felt disgust instead of pity.

    When the group finally reached the brothel all the prostitutes were inside, blocking the doors trying to keep people from entering the ce. Instead of talking, people rammed at the door with all their effort, but they were too sturdy and didn¡¯t even move.

    ¡°People of Ironwoods, calm down, I understand how you feel but you¡¯re acting like savages!¡±

    Ryu said in a loud voice after clearing his throat. His first impulse was to ignore what was going on and head to the tavern, he was worried for Sera and the kids, besides there was little to gain even if he did something. But when he saw the pitiful state madame Bianca was he came up with an idea.

    It didn¡¯t matter to him whatever fate awaited her, he didn¡¯t want revenge nor did he want to forgive her for what she had done. After all she couldn¡¯t achieve much even with all her scheming. But, he could show everyone how effective the medicine he prepared with his distiller and open the market for it.

    ¡°Why should we listen to you? you¡¯re just as bad as she is¡±

    A man on his thirties said, he was well built and seemed to be a hunter. He was pulling Kaya¡¯s hair trying to lift her from the ground, she was kneeling down in front of him doing her best effort to avoid being captured. There were many hands on her body trying to undress her and keeping her from moving.

    ¡°Am I? Are we?¡±

    Ryu said looking honestly surprised first pointing at him and then at Rina.

    ¡°For all you know we¡¯ve been used without any proof, you almost imparted a punishment without any grounds on innocent people. I know I¡¯m not the mayor, but don¡¯t you guys havews?¡±

    Rina facepalmed at his words, he was doing fine until he mentioned thew.

    ¡°Ourw says that whenever a hunter spots a misdeed he¡¯s able to impart justice however he sees fit. If it turns out he made a mistake, the victim or their rtives can ask for a fairpensation and the hunter would lose his status¡±

    She said tugging on Ryu¡¯s coat, but his voice remained confident.

    ¡°What I propose is that we form a search party to investigate the brothel with our most trusted hunters and when we find the evidence, we vote for a punishment for madame Bianca. Also, the girls inside should be considered innocent, unless we find proof that they acted as her aplices¡±

    ¡°Your words are reasonable, maybe too reasonable. I bet you¡¯re saying that because you want to steal everything and keep it to yourself¡±

    The man replied and everyone went silent waiting for Ryu¡¯s response. Yet, he remained calm and put his hand on his chest.

    ¡°Thatment deeply offends me, didn¡¯t we feed you all about a week ago?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! but we had to pay, yet you make it sound as if you were doing a charity work¡±

    The man had a reply at the ready for whatever Ryu had said, he didn¡¯t care at all about right and wrong, nor did he give a damn about justice. All he wanted was to get some spoils and to be able to have his way with Kaya. He knew her ever since they were little and grew together, but they were not childhood friends since she always acted high and mighty and didn¡¯t even bother looking at him.

    She was the reason why he even became a hunter, but just before she came of age she was sold to the brothel for a pretty penny. Despite all his efforts he couldn¡¯t afford to buy her, but he dreamed of her almost every night.

    Before Rina, Kaya was considered the most beautiful girl in all Ironwoods.

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak to Ryu like that! you don¡¯t know what we endured this week because of that. We were left without a single ration of food and even all the money we raised that day wasn¡¯t even enough to buy enough food for us¡±

    Rina confronted the man, but another one stepped in.

    ¡°You¡¯re lying! we all saw the chest filled with coins!¡±

    ¡°We charged a single copper per serving, even before the freeze that wouldn¡¯t have been enough to even buy the ingredients. I¡¯ll tell you what, I¡¯ll go inside with the group of hunters and I¡¯ll let you decide what should we get aspensation. I won¡¯t have anything against you even if you decide I shouldn¡¯t take anything with me¡±

    Ryu shrugged leaving the manpletely out of words, then a heavy hand was ced on the man¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Come on Norman, what he says is more than reasonable and they are entitled topensation, after all they were directly affected by that woman¡¯s actions¡±

    A more reliable looking hunter stood beside him and smiled at Ryu.

    After deciding who was going to go inside the brothel they knocked on the door and convinced the prostitutes to let them in peacefully, after being reassured that they won¡¯t hold any of them responsible for madame¡¯s actions unless they participated directly on her misdeeds.

    After getting inside the first ce they checked was the kitchen, then the storage. Everyone but Ryu was surprised when they noticed that it was almost empty. Still, they looked inside every single room, they moved the furniture and turned the ce over.

    There was no trace of any hidden stash, it didn¡¯t matter where they looked it was almost empty. They even questioned the prostitutes and the staff, but they imed to not know anything about a secret storage room.

    It looked as if madame Bianca was innocent after all and the hunters started bing anxious. If there wasn¡¯t any food they wouldn¡¯t get any spoils, not only that, they would be punished for the way they treated madame Bianca.

    It was then that Ryu remembered Mochi¡¯s liking for the mochi he prepared, and since it was prepared with the elven wheat fruit, it didn¡¯t spoil.

    ¡°Maybe my cat can find it¡±

    Ryu¡¯s words would have made everyone at the search partyugh, but when they recalled what that beanbag fat cat did to the captain of the brothel¡¯s guard they had no choice but to agree with him.

    The first thing Mochi did after entering the brothel was jump right on the cleavage of a well endowed prostitute. She was scared at first but when he noticed the cat¡¯s cute demeanor, she held the cat on her arms.

    ¡°Please excuse my cat¡¯s behavior miss¡±

    Ryu said embarrassed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind it, it¡¯s cute¡±

    She replied giggling.

    After trying, and failing, to pull the cat from hisfortable spot, Ryu gave up and talked at Mochi.

    ¡°Listen up you couch potato, it¡¯s about time you earn your food. I need you to find mochi¡±

    The cat looked at Ryu with an intrigued expression and after a couple seconds the cat seemed to have understood his mission and pointed at itself, then hurried and asked Ryu for a treat.

    ¡°No, bad cat! there¡¯s no treat for you until you find mochi!¡±

    The cat tried desperately to point at itself and get a reward, it didn¡¯t understand why wasn¡¯t Ryuplimenting him for his hard work. Ryu, on the other hand was thinking that maybe he should have attempted to tame a jackal instead.

    ¡°That¡¯s why we only train dogs, maybe we should just give up¡±

    One of the men at the party sighed.

    ¡°No, wait a second. Listen well Mochi, you are Mochi the cat, but I need you to find mochi the food¡±

    He said word for word and pointing at the cat when he said its name, then he gestured as if he was squishing something mushy with its fingers when he referred to the food.

    The cat darted towards the kitchen as soon as it understood its mission leaving everyone in awe, even Ryu who still couldn¡¯t believe how intelligent it was.

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70: Don¡¯t lose your belongings, please! part

    ¡°What do you think happened to mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°shush! not so loud or he may hear you. I¡¯m not sure, when they came back they all looked as if they had seen a ghost¡±

    ¡°I heard from someone running on the streets that there was a fight outside the brothel, do you think it has something to do with that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure sis, they saw people die near the mine but they didn¡¯t even flinch¡±

    Sera and ire were discussing the pitiful mood everyone came back with while cooking for everyone. Since everyone came back alright they must have seeded, but their eyes looked dead and everyone walked as if they were carrying a huge weight on their shoulders.

    It was just mashed potatoes but everyone ate it as if it was the most delicious meal in the world.

    Anne, Dn, Helena, Rina and Ryu went straight to sleep, not just because they were tired for the long day they¡¯ve had, but because of what they saw after Mochi ran to the brothel¡¯s kitchen.

    .....

    Once the search party followed the cat to the kitchen it started scratching a shelf that seemed to be nailed to the wall and, when they pushed it, a secret door leading to a storage full to the brim with food opened up. Not only it was enough to feed everyone in town for a while, but it also was proof of madame Bianca¡¯s guilt.

    It meant that she, in fact, conspired to create a winter famine so harsh that people sold themselves as ves. They were about to go outside and inform everyone of their findings, when Ryu noticed a hatch door on the floor and when he opened it a foul stench came outside, it was so putrid that they thought for a second it was just a garbage disposal system. Ryu headed downstairs to investigate nheless.

    The path opened to a dungeon filled with people in a condition so awful that made death look like a sweet relief instead of something to be feared. There were women and children, elder people, everyone showed signs of torture on their bodies. It was madame Bianca¡¯s secret dungeon.

    They were all famished, with festering wounds all over their bodies and the ce was so filthy it looked straight out from hell. The only difference that in all stories only bad people went to hell, yet in here everyone was innocent.

    People from the search party started vomiting, not only for the stench but also from shock.

    Ryu kept calm and went to look for Anne, Helena and Dn, leaving Rina out of it. It was already dawn when they finished tending to every one of the captives, but they were so tired that they went to sleep at the tavern, leading to ire and Sera¡¯s discussion but they couldn¡¯t find out what happened.

    Ryu woke up at noon, he tried to keep a smile on his face to not scare the children, but what he saw was more than even his calm mind could take. He headed straight to Hiraku¡¯s trading outpost where Ayumi was already waiting for him.

    ¡°Ryu, Is it true what they say?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you heard but it¡¯s even worse¡±

    ¡°How could it be worse?¡±

    ¡°They had been tortured, everyone! even if she intended to sell them as ves, there was no need for that. At first I wanted to heal only madame Bianca in front of everyone to show them how effective is the medicine I can make, but I ended up using it to heal many people that ended up dying anyway¡±

    Ryu gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, what he saw that night would haunt his nightmares forever.

    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to her?¡±

    Ayumi asked in an attempt to distract Ryu from his harmful thoughts.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about this town¡¯sws, but even if they torture her and kill her i¡¯d say its not enough punishment, she deserves a long life filled with more pain that she inflicted. The whole town is going to be present at her trial, it¡¯s going to take ce in a week or so and I expect you to be there¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we cane we are currently busy with...¡±

    Ayumi said trying to avoid going at all costs, she didn¡¯t want to take any part on a trial that may end in a public execution, but Ryu cut her short without caring for her distaste for blood.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care, you all need toe or else she may get away with it, we need to make sure she pays dearly for what she has done. I wish Luke was here so he finally understands this is not a magical ce but a cruel harsh world. By the way, I¡¯m heading to the brothel to take care of the survivors, in case Rina or someone from the tavernes tell them to send someone to help me please¡±

    Ayumi nodded and Ryu walked towards the brothel hurrying his steps. He walked inside the brothel as if he owned the ce, went to the kitchen and started cooking in quantities that would¡¯ve been enough to feed a whole toon. But that wasn¡¯t all, because most of the people that had been kept underground were so weak they couldn¡¯t even eat by themselves.

    When Sera came to Help Ryu she was greeted with a list of chores, instead ofining she started working diligently on everything Ryu asked of her.

    She helped him cook, clean, she spoonfed those who couldn¡¯t eat by themselves, and she did everything with a kind smile that reassured every one of their patients. Time passed quickly and it was alreadyte when they finished, so they decided to spend the night at the brothel.

    They were walking through the halls looking for unupied rooms when Ryu felt a cold hand on his neck, along with a knife pressed on his throat.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make a move dear or I¡¯ll end you and your little girlfriend here¡±

    Sera was so scared she didn¡¯t even blush after being called Ryu¡¯s girlfriend.

    ¡°How did you escape?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? you left me this gift, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Bianca put the obsidian knife in front of Ryu¡¯s eyes, then slid it back to his throat making a small cut on his cheek. Ryu couldn¡¯t believe how stupid he was for leaving the knife on the ground after losing it.

    ¡°Now, be a dear and walk to the dungeon, you too darling¡±

    Her fake smile was already terrifying before, but now that her body was mostly charred meat she looked as much as a monster as she was on the inside.

    ¡°I¡¯lle along, just leave her out of this¡±

    Ryu blurted out

    ¡°No way, we¡¯re taking her with us or she stays as a corpse, your choice¡±

    Sera and Ryu headed down to the dungeon, Kaya was already waiting in there.

    ¡°You took me by surprise. Now I regretughing at you for saying that you would raid my ce, because somehow you managed to pull it through. Too bad all you got in return was to make me even more interested in you, but don¡¯t worry, I still have the document that proves you¡¯re my ve so, as soon as we make it to Crent we¡¯ll be able to live a happy life¡±

    The white of her teeth contrasted with her ckened skin and her bloodshot eyes gave her a fierce appearance.

    Kaya took antern and walked through the hallway, until she found the secret passage that lead to an underground tunnel that Bianca had prepared years ago. It was long and Ryu walked every step taking care of not cutting himself on ident since the obsidian knife on Bianca¡¯s hand was indeed so sharp that it only took a small stroke to cut his throat.

    Sera kept calm the whole walk and followed Bianca¡¯s instructions, she actually didn¡¯t care for anything as long as Ryu made it alive. She tried to think of different ways to help Ryu, but she wasn¡¯t so naive to think that she could beat Bianca nor Kaya. She also Knew that, despite Ryu being so smart, he was the weakest on the Silver goddess tavern and she didn¡¯t want to put him at risk.

    ¡®If all it took to save mister Ryu was to give my life, i¡¯d dly do it¡¯ She thought, but reality wasn¡¯t so simple.

    At the end of the passage there was a dark room that lead to the outside where a carriage had already been prepared for Bianca. It contained a small amount of money, some luggage, but most importantly, it was a mean to head out of town safely.

    The snow was deep, but not enough to impede their movement only to slow them down. Bianca kept the knife on Ryu¡¯s throat the whole time without giving him even the chance to sit properly. And they disappeared onto the cold night of the mountain.

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71: Don¡¯t lose your belongings, please! part

    After a couple hours of slow advance through the snow, the carriage finally came to a stop. The horses were tired of the uphill road and being forced to go beyond their capabilities. After all, it wasn¡¯t forck of trying that Ironwoods couldn¡¯t trade with other towns in winter, but because it was dangerous.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? why did we stop!?¡±

    Bianca shouted at Kaya, who was supposed to be on the drivers seat outside the carriage but came inside the carriage instead.

    ¡°I apologizedy Bianca, but it¡¯s impossible to keep going. It¡¯s too dark and the horses are too tired, if we continue like this we will fall off a cliff¡±

    Kaya apologized.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care, we need to reach mountainside today!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! even on spring it takes a whole day, and I don¡¯t know where I¡¯m going either¡±

    .....

    Bianca¡¯s left eye twitched in annoyance, but Kaya too was desperate to go to safety. Ryu was still being held with the obsidian knife on his throat, but Bianca¡¯s has been slowly rxing her grip.

    She was hurt and tired, so she may fall asleep at any moment.

    Ryu and Sera haven¡¯t been able tomunicate with words, but somehow they managed to do so only with their eyes and slight movements.

    When Bianca was about to fall asleep and nodded her head, Ryu took the chance and grasped the knife on her hand. Her hand faltered and lost the grippletely allowing both Ryu and Sera to run outside the carriage in less than a second.

    Their captors didn¡¯t have the time or the energy to react or give them chase, so they just let them go thinking they would be dead within the hour.

    Sera and Ryu ran downhill until they lost their breath, they panted heavily since they had to make it through deep snow and it was no easy feat.

    ¡°Are you ok mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°oh, this? it¡¯s only a shallow cut, don¡¯t worry. More importantly, we should seek for shelter¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I tried but there was nothing I could do. I¡¯m not as strong as miss Anne or as smart as miss Helena¡±

    Anne was indeed strong, but when Ryu heard Sera saying that Helena was smart he chuckled. She was knowledgeable and somewhat skilled, but he thought thatpared to Ayumi everyone from the hero¡¯s settlement were as smart as a sack of potatoes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, we had to find an opportunity to make a run for it. If anything, im sorry for getting you involved into this matter, if you had stayed at the tavern you would have been safe now¡±

    ¡°No way mister Ryu, I¡¯m right where I¡¯m supposed to be¡±

    Sera said with a determined look on her face. She had been waiting for the chance to prove herself to Ryu, and despite the hardship she was grateful for finally being able to do so.

    ¡°Did you happen to see a cave or something on the way here?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t, its too dark and I was too focused on keeping the pace¡±

    Ryu attempted to use his night vision skill to no avail, making him desperate to understand how do skills even work. But he didn¡¯t let his fear or despair show, because he didn¡¯t want to scare Sera.

    After scanning their surroundings all they could find was snow.

    ¡°Did you manage to find something useful?¡±

    Ryu asked Sera in a shaken voice, the cold was starting to soak in and every icy breeze seemed to poke their bones. They were wearing inside clothes when they were taken, they didn¡¯t have a coat nor Ryu had the bastard sword with him. The only tool avable was the obsidian knife, and it didn¡¯t amount to much on their current situation.

    ¡°only snow, and nothing but snow, it¡¯s too dark to see¡±

    ¡°Then, we¡¯ll have to make a shelter out of snow¡±

    Ryu smiled at her and started digging with his hands. Sera too tried to help, but her fragile hands were not of much help and since she wasn¡¯t wearing any gloves it hurt her. Still, she did her best and kept a positive attitude the whole time. They chatted in a low voice to avoid drawing the attention of predators, but speaking made them forget about the cold.

    Ryu dug as deep as he could on the snow, with a slight inclination to make itfortable. It was enough for two people but without much space to move around.

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing mister Ryu!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really not, digging on snow is not that hard¡±

    Thanks to cold resistance he didn¡¯t suffer frostbite after digging with his hands, but his fingers ere red and hurt.

    ¡°What are you waiting for? get in¡±

    Ryu kept smiling at Sera, she went inside the shelter and found out it was shaped like a cave on the inside and was more spacious than it looked from the outside.

    Once Ryu got in too and sealed the entrance leaving only a small hole for fresh air toe in, Sera noticed that their breathing started warming the ce.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, can I embrace you?¡±

    Sera was flushed, and this time she stuttered not out of cold but because she was nervous.

    ¡°Of course, that will help us to keep warm¡±

    Ryu replied, although they didn¡¯t have much choice since there was little to no space for movement. The moment Ryu felt her arms holding on to him the ce didn¡¯t feel cramped anymore, but cozy and warm.

    ¡°Thank you Sera¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything¡±

    Since it was dark, Ryu couldn¡¯t see her blushing, but if she blushed just a little more she may start to glow in the dark.

    The night passed giving birth to a sunny morning that Ryu wasn¡¯t going to waste. As soon as he woke up he started gathering small pieces of wood and made a small firece and made a rack to dry his clothes.

    Sera walked out just when he was butt naked in front of the fire, with his clothes hanging from the makeshift rack.

    Once again, Sera blushed heavily and her breathing was so warm that it was visible to the naked eye.

    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think, I¡¯m only drying my clothes¡±

    But before he even finished speaking Sera was naked too, standing in front of the fire.

    ¡°Uhm, Sera?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I need to dry my clothes too¡±

    ¡°Yeah but, you could¡¯ve waited for your turn inside the shelter and...¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no time for that, besides, you¡¯ve seen me naked many times already¡±

    Ryu was doing his best effort to not look at her, he distracted himself looking at thendscape while covering up his manhood.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, we should get moving as soon as our clothes dry up¡±

    After less than a minute, Ryu felt two soft bumps on his back as Sera embraced him from behind.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    He asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s cold and this way we can stay warm¡±

    She replied.

    ¡°I see¡±

    Ryu nodded while thinking ¡®it¡¯s not my fault, and as long as nothing else happens I¡¯m still innocent¡¯. But even his thoughts were interrupted when Sera¡¯s hands started to slide yfully through his abdomen, and by the time he wanted to realize it, his mind waspletely nk and his desire took over when her hands were ced right above his hands.

    Ryu¡¯s g was raised and ready to conquer Sera¡¯s nation, but he stopped her.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough Sera¡±

    ¡°Mister Ryu, if you want we can keep it a secret¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, this is not right. We would regret it after¡±

    ¡°I know I won¡¯t, but if it¡¯s having children what worries you... there are other ways¡±

    She said cing her index finger on her lips. Now it was time for Ryu to blush, without even realizing it he was facing towards her and couldn¡¯t avoid to look at her figure.

    ¡°Still, i can¡¯t do it, I¡¯m sorry. we should get moving¡±

    ¡°At least it helped us warm up a little, I¡¯m d it worked¡±

    Sera giggled making Ryu notice that he wasn¡¯t cold at all anymore.

    ¡°Anyway let¡¯s keep moving¡±

    Ryu said as he was getting dressed as fast as he could, Sera too got dressed and started following Ryu as soon as he started walking. They were lost, but at least they could use the mountain as a mean to find their way.

    They were so used to seeing the same face of the mountain that they could tell more or less how far they were from the road. All they needed to do was to keep walking in the right direction and they could reach Ironwoods before night.

    But before long Ryu signaled Sera to stop without saying a word and pointed at the snow, where a small paw was imprinted. It looked like that of a dog, but bigger so it had to be a wolf.

    ¡°It must be a small size¡±

    Ryu whispered to Sera, but she was pale as a ghost and looked right past Ryu.

    .....

 Chapter 72

    Chapter 72: Don¡¯t lose your belongings, please! part

    Ryu and Sera faced a small sized wolf that growled at them.

    ¡°What should we do mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Stay still, I¡¯ll look on my pockets if I have something to feed it¡±

    ¡°I think he¡¯s found its food already¡±

    Sera said pointing at the wolf¡¯s drooling jaw. It was a scrawny wolf, no bigger than a house dog, with a bark brown fur and it looked weak. But it was a wolf nheless, and its fangs looked dangerous.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, i know what I¡¯m doing¡±

    Ryu said as he took the obsidian knife from his leather sash. It looked even weaker than the jackals he had faced before, but it was the first time he was nning on facing a wolf in a straight fight.

    .....

    Ryu lunged himself on the wolf to make the first movement and shed at the wolf¡¯s head, making only a small cut over its eye with the sharp knife.

    The dog yelped in pain but returned the favor with a strong bite on Ryu¡¯s leg. He was already used to the pain of being bitten, but something was off this time as the wolf let go of him immediately instead of trying to pull him.

    ¡°dammit, i was counting on him holding on to me¡±

    Ryu said

    ¡°and that was supposed to be a good thing!?¡±

    Sera was absolutely terrified, especially when she noticed that the wolf was getting ready to pounce at Ryu who was still limping. He took a vial out of his breast pocket and smeared the de with a think green substance.

    Ryu faced the wolf¡¯s onught with the knife held with both hands, but the wolf performed a feint and headed straight at Sera¡¯s face with its maw wide open. Sera kept her eyes open and fell butt first to the snowy ground and the wolf stopped an inch from her face.

    ¡°whew! it¡¯s done¡±

    Ryu said while pping some snow off his clothes and taking off his leather sash.

    ¡°Quick! finish it!¡±

    Sera yelled.

    ¡°Shhh! don¡¯t be so loud Sera, it¡¯s ok, he¡¯spletely paralyzed¡±

    Ryu showed her the small vial with a proud expression, until he realized it was the wrong vial. It was the same poison he used on the captain of the brothel when he drank a beer with him. It¡¯s effect was slow but strong, at first it weakened the victim progressively but then it started draining it health points until the victim died.

    ¡°What¡¯s that look on your face?¡±

    Sera feared the answer, but asked anyway.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just that instead of the paralyzing potion I used a poison¡±

    ¡°But it can¡¯t move right?¡±

    Ryu nodded and she sighed in relief.

    ¡°Still, I don¡¯t want to kill it, I think it¡¯d be useful if I manage to make it so lets bring it with us¡±

    ¡°Yes, mister Ryu¡±

    Sera replied, even though she didn¡¯t like the idea at all, she couldn¡¯t disagree with Ryu. Just a minute before she was willing to give her own life for him and she had been more scared for his life than for her own.

    It¡¯s not that she didn¡¯t fear death, she had all kinds of hopes and dreams for the future. But she knew that she was living on borrowed time. Ryu not only treated her for free when she had nothing to repay him, he also took care of her and her small sister ire. At first she didn¡¯t like Ryu because she thought that he would take advantage of her, but once he met him all her doubts were dispelled into thin air.

    He treated everyone fairly and was a kind person, he also was capable enough to take charge of a rundown tavern and turn it into a thriving business with new ideas.

    But that wasn¡¯t everything. For someone as weak as her, having a broken arm was nothing but a death sentence. It could have taken her days or weeks, but she knew her chances of making it out alive on winter were slim to none.

    Everything he did, was for other people¡¯s sake, she couldn¡¯t stand people mistreating him or seeing him suffer. Her only hope was to be able to repay him or, at least, make Ryu¡¯s life a bit more joyful. She had long noticed that he was very diligent and focused on his work, but he didn¡¯t take his time to rest like everyone else.

    Her first impulse was to always ask him to rest a while, and she always got the same answer ¡®I can¡¯t rest now, there¡¯s a lot to do and little time on our hands¡¯. It was only when she was sitting on the carriage, looking at Ryu being held at knife point that she finally understood everything.

    Ryu wasn¡¯t strong like miss Anne or Bob, his body was weak and he didn¡¯t even look as manly as even the weakest miners. Despite his slim constitution, he had a confident appearance that made him look reliable and a special kind of charm that would make people put their trust on him. Over and over Ryu had proven himself to be capable of solving matters that had been haunting Ironwoods for years, if not decades.

    All this made Sera think that if she was to die today, nothing much will change. But if they lot Ryu, everyone at Ironwoods would suffer a great loss.

    Ryu dragged the wolf downhill while Sera was still lost on her own thoughts, since they were heading back and had the height advantage, they were able to see the town from afar.

    It looked close, but it still took them several hours to reach Hiraku¡¯s trading outpost, which was located on the town¡¯s northern outskirt closest to the road to the mine.

    ¡°What happened to you young Ryu!? everyone¡¯s been worried sick!¡±

    Hiraku¡¯s expression changed when he saw their appearance. They were dirty, wet, their hands and faces were red and their clothes were ragged. It looked as if they had been dragged on the ground for kilometers.

    ¡°There¡¯s no time, ask Ksenia to bring me every vial there is at the tavern¡±

    Ryu said as he sat on the ground next to a filthy looking dog.

    ¡°Why did you bring a dog in here? is that your new pet?¡±

    ¡°Hopefully, if it doesn¡¯t die¡±

    The wolf was unconscious and Ryu took the chance to use his consider skill on it.

    >Amarok pup (bleeding) (poisoned)

    ¡°Also, it¡¯s not a dog, it¡¯s an amarok pup, any idea what it is?¡±

    Hiraku shrugged at Ryu¡¯s question.

    ¡°If it¡¯s just a pup, how big do you think this thing will grow?¡±

    Ryu shrugged in return.

    ¡°How can you two be so calm? Hiraku they need assistance, move your ass!¡±

    Ayumi yelled at her husband while pulling off his ear.

    ¡°Calm down Ayumi, we¡¯re ok. Sera, you can go rest inside, I¡¯ll stay by the side of this fellow¡±

    But her face was stiff, Sophie who had just came outside with a nket to receive their guests stood still with the same expression as Sera.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, did you just say it was an amarok?¡±

    ¡°Yes, why?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an old tale, older than this town, that told the story about the mighty Amarok. He¡¯s supposed to be the god of strength though most experts believe it actually refers to a divine beast¡±

    Sophie said after regaining her cool.

    ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s a tale so it has nothing to do with reality¡±

    Hiraku said trying to calm things down.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that mister Hiraku, not all tales are based on lies¡±

    Sera said and Sophie took the chance to continue.

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s not as described in the old tales, there¡¯s a reason why this part of the country has been long forsaken. The amarok is supposed to be a giant wolf, but instead of hunting in a pack, he always hunts alone and particrly at night. ording to legend, nothing can be concealed from an amarok, thus it has been called the famine beast since it can find prey without fail and needs huge amounts of meat due to his huge size. Whenever there¡¯s famine in a town, the elders of town im it¡¯s the amarok¡¯s fault¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think our current situation is caused by this fellow¡±

    Ryu sneered looking at the scruffy wolf lying on the ground panting heavily, until he remembered that when Anne went outside to hunt after the freeze she came back empty handed.

    Ksenia arrived a short while after and Ryu was still lying on the ground.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, are you ok?¡±

    ¡°Yes yes, this is nothing, did you bring what I asked for?¡±

    ¡°Everything should be inside this box¡±

    She said as she ced a medium sized wooden box on the ground. It had differentpartments with vials and bandages, it was something simr to a first aid kit but instead of medicine it had all kinds of extracts.

    Ryu started identifying the different vials until he found a lesser antidote, it was necessary to identify every different vial since some of them looked identical but containedpletely different liquids inside and they couldn¡¯t put tags on them without risking other people stealing them.

 Chapter 73

    Chapter 73: Don¡¯t lose your belongings, please! part

    ¡°He looks kinda cute, doesn¡¯t he?¡±

    Sera said after going back outside and looking at the wolf they dragged all the way downhill.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure we¡¯re seeing the same thing, miss Sera, it looks pretty beaten up¡±

    Hiraku replied scratching his cheek awkwardly.

    ¡°I just need to apply the antidote and then some medicine so it falls asleep, there¡¯s something I didn¡¯t think though, I don¡¯t think I can force it to drink the antidote¡±

    ¡°Maybe you could feed it something with the antidote¡±

    Ksenia proposed.

    .....

    ¡°I could do that, but as soon as I feed it, it¡¯ll regain its stamina, making it impossible to hold it still... unless... maybe If we put it on the dungeon, it won¡¯t be able to escape and it¡¯ll make taming it a lot easier¡±

    Ryu said as he started dragging the wolf inside the brothel, only when he reached the kitchen did he realize that he had to take it downstairs. The wolf had a fierce, yet pretty beaten up, appearance and Ryu didn¡¯t feel safe holding it on his arms, instead of overthinking it he just pulled the sash he was using as a leash and dragged it downstairs.

    Only a nking sound of the wolf¡¯s head hitting every step could be heard.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what you get for attacking me¡±

    Ryu said and, of course, he didn¡¯t get a reply. He followed Ksenia¡¯s advice and fed it the antidote with some raw meat. It took it less than five minutes to be back on its feet. It was still pretty hurt, but wasn¡¯t poisoned anymore.

    ¡°Ksenia, would you tell everyone I¡¯m not going back to the tavern until I manage to tame this wolf, I don¡¯t think anyone will mind if I stay in here since Bianca won¡¯t be living in here anymore¡±

    ¡°Actually, when I was with miss Ayumi she said that you¡¯re the new owner of the brothel¡±

    Sera said.

    ¡°What!? how!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure, I think the townspeople raided the ce and took everything of value and the food, and since you were directly affected by madame... no, by Bianca¡¯s conspiration, they decided you would get this ce. Also, all her ves were set free on the spot¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I was at the tavern when they said the news¡±

    Ksenia confirmed what Sera said, they expected Ryu to be happy, but he had a bitter smile on his face.

    ¡°Great, now I have yet another ce to take care of, thank goodness they didn¡¯t force the ves on me or I wouldn¡¯t know what to do¡±

    ¡°Mister Ryu, why are you not happy? this ce must be worth a fortune¡±

    ¡°This ce was worth a fortune, Sera, now it¡¯s just a rundown and huge ce. Just keeping it clean is going to be a hassle, besides, without proper food I won¡¯t be able to even work as a cook. I wish they let me at least some supplies, but its mostly scraps and waste¡±

    Ryu sighed.

    Ryu then asked the girls to bring everyone from the tavern to the new ce, it took them just one day to move their belongings, but it took them almost four to just clean the ce and make some small repairs.

    Since the ce was so big, they sealed most of the doors to prevent people from wandering around and they opened the new Silver goddess tavern in what used to be the brothel. The next few days were filled with ups and downs, with many people dissatisfied because the ce didn¡¯t offer ¡®special services anymore¡¯, and they also had a few issues with people trying to flirt with the waitresses.

    It was an all hands on deck situation, even Dn had to work a lot more, but at least it kept them upied and distracted from past incidents. Everyone was happy but Mochi, the poor cat was afraid to even get close to the kitchen, where the entrance of the dungeon was. Every time the wolf howled Mochi would run to seek cover under a bed.

    ¡°You should get rid of the thing in the basement Ryu!¡±

    Rina pouted

    ¡°First, it¡¯s not a thing, its an amarok, second, it¡¯s not a basement but a dungeon¡±

    ¡°Whatever, just get rid of it!¡±

    ¡°Why should I do that after all the trouble I had to bring it back from the mountain¡±

    Ryu crossed his arms, showing his determination to not get rid of the wolf. Ever since he met the first jackal he¡¯s been having dreams of traveling the world with a dogpanion, he had fantasized of many different scenarios where they would have many adventures together. But he didn¡¯t dare tell that to anyone since he feared to be taken as Luke whenever he spoke about his fantasies.

    ¡°It gives me the creeps, and the cat doesn¡¯t like it, I can deal with all the yelping and howling, but there¡¯s something weird about that dog¡±

    ¡°Anyway, It shouldn¡¯t be long until it recognizes me as its master, plus I think it will eb a nice guardian¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s even possible to tame wolves like that¡±

    Rina sighed in resignation.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you said it was a dog? if it¡¯s just a dog then there¡¯s no problem in keeping it. Anyways, how are the guys at Hiraku¡¯s group doing?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Anne went over there this morning, you should ask her¡±

    Ryu went upstairs to Anne¡¯s room, he expected to see her designing some clothes with Helena or trying on a new attire, but the situation was far from what he had expected.

    ¡°Ryu, weren¡¯t you supposed to be taking care of the dog?¡±

    ¡°I did that already, more importantly, why are you packing up?¡±

    Anne had all her belongings spread on her bed and was packing up her luggage for what it seemed to be a long trip.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to the mines to see if the guys are still over there¡±

    Anne said avoiding Ryu¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Who is we? also, why no one told me about this?¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s not like we were hiding it from you, but we¡¯re worried about Luke¡±

    Anne¡¯s voice was almost a whisper at this point.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why we didn¡¯t tell you before. You can¡¯t stop us!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that, It¡¯s a great idea to go look for them, but not until winter is over. You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re gonna find in there, besides, the snow is melting rapidly and there could bend slides. And if that¡¯s not enough, we still need you in here, there¡¯s so much to do and weck the people¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say Eiri and Kairi were our recements? Me and Helena had it already, we yed along all we could but at this point our presence here is no longer required¡±

    When Ryu noticed that Anne wasn¡¯t messing around and really intended to leave his face became pale. It didn¡¯t cross his mind that he would be left behind so soon.

    ¡°A week, a week it¡¯s all I ask and then you¡¯ll be able to go anywhere you want¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I should talk it over with Helena, but we¡¯re supposed to be on our way now¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me!? it¡¯s past noon already, even if you make it to the mine you won¡¯t manage to arrive before dusk, what will you do if you get lost?¡±

    Anne stared at Ryu and then pointed at her eyes.

    ¡°Night vision, remember?¡±

    Since he hadn¡¯t been able to activate that skill for a while now, he hadpletely forgotten about it.

    ¡°What if you get attacked?¡±

    ¡°Listen Ryu, I know you mean well, but you really can¡¯t stop us¡±

    Anne wasn¡¯t budging at all.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it... I mean to ask Ksenia to take over the old tavern and turn it into a drugstore. We had been making good use of the billboard and we¡¯ve gotten many different materials, ingredients and supplies. If you can wait a little while longer, perhaps I¡¯ll be able to provide you with something useful¡±

    Helena came from behind Ryu, he was so shocked by Anne¡¯s sudden intention to leave that he failed to notice her.

    ¡°I think we should stay for a week Anne, Ryu is right and we won¡¯t be able to make it on our own if we¡¯re not careful. One of Ryu¡¯s potions can mean the difference between life and death, besides...¡±

    Helena blushed a little.

    ¡°Besides, I didn¡¯t agree with leaving so suddenly. When I said I wasing with you I meant that, as long as you gave me enough time to finish my business here¡±

    ¡°What kind of business could you possibly have in this crappy town? are you not tired of it already?¡±

    Anne¡¯s popped a vein on her forehead.

    ¡°Anne quit it! you¡¯re being mean now! I have many things that I want to do before leaving Ironwoods, and none of them are your business. If you want to go alone then you are free to go, but if you want me toe with you, then pull your head out of your tight ass and be patient, ok?¡±

    Seeing Helena mad left both Anne and Ryupletely bbergasted, she had always been patient and caring, always putting out the quarrels and fights amongpanions. But this time she lookedpletely serious, making them think that whatever she had to do in Ironwoods was really important for her.

    And as a matter of fact, it was. Winter wasing to an end, and as soon as the snow melted they would hold the spring festival. Helena didn¡¯t know what exactly they did on the festival, but she had head about shirtless men and the choosing of the fairest maiden. Making her both aroused and excited just to think about it, and she wouldn¡¯t let anyone interfere with her fantasies.

 Chapter 74

    Chapter 74: Don¡¯t mess with alchemy, please! part

    ¡°What is all this?¡±

    Ryu stood in front of a myriad of ss vials, sks, pipes and otherwordly stuff.

    ¡°It¡¯sb equipment I made myself¡±

    Ayumi replied with her chest puffed out, then Hiraku faked a cough.

    ¡°With some help from my lovely husband¡±

    She continued, now it was Hiraku¡¯s turn to puff his chest out, but instead of funny he looked proud and gant. Ryu was left speechless, somehow he fully grasped how did most of the utensils and equipment worked.

    ¡°This is like the distiller you had made for me, but it looks much more sophisticated!¡±

    .....

    ¡°Exactly! that¡¯s why I¡¯ve been nagging you toe¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t me me for thinking you just wanted me to cook for you guys¡±

    Ryu shrugged, but only Hirakuughed, Ayumi¡¯s mouth started to water instantly giving away that he was right on track and theb was nothing but a cheap excuse.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll cook something, but first tell me how did you manage to build something like this?¡±

    ¡°I was a professor back on my world, my job required me to study long hours only to put old theories to the test. Now, instead, everyday is filled with the joy of discovering something entirely new¡±

    ¡°What exactly is a professor?¡±

    Ayumi giggled at Ryu¡¯s question.

    ¡°I forgot you don¡¯t have memories, even if you were from our world you wouldn¡¯t know. Its a job where you have to learn and then teach stuff to other people. I wasn¡¯t particrly interested in teaching, what I enjoyed the most was to go beyond what people from before knew¡±

    ¡°Sounds interesting¡±

    Ryu yawned earning him a strong bump on the head that Ayumi only managed after jumping with all her might. Ryu was a head taller than her, and even if she was used to Hiraku who¡¯s also tall, Ryu was a bit taller than her husband.

    ¡°Can I y with this? what does this do? how do you turn this on? is this...¡±

    Ryu hopped from one piece of equipment to the next asking questions in rapid session, so fast that Ayumi couldn¡¯t even speak before he made another.

    ¡°Calm down, if you want to use this equipment there are some rules you must follow¡±

    Ayumi¡¯s words seemed to have hurt Ryu and he lowered his shoulders with a disappointed expression.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, is nothing out of the ordinary, it¡¯s just that It was hard to make all this and you need to be especially careful when handling the equipment. Most of this is so delicate that if you use too much strength when graving it, it could break. Rules are always wear ab coat, keep everything as clean as possible, never perform experiments without safety and take proper notes of everything you discover¡±

    Ryu pondered Ayumi¡¯s rules for a minute and then replied.

    ¡°I got two questions, what is ab coat and isn¡¯t it dangerous to make notes? what happens if someone discovers them and steals your knowledge?¡±

    ¡°Well, we don¡¯t haveb coats, but it¡¯s clothes you wear only inside theb. About the notes, i write them in anguage only me and my husband know so it¡¯s impossible for other people to steal our knowledge¡±

    Ayumi said after showing Ryu a piece of paper with characters that looked strange, yet Ryu could understand them perfectly.

    ¡°ording to what¡¯s written here, in order to shape the crystal you need to submit it to a steady amount of heat and avoid drastic temperature changes. I see... it all makes sense now!¡±

    ¡°Wait, young Ryu, how are you able to read this!? this is anguage from our world, you weren¡¯t supposed to understand it!¡±

    Hiraku showed a wide smile when he spoke, Ryu too smiled at the implication that perhaps he was from the same world as them. It was just a small piece of information, yet it was the first time he got even close to learn something from his past.

    ¡°Master Ayumi, I¡¯m sorry to barge in but I heard your discussion and I think you may be wrong¡±

    Sophie said after making a polite bow.

    ¡°Care to borate?¡±

    ¡°Yes, well... we used to have many differentnguages, but when the obelisk everyone gained the ability to read, write and understand anynguage¡±

    ¡°Hold on Sophie, how is this possible!? I thought we were special because of... nevermind, please tell me more¡±

    Ayumi urged Sophie to speak.

    ¡°Its not that there aren¡¯t differentnguages, they still exist, but we don¡¯t even speak about them anymore. Even if someone came up with a newnguage, it would still be tranted. The obelisk grants its blessings towards every races¡±

    ¡°What exactly are those blessings and how is it possible that we¡¯re finding out about this just now?¡±

    Ayumi¡¯s exasperation showed in her voice tone, but she tried to keep her poker face nheless.

    ¡°This blessings aremon knowledge, we can understand anynguage, we receive divine messages whenever we grow stronger and we can ess different craftmen stations. And you¡¯re just learning about this because you didn¡¯t ask master Ayumi, I would¡¯ve dly filled you in. Please excuse my ipetence¡±

    Sophie performed a deep bow that allowed anyone in theb to see her chest, the sudden movement made the two soft mounds bounce showing how firm they were. Even Ayumi stared at her as long as she could without being noticed. Only once the mesmerizing sight disappeared from her eyes did Ayumi snap out of it and poked at Hiraku¡¯s side with her elbow.

    ¡°Ryu, do you think it¡¯d be ok to tell her everything? she has earned my full trust¡±

    Ayumi said to Ryu, who was still staring at Sophie¡¯s breasts without even caring after being caught.

    ¡°Hey! what are you looking at perv?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, if I have to be honest, I¡¯m amazed at how firm they are¡±

    ¡°Thank you mister Ryu, it¡¯s an honor beingplimented by you¡±

    Sophie said without showing a hint of emotion, but her words sparked in Ayumi both envy and jealousy at the same time.

    ¡°I mean it Ryu,e on, you¡¯re never like this!¡±

    ¡°oh yes, sorry sorry Ayumi, I don¡¯t know what got into me. But I swear I meant no offense, it was in curiosity. About what you said, I¡¯m not sure if we can make that decision without asking the others. But, on the other hand, we can¡¯t wait for them to confirm every choice we make¡±

    ¡°That, young Ryu, is exactly why I asked you to be our leader in the first ce. At first I thought it suspicious that you showed up to our... camp iming to have been hurt by a wild animal without a single wound on you, I really think you were sent to us by ¡®him¡¯ to help us in our darkest hour. You helped us take decisions swiftly and without hesitation, your confidence has helped us many times over and I¡¯m sure everyone will agree with whatever you decide¡±

    Hiraku spoke with a serious and ceremonious tone.

    ¡°Then, proceed Ayumi¡±

    ¡°Sophie, we¡¯re not from here¡±

    Sophie remained emotionless, her cold attitude made her look like a distant beauty.

    ¡°I already knew that master Ayumi¡±

    ¡°No I mean, we¡¯re not from this world¡±

    Sophie remained the same. Ayumi was at a loss of words, she didn¡¯t know how to better exin herself without sounding like a crazy woman.

    ¡°Ayumi, you should start from the beginning and don¡¯t be so vague¡±

    ¡°If you think you can do better then do it yourself!¡±

    She jumped at Ryu hitting his chest with her fists, but still caring to not put enough strength to avoid hurting him by ident.

    ¡°Ok, calm down will you? Sophie, what Ayumi means is that they are heroes summoned from another world by a god. They used to live peaceful lives on their world, but were summoned in the wilderness with only the clothes they were wearing¡±

    ¡°I see, please continue¡±

    ¡°They were given different sses, like warrior, archer, thief, mage...¡±

    At the mention of the mage ss Sophie¡¯s expression went from that of a peacefulke to a fiery ze.

    ¡°I knew it! I knew master Ayumi was a mage but I wasn¡¯t able to confirm it!¡±

    She jumped in excitement, making everyone wonder how was it even possible that her bosom didn¡¯t jiggle much without a bra on.

    ¡°So, I tell you we¡¯re from another world and you have no reaction, but when Ryu tells you I¡¯m a mage you erupt in joy?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, It¡¯s just that it had crossed my mind that you were from another world. What other exnation could there be for all this knowledge you bring with you? Even something as simple as the stone canal you made for the waste is something huge that could potentially change the world. I have a couple questions, if you don¡¯t mind¡±

    ¡°of course¡±

    Ayumi replied.

    ¡°I meant for mister Ryu¡±

    Sophie red at Ryu for a long second and then started shooting questions one after the other.

    ¡°What is your ss? howe you¡¯re the weakest yet everyone considers you their leader? where did you learn the business strategy you applied on the tavern? and more importantly, do you know how does any of this have something to do with the way Master Ayumi eats but doesn¡¯t get fat?¡±

    ¡°Sadly, I can only answer yourst question. She spends a lot of mana and in order to recover it, she needs to consume a lot of food¡±

    ¡°I see, so, eating can help you recover mana¡±

    ¡°No, not directly at least. You eat to recover energy and that energy can transform into stamina or in mana¡±

    Sophie¡¯s jaw hit the floor.

    .....

 Chapter 75

    Chapter 75: Don¡¯t mess with alchemy, please! part

    ¡°What you say is groundbreaking!¡±

    Sophie eximed almost yelling, If Ryu didn¡¯t know any better he would think she was mad.

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°Do you even know how much time I¡¯ve spent trying to figure out the way to be a mage? yet my mana pool has never grown and I didn¡¯t know how to replenish my mana. If I knew this from before I would have saved so much time!¡±

    It turned out, she was mad.

    ¡°Now it¡¯s my turn to ask you, what are the craftman stations?¡±

    ¡°They are stations used for crafting of course¡±

    .....

    Ryu wasn¡¯t amused by her attempt to mock him.

    ¡°Can you please exin in detail?¡±

    ¡°Since you didn¡¯t answer my questions I don¡¯t have a reason to do so, unless master Ayumi orders me to, of course¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want to answer, my circumstances are very different from the rest. For starters I lost my memory, so I don¡¯t even know if i was born in here or in the other world. Even if I was summoned I wouldn¡¯t know. ording to Luke, I don¡¯t have a ss and about why did they chose me as their leader, my answer is as good as anyone¡¯s¡±

    Ryu shrugged, irritating even more the usually calm andposed girl.

    ¡°Fine... A craftman station is the name of any station made with the purpose of crafting. Before you use me of stating the obvious, there are several kinds of stations but they all work in a simr way. You need the ingredients, the blueprint or recipe and they craft the item. All it takes is someone with the proper skill and enough mana¡±

    ¡°I see, so, that¡¯s why I can¡¯t get this thing to work properly¡±

    Ayumi said pointing at the convoluted ss equipment on the table.

    ¡°I Don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve been making some experiments with different extracts. I¡¯ve managed to discover some recipes but I ended up wasting a lot of ingredients and most of my potions have awful secondary effects¡±

    Ryu took a small vial with an orange bubbling potion and passed it to Ayumi.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a random bubbling potion, those onlyst about three days before they spoilpletely. Although as soon as I make them, they start losing their properties, so they are mostly useless. I always carry them around in case I get the chance to use them¡±

    ¡°What does it do?¡±

    ¡°This one... If I¡¯m not mistaken it gives a small boost to defense¡±

    Ryu used identify on it and nodded at Ayumi, who hurried to drink it.

    ¡°It tastes wrong... and I don¡¯t feel any different¡±

    ¡°Here, try cutting your finger with my knife¡±

    He passed the knife to Ayumi who then made a small cut on her index finger and it started bleeding.

    ¡°Ouch! why would you ask me to do that!? are you insane!? Aww my finger hurts¡±

    ¡°I said it gives a small boost to defense, you weren¡¯t supposed to use so much force¡±

    He red at Ayumi who was sucking on her finger to make the bleeding stop.

    ¡°Well, I did feel something weird, as if my skin was somewhat slippery¡±

    ¡°I know that feeling, it¡¯s because it repels the damage. I think it hardens the skin or something¡±

    Ryu and Ayumi discussed his experiments for a short while until they realized Hiraku was not amused in the slightest, on the other hand, Sophie was in awe.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you were able to recreate recipes from scratch! so many people have tried to do so and failed. Even better, you made them work properly!¡±

    ¡°Not really Sophie, I¡¯m sorry to disappoint you but they don¡¯t work as intended. I mean, healing potions are one thing, they do a fine job and somehow I managed to reduce side effects to a minimum. But every batch I make is a bit different, even if I try to follow the same steps, the quality varies too. Also, the only way I found to make the potions work without poisoning is by mixing them with an antidote, every single extract is poisonous¡±

    Ryu shrugged, yet Sophie¡¯s look didn¡¯t change in the slightest. Ryu went from a worthless outsider, to the person she respected the most after Ayumi.

    ¡°I think that If we join our efforts we¡¯ll be able to make something even better Ryu¡±

    Ayumi giggled.

    ¡°Why are youughing at me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m notughing at you, it¡¯s just that your mistake is something so basic, and still you somehow found the way to make it work. Extracts are not supposed to be consumed directly, you need to mix them with an excipient¡±

    ¡°And what in the hell is that?¡±

    Ryu¡¯s joyful mood waspletely ruined by Ayumi¡¯s mockery, but his curiosity got the better of him and he asked her anyway.

    ¡°It¡¯s a neutral substance that doesn¡¯t alter the quality or the effects of the mix. Try to see it this way, If you eat herbs you¡¯ll gain some nutrients, but the effect is mildpared to when you drink it as an infusion correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I remember that from the time we spent at the settlement. Whenever I ate red berries as medicine I had to eat a lot, instead when I made an infusion just a bunch were enough to cure stomachaches¡±

    ¡°Exactly, but how many red berries would you need to fill a vial with their extract?¡±

    ¡°Many more than I would eat, that¡¯s for certain¡±

    Ayumi pondered for a second, then replied.

    ¡°And in that case, the medicinal properties are condensed, but red berries not only have those medicinal properties, they also contain several other substances. In short, when you eat them you absorb nutrients, medicinal properties and whatever your body doesn¡¯t need goes to waste. But when you make an extract, you include even the waste, thus making it poisonous¡±

    ¡°And how will mixing it up with something without properties would help? also, whenever I try to dissolve extracts in water their properties decay even faster¡±

    ¡°I think that depends on the different extracts and we should experiment on it, but if my theory is correct either alcohol or oil would make great excipients. The quality of the medicine may be lowered a bit for being mixed with something else, but the secondary effects should be reduced since you wouldn¡¯t need to add an antidote to the mix¡±

    ¡°Master Ayumi you¡¯re a genius!¡±

    Sophie eximed, the intensity on her voice and her heavy panting made her look as if she was aroused, distracting Ryu for a while.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go as far as calling her a genius, but this is exactly what i was looking for. That¡¯s why I trained Ksenia in the use of the distiller. My alchemy skill doesn¡¯t level up when I distill extracts, but it does whenever I experiment mixing different extracts. Maybe If I manage to create some good quality potions I¡¯ll be able to increase that skill even faster!¡±

    ¡°Mister Ryu, did you just say alchemy skill!? are you a mage too? no, scratch that, what I meant to ask is how did you even get that skill?¡±

    ¡°It was actually pretty simple, I started getting elemental stones whenever I turned wood into charcoal. If I¡¯m correct transmutation allowed me to unlock alchemy¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much Master Ayumi, if it wasn¡¯t for you I wouldn¡¯t have been able to learn so much. This is the best day of my life!¡±

    ¡°This is exactly what I was looking for, Ayumi, would it be ok if Ie to experiment in yourb?¡±

    ¡°As long as you share what you find with me or with Sophie I think it¡¯ll be ok¡±

    Sophie¡¯s eyes started shinning in hopes of learning new things.

    ¡°Thanks, that would be great.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell Ksenia toe here too?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not interested in experiments, though she doesn¡¯t mind distilling ingredients or cleaning the equipment, which I find tiresome and I appreciate her hard work. I really don¡¯t think she would make a good partner for experiments and whenever Rina assists me we end up... getting distracted in other issues¡±

    ¡°Ohhh! I know what you¡¯re talking about! Finally I understood something!!! I was feeling so left out I almost fell asleep¡±

    Hiraku eximed making the restugh.

    ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll get things ready for tomorrow. Bring as many extracts as you can so we can try new things. Also, I¡¯ll show you my biggest breakthrough so far, but I need some more ss vials.¡±

    She said thest part looking at Hiraku trying to look cute.

    ¡°Again? I¡¯m tired of ssblowing, It¡¯s hot and sweaty¡±

    Hiraku pouted.

    ¡°well darling, if you don¡¯t want to miss other hot and sweaty activities I suggest you do your best¡±

    Ayumi giggled, both Ryu and Sophie noticed the meaning of her words and felt a bit awkward about her shameless behavior.

    After what Ryu thought was the most productive day he had spent with Ayumi, he went back to the brothel and asked Ksenia to distill as many different extracts as she could before the next day since he intended to spend the whole day making new potions.

    He was indeed excited to learn about alchemy, but what hurried him the most was the need to provide Anne and Helena potions that were good enough tost for weeks and with strong effects that could make a difference if they found themselves in trouble. He was worried for them, mostly because Anne had been drifting away from him ever since he started a rtionship with Rina and he felt guilty about it, especially if because of it she ended up doing something reckless.

 Chapter 76

    Chapter 76: Don¡¯t mess with alchemy, please! part

    Ryu showed up at Hiraku¡¯s trading group early in the morning, he was carrying a wooden box with manypartments filled with different extracts.

    ¡°Good morning mister Ryu, miss Ayumi is waiting for you in theb¡±

    Veronika greeted him at the door.

    ¡°Thanks¡±

    Ryu replied shyly. He remembered the time when he met her at the brothel, even though they didn¡¯t do anything, it was still awkward to speak with her after seeing her naked in such circumstances.

    Ryu walked upstairs and realized the door was closed, he knocked on the door but instead of a reply, a small explosion caused a loud boom. Ryu hurriedly opened the door thinking something went awfully wrong, but what he found inside was a joyful Ayumi.

    ¡°I did it! good graces I¡¯m a true genius!¡±

    .....

    ¡°Ayumi what was that explosion?¡±

    ¡°Oh, Ryu, you were here... hey! you¡¯re not wearing yourb coat¡±

    Ayumi frowned upon Ryu¡¯sck of discipline as if he was one of her grad students.

    ¡°I told you already, I don¡¯t have one¡±

    ¡°Veronika didn¡¯t tell you? It¡¯s in that dresser¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it, why are you so hell bent on making me wear a different set of clothes? and where am I supposed to change anyways?¡±

    ¡°Some of the materials we will be handling are dangerous, what if you happen to spill something over you and it turns out to be a deadly poison?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll drink an antidote¡±

    ¡°What if its a burning liquid? you may be seriously harmed¡±

    ¡°Then I...¡±

    Ryu was about to say he would just drink a healing potion, but when he looked at Ayumi¡¯s expression he realized that it would be a mistake. Only then did he notice a glowing liquid on a ss vial on Ayumi¡¯s hand.

    ¡°What¡¯s that!?¡±

    ¡°Oh this? it¡¯s molten elemental stone¡±

    Ryu opened his eyes in awe.

    ¡°Last time I threw an elemental stone on fire it didn¡¯t melt, it burned bright for a few seconds until it was consumed¡±

    ¡°I would tell you, but you¡¯re still not wearing theb coat¡±

    She snarled, making he realize that he didn¡¯t have a choice. Ryu then proceeded to take off his clothes under Ayumi shameless re, only when he waspletely naked she said.

    ¡°What are you doing? theb coat is supposed to be on top of your clothes¡±

    Ryu¡¯s cheeks turned bright in all the shades of red and got dressed quickly.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me before?¡±

    ¡°Well, at first I didn¡¯t know what were you doing and curiosity got the best of me, then I was honestly intrigued and finally... I just wanted to get a goodugh out of you¡±

    ¡°Anyways, just tell me already¡±

    Once Ryu¡¯s curiosity was awakened, nothing would stop him from getting the answers he was looking for.

    ¡°Fine, you see, instead of throwing what could probably be a miracle of science or magic into a firece as a caveman, I performed different experiments after exposing the elemental stones to different temperatures until I found the melting point. Now, before you make any more questions, I wouldn¡¯t know how to answer because I just managed to melt it into a stable form¡±

    ¡°How did you do it?¡±

    ¡°I tried using a benzene burner... then I realized I don¡¯t have benzene, then I tried to use candles, magicmps or whatever this elemental stone fueledmps are, and finally, I used magic to raise the temperature slowly. If you heat coal, it gets to a point where it starts burning on its own, elemental stones, instead, need a stable heat source at a precise temperature. Now, why don¡¯t you use identify on this liquid to see what it is¡±

    Ryu was so excited to learn more about the molten liquid that he couldn¡¯t focus properly, it took him about a minute to finally be able to get a system message.

    Molten fire elemental stone: Elemental stone in its liquid state, it possess the fire attribute, can be used for crafting purposes.

    ¡°Nothing we don¡¯t know already, it says its a liquid form of elemental stone and that it¡¯s used to craft stuff¡±

    ¡°Hold on, what do you mean it¡¯s nothing new, If this can be used for crafting then we can see if we can buy a craftman station to make more experiments!¡±

    Ayumi was hopping around excitedly and mumbling some stuff to herself, Ryu limited himself to watch her in her ridiculous victory dance.

    ¡°Are you done?¡±

    ¡°No, not yet! Sophieee!¡±

    Ayumi screamed, no more than five secondster Sophie arrived at theb.

    ¡°Yes, master Ayumi¡±

    ¡°I need to buy a craftman station, do you know where can I acquire one?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry Master Ayumi, but I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any avable in here¡±

    ¡°Then, how do you exin all the gadgets and tools that are on market?¡±

    ¡°This town¡¯s produce is nothing but raw materials. We provide the elemental stones and the iron ore to bigger cities, then they sell us tools and trinkets. This is one of the many reasons why Ironwoods is so poor¡±

    Sophie exined

    ¡°That makes sense. I went to the cksmith to ask him about this sword, and he said he didn¡¯t do it¡±

    Ryu said showing the bastard sword on his side.

    ¡°That bastard, how can he be so useless¡±

    Ayumi growled.

    ¡°What do you mean useless, he made the distiller without even knowing its purpose, and I¡¯d say he made a great job since it works wlessly¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, Sophie, you said a craftman station needs a blueprint, correct?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, Master Ayumi¡±

    ¡°Then, how do you exin the cksmith sess in crafting the distiller if he doesn¡¯t have a craftman station?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s simple, because he did it by hand, he works as a cksmith, but since he¡¯s not certified by the kingdom he doesn¡¯t have ess to many resources provided to the craftmen. In case you didn¡¯t notice, he doesn¡¯t craft as much as he repairs, most of his work is just making horseshoes. Let¡¯s put it this way, If our cksmith wants to make a sword he would need to buy an anvil, a hammer and a forge, then he would need to work on the sword until it¡¯s shaped properly. A proper cksmith, instead, just needs the station, a blueprint and then provide the station enough mana or whatever to make it work. It¡¯s not that different in effort, but a proper station saves a lot of time. Besides, the first cksmith may fail, while the second will always get the exact same result¡±

    Sophie¡¯s tone was monotone, it seemed like all the excitement and joy she had today was spent the day before.

    ¡°Then it¡¯s all lost, I don¡¯t even know why I went through the trouble of making this useless thing¡±

    Ayumi sighed pointing at theb.

    ¡°Master Ayumi, may I remind you that it was master Hiraku the one who made it¡±

    ¡°Shush, I had to work hard for it too¡±

    Ayumi scoffed.

    ¡°I have an Idea. During the freeze I performed many different experiments, not only with the distiller but also with themps. The first thing I noticed after arriving at Ironwoods were the weirdmps, and when they showed me how they worked my mind was blown, so, of course I disarmed one. I expected some kind of fire inside, but what I found disappointed me¡±

    ¡°How so, Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t figure out the way they work. You ce a stone inside, turn the knob and it lights, turn it down and it turns off, that¡¯s easy. What I couldn¡¯t understand is why they work, after disarming severalmps I found out that they shouldn¡¯t work at all, yet they do¡±

    ¡°Is there a point to this or you¡¯re just telling us your story?¡±

    ¡°Calm down¡¯ I¡¯m getting there. What if it¡¯s not the way its made, but the materials it¡¯s made from?¡±

    Ayumi¡¯s expression lightened up exactly like whenever someone ces a te with delicious food in front of her.

    ¡°are you implying that they mix the molten elemental stone with the metal that makes themps!?¡±

    ¡°Correct! and what would happen if we were to mix the molten elemental stone with some extracts!?¡±

    Ayumi and Ryu held hands and their faces were so close they almost touched, both had a grimace on their faces.

    ¡°Then you would die¡±

    Sophie interrupted.

    ¡°What!? are you certain?¡±

    ¡°Of course, only certain beasts can ingest elemental stones safely and, as far as I know, they¡¯re all very strong¡±

    ¡°Ayumi, do you think this liquid can be further refined? We already know that solid stones can be liquid, but can that liquid be evaporated?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s only one way to know¡±

    Ayumi said with a chuckle that would suit better an old man with a long white beard, but not a petite woman with a cute face like her.

    Ryu poured the liquid into Ayumi¡¯s contraption and both ced their hands beneath it. They proceeded to slowly heat it until it became brighter and started bubbling.

    .....

    ¡°Stop! that¡¯s enough, let¡¯s try to keep the temperature exactly like this¡±

    Ayumi yelled as if her life depended on it. after a couple minutes Ryu¡¯s hand were shaking and he couldn¡¯t hold on any longer.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Ryu? why did you stop¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do it anymore, I think I ran out of mana¡±

    ¡°I guess it can¡¯t be helped, we¡¯re back to square one¡±

    ¡°Not really, there¡¯s someone in our group that has a bigger mana pool than me, maybe if we teach her how to do magic she will be able to help us¡±

    Ryu said with a pensive look and a hand on his chin.

 Chapter 77

    Chapter 77: Don¡¯t mess with alchemy, please! part

    After a couple days of intensive training in the tavern, Sera grasped the concept of magic and was able to cast fire magic as good as Ryu. It wasn¡¯t that Sera was a genius, but Ryu¡¯s knowledge of magic was very limited so expectations weren¡¯t too high. Still, everyone was impressed by Sera¡¯s newly acquired magic skill, so much so that even Dn attempted to learn something, but no one else showed the slightest talent for magic.

    Ryu wasn¡¯t disappointed by that, since they only needed one person more to help in their experiments.

    After breakfast, Ryu and Sera were about to head out of the tavern when ire stopped them at the door.

    ¡°Sister, are you sure you¡¯re going to be fine? did you pack something for lunch?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry sis, I¡¯ll be with mister Ryu at all times, also, miss Ayumi invited us for lunch¡±

    ¡°More like invited me to cook for them¡±

    Ryu grumbled.

    .....

    ¡°Please take good care of my sister mister Ryu¡±

    ¡°I will, but don¡¯t wait up for us, we may bete or maybe we¡¯ll even stay there¡±

    ¡°What was that again?¡±

    Rina got closer to the group.

    ¡°Did you at least discuss it with your girlfriend?¡±

    Rina said in mock anger.

    ¡°Which one?¡±

    Ryu replied making Rina flushed with anger, this time for real. Ryu took Sera¡¯s hand and ran before it became worse, but after they disappeared Rinaughed heartily.

    Ryu was focused on getting as quickly as possible to the trading outpost, his excitement made him walk too fast almost leaving Sera behind. She, instead, was taking her time trying to make the walkst for as long as possible. She enjoyed every minute she spent with Ryu and when their hands touched she could feel her whole body melt and couldn¡¯t think on anything else.

    When they arrived at the outpost Hiraku was outside chopping wood, he waved his hand and kept on hisbor and Ayumi was inside the huge house with the door open clenching her fists.

    ¡°Hurry up!e on, how can you be so slow, I¡¯ve seen turtles go faster!¡±

    Seeing that Ayumi was so impatient, he started walking even slower to annoy her, until she lost her patience and headed inside. After teaching her the basics of what they were trying to do, they asked her to ce her hands on the ss vial that was connected to the contraption and asked her to heat it up to the boiling point.

    Since it takes some time, Ryu started grinding an elemental stone while Ayumi read some notes Ryu made for her.

    ¡°If what you showed me is correct, different herbs make different extracts with special properties and, if you mix two different extracts you can create something entirely different¡±

    ¡°Are you seriously doubting my method?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, of course not, it¡¯s just that I cant be certain about something if I don¡¯t put it to the test. Remember this, whenever you make an experiment there are several conditions that must be met. It¡¯s a bitplex but to simplify it let¡¯s say you need to be able to reproduce it and you need to share it with someone else¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say yesterday that you didn¡¯t want our investigation to fall in other people¡¯s hands¡±

    ¡°That is so, but it doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t share our findings. This is very important because if you stay with only what you learn, you may miss something that someone else already knows. Like when you use the distiller, since you have the identify skill you were able to tell immediately if an extract has properties or if it doesn¡¯t, with enough time and materials I would be able to reach the same conclusions as you¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    Ayumi sighed.

    ¡°You still don¡¯t get it do you? If you didn¡¯t show me your extracts, you wouldn¡¯t know about the excipients and you will be still trying your luck by mixing extracts randomly¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not random¡±

    Ryu was starting to feel belittled.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re getting anywhere, so I guess it¡¯s best if you see it yourself. As soon as the molten elemental stone starts boiling I¡¯ll show you¡±

    ¡°Uh oh, was I supposed to tell you when it started boiling? because it¡¯s been boiling for a while now¡±

    Ayumi and Ryu hurried to Sera¡¯s side to check on her progress. The red molten stone had been boiling for a while and only a small amount remained in the original vial, the fumes went up through a small ss pipe and it condensed into a different container bing an incandescent clear liquid.

    ¡°ording to identify, this clear liquid is called mana essence and the red molten liquid is fire essence¡±

    ¡°Does it say anything about how they are used?¡±

    Ryu shook his head, but Ayumi wasn¡¯t disappointed.

    ¡°This is great, now show me how do you mix extracts, try to make something easy¡±

    Ryu nodded and took two different extracts from the wooden box, he mixed them in equal proportions into one of Ayumi¡¯s ss vials and stirred the liquid.

    ¡°This is a cure light wounds potion¡±

    ¡°So, you mixed a medicinal extract with an antidote extract and got that, correct?¡±

    ¡°Exactly¡±

    ¡°How do you make a cure medium wounds potion?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit moreplicated, I need a lot more extracts and the recipe is a bit difficult. Also, the result has many side effects¡±

    ¡°Now, instead of mixing the medicinal extract I¡¯ll mix it with different excipients, then you¡¯ll tell me the results, ok?¡±

    She proceeded to pour the medicinal extract into a marked ss matrass and mixed its content in the exact proportions with different excipients.

    ¡°What can you tell me about the different results Ryu?¡±

    ¡°When you mixed it with water it lowered its effectiveness but kept the poisonous property, with oil it kept both properties the same and when you mixed it with alcohol... This is it! Its a cure medium wounds potion!¡±

    Ryu almost jumped in joy.

    ¡°We¡¯re not done yet¡±

    Ayumi scoffed and divided the potion in half, then she mixed one half with water and the other one with alcohol.

    ¡°What about now?¡±

    ¡°When you mixed it with water it became a cure light wounds potion, with alcohol it became a cure medium wounds lesser potion... this isplicated but I think I see your point now. If I didn¡¯te to you in the first ce I may have reached the same conclusion, but only after a lot of experimentation and wasting a lot of materials¡±

    This time Ayumi didn¡¯t make her proud pose, she was having so much fun that her joyful eyes looked like that of a children in a yground.

    ¡°This is exactly what I was looking for, this cure medium wounds potion will help Anne and Helena in their travel¡±

    ¡°Are they seriously going to go seek for Bob and Luke? I heard it¡¯s dangerous to go out of town after the freeze, every single beast is out there seeking for prey since they spent two weeks in their shelter¡±

    ¡°I tried to stop them, but Anne is dead set on going. I know she has a good heart and that her worry for Bob and Luke is justified, but It¡¯s not worth putting themselves in danger¡±

    ¡°If only Hiraku asked them to stay we could¡¯ve avoided so much trouble¡±

    Ayumi¡¯s expression hardened and silence ensued, at least until Ksenia knocked on the outpost door.

    ¡°Mister Ryu! something happened at the brothel, I mean, at the new tavern! The dog escaped!¡±

    ¡°Oh well, that¡¯s too bad, I really wanted to tame it but after so long I had no progress, guess I¡¯ll have to settle with Mochi¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, it broke out through the wall! It left a huge hole!¡±

    ¡°Call Anne, and tell her to bring her bow and arrows¡±

    ¡°Uhm, Ryu, If your dog escaped maybe it¡¯s better to just let it live peacefully in the wilds, it will be happier that way¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just saying that because you¡¯re scared, but don¡¯t worry Ayumi, I have a n¡±

    ¡°What? I¡¯m not scared, you¡¯re scared¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m scared, what the hell am I supposed to do against a wolfish creature that I thought was a mere wolf and stabbed, dragged downhill and kept locked in my new dungeon. I have the feeling that If I don¡¯t do something about it, the stupid dog wille back for me¡±

    Ryu said calmly, but the cold sweat on his forehead was all the evidence Ayumi needed to know he was serious.

    ¡°Listen Ayumi, I know this may sound weird but ever since I brought the amarok Mochi has been scared. If it was a simple wolf we could¡¯ve dealt with it or simply let it go, but its unnatural howls and wailing kept us all up at night and we¡¯ve been having nightmares. Rina asked me several times to get rid of it, but I feared what could happen. If it¡¯s so strong that it can break through a wall, what do you think would happen if ites back for blood?¡±

    ¡°It makes me wonder if what Sophie said about the fabled amarok is real¡±

    ¡°Real or not it makes no difference. I won¡¯t ask you toe, but I need you to help me make a potion with poison and healing properties¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that like the one you made with antidote and healing?¡±

    ¡°Not really, poison and antidote properties counter each other. What I need instead is something that will produce the highest amount of damage possible and heal it instantly¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I understand your reasoning, but I think I know where this is going¡±

    Ayumi said as she cleared the desk and grabbed new empty vials from her shelf.

 Chapter 78

    Chapter 78: Don¡¯t ruin the spring festival, please! part

    People on the streets of Ironwood started shoveling the snow early in the morning, during the freeze people were forced to use chamber pots and they threw the waste to the streets to avoid the odors, but that raised a problem. During winter the waste remains frozen and snow piles on top of it, but if they don¡¯t shovel everything before it melts it could be the beginning of a gue.

    Fortunately, people in town were more than aware of the dangers of a gue in a town where people lived crowded, so they work diligently to avoid it.

    People from the silver goddess tavern, now located in what used to be madame Bianca¡¯s brothel, opened their business early thanks to Dn, who woke up even earlier than the rest to shovel the snow. At first he was reluctant to perform such menialbor, but once Rina told him it was considered a secret form of training he took the job seriously.

    The first customers to arrive were greeted by Eiri and Kairi who took them to their table and took their order. Miners and hunters came from every part of town to grab a decent breakfast at a fair price, or at least that was the excuse they said when they were asked by their families.

    There were actually two huge reasons that drew everyone to the tavern, and it had nothing to do with Rina for a change. The first reason was the new billboard filled with all kinds of quests, that were avable for anyone who paid for the membership of the newly founded hunters guild, all they had to do was to reach out to Rina and ask for it and if she saw them fit for the job she would hand them a nk sheet of paper where they were supposed to write the events that happened during the job. If they were toplete it, they would get paid depending on the result.

    To avoid people from cheating on their quest logs, they put in ce certain rules for the guild members but it was a work in progress. The important thing is that Rina would receive the quest logs and archive them in order to get new information about possible quests.

    There were also repeatable quests, like beast exterminations, were they would bring back the corpses or parts of a beast as proof of defeating them. Of course this was just one of Ryu¡¯s strategies to get their hands on as many valuable materials as they could, so they could pass them on to Hiraku who would sell them to another town as soon as the roads open.

    .....

    The other reason for so many hunters and miners to go to the tavern was the new waitress, Sera. She had been a skinny young woman known only as ire sickly sister, but after eating Ryu¡¯s food and Helena¡¯s treatment, she regained her feminine figure drawing the attention of every single man. She had be, if not the most beautiful, at least one of the prettiest girls in town. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, everyone at the tavern was so used to seeing her daily that they failed to notice that the dress that used to fit her like a glove, now was on the verge of exploding. Helena had to fix it many times after she kept gaining weight in all the right ces, but it was clear for everyone that she needed a new one made to fit her new curves.

    Even tough it wasn¡¯t on purpose, at least that kept the miners from making trouble, since they were too distracted staring tantly at her chest.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, are you going out with miss Anne today too?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s not helping it, we need to find the damned dog¡±

    ¡°I understand, have fun¡±

    Sera said with a frisky smile, everyone at the silver goddess tavern thought Ryu and Anne had been having an affair but they felt too indebted to Ryu or too polite to say it to his face. It¡¯s been almost a week since they¡¯ve been hunting the amarok, going out early in the morning anding back at dusk all dirty and sweaty.

    But the truth was far from that, somehow Ryu managed to convince Anne to help him hunt the beast. At first she was against it and just wanted to let the dog go, but when Ryu told her his theory that the amarok could, in fact, be rted to the famine she agreed and went with him. After all, she had been curious for the reason why after the freeze when she was supposed to find all kinds of animals she couldn¡¯t find any.

    Ryu grabbed his coat and went after Anne who was already waiting for him outside.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best today too!¡±

    He said energetically.

    ¡°Shut up, if it wasn¡¯t for you I could¡¯ve caught him already¡±

    ¡°Pfff, nonsense. I did everything right, it was you who couldn¡¯tnd the shot¡±

    ¡°Have you even tried to shoot an arrow farther than 100 meters?¡±

    Anne eximed offended but Ryu just shrugged in response. They headed north and as soon as they were out of town they started jogging.

    ¡°Even if we don¡¯t catch him, at least this is good exercise¡±

    ¡°Save your breath or I¡¯ll leave you behind¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be a buzzkill you know¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s got into you that you¡¯re all smiles now, but stop, it just creeps me out¡±

    Anne stopped suddenly and knelt down in front of a paw print on the snow, then she stood up and looked at her surroundings.

    ¡°Why do you think this amarok thing is still lurking around town?¡±

    ¡°Why else, it wants revenge... from me... for beating it¡±

    ¡°Maybe you shouldn¡¯t have pissed off a wolf capable of breaking a stone wall. I mean, we¡¯ve fought wolves before but I don¡¯t think the ones me or Bob killed can destroy walls like that¡±

    Anne¡¯s expression stiffened up at the mention of Bob, but managed to finish speaking normally. It was painful for everyone to speak about their missingrades, especially for Ryu since if it wasn¡¯t because of him Anne and Helena would already be on the lookout for them.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s close, stay behind me wimp¡±

    Anne said crouching and looking ahead, while moving her hand in a position to stop Ryu from waling.

    ¡°Watch your hands pervert!? that¡¯s meant for Rina only¡±

    Anne¡¯s heart skipped a beat when she realized where did she ce her hand and lost herposurepletely and shrieked to the top of her lungs.

    Usually, whenever they managed to find the amarok they would get as close as they could in a stealthy manner. But now, due to her loud shriek, the amarok found them before they saw it and turned over to give them chase.

    ¡°You always ruin it Ryu!¡±

    ¡°What was I expected to do, you grabbed my package so suddenly I thought it was on purpose!¡±

    ¡°Why are we running? we have him right where we wanted him don¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Did you hit your head, that thing broke through a stone wall!¡±

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the new n, leader?¡±

    ¡°Now I¡¯m the leader? after you screwed up so badly... I... I don¡¯t know but I¡¯m starting to run out of breath, I need to stop¡±

    Ryu said panting.

    ¡°In that case tell the Amarok I said hi¡±

    She giggled as she left Ryu behind. The wolf sprinted towards Ryu, his brownish fur waving in the air.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to do the same thing I did to the jackal pack leader!¡±

    Ryu managed to yell before heading in front of a tree, he stopped in front of it showing his back to the famished wolf. But instead of pouncing at him blindly, the wolf stopped at some distance and started walking slowly lowering its snout with a low growl.

    ¡°It didn¡¯t work, It didn¡¯t work, Anne help!¡±

    But Ryu got no response as the wolf came closer step by step. Ryu desperately tried to unsheathe his sword but, once again it was jammed. Even worse, as he grabbed the hilt he felt his stamina draining rapidly, faster than when he was running.

    ¡°Anne, I...¡±

    When the amarok got close enough tond a bite and get himself a piece of Ryu, instead it got an arrow to the side. Both Ryu and the amarokid on the soft snow barely conscious.

    ¡°Are you ok Ryu?¡±

    Anne came running and got on her knees. But Ryu couldn¡¯t speak, his stamina was depleted almostpletely. Anne ran her hands through Ryu¡¯s body, for the sole reason of checking for bites, but she found none.

    She sat next to Ryu waiting for him to recover, but it seemed that the amarok was regaining his stamina faster than him. Both of them fought with everything they had to get back on their feet, but in the end the amarok was just a cub and couldn¡¯t do much against the strong mix of poison and healing potion that was soaked into Anne¡¯s carcaj.

    It¡¯s effect caused damage at the same time it healed it, consuming the victim¡¯s stamina so fast that it was even more effective than a sleep potion.

 Chapter 79

    Chapter 79: Don¡¯t ruin the spring festival, please! part

    ¡°What happened Ryu?¡±

    Anne said the second Ryu opened his eyes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know I just felt dizzy, the amarok?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fast asleep, he tried to get up at first but couldn¡¯t resist for long¡±

    ¡°Good, now I have to feed it, help me get up¡±

    ¡°Why would you feed that thing? we should kill it now and be over with it, its too dangerous to keep around. If what you said about him being the cause of the absence of prey, all the more reason to kill it¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t expect you to understand this, but I have a feeling this wolf is not as stupid as it seems. Also, it¡¯s just a cub, would you really be up for killing an innocent animal?¡±

    .....

    ¡°If anything you should¡¯ve said that when I killed the deer near the cave, I still have nightmares about it¡±

    Anne said with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anne, I know it was difficult, but our survival was on the line. Now, instead, we have nothing to gain by killing it but we may get a powerful ally by our side¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, if it eats as much as Mochi does, we would just get another couch potato pet¡±

    She giggled.

    ¡°I missed this¡±

    Ryu sighed.

    ¡°Risking your life for something stupid?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m being serious. I missed being with you like this. You¡¯ve been too distanttely, I feared for our friendship¡±

    ¡°Are you being serious? how could I stay nearby when you¡¯re so close to Rina now¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that If Helena was my girlfriend you would have drifted away all the same?¡±

    ¡°No, its not that. But put yourself in my shoes, how was I supposed to deal with rejection and live under the same roof with you guys? we could¡¯ve made a great couple you know¡±

    ¡°I know¡±

    Hearing that hurt Anne more than any wound she had sustained in their hunting trips, but somehow it also felt good, as if another kind of wound was healing.

    ¡°You¡¯re so stupid, every time we¡¯re honest to each other it makes my blood boil and then I think why things couldn¡¯t be different, until I remember its all my fault. Anyways, I guess it was good to have ourst hunting trip together¡±

    She said as she helped Ryu get up, with a pretty smile on her delicate face.

    ¡°Since we found the amarok so early in the morning, the best thing would be to start feeding it now instead of bringing it back as it is. Though I must warn you that if I feed it, its energy will replenish and there¡¯s a chance it¡¯ll regain enough stamina to wake up. You need to be on alert, because if that happens we¡¯ll need to knock it out again and start over¡±

    Anne nodded at Ryu and took some distance. They spent hours feeding it croquettes, which Ryu was able to acquire through the billboard at the tavern, and whenever the amarok showed signs of waking up Ryu fed it a few drops of stamina draining potion.

    ¡°ording to my consider skill it should be friendly now, I¡¯m amazed at how much food it consumed though¡±

    ¡°Is it safe to let him wake up?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,st time Mochi hurt me it was still neutral, ever since it reached the friendly status I¡¯ve had no incidents. I can¡¯t be sure though¡±

    This time, instead of dragging the amarok downhill they took turns to carry it on their arms. It wasn¡¯t that heavy, but walking with something as dangerous so close to their bodies made them feel as if they had a ticking bomb on their hands.

    When the trading outpost was on sight they both felt relieved and knocked on the door to rest a while before heading back to the tavern, but no one answered the door. The building waspletely empty.

    ¡°This is weird, every time they go out they leave someone behind. If not even Sophie is at home it means trouble¡±

    ¡°What should we do? I can¡¯t fight with this stupid dog on my arms¡±

    ¡°Anne...¡±

    ¡°What? hey stop staring at my chest¡±

    Ryu¡¯s face was pale as if he had seen a ghost.

    ¡°It¡¯s awake...¡±

    Ryu said in a whisper, Anne froze on the spot and looked down at the exhausted beast as it opened its eyes. She was just about to throw it as far as she could when a moist lick ran through her cheek.

    ¡°Guess that answers our question, it seems it¡¯s not mad at least. Hey look, its even waving its tail!¡±

    Ryu chuckled as Anne slowly ced the amarok on the ground.

    ¡°What are you doing, I don¡¯t think it can walk yet¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s your dog, if you want to keep it, the least you can do is carry him back¡±

    She said cleaning the thick drool on her cheek with the sleeve of her huntress outfit. Ryu walked heavily with the amarok on his arms, watching careful the situation in Ironwoods. At first, the town seemed to be deserted, making them both remember the first time they entered. Only this time there was a crowd gathering in front of the brothel.

    ¡°Why is everyone in here?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know Ryu, but we better hurry up. If this has something to do with Bianca it may be bad news¡±

    Many scenarios crossed Ryu¡¯s mind, in some, Bianca returned with an army, in others, Rina screwed up and clients got mad. Yet, nothing prepared him for the truth behind the gathering of so many people.

    ¡°Luke! you¡¯re back!¡±

    Anne shouted as she threw herself into his arms. He looked a bit taller, considerably more handsome and a lot stronger than before.

    ¡°I¡¯m so d you¡¯re back, what happened? what took you so long?¡±

    Ryu spoke as loud as he could, the crowd didn¡¯t stop to cheer at their new heroes.

    Bob, Luke, Karl and Rudd came back to Ironwoods, along with the missing caravan. They brought all the supplies that weren¡¯t delivered before the freeze, and the reason why they were at the brothel was because they needed to unload the cargo.

    ¡°Hey Ryu! it¡¯s been a long time, we¡¯re a bit busy now but we can catch upter¡±

    Luke managed to say before being swarmed again by the swarming crowd. Luke was wearing light armor made with blue leather and pieces of shiny metal and Bob stood tall with a new chainmail and his well known two handed hammer. They looked like mighty heroes that came back from the battlefield to receive the glory at the hands of the people.

    Karl and Rudd stood by the caravan trying to put some order into the unruly people, some were desperate to see if their loved ones came back alive, while others just got close to see if they could snatch something without being noticed.

    Whatever the case, the chaos spread like wildfire and if it wasn¡¯t for the mayor it could¡¯ve gotten out of hands.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Kaya?¡±

    Karl asked scanning the crowd.

    ¡°We really need to talk, mister mayor¡±

    Hiraku said while pushing people that attempted to get past the caravan guards. By the time they finished unloading the cargo it waste already, everyone was hungry since they were able to grab only a quick snack to guard the caravan properly.

    ¡°It took some effort but we¡¯re finally done!¡±

    Luke pped his hands.

    ¡°You speak as if you worked hard, but all you did was stand on the side and grope distracted women¡±

    ¡°So you noticed¡±

    Luke replied to Anne in amazement.

    ¡°Nothing can escape my eyes now¡±

    Anne said, obviously exaggerating, tempting Luke for a split second to try his Luke with Anne. But even with his newly acquired skills and armor, he wasn¡¯t willing to bet his life on the odd chance that Anne was bluffing.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, since now you¡¯re the legitimate owner of both the tavern and the brothel, we delivered everything in here. Is that ok?¡±

    The mayor inquired.

    ¡°Of course, there¡¯s no problem. Though now the tavern is located inside the brothel, and the old building is going to be a drugstore¡±

    Ryu said pointing at the direction of the old Silver goddess tavern.

    ¡°I still don¡¯t know exactly what happened with Bianca, but I¡¯m guessing we won¡±

    ¡°Something like that, there really is a lot of catching up to do. Why don¡¯t we go inside and grab some decent lunch?¡±

    Ryu invited everyone but the guards toe inside. The crowd disappeared now that there were no more goods to be delivered, but the guards were still on duty and kept watch on the outside.

    Karl and Rudd ordered the stew since they didn¡¯t want to risk ordering something they might not like, but they quickly regretted it when the table was filled with different kinds of dishes. ire was on cloud nine seeing everyone enjoying the food she cooked and when the mayor thanked Ryu for cooking for them, she was even happier taking it as the bestpliment possible.

    During the meal no one dared speak about anything, except to say how delicious the food was and to ask for another serving. It was a joyful diner among friends, and if it wasn¡¯t for the asional tears running down Ayumi¡¯s cheek, it would have beenpletely uneventful.

 Chapter 80

    Chapter 80: Don¡¯t ruin the spring festival, please! part

    ¡°Stop crying grandma¡±

    Luke sneered.

    ¡°I¡¯m not crying, its just that this noodles are so delicious¡±

    If it was any other day under any other circumstances, everyone would have believed what she said. But it was hard believing her words when everyone was doing their best to hold their tears.

    ¡°What took you guys so long?¡±

    Anne asked coldly, more than a question it sounded like an usation.

    ¡°We faced a pack of wolves, a huge bear and several beasts inside the mine. Instead of asking that you should be d we came back in one piece¡±

    .....

    ¡°Pfff, don¡¯t make meugh, as if I would believe such a thing¡±

    ¡°Actually, miss Anne, It¡¯s true. If it wasn¡¯t for mister Luke we would have died, he saved our lives on more than one asion¡±

    Karl nodded to Rudd¡¯s words.

    ¡°Where are the pelts then?¡±

    Ayumi said squinting her eyes.

    ¡°Come on guys, how can you be so distrustful! we sold them at mountainside¡±

    ¡°Why did you go there instead ofing back?¡±

    ¡°Ayumi stop it, give them a break, they just came back. Rina, dear, could you bring us some beer please?¡±

    ¡°Of course hun¡±

    She started pouring beer on wooden mugs hurriedly humming a happy tune, her upbeat mood contrasted heavily with Rudd¡¯s when he heard the couple talk to each other. He couldn¡¯t hold a sour smile from appearing on his face after hearing the sweet exchange in between them. Luke drank his beer in a single gulp and sighed happily.

    ¡°Ahh, this is the good stuff. Anyway, after I defeated the huge bear we got into the mine and it was filled with beasts. Since Bob and Karl were badly hurt I had to sh my way through all by myself, by the time we reached the shelter I was exhausted, but luckily they let us in immediately. The doors are really sturdy and not even beasts were able to take them down easily, but they wouldn¡¯t hold forever either. We were in a tough spot, there were many injured among the survivors and most people were more worried about their belongings and cargo than they were of helping others.

    ording to Karl there was a long underground tunnel that connected different mines and that was our only way to escape. When we told the people about the tunnel they all wanted toe with us to be safe along the way, thanks to me of course, but no one wanted to take the injured. Instead, they started filling their hand carts with elemental stones and Iron ore. In order to escape safely and save as many people as I could I asked them politely to leave everything behind and carry the injured¡±

    ¡°And what did you do when that didn¡¯t work?¡±

    Ryu asked.

    ¡°Hahah, I knew you would say that. But actually, that¡¯s exactly what happened. When that didn¡¯t work, I told them that I wouldn¡¯t lift a finger for anyone hauling cargo unless it was food, it worked like a charm. The underground passage was safe-ish, there were few beasts but they were no match for my new backsh skill and then we reached mountainside safely¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know Luke, it all sounds pretty fake to me. I¡¯m not saying you¡¯re lying... but you must be at least exaggerating some parts¡±

    Ayumi said looking straight at Bob.

    ¡°Things were exactly as he told them, when I faced the bear the most I could do was distract it and both me and the mayor got heavily injured¡±

    ¡°And Bob got it easy¡±

    Karl said after taking off the glove, showing that he had lost four fingers.

    ¡°Mister mayor!¡±

    Helena eximed loudly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry miss, I let my guard down and I was ready to meet a hunter¡¯s end, I¡¯m just grateful to be able to be back alive. This injury will be the perfect excuse for me to retire and leave everything in the capable hands of my son. Heye on, cheer up everybody, we made it alive and came back with the missing caravan, you also got rid of Bianca and everything is fine in Ironwoods. You should be thinking on preparing for the spring festival¡±

    The sole mention of the spring festival was enough to lift the mood of everyone in the room, especially Helena.

    ¡°What do you mean mister mayor?¡±

    She asked excitedly.

    ¡°I¡¯m already aware you don¡¯t know our customs, but didn¡¯t you celebrate spring festivals at your vige?¡±

    Helena shook her head.

    ¡°Well then you¡¯re in for a treat. Early in the morning everyone gathers at the northern entrance, which is exactly where mister Hiraku¡¯s trading outpost is located, then every hunter goes out to find prey while women stay and dress in pretty clothes. When mene back they are greeted by the women and they ce a ne made with flowers on the men they would like to... know better. If the hunter epts her offer, they spend the rest of the day together eating, dancing and celebrating in our festival. At the end of the night everyone gathers and we choose the fairest maiden in all Ironwoods¡±

    ¡°I find that offensive, why should women stay home. I want to go hunt like the men¡±

    Anne grunted.

    ¡°There¡¯s no rule that forbids that, in fact, as you may have noticed there are several huntresses around. There¡¯s also plenty of men who can¡¯t hunt¡±

    ¡°And what happens in those cases? I don¡¯t want to stick out like a sore thumb¡±

    ¡°Well, miss Anne, if you decide to participate as a huntress then you can¡¯t participate in the other contest, it would be unfair for the rest. Take into ount that hunters are very popr in here and if a huntress was to participate in the beauty contest, she would get more votes solely based on her status, and this is a festival for everyone to enjoy. Think on the girls that grow up knowing they wont be able to be hunters, all they have left to dream about is to be the fairest maiden of the spring festival¡±

    ¡°If you put it like that...¡±

    ¡°Stop bickering Anne, you¡¯re just trying to find an excuse to get offended¡±

    Ayumi scoffed at her.

    ¡°What about men who don¡¯t want to hunt?¡±

    ¡°Somehow I knew you would ask that mister Ryu, don¡¯t worry, you still may get the attention of somedies. But just like in miss Anne¡¯s case, you won¡¯t be able to receive the flower ne. The flowers mean the life thates after all the death and sorrow, hunters face the worst part of winter to feed everyone. It¡¯s a dangerous job that not everyone can perform, and among those, not everyone is willing to put their life at risk , so it¡¯s a reward for their hard work¡±

    ¡°Thanks for everything mister mayor, I have to go now!¡±

    Helena said with a wide smile as she rushed to her room to tailor some new clothes for everyone. She was so excited to participate in the festival thatpletely forgot about everything else, she started twirling around her room taking out materials and her sewing kit and after just a few minutes her room looked as if a hurricane had past through.

    The rest of the group told the mayor everything that happened in Ironwoods in his absence, about Bianca¡¯s actions and how Ryu ended up being kidnapped by her and Kaya.

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe Kaya would side up with Bianca, I¡¯ve known her all my life and didn¡¯t think she was capable of something like that¡±

    Rudd sighed.

    ¡°I know how you must be feeling Rudd, but I think I have an idea. She was a ve after all and, despite us treating her like family, she always believed herself to be above her status. When we first bought her she was aplete mess, it took her several years to ept her situation¡±

    ¡°From what I hear it seems like she didn¡¯t ept it at all¡±

    Ryu interjected.

    ¡°It must be so, but to think that she would go as far as to conspire with Bianca, putting everyone at Ironwoods at risk. Now even if she escapes safely, she¡¯s already been registered as a ve so it doesn¡¯t matter where does she go, as long as she remains within the borders of the kingdom she won¡¯t be able to hold property. Even worse, if she gets caught as a runaway ve her fate would be death¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, mister mayor...¡±

    ¡°Please, call me Karl, in fact, after all you¡¯ve done for this town I would feel bad if you keep treating me with such respect¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have that in mind. Karl, when Bianca made a move on us I was forced to sign a document agreeing to be Bianca¡¯s ve. Does it mean I¡¯m a runaway ve now?¡±

    ¡°Hmm... This situation is a bitplicated. In order to be registered as a ve someone holding a high status, such as a noble or a town¡¯s mayor, should send the documents to the kingdom archives. Madame Bianca, although briefly, did hold such a position. But don¡¯t worry too much about it, I¡¯ll just send a letter exining the situation and she will be branded a criminal making all the documents she signedpletely worthless. If I didn¡¯t return alive though, everything would be different¡±

    Ryu was shocked by how lightly the mayor took things, but at the same time he was relieved to know hear that he was safe.

 Chapter 81

    Chapter 81: Don¡¯t ruin the spring festival, please! part

    When the snow started melting and the spring caravan arrived, it was finally time to celebrate Ironwoods spring festival. Everyone gathered outside and, despite the icy morning wind, most men were standing shirtless with their weapons at the ready.

    ¡°W-w-when is this stupid hunt going to begin?¡±

    Luke stuttered due to the cold.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a big baby, we¡¯ve been here for less than five minutes¡±

    ¡°Oh really Anne, how do you know? we don¡¯t even have a clock¡±

    ¡°I just know you¡¯re exaggerating, it can¡¯t be so bad¡±

    ¡°Oh really? why don¡¯t you try taking off your shirt then?¡±

    .....

    Luke¡¯sment oozed lust, making Anne regret feeling bad when he was missing.

    From a distance, Helena stared at Anne with envy, after noticing that she waspletely surrounded by shirtless men boasting their physique.

    ¡°Dear citizens of Ironwoods, this has been one of the most difficult years we have endured so far. The hunger, the cold, the hill massacre, even our disagreements, all that is in the past. Today¡¯s spring festival is not one of many others, this time it not only serves the purpose to remind us of the hardships we faced, but also to mark the beginning of a new era!¡±

    Everyone cheers at the mayor, after a few seconds he continues speaking.

    ¡°This is why, on this asion I¡¯ll be passing on my title of mayor to my most reliable son, Rudd¡±

    People suddenly started whispering to each other, they were used to deal with Karl as their mayor as he¡¯s always been the most important figure of authority in town. Rudd, instead, was a brave young man who has proven himself in battle many times, but he was too young for the job.

    After the mayor¡¯s speech, the hunters started running joyfully to hunt the biggest game to prove their worth. Anne moved swiftly in between men with the grace of a falling petal, nothing hindered her movement and she wlessly dodged the brutish men running wildly all around her. It took her no longer than twenty seconds to reach the front position, but she was quickly challenged by a skinny young man with blond hair.

    It was no other than Luke and without even talking to each other it seemed as if they had agreed to race beforehand. Anne ran so lightly that she didn¡¯t even leave foot tracks, Luke, in turn, was a bit faster but he had trouble moving on the muddy terrain.

    Ryu saw them disappear from hisfortable chair at the food stand they set up outside Hiraku¡¯s trading outpost.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go with the rest, Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the need to prove myself as a good hunter, especially because I am anything but a good hunter¡±

    ¡°Still, don¡¯t you want to receive a pretty flower ne from your gorgeous girlfriend?¡±

    Rina said making a suggestive pose that would melt any men¡¯s heart.

    ¡°Not really¡±

    He shrugged.

    ¡°Ow, I wanted to participate and make a pretty flower ne¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s stopping you then? go have your fun¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t leave you with all the work, also, what would be the point to make a ne if I have no one to give it to?¡±

    She pouted.

    ¡°You two are just too funny¡±

    ire giggled from behind, she was busy taking the cookware outside the kitchen.

    ¡°Oh, not as funny as the way you looked at Luke¡±

    Rina smirked causing ire to blush so heavily and drop everything she had on her hands.

    ¡°It¡¯ not like that, I was just listening to the mayor¡±

    ¡°Everyone knows you fancy him, there¡¯s no hiding it¡±

    ¡°Stop torturing ire and focus on your job or we¡¯ll be stuck in here forever, we are supposed to cook whatever they bring so we need to get the vegetables washed and peeled beforehand¡±

    ¡°Yes boss!¡±

    The girls replied and started moving around even faster, the only one exempted from peeling vegetables was Helena since she had been working hard to make new clothes for everyone. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that the people from the Silver goddess tavern were the best dressed in town.

    Helena boasted her plump figure with a silky dress with pale colors thatplimented her hair color, she was wearing a leather belt on the waist to cover up the fact that she had gained some weight during winter. Rina was wearing a daring violet dress with a V cut, leaving little to nothing to imagination and Ryu with a stone frown on his face, he disliked when others stared at her chest more than she did, but she was used to wear revealing clothes to attract clients.ire wore a simple light blue dress with a white apron and ace in the back, making her look innocent and pure, and since her eyes were the same color as her dress it made a perfect fit for her. Eiri, Kairi and ksenia were wearing their uniforms, but Helena embroidered silver flowers on the side and made some changes in design making a leg cleavage. But the one that drew all the eyes in town was no doubt ire, who was wearing a deep purple tight dress that emphasized her newly developed figure, her generous cleavage challenged Rina¡¯s and left everyone in awe. Her pronounced curves contrasted with her innocent look, her pale skin and lively cheeks made her look like an unattainable beauty that descended straight from heaven.

    When the mayor sounded the horn signaling the end of the hunt, everyone hurried up to get back to town. the townsfolk were already dancing to the music in drunk ecstasy, but everyone stopped in their tracks and greeted them as they arrived.

    The muscr appearance of the first to show up elerated the heart beating of girls and women alike, it didn¡¯t take long until three girls ced a flower ne on him and he ced the small wolf he hunted by himself. Soon after a group of four came dragging a huge boar with a wide smile on their faces, they all got at least one ne each, but the leader was a married man and when he got his a woman came running to pull him away. Everyone watching the scene burst inughter.

    People enjoyed food and beer the same, they danced andughed as hunters came back in groups. Soon after the only ones left to return were Anne and Luke, they went hunting on their own and nobody knew where they were. But before anyone could even worry about them, what seemed to be a cloud of dust appeared in the distance.

    Anne was dragging a gigantic elk while Luke brought with him a bear. Seeing them with such prey on their backs was enough to leave everyone astonished, but they were running at a speed that seemed inhuman while carrying heavy weight.

    Luke got so many flower nes that he looked like a flower arrangement, Anne didn¡¯t get any. At least until a small child came running to her.

    ¡°Excuse me, missdy silver goddess¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok you can call me Anne¡±

    She crouched down to be on her same level and smiled at the child¡¯s pure heart.

    ¡°Uhm, I made this for you. Thanks for saving my mom that day.¡±

    The little girl said as she ced a pretty ne made with small flowers.

    Ryu was busy cooking both the boar and the Elk with ire¡¯s help. Sera, Eiri and Kairi were serving the tables while Ksenia charged the clients. Even though they were on an open space it was crowded, all due to the wonderful smell that came from their outdoors improvised kitchen.

    Everyone ate their full and enjoyed themselves when Dn came running to Ryu.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, we have a problem!¡±

    ¡°What now? what could have possibly gone wrong now?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be such a pessimist Ryu¡±

    Rina poked him on the side

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it, sometimes it seems that I can¡¯t have a single day without someone asking me for help¡±

    ¡°Mister Ryu, it¡¯s about Helena¡±

    Ryu took a nce around and Helena was nowhere to be seen. Dn took the chance to whisper something into his ear and Ryu¡¯s expression changed after every murmur. It went from surprise, to doubt, then surprise again andstly it was pure shock.

    ¡°Rina, I¡¯ll leave you in charge for now, I¡¯ll be back soon¡±

    He said in between stutters as he darted to an alley.

    In a dark corner, Helena was kissing with a tall muscr man. He was wearing leather boots, pants and a single flower ne made by Helena herself.

    ¡°Stop what you¡¯re doing immediately!¡±

    ¡°Ryu! what are you doing here? you had your chance, now I¡¯m with Roman¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Norman! Anyway, you heard thedy, now beat it¡±

    Norman said with a smirk.

    ¡°You don¡¯t get to speak like that to mister Ryu!¡±

    Dn said as he unsheathed his sword.

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t talk like that to Ryu! you know what, I¡¯m not in the mood now¡±

    Helena said as she left with Ryu and Dn.

    ¡°So, did you change your mind or something?¡±

    She said drowsily.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that Helena... geez, you reek of alcohol, how much did you have to drink?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, nothing much, just a couple drinks... of each drink. But that¡¯s not important, just tell me what¡¯s the matter, and you better have a nice excuse cause I was about to have some fun¡±

    ¡°This is hard for me to tell you Helena, I¡¯m really sorry but...¡±

    ¡°Stop beating around the bushes Ryu, just say it!¡±

    She was losing her patience, but everything she said looked cute and sloppy instead of mad.

    ¡°You... you¡¯re a priestess so... you can¡¯t have sex¡±

    ¡°EEHHH!!!???¡±

    .....

 Chapter 82

    Chapter 82: Avoid cursed objects, please! part

    ¡°What do you mean by that!?¡±

    Helena¡¯s drunkenness vanished along with the color in her face, she looked pale as a ghost.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like mister Ryu said, priestess are supposed to be virgins¡±

    ¡°Then how do you exin that your mother was a priestess?¡±

    ¡°I mean, she was exiled...¡±

    ¡°What would happen if I lost my... what would happen if I did it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure, I only know what my parents told me when I was little and they didn¡¯t talk about this kind of stuff in front of me. I think it was something like never being able to learn new skills, as I said before, I¡¯m not sure. But do you really want to risk it?¡±

    .....

    Helena pondered for a few seconds before pouting.

    ¡°This is so unfair, I didn¡¯t choose this damned ss! I hate it! Why am I the only one with this restriction?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to find a solution¡±

    Ryu said as he held the sobbing mess that Helena was on his arms.

    Dn, Helena and Ryu walked back to the tavern¡¯s food stand, Helena took a seat and waved at Kairi.

    ¡°How may I serve you miss Helena?¡±

    Kairi asked with a broad smile on her face, she had been working tirelessly the whole day, but it seemed like she was having fun. But Helena was in a bitter mood and replied by simply lifting three fingers to which Kairi nodded.

    When the drinks arrived at the table, Ryu and Dn took one beer mug each, making Helena frown.

    ¡°These are all mine! if you want beer then ask for your own¡±

    She said as she rushed forward to grab the stolen beer mugs from herpanions, but she miscalcted the size and proportion of her womanly attributes, thus dropping the mug in front of her.

    The table was soaked and the liquid started dripping on Dn¡¯sp, when he attempted to stand up the table was tilted making Ryu fall on his back and hit his head on the ground.

    ¡°Boss! Are you ok? I¡¯m so sorry I didn¡¯t mean it, it was an ident¡±

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine¡±

    Helena walked to the bar and grabbed a mug of beer by herself.

    ¡°Whats wrong Helena?¡±

    Rina asked concerned for her.

    ¡°I just found out I can¡¯t have sex because I¡¯m a priestess¡±

    She pouted.

    ¡°Oh dear! this is terrible news, you can¡¯t be drinking the crap we serve the clients. If you¡¯re drowning your sorrow in alcohol, the least you can do is drink some expensive imported wine¡±

    Rina grabbed a stained ss bottle and uncorked it, the cork flew like a guided missile and hit Ryu, who was just trying to stand up, right in the eye.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±

    Was heard behind Helena¡¯s back, and the girls kept chatting about her condition.

    ¡°If anything I¡¯d say you dodged a bullet, that Norman guy is despicable¡±

    ¡°I know, I realized that the minute he opened his mouth¡±

    ¡°Then, why were you with him on that alley¡±

    ¡°He may be a jerk, but it¡¯s not his abs fault¡±

    They both giggled as they drank wine taking small sips.

    ¡°This is so delicious, you should buy more of this wine¡±

    ¡°This is the only bottle I ordered, it was supposed to arrive before the freeze, but since Bianca bribed the caravan I only got my hands on it today¡±

    ¡°A, and you¡¯re sharing it with me¡±

    Helena was touched by Rina¡¯s gesture.

    ¡°To tell the truth, I meant to sell it to a noble if any were toe to the tavern. Having a bottle of expensive wine around wouldn¡¯t hurt. But, what you said is so terrible, If someone said I needed to withhold from having sex, I would just drop dead¡±

    ¡°Is Ryu that good?¡±

    Helena asked with a luscious grin on her face.

    ¡°How can you two be so shameless, talking about dirty stuff and drinking by yourselves!¡±

    Anne said angrily, but as soon as they told her what happened she embraced Helena as if she was a patient on her death bed.

    ¡°Hang in there Helena¡±

    Anne¡¯s sad smile apanied by the effect of the wine lowered Helena¡¯s defensespletely and she started crying openly. The girls kept chatting for a while, the festival was going to be over soon as people started heading back to their homes, but since they were still working they had to stay upte to help with the cleaning.

    Ryu was sitting in the table with a new drink ced in front of him, still covering his eye.

    ¡°Boss, are you really ok?¡±

    Dn asked.

    ¡°I am, I just lost a few health points, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you had less than 100 health points?¡±

    ¡°A lot less actually.¡±

    Ryu sighed.

    ¡°How can you be so calm then? are you not scared?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve just been experiencing a lot of identstely. Yesterday I was sitting in my usual chair and it suddenly broke.¡±

    ¡°Do you think maybe it has something to do with the you know what.¡±

    Dn said pointing at the amarok that was curling up beneath the table.

    ¡°What do you mean Dn?¡±

    ¡°Miss Rina has beenining a lot about the ¡®stupid dog¡¯, she says that his howling freak her out and that ever since the amarok came she¡¯s been having nightmares¡±

    ¡°That may be so, I¡¯ve had nightmarestely too, but it must be just a coincidence¡±

    ¡°Listen boss, I know you¡¯re stubborn and won¡¯t listen to anyone about this, but I think you should go visit the mayor¡±

    ¡°What if he tells me to get rid of the amarok¡±

    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t ask you to do something like that without a very good reason, also, so far it¡¯s only been a few idents or coincidences and maybe it¡¯s just bad luck¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go ask him sometime around this week¡±

    With those words Ryu stood up and started taking the tables and chairs back inside, everyone else took it as their queue and lent a hand. Soon after the stand had been dismantled.

    ¡°Thank you for lending us your furniture and cookware Hiraku¡±

    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t mention it young Ryu, we¡¯re all on the same boat. By the way, you guys should stay in here tonight¡±

    ¡°We are a bit tired, but the tavern is not so far, we can walk a few blocks¡±

    The only thing Ryu wanted at this point was to head back to his own bed and sleep with Rina by his side.

    ¡°Yes, I know, but I don¡¯t think they can¡±

    Hiraku pointed at the girls who were noticeably drunk and making a scene.

    ¡°Why do bad things happen to me all the time?¡±

    Helena cried hanging onto Rina¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°The party is not over yet Ryu, you shouldn¡¯t have dismantled the stand, I could¡¯ve stayed up the whole night!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, where are we supposed to keep celebrating?¡±

    Anne backed Rina¡¯s petition to stay up a little longer.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, you guys are drunk already. Maybe we should stay in here Hiraku, i¡¯m sorry for troubling you¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, your rooms should be ready¡±

    Hiraku led everyone upstairs, and he went into his room along with a sleepy Ayumi, what no one failed to notice was how she was holding hands with Sophie and went inside with her.

    ¡°Do you think they sleep together?¡±

    .....

    Rina asked in what she thought was a hushed voice.

    ¡°No way, Ayumi would never allow it¡±

    Anne replied.

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business girls, just go to sleep already¡±

    Ryu nagged at the gossiper girls and got into an empty room with Rina. Mochi and the amarok followed them and curled up together in the floor. Ever since the amarok was tamed they seemed to get along, despite Mochi being so scared of it at first.

    ¡°Get ready Ryu, because you are in for a treat tonight¡±

    Rina said as she undressed sloppily, but as soon as she hit the bed she started snoring like a bear. Since Helena was in a poor mood and didn¡¯t want to be alone, Anne decided to sleep with her and make herpany. After their fight for Ryu ended they became even closer than they were before, and despite being happy for him, they were still jealous so they had been keeping the distance with Rina. At least until today, when they got drunk and a sisterly feeling was born among them.

    It was a peaceful night in Ironwoods and the only evidence of the festival was the footsteps set in the muddy ground. The cold weather that had been haunting them for so long will soon give ce to a beautiful blossoming spring.

    The town¡¯s poption diminished heavily this year, mostly because of the hill massacre, but also because of Bianca¡¯s misdeeds. But this wasn¡¯t new in Ironwoods, where all kinds of disasters and beast attacks were always around the corner. Except for the people who lost their loved ones, most townsfolk experienced the richest year they¡¯ve ever seen. Thanks to Hiraku¡¯s group they had more to share among less people, they too ransacked the brothel and all of Bianca¡¯s ves were freed.

    And although no one knew it yet, it was a year that would be remembered in history as their golden year.

 Chapter 83

    Chapter 83: Avoid cursed objects, please! part

    An uneventful night was followed by a loud nking sound that woke everyone up a lot sooner than they wanted. Most doors opened immediately and people poked out of their rooms to see what had happened.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine! I just fell off the stairs¡±

    Ryu grunted as he stood up.

    ¡°Come on Ryu, you can¡¯t be that clumsy! I need more sleep...¡±

    Anne shouted from upstairs, all she got in response was yet another loud noise that seemed toe from the bar.

    ¡°Geez Ryu, what are you doing so early in the morning?¡±

    She walked downstairs hurriedly and saw Ryu lying on the floor.

    .....

    ¡°Ryu! Ryu answer! are you ok Ryu?¡±

    As she leaned close to him she noticed a stream of blooding out of his nose.

    ¡°Help! Helenae here! Ryu is badly wounded!¡±

    Anne said in between sobs, Helena came outside her room before even finished dressing herself properly. By the time she reached thest step in the staircase she was still tying down her silky dress and rubbed her eyes to brush off the hangover.

    ¡°uhm, Anne, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s that hurt¡±

    ¡°How can you be so calm! hurry up and do something¡±

    Anne said in an using tone as she pressed Ryu¡¯s face against her bare chest.

    ¡°Anne, think before you act for once¡±

    ¡°Uh? what do you... Eeek! I¡¯m naked¡±

    She started shaking Ryu, who was obviously faking to be unconscious to avoid the awkwardness. Anne¡¯s vein popped in anger as usual and she kept shaking Ryu until he had to drop his act.

    ¡°Stop Anne you¡¯re hurting me, I¡¯ll end up dying if you keep doing this!¡±

    ¡°Then go and die you pervert!¡±

    ¡°Who are you calling a pervert? It¡¯s not my fault you came down naked! also, please stop moving so much, you¡¯re literally rattling your breasts in front of my face¡±

    Anne blushed and covered her upper torso with her hands.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on over there?¡±

    Hiraku went out his room scratching his rear, he had a sleepy face and he seemed to be tired.

    ¡°Don¡¯te downstairs!¡±

    Anne said in despair. It was only after she got dressed that things settled down and they headed out to the mayor¡¯s house. Due to Ryu¡¯s constant incidents he was forced to ask everyone toe with him so they can protect him in case something happened.

    The mayor wasn¡¯t expecting visitors and, since Kaya was no longer at his service, another maid opened the door. They had to walk in formation to prevent people from bumping into Ryu, even inside they kept protecting Ryu since he was so weak any ident could be the end of him.

    It was somewhatical to see such an exaggerated disy and the maids would have burst intoughter if it wasn¡¯t because they worried for their lives, since they were armed and ready to face any eventuality. When the mayor saw them, instead of worrying, he chuckled the minute he saw them enter his office.

    The first one was Hiraku, who checked the door and the chair where Ryu would sit, Helena looked outside the window, Anne stood watch behind the door and Ayumi walked Ryu as if he was sick.

    ¡°Good morning everyone, what brings you here in such... unique manner¡±

    Karl chuckled, but Rudd who came running after hearing that a group of armed men and women got inside his father¡¯s office was not amused in the slightest.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? is everyone alright? Where¡¯s the enemy?¡±

    He rushed in front of the mayor and covered him from an invisible threat.

    ¡°Enemy, what enemy, you¡¯re speaking nonsense Rudd. Now, mister Ryu, this is not a social visit I presume¡±

    ¡°You are correct mister mayor, to be honest I¡¯m desperate¡±

    Ryu said as he sat on the chair Hiraku had previously checked thoroughly.

    ¡°How may I help you then?¡±

    ¡°You see, I¡¯ve been experiencing a bad luck streak for a while now¡±

    ¡°I see... but there¡¯s not much I can do about it¡±

    ¡°Please, you have to listen to me, you¡¯re the only one who can help me with this!¡±

    Ryu pleaded energetically until the chair creaked and he froze in the spot.

    ¡°I see your worries are real and you seem scared too, so, please calm down and tell me everything¡±

    ¡°Uhm, ok. I don¡¯t know why or how, but everything I do fires back at me. Before you say that¡¯s not true, I thought so myself, at first it was subtle, like hitting my toe on the corner of furniture¡±

    ¡°That sounds painful indeed¡±

    Karl nodded.

    ¡°Yes, and I would get it if it was a one time thing, but then it happened twice in the same day. Now I cant walk barefoot at all because It happens every single time I walk by the dresser, desk, table, any piece of furniture¡±

    ¡°is there anything you can do to prevent it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, If I focus I can avoid it, but If I¡¯m distracted in the slightest I¡¯d hit my toe¡±

    Ryu said with a tear on his eye.

    ¡°Just the toe is it?¡±

    Karl asked and Hiraku replied by shaking his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s even worse than what he says, we thought he was exaggerating, but on the way here people on the streets seemed to be seeking to bump on him, people threw garbage and heavy stuff from their windows, and his shoeces got untied about ten times¡±

    ¡°Hmm... this is strange, maybe it could be... no, impossible, or perhaps...¡±

    The mayor muttered as he pondered what could be the reason behind it.

    ¡°Is there any other symptoms? have you seen someone outside your window staring at you? maybe you had nightmares or something like that¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve had nightmares, but the same goes for everyone who sleeps near the amarok so...¡±

    ¡°The what!?¡±

    ¡°The amarok¡±

    ¡°Please mister Ryu, please don¡¯t tell me that your dog is an amarok¡±

    ¡°Do you think maybe that could be the cause?¡±

    Anne barged in.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so, but it would certainly exin some other supernatural phenomena going around town¡±

    ¡°If it has nothing to do with my situation, then I don¡¯t see the point in discussing it right now. Things have gotten so bad I won¡¯t be able to even work properly¡±

    ¡°why is that?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious mayor? his life is in danger¡±

    Helena eximed stomping her feet in frustration.

    ¡°No, actually is not that, Helena. I¡¯ve been feeling so tired and hungrytely, Even getting up is difficult sometimes¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±

    Karl eximed.

    ¡°You¡¯re under the influence of a cursed object!¡±

    ¡°How can we know for sure?¡±

    The chair creaked again under Ryu.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell with just a nce, is there any object you feel you cant part from, something you can¡¯t leave home and if you¡¯re far from it you start feeling bad. It can¡¯t be something you made yourself, but it could be something you picked up or... maybe stole¡±

    ¡°Who do you take me for? I¡¯m offended you...¡±

    The chair creaked again and Ryu fell on his butt, the mayor did his best to keep theposure.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to offend you mister Ryu, Its just the way cursed objects work. Let¡¯s say your ex girlfriend made a scarf for you, and you broke up with her afterwards. You need to return the scarf to your ex after you break up, or else her bad thoughts may inhabit it¡±

    For some reason everyone started staring at Anne.

    ¡°Come on guys, that¡¯s not funny, I wouldn¡¯t do something like that to Ryu. Even if he¡¯s a piece of trash, I¡¯m indebted to him just as anyone here. Hold on a second, Ryu! it¡¯s the sword!¡±

    ¡°No, it can¡¯t be it, I¡¯ve been carrying it for a long time and things started a lotter. Also, I can leave it home whenever I want¡±

    ¡°But, can you? let me try something, I¡¯ll buy that sword for a gold coin¡±

    .....

    ¡°Hah! nice try Karl, but It¡¯s obviously worth a lot more than that!¡±

    ¡°Uhm, I see... then I¡¯ll pay ten gold coins¡±

    ¡°Stop lowballing please¡±

    ¡°Actually, Niki bought that sword for just three gold coins, and he overpaid if you ask me¡±

    ¡°Still, I¡¯m already familiar with that sword and It has saved my life many times...¡±

    ¡°Ryu, now that I think so, every time you attempt to use it you cant even take it out of its scabbard¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen him do that too, it¡¯s the funniest thing. When he faced Bianca¡¯s captain it seemed that Ryu was fighting against his sword rather than his enemy¡±

    Anne said in a mocking tone.

    ¡°It was my fault, I didn¡¯t have enough strength, anyways, I- I could sell it, I just don¡¯t feel like it¡±

    ¡°Ryu!¡±

    Everyone eximed as they took distance from him.

    ¡°What are you doing, put the sword down!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just saying that because you want to take it for yourself!¡±

    ¡°Ryu, at least put it back in it¡¯s scabbard¡±

    Anne said holding her spear tightly and pointing it against Ryu, who was now holding his naked de from the hilt waving it around.

    ¡°Wait miss Anne! it¡¯s not his fault! Curses do everything in their power to avoid people from noticing it¡¯s effects. At least now we know the sword is cursed.¡±

    Karl sighed.

    ¡°Can you tell us what are the effects?¡±

    Helena put into words everyone¡¯s concern.

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen my fair share of cursed objects and they all had different effects. The only thing they have inmon is that they drain the user¡¯s stamina to grow and only a priest can undo it¡±

 Chapter 84

    Chapter 84: Beware of prettydies, please! part

    Here I am, all by my lone self again, I¡¯ve been trapped inside an inn for three days without anything to do. I really appreciate what everyone is doing for me, but I feel like I¡¯m losing my mind already.

    After Karl told us about the curse, he offered himself toe with us to Crent, which is the biggest city nearby, and help us find a priest who could take care of the curse. The only problem was that, despite it being the closest city, it still took us more than a week to get here and I¡¯ve seen my life pass before my eyes a couple times already.

    The first time was when we arrived at mountainside, the locals didn¡¯t believe Karl was Ironwoods mayor and gave us a sour wee. If it wasn¡¯t for Hiraku I¡¯d have been killed by the farm dogs. After the incident, the farmer apologized, he thought we were stealing his crops and he let out his dogs, but I still think he did it on purpose.

    At that point I wished I had brought the amarok with me, but in my current state I wouldn¡¯t be able to even feed it without fearing for my life so I left it home. Anne is the only one who is not afraid of it, and for some reason the amarok likes her too, so she should be taking good care of him.

    Now we are on the outskirts of Crent, staying at a cheap inn. Karl is trying to find a priest somewhere downtown while Hiraku and Luke are trying to make some money. They¡¯ve been wandering for three days, checking the market and today, finally, they should be able to sell something.

    Back at Ironwoods food was scarce, but here in Crent there are all kinds of dishes, fruits, sds, tubers, mushrooms, it¡¯s wonderful... or at least that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been told, because the only thing I¡¯ve seen so far is the way to the inn, the stairs on the inn and the four walls of my room at the inn.

    Anyways, they will be selling medicine. Why? because we need to know if we can establish a trade route.

    .....

    ¡°We¡¯re back¡±

    Luke said looking somewhat depressed.

    ¡°So, how did it go?¡±

    I thought it was bad, but only after I saw Hiraku¡¯s pale face I was able to see the full picture. It was BAD.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m really sorry young Ryu¡±

    ¡°Why are you apologizing Hiraku? if you didn¡¯t sell anything it¡¯s ok, we can try again tomorrow¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it... we sold everything¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good thing then¡±

    I say without any kind of conviction, they look defeated.

    ¡°You see, as soon as we headed to the market a pink haired girl came to us. She was a young beautiful girl brimming with energy, when she said she wanted to buy everything I couldn¡¯t believe our luck. But then, we got only this much¡±

    Hiraku said showing me a silver coin and a handful of copper coins.

    ¡°So, you sold half our medicine and, instead of getting the right amount of money, she paid only this much?¡±

    ¡°Sadly, yes¡±

    Hiraku sighed

    ¡°Did you call for a guard? you were robbed¡±

    ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t like that. I was there and there was nothing wrong. She paid the right price, Or at least we didn¡¯t notice anything wrong until we came back¡±

    ¡°Well then, maybe someone stole from you on the way back¡±

    I fail to wrap my head around this situation.

    ¡°I doubt it, I think I would have noticed something like that¡±

    Luke grunted

    ¡°But there must be an exnation!¡±

    I¡¯m really losing my patience, but it¡¯s not like they got tricked on purpose so I try to calm down. Luke noticed that I was freaking out and handed me a bottle of water.

    ¡°Anyways, I think you shoulde with us tomorrow¡±

    ¡°But young Ryu can¡¯te with us young Luke, don¡¯t forget the curse, you will only put him at risk¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but our mission here is to establish a trade route. Losing one batch of medicine is a low price to pay if we learn how did she do it, I can feel there¡¯s something wrong about her but I can¡¯t punt my finger on it. If Ryues with us we might be able to find out her trick, establish a trade route and get some funds. About the curse, I bought this bottle of Aqua Benedicta, it should keep you safe for a while¡±

    I take a second to identify the bottle.

    Aqua benedicta: a bottle filled with blessed water, it contains the holy attribute.

    It seems Luke is finally taking things seriously.

    ¡°This is great Luke! but maybe Hiraku should sit this one out¡±

    ¡°I know I screwed up, but I can still help young Ryu.¡±

    ¡°We need him Ryu, my n is as follows: Ryu, you will be holding the merchandise while Hiraku stays close to you keeping you safe and making sure she doesn¡¯t do anything weird. Whatever happens, I¡¯ll follow her stealthily and see where does she go after scamming you¡±

    ¡°Uhm, Luke... Why are you assuming I¡¯ll get scammed too?¡±

    I say awkwardly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be offended Ryu, but I was there and there was nothing we could¡¯ve done to stop her. I don¡¯t know if it was a spell or something, but we werepletely powerless. Don¡¯t worry Ryu, even if we don¡¯t get our money¡¯s worth after selling the medicine, we will be able to buy food produce in here and stock up the trading outpost. Hiraku should go back to Ironwoods and thene back with more medicine to sell in here¡±

    I¡¯ve been thinking this for a while now, but Luke is a lot more reliable now than when we first met. What he says not only makes sense, it will help Ironwoods prepare for the next winter while solving our current problem.

    ¡°Sounds like a good n, maybe you should do as Luke says, Hiraku¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but the only money we have is what we brought with ourselves. If I spend it in products, you¡¯ll be left with no means to live during this two weeks, let alone to pay for the curse removal. Even if Karl finds a priest, how are we supposed to pay for it?¡±

    ¡°Heh? you¡¯re forgetting who are we in the first ce¡±

    Luke smirked and kept speaking.

    ¡°We are heroes, I intend to sign up in the adventurers guild¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure that will be enough to keep us going until Hirakues back¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Ryu, I got it covered. All we need to do is get you to the morning market safely and you¡¯ll see what I¡¯m talking about¡±

    With this words Luke headed to his room and Hiraku did the same. I¡¯m left alone again, except now at least I have a purpose. First, I need to figure out how did that girl manage to steal from them so tantly without them realizing it. Second, I need to find a way to make a living in here, I¡¯m not sure if Luke¡¯s n will work out so I may need to find an alternative. And third, I have to find a solution to my curse.

    So far, as long as I stay in my room nothing bad has happened. Things werepletely different on the way here, but I think I¡¯ll be safe with this holy water. Now that I think about it, It is a good Idea to start trading with Crent as soon as we can, it does make sense. But this will leave mepletely at the mercy of Luke and he¡¯s been acting suspicious.

    Could it be he¡¯s trying to get rid of me?

    It was his idea to send Hiraku back to get more funds, it may be just an excuse to be left alone with me so he can say he ¡®failed¡¯ to protect me from the curse.

    I try to shake off the negative thoughts, but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. We¡¯ve had our rough patches and he may still be resented, everyone at the brothel knew he despised me. How am I supposed to trust him now?

    Next morning came and, as always, I¡¯m the first one to wake up. The inn is as cheap as it is bad, it makes me wonder why do they even have clients, but then again we¡¯re staying here so it must be a popr stop for desperate travelers running low on funds.

    We should have brought more money after all, I¡¯m not ustomed to sleeping in a ce like this. It makes me value a lot more what I have back home.

    Hiraku and Luke came dowsntairs and joined me on a disappointing breakfast. It may sound weird, but good food is really important for morale. This piece of ck bread hurt me more than any curse so far.

    When we first arrived at Crent it was already dark so I didn¡¯t get to see much, but now the scenery in front of me amazes me to no end. The streets are lively and filled with people walking with a smile on their faces, it¡¯s so different to Ironwoods where people always showed no signs of emotions. Except for the merchants, of course, who always kept a fake smile on their face.

    After that, the first thing I notice is how lightly everyone dresses. Being used to a cold weather, it really surprised me to see people with shirts and low cut dresses outside. A young girl passes next to me, she¡¯s wearing a small skirt and a tiny top leaving her bellypletely uncovered. Suddenly I start feeling somewhat hot, and it has little to do with the warmth of the morning sun hitting my face, and more with how revealing the clothes young girls and women wear in this city.

    It¡¯s been about ten days since I¡¯m far from Rina and it weights on my heart already. A man has his needs after all, or that¡¯s what Rina used to say after a deep sigh whenever I was in the mood for some night action. I just want toe back, but Luke is right, if we don¡¯t secure a trade route all this would have been for nothing. Even if we get rid of the curse, it wouldn¡¯t matter because we wouldn¡¯t be able to survive next winter.

    Luke led us to a ce filled with stands on the outskirts, people areing and going with baskets filled with all kinds of foods. Now I see what did Luke meant, there are vegetables, fish, meat, it¡¯s so varied and also cheap.

    ¡°Wow, if Rina saw this prices she would go nuts buying everything. But we need to take a good look before buying anything¡±

    I say while turning back to see Hiraku, who had his arms filled with many products. I keep ring at him and he starts putting the items back from where he took them, one by one very slowly.

    ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t help myself¡±

    Hiraku shrugged. Maybe the reason he got scammed wasn¡¯t a big mystery after all.

 Chapter 85

    Chapter 85: Beware of prettydies, please! part

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the n now?¡±

    I ask Luke.

    ¡°Now we need to set the bait. Just walk this street and she will find you, Hiraku you need to keep your distance, but stay alert. Now go, I¡¯ll be watching from a distance too.¡±

    ¡°How can you be so sure Luke?¡±

    I ask Luke, but he¡¯s nowhere to be found. It looks as if he vanished into thin air.

    Just as Luke told me, a pink haired girl stood in front of me. She has an angelic look but her smile is devious and, despite her good girl pose, there¡¯s something about her that makes me distrust her.

    ¡°Excuse me sir, are you going to sell those medicines by chance?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Uhm, I don¡¯t know, my partner got scammed yesterday so I¡¯m not really sure¡±

    ¡°Oh! that¡¯s too bad, I wonder who could be so mean to do something like that to an honest merchant. Anyway, my name is Mia It¡¯s a pleasure for you to meet me, hehe, I¡¯m just kidding actually I wonder where did you get such a great medicine, by the way I¡¯m in the medicine business too and I wouldn¡¯t mind sharing some hints...¡±

    Her rant goes on and on, I didn¡¯t get half of what she was saying and I¡¯m starting to feel dizzy already. I just let her talk until she starts getting tired.

    ¡°So, what do you say?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t paying attention, what did you just say?¡±

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re mean! And here I thought I was making a good friend¡±

    ¡°If you really want to make friends you should at least let them talk from time to time¡±

    ¡°Ehhh? but I¡¯m cute and funny, anyways, so what do you say¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m still lost, what did you ask me¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re willing to sell me those medicines you¡¯re carrying¡±

    ¡°Not really, I¡¯m just looking to buy some food¡±

    I shrug.

    ¡°Come on, don¡¯t be like that, I need that medicine and you could use the money to buy even more food, pretty please¡±

    She said leaning close to me, showing me a bit more skin than my deprived heart can take. So this is it? she tricked them both by showing her cleavage.

    ¡°Wait a second. Hey, Hiraku! Thisdy says she wants to buy our medicine¡±

    I call him to give her a scare, as soon as she recognizes him she will notice we know about what she did.

    ¡°Hello mister! hey! I remember you from yesterday, thank you so much for selling me your goods, they¡¯re a great hit on my shop¡±

    She said with a smile, she¡¯s eitherpletely shameless or didn¡¯t even notice.

    ¡°Ok girl, stop ying. We know what you did and we don¡¯t want to be scammed again¡±

    I almost growled at her.

    ¡°Uh? me? we did a fair trade, maybe you¡¯re mistaking me with someone else.¡±

    ¡°Well, if you want to keep ying dumb, I won¡¯t sell you anything¡±

    ¡°No! please wait! I swear on my life I didn¡¯t scam your friend. I need those medicines, please don¡¯t make me beg¡±

    Her eyes got teary and she ced her hands on her chest. I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯m not buying her good girl act.

    ¡°Fine, then I¡¯ll be on my way¡±

    I say and I turn my back on her, but then she stops me.

    ¡°Pfff, I didn¡¯t expect you to be immune to my charms... fine, I¡¯ll tell you anything you want to know on two conditions. First, you¡¯ll give me the medicine free of charge and second, I¡¯ll only talk to you at my shop¡±

    I didn¡¯t expect her to change so drastically, I could tell she tried to y me, but also I can somehow tell she¡¯s really desperate. There must be a reason why she can only speak to me in private.

    ¡°What do you say Hiraku?¡±

    ¡°It should be safe to go, and even if it¡¯s not the result we expected, it beats losing our medicine for nothing¡±

    He nodded and we followed her down the street. She walked in front of us and I couldn¡¯t help but notice the swaying movements of her hips, every step looked delightful, until she noticed it and red at me with a coldness that reminded me of the time when I had just met Anne.

    She took us to a big rundown shop in the outer rim of the city, it was still in the outskirts but on the east side. The first floor was spacious and the only furniture that could be seen was the counter. Mia didn¡¯t give us much time to look around the ce and went straight into the door.

    Much to my surprise Luke was already waiting in there.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°You should have just sold everything to me, now you forced my hand, you will not be able to leave this ce alive! Kekekeke!¡±

    Sheughed looking at me and raising her chin. Her whole demeanor changed, instead of angelic she looked demonic.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s with that weirdughter? Luke, Hiraku, restrain her!¡±

    Theypletely ignored me.

    ¡°You still don¡¯t understand do you? They are under my control now, I could ask them to kill you right now and they wouldn¡¯t even flinch¡±

    ¡°What, how!?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know, I don¡¯t know why my charm doesn¡¯t work on you but it doesn¡¯t matter. Now you¡¯ll tell me how do you make those potions or I¡¯ll kill you¡±

    ¡°Will you let me go if I do?¡±

    ¡°Of course¡±

    She grinned

    ¡°I don¡¯t trust you, how can I believe you when you lied to me already, you said you would answer my questions and the first thing you do once I set foot in here is to threaten me. Sorry, but if I¡¯m going to die anyway, at least I¡¯ll die knowing you didn¡¯t get what you wanted¡±

    ¡°O, ok just ask, I¡¯ll give you three questions¡±

    She stomped her feet making a tantrum.

    ¡°Wait, seriously?¡±

    Just how important are this potions for her?

    I thought maybe there was something I could do to y this in my favor.

    ¡°What are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a subus¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that doesn¡¯t answer my question so it doesn¡¯t count¡±

    I shrugged at the risk of making her angry.

    ¡°Just how ignorant are humans, well, it can¡¯t be helped since my kin is so good at hiding in in sight. I¡¯m a different race, we feed on human life essence so we need to live in human cities. Does that answer your question?¡±

    ¡°I suppose, now, What did you do to my friends? and bear in mind that I don¡¯t know anything about anything so... just exin to me as if I was a child¡±

    ¡°I just charmed them, it allows me tomand people and they¡¯ll do as I say. The only condition that must be met is that they must be aroused and my charisma must be superior¡±

    ¡°I see, so it didn¡¯t work on me because I wasn¡¯t aroused¡±

    ¡°Oh, you were aroused alright, my race can smell lust and I sensed you since you set foot outside the crappy in you were staying at¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but fill embarrassed by her statement, although it¡¯s not like I could¡¯ve said she was lying. Then the only other exnation must be that my charisma stat is higher than hers.

    ¡°Fine,st question, why do you need my potions so much?¡±

    I could tell she hesitated to answer, it took her a few seconds to make up her mind but in the end she did.

    ¡°Potions are an alternative for feeding to my race. They are tasteless, but its a way to keep hunger at bay. It¡¯s life essence we need and some potions have it, but your medicine has been the most effective so far¡±

    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t answer my question, I mean, you could have simply fed on people right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather die than feed on people¡±

    Up to this point I could tell she¡¯s been honest in everything she said, mainly because she told me things that, had I been on her situation, I would have kept a secret to my grave. That made me think that maybe she wasn¡¯t that bad, at least she didn¡¯t want to harm humans. Or so I thought, until she spoke again.

    ¡°I despise men, they¡¯re worse than bugs. Would you feed on bugs? cause I wouldn¡¯t¡±

    Her face was of pure disgust.

    ¡°Anyways, it¡¯s runningte and I have to go so...¡±

    I tried to leave the ce but Hiraku cut me on my way, his face lookedpletely in as if he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.

    ¡°It¡¯s no use, I told you they¡¯re under my control. Now tell me the ingredients of your medicine so I can make it on my own and I¡¯ll let you go¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t do such thing¡±

    .....

    ¡°But you promised!¡±

    ¡°what are you talking about? I simply said I didn¡¯t trust your word, now I¡¯m d you answered my questions but I made no promises¡±

    ¡°See? this is why I hate humans so much, especially men. Are you really going to make me kill you?¡±

 Chapter 86

    Chapter 86: Beware of prettydies, please! part

    Left with no choice but to fight, I pulled my sword to defend myself. Since I coated the de with the holy water Luke brought me, it¡¯s as if the curse waspletely lifted and I could finally use it properly.

    ¡°You! I knew there was something odd! You knew I was a subus!¡±

    ¡°uh? me?¡±

    I turned around to see if she was actually talking with someone else.

    ¡°Yes! you came to hunt me! how else can you exin that your sword is dripping holy water!¡±

    Her face went pale and her legs started shaking in fear.

    ¡°Uh! that¡¯s right! I knew it from before, so release mypanions now or die!¡±

    .....

    I lied through my teeth trying to scare her even more than she already was, but it turned out to be even more effective than I thought and she fell on her knees and started crying and begging.

    ¡°Please spare my life, I¡¯ll do anything, don¡¯t kill me please¡±

    Her attitude had changed so many times in just a few minutes that I didn¡¯t know which one was her true self.

    ¡°And why would I do that? what do I have to gain? even more, why should I trust you?¡±

    ¡°Bwahh, please I swear¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not enough for me. Don¡¯t you have any money at least?¡±

    ¡°How can you be so cruel? Since I don¡¯t feed on humans I¡¯m forced to spend all my earnings in healing potions, and that¡¯s merely enough to survive. I gave yourpanions all the money I had and I swear I would have paid the full price if I had it. I¡¯d really do anything, I¡¯ll be your ve, so please spare my life and you won¡¯t regret it¡±

    Her desperate cries softened my heart, but she hasn¡¯t released the guys so I¡¯m not yet safe.

    ¡°I don¡¯t trust you or even like you, besides you¡¯re not even a human so technically you can¡¯t be a ve. If people found out you¡¯re a subus they¡¯d simply kill you in the act. Why should I do something different when you offer me nopensation for stealing from us and trying to kill me? you¡¯re even controlling my friends right now¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be your pet!¡±

    She got on all fours and looked at me in what intended to be a cute pose, but instead looked like something out of a pervert¡¯s dream. If I had trouble having Rina to allow me to keep the dog, I can¡¯t see a way of her epting this one. But at least it¡¯ll take me out of this situation.

    ¡°Fine, then be a good girl and release them¡±

    She immediately pped her hands making them go back to normal. I expected them to be, at least confused, but they lookedpletely normal.

    ¡°Are you alright guys?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°You were just under the control of this subus¡±

    I lean closer to Luke and squint my eyes trying to notice any hint of the charm still active.

    ¡°Dude, why are you looking at me like that? you¡¯re creeping me out¡±

    Luke snarled.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t feel anything different?¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, I know what happened... but it¡¯s weird. It felt like being drunk and all the choices I made seemedpletely natural, and the next second I¡¯m sober again and a weird guy is right in front of my face¡±

    ¡°Yes, young Ryu. It¡¯s strange but I can¡¯t say anything we did was against our will really¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re telling me you intended to ambush me in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll exin master. My charm works exactly like booze, once it¡¯s over people may regret the consequences of their actions but not the action itself, since it makes them think it was all on them¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s dangerous. How can I be sure you won¡¯t try to pull another trick on us?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare do that master¡±

    She was still kneeling and acted quite submissive, but I can¡¯t let my guard down.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll believe you for now. So tell me, is this really your shop or did you steal it too?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a thief! I don¡¯t steal... when I can avoid it. This is my shop, I bought it with my own money¡±

    ¡°Ok guys, seems like we won¡¯t be staying at the inn anymore. This is going to be our new home by the time being¡±

    ¡°Are you sure young Ryu? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to trust her. She tried to make us kill you¡±

    ¡°What should we do then? turn her in to the authorities? what then? I agree we can¡¯t trust her, but we can¡¯t kick her out either or neighbors will start asking questions¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t try to kill you, If I did you would be dead already¡±

    Mia scoffed.

    ¡°You better stay quiet or I¡¯ll kick you out. Don¡¯t think for a second I¡¯m forgiving you. It¡¯s just we don¡¯t have a better alternative¡±

    ¡°Y-yes master¡±

    ¡°So, Hiraku, what do you think about this ce?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d need to take a look first, but so far I can tell it needs a lot of work and it¡¯s not going to be cheap. On the other hand, the location is good and it¡¯s huge, I¡¯d say its even bigger than our trading outpost back at Ironwoods¡±

    ¡°EHH!? You guys are southerners!? how can you have a ss?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Southerners are well known around here, most of them are ves because of their high strength status and low intelligence. The kingdom has been taking advantage of them because of that by leaving it in charge of a local baron¡±

    ¡°No, you must be mistaken. Mister Rudd told us that many barons hade before to Ironwoods iming they own thend, but they don¡¯tst much time over there because of its unforgiving weather¡±

    Hiraku rebutted.

    ¡°No way, I¡¯m not mistaken. I even considered escaping to Ironwoods in case I blew up my cover in here, so I investigated the town thoroughly. They have kept the people from acquiring a ss by forbidding the church from entering¡±

    I take a few seconds to ponder her words, but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. Dn said getting a ss is easy, all you have to do is meet the requirements and go to the oracle, but for some reason there wasn¡¯t an oracle at Ironwoods. People in town didn¡¯t even know about the existence of sses and it was considered a secret.

    ¡°Young Ryu, are you thinking what I¡¯m thinking?¡±

    Hiraku had a grim face.

    ¡°So... Ironwoods was a ve farm after all¡±

    Luke sighed.

    ¡°Not just that Luke. Do you remember Dn said his parents had sses?¡±

    ¡°Of course I remember, I¡¯m not an idiot. Who is Dn anyway? is it the guy who always follows Anne like a puppy?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to say he doesn¡¯t but that¡¯s pretty urate. Anyway, if what Mia says is true and Ironwoods is indeed a ve farm, it would make sense why no one knows about the ss system. How else can you exin that Dn¡¯s parents died if they were supposedly strong? they were murdered for knowing too much¡±

    ¡°So, this means, there¡¯s a traitor back in Ironwoods¡±

    ¡°Hey Mia, can you tell us the name of the baron?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry master, I don¡¯t know the name. Nobody knows actually, they just say it must be a baron because there are many barons without a known fief. What I told you is considered a secret, I acquired the information via special means. If the royals knew about what¡¯s going on over there they would punish anyone involved¡±

    ¡°Young Ryu! This means that my wife is in trouble! I need to go back now!¡±

    ¡°Hang on Hiraku, you can¡¯t just leave yet. There¡¯s something else bothering me. Back at mountainside we were attacked by dogs ¡®by mistake¡¯. Do you think that they would risk leaving people that may unwittingly reveal the secret without supervision? Mountainside is the only safe route to get here, so people over there must be acting as wardens. Maybe Bianca really wanted to destroy the town, erasing all the evidence in the process¡±

    ¡°But this would mean that all the trouble we went through to save Ironwoods was for nothing, and my wife is still in danger, I need to go back, we need to go back!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m worried about Rina and the others too, but we can¡¯t rush into action without a n. What they did to Ironwoods is evil, but well nned. They make people work willingly on the mines, raising their strength but keeping them from bing warriors so they cant defend themselves, and they can create famine whenever they want forcing people into legal very just to survive. Now we broke the chains, but people are still weak and without the means to grow their own food, all it would take to destroy the town is to block the trade routes.¡±

    ¡°Young Ryu, you know I usually trust your decisions, but this time I... I can¡¯t, It¡¯s Ayumi! I can¡¯t just leave her behind¡±

    ¡°I know how you feel but calm down. For all we know this people need to make everything look as clean as possible so they can¡¯t attack the town openly. What we need to do is make a thriving business in Crent and strengthen Ironwoods from here¡±

    ¡°Uh, maybe I¡¯m stating the obvious but why don¡¯t we just take our loved ones and move to another town?¡±

    ¡°Would you really forsake everyone at Ironwoods?¡±

    Luke nods without even thinking.

    ¡°That would be a poor idea. If we move out, we would be easy targets for bandits, beasts and any sort of man made ident. Making a few people disappear is a lot easier than destroying a whole town¡±

    ¡°Then, lets build a thriving business!¡±

    Mia stood up in a cheerful manner.

 Chapter 87

    Chapter 87: Beware of prettydies, please! part

    What lied behind the counter left me with no words, If the rest of the ce was rundown, this could only be described as tragic. I expected to find a workingb, not necessarily as good as Ayumi¡¯s, but I didn¡¯t expect something as pitiful as what I saw.

    ¡°What¡¯s this Mia? I thought you were running a business here¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my crafting station¡±

    ¡°But there¡¯s only a table and a shelf!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any merchandise, I was starving when I found your friends, I was so desperate I gave them all my money and drank the potions immediately¡±

    ¡°Just how many potions do you need to survive!?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I was starving I couldn¡¯t help myself!¡±

    .....

    ¡°How am I supposed to work here? There¡¯s nothing I can do without materials and equipment¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any reagents, but you could buy them downtown or request them at the adventurers guild. About the equipment, why would I need anything else? Can¡¯t you see my crafting station? It¡¯s one of the best ones money can buy¡±

    ¡°Hey Luke! could youe here please!?¡±

    I shout.

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°How would you like to be an adventurer?¡±

    A broad smile is painted on his face as he jumps forward.

    ¡°Of course! I¡¯ll be an S rank adventurer in no time!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great, but before you go taking difficult quests you¡¯ll need a party and better gear¡±

    ¡°What do you have in mind then?¡±

    ¡°I need you to go to Ironwoods with Hiraku, ande back with Bob¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think he needs help getting back, after all most beasts are pretty weak even for him¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but there may be bandits or worse. We can¡¯t allow anyone to travel alone. So you go with Hiraku ande back with Anne, Bob and Helena. Also, I need you to inform Rina about my new... pet...¡±

    I stare at Mia who looks like an ordinary upbeat girl, if she hadn¡¯t confessed she was a subus herself we wouldn¡¯t have notice there was anything weird with her. Fortunately she seems to be an airhead and that yed in our favor.

    ¡°By the way, should we wait for Karl?¡±

    ¡°Luke, this is really important, you cannot trust the mayor. I find it hard to believe that everything that he didn¡¯t realize what was happening in front of his face. Maybe he¡¯s not behind it, but he should at least be an aplice. I¡¯m asking you to do all this because you¡¯re the most reliable in the group, especially now that he¡¯s worried about Ayumi¡¯s safety¡±

    ¡°Yes leader!¡±

    After talking with Luke I went to the second floor where Hiraku was still inspecting the construction.

    ¡°Young Ryu, now I¡¯m certain this building can be repaired and even enhanced without having to tear it down. I could bring back some materials from Ironwoods to make some renovations¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s not need Hiraku, I know you want to stay by Ayumi¡¯s side. You can go back to Ironwoods today, be sure to send us some materials to make potions. Also, If possible, I¡¯d like to make ab for myself in here¡±

    ¡°Understood, I¡¯ll arrange things. There¡¯s only one thing that worries me young Ryu, are you going to be ok with that thing in here?¡±

    ¡°You mean Mia? she¡¯s harmless... after all its true that if she wanted us dead at least one of us would have died. Also, she feeds on life essence, but dislikes feeding on men. Before you say that it might be a lie, I don¡¯t think so. Look at this ce, it¡¯s obvious she¡¯s been spending her earnings in potions and that she drinks them right away. How else can someone exin that there¡¯s not a single potion in here? So, as long as she thinks I can provide her the potions she need, she¡¯ll behave¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know what it was like to be under her charm¡±

    ¡°Was it painful?¡±

    ¡°No, not really. It was like being drunk on emotions, and I felt that the sole purpose of my entire existence was to serve her¡±

    ¡°So... it was like... marriage?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re right young Ryu, it was almost as I feel when I think about Ayumi¡±

    ¡°Well then, I shouldn¡¯t be at risk anyway, like I said she needs us more than we need her. If anything happens to me or if youe back and I am under her charm you can just let the authorities know that she¡¯s a subus and they will take care of her¡±

    ¡°Also, if she tries to do anything funny I¡¯ll make sure she pays dearly. So much so that she will not dare do that again¡±

    ¡°I must say I missed you Ryu¡±

    Hiraku lets out a sigh.

    ¡°What do you mean Hiraku?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been so immersed in different tasks that we barely had the time to chattely. In the end, if it wasn¡¯t for the curse we wouldn¡¯t have made this trip. I have to tell you, things have been awkward in the group ever since you started your rtionship with miss Rina. Miss Anne and Miss Helena have been drifting away, also I don¡¯t know what¡¯s the deal with Bob but every time we talk about you he looks depressed and he avoided you like the gue when you came by the trade outpost¡±

    ¡°I think Bob is still mad at me because he thinks I let a lot of people die back at the hill, even though I did my best to save them. I bet things will go back to normal, especially now I asked Luke to bring him so they can be adventurers together. About Anne and Helena, I don¡¯t know what to do. They said they were going out of town for a while, but then many things happened and I ended up leaving Ironwoods before them¡±

    ¡°Let me give you a piece of advice young Ryu, I don¡¯t really know if you are from the same ce we are, but in this world things are different. A man can have more than one wife, just as a woman can have more than one husband¡±

    ¡°You say that, but I know you only have eyes for Ayumi¡±

    ¡°Uhm... Well, things areplicated¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the rumors are true, do you really have a thing with Sophie!? I mean, I¡¯ve seen her get into your room many times but I always thought it was to clean up or something... she¡¯s a ve! And how did you get Ayumi on board with this? You must tell me¡±

    ¡°Like I said... things areplicated. Ayumi would have killed me if I hadid eyes on another woman, but things are different because it was she who did. She took interest in Sophie and it was mutual at first I was against it, but it improved our life so much¡±

    I can¡¯t even begin to understand how things developed that way. They were so close and I¡¯ve seen Ayumi act jealous so many times I never thought a scenario like that would be possible.

    ¡°Why are you telling me all this?¡±

    ¡°Well young Ryu, it¡¯s more than obvious that there are many girls interested in you and I think that¡¯s one of the problems that made us all drift away in a sense. What I mean is, if you had epted them both from the start you would have spared yourself and the rest of us a lot of trouble¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but I don¡¯t know how I feel about being with more than one person¡±

    ¡°And feelings are important, im not saying they¡¯re not. But take me as an example, my love for my wife knows no bounds and still in the end we were just another married couple back at our world. We had been together for so long that we were no longer attracted physically to each other, at least not as much as we were when we first started our rtionship. It wasn¡¯t bad, but just like any other marriage things got cold eventually. Then we came back to a different world and our bodies are at our peak, it was like a second honeymoon. I may not look like it but I¡¯m well past fifty you know, and Ayumi, no, wait... I can¡¯t tell you her age or she would kill me. Anyways, my point is, that even thatsted only for a while and then she went her own way doing experiments.¡±

    ¡°Could it be that she no longer feels the same for you as she did before?¡±

    ¡°Please young Ryu, don¡¯t say such things. Ipletely understand her, she¡¯s always been driven by her studies, I knew her like that and I have always respected her schrly side. But as you know, being in a younger body also means having a young man¡¯s libido¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I feelfortable with this conversation anymore Hiraku¡±

    ¡°Well, you should. I know you and Rina have been ying doctor, everyone knows so there¡¯s no point in trying to hide it. If you can do the deed you can talk about it, at least that¡¯s what I told Bob when he brought Veronika to live with us. Anyway, you should talk with miss Rina about this, worst case scenario things will remain the same, but if there¡¯s at least a small chance for everyone at our group to be happy, you should go for it. Anyways young Ryu, I should get going now, so if you excuse me¡±

    Hiraku¡¯s words kept floating on my mind even after they left. All I could think about was in how would my life be right now If I had taken Anne and Helena too as my girlfriends. Well, my nights would have been a lot busier that¡¯s for sure. But it also would have made things easier for Rina, I know some nights she wasn¡¯t really in the mood but she still tried to make me happy. I have a lot more stamina than her so it must have been troublesome for her too.

    I also know how Anne feels, after we talked it was clear to me that she could hear me and Rina those nights. If only I could turn back time.

    These were myst thoughts until I fell asleep in the only bed avable at what used to be Mia¡¯s shop.

 Chapter 88

    Chapter 88: Beware of prettydies, please! part

    I woke up in the middle of the night with something weighing heavy on my chest. It got to the point that it got difficult to breathe so I tried to remove it but I was in an awkward position and it was difficult.

    Somehow I managed to free one hand from the nkets and reached for whatever was on top of me. It was a soft substance and, in my attempt to grab it, I ended up squeezing it tightly.

    ¡°Eeeek!¡±

    Mia let out a yelp.

    ¡°What are you doing in here Mia?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s only one bed in this ce and you took it. Where was I supposed to sleep?¡±

    ¡°I don0t know, the floor maybe?¡±

    .....

    ¡°How can you be so cruel to ady! let me go, please, it hurts¡±

    My first instinct was to let her go, but I decided to squeeze even harder.

    ¡°Lady? whatdy? don¡¯t forget you tried to steal from me and took control over my friends, you¡¯re only alive because you¡¯re my pet now. I won¡¯t tolerate you climbing up to my bed at night¡±

    ¡°Nggg please, it hurts, stop.¡±

    ¡°Good, this is to you remind you of your position. I don¡¯t trust you getting close to me, especially when I¡¯m alone. You won¡¯t die for sleeping in the floor, now get out of my room if you don¡¯t want any more of this¡±

    ¡°Y-yes¡±

    ¡°Yes what?¡±

    ¡°Yes master¡±

    She replied meekly and I could hear her get out of the room. She may be acting all nice now, but I still remember the face she made when she had me cornered. If I let my guard down with her I¡¯ll be dead or worse, I may be one of her puppets. Too bad I still need her around or I would have dealt with her already.

    I had trouble sleeping the rest of the night, not only in fear that she mighte back, but I was restless and couldn¡¯t tell why.

    Waking up, or more like getting up because I felt as if I didn¡¯t sleep a minute after Mia left, I realized how hungry I was. Fortunately we bought enough supplies yesterday, even though Hiraku took the most part to Ironwoods, I still have enough tost a month. So I went downstairs to the kitchen and only then do I realize there¡¯s no cookware at all.

    ¡°MIA!¡±

    I call for her shouting in anger.

    ¡°Y-yes m-m-master¡±

    ¡°Stop stuttering, I¡¯m not buying the nice shy girl act anymore. Where¡¯s the cookware?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯m a subus, I only had the kitchen to keep appearances. I don¡¯t need to cook and when my business went bankrupt I ended up selling everything to buy health potions¡±

    ¡°How am I supposed to prepare breakfast then...¡±

    ¡°Master please forgive me. If you want I can go to the market and get you what you need¡±

    ¡°Like I¡¯ll trust you with my money. I only have five gold coins left and I need to save up as much as I can to make potions for selling. Take me to the cksmith¡±

    ¡°Why the cksmith? there are many stores with everything you need to cook¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s cheaper, also I need to have some stuff made. Why am I even exining this to you! you should just do as I say¡±

    ¡°Yes master, please don¡¯t get angry¡±

    I don¡¯t know what¡¯s this unsettling feeling I¡¯ve been getting, but every time I look at her I feel uneasy.

    I started to pour some holy water on my de, since it¡¯s the only way to appease the curse and my safety depends on keeping it at bay, but when Mia saw me doing it her eyes got teary and she started shaking. It¡¯s true that I don¡¯t trust her and I really want to get rid of her, but that doesn¡¯t mean I would kill her.

    I thought of just making some potions for her and then kick her out. I don¡¯t like killing things, especially sentient creatures. I somehow became numb to fish, but whenever I saw Anne hunt it gave me the chills. Maybe that¡¯s the reason I wanted to keep the amarok, after all he seemed to be intelligent and, despite his appearance, he¡¯s just a pup.

    Maybe that¡¯s it! The feeling I¡¯ve been getting is because I¡¯ve been mistreating Mia. If she behaves well I¡¯ll start treating her in a more polite manner.

    The cksmith turned out to be just around the corner and it didn¡¯t take us more than fifteen minutes to acquire everything I needed. A cooking pot, a huge cauldron, cutlery, a good knife for cutting vegetables, another for meat, just about everything I needed.

    I hurried back almost leaving Mia behind, because she was carrying everything, and started preparing my breakfast. I made a fish soup and an omelette, nothing fancy really, just what I felt like cooking. I love having soup for breakfast, actually, I just love soup for every meal.

    I sat on the table to eat and Mia took a seat in front of me. It was a little awkward because she doesn¡¯t need to eat food, but since I don¡¯t like eating alone I considered it a nice gesture.

    ¡°By the way Mia, how many potions do you need to drink daily?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, one a day is just enough to keep me alive. I would say I¡¯m ok now because I drank many of your high quality potions, but since I spent so much mana controlling your friends yesterday I¡¯m starting to feel a bit hungry already¡±

    ¡°My potions are not high quality, it¡¯s just that the ones you make are crap¡±

    ¡°How can you tell when you haven¡¯t seen any of them? My alchemy skill is amazing you know!¡±

    ¡°Oh really, I¡¯ll see it for myself then. What kind of potions are cheap to make and easy to sell?¡±

    ¡°In a city like this any kind of potion you make is going to sell eventually. You just need to respect the price table and everything will be alright¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the price table?¡±

    My question is followed by an awkward silence.

    ¡°I mean, who sets the prices and how does it work... it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t know what a price table is, ok?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes master, I wouldn¡¯t dare to offend you master. Since it¡¯s a big city there are plenty of opportunities for any kind of merchant. But the price must be regted because of people who try to y with the market and they take that issue very seriously in here. In order to keep people from doing shady businesses the merchant association keeps an eye on the market prices¡±

    ¡°Is there a way to join the merchant¡¯s association?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not impossible, but I would advice against it. Those people y dirty, it¡¯s better to have a small operation because if you¡¯re noticed by a greedy merchant your business may go bankrupt like mine did¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what happened to you, I thought you just drank your merchandise like a glutton¡±

    My words seemed to embarrass her.

    ¡°Please master, don¡¯t say those things. It¡¯s kind of a racial nder you know?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to offend you... this time, but exin me so I understand the reasoning behind it being an insult¡±

    ¡°Well, you see... my race feeds on the life essence of people who get aroused by us¡±

    I nod prompting her to continue.

    ¡°So... we feed on their... uhm... the thing is, well, the most efficient way for us to feed is consuming bodily fluids¡±

    ¡°So, calling a subus a glutton is like calling her a whore?¡±

    Mia hides her face behind her hands and she¡¯s blushing so much it¡¯s as if steam came out of her.

    ¡°I see now, so that¡¯s the reason you don¡¯t like feeding on men. Have you ever done it before?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me such questions please¡±

    She seems reluctant to answer, but any piece of information I can get may be useful to better understand her. I need to know if there is something I can do to build some trust in between us, at least until Hirakues back.

    I take one of the six potions I had left and put it on the table.

    ¡°If you answer my questions and behave properly, I¡¯ll give you this¡±

    Her eyes started glimmering in hopes of getting her hands on the potion I just showed her and suddenly she was open to any question I wanted to ask.

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve never done that. When my race hits puberty we undergo a series of changes. Our skin gets smoother, our breast start growing, also...¡±

    ¡°Hey, I know what puberty is!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that. When we are infant we eat regr food, but after puberty we start needing... uhm... something else¡±

    ¡°I see. When you feed off of someone, does that person suffer? is it harmful for them?¡±

    ¡°Not really, we are different to vampires. Vampires drink blood, without blood a person dies. We, instead, feed of substances that are not necessary. There are very few cases in which a subus kills their food¡±

    ¡°and by that you mean, takes a human life...¡±

    ¡°Yes. We only kill to protect our secret and by mistake¡±

    ¡°by... mistake?¡±

    ¡°idents happen, you know¡±

 Chapter 89

    Chapter 89: Beware of prettydies, please! part

    After our conversation I gave Mia her much deserved potion and she gulped it in one go. Her face reddened and she drew her hands close to her crotch area and started moaning. I couldn¡¯t strand my eyes from the scene in front of me, it was quite pleasurable just seeing her, until she noticed my stare and winked at me seductively.

    I really can¡¯t stand this anymore, If I don¡¯t see Rina soon I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll go hit the red light district, if there¡¯s one. I hope she can forgive me. No, what am i thinking, I¡¯m not an animal, maybe I fell for her charm skill. Yes, that must be it...

    After drinking the potion she became a lot more energetic and also, more beautiful. It was as if her face shined and her eyes were filled with feminine allure. Also, her kind and angelic aura came back.

    If someone told me she was a saint I would believe it, her benign aura was even stronger than Helena¡¯s, which is a lot.

    Anyways, I roll my sleeves and start preparing a tonic. It¡¯s true that I don¡¯t have my distiller, not even ab, but a cauldron should be enough to make a basic medicine. Something like the medicinal infusion I used to make back at our settlement.

    Since I don¡¯t have any medicinal herbs at hand, I make good use of the vegetables at mi disposal. Although cooking some carrots and garlic in a cauldron may not seem very medicinal, it will be once I mix it with one of the potions I have left.

    When I do so, Mia stares at me as if I was wasting the ingredients, but she didn¡¯t say anything. The only reason I noticed was because her body seemed to react when I was pouring the content of the ss vial on the, now cold, mix of vegetables.

    .....

    Tonic: provides a decent amount of nourishment, small healing properties.

    This is a lot better than what I used to drink when I had a stomachache, and a single potion was enough to make a whole cauldron of it.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to open the shop Mia¡±

    ¡°This is a scam! you can¡¯t sell these health potions!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a scam at all, it¡¯s not a health potion but a tonic. It¡¯s not unusual for people to be so weak after drinking a health potion that they can¡¯t move for several minutes or even hours, that happens because they don¡¯t have enough nutrients in their bodies. If you drink a health potion and then a tonic, you can diminish that side effect¡±

    ¡°Is this really a tonic master?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you try it yourself¡±

    She grabbed the copperdle and took a sip of it, then another and then drank it¡¯s content entirely. I managed to stop her before she went to the cauldron for seconds.

    ¡°So, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s taste is so sweet! I don¡¯t know if this will feed me properly, but ever since I became an adult food tastes like ashes in my mouth. I missed the vor so much¡±

    Her eyes got teary and she tried to hug me, but she got my hand on her face stopping herpletely.

    ¡°Excuse me master, I don¡¯t know what got into me, you know¡±

    ¡°Is everything ready to open?¡±

    ¡°Yes master! it¡¯s a bitte, but I think people will stille. I used to be quite popr...¡±

    ¡°I know! stop bbering and go open then¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Just like she said, it was toote to open, most shops are open from first hour in the morning. I know that, but it¡¯s not like I can just sit on my ass the whole day. Im running low on funds and I only have enough holy water for a few days, If I don¡¯t find a way to make money fast I¡¯ll start with another bad luck streak.

    The first customer was an elderly man. He had a grey mustache and walked with the help of a wooden cane. His back was a little hunched by his age and his eyes were squinted, he looked like a frail old man, but his attire looked brand new.

    ¡°Wee mister, how are you feeling today?¡±

    ¡°Oh, miss Mia, just a little bit tired that¡¯s all. I¡¯m so d to see you got back on your feet again, I knew you would¡±

    ¡°Thank you mister Johan¡±

    Mia said taking his hands in between hers.

    ¡°Anyway miss Mia, forgive me if I¡¯m in a hurry but I didn¡¯t expect to see you open today. I¡¯ll take a healing potion please.¡±

    ¡°Uhm, I¡¯m sorry but we don¡¯t have any. May I interest you in a tonic maybe?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, the doctor told me I needed to drink a health potion at least three times a week and I¡¯m a day past already. Maybe I should go to the oak street alchemist¡±

    The old man sighed looking disappointed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what mister Johan, since you¡¯re one of my loyal customers I¡¯ll sell you a 50% off tonic, and if you don¡¯t like it I¡¯ll give you back your money!¡±

    ¡°Oh miss Mia, would that really be ok?¡±

    ¡°Of course! anything for my dear customers!¡±

    The old man returned Mia¡¯s gentle smile with one of his own.

    He drank the tonic as soon as he got it, at first he made a disgusted face, but then he started gulping it down as if it was the most delicious thing.

    ¡°What do you say? did you like it?¡±

    ¡°It tastes really bad, but... It made me feel a lot better immediately! I can¡¯t wait to tell my neighbors!¡±

    The client put a silver coin on the counter and winked at Mia as he ran darted back outside. He looked ten years younger than when he came in.

    It seems he did tell his neighbors because the shop was filled in no time and we ran out of tonic in about an hour. Mia closed the shop amidst promises to give priority to the customers who didn¡¯t manage to get a tonic as soon as we make more.

    ¡°Mia... I¡¯m really amazed at your social skills. We made a killing today, I wouldn¡¯t mind keeping you around if you behave properly¡±

    ¡°I told you I was popr!¡±

    ¡°Well... yes... But what surprised me the most was how well you get along with everyone. You remember their names and everything. Your manners are proper and you treat everyone with respect and kindness. If you acted like that with us we could have got along in a much more positive way¡±

    ¡°About that... it¡¯s a bitplicated. When a subus starves we be a bit aggressive you know. I didn¡¯t want to harm you or be mean to your friends, but I was desperate. I had enough to drink with the potions your friends gave me, but I really needed the ones you had¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still not an excuse to steal from others, I needed them too, It could be said that my life also depended on selling those. Well, I won¡¯t forgive you that easily, but at least now I know what you went through so I¡¯ll try to be nicer to you¡±

    ¡°Thank you master¡±

    She tried to hug me again.

    ¡°No physical contact, I have a girlfriend, ok?¡±

    ¡°Oh! really? but you smell like a virgin!¡±

    ¡°Can you really smell that, no wait, what did you just say?¡±

    ¡°Of course we can smell that, as easy as it is for you to smell different dishes. Your smell is so good I almost couldn¡¯t stop myself yesterday¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s why you went to my bed¡±

    She nods awkwardly, until a loud knocking on the door interrupted our conversation.

    ¡°Do you have any idea who could it be?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not expecting anyone master, I lived all by myself and no onees when the shop is closed¡±

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s not Hiraku, because that would mean he ran into trouble¡±

    As soon as Mia opens the door a youngdy in a day dress gets in, apanied by another woman wearing heavy armor.

    ¡°What do we have here? didn¡¯t I tell you I wanted you out of business? do you enjoy making me beat you up or something¡±

    ¡°No! please miss Ath, it¡¯s not what you¡¯re thinking¡±

    Mia managed to say before the blond girl pulled her hair.

    ¡°Hey! hey! what¡¯s going on in here?¡±

    I yell and get closer putting my hand on the hilt of my sword, but the other woman stops me.

    ¡°This is none of your business peasant, I¡¯m talking to this trash here¡±

    ¡°Do not talk like that to my employees please, if you have any business you have to run it by me¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re the responsible for the rumors I¡¯ve been getting about a miracle tonic¡±

    She lifted an eyebrow and came closer to me and the other woman made way for her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have to answer your questions¡±

    ¡°Actually, you do. I¡¯m the representative of the merchant association. If I say a business is closed, then it¡¯s closed¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know any of that. I just bought this ce from the miss you¡¯re mistreating¡±

 Chapter 90

    Chapter 90: Don¡¯t forget to haggle, please! part

    The blond girls seemed to be surprised by my statement, and her attitude shiftedpletely.

    ¡°I am deeply sorry mister...¡±

    ¡°My name is Ryu¡±

    ¡°Just Ryu?¡±

    Her face showed disgust for a split second, but she hid it right away behind a perfect business smile.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know this business was bought, it seems like Mia finally grew a brain and made a good decision. So, about that tonic, are you really the one who made it?¡±

    ¡°That is correct¡±

    .....

    ¡°Are you willing to sell the recipe?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re from the merchant¡¯s association I¡¯m sure you know that I can¡¯t simply part of my recipe, at least not now that we¡¯re making good money. We are the only ones selling it after all¡±

    ¡°And you do have a vending license, correct?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I haven¡¯t had the time to get one yet¡±

    This is bad, I didn¡¯t know anything about a license.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look so worried mister Ryu, you can get one right now. All you need to do is pay me one gold coin and I¡¯ll settle the matter for you¡±

    I look at Mia to check if what the woman is saying is true and she nods in response. It seems she¡¯s not lying at least, so I pay her the gold coin immediately.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised, you¡¯re supposed to pay a few silver coins in advance and the rest in small payments during the year, but I¡¯m d this business came to the hands of a capable man like you mister Ryu. I understandpletely that you don¡¯t want to sell the recipe and you¡¯re free to keep it, but I¡¯m really interested in your product so, why don¡¯t we make business?¡±

    ¡°I would be d, as long as I can profit¡±

    ¡°Of course, you would be selling me all your products at three silver coins and I¡¯ll distribute them to the rest of the shops at the same price¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually more expensive than I thought so I¡¯ll dly sell it, But if you intend to sell it at the same price you wouldn¡¯t be making any profit¡±

    She giggled at my remark, her smile doesn¡¯t look fake like the ones stered into the merchants I met back at Ironwoods and she¡¯s really cute too, but I still have some distrust feelings. Something in my gut tells me she¡¯s looking at me the way a predator looks at their prey.

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but it¡¯s my duty as representative of the merchants association to make sure that every merchant has a fair shot at making money. I can¡¯t force you to share your recipe, but if you¡¯re not willing to share, even after being offered a fairpensation, then I could forbid the product entirely¡±

    ¡°I understand. It seems fair, but I would need that in writing.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m always prepared.¡±

    She took a ck paper and wrote a pretty neat contract. All the terms were correct, the amounts of money too and it didn¡¯t have any small letters. It was just a straightforward bulk selling contract.

    ¡°Everything seems to be correct, If I understand properly this contract is mandatory for a month and it can be renewed afterwards¡±

    ¡°That is correct, If I didn¡¯t set a time it would force you to uphold the contract forever, that would be just like very and we merchants believe in fair trading¡±

    I signed the paper after making sure everything was alright, but a pping sound made me look behind my back. It was Mia facepalming.

    ¡°Is everything alright Mia?¡±

    ¡°Yes master, please don¡¯t mind it.¡±

    ¡°I look forward to working with you mister Ryu, we will make a fortune with this product.¡±

    She smirked and then left along with the soldier woman.

    ¡°What was that about Mia?¡±

    ¡°Master, I think you made a mistake. You shouldn¡¯t be selling to other merchants because they always find a way to pay less and earn more.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that she gives me an odd feeling, but she seemed honest when talking about business¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but still... she was the one responsible of my downfall. When she found out I was selling quality products at low price tomon people she came to my shop and offered me the same deal. I had to work a lot that month just to uphold the contract, by the time I was able to resign I was left penniless¡±

    ¡°As long as she follows the contract, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s gonna be a problem¡±

    ¡°Wow, you must really be confident in your haggling skill¡±

    ¡°My... what?¡±

    ¡°Just as I thought, you don¡¯t know. Everyone can buy and sell products, but merchants are special because of their skills. Most of them have the identify skill which allows them to know the special properties of an item, but every single one of them has the haggle skill and it¡¯s the most important too. Haggle allows them to buy at a reduced price and sell at a higher price... so, even if she says she¡¯s going to pay 3 silver coins to you, it¡¯s more likely she won¡¯t be paying more than 10% of the amount¡±

    ¡°Is that how you managed to buy everything from Hiraku paying so little?¡±

    ¡°Not really, I don¡¯t have the haggle skill. I just fake it using my racial skill charm, that¡¯s how I started my business.¡±

    ¡°Anyways, the contract is signed already and we will need to uphold it, so I¡¯ll prepare some more tonic. I need you to buy medicinal herbs, some wooden chests and ss vials while the market is still open, so please hurry up.¡±

    I order Mia after handing her a purse with silver coins. That should be enough money to buy everything, but it¡¯s not that much she might be tempted to run away with it.

    The rest of the day I kept myself busy preparing as much tonic as I could, I spent every single health potion I had so I¡¯ll have to craft some more tomorrow. It would be great to have a distiller, but since Mia can use the craftman station I could ask her to make some and teach me how to use it too.

    Mia came back before dusk with everything I asked her, I went outside to grab some stones and came back inside.

    I nailed some small wood pieces vertically with enough separation to fit a column of tonic vials one on top of the other and, after making a hole in the bottom, I used magic to shape the stone into a sort of mechanism that will keep the bottom closed. It¡¯s some sort of circr lock that can only be turned if it has a silver coin inside.

    The only thing left is to adjust how many times it needs to be turned before it unlocks the wooden box allowing it¡¯s content to be taken.

    Mia looks at me the whole time in silence, she¡¯s proven to be a lot more helpful than I thought initially and, if she¡¯s been telling me the truth she may be a good person. It seems her only sin is to be too naive for her own good. Also, I really don¡¯t like being alone and it¡¯s been nice having her around.

    After finishing my task I wipe my forehead with my sleeve, It was very difficult to make everything work the way I wanted, but the feeling of aplishment is something iparable. After that I repeated the process a few times, every time it became just a bit easier but I didn¡¯t get any system message so it seems there¡¯s not skill rted to what I¡¯m doing, except for carpentry maybe, but I already leveled it to the maximum.

    ¡°I think I need to take a bath¡±

    I mutter after realizing I became all sweaty after the hardbor.

    ¡°I do have a bath and there¡¯s already enough water in the water deposit¡±

    Mia says proudly.

    ¡°Oh! I thought bathing in water was something only the nobles did¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s notmon formoners to take baths, but I was a sessful merchant and taking baths holds a special meaning to people in our race¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°My race needs to keep appearances to find prey after all, but that¡¯s not everything. It seems our sweat has some special properties and if we don¡¯t clean thoroughly it can affect people around us¡±

    ¡°Hmm, maybe it could be used to prepare some kind of potion¡±

    I look at Mia for a couple seconds, if I find a way to use her sweat as a reagent I could make all sorts of potions with varied effects. It seems that she Misinterpreted my intentions because she covered her cleavage with her hand and blushed slightly.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take a bath now¡±

    I say as I walk to my room to get some clean clothes. Mia brings me a towel and leads me to the bathroom.

    ¡°It¡¯s in here master, is there anything else I can help you with?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ok Mia, thank you¡±

    Even after my words she stays inside the bathroom making it a bit awkward, I can¡¯t start getting undressed until she leaves, so instead fill up the tab and start heating up the water by casting fire magic.

 Chapter 91

    Chapter 91: Don¡¯t forget to haggle, please! part

    ¡°uhm, what are you doing Mia?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m waiting for your orders.¡±

    ¡°You can go.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mia replies swiftly, but doesn¡¯t move a muscle until it starts getting even more awkward.

    ¡°Do you need something?¡±

    She blushes softly and shakes her head.

    .....

    ¡°Then what are you still doing here? you can go now.¡±

    ¡°Yes master.¡±

    Mia turns back and walks stiffly towards the exit. The bathroom is quite spacious, it has a small stool, a bathtub and some drawers, but no curtains. Something tells me that she was expecting me to undress in front of her, I wonder what¡¯s going on inside her head sometimes.

    Thanks to my ability to use fire magic I was able to warm the water a little, but it¡¯s still too cold to befortable. The way I did it was cing my hands below the water surface and doing the same thing I did whenever I wanted to ignite a fire but I wonder if there¡¯s a better method. Since I¡¯m already inside the bath tub I start focusing heat surrounding my whole body and the results were instantaneous.

    As soon as I did that the water started warming up really fast and when it reached afortable temperature I simply stopped. Thanks to my constant use of magic my mana pool is quiterge, at leastpared to how it was when I was able to cast fire magic the first time.

    This is the first proper bath I¡¯ve taken, it¡¯s sofortable, I feel as if I was melting into the water and my mind drifts away for a few minutes.

    It is true that she has been a lot more helpful than I initially thought, and since she¡¯s a subus living amidst humans it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that her life is in my hands now so the chances of her turning against me are pretty slim, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll get close to her. I¡¯m sure that Luke would have already taken advantage of her, he became a known yboy at the brothel and from what I¡¯ve heard from their ves he¡¯s always having fun with them.

    But I have Rina waiting for me back at Ironwoods, All I can think about now is to get rid of this pesky curse and go back as soon as I can. If Hiraku seeds in creating a trading route we will have enough supplies tost this winter and, as long as there¡¯s no direct action from the mysterious people behind the n to turn Ironwoods into a ve farm, I think everything will be ok.

    I almost fell asleep while giving free reins to my thoughts and Ipletely lost track of time. Only when the water started getting cold I noticed that I had spent too much time inside the tub, my fingers look like those of an old man.

    I drag myself to my bed falling asleep immediately.

    Next day I woke uppletely refreshed and started my morning routine. Some light exercise, pouring holy water on my de, preparing breakfast and then I realize I don¡¯t know where Mia is. I look for her around the house but she¡¯s nowhere to be found. I worry for a quick second but then I remember that there¡¯s also the store, so I head over there.

    I though I¡¯d find her sleeping, but she was already up and brooming the ce.

    ¡°Good morning master, wow you look great¡±

    ¡°I have a girlfriend so, don¡¯t flirt or I¡¯ll kick you out¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, you really do look different master. I don¡¯t know how to say it, but you look... healthier? anyways, sorry for the misunderstanding¡±

    I feel bad for always thinking bad of her, but it seems I can¡¯t find it in myself to trust her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, so, what are you doing up so early?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry¡±

    She says while looking at the floor.

    ¡°Uh? Do you need another health potion already? It¡¯s not like those grow on trees and we¡¯re running low. Anyways, why don¡¯t we go to the craftman station and you show me how to use it¡±

    ¡°Yes master!¡±

    Mia replies with a fresh smile.

    We head to the workshop and I pay close attention to the crafting process. Mia went to a drawer where she put the herbs she bought yesterday on what looked like a solid metal block with a magic circle simr to those Bob used to draw on the ground with a stick back at the settlement engraved on it. Then she ced a ss vial and it started filling quickly as the herbs disappeared, it looked as if they just disappeared into thin air, but on closer inspection I noticed that they sort of melted and started going through the magic circle until they reached the ss bottle that was ced on a small circle on the tip of a star.

    ¡°It¡¯s done!¡±

    Mia exims proudly.

    ¡°Wait, that¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°What else did you expect master?¡±

    ¡°You ced a hefty amount of medicinal herbs over there and you just got one potion. Also, what was that about the recipe I heard about?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s usually like this, you need a lot of medicinal herbs to create a potion and that¡¯s why they are so expensive. Although I¡¯ve heard that there are better craftman stations that store excess materials, but this one is not that advanced so the process is a bit wasteful. About the recipe, I know it from memory so there¡¯s no need to even look at it¡±

    I was just about to ask her how does it work, when a loud knock was heard on the door.

    ¡°Master, it must be them!¡±

    Mia looked pained, but I¡¯m calm. If things don¡¯t go my way today, it would only mean I would have to spend more time working, but I have the feeling everything is going to be alright. It could be because I feel so refreshed, but I¡¯m feeling optimist today.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Mia, let¡¯s go greet our customers¡±

    When Mia opened the door, the same blond girl walked in, this time wearing a different dress that looked even more expensive than the one she was wearing yesterday. The woman in te armor follows her closely from behind, since she¡¯s wearing a full helmet I can¡¯t tell her facial expressions, the only thing I can see properly are her blue eyes.

    ¡°Good day mister Ryu, I hope you have my order ready¡±

    ¡°Of course miss Ath¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t see it, hurry up and bring the tonics¡±

    She scoffed at me, she¡¯s clearly looking at me as her inferior.

    ¡°It¡¯s all inside this boxes¡±

    She red at me, probably wondering why am I smiling.

    ¡°Fine, lets proceed then. ording to your contract you need to provide me at least ten tonics per day for a full month and you can¡¯t sell them to anyone else. In exchange for that, if you produce more than the required amount I¡¯m forced to buy them all¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s really no need to revise the contract, it¡¯s just as you said. So, let¡¯s proceed with business¡±

    I show the boxes to Ath and she checks the contents, after counting everything she starts smiling confidently, takes out her purse and starts counting coins.

    ¡°Hand them over to my shieldmaiden please¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I can¡¯t do that, you see, since this tonic was crafted by your request I made sure to add special security measures. This, of course, is to make sure that none other than miss Ath is able to get their hands on the content¡±

    ¡°Interesting, I see you¡¯re quite the capable man¡±

    Once again I felt as if she was mocking me but I didn¡¯t react.

    ¡°So, how does this work?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple, the tonics are inside those locked wooden boxes and the only way to open the lock is to put a silver coin inside and spin the gear until it falls, you need to do so three times for every tonic inside so the price will be correct¡±

    ¡°What if they simply steal the box¡±

    ¡°As you can see, there are three boxes nailed to the counter. If someone tried to forcefully take them or if they attempted to pick the lock, the ss vials would break and the content would be lost¡±

    ¡°Hmm, quite ingenious. Are you willing to sell those boxes?¡±

    I can tell she¡¯s starting to get nervous

    ¡°Of course not, we only sell medicine¡±

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll be paying you the amount and you can take the content for me¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry miss Ath, but I am not your employee, you could ask your assistant to do so if you wish¡±

    ¡°No, but... I just need the tonics, we made a deal¡±

    ¡°Yes, but the contract doesn¡¯t say anything about the delivery method, except that you will being daily to pick up the products, so I¡¯m free to deliver however I see fit. Is this a problem?¡±

    Ath¡¯s brows start twitching, she¡¯s not even hiding her emotions anymore.

    ¡°I just find it bothersome, could you please...¡±

    ¡°Do you really expect me to let you use your haggle skill on me so you can pay less than the agreed price? I may look simple, but I¡¯m not an idiot¡±

    I cut her short and get close to Ath, but the blond woman apanying blocks my way. So I stop at a safe distance and continue.

    ¡°Now, if you¡¯re so kind, please don¡¯t forget to buy up to thest tonic¡±

 Chapter 92

    Chapter 92: Don¡¯t forget to haggle, please! part

    Ath starts activating the device in a disgruntled manner, every coin she ces in the lock is like a drop of blood leaving her body. By the time she managed to open the first box she was already running low on funds, it was clear she didn¡¯t have enough money on her to pay for the rest of the tonics.

    ¡°Mia stop giggling, she¡¯s going to notice¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry master, but this is funny, I never thought I¡¯d have the chance to see miss Ath like this¡±

    ¡°So... what do you think we should do? It shows she doesn¡¯t have enough money to open the next box and she¡¯s just stalling for time¡±

    ¡°That would be up to you mister Ryu, but since you asked me, I think you should do with her the same thing she did with me. She was ruthless and her aim was not to profit but to ruin my business¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit dangerous? I mean, it¡¯s obvious she¡¯s wealthy and I bet she has enough means to make our lives impossible. Perhaps if we spare her today she may be nicer to us in the future¡±

    ¡°I think she¡¯s pretty pissed off already¡±

    .....

    Mia shrugged, she¡¯s having way more fun than I thought. About Ath, if she¡¯s not ready to face the consequences she shouldn¡¯t y dirty, it¡¯s just like Mia said, If the locked boxes didn¡¯t work our roles would be inverted and I bet Ath wouldn¡¯t spare me.

    It¡¯s more than obvious that she would have ckmailed me into giving her the recipe, or maybe she would have tried to push me into very. Being kind is not a bad thing, but I don¡¯t have the leeway to be naive, especially now that I¡¯m practically on my own. Why did I have to run into trouble so soon, if only I had a week to prepare properly I wouldn¡¯t be in this situation, but now there¡¯s nothing I can do about it.

    ¡°Is there a problem miss Ath?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, your machine is broken! Why don¡¯t we conduct business the old fashioned way? I promise I won¡¯t use any skill¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, you really did intend to y dirty so I don¡¯t have to listen to anything you say. Just pay already, if you don¡¯t have enough we can figure something out¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll just go back home and get more funds¡±

    ¡°yeah, no. That¡¯s not going to happen, you need to pay in full before leaving¡±

    ¡°You pervert! what exactly do you want me to do? uh?¡±

    ¡°That depends on what can you do, your dress looks expensive¡±

    I grin evilly and she reacts by covering her chest with both hands, I wonder why she hasn¡¯t asked her guard to attack us yet. This is all an act to see how far can I go without crossing the line, but it seems she will only protect her master from harm and do some chores.

    ¡°Or maybe you could answer some questions, and then I¡¯ll let you go home to get more money¡±

    ¡°Yes, I suppose I can do that¡±

    ¡°First, is it really allowed to use the haggle skill like that? I mean, you are from the merchant¡¯s association are you not, then why did you go out of your way just to ruin Mia¡¯s business¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not against thew if you¡¯re wondering about that. Haggle can be used whenever you want but sometimes seller will notice and that could ruin your reputation, that¡¯s why I only use it when I n to bankrupt someone¡±

    I could ask her why did she target Mia but it¡¯s kind of obvious. She¡¯s well loved by themunity and had a rising business, but she was too naive so she was also an easy prey. It¡¯s not the weak¡¯s fault, but they always end up on the losing side.

    ¡°Fine, second question, what¡¯s the deal with the girl following you? I mean, you could have had her attack us any moment and yet she only moves when she thinks you¡¯re in danger¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s obvious isn¡¯t it? geez this is why I hate country bumpkins. She¡¯s a shield maiden, they are assigned to properdies in order to keep them safe and assist them, but I can¡¯t order her to attack someone. Shieldmaidens are for protection only¡±

    ¡°Interesting. Last question, I need to get a curse removed, do you know where can I do that?¡±

    She ponders for a few seconds and then replies.

    ¡°from what I¡¯ve heard, not many people look for curse removal items, not because it doesn¡¯t happen often, but because its rare for people to survive the first month¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I had a friend who died from a curse, at first it was hrious. Her luck was so bad that she would always have the funniest idents, then she started showing up with light bruises and small cuts. Then it got so bad she took her own life, or so we think, we don¡¯t really know what happened to her¡±

    ¡°Then how do you know she died?¡±

    ¡°Because she left her house and all her belongings behind, for a merchant that¡¯s exactly the same as being dead¡±

    ¡°Thanks for your help miss Ath, you can go now¡±

    I wave her as she heads to the exit.

    ¡°Ah! it feels so good, she finally got what she deserved!¡±

    ¡°You could have at least tried to hide your feelings, I actually felt bad for her Mia. but you¡¯re right, she totally deserved it. Now the only thing we need to do now is stay in here and wait for our best customer toe back with the money. To be honest, I think we made more than enough, we were selling tonics at 1 silver each and she already bought a box at 3 silver each. That means she already paid enough to buy all three boxes¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but she intended to ruin our business, you can¡¯t forgive her¡±

    ¡°Uh? is it our business now? besides, that¡¯s a little two faceding from you. Or you forgot how you threatened my life and took control of my friends¡±

    ¡°T-That was different! I was desperate and had no other choice!¡±

    ¡°For me it¡¯s all the same, anyways, you did say you were hungry didn¡¯t you? let¡¯s grab something to eat¡±

    Mia really does enjoy life potions, maybe a little too much. Now she drank the health potion she made in a single gulp and started acting all weird. Her cheeks became red and starting moaning softly, her breathing got a lot heavier.

    I don¡¯t know if it looks dirty or is it just than anything she does looks that way. Her body type ispletely different from the girls i¡¯ve seen so far. Her breast size is huge, even bigger than Rina¡¯s, so it doesn¡¯t matter what kind of clothes she wears she looks lustful. The same goes for her hips and ass, it¡¯s just to the point where it can be said it¡¯s almost too much, but again, it¡¯s not too much. Her body is well bnced, but her figure is alluring beyond what words can describe.

    ¡°Is something the matter master?¡±

    She asks with a finger on her lips. Yes, she looks dirty, but i think that if someone like, I don¡¯t know Ayumi maybe, did the same it would lookpletely natural.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing Mia, I was just trying to confirm your health¡±

    Now that I said so I have no choice but to use my consider skill on her.

    >Mia (subus)

    >Friendly

    ¡°What!?¡±

    I gasp in shock.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? is something wrong with me? am I going to die!?¡±

    A shadow is cast on her eyes and she looks really scared.

    ¡°No! no, that¡¯s not it Mia its just... how can I say it without making it weird. Whenever I use my consider skill on someone it usually shows me name, ss, ailments, and some sort of indicator of its strength level¡±

    ¡°Am I strong?¡±

    Her eyes became sparkly.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. Whenever I use my skill on a pet it shows me name, race, ailments and also...¡±

    ¡°Also?¡±

    ¡°Loyalty level, I guess¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°In your case, it showed me your race and loyalty level¡±

    ¡°Uh? isn¡¯t it obvious? it¡¯s because I¡¯m master¡¯s pet¡±

    She nods.

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°I told you I would be your pet, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re a person! how can you be a pet!?¡±

    ¡°You say that after you agreed. It doesn¡¯t matter the race, anyone can be a pet. I¡¯ve heard some vampires keep humans as pets, or as cattle, so it¡¯s not that weird¡±

    ¡°So, you really are my pet. This is weird, too weird¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not. People from other races can get along, but in most cases they don¡¯t. There¡¯s a lot of conflict from what I¡¯ve heard. For a subus, being a pet is not that bad. Most of us, when discovered, end up bing pets. This is because we don¡¯t have the need to kill to feed, so we get along with almost any race¡±

    ¡°Does this mean you¡¯re friendly towards me?¡±

    ¡°I am. I will obey anymands you give me, unless its something that may risk my life¡±

    ¡°I think I need some time to understand all this... but, is it really ok for you to be my pet? I mean, you¡¯re a woman and I¡¯m a man, also... I have a girlfriend¡±

    ¡°Humans don¡¯t like other races, not even as pets. If you feed me and keep me safe, I would be willing to do it, you know?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t want to know! keep that thoughts to yourself in the future please¡±

    ¡°Yes master¡±

 Chapter 93

    Chapter 93: Cherish your friends, please! part

    ¡°Do you really think things will be ok with Ryu?¡±

    Bob says as he grips his mallet and smashes a strange creature. A single hit is not enough to kill them, but it¡¯s left staggered long enough for Luke to thrust his dagger through its throat.

    ¡°I really think so, he¡¯s quite the soft hearted fellow. He even gave me a chance, and you know how I used to treat him back at our vige¡±

    ¡°Hahah, yeah, I don¡¯t know how did he put up with you for so long¡±

    ¡°See? stop worrying over nothing and focus on the fight ahead¡±

    ¡°Iron strike!¡±

    Bob yells loudly and its weapon shines softly, managing to break the unknown creature¡¯s skull in a single hit.

    .....

    ¡°Stop wasting your mana so early, we still have a long way ahead of us¡±

    ¡°But this things are so disgusting, they look like cockroaches if they were mammals¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know, don¡¯t care. All I know is if we don¡¯t kill them they will kill us¡±

    Luke replies coldly as he stabs another one. The creatures are small sized hairy creatures with a hard bony back, they do look like cockroaches but they only have four legs. The most distinctive trait is their vertical maw which opens from side to side.

    ¡°Veronika, I need a spear!¡±

    Bob extends his arm towards his girlfriend and she quickly hands him a spear and goes back where the rest of the group is taking cover.

    ¡°Eeeek! you¡¯re covered in blood¡±

    ire shouts when Veronika came back to where everyone was hiding.

    ¡°My dear is so strong he can¡¯t avoid squashing those roaches¡±

    ¡°Uh, uhm yes he¡¯s strong but... how can you be so calm when covered in blood?¡±

    ¡°Do you know what I would be doing now if it wasn¡¯t for Bob? I¡¯d rather be covered in blood everyday than spend another day at the brothel¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Veronika, I didn¡¯t mean to make you remember nasty things¡±

    ire apologizes profusely, but Veronika doesn¡¯t mind it one bit. She¡¯s too focused on Bob¡¯s movements. He¡¯s fighting like a madman, but on her eyes he¡¯s a graceful warrior, the strongest in the world and he looks so handsome she can barely take her eyes out from him.

    ¡°The way is clear now girls, you cane¡±

    The girls hurried their pace towards Luke who called them, the scene was grotesque. The most absurd mix between an insect and a mammal was unsettling, but with their innards scattered across the road it looked like the material nightmares were made of.

    ¡°Mister Luke, how much until we reach Crent?¡±

    Sera asked impatiently. She, just like Veronika, didn¡¯t mind the corpses lying around and just wanted to see Ryu as soon as possible.

    ¡°We should be arriving today, unless we keep encountering this bugs. Why are you in such a hurry to get to the city? are you, perhaps, impatient to have a date with me?¡±

    Serapletely ignored Luke¡¯s attempt to flirt and just went back beside her sister. ire had a wry smile on her face when she realized the extent of Luke¡¯s crush on her sister, especially since she had been flirting with him ever since she met him and he has been ignoring her on every asion.

    It¡¯s not that she was jealous because of her sister, but she wanted Luke to notice her. It was a big let down for her seeing how Luke easily had flings with all kinds of girls, but he never paid any attention to her.

    The group advanced a lot faster than thest time because this time they were traveling in a horse drawn cart. This was necessary to bring all the products they intended to sell and the materials they had to deliver to Ryu, unfortunately, given the amount of goods they brought with them it was impossible for everyone to ride the cart so Bob and Luke had to jog beside it.

    ¡°Mister Luke, you seem tired, why don¡¯t we take a break on top of that hill? I could cook something delicious¡±

    ire blushed softly.

    ¡°After seeing what¡¯s inside those things I don¡¯t want to eat food ever again, my appetite was ruined forever!¡±

    ¡°Geez, don¡¯tin so much, we still need to eat and we also need to feed Ryu¡¯s pets. I don¡¯t know why did we even bring those things with us, if he can¡¯t take care of his own pets he shouldn¡¯t go around adopting things¡±

    ¡°After seeing hisst pet I kind of get it¡±

    Luke sighed at the memory of the subus he met at Crent. While it¡¯s true she was their enemy at the time, he was there when Mia asked Ryu to be his pet. He had been dreaming of her ever since, it was one thing to have a ve, but keeping a subus as a pet had apletely different allure for him.

    It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say he was green with envy at the thought of the things Ryu must have been doing with Sera, but he tried to keep those feelings at bay. He spent most of his past life wasting his time and dreaming of traveling to other worlds and even though his first experience was apletely disappointing, as soon as he set foot into the brothel his way of seeing this new world changed drastically.

    Now he was considered wealthy, strong, good looking and he had many ves to have his share of fun. He even bought Taffy, the ve who rejected being bought by him and the one he had feelings for, but now things were different. He made a clear difference between Taffy and the other girls, he resented her for ying with his feelings and had been making sure she repents dearly.

    It¡¯s not to the point he mistreated her, at least not to a degree that it could be considered abuse. But he enjoyed making small differences in treatment and looking at her pitiful expression when he did so. Whenever he embraced one of his ves he would call them cute names or say sweet words. But on the rare asion he spent time with Taffy, he was cold and distant and made sure Taffy noticed it. He would also buy some clothes for his ves and other small gifts, but Taffy was still wearing her old dress.

    That¡¯s why everyone was surprised when he chose to bring her along on this trip. Many of the ves volunteered toe with him and tend to all of his needs, but since traveling in a big group was too dangerous he was able to bring only one. At first, when Taffy was chosen she was happy and thought maybe he hade around, that maybe he would start treating her even better than before.

    But reality was nowhere near that, he just chose her because this trip would be extenuous and tiresome.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure we will be able to catch up to them, it¡¯s Anne we¡¯re talking about and even with this cart we¡¯re still moving too slow¡±

    ¡°Now who¡¯s worrying too much Luke! hahah, rx, they should be heading to Crent to so even if they get there first, it¡¯s more than likely they¡¯ll meet Ryu¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but you never know¡±

    The road ahead of them open and the vegetation scarce, but the grass was green and the sun was still high up on the sky. It could even be considered a nice vacation if it wasn¡¯t for the pace they¡¯ve been forced to keep. By the time they went back to Ironwoods Anne and Helena had already left town, Helena was desperate to learn more about her ss and if there was any workaround for the requisite to keep being a virgin. Anne wanted to be stronger and she could have trained at Ironwoods, there was no real need for her to leave, but since Helena was her friend she didn¡¯t want to let her travel alone.

    ire and Sera had apletely different goal in mind. After Ryu left ironwoods Sera had been feeling empty and sad, she didn¡¯t find the strength to get up in the mornings and despite everyone¡¯s attempt to lift her mood she simply didn¡¯t feel like doing anything, it was almost as bad as when she was sickly and famished. Her sister ire was worried, not to the point to letting her sister travel to another city just to see Ryu, but when she heard that Luke was going back to Crent to be and adventurer she asked Sera if she would feel better if she was by Ryu¡¯s side.

    What happened left everyone bbergasted, it was as if her soul had returned to her body and she started making preparations for the trip hastily with a broad smile on her face.

    Hiraku provided them everything they needed to travel, but decided not toe because he missed Ayumi too much.

    Rina asked them to take the distiller to Ryu, gave them all the reagents the hunters had been gathering and all the money she had to help Ryu on the other city. She also handed them a letter that needed to be delivered only to Ryu and they were not allowed to read it.

    They thought maybe she was mad because Ryu was with another woman, but she didn¡¯t show the slightest discontent. She made a quick joke andughed it off as she patted Sera¡¯s back.

    ¡°You too take good care of my boyfriend, if he needs anything don¡¯t hesitate to provide it to him, especially at night¡±

    She winked at Sera and sent them off. That happened a few days ago, but Sera could hardly contain her excitement. She would soon be reunited with the man she loves and now even his girlfriend had given consent, now the only thing left was to choose the right time.

 Chapter 94

    Chapter 94: Cherish your friends, please! part

    ¡°What do you mean there¡¯s not enough herbs!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry master, I didn¡¯t have the time to go to the market in the morning!¡±

    ¡°What were you doing youzy Su...zy scoundrel!¡±

    Oh crap, I almost forgot there¡¯s clients around and almost called her a subus in front of everyone.

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it, it¡¯s been too busy!¡±

    ¡°How am I supposed to craft more potions if we keep running out of materials. uh!?¡±

    This girl she really gets on my nerves, she¡¯s too lightheaded, how did she even ran the business before.

    .....

    The shop is crowded like usual, the potions at the shelves are running low and the clients will startining soon.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you Mia, if we run out of potions and close the shop early, I¡¯ll discount you today¡¯s pay¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re not paying me anything master¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll halve your rations¡±

    ¡°Noooo¡±

    Mia¡¯s eyes started to water but she kept ringing clients as fast as she could. It¡¯s not like I won¡¯t feed her, she¡¯s been working hard, but forgetting to buy medicinal herbs is a huge mistake that will cost us a lot of money. If only back then Mochi was half as hardworking as her I wouldn¡¯t have faced so many hardships, what am i even thinking it¡¯spletely different. She may be another race but she¡¯s a person and Mochi is just a couch potato cat.

    Great, now we ran out of goods and people are getting flustered, I¡¯ve been cornered and my only option is to lower my head and apologize.

    ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry dear customers, but we¡¯re all out today too. Come back tomorrow morning and I¡¯ll make sure to have enough for everyone¡±

    ¡°Hey! that¡¯s the same thing you said yesterday boy!¡±

    A client got in front of me, wow he¡¯s angry.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but there¡¯s nothing I can do If I don¡¯t have materials¡±

    I bow my head again, it was enough to appease him, for today.

    The bell hanging on top of the door makes a tingling sound over and over as the door opens and closes repeatedly until thest client leaves. Mia and I go back behind the counter and start counting the money. There¡¯s a huge pile of silver coins, it¡¯s a sight to be seen.

    ¡°Ah! if things keep going like today we will be able to afford a new crafting station soon!¡±

    ¡°But master, where are we even supposed to get medicinal herbs? Ath has been buying all the materials we need to stop us from making more tonic, I¡¯ve heard she¡¯s been coercing merchants too¡±

    ¡°We can always put up a request at the adventurer¡¯s guild¡±

    ¡°If only it were so simple. It takes time for a request to be approved and even more until it¡¯s fulfilled. As if it wasn¡¯t reason enough, it¡¯s not even certain that someone will even take the quest since it would be considered a low grade task¡±

    The bell rings again, but being as tired as I am right now I don¡¯t even look at the person who got inside.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mister client, but we¡¯re all out today,e back tomorrow please¡±

    ¡°Mister Ryu!¡±

    I know that voice, but she didn¡¯t even give me enough time to reply. Sera threw herself to my arms and I felt a soft sensation pressing against my chest.

    ¡°Sera!? what are you doing here?¡±

    I can¡¯t help but smile at her genuine happiness.

    ¡°We came to help you mister Ryu!¡±

    ¡°Who is we?¡±

    As if replying to my question, Luke, Bob, ire, Veronika and a girl I barely remember enter the shop. Following close from behind Mochi and my dog walk slowly towards me. The cat purrs and rubs on my leg while the dog licks my hand taking advantage of the immobilizing hug Sera is still performing on me.

    ¡°Guys! how did youe back so fast?¡±

    ¡°You are going to love this Ryu¡±

    Luke exims with a wide smile as he opens the door. He seems proud but all I see is ame horse and a medium sized cart covered in cloth.

    ¡°uhm, wow a horse, thanks¡±

    I try to sound excited as I walk outside to check the horse drawn cart. It looks crappy, but it could be helpful.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid, the cart is not yours. It¡¯s way too expensive, no I meant the cargo¡±

    Luke pulls off the cloth revealing a huge amount of mixed herbs, nts and roots.

    ¡°Hey! this is amazing!e over Bob, help us unload the cargo please! Mia, please some lunch while we¡¯re busy¡±

    ¡°Yes master!¡±

    Mia jogs to the kitchen while I grab a sack of herbs and take it inside, it¡¯s really heavy but I try to keep a straight face. If I didn¡¯t get stronger, at least i can pretend. I don¡¯t know why but I don¡¯t want them to think I¡¯m a weakling.

    Every step to the storage is torture but I somehow manage to reach it without having to take a break in the middle. I ce the heavy sack on the floor and notice Bob and Luke were carrying so many sacks at the same time it looked impossible.

    My brow starts twitching and I can¡¯t help but feel hopeless.

    ¡°You guys sure are stronger than before¡±

    ¡°This? this is nothing, we learned new skills! I got one that can take even bears in a single strike!¡±

    Luke brags without hesitation.

    ¡°Really? what¡¯s the name of that skill?¡±

    ¡°Single strike¡±

    ¡°yeah, that one¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the name¡±

    He looks at me squinting his eyes.

    ¡°Oh, I see, pretty self exnatory. What about you Bob?¡±

    ¡°I, uhm, me too... mine¡¯s power strike¡±

    Bob replies awkwardly, now that I think about it he¡¯s been avoiding my gaze. I remember him being kind of quiet, but this is too much. Maybe he¡¯s still mad at me or something.

    ¡°What about you Ryu?¡±

    Luke asks without the slightest malice, but it¡¯s actually the worst thing he could have said. I don¡¯t want them to know I¡¯m still as weak as before.

    ¡°That¡¯s a secret, anyway, let¡¯s have something to eat¡±

    We go to the kitchen and I¡¯m surprised to see Mia kneeling on the floor with a small bump on her head and ire admonishing her with adle on her hand.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, did you even teach her how to cook? she was about to ruin the meat!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I taught her ok, but Ipletely forgot how worthless she is in the kitchen. I¡¯m sorry to bother you, but can you please cook something ire?¡±

    ¡°Ow, I was looking forward to eating your food mister Ryu, but I¡¯ll do it¡±

    ¡°I have a lot of catching up to do with this guys, but there will be plenty of time to taste my cooking. If you help us in the shop I could take care of the meals¡±

    ¡°Really!? That¡¯s great!¡±

    ire rolls up her sleeves and starts chopping the meat and peeling vegetables so fast it leaves me in awe. Her movements are fluid and doesn¡¯t stop for a second, I think she¡¯s already better than me at cooking.

    ¡°So Ryu, do you think we can register as adventurers today?¡±

    Luke looks excited.

    ¡°I guess, thanks to the amount of medicinal herbs you brought I don¡¯t have anything to do this evening. From what I¡¯ve heard, it seems the adventurers guild works the same as our hunters guild back at Ironwoods. Do you think that¡¯s a coincidence?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know... maybe. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s other people with our same circumstances... but the ideas I gave youe from... well you know¡±

    ¡°Uh? I don¡¯t follow¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t talk about this with her around¡±

    ¡°Oh, you mean Mia? don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s harmless. She¡¯s my pet now so...¡±

    ¡°Your what!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s kind of just like Mochi. She¡¯s friendly now so¡±

    ¡°Your what!?¡±

    ¡°Even if you repeat the same question there¡¯s not much more I can say, Luke¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what I mean by that is... she¡¯s your pet? like pet pet?¡±

    ¡°I think you were here when she surrendered and asked me to be my pet. Well, it was hard for me to take it in too, she being a person and all, but she¡¯s told me it¡¯s not that umon¡±

    .....

    ¡°Have you done it with her?¡±

    Mia flinches when she heard Luke ask that, but I pretend I didn¡¯t see it.

    ¡°What are you saying? I wouldn¡¯t take advantage from her like that¡±

    ¡°Would you be willing to lend her to me?¡±

    ¡°Uhmm... no?¡±

    ¡°Maybe I could buy her from you... or if you want you can take Taffy¡±

    So that was her name, I hadpletely forgotten her name. She was the cute girl that rejected him, spent the freeze on the brothel and somehow ended in a pitiful situation. She was really cute, but I¡¯m not interested in very.

    ¡°No, thank you¡±

    ¡°Come on man, please, i just need her for a few nights¡±

    When hearing this Mia got behind me, since she was still kneeling on the floor she really looks like a pet. I try to shake her off but she¡¯s clinging hard on my leg.

    ¡°Hey! let me go already. I¡¯m sorry Luke but if she doesn¡¯t want to go there¡¯s nothing I can do¡±

    ¡°Then how about Sera? she¡¯s your ve right?¡±

    ¡°I wish¡±

    Sera sighs. What kind of situation have I gotten into!?

 Chapter 95

    Chapter 95: Cherish your friends, please! part

    Is it my idea or Luke¡¯s rotten personality became even worse?

    ¡°Listen Luke... I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking, but you should tone it down a bit¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s been like that since we left Ironwoods!¡±

    Serains.

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it, I miss my girls¡±

    Luke sighs.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make you any less of a pervert! taking advantage like that from ves¡±

    .....

    Sera looks in disgust at Luke as if he were a bug.

    ¡°Hey Sera, you¡¯re making me sound like a criminal, but I¡¯m aw abiding citizen. It¡¯s not against thew to use your ves however you see fit¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but they¡¯re still people. Have you taken into ount their feelings? You¡¯ve been acting like a yboy¡±

    I can¡¯t avoid to barge in.

    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk Ryu, you got Rina back home and Sera follows you wherever, now you even got a subus! That¡¯s a dreame true for a man! And we haven¡¯t even mentioned Anne and Helena, those two wet their panties whenever they see you. You¡¯re a yboy yourself¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been faithful to Rina!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but have you taken into consideration the feelings of the other girls? Perhaps if you weren¡¯t so uptight...¡±

    I feel heat rising to my face, especially my cheeks. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve been so embarrassed in my life before. Luke notices and falls silent for a second. Fortunately ire started serving lunch and we got distracted quickly.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, I¡¯ve been practicing my cooking a lot but I¡¯m not that confident in some recipes. If you have anyments I¡¯ll be happy to listen¡±

    ¡°You say that, but this looks amazing!¡±

    The table was soon filled with grilled fish, a clear soup, mixed sds, baked potatoes and roastbeef.

    The variety of smells tickles my nose and opens my appetite, I do my best to eat slowly but even the short time it takes for the fork to reach my mouth is like torture.

    ¡°I have to say, I¡¯ve been missing this a lot guys. It¡¯s a lot more lively with more people, are you nning to stay?¡±

    I talk directly at Bob since he¡¯s been so quiet.

    ¡°I... uhm... we are going to be staying at the inn fromst time¡±

    ¡°Oh right, you¡¯re with Veronika now, but I don¡¯t think that ce is suitable for you guys. I mean, for us it¡¯s not a big deal but if you¡¯re staying with your girlfriend you should look for a nicer ce¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s not need for that mister Ryu. Bob and I are nning on living a frugal life in here until I find something I can do for a living¡±

    ¡°You could work in here, we¡¯re making a killing out of the potions I make¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to trouble mister Ryu, besides, Bob is nning to be working as an adventurer and he¡¯s asked me to take things slow and stay home for a while¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really not a problem, If both of you stayed in here I¡¯d be less worried about this airhead¡±

    I point at Mia who¡¯s sitting awkwardly without eating. Crap! I forgot she doesn¡¯t eat human food, she¡¯s a subus after all and she can only drink healing potions. We found out she can eat proper food if mixed with healing potions but even though it satisfies her hunger it¡¯s a lot less effective than drinking the potion directly.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry Mia I forgot your potion¡±

    ¡°No need to worry master¡±

    Now I think about it, whenever she drinks a healing potion her body responds in a weird manner. It¡¯s like she¡¯s aroused to the limits and, even though it¡¯s quite pleasant to see, she looks too lewd to be appropriate for lunch.

    ¡°Mia, if you don¡¯t mind enduring a bit I¡¯ll feed you after lunch and at night too¡±

    Look spits his drink after listening to me with his eyes widely open, even ire looks really troubled as If I had said something really troublesome but I don¡¯t see anything wrong with it.

    ¡°Ryu, just to be sure... you¡¯ve been feeding her daily?¡±

    Luke asks

    ¡°Of course, sometimes twice a day depending on her needs, but if I¡¯m not careful she would spend the whole day at it¡±

    ¡°You two double faced third rate party leader I¡¯ll kill you!¡±

    Luke jumps at my throat and everyone tries to stop him, except for Sera who took the chance to hit me once or twice trying to make it look as an ident.

    ¡°Come on guys, stop it already! what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Mister Ryu, I must say I¡¯m disappointed. When I first met you I thought you were a pervert, then you proved to be quite the gentleman. Not even with me, even with your ves and employees. It made me believe that not every men was a dirty minded pervert.¡±

    ire said thest part ring at Luke with resentful eyes.

    ¡°Ok, someone please exin me what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°You said she¡¯s a subus right?¡±

    I nod as a reply, I can¡¯t take the pressure of everyone looking at me as if I was thrash.

    ¡°You rejected miss Anne and miss Helena, which by the way, any sane man would¡¯ve taken them both, only to fall into the hands of a dirty subus! you¡¯ve been unfaithful to Rina after all. When she hears about it she¡¯s gonna be destroyed. Now I don¡¯t even know if I should give you the letter she sent for you¡±

    ¡°She sent me a letter!? wait, no... I mean, Mia drinks healing potions I thought you knew that¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she sent you a letter, but more important, do you really expect us to believe that you give her healing potions? I would have believed it if you said you don¡¯t feed her at all, but you giving away free potions to someone is not something I can believe¡±

    Everyone nods at her words.

    ¡°What do you even mean by that?¡±

    ¡°We all know you¡¯re a cheapskate, especially when ites to items you craft yourself¡±

    ¡°Im not like that really. Even at the hill massacre I gave away almost everything I had, I pay a sry even to my ves, I fed everyone at Ironwoods after the freeze and I also gave potions to each and every one of you!¡±

    Mia reacts to my words and jumps in excitement.

    ¡°Master you pay a sry to your ves? will you be paying me a sry too then?¡±

    ¡°Not now Mia! you¡¯re not a ve but my pet¡±

    ¡°Everything you said is true, but still you left people to die at the hill because you didn¡¯t want to spend all your potions. It¡¯s true you pay them a sry, and you pay more than fairly, no one can rebuke that, but it sometimes feel like you¡¯d rather die than take one of your own health potions¡±

    ire¡¯s words resound on the dining room and everyone nods at her, for a second I thought Sera was going to start pping her hands.

    ¡°Is this how everyone feels? really? nevermind, there¡¯s nothing I can say to prove otherwise. Could you please hand me Rina¡¯s letter please?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mister Ryu, but she said you¡¯re not supposed to read it just yet. But I¡¯ll give it to you when the time is right¡±

    After getting excited about Rina¡¯s letter, not being able to read it immediately was a big let down, but we continued eating and having a good time chatting about different matters. Time flew by and I almost forgot to feed Mia, but we went upstairs and I handed her a healing potion. It was necessary for me to go with her because she really can¡¯t control her own impulses. If I handed her the potion at the dining room she would have drank it without even thinking about the presence of other people nearby.

    I wanted to drink some tea after lunch but Luke was so hyped up about registering at the adventurer¡¯s guild that he left us with no choice but to go with him.

    Since Mia is a subus she can¡¯t register at the guild, from what she told me, it would have blown her cover instantly, but i decided to bring Sera along with me. She was eager to help me, no, more than that she was really excited about it.

    Walking the streets with such a beauty by my side is a bit awkward, my neighbors that usually don¡¯t even spare a second to take a quick nce at me were now staring at me with envious eyes. Sera pressed herself against my arm, it didn¡¯t matter how many times I asked her to let me go she would stick to me nheless.

    Bob and Luke were a big hit, apparently they are considered really handsome in here. They made a fuss wherever they went and girls would even go straight to them to ask their names or even ask them on a date. Luke¡¯s smile was brighter every second, Bob instead seemed to be shrinking in awkwardness.

    And we finally reached the adventurer¡¯s guild.

 Chapter 96

    Chapter 96: Cherish your friends, please! part

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t this supposed to be a shortcut Helena?¡±

    ¡°It is a shortcut¡±

    ¡°Well then, aren¡¯t shortcuts meant to take less time than the actual road? I think it¡¯s time to acknowledge we¡¯re lost and go back to mountainside¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to go back, just keep walking and we¡¯ll eventually reach a city¡±

    Anne replies to Helena¡¯sints while pushing past a tangled bush. They werepletely lost on a dense vegetation forest, they were supposed to have reached Crent two days ago, but since they took a different path they don¡¯t know where they are.

    ¡°If only we followed the road like everyone at Ironwoods told us we wouldn¡¯t be in this situation¡±

    ¡°Thanks for stating the obvious Sherlock, but we¡¯re already on this path and there¡¯s not turning back¡±

    .....

    ¡°You can¡¯t even call this a path, it¡¯s barely walkable! We¡¯ve been walking around blindly on this damned forest, I¡¯m so tired of forests! sleeping in the cold is hard, we can¡¯t even light a proper campfire and we¡¯re even running out of food. I seriously can¡¯t do this anymore, I¡¯m so tired¡±

    Helena weeps in despair and falls to the ground, she didn¡¯t even make an attempt to stand back up again and just lied in there crying.

    ¡°Now you¡¯re showing your true colors! You always put a mask of kindness and acted like a goody two shoes, when in reality you¡¯re just mean and a coward!¡±

    ¡°Me a coward!? Me? what about you? you¡¯re angry all the time and push away the people who care about you because you¡¯re too scared to be hurt. At least I try to fit in¡±

    It would be one thing to fight like that in the safety of their home, but they chose the worst possible moment to act like children. Their loud argument drew the attention of every living creature in the surroundings and, while some of them are weak and rn away immediately, some are not and took an interest in them.

    Anne, with her sharp senses realized this and a shiver ran through her spine.

    ¡°Wait, something¡¯s not right¡±

    ¡°And now that you run out of words you simply mhfmhfm hmfmfhm mhf¡±

    Helena tried to speak despite Anne¡¯s attempt to gag her with her mouth and only muffled sounds escaped her mouth, but then she noticed Anne¡¯s worried face and didn¡¯t struggle anymore.

    ¡°Helena, I think we¡¯re in trouble. Keep calm but we¡¯ve been surrounded by wild animals and by the sounds they are emitting they¡¯re not friendly¡±

    Anne whispers.

    ¡°How can you tell?¡±

    ¡°Herbivores either run away or stay still when they¡¯re startled, but these things are moving towards us and they¡¯re growling. it¡¯s like nothing I¡¯ve ever heard before. Draw your weapon and don¡¯t be scared, just take a defensive stance and stay by my side¡±

    ¡°Take a what?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you pay attention during our training?¡±

    ¡°uhhh, no?¡±

    ¡°Hey Helena! this is not the time to be messing around. Anyway, just hold your ground and stay by my side, they are most likely going to circle around us and when that happens you need to defend yourself, everything¡¯s gonna be fine¡±

    Anne took Helena¡¯s hand and they both nodded, Helena felt reassured and grabbed her spear with all of her strenght. The sound of her skin against the wood was gritty and loud giving her the much needed confidence for what was going toe.

    They werepletely surrounded by dense vegetation and Helena didn¡¯t have the enhanced senses Anne possess, what scared her the most was the fact that she didn¡¯t know what lied beyond the wild greenery that acted as a curtain.

    The light dimmed down for a second as the sky got clouded and the little light that reached the forest ground dissipated. A sound in the distance that betrayed the presence of something fast moving behind the thick vegetation startled Helena for a second but she was ready.

    A biped reptile, small in size pounced towards her and she hit it on the head with all her might making it bounce towards a tree. Helena yelled to the top of her lungs as another one came from the side, but she greeted it on the same manner by turning around and waving her spear. It was only for a short second, but her back was open for an attack and the enemy didn¡¯t miss the chance.

    The lizard that was faking to be unconscious jumped on her back and managed to bite her shoulder.

    ¡°It hurts! Anne help me out here!¡±

    Helena tried to get rid of the lizard biting on her shoulder but it was impossible, every movement she made only made things worse as the beast contorted her body to take a piece of meat with him.

    Helena looked at Anne¡¯s side and there was a pile of corpses lying around, she had defeated at least ten lizards and they kept jumping on her from everywhere.

    Anne waved her spear nimbly without wasting a single movement, allowing the inertia of the spear to hit hard on the lizards. One of the beasts attempted to pull the same trick that worked on Helena, but Anen didn¡¯t fall for it and pierced it with the tip of her spear.

    ¡°Keee keee¡±

    The beast squelched and died, it was as if the scream deted its body until it was liveless on the ground.

    Anne¡¯s fighting prowess was so amazing that it left Helena in awe, with the writhing beast still nibbling on her shoulder.

    Suddenly, the pain was nothing and she could feel a power surge from within.

    Boldness 1%

    She got a system message indicating she had just learned a new skill and didn¡¯t hesitate to put it to work, despite not even knowing what it did.

    A yellow light shone briefly and nothing else happened, none of them felt any different and just kept on fighting.

    Helena thrusted her spear blindly, managing to hit some beasts by sheer luck, the fight prolongued for a while until there was not a single lizard left alive.

    Both Helena and Anne were grazed here and there, their clothes were tattered and there was blood everywhere, but they somehow survived.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Anne, I shouldn¡¯t have med everything on you, we came on this travel all because of my selfishness¡±

    Helena cried as she hugged Anne.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry too Helena, I was just mad at myself because I trusted that sketchy viger that told me about this so called shortcut.¡±

    They were both crying while holding on to each other, all the fatigue and the pain from the fight suddenly came back to their bodies and they fell to the ground but still refused to let go of each other.

    They just slid down and fell on their knees, crying to their hearts content for a long while.

    ¡°So, what are we going to do now? You¡¯ve been in the wild a lot more than I have, so I¡¯ll listen to whatever you say¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s about living in the wilderness, I guess we should try to remember what Ryu always said. It was something about information, tools and whatever... uhmm... no, I can¡¯t remember it. But it went something like, set objectives and work slowly towards them. Even if the chances are slim, there¡¯s always a way¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he told me about how many times he was about to despair for things that semeed so little afterwards. Like when he made fire¡±

    ¡°So... should we make a fire?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t move¡±

    ¡°By the way, when are you nning to get rid of that thing on your shoulder?¡±

    Anne pointed at the lizard squirming on Helena¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Uh, I was so scared, but this one is pretty small and cute¡±

    ¡°Do you think we should tame it?¡±

    Anne loved animals and she too feltpelled to tame a pet. She was secretly envious of Ryu¡¯s pets and cuddled Mochi everytime she could without being noticed. She also agreed on taking care of the Amarok while Ryu was away, in fact, being able to take care of it was one of the reasons she didn¡¯tin so much when Ryu said he wanted to go to Crent.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly Anne, what are we going to feed it? meat from its own family members? meat... from...¡±

    Their eyes started glittering and they grabbed their hands and drew closer, almost touching their noses.

    ¡°Let¡¯s cook them!¡±

    Anne eximed.

    ¡°Finally we¡¯re gonna have a decent meal!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but I thought you would be against eating them since they¡¯re kind of ugly. Also, they¡¯re reptiles and all¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind as long as they taste good¡±

    They struggled to gather wood, they struggled to make a firece and, of course, they struggled to light the fire, but once the first skewered lizards were ready to eat they enjoyed the meal together and strengthening their friendship.

    After a while, once they rested properly they managed to remove the small lizard safely from her shoulder. Helena was so angry that she threw it with all she had still left in her and it flew high in the sky, it was the first on its species to fly over the sky, but sadly for the poor lizard it was a trick that could be performed only once in a lifetime.

 Chapter 97

    Chapter 97: Don¡¯t fool around at the adventurer¡¯s guild, please! part

    ¡°Disappointing¡±

    ¡°Disappointing¡±

    ¡°Disappointing¡±

    Bob, Luke and Ryu said one after the other in a monotone.

    ¡°What did you expect mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Well, from what Luke told me it was supposed to be a bar with a billboard, filled with people having fun and going on adventures... but this is...¡±

    ¡°It looks like a government building¡±

    .....

    Bob sighs, he too was excited to go into the adventurer¡¯s guild but in front of them there was a spacious building that looked empty with scarse people going around with folders on their hands.

    ¡°Hello! Are you guys new to the guild?¡±

    We looked at each other and nodded at the same time.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! we¡¯re really underhanded!e follow me. This is the archives, you will be filing a lot of folders in here, don¡¯t worry if you guys get lost it¡¯s usual for the neers to get lost all the time¡±

    She spoke as she gave us a tour through a huge storage room filled with drawers.

    ¡°Over here there¡¯s the dining room, management always call it a recreation room but there¡¯s not much to do in here besides eating. It doesn¡¯t matter though, you would be working all day long and won¡¯t even get the chance to grab a bite most days¡±

    She says so, but there¡¯s not that many people around, where¡¯s all the hard working people?

    ¡°Anyways, now follow me, yeah, over here! this is the materials room, don¡¯t go inside the disasembling room next door in your first month or you¡¯ll be puking your guts out. But at least this room is clean and organized, of course you will be assigned to the cleaning duty and put up in the weekly schedule¡±

    The room is filled with materials some of them have tags on them and others are set apart in lockers. There¡¯s a huge pile of items on a table and someone seems to be appraising their value or something, I bet he has the identifying skill.

    ¡°Overe here is the treasury room, you¡¯re not allowed to get inside unless you¡¯re given a key but you need to properly deposit the coins. Don¡¯t try to fill your pockets, every coin is ounted for. Yeah, this is a ruthless business, by the way if adventurers knew how much we earn from the materials they sell to us dirt cheap, they would go insane. Teeehee¡±

    She winks at Bob, it seems she thought he¡¯s our party leader... or maybe...

    ¡°Excuse me miss¡±

    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t call me miss! I¡¯m Ebisu but everyone calls me Ebi!¡±

    ¡°Uhm... ok, miss Ebi, I think there¡¯s a misunderstanding, you see, we wanted to be adventurers¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying that you donn¡¯t want to work in here, but you want to work in here?¡±

    She¡¯s not making any sense but her face was pretty clear on what she meant so I didn¡¯tment on that.

    ¡°Yeah, so...¡±

    ¡°This is terrible! adventurers are not supposed to be let inside. If my boss finds out about this she¡¯s going to skin me alive! please go now, please don¡¯t let them notice. My boss is a terrible, horrible person, she overwork us, punishes us by lowering our sry, doesn¡¯t let us take breaks, she¡¯s the worst, she¡¯s so mean and... she... she¡¯s behind me right?¡±

    She realized it because it showed in our face, it was so awkward I wanted to vanish into thin air. The towering figure of the woman stood tall behind Ebi with a somber expression, she was a mature woman with a beautiful appearance, but on this situation she was more fearsome than any beast I¡¯ve faced so far.

    ¡°Ebi, just what in the world is going on in here?¡±

    ¡°Please, let me exin. This people wanted to be adventurers and...¡±

    ¡°And you let them just like that!? nevermind, we¡¯ll speakter about it¡±

    She grins at Ebi with evil intent and then smiles at us with a smile that looks sincere.

    ¡°Excuse me, but adventurers are not supposed to be in here, would you please apany me to the exit?¡±

    Every one of us gulped at her words and followed her in silence.

    ¡°Peter! Ryota! what exactly have you been doing?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean boss? we¡¯ve been guarding the entrance as always¡±

    ¡°Then, how do you exin this? they got inside as if nothing and no one stopped them? Do you have any idea how many secrets and valuable items we store inside? what would you do if some of them got robbed? how were you nning onpensating the guild if something got destroyed? with your measly sry? don¡¯t make meugh¡±

    She points at us and starts scolding the poor guards, the one named Peter shrinks and lowers his head but Ryota seems unfazed.

    ¡°No offense boss, but if our sries are so low you could do something about it¡±

    ¡°You again? why can¡¯t you be more level headed like Peter? I¡¯m this close to firing you¡±

    Ryota picks his nose while speaking with the woman, he must be pretty strong if he has the guts to do something so disrespectful towards someone with her presence.

    ¡°I thought they were the new hires, everyoneins about how understaffed they are and when they got inside they were instantly greeted by Ebi. Also, they are so weak there was no chance they could cause trouble¡±

    ¡°I see. Well mister adventurers, please excuse us. Next time youe in here try the front entrance, this is the staff only entrance. If you¡¯re thinking on bing adventurers, bear in mind that breaking the guild rules like this is reason enough to lower your score or even demote you instantly, ok?¡±

    ¡°Yes boss! I mean, yess miss¡±

    When she spoke directly to me my body stiffened and without even thinking I replied in a loud voice as I was an employee and the woman let out a giggle.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so formal, anyways, I¡¯m really busy today so, I¡¯ll excuse myself¡±

    After she went back inside we felt as if a heavy weight was removed from our backs and we could finally breathe in relief.

    ¡°Wow, that was intense! When she came from behind Ebi I was shitting bricks¡±

    Luke eximed making usugh.

    ¡°Let¡¯s pretend none of this happened and just go inside... from the right entrance¡±

    We walk around the corner, it¡¯s still the same huge building but the entrance is on apletely different level. There¡¯s a wide stone staircase, it¡¯s only a few steps high but it looks amazing, there¡¯s a huge wooden double door with studded metal and there¡¯s two guards standing on each side. Everything seems to be designed to make people feel small in front of this building.

    Going inside the first thing we notice is the amount of peopleughing in loud voices and singing merry tunes, some of them are drinking and others are eating to their hearts content.

    There¡¯s adventurers in full te, others in scale mail, leather armor, some are wearing only clothes but they look high quality and they are all armed to the teeth, maces, swords, knives, bows. Since today we only came to register we didn¡¯t bring any armor, though we always go out with our weapons, Bobmented that he was surprised by this fact since back at his world weapons were regted and it was strictly forbidden to go around with them.

    ¡°This is incredible! it¡¯s just like I imagined it!¡±

    Bob squeals, people would think its really out of character from someone his size and appearance, but actually Bob is meek and gentle.

    ¡°Geez, we need to look tough¡±

    Luke nags at Bob

    ¡°uhm, sorry¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say you¡¯re sorry, remember when we entered Rina¡¯s bar for the first time? You need to act tough or we¡¯ll be theughiing stock forever!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I mean, I¡¯m not¡±

    Bob and Luke¡¯s exchange warmed my heart, it was filled with nostalgia and good memories. At that time I was terrified of the unknown, even Rina¡¯s bar looked like an extremely hostile ce. People looked rough and everything was dirty, even Rina was scary.

    I remember thinking she was really cute and she was always nice, which made her look even more fearsome whenever she got mad. It would be one thing to say that it was only her looks, but everyone who ever saw her fight would agree that they¡¯d rather pick a fight with Bob than with Rina.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, there¡¯s a counter over there, I think we should head that way¡±

    ¡°Thanks Sera, let¡¯s go¡±

    The counter was almost empty, only a few inkwells separated at a simetric distance.

    ¡°Good evening, what can I do for you?¡±

    Ebi smiles squinting her eyes and greets us, but when she realized it was us her face shifted as if she was cared.

    ¡°You!? what are you doing here? please don¡¯t cause me any more troubles¡±

    ¡°I apologize for our previous misunderstanding, but we really do want to be adventurers. You see, wee from a far ce and don¡¯t know the first thing about the big city. It was an honest mistake¡±

    I lower my head in front of her and she rxes inmediately.

    ¡°Hehe, big city? this? This is not even a medium sized city, you should see the capital... That¡¯s where I used to live, but then I was demoted and sent here.¡±

    Ebi¡¯s eyes got watery.

    ¡°Nevermind my sob story, since this is technically your first timeing here I¡¯ll tell you the basics but first you need to get your soulbound cards¡±

 Chapter 98

    Chapter 98: Don¡¯t fool around at the adventurer¡¯s guild, please! part

    ¡°Yes! we want that!¡±

    Luke replied a split second after she finished speaking.

    ¡°Oh, so you already know about it?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. But if it¡¯s like an adventurer¡¯s card I¡¯m in¡±

    ¡°In that case, let me exin. It is a card and it does function as proof of identity, but it¡¯s not rted to adventurers in the sense that everyone can get one. Having one is a basic requirement to join any guild, even the church!¡±

    Ebi takes some cards from a drawer, they are just silver colored in cards, they seem to be made from a non reflective metal.

    ¡°When you touch a card it¡¯ll link to your souls inmediately, that¡¯s why I¡¯m wearing gloves. Now please proceed and touch them bare handed¡±

    .....

    We all touch the cards that were handed to us, but nothing seems to happen.

    ¡°You must be wondering why are they not active yet, that¡¯s because it takes some time for them to charge up. Just keep them close and they¡¯ll start working within a day, as long as you keep them charged you¡¯ll be able to unlock new features but the basics are all the same for everyone.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, miss Ebi¡±

    ¡°Do you have a question miss?¡±

    ¡°Yes, what happens if someone loses their card or if it gets stolen?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no cost to issue you a new card, but just like now, they¡¯ll inactive until charged up and you¡¯ll lose all the features your previous card had activated. In case it gets stolen they wouldn¡¯t be able to use it or see any personal information, that¡¯s why they don¡¯t usually get stolen, unless of course someone robbed it with the intention of causing harm. So, you¡¯ll still need to be ware of other adventurers¡±

    ¡°Other adventurers? do they y dirty?¡±

    Bob asks Ebi.

    ¡°The purpose of this guild is to keep beasts and monsters at bay, in theory others adventurers are just different teams working for the same purpose but... you may find one or two rotten apples. It¡¯s against the guild¡¯s rules to purposedly get in the way of other teams, it¡¯s also against rules to harm others adventurers for no reason. If, by chance, you have a grudge with someone and it¡¯s clear it has nothing to do with the adventurers guild you could technically fight against others, but you would still need to respect thew. Some cities are very strict regarding fights, while others are more rxed. Just don¡¯t get ahead of yourselves, since you¡¯re just starting no one will want to mess with you guys, there¡¯s nothing to gain and a lot to lose by doing it and I don¡¯t think there¡¯s someone so stupid as to harm novices. Oh! by the way, there¡¯s an issue you may encounter from the start so I¡¯ll be clear, you cannot perform kill steal no matter the circumstances, understood?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s kill steal?¡±

    I do have an idea, but I don¡¯t lose anything by asking.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly Ryu, you¡¯re supposed to be our party leader. Kill steal is whenever you attack a beast someone else has targeted. Only the first one to properlynd a hit can attempt to kill the beast, it¡¯s a basic rule to keep order among different parties. Of course you can attack monsters someone from your party attacked since your party should be clear on how to share the loot, you can also aid someone if he clearly asks for help. In any other case it¡¯s better to not intervene at all¡±

    ¡°You sure are knowledgeable mister, everything you said is correct. Anyway, you should head home to charge your soulbound cards, I almost forgot! as soon as your soulbound card charges up you should head back there to take a test. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not difficult at all. I would say it¡¯s impossible to fail the test, it¡¯s sole purpose is to find rare talents that may be stronger than F rank so we can assign them to a higher rank up to D rank¡±

    ¡°Is there a chance to reach S rank inmediately?¡±

    ¡°S rank? impossible, even if you were as strong as an S rank you would still be assigned a D rank because as you rank up you¡¯ll be taking responsabilities such as guarding the building, protecting our sponsors, defending the city or training novices¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same as taking a quest?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, it¡¯spletely different since you won¡¯t be paid afterpleting the task, instead you get a steady wage. You would be required in emergencies or if we¡¯re seriously understaffed, but some people volunteer just because it¡¯s safer and the wages are steady¡±

    After listening to Ebi¡¯s exnation we go back to the shop, Luke is so happy he¡¯s literally skipping and even Bob has a broad smile on his face.

    ¡°Since it¡¯ste, I think you guys should stay with us at the shop, I really don¡¯t rmend you to stay at that crappy inn. I¡¯ve been getting a lot of moneytely and, despite saving every coin for a better craftmen station, I made sure to furnish the ce appropriately to receive you guys¡±

    ¡°In that case, I think I¡¯ll take your offer Ryu. It¡¯s getting a bitte and I don¡¯t think Veronika will be in the mood to be looking for a ce to stay¡±

    Time flew by so fast I didn¡¯t realize when it was time to go to bed already. Bob and Luke had been discussing about their expectations for the adventurers guild while the girls just wondered if it was a safe profession, or if it was as dangerous as bing a hunter at Ironwoods.

    Veronika was especially scared that Bob may be sent into a dangerous quest and he might end up dying for biting more than he could swallow. But Mia did her best to calm everyone down.

    She wasn¡¯t an adventurer herself, but since she had been in the business for a couple years she heard lots of stories from adventurers.

    From what Luke told us, being and adventurer in here was nothing short of being a sry man. I wasn¡¯t sure of what he meant by that, but he exined that back on his world people used to go to employement agencies to look for work.

    Mia proceeded to exin everything she knew about the adventurers and how they worked, I was d to hear that the adventurers guild wasn¡¯t just a ce that sent people on tasks and then collected the money, they took care of gathering information and choosing the right team for the job.

    Not only that, sometimes they even provide equipment, hints, supplies and even transportation fees. They took care of the adventurers that fell ill or were cursed during adventures. When I tried to ask her if maybe I could find someone to help me with my problem she said she didn¡¯t know for sure but it was the best choice I had.

    Since I refurnished the whole building after making the repairs and fixes it needed, my bed now is a lot morefortable. It is true I¡¯ve been making a killing out of selling tonics and potions, but it¡¯s also true that Ath¡¯s wealth seems bottomless.

    Now we¡¯re fighting each other without violence. I would make as many tonics I can, she woulde pick them up and pay the required amount. Then she would go sell them to other merchants at the same price she bought them from me, just as her contract states so, in theory her wealth should be the same.

    I know that¡¯s not true though, because I know she¡¯s been bribing people to keep them from selling me the medicinal herbs I need to make the tonic.

    If she runs out of money I win, and she will end up being my ve. On the other hand, If I fail to craft at least ten tonics, even if it¡¯s a single day, it¡¯s her win and I¡¯ll be unable to make any more business in this city.

    When I deviced the mechanism to keep her from using the haggle skill on me she seemed to be defeated and was on the verge of crying, but after going back home she rposed herself and came back with confidence in beating me. She always keeps a sly smile on her face and uses any underhanded method to keep me from making enough tonics, but she never once recurred to violence or breaking thew which is one of the advantages I have.

    But there¡¯s two things she didn¡¯t count on, the first one being my friends bringing me enough medicinal herbs to cure a gue, that alone may not be enough for me to beat her. But there¡¯s one more thing and I have it on my hands right now.

    The soulbound card provides information about oneself, I have the feeling there are many possibilities lying in the use of this artifact and also, it allows me to join the adventurers guild. As long as I¡¯m able to gather herbs myself there won¡¯t be a single day I won¡¯t be able to provide the tonics.

    There¡¯s no way I¡¯m losing this.

 Chapter 99

    Chapter 99: Don¡¯t fool around at the adventurer¡¯s guild, please! part

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t let you take the test today mister Ryu¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that Ebi? please don¡¯t joke with something like that¡±

    I¡¯m again troubled with my bad luck, while Bob, Luke and Sera were excitedly toying with their soulbound cards and trying out the basic features, I¡¯m still stuck at the counter because my soulbound card seems to be defective.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a joke, I¡¯m being serious. Before taking the test you need to properly charge your soulbound card. This is really important for different reasons but they main two reasons are we can¡¯t just let anyone in the guild so we need all the personal information it can provide us, the other reason is because we can¡¯t let someone who can¡¯t take proper responsibilities join the guild. If a kid is not serious about bing an adventurer and doesn¡¯t charge their cards, we just can¡¯t trust them with our tasks. There are many wealthy kids that just want the glory thates with the title and don¡¯t take the quests seriously, but I assure you that even the lowest rank quest can mean the life or death of someone¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m not a kid miss Ebi¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that, because you weren¡¯t capable of charging your card¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, this card is defective! I kept it next to me at all times, it just won¡¯t charge!¡±

    .....

    I did keep the card next to me at all times, it was just a short period and most of the time I was just sleeping, but since I was impatient to charge it I even slept with it. When morning came Bob and Luke had already unlocked some features, they were able to read their personal information and receive system messages on it, Sera¡¯s took a little bit longer but at least she was able to activate it.

    My card, instead, seems to bepletely dead. It didn¡¯t matter how much i tried, I just wasn¡¯t able to turn it on.

    ¡°Please miss Ebi, there must be something you can do!¡±

    Sera, who stayed by my side at all times, begged on my stead.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry miss Sera, you can take the test normally, but I can¡¯t let mister Ryu join the guild. I would have to take responsibility for him after all. I know this may seem harsh, but you would be surprised at the amount of people that be adventurers and die on their first month, I just don¡¯t want that to happen to mister Ryu and you should understand this.¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s really strong and reliable!¡±

    Watching the beautiful Sera plead for me made me feel warm inside and, for a short minute I was envied by everyone at the guild.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really think so, I don¡¯t sense any strong energying out from mister Ryu which means he¡¯s rather on the weak side, and he can¡¯t be that reliable if he wasn¡¯t even able to keep his card on him at all times for a single day¡±

    I was about to retort but she didn¡¯t give me the chance. Since we met Ebisu she looked like a clumsy and upbeat girl with a cheerful personality, but the clumsy part was the most noticeable. But now she looks really serious and determined.

    ¡°Before you say anything else mister Ryu, I¡¯ve worked in the adventurer¡¯s guild for a long while and I have never heard of such thing ever happening before. Do you think a centuries old guild would fail to record something like that?¡±

    ¡°Well, you did say you don¡¯t allow people who fail to charge their cards on the first day join, correct?¡±

    She nodded in response.

    ¡°Could it be that it may have happened before and it wasn¡¯t recorded because you guys didn¡¯t believe it?¡±

    Ebi ponders for a minute.

    ¡°You do have a point there mister Ryu but...¡±

    ¡°Listen, I know for sure I kept the card on me at all times and it just didn¡¯t charge. I also noticed that Bob¡¯s and Luke¡¯s card charged up faster than Sera¡¯s. You may have never recorded something like a defective card ever existing before, but you must have noticed them charging at different rates! I don¡¯t mind if you don¡¯t allow me to join today, but once it charges would you please allow me to join?¡±

    ¡°I would have to ask my boss and... that would be a bit troublesome. I¡¯m sorry mister Ryu but... hey! your card just went active!¡±

    ¡°uh? what!?¡±

    The souldbound card on my hand started blinking on a blue light for a minute and then I was able to activate it.

    Ryu (no ss)(Healthy)

    age: 17

    Patron: Aruru

    Race: Human

    Birthce:

    Strenght: low

    Dexterity: average

    Constitution: below average

    Intelligence: average

    Wisdom: Very high

    Charisma: high

    Resists: poison, cold, disease.

    Skills: Observ, analyze, identify, consider, stealth, night vision, aim, fishing, carpentry, transmutation, alchemy, cooking [...]

    Weapons: throwing, shooting, piercing, stabbing, blunt, sharp.

    WHAT!? I¡¯m only 17!?

    Anne told me she was 19 and Helena is 21, this means I¡¯m a lot younger than them. There was a lot of information I didn¡¯t know on my card, but what shocked me the most was to learn about my age. Well, at least this means I¡¯m closer to Rina¡¯s age since she¡¯s 16.

    ¡°Uhm, excuse me, miss Ebi... There¡¯s information I didn¡¯t know about me before, but there¡¯s information I¡¯m certain about that doesn¡¯t appear in here¡±

    ¡°Its only natural it doesn¡¯t show you the full list of your skills, most people have so many skills there¡¯s not enough space for everything to fit in a card that small. You¡¯ll be able to unlock a more advanced disyter on, so there¡¯s no need to worry about it. Now please show me your card so we can proceed¡±

    ¡°Is there a way to hide some information?¡±

    ¡°Is there something you need to keep hidden?¡±

    She red at me with suspicious eyes.

    ¡°Well, not really, but since you said no one would be able to see my personal information I¡¯m a bit confused about it¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, I forgot to exin, the card will show only what you want to show but there¡¯s no way to change information. It may not be urate since it can only show information you know, even if you¡¯re not conscious of it but that¡¯s something forter on. The minimum requirement is to know your name, age, race and ss, but you can show as much as you want and I can exin everything to you.¡±

    with that In mind I show my card to Ebi, who reads it carefuly. While reading she gasped a couple times and she murmured some stuff too. I don¡¯t know if she did the same with Bob and Luke, but It feels awkward. It¡¯s like having someone look at me whilepletely naked.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that umon for people to not know the name of their birthce so that¡¯s ok. Your friends too didn¡¯t know where did theye from so... but there¡¯s one thing I don¡¯t understand. Do you profess a religion mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I do not¡±

    ¡°Then, perhaps you joined a cult?¡±

    ¡°Not that I¡¯m aware of, is there something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Well... this is a bit strange, there are many gods but I¡¯ve never seen someone worship Aruru, I¡¯ve never heard of that god¡±

    ¡°Uh? Is that going to be a problem?¡±

    ¡°Not really, it¡¯s just that it¡¯s not usual for someone to have a patron before bing adventurers, it¡¯s even more rare for them to not even know about it. Anyways, since I don¡¯t know about your patron god I can¡¯t tell you anything about it. About your stats, your defenses and inmune system seem to be as weak as a newborn child, same as your friends, except for Sera, so watch out for sicknesses and weather conditions please. Everything seems in order so we can proceed to the test. Pleasee with me¡±

    Ebi leads our group to the courtyard inside, its surrounded by the guild¡¯s building but it¡¯s quite spacious. It makes me wonder just how big is the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    There are three groups of young adventurers training with some straw mannequins, they look to be close to our age and look a lot more like us than the rest of the adventurers drinking inside.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the deal with these guys Ebi?¡±

    ¡°They are here to take the test mister Lorenzo. Listen everyone, this is mister Lorenzo, he¡¯s a C rank adventurer and works as an instructor in this guild, be respectful to him and listen to hisands. He is your superior, keep that in mind at all times. He will be conducting the test, so I¡¯ll leave you on his capable hands¡±

    Lorenzo is a tall muscr man wearing light armor mixed with metal pads, he looks really strong, his skin is tanned and has a scar on his face, his hair is also a bit messy. He looks a bit like Ironwoods hunters, a mix in between a thug and a battle hardened warrior.

    ¡°Hey hey hey! Don¡¯t leave me out of it! I¡¯m here too and I¡¯d love me some fresh meat¡±

    A wild looking woman gets close holding a two handed sword that looks like a huge kitchen knife, she grabs it with one hand and keeps it resting on her shoulders.

    My first instinct was to look at her weapon and stance, but then I noticed... she¡¯s wearing light armor, as in very light armor. It barely even covers the bare minimum to not be able to say she¡¯s naked at all and she looks at us with a gaze that seems to say she wants to eat us.

    A gulp was heard from everyone at our group.

 Chapter 100

    Chapter 100: Don¡¯t fool around at the adventurer¡¯s guild, please! part

    ¡°The name¡¯s Risa, but you can call me whenever you want¡±

    A devilish smile appeared on her face, her fangs seem prominent but besides that she looks just like a regr human. A very naked human.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind miss Risa, I¡¯ll be in charge of today¡¯s test¡±

    Lorenzo said nonchntly.

    ¡°Uh? you want to fight old man?¡±

    She got close to Lorenzo and looked up to him, he was only a bit taller than her though.

    ¡°Who are you calling an old man, we¡¯re on the clock here so you should act professional¡±

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯m being professional here, I need to properly asses the new adventurers in case I find someone delicious, errr I mean, someone strong¡±

    ¡°Fine, you can look, but please don¡¯t intervene until its over or I¡¯ll tell boss you¡¯re obstructing my work¡±

    The sole mention of the adventurer¡¯s guild boss was enough to calm her down. Her expression stiffened and her right eye twitched for a few seconds.

    Lorenzo guided us towards a straw mannequin, there was a table with a sword, a knife, a spear and a bow.

    ¡°Everyone pick a weapon of your choice and hit the mannequin however you like, without activating any skill. In case you¡¯re wondering, these are low level weapons with the sole purpose of testing your fighting prowess, so don¡¯t even try to steal it¡±

    ¡°Why would someone even try to steal crap like that¡±

    Luke sneered, earning him a lustful gaze from Risa.

    ¡°As you said, they may be crap, but it¡¯s a lot more than the usual starter weapons of adventurers. Most rookiese here with just a stick on her waist, others with stones, as if that wasn¡¯t enough most of them are kids. I don¡¯t really care if they steal this weapons, but it¡¯s bothersome to go to the storage to grab spares¡±

    The first one to hit the mannequin was Luke, he grabbed the sword and hit the mannequin from above wielding the short sword with both hands. It looked somewhatical since he was all serious and even took a fighting stance with what can only be described as a toy sword.

    Both Lorenzo an Risa reacted with a crooked smile as if they had expected it from the begining.

    The next one was Bob. He grabbed the sword too but used it with one hand. He walked slowly towards the mannequin and hit it in the side causing the wooden pole where the mannequin was hung to break.

    Both instructors seemed to be really surprised at his strength and Risa¡¯s eyes became sharp.

    Since Sera didn¡¯t have any experience with any sort of weapon and the only thing she was familiar with was the knife she grabbed it. She used to help in the kitchen peeling vegetables while chatting with her sister, but she never even tried to stab something in her life.

    She grabbed it with her right hand and put her index finger on top of it as if she was about to chop some carrots and walked forward.

    Risa let out a snicker as she saw the weird grip Sera had on the knife and no one was surprised when she barely even damaged her mannequin.

    I¡¯m thest one and judging by their reactions so far ti seems this test isprised of three parts. First they see what kind of weapon they choose, second, they pay close attentions to the way they face the mannequin andst, they watch the damage output.

    I grab the spear since it¡¯s the weapon I¡¯m most familiar with and I walk forward, take a low stance and stab the mannequin from bellow.

    Both instructors let out a disappointed sigh.

    ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen, you all took this test seriously and that makes me happy. You, the big one, you really got some strenght don¡¯t you?¡±

    Lorenzo said speaking to Bob, but before he could reply Risa walked towards Luke.

    ¡°Hey blondie, why did you pick the sword if you¡¯re not familiar with it?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I could tell from the start that none of you have any fighting experience, but at least they chose a weapon they werefortable with. You, instead, picked a sword even though you can¡¯t properly wield it¡±

    Luke¡¯s face became red as a tomato.

    ¡°Stop saying nonsense, I can properly use a sword¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re strong, but if you¡¯re so stubborn I wouldn¡¯t want you on my team. Thieves shouldn¡¯t wield swords, next time pick a knife instead and you¡¯ll see the difference¡±

    ¡°Hey Risa! What did I say about not interfering? Next time I¡¯ll go straight to boss¡±

    ¡°Just what you¡¯d expect from the favourite¡±

    She sneered at Lorenzo, this time he did look ufortable when hearing he was the favourite.

    For the next test we were supposed to throw something at different targets. There was a stone, a knife and a bow with arrows.

    ¡°Now please, throw a knife to each target, try to hit the the red spot at the middle¡±

    This time Luke hit the first target very close to the middle, he hit the second target almost on the outer rim and he miss thest targetpletely.

    ¡°An average performance, I can¡¯t say I expeced anything else from blondie¡±

    Risa mocked Luke who seemed to be stressing up quickly.

    Bob hit the middle target and the farthest one, but he missed the nearest target by a huge margin.

    ¡°That¡¯s unexpectedly good¡±

    The female instructor smiled. Lorenzo clicked his tongue at his nosy coworker.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything else to do? why are you bothering me at this hour?¡±

    ¡°Do you really want me to say it in front of the new recruits. In that case I¡¯ll...¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s ok. Just keep quiet¡±

    Sera missed the three targets, but she was really close to hitting them.

    ¡°Not bad miss¡±

    Lorenzo praised her.

    It was finally my turn and I was eager to show my impresive marskmanship with my aim skill, they didn¡¯t say I couldn¡¯t use it after all. It¡¯s not like I can turn it off, it¡¯s not a special ability like Luke¡¯s single strike. It just activates whenever someone takes aim at something.

    I threw the knives at the respective targets and hit bullseye on every one of them, but the knives didn¡¯t stick on any. My strength was nothingpared to Bob¡¯s or Luke¡¯s after all.

    ¡°wow, that was bad. Like, really bad. I¡¯ve never seen even a child failing this test, but this might be the first time ever¡±

    Risa said, I thought she was mocking me and turned to face her but she looked honestly surprised.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get discouraged boy, there¡¯s still a chance for you to prove your worth.¡±

    Lorenzo tried to lift up my mood, but it¡¯s not like I was discouraged, im outraged!

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand, what did I do wrong? I hit all the targets¡±

    ¡°While it¡¯s true that you did as you were asked, and didn¡¯t fail to hit the targets. The tasks don¡¯t matter at all, what matters the most is our own appreciation of your skills and how you put them to use¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my appreciation, you¡¯re just a bystander Risa. But, yes, what she says its true. You may think the most important thing is to aplish the task provided, that would be true if this was a quest since it won¡¯t matter how do you do it, as long as you finish the objective you would get a passing grade. But this is a test, and this tasks are just a means to an end, you could say it¡¯s for teaching purposes. Most adventurers learn the most valuable lessons not in the first day of work, but on the test¡±

    After that he took us to a a corner of the courtyard. There was a bowl of water and a bear tied to a post.

    ¡°Now you¡¯re supposed to use your skills however you see fit on this bear, don¡¯t worry about harming it because you¡¯re most likely too weak to do any damage without weapons¡±

    Luke, who was frustrated to no end by Risa¡¯s constant mockery took a step forward and rolled up his sleeves. He lowered his center of gravity and faced the bear upfront.

    He used consider, stealth and tried to activate backstab but since he didn¡¯t have a ded weapon with him he wasn¡¯t able to. Instead of giving up, he got close range and performed an excelent hand chop to the bear¡¯s neck. It writhed in pain, but was unscathed.

    ¡°Wow! that was actually pretty good mister Luke!¡±

    Lorenzo said after checking again his notepad with the adventurer candidates names.

    ¡°Yeah, blondie got some balls, to face a bear close range with such confidence. Maybe he¡¯s not a lost case after all. If he put a bit more strenght to it, maybe the bear would¡¯ve been knocked out¡±

    Luke smirked at Risa feeling proud of himself and surely thinking it was to be expected from a hero like him.

    Bob simply boosted his strength and hit the bear on the snout. It was a powerstrike and the bear yelped and wiggled from side to side almost falling to the ground, but managed to hold his ground.

    When it was Sera¡¯s turn she was trembling and didn¡¯t want to get close to the bear. She looked at me, I think she¡¯s asking for permission to use magic instead of skills but I shake my head. We decided to keep anything rted to magic hidden until we see someone outside our party casting magic.

    ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself miss Sera, you already passed and if you forfeit this quest you¡¯ll simply join as an F rank¡±

    Lorenzo ced a hand on her shoulder, but she quickly reacted and pushed it aside.

    ¡°If that¡¯s ok with mister Ryu...¡±

    ¡°Of course Sera, there¡¯s no need to go that far. Can I skip this task too?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry boy, but you can¡¯t forfeit... If you do, I would have to fail you. This would be the first time for me failing a healthy young man, even kids pass this test so I¡¯m sure you can do it. If you¡¯re too scared maybe you¡¯re just not cut to be an adventurer¡±

    ¡°Uhm... I don¡¯t doubt I can do it, it just feels bad to hit a defenseless creature for no reason¡±

    Lorenzo and Risa were left speechless.

 Chapter 101

    Chapter 101: Don¡¯t fool around at the adventurer¡¯s guild, please! part

    Risa¡¯s loudughter resounded in the courtyard.

    ¡°Bwahaha, that was a good one kid, you really are something!¡±

    But Lorenzo was dead serious.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just an animal that¡¯s been chained up with the purpose of training, it may be a strong creature but it has no means to defend itself. I¡¯m not scared, I feel pity¡±

    ¡°What you say its true but this is actually a high level beast taken from the far south region, it looks anything but harmless. While this may seem to be a test to try out your skills, it¡¯s real intent is to assess people¡¯s courage. A lot can be said from the way they approach it, if they boldly move forward they get perfect score, hesitation and mistakes due to fear lower the score and forfeiting is failing¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but Ie from the south and I¡¯ve faced this kind of creature before¡±

    .....

    On the way to Crent I was still afflicted with my bad luck since I didn¡¯t have any holy water on me, it was as if every creature alive was after my blood.

    ¡°And now you say you¡¯ve faced a wild one before, stop you¡¯re killing me¡±

    Risa held her stomach inughter, but Lorenzo remainedpletely serious.

    ¡°Listen boy, saying you¡¯ve seen one and survived is one thing, but to say you actually killed one. There¡¯s a limit even to lying, get out of my face¡±

    ¡°Wait, mister Lorenzo. What he says is true, I was there. He killed it by himself without any help¡±

    Luke said with conviction.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe such thing, this may be an F rank beast, but it¡¯s way more than any of you would be able to handle in the wild. If you had said you ganged up on it I may have believed it... What were you doing at the time? Why didn¡¯t you help him out?¡±

    ¡°Because I was fighting one too¡±

    He crossed his arms trying to look cool.

    ¡°Tell me the details please¡±

    ¡°We were on our way here from Ironwoods, we had just left mountainside when five or so bears came running towards us. Since they were too many, everyone had to fight, we unsheated our weapons and took a fighting stance, I don¡¯t know what was Ryu doing or how did he manage to kill the bear because I was too busy dodging¡±

    ¡°So, how did you do do it? uh?¡±

    ¡°Well, the exact method I used was not as elegant as you may think. I tried to hide under a tree but I fell on the ground. When the bear was about to attack me I simply pointed the spear towards the bear and it impaled itself. Then I stood up, went behind it and finished it with my knife¡±

    ¡°Really? you got a nice sword, why would you use a knife?¡±

    I really don¡¯t want to tell them I couldn¡¯t even draw my sword and that my weapons were soaked in poison. If they learned about the curse it may end up in them rejecting me because of the high risk of dying, on the other hand, if they learn about the poison I would be giving out one of the aces up my sleeve.

    ¡°Because it¡¯s sharper than the sword¡±

    I handed the knife to Lorenzo who looked at it closely.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look special at all, more so it¡¯s really fragile, but it¡¯s sharpness is impressive¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s made from obsidian, but since it breaks easily it¡¯s not suitable for battle¡±

    ¡°I have an Idea Lorenzo, since your test is no longer viable, what do you say I spar a little with him. If you don¡¯t like what you see you can just fail him¡±

    Lorenzo pondered for a short while and nodded.

    ¡°Fine, you can do it. Listen boy, you¡¯re free to refuse, but I¡¯ll be honest here I¡¯m not buying your story, so if you refuse I¡¯ll fail you¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ts ok, as long as i¡¯m able to join the guild I don¡¯t mind¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t go easy on you kid, you¡¯re just too shameless¡±

    Risa walked towards me with a gentle smile on her face and whispered in my ear.

    She led me to an open space and pointed and rested the huge sword in her shoulders, I unsheathed my sword without problems since it¡¯s properly soaked in holy water and took a fighting stance.

    I thought she would pounce on me as soon as Lorenzo gave the go, but she just stood there in waiting leaving me no choice but to approach her. I¡¯m more ustomed to fighting defensively so I¡¯m at a disadvantage here.

    Luke alwaysined when sparing with Bob that he showed no openings and I didn¡¯t know what he meant by that, but now Ipletely get it. She¡¯s just standing idle, she¡¯s just looking at me in the eye, but I feel I don¡¯t have any chance ofnding a proper hit.

    If I try a horizontal sh she can just take a step back and If I hit her from above she would just block me and counter with a kick. An inmense pressure starts building up inside me and I feel weak on my feet, but I don¡¯t lose grip on my sword and walk forward.

    I try to activate my consider skill but instead of the usual system message, a health bar was disyed in a lively green color, and her name appeared behind it.

    The intense pressure that kept me from walking towards her dissipated gradually easing my walk towards her.

    Her expression suddenly went from arrogance to surprise and then... fear.

    ¡°You! what are you doing? what kind of skill is this!?¡±

    Taking the chance she gave me I hurry up my pace until I¡¯m running full speed, but before I was even able to rise my sword.

    ¡°I yield!¡±

    She yelled and Lorenzo was left dumbfounded, Sera started pping in joy.

    ¡°With this, I¡¯m d to say all of you passed the test. You¡¯ll be under the care of an instructor for a while but if everything goes well you¡¯ll be proper adventurers¡±

    Bob and Luke both ended with a D rank, but Sera and I became F rank. I was a bit disappointed by this but Luke was furious. Heined about not being able to take proper quests from the start, but Bob calmed him down saying that he shouldn¡¯t skip the tutorial. Lukeughed at hisment and said he was right.

    When Ryu¡¯s party left the adventurer¡¯s guild Risa was left alone with Lorenzo and they went to the tavern to grab a drink.

    ¡°I must tell you Risa, you didn¡¯t strike me as a kind person. You¡¯re finally maturing into a proper woman¡±

    ¡°Shut up you old man, you¡¯re making nonsense¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to hide it, you went easy on him¡±

    Risa¡¯s face froze up for a second and she gulped down her beer.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what happened, I¡¯ve never felt something like that before¡±

    ¡°That mysterious skill? was it that strong? I feltpelled to ask him but it¡¯s rude to do so, especially since I¡¯m the one that should teach him to keep some tricks up his sleeve¡±

    Lorenzo was intrigued.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I actually don¡¯t know what kind of skill he used and that¡¯s what scares me the most¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re a ranger, you always manage to at least understand what kind of skill is used¡±

    ¡°What I felt... It¡¯s hard to put it into words. I¡¯m usually excited to face battle anytime and I¡¯m not scared to get a little hurt either, even when facing stronger enemies I never hold back. But this guy gave me the creeps. It was an unpleasant feeling that made me shudder, I felt cold and hot at the same time and felt paralyzed¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that something like killing intent? you think he¡¯s an assasin? that would be impossible since his card showed he had no ss. While it would be possible to hide his ss, there¡¯s no way it can show a wrong one or show ssless when he has one¡±

    ¡°I know, I didn¡¯t expect things to go that way. I tried to use killing intent to make him piss himself in front of hispanions... but that wasn¡¯t killing intent. I could¡¯ve sworn there was...¡±

    ¡°What? tell me¡±

    ¡°Nevermind... I must be crazy. Anyways, I call dibs on him!¡±

    ¡°Uhhh? I was the instructor in charge of taking their test so I get the first pick¡±

    ¡°Come on, don¡¯t be like that with ady, Lo-ren-zo¡±

    She said in a seductive voice while leaning close to him, as soon as her breasts pressed against his arm he blushed.

    ¡°I won¡¯t go back on this, but I guess it would be ok to let him choose his instructor. I¡¯m actually more interested in Bob and Luke, they may be a bit weird but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll earn me a hugeission¡±

    Lorenzo sighed thinking on his money problems that forced him to work as an instructor instead of going in adventures and taking quests and took a sip of his beer.

 Chapter 102

    Chapter 102: Don¡¯t underestimate goblins, please! part

    ¡°Wee back, master¡±

    Mia greeted me at the door, Sera saw this and frowned inmediately.

    ¡°What are you doing? it¡¯s not your ce to greet mister Ryu at the entrance¡±

    Mochi¡¯s tails were lifted in a stiff position and the amarok was wagging his tail rapidly, both were standing next to Mia.

    ¡°Actually miss Sera, it is¡±

    ¡°You! Mister Ryu, you should get rid of this thing before it causes more trouble¡±

    ¡°Please Sera, I¡¯m too tired to deal with this right now. I just want to take a bath and rest¡±

    .....

    ¡°Of course mister Ryu, I¡¯ll fetch the water for you¡±

    Bob hurried inside to look for Veronika, he was eager to tell her about his sess, they¡¯ll move out today after dinner so we won¡¯t be seeing each other as often as I would like to.

    Today¡¯s dinner was a lot more lively than usual, everyone was boasting their performance at the table andughing heartedly at their own failures, but I was feeling a bit down.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Ryu, you¡¯ve been awfully quiet today¡±

    Luke asked tantly and I couldn¡¯t avoid looking at Bob. Everyone fell silent, ire and Sera stood up to clean up the dishes while Veronika, Mia and Taffy followed them to the kitchen, but Luke himself didn¡¯t take the hint.

    I tried faking a cough to let him know I wanted to speak alone with Bob but he remained at the table, then I tried staring at Luke right in the eye and then looking at the door but he remained unfazed.

    ¡°I have something to discuss with Bob¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ok, we¡¯re all friends, you can say anything in fron of me¡±

    Luke said shamelessly.

    ¡°uhm, so, how do I say this. Bob, are you still mad at me for what happened at the hill?¡±

    ¡°Oh! it¡¯s about the time you let people die in front of Bob and he was so traumatized he couldn¡¯t even get out of bed without Veronika¡¯s help?¡±

    Luke sneered.

    ¡°What? did that happen?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡±

    Bob scartched his cheek.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Bob, but...¡±

    ¡°Before you say anything else, that¡¯s in the past. I¡¯m actually d things turned out this way. It¡¯s sad that so many people died but...¡±

    ¡°Ok you guys are being stupid and I¡¯m here to settle things¡±

    Luke proimed.

    ¡°This doesn¡¯t concern you Luke¡±

    Bob tried to quiet him down but Luke continued.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been moping about this for way too long. Bob feels bad whenever you¡¯re around because he never apologized properly for the way he treated you but he still feels you let people die on purpose to profit, and Ryu is awkward around Bob everytime they see each other because he misses him. If you pull your heads out of your asses you¡¯ll realize the truth¡±

    Luke said with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

    ¡°And what truth would that be?¡±

    I ask him fearing he may say something stupid.

    ¡°We are all just horny teenagers in a world we don¡¯t understand. We were forcibly transported in here without a say, we¡¯ve been doing our best just to survive and I¡¯d say we have been doing a good job at that. But to think we have a huge responsibility on our shoulders, to save mankind and protect everyone is just too much.¡±

    ¡°That actually makes sense, except for the horny part¡±

    ¡°No, especially the horny part. What else did you expect from people our age with no experience with girls after being sent into such an enabling world, when I first arrived at the brothel I even thought I wouldn¡¯t mind living a depraved life like that. And you guys are not better than me, Ryu, you always look down on me for falling to my lower desires but I¡¯ve heard from Helena that you were going at it like rabbits in heat. Now, lets focus on the real important thing, we need to rise up in the adventurer¡¯s guild rank as fast as we can and you¡¯re the only one who can help us. So stop being stupid and do your job properly, party leader¡±

    To say im shocked would be an understatement.

    ¡°Since when you¡¯re so mature Luke?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pretend I didn¡¯t hear that¡±

    Bobughed, but then became serious again.

    ¡°After seeing that hellish picture at the hill masacre I was about to give up, if it wasn¡¯t for Veronika I don¡¯t know what would have happened to me. I was in a really dark ce and med it on everyone, but now I understand that it was all due to my own weakness and I won¡¯t let something like that happen again¡±

    After settling things up we discussed for a while our future ns and wished for the other heroes to be here with us. It wasn¡¯t just so we can all be adventurers and finish our mission, we were all feeling a bit nostalgic. Bob then picked up his belongings and headed out to the inn Veronika had chosen, but not before making it clear that it was just so they can have the much needed privacy they longed for.

    The next day I woke up feeling renewed and, although Bob had left to live with Veronika somewhere else, he came early in the morning to go to the adventurer¡¯s guild together.

    Instructor Lorenzo was already waiting for us with a displeased expression on his face.

    ¡°Well now, look who decided to show up¡±

    ¡°Are wete?¡±

    ¡°And you have the guts to ask, didn¡¯t Ebi exin you guys that you are supposed to be in here at dawn break everyday for the following month while you¡¯re on your trial period?¡±

    We shook our heads at the same time and Lorenzo covered his face with a hand.

    ¡°Anyways, it doesn¡¯t matter the reason, since you¡¯rete you¡¯re up for a punishment so I took the liberty of choosing the first quest you¡¯re taking. It¡¯s a goblin hunt¡±

    He said in a solemn tone of voice wich contrasted heavily with Bob¡¯s and Lukes cheerful celebration.

    ¡°Yes! finally!¡±

    They even high fived. Sera and I werepletely in the dark so we just stood awkwardly next to the merry duo.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t celebrate, this is going to be a dangerous quest, more so considering it¡¯s the first time you do this. I¡¯ll be going just as precaution but you are the ones doing the job¡±

    They seemed to be even more happy, it didn¡¯t matter what did Lorenzo tried to say to lower their mood, they became even more excited. Especially when he mentioned the money reward would be low, instead the reputation reward would be higher than usual.

    In the end he gave up in trying to make them feel punished and just headed out of the guild.

    He was carrying a backpack that looked heavy and walked ahead of us, since I¡¯ve spent most of the time indoors ever since I came to Crent I took the chance to sightsee.

    We were fully geared but only carried light equipment so we were able to keep up with Lorenzo even after leaving the city.

    We headed towards a forest close by, as soon as we entered he took a rear position, Sera walked next to me and Bob and Like were on the front.

    This is actually a pretty safe formation, the forest wasn¡¯t as dense as the one we came from initially so it wasn¡¯t hard for us to follow the path.

    Lorenzo didn¡¯t gave us even a single hint about what are we supposed to do, he simply said that if we saw a goblin we should kill it. Leaving aside the rewards, it seems like another test.

    As hours passed I realized we weren¡¯t going to find any goblin in the forest so I adressed the party.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any goblins around, so I think we will need to spend the night in here¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually correct kid, the first adventure is always to teach adventurers the same lesson. Whenever you take on a quest you should be prepared for everything, that¡¯s why I brought food, water and a tent. This quest can¡¯t bepleted in a single day since goblins are far away from the city, I hope the hunger and the cold night will engrave the lesson on your hearts... hey, what are you guys doing?¡±

    Lorenzo asked after seeing everyone had bright smiles on their faces and looked at me with glimmering eyes.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do some cooking. Bob, Luke you know what to do, Serae with me to gather ingredients¡±

    Without further adue everyone started their tasks. Bob gathered enough materials to make a shelter, Luke made quick use of evereything Bob brought and prepared a small shack that was big enough for us four to fit in without problems. Sera and I grabbed many fruits, vegetables and I even managed to kill a few birds.

    Sera skillfuly prepared the birds for cooking while I made the vegetable soup, I took the chance to mix some herbs and spices I always bring with me and used them to cook the birds on the campfire.

 Chapter 103

    Chapter 103: Don¡¯t underestimate goblins, please! part

    A delicious smell filled the shack and spread out in the woods.

    Lorenzo who had already eaten his travel rations and went to sleep, rolled from side to side on his cramped bedroll while we delighted ourselves with an improvised but bountyful dinner.

    Maybe Lorenzo thought if he made a fire we would take advantage of it to light our own and that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t make a campfire. Instead he¡¯s now in theplete dark after having a poor meal, I think he¡¯s too proud to move close to the fire.

    I would invite him in, but it¡¯s not that cold.

    About the campfire, people in Ironwoods seemed to think it wasn¡¯t a good Idea to make a fire in the woods because it might attract beasts, but it¡¯s the other way around. Light won¡¯t travel far in a forest so it barely makes us a bit more noticeable and we can use the fire to protect ourselves if anything happens.

    After eating our full and chatting for a while, we all took our cozy fur capes and put them on the ground. They were made by Helena precisely to be both warm and alsofortable to sleep in.

    When morning came we were all refreshed as if we were on vacation, but our instructor¡¯s face was swollen and he had bags under his eyes.

    .....

    ¡°Are you ok mister Lorenzo?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine. This mosquitoes pestered me the whole night, that¡¯s one of the difficulties we adventurers have to face on our everyday life¡±

    ¡°It must be hard¡±

    Sera said in a tone that resounded pity.

    ¡°Wait... you... why didn¡¯t you get bitten by bugs?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because we slept on the shack, it¡¯s slightly elevated so bugs won¡¯t crawl inside so easily and I used some repelent so...¡±

    ¡°Bug repelent? you just happened to have repelent on you?¡±

    Lorenzo was bbergasted.

    ¡°Of course not, but if you burn this poisonous leaves on the campfire before going to sleep, most mosquitoes won¡¯t get close¡±

    ¡°I see... that¡¯s actually pretty helpful. I wish I knew that from before. Anyways, we should get moving¡±

    We nodded in response to our instructorands and kept walking on the path we were following yesterday.

    This ce was nothing like our forest, it was brimming with life, animals and nts alike, but it felt... I don¡¯t know... friendlier maybe. Nothing attacked us, there weren¡¯t jackals or wolf following our tracks.

    I had be so ustomed to looking over my shoulder that it felt weird not having some carnivorous beast under our tracks. Birds were easy to hunt, wild fruits, berries and vegetables were lying around.

    More than bing and adventurer I feel I could make a killing by simply gathering wild crops and sell them back at Ironwoods. But Luke was right, we don¡¯t really need the money now, what we need the most is to build up our reputation.

    After a couple hours Lorenzo seemed to be on guard, which meant we were close to the goblins territory. Luke was the first to draw his weapon but we all quickly followed his example.

    We started walking slowly until I was finally able to find some footprints. I quickly took my notebook and depicted the footprints, they look human-like but it only has four toes and every toe finishes in a long nail. Judging by the size they must be small creatures no bigger than a five year old, but we¡¯ve learned that even weak opponents can be troublesome in numbers so we treaded with care.

    We heard a branch breaking in the distance and I signalled everyone to stop and do as we usually do. Luke went ahead to scout the enemy, Bob held his ground with his warhammer at the ready, while me and Sera took a vantage position on top of a tree.

    We moved so fast it looked as if it was rehearsed, but actually, everyone just knew what they were supposed to do.

    Luke came back and signalled us that there were two enemies present and we nodded.

    now the only thing left to do is set up a trap and... Lorenzo stepped on a branch alerting the enemy of our presence.

    ¡°Uh, my bad¡±

    He said apologetically and then disappeared into the vegetation.

    Two small creatures came running towards us, Bob feinted a strike making the goblins stop in their tracks and Luke showed up from behind and killed them swiftly without making a sound.

    Two green corpses lied in the ground bleeding purple blood. Other than the wound Luke inflicted on their throats they werepletely unharmed. I took a few minutes to study the creatures and took notes of whatever I could, then Lorenzo came back from behind the bushes.

    ¡°That was fantastic, I don¡¯t even know if i have anything to teach you. Most adventurers wouldn¡¯t even find goblins on their first quest and you managed to y two of them so quickly. Not only that, you coordinated your attacks without even whispering, how do you guys evenmunicate?¡±

    ¡°Unless it¡¯s really necessary we don¡¯t talk while hunting¡±

    Luke replied.

    ¡°Then, how did you guys know what to do? how many years have you guys been hunting together?¡±

    ¡°This is my first time¡±

    Sera said shyly.

    Lorenzo seemed to be in a daze, he looked ten years older than when we set foot in the forest.

    ¡°Impressive! I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you guys reach C rank in a week or even a few days!¡±

    He said when he was finally able to gather his thoughts and we headed back to the shack.

    ¡°I¡¯m so tired of this crap, we always spend more time walking than fighting¡±

    Lukeined as he took a stone out of his boot while leaning on a tree.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, if everything was fast you¡¯d run out of quests in a week and then startining about that¡±

    But Luke¡¯s mood didn¡¯t improve in the slightest. It could be said that the happiest of us all was the instructor.

    ¡°Instructor Lorenzo, why are you smiling so much?¡±

    ¡°I guess there¡¯s no point in hiding it, whenever an instructor takes under his wing an adventurer he¡¯s entitled to a small portion of whatever said adventurer makes during his career. It¡¯s only a 1% so you don¡¯t need to worry about it, you¡¯d lose a lot more in some cities due to taxes only¡±

    ¡°That doesnt seem fair, you just watch over us for a short period and then get filthy rich without lifting a finger¡±

    Luke grunted.

    ¡°That¡¯s not the case. Too many adventurers die young, others just retire early. I work hard everyday to keep kids like you alive for the longest period possible. The cases in which an instructor is surpassed by his students is very rare, and even if that happens, it doesn¡¯t necessarily means getting rich¡±

    When we reached the shack it was still early, and since we had already finished the task we were able to gather all kinds of ingredients for a great meal. Lorenzo even helped us hunting some birds, I guess he didn¡¯t want to be left out again.

    ¡°In this case you guys don¡¯t need to provide any proof of your deed since I witnessed it, butter on you¡¯ll be asked to bring different body parts to the guild. There was a time when they only eptedplete bodies, wich was highly unreasonable because most of the times beasts and monsters would end up in pieces¡±

    We walked back and performed our chores as we listened to Lorenzo¡¯s adventurer stories. Since I never heard any I was delighted but Luke was a bit disappointed and said they were just cliche stories.

    He told us about hist greatest feats wich included destroying a thorny lizard nest, subduing a chomper beast and protecting a noble from a bandit attack.

    He mentioned different beasts on his tales and I listened carefully but couldn¡¯t make anything of it. While his stories were enticing, he was poor at describing the fights and limited himself to make sounds and hand movements as if it meant something.

    Still, we all had fun over the campfire while enjoying ourvish dinner.

    This time, Lorenzo slept in the shack making it feel a little cramped, we asked him if it was ok to not take turns watching the surroundings but he said this was a safe area and the most dangerous thing that could be found around were the wild boars.

    Sera slept on the corner and asked me to sleep beside her. It made sense since she and I were close, but she didn¡¯t look troubled at all which scared me a little.

    The first thing she did when I lied down next to her was to press her body against me, I couldn¡¯t say anything without the others noticing so I decided to keep quiet but she took it as if I had given her permission. I tried turning around, but Luke grumbled instantly.

    ¡°Hey, why are you turning to my side, I know I¡¯m handsome but you got a girl right beside you. You should be pointing that thing at her¡±

    Lorenzo and Bobughed merrily at his joke, but I was embarrassed to no end.

    And so, that night I had no choice but to try to sleep with Sera grinding her rear on me. Without so much as an excuse, she simply did as she wished until she finally fell asleep.

 Chapter 104

    Chapter 104: Don¡¯t underestimate goblins, please! part

    ¡°I¡¯m so tired, it was so hard to sleep like that¡±

    Now it was my turn to have bags under my eyes and walk slowly with a tired expression on my face. Sera¡¯s mischief caused me a lot of trouble.

    ¡°I noticed¡±

    Sera giggled covering her mouth, I would say something but I¡¯m to tired to even care about her dirty joke.

    ¡°Why does every time we travel it feels the way back is longer?¡±

    Luke sighed looking at his own feet as he walked the path.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that, but on the way here we were excited for the adventure, now all I want is to go back to Veronika¡±

    .....

    Bob too was looking at the ground as he walked.

    ¡°It¡¯s only natural, we spent a night on the wild and even though it may not seem so, you did fight difficult monsters. I¡¯m really pleased with the result¡±

    ¡°Diffult? those weaklings?¡±

    Luke sneered.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, is it really necessary for you to pick up so many herbs on the way back?¡±

    Now that Sera said so, I was picking up anything I thought could be even remotely helpful and my bag was almost full.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a habit, it helps me distract myself from the tiresome walk. Hey, what¡¯s the matter? why are you squirming like that¡±

    Sera rubs her legs and wiggles awkwardly while blushing.

    ¡°I need to go...¡±

    ¡°Go where? oh... Excuse me, mister Lorenzo, is there a chance for us to take a small break?¡±

    ¡°You need to be more serious, if you got tired after only this much you wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against a thorny lizard¡±

    I pointed at Sera to clear the misunderstanding and Lorenzo seemed to quickly understand the situation and asked Bob and Luke to stop. Sera tugged on my sleeve asking me to apany her and for an instant I though of letting her go alone in revenge for what she did to mest night.

    She put me in an awkward situation, but I can¡¯t deny it was pleasurable and she didn¡¯t have any ill intentions. Now, instead, If I let her go alone she could even be in danger, I¡¯m not familiar with this forest and it could be dangerous.

    We strand a bit from the path we were following to get some privacy, normally, it wouldn¡¯t take long for us to find a secluded space, but since Luke is nearby Sera thought he would find an excuse to peep on her and didn¡¯t feel safe. Apparently, on the way to Crent Luke would find any excuse to follow her while she was about to do her business, it got so bad she got used to holding it in for a long period of time.

    ¡°Just a little bit further¡±

    Sera pleaded, and I followed her closely from behind. Just as I was starting to think maybe she had other ns on her dirty mind, she found a suitable ce and asked me to stand guard nearby.

    Without anything else to do I distract myself using Identify on different nts as I scan the surroundings.

    Sapling, wooly bud, red leaved fern, philodendron, fern, cup flower, and many other kinds of nts. Some times identify skill would show different results giving me the idea that there might be a chance for it to level up some time. That reminds me Ebi told me my defenses were as weak as those of a newborn, and that applied for mypanions too. But thinking back on the time I spent on Ironwoods, I got cold resistance way before the rest did and It made a huge difference.

    Maybe that¡¯s the reasons why other hunters were able to wear lighter clothes even during winter, that would mean that the spring festival where they go to hunt wearing only boots and pants must also be some sort of training to increase their cold resistance.

    I guess it can¡¯t be helped, my group must have pretty low defensespared to the rest of the people in this world since we¡¯re only starting to face disease and weather conditions, it must take some time before defenses start building up.

    The reason why we managed to survive up to this point is because we were well fed most of the time, but when Anne fell ill it was a lot harder on her that it would have been on any other townsmen.

    Lost in my thoughts I heard a creaking sound, despite the fact that this should be a safe area and the only person who¡¯s nearby is Sera, I put myself on alert. It was a branch breaking in the distanceing from the same distance Sera was doing her business. I walk towards the sound to see if everything is ok, she should have finished by now.

    ¡°Are you done Sera?¡±

    But it wasn¡¯t her, Instead, a small green creature poked out of the bush. It seemed as shocked as I was by the sudden encounter and quickly pointed it¡¯s dagger towards me while grunting and making noise.

    Without time to think I acted by reflex and unsheathed my sword, but the creature barely gave me enough time to block its attack with my sword half drawn from the scabbard. I put all my strength into pushing it back but it¡¯s strength was far superior than mine.

    ¡°Sera! run back! there¡¯s a goblin in here!¡±

    Sera came back running from behind the goblin and it took a few steps backwards giving me a much needed respite.

    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s ok? I could help you beat it¡±

    She spoke fast, agitated by my sudden call for help.

    ¡°I can manage to hold until you guyse to help me, just hurry up!¡±

    I pointed the sword at the goblin making it fall back a few steps more, allowing Sera to walk around without being in harms way and she ran towards the rest of the group. My offensive stance seems to be very effective since the small creature is left without any chance of attacking me without getting hurt.

    It moves from side to side waving it¡¯s short knife, ocassionally attacking to make me lose my stance. After realizing how futile it was, it seemed to give up and went back into the bush.

    Just as I was about to finally retreat, an arrow is shot at me from the distance.

    ¡°Shit! it wasn¡¯t trying to make me lose my stance, it was stalling for time!¡±

    The arrow nested deep into my left arm, rendering it useless in battle. I looked at my soulbound card for a brief second to confirm my status, fearing I may have been poisoned but a different kind of message took me by surprise.

    Quest: defeat the goblin party.

    The what!? Goblins can make parties just like humans!?

    Then, that would mean I¡¯m at a serious disadvantage here. Since it says its a party there must be a few goblins around, but since they¡¯re so short and green they camuge into the vegetation with ease. Not only that, apart from the numerical advantage they hold, they don¡¯t even need to fight close range with me and all they would need to do is shoot arrows at my position.

    Even if they miss, I feel the intense pressure of being pointed at by ranged weapons from an unknown location.

    An arrow passes next to my head making a low vibrating sound, it¡¯s clearly a bad quality arrow. Whenever one of Anne¡¯s arrow made a sound like that she would ask me to make her a new oneining that she can¡¯t fire crap like that.

    I now realize that if I¡¯m alive at this point is by sheer luck, if that arrow wasnt defective i would¡¯ve been shot to the head just now. But this is my chance, now I have a clear grasp of where the enemy is hidden.

    There¡¯s only one archer, I know because of the shooting cadence. I can almost imagine it drawing an arrow clumsily after each shot.

    Compelled by the quest that just appeared on my soulbound card I run forward looking for the enemies, my strenght stat may not be as high as the guys but I¡¯m confident in the quality of my sword.

    It may be cursed, but it¡¯s the finest piece of equipment I¡¯ve seen so far.

    I walk past the bushes where the goblin I saw hid and it inmediately attacks me from the left side, because of my wound I can¡¯t use my left arm properly and i¡¯m forced to parry with my right arm only.

    Even with my two arms the goblin was stronger than me and the only thing I can do to push him back is to use my body weight. The creature loses ground as I push himo and it triest to take some distance again, but an horizontal sh from my de forces him to keep his attention on me.

    Now I¡¯m the one stalling for time.

 Chapter 105

    Chapter 105: Don¡¯t underestimate goblins, please! part

    ¡°Please! you have to hurry! mister Ryu is facing a goblin right now!¡±

    Sera cries for help after reaching the rest of the party.

    ¡°Calm down miss, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be ok. We¡¯re about to go out of goblin¡¯s territory and they don¡¯t usually venture far from their viges, if it¡¯s just one goblin he¡¯ll be ok.¡±

    Instructor Lorenzo tries to calm her down holding her two arms in a firm grasp.

    ¡°We should go, if it¡¯s Ryu I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll need help.¡±

    Bob said in a serious tone that contrasted heavily with his usually cheerful attitude. Luke stood up from the ground and patted his pants.

    ¡°Listen, I know you must be worried by your friend and I know too that I told you they weren¡¯t just weaklings. But actually that was just to scare you, even kids can fight them off pretty easily. We¡¯ll go, but don¡¯t help him unless it¡¯spletely necessary. He¡¯ll need the experience to be stronger and if he can¡¯t deal with mere goblins I won¡¯t be able to allow him to rank up.¡±

    .....

    ¡°But mister Lorenzo!¡±

    Sera couldn¡¯t hold back her tears and couldn¡¯t find the words to make him understand the situation. While she only saw a single goblin and Ryu should be able to beat it, she couldn¡¯t stand the chance of losing him.

    ¡°Miss, I know how you feel, but if your friend doesn¡¯t rank up you won¡¯t be able to make a party with him. He¡¯ll be an F rank and F rankers aren¡¯t even allowed to take on monster subjugation quests. You all have a bright future ahead of you, so follow my instructions and everything will be ok.¡±

    Lorenzo said as he took the lead on the way to help Ryu. His intention is to find him and see how well he can fight by himself against monsters. He knows Sera is weak and ns to keep her in F rank for a while, at least until her stats grow up, but he doesn¡¯t know the extent of Ryu¡¯s fighting prowess.

    On one hand, he doesn¡¯t emit any sort of strong energy, his presence is so low that among his partners he¡¯s almost invisible and he¡¯s also pretty weak for his age, but on the other hand he was able to scare the crap out of Risa with a mysterious skill and he¡¯s pretty handy when ites to traveling in the wilderness.

    Lorenzo could already imagine a future in which he¡¯s the instructor of an outstanding monster ying group in training, and after a couple years he may earn big just on hismission. Even while in training he could act as a party leader for a while and earn a bigger share, allowing him to finally pay off his debt.

    Lorenzo has always been a serious hard working man and held big ambitions for his future. When he was recruited into the adventurer¡¯s guild he was told he was some sort of genius that climbed up thedder pretty quickly and things were going on the right track to be the strongest adventure of Crent. But things weren¡¯t so easy after he developed a taste for gambling that almost left him on the street.

    The possibility of making it big on gambling, aplishing his ambitions faster and retiring at a young age made his career more difficult. He was demoted from the B rank to C after failing several missions due to not being able to buy the proper equipment, soon he wasn¡¯t able to rece the weapons he broke during his missions and he was so indebted that he wasn¡¯t allowed to leave Crent.

    As soon as he set foot in another town, unless he¡¯s undertaking a quest or training young adventurers, he would be a ve. He would have been already enved if it wasn¡¯t for the adventurer¡¯s guild, who protect their own from bing ves. If they didn¡¯t protect the adventurers, many would be enved before reaching their peak condition, for falling on debt just to pay for the healing potions they needed. So, the adventurer¡¯s guild buys their debt and hires them as workers, as long as they behave they won¡¯t fall into very.

    The current adventurer¡¯s guild head is dead set on helping Lorenzo recover his B rank so he can take on difficult quests not many adventurers at Crent are able to, but all Lorenzo wants is still to earn big and retire young.

    The first thing that crossed Lorenzo¡¯s mind when he heard about Ryu¡¯s situation was how big of an opportunity this was. Not only he would be able to put Ryu to the test in a real life situation and have him gain some confidence in his own fighting prowess, he would also brag on his pupils achievement of defeating three goblins in a quest that usually ended without a single goblin kill.

    But all of his expectations were trashed the instant he saw Ryu fighting with all he had to fend off a single goblin.

    Ryu¡¯s body was already pierced by several goblin arrows that were usually so weak that couldn¡¯t even draw blood on bare skin, blood was trickling from his forehead and he was all bruised up. The goblin in front of him was all beaten up but refused to give up changing the dagger from hand to hand tond a blow on Ryu the second he lost his focus.

    From the surroundings alone, an experienced tracker would have thought an epic battle urred with so many nts shredded to pieces, deep scratches on trees and red and purple blood scattered all over.

    But it was a fight between two creatures, a weak goblin that would usually die with a single blow so seeing one of them hurt was something rare, and something that looked like a human, a young man at that, but was so weak it was simply impossible he was even rted to mankind.

    ¡°Hey, are you sure yourpanion is even human? are you absolutely certain it¡¯s not an F grade beast or something?¡±

    ¡°What are you saying Lorenzo!? hurry up and help him!¡±

    Even after seeing that, Lorenzo¡¯s n didn¡¯t change much. He wouldn¡¯t let Ryu die, but there was no way in hell he would allow such a weakling to rank up along with Bob and Luke. Nevertheless, it was still a chance for Ryu to prove himself, however weak he was, he was still an adventurer after all.

    ¡°Don¡¯t intervene, he needs to find his limits. If you always help him he won¡¯t ever grow stronger than he currently is¡±

    When Lorenzo spoke, the goblin got distracted for a second. The presence of other humans made him abandon the grin he held on his face this entire time. The human in front of him was strong, the strongest enemy he ever faced.

    It didn¡¯t matter how many blows hended, how many arrows pierced his chest and extremities, he would keep fighting with all he had.

    The battle prolonged for a while, with Ryu screaming to the top of his lungs as he thrusted his sword forward not even conscious of the presence of hispanions and the instructor and the goblin grunting and panting heavily after moving nimbly from side to side, going in and out of bushes.

    It was true goblins were weak, but they were so agile they could easily hurt anyone before dying. Even if little by little, wounds would start to pile up and they would eventually be able to defeat even high rank adventurers, that¡¯s why their strength was in numbers and that was also the precise reason why humans rarely attacked goblin viges. As if that wasn¡¯t enough they could also escape in almost any situation. Unless caught off guard they would simply disappear into the bushes or camouge themselves seemingly disappearing in front of untrained eyes.

    Sera was holding her hands close to her chest in a praying position, Bob and Luke were worried too, but Lorenzo was already growing tired of the situation. He was tempted to call off the fight and simply put the goblin out of his misery, not for pity nor to help Ryu, simply because he was already tired of seeing the dumb fight urring in front of his eyes.

    Even unarmed kids would be able to kill a goblin and he would tell everyone about the idiotic scene he¡¯s witnessing so the other adventurers would make fun of Ryu, if he wasn¡¯t his instructor. All the attention the achievements of Bob and Luke would be eclipsed by the shame of a human giving his all to defeat a single goblin.

    Just as Lorenzo was pondering this, Ryu finally managed tond a hit on the goblin¡¯s face. His sword so sharp made it through the goblin¡¯s face as if he was drawing a purple colored wound with a brush. Seemingly noticing how little chance he had at winning the fight, the creature retreated into the bushes and quickly ran off.

    Ryu, being left exhausted to the point of having cramps all over his body and so hurt he was almost bled out, fell to the ground with a joyous expression on his face.

    Unbeknownst to everyone at Ryu¡¯s party, the goblin retreated to his own partyposed of an archer without a single arrow on his quiver and three small goblin children, they were out foraging to bring food back to their vige and didn¡¯t expect to find human adventurers so close to their territory. Humans live far away from the goblin¡¯s vige and it was a very rare encounter. Despite all his injuries and his poor health condition, he too held a joyous smile.

    >Quest failed.

 Chapter 106

    Chapter 106: Don¡¯t drop your guard in the farnds, please! part

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you mister Lorenzo, I was very tired and couldn¡¯t activate any skills¡±

    ¡°Uh!? you¡¯re telling me you were so tired you couldn¡¯t even defeat a single goblin that a ten year old would defeat in their sleep? is that what you¡¯re telling me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but please, don¡¯t put my friends in another group¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, there¡¯s no chance I¡¯m letting you join Risa¡¯s team. She¡¯s an instructor just like me but she always takes on hard quests to train the stronger adventurers¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but still, I can be of help¡±

    ¡°You! seriously, how many times are you going to make me repeat myself? you had to be carried back by Bob, are you even able to feel shame? he brought you back in a princess carry. Gods, that scene will haunt me forever¡±

    Aftering back to Crent Lorenzo decided to give a passing grade to everyone, even after my poor performance. That was solely because of how useful I was in making the trip morefortable. But Bob and Luke did so well Lorenzo sent them to train with miss Risa.

    .....

    After being offered the chance to step up their game and set a record as the first adventurers to ever been taken under her care after their first mission, they couldn¡¯t refuse the offer.

    I¡¯m sure it had nothing to do with them being hypnotized by her almost naked breasts.

    Now I¡¯m stuck here with Sera and Lorenzo, our new assignment is to gather medicinal herbs. It¡¯s not that I dislike to gather herbs, on the contrary, I love to stroll around the woods and learn about different nts, I especially like to draw them and write notes about them in case I discover some new and interesting uses for them, but the best part is to be surrounded by nature.

    I don¡¯t know if it was part of my original personality, but I do love the fresh breeze that howls in the forests, I love to watch the beautiful scenery where man has yet toy their hands on and to wet my feet on clear running water.

    What bothers me is not the quest nor the reward, but the fact that it was me who posted the request. Well, I didn¡¯t do so myself since I wanted to distance myself from the shop enough so people don¡¯t know I actually own it, that¡¯s why I asked Mia to post the quests.

    Now the only work I do at the shop is craft healing potions and brew tonics, I haven¡¯t even had the chance to experiment on new potions. Since the craftmen station is so wasteful I¡¯m also teaching Mia how to use the distiller, but she¡¯s either too dumb or not willing to learn how to use it properly.

    Anyways, basically, I¡¯m paying myself to gather herbs for the shop and the only one who gets something out of it is the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    We went back to the same forest where I faced that goblin, but this time we spent about an hour gathering herbs before going back. Of course me and Sera picked up way more herbs than the quest required and instead of turning them in we just kept them for the shop.

    Other than that it was apletely uneventful quest and we went back safe. This time we made it back in time for lunch and Lorenzo treated us to a decent meal at the adventurers guild, being a skilled cook I could tell they did a good job with the ingredients, but the recipe itself was a bit on the dull side.

    Sera and I left our tes clean as always, surprising Lorenzo who thought Sera would have a more demure behavior. She¡¯s a beauty after all, especially now she¡¯spletely healthy and well developed.

    ¡°You guys sure eat a lot.¡±

    ¡°Wee from Ironwoods after all.¡±

    Sera replied shrugging her shoulders.

    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±

    That¡¯s right, most people didn¡¯t know about the affairs of other towns since news travel really slow and Ironwoods was pretty isted too.

    ¡°Up until this year, we¡¯ve been suffering from famish. People starved and it wasn¡¯t umon for townsmen to drop dead on the streets despite having work, house and sometimes even money.¡±

    ¡°How could that be?¡±

    Lorenzo gasped, without anything to say I just listen to their conversation. I¡¯m not from Ironwoods after all and I don¡¯t know how things were before I started living in there.

    ¡°Ournd wasn¡¯t fertile and the weather is cold all year around, there¡¯s hot days once in a while, but most of the time is so cold crops would die. Even if we were able to plow thend and sow, even animals were starving most of the time so they attacked us so we had to stop.¡±

    ¡°That sounds harsh indeed, but why didn¡¯t you just trade with other towns or cities?¡±

    Fearing Sera could say something unnecessary I intervened.

    ¡°There¡¯s some circumstances we¡¯re not allowed to talk about, I hope you understand mister Lorenzo. What¡¯s important is people at Ironwoods have it difficult.¡±

    ¡°Eat to your hearts content then! I¡¯ll ask for another order.¡±

    ¡°Sera, you need to be careful with what you share, Lorenzo may be friendly, but don¡¯t forget he¡¯s and adventurer too and we have people we care about back at Ironwoods.¡±

    As Lorenzo stood up and headed to the counter I spoke to Sera in a hushed voice.

    ¡°Yes mister Ryu.¡±

    The sounds of people speaking in loud voices while eating and drinking gave the whole ce a cheerful ambience and the smell of different dishes mixed in, but not to the point it was bothersome. The building was really spacious after all.

    When we finished eating the instructor took us to the courtyard again.

    Bob waved at me with a smile when he noticed I was there. They were currently sparring with miss Risa, both at the same time. Now I could see her turning and crouching while dodging every attack with a smile on her face, she looked rxed as she taunted them.

    Lorenzo came back with a rope and tied it to a pole.

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s training time. I¡¯ll wave the rope and you¡¯re going to avoid being hit by it¡±

    ¡°uhm, Instructor Lorenzo... this looks like a game children at Ironwoods yed all the time.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it, it¡¯s exactly the same game.¡±

    Heughed and I turned to look at Sera who, for some unknown reason, was smiling with sparkling eyes.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re so excited, you¡¯re up first miss Sera.¡±

    Sera nodded and got into position. Once she was ready Lorenzo started slowly waving the rope and Sera jumped nimbly avoiding it in between giggles. Her broad smile was so intense she looked really pretty.

    After a while Lorenzo started waving the rope a a bit faster, but still close to the ground, until Sera caught up the pace and then he started twisting the rope making it go above Sera¡¯s head forcing her to jump as it got close to the ground. Sera giggled as she kept dodging the rope despite the sudden change in motion, but then I saw something that distracted mepletely from the exercise.

    She wasn¡¯t wearing her armor, which meant she was wearing only her normal clothes. That shouldn¡¯t be a problem for the kind of training she was performing but... her breasts kept bouncing up and down with every jump she made.

    That along with her panting made it look so enticing It took me back to the night we spent together. She was really mischievous back then, but now she looks so innocent andpletely unaware of her lewd appearance.

    Lorenzo, on the other hand, seemed to bepletely in the know and when Sera got tired he let her rest.

    ¡°whew! it was my first time ying that! It was so fun!¡±

    Sera cheerfully dered breathing heavily.

    It was my turn now and I feel a little anxious about the meaning of this game..

    The rope moved so slowly I felt like asking our instructor to step up the speed, but I¡¯m nothing but a patient man. I¡¯m quite sure there must be a reason why we¡¯re doing this instead of sparring.

    The first minute is way too easy, but once the rope started going above my head it started getting a bit more difficult. It wasn¡¯t that the rope moved too fast, but I didn¡¯t have the time to catch my breath and every jump was a bit more difficult than thest.

    I¡¯d say my stamina is above average, but because of the increasing speed and my decreasing stamina I wasn¡¯t able to keep it up for much longer.

    I would say Isted about the same time as Sera did, which is a lot considering her stats are way higher than mine.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re just getting started there¡¯s no point in doing sparring, what you need the most is an increase in stats and knowledge, that¡¯s why whenever we train we¡¯ll be doing high performance exercises and then some learning¡±

    Lorenzo spoke to us in his usual solemn voice, but we werepletely drained in the floor already.

 Chapter 107

    Chapter 107: Don¡¯t drop your guard in the farnds, please! part

    ¡°You¡¯re all tired, good! it means you¡¯re ready to soak in some basic knowledge¡±

    Lorenzo then proceeded to mention different kinds of weapons and their history. When they were developed, where did theye from and even if they yed an important role in history. He also taught us the basics on how to properly hold the different weapons and which skills should we aim for in case we picked the warrior ss after earning the right to visit the oracle.

    I was a lot more curious about sses than I was of weapons but I didn¡¯t dare interrupt him with my questions. There¡¯ll be plenty of chances to ask him any questions I have some other day.

    Now we were sittingfortably, drinking water and listening to Lorenzo¡¯s lecture when I noticed Bob and Luke running around the courtyard with a log tied on their backs.

    Risa came to us in her usual attire, if it can even be called that, grinning mischievously.

    ¡°Miss Risa, why are they running like that? is that some sort of training?¡±

    Sera asked worriedly.

    .....

    ¡°That? not really, it¡¯s a punishment made especially for horny boys who ogle other girls while having a beautiful instructor right in front of them¡±

    If it¡¯s like that, maybe they deserve it, but I can¡¯tpletely me them I couldn¡¯t draw my eyes out of Sera¡¯s ¡®training¡¯. By the looks of it, it seems they too think it was worth it, or at least it seems they¡¯re not suffering with their punishment.

    Hold on a second, are they actually enjoying it?

    I could¡¯ve foreseen that from Luke, but... Bob too?

    ¡°Hey kid, are you on this?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it, he¡¯s always like that. One minute he¡¯s paying attention and the next one he¡¯s cloudwatching or smelling flowers¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not too manly, but I could dig it¡±

    Risa says winking at me. Yet, Instead of feeling allured, a cold shiver runs my back.

    My gut is telling me if I spend a night with her I¡¯ll be devoured.

    ¡°So, what brings you here miss Risa?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much, I was just curious on your results¡±

    ¡°They did good on their quest, they gathered enough materials in the first minutes but we decided to stay a bit longer so we don¡¯t waste our trip to the woods¡±

    ¡°Wow, that sounds like a dangerous adventure. Nothingpared to the prairie wolves subjugation quest we just finished, in just two hours.¡±

    I¡¯m unsure if she¡¯s mocking us or bragging in front of Lorenzo, but it was effective in both ways.

    After our short exchange none of us was in the mood to continue with the lecture, so Lorenzo sent us back home.

    Because it was still early when we got back the shop was still open. The bell rang after we got inside and Mia greeted us thinking we were clients, but when she realized it was us her smile got even wider.

    Inside there were a few customers, but what caught my eye was the presence of miss Ath and her shieldmaiden.

    Uh, that¡¯s curious, She¡¯s wearing the same daydress from the other day. I don¡¯t really know why but I¡¯ve been paying close attention to her outfit and she¡¯s never repeated. But now, for some reason, she¡¯s wearing the exact same clothes from the other day.

    I decide to pay her no mind at all and just browse through the wares as If I was just another customer. Since Mia is taking charge of the shop and ire helps when necessary, I don¡¯t really have to man the counter anymore and I would prefer if other adventurers don¡¯t know I own this shop now.

    If they knew I was loaded I might be a target, I always prefer to avoid unnecessary problems.

    Once Ath is done with her daily visit and the rest of the customers leave the shop Ie out from the corner and close the shop.

    ¡°How was today¡¯s business Mia?¡±

    ¡°It was a long day at work, but we helped many people!¡±

    She replied with the same kind smile she had minutes ago.

    ¡°He¡¯s not asking you about that, he¡¯s asking about the money you useless pet¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s mister Ryu, I don¡¯t mind being a pet¡±

    Mia replied shyly to Sera¡¯s remark. Since when do they get along so poorly?

    ¡°It was a long day on our side too, did you drink a potion today?¡±

    Mia shook her head in response. The problem with Mia is that she has almost no control over her urge to feed, as soon as she gets even a bit hungry she would drink a potion immediately. That¡¯s why I keep count of every single potion in the shop, fortunately, whenever she¡¯s working she¡¯s able to control her urges but as soon as Ie back she starts begging for a healing potion.

    When we took the goblin subjugation quest and didn¡¯te back Mia almost lost it and made a mess on the house. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s her true nature, but whenever she¡¯s hungry she bes wicked, theplete opposite of the mild mannered and gentle Mia everyone knows.

    After our hard day taking on the quest and training, Lorenzo became unavable and we had some uneventful days at the shop.

    Since we¡¯re just rookies in the adventurer¡¯s guild, we can¡¯t take quests without supervision and our hands were tied while Lorenzo tested other rookies. Some of them were a bit ahead of us while others were just starting.

    We can¡¯tin about it since Lorenzo is doing all he can as an instructor and it¡¯s not his fault the guild is so understaffed, but I really wish I could take some quests to be stronger.

    ¡°What are you doing mister Ryu?¡±

    Sera, who likes to spend most of her free time around me, asks intrigued.

    ¡°Well, now that we can¡¯t take quests we need to be stronger however we can¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    She look at me with an awkward expression on her face as I drink a tonic and continue hitting the makeshift straw mannequin with a stick.

    ¡°I know I look anything but cool right now, but if I¡¯m going to be fighting with armor I¡¯ll need to get ustomed to it¡±

    ¡°That may be so but... how do i say it, uhm, did you make that armor yourself?¡±

    I nod embarrassed at Sera¡¯s question and blush heavily. I knew I should¡¯ve done this when no one was around.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be embarrassed mister Ryu, but why didn¡¯t you buy an armor from the cksmith?¡±

    ¡°Because I can¡¯t wear proper armor currently, my strength is so low It would hinder my movements. Also, I¡¯ve noticed most adventurers in here only wear some light armor, so I made this to cover my vital points while providing good maneuverability. To be honest I just strapped on some leather patches and pieces we had lying around while doing my morning exercises to see if I was able to gain a skill or something. When I faced the goblin I realized how important is to wear proper armor. I could have been shot to the head and I was covered in small bruises and wounds, If only I was wearing proper armor at that time I may have been able to do something, but moving through the forest even the fur cape made it difficult for me to move around¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mister Ryu, It¡¯s all my fault. I was selfish that night and because of that...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad Sera, it¡¯s true that being tired made things more difficult during the fight, but like I said before, we just need to find a way to be stronger. Currently both of us are the weakest in our group, I think even ire is stronger. So we need to make use of what we have at our disposal.¡±

    ¡°And what is that?¡±

    ¡°Money¡±

    I smile at Sera who giggles at my remark.

    After that I keep hitting the mannequin when a loud mockingughter resounds behind my back.

    ¡°Pffft Ryu what the hell are you wearing? oh my! How I wish I had a camera, Hey Bob,e look at Ryu!¡±

    Lukeughs at my expense without even trying to hold his mockery.

    ¡°Come on Luke, don¡¯t make fun of Ryu. We came all this way to give him the news... pfft mwahahahaha What are you wearing Ryu?¡±

    Bob joins Luke in hisughter and heat rises to my cheeks.

    ¡°I know right! it looks as if he picked up some roadkills and strapped them on¡±

    ¡°Yeah yeah, make fun of me alright, but I need to do something to be stronger and our instructor is currently busy so...¡±

    ¡°Oh, uhm, I¡¯m sorry Ryu. Actually, we came here just because of that, Lorenzo says he¡¯s done testing the other groups and he paired some new adventurers with you guys. You¡¯ll be on a party!¡±

    Bob says afterughing to his heart¡¯s content.

    ¡°That¡¯s great news mister Ryu!¡±

    Sera eximed excitedly.

    ¡°Just, don¡¯t show in the guild wearing... whatever that thing is¡±

    I don¡¯t care what they say, I¡¯ll do whatever I can to be stronger, even if it means to be theughing stock of the whole city!

 Chapter 108

    Chapter 108: Don¡¯t drop your guard in the farnds, please! part

    On second thought, I do care about what other people think.

    Instead of wearing the whole thing I just kept a leather strip with a small hard leather circle to cover my heart and I got rid of the bulky studded armor I used before. The coat was really helpful in many aspects, but it also was a hindrance so I got rid of it too, I¡¯ll look for something to rece itter but by the time being I¡¯ll follow the example of the instructors.

    To think my idea was to find a way to wear proper armor, and instead I ended up getting rid of the little armor I used to wear.

    Sera and I are currently on the guild¡¯s courtyard waiting for Mister Lorenzo who¡¯s going to present us the new members of our rookie party. We¡¯re both excited to go on a quest to try out our new equipment.

    I won¡¯t be bringing my fur coat, but in case we need to spend the night out I took a cloth tent with me and reced the rucksack with a leather backpack. I can carry a bit more than before without sacrificing mobility.

    After all this changes I guess we look just like the other adventurers, it can¡¯t be helped since I based most of my decisions precisely on what they wear.

    Lorenzo came to us with a group of four following him closely.

    .....

    ¡°Good morning everyone, this is mister Ryu and miss Sera, they passed the test recently and you¡¯ll have the chance to get to know them better once we set off. We¡¯re short on time so I¡¯ll keep things simple, today we¡¯re going to hunt rats, we¡¯ll go to the farnds close by and you¡¯ll be able to hunt as many rats as you can, however you can. Your score will be based on how many tails you bring, but if I find out you get in the way of others in purpose I¡¯ll be confiscating all of them. By the way, if you manage to get 15 tails you¡¯ll be able to take quests on your own, if you don¡¯t you fail and you¡¯ll have to take quests with me for a month¡±

    ¡°Mister instructor, I- I think this quest is below me, I would never take such a menial task so I¡¯ll be sitting this one out¡±

    A girl who looks my age lifted her hand and dered.

    ¡°Fine, if you don¡¯t want toe then don¡¯t bothering back tomorrow or the day after, you¡¯re simply not suited to be an adventurer. The rest please follow me. It¡¯s a short trip to the farnds because they¡¯re just outside the city, but once in there you¡¯ll have to cover great distances to find them, you have five minutes to get ready¡±

    The girl blushed up to her ears, and apologized profusely until Lorenzo finally gave in and let her join us. The others madements saying how ruthless Lorenzo was, but I think his reasoning is justifiable. If she, being a rookie, thinks a quest is below her, who is going to be taking on such quests? does it mean the people asking for help will be ignored?

    Rats may be weak, but there must be a reason why someone posts a reward for them.

    Since Sera and I were ready even for a trip outside the city, we just passed the time chatting and discussing our strategy. We¡¯ll be hunting together and sharing the tails we get, this will allow us to cover more distance and decrease the chance of rats escaping.

    The trip was short indeed, as soon as we headed through the west gate there was a wheat field and a mill. I can¡¯t tell the distance but there¡¯s a wide variety of crops in the neighboring sites and further beyond the crops I could see an orchard.

    Just a couple minutester after arriving Lorenzo found a spot beneath a tree and after telling us to start hunting he just lied to rest.

    Everyone started running as soon as he gave the go, but Sera and me started walking trying to find animal tracks. Unfortunately for us, the others made a mess moving from side to side, if there was any track it¡¯s obviously lost.

    A red headed boy walked into the crops and even destroyed some nts walking on top of them, but Lorenzo paid no mind to it and simply rested with his arms behind his head. Seeing this, the others too went into the wheat fields looking for rats.

    I guess everything is allowed but it doesn¡¯t mean we can disrupt the work of other people. Only thinking on the effort it took them to sow the crops is enough to keep me from trampling them over, but Sera must be thinking on the time she spent starving back at Ironwoods and how wasteful it is.

    After an hour of looking thoroughly we weren¡¯t able to find a single rat. From what I¡¯ve learned, quests like this are permanent. This means whenever someone brings a rat tail it¡¯ll be received by the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    Rats are harmful creatures and they cause way more damage than the rookies hunting them, that must be why Lorenzo is not punishing anyone.

    ¡°Hey Sera, how much time left do you think we have?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t be sure mister Ryu, are you thinking on giving up?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, but walking randomly through the fields is not working. We should take a break and try to find out a better way¡±

    Sera nodded and followed me to afortable spot beneath a tree. She took a nket from her backpack and I took the food and drinks from mine. It¡¯s nothing fancy, just some sandwiches I made beforehand. Of course we also have travel rations on us, but there¡¯s no point on eating longsting food so close to the city.

    The peaceful scene in front of us and the gentle breeze made us feel at ease, despite the urgency of the quest in front of us.

    Having a pic with a beautiful girl near the wheat fields on a sunny day, It took me a while to notice the looks of the other rookies. I could even heard some nasty remarks calling uszy bumps, useless plummets, dead weight and the likes.

    It¡¯s not like we need to be adventurers to earn a living, but it feels bad being called that.

    It seems they are putting they all in learning how to fight and bing stronger. But I have my reasons to be an adventurer too, this is the easiest way to find a way to solve my curse.

    There may be a way to get rid of the curse with money but our current objective is to be adventurers and earn the right to go to the oracle. I think getting a ss is worth the effort, so we really need to get a passing grade.

    Lorenzo has refused to tell us how exactly is he going to decide who passes and who fails, but he won¡¯t be able to fail us easily if we only get passing grades.

    In short, we really need to hunt some rats right now.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, please don¡¯t me yourself for not finding any rats, they are mostly active at night so this may be pointless¡±

    Sera said, perhaps thinking I was ming myself, when in fact I was just setting my current goals straight.

    ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°I used to hunt rats at the widows barracks, most women in there were scared of them so they used to pay us for getting rid of them¡±

    ¡°I see... I thought maybe you were scared of them too¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯m being honest, it was a bit difficult at first, but it got easier in time. Hunting rats is different from hunting a deer, boars or wolves, they are small and don¡¯t really leave footprints.¡±

    ¡°How do you track them then?¡±

    ¡°By their droppings, if you find their feces it means they eat in there¡±

    ¡°Sera! that¡¯s it!¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just something that¡¯s been bothering me. Lorenzo said we¡¯re currently in a trial period, usually justpleting the quest should be enough to get a passing grade¡±

    ¡°Yes, he said that bringing 15 tails or more would be a passing grade¡±

    ¡°uhm, yes... but, finding rats in the fields in broad daylight, isn¡¯t that too difficult? why did he bring us specifically to this point at this hour? it¡¯s impossible for a single person to hunt 15 rats in this conditions, but maybe this whole exercise is to get us to work together!¡±

    ¡°Either that, or we need to head to the granary. I¡¯m sure we would be able to find way more rats than we need over there¡±

    ¡°Please spare me from thinking about that. I¡¯ve only seen rats once before, It was back at Ironwoods, I screamed when I saw it nibbling on the sack of flour and Rina came to the rescue with a broom¡±

    ¡°Really? I can somehow imagine miss Rina rolling up her sleeves and shouting at the rat while chasing it with a broom. What about Mochi? I thought you kept it to keep rats at bay¡±

    ¡°Mochi? no way, he¡¯s sozy the only thing he¡¯s good for is taking naps and eating, and then taking more naps¡±

    ¡°I even thought it could be a good idea to bring him over to help us seek for rats¡±

    ¡°In that case I think the amarok would be a better choice¡±

    Sera looked at me dumbfounded.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, please take no offense but I doubt it¡¯s an amarok, it looks really stupid¡±

    Just as I was about to ask her what she meant by that a loud cheer was heard in the middle of the wheat field.

    ¡°I got one! I finally got one!¡±

    The red headed boy walked towards Lorenzo, who couldn¡¯t be bothered by his excitement and remained with his eyes closed.

    ¡°Look! mister Lorenzo, I got one¡±

    ¡°If you want someone to praise you go to your dad kid, justplete the quest before dawn so I can go home early today¡±

    The rest of the group gathered at Lorenzo¡¯s tree to look at the rat the redheaded guy caught. Now I notice we all are about the same age, which is kind of nice.

    >small rat (healthy)

    it looks weak, the only thing it does is twirl around after being caught by its tail.

    ¡°Hey guys, I¡¯d like to have a word with everyone if you don¡¯t mind.¡±

 Chapter 109

    Chapter 109: Don¡¯t drop your guard in the farnds, please! part

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    The red headed guy looks at me with a prideful gaze.

    ¡°I think we should hunt together and divide the tails equally among ourselves¡±

    ¡°Go catch your own rats youzy bump¡±

    The red headed guy snickered.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, listen, this isn¡¯t a test to see how many rats we can catch... it¡¯s about getting us to work together for the sake of the quest¡±

    ¡°Uh, you¡¯re speaking nonsense, this is the usual starter quest. You¡¯re supposed to hunt as many rats as you can, even if the instructor says you only pass if you hunt 15, If you manage to hunt a few by yourself you¡¯ll pass too¡±

    .....

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying they want us to hunt rats in broad daylight in an open field? if the point of this assignment is to actually hunt rats, they would¡¯ve asked us to do so in the granary or something¡±

    ¡°Just shut up, my father who¡¯s an outstanding adventurer told me this¡±

    As we kept discussing about the matter, the young girl who said hunting rats was below her position came close to us.

    ¡°Excuse me, I think what the scrawny guy is saying is true. They already tested our stats and skills, so working as a team surely makes more sense¡±

    I¡¯m d she¡¯s supporting me, but did she really have to call me that? It¡¯s not my fault it¡¯s hard for me to gain weight! Anyways, as the discussion started to heat up, the shortest guy in the group lined up with us and the other two with the red headed guy and, when it became clear we couldn¡¯t reach an agreement, we simply left to do our thing. While only the snob girl and the short guy joined us, it beats trying to do all the work by ourselves.

    ¡°My name is Thea, most pleased to make your acquaintance¡±

    ¡°Everyone just calls me shortie and I don¡¯t mind if you do so too¡±

    After talking for a few minutes we made a n for catching as many rats as we could without trampling the crops.

    ¡°These rats have all the food they can eat at their disposal so baiting them will be of no use, instead, we need to find a way to catch them without much effort. I think the best way would be to scare them making noise and cornering them into a trap¡±

    ¡°That sounds great and all, but I¡¯m letting you know I¡¯m not willing to touch those things. I¡¯m not scared of them, but they¡¯re dirty and disgusting¡±

    Now I see why this girl agreed so easily to join us, there¡¯s no way she could have finished the task by herself.

    We made a deep hole in the ground and each of us headed to the four corners of the crop patch we chose as our hunting grounds to make noise. Then I took a small cooking pot from my backpack and started hitting it to make as much noise as possible.

    As we drew closer to each other I could hear the loud noises everyone was doing, I couldn¡¯t see any rat, but as I walked I could sometimes hear the rattling sound of something moving through the nts. It only took us about five minutes to meet up at the ce we dug the hole but we couldn¡¯t spot a single rat.

    Shortie let out a disappointed sigh, but Thea seemed to be relieved. I¡¯m a little surprised this didn¡¯t work, but it doesn¡¯t mean we should give up.

    Just as I was starting to think on other strategies to finish the quest, we heard a squeaking from inside the hole, it was filled with small rats!

    ¡°Quick! use your spears!¡±

    Sera said, but she and I were the only ones with a spear. Shortie used a stick instead and Thea limited herself to look the other side.

    It was a bit troublesome to gather the tails, just as Thea said they are disgusting, and to be honest I was a bit scared of them. just looking at them gave me the creeps. We managed to get about six rats in just a few minutes and after doing the same over and over until we got more more than sixty rats we decided it was time to go back.

    ¡°Phew! we¡¯re finally done! Let¡¯s head back now¡±

    ¡°Yeah, in the end it took us more time to set the trap than to catch them¡±

    ¡°My hands are all dirty! what can I do?¡±

    Theained about the dirt looking worriedly for a source of water, she was the one who worked the less in our party. Really being a little grateful won¡¯t kill you, i thought inwardly.

    Just as we headed back to Lorenzo, a rattling sound we were all to familiar with followed us from behind. I knew something was wrong after checking my soulbound card, a new message appeared blinking on it saying ¡®quest: kill 1 big rat¡¯.

    When the creature came into view, instead of a small rat, it was a huge fat rat, almost round in shape, it must be half the size of a wolf but it¡¯s still huge for a rat.

    ¡°Hey, be careful, this one is dangerous!¡±

    Shortie said as he retreated step by step.

    I turned to look at where Thea was standing, but she ran away as soon as she heard the rating. I don¡¯t think she even thought it could be a big one, she just didn¡¯t want to see another rat.

    ¡°What can we do, shortie?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I only have my knife at hand, but if I get close enough to hit it, It will bite me. Why don¡¯t you guys use those spears?¡±

    The rat bared its fangs menacingly towards us and stood in two legs making it look even bigger.

    ¡°Sera, hold your ground and hit it only when it leaves it¡¯s back open, shortie we¡¯ll circle the rat baiting its attacks.¡±

    Shortie nodded at me and we surrounded the rat cornering it, with each step we gained a little ground, but something on its behavior unsettled me.

    Why didn¡¯t it try to run away? aren¡¯t rats supposed to be scared easily? Also, it seemed as if it was hunting us down.

    I¡¯ve heard from many people say animals are dumb, but they¡¯re smart in their own way. They don¡¯t usually pick fights they think they can¡¯t win without a reason, so there must be a reason why it chased after us.

    I lunged the spear forward and hit it right on the back. It squealed, but it didn¡¯t hurt it in the slightest, instead, my spear broke in half.

    ¡°Hey, you idiot! why did you hit it, you¡¯re supposed to use a skill!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a spear skill!¡±

    As we took turns to attack it, the rat turned back to face me and Sera hit it from behind. Only this time the rat wasn¡¯t even bothered by this and pounced on me. I tried to swing the sword in my hand but the rat was too fast.

    ¡°I... I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t get close I told you before¡±

    Shortie said as he retreated.

    ¡°Get it off me!¡±

    I shouted as the rat made easy work through my clothes and bit me. More like biting me, it was as if it was chewing me. It was way more painful than being bitten by a wolf.

    My mind went nk and Ipletely lost all sense of strategy, the only thing I could do was try to lift the rat keeping it from biting my body. It wasn¡¯t heavy, but it moved so quickly it managed to free itself and attacked back at me. Being so close it¡¯s hard to move my de and I do my best to not lose my weapon.

    I¡¯m lying in the ground with a rat eating me alive, Sera must be stabbing it over and over but it won¡¯t let go of me.

    I don¡¯t have a second to think what to do and fend off however I can, I feel pain all over my body. There¡¯s so much blood on my hands and they became so slippery I can¡¯t even hold the rat anymore.

    I punch and kick whenever I can, but this thing is just too aggressive.

    Because of how much blood I lost and how exhausted I was, I don¡¯t have the strength to defend myself anymore.

    I can¡¯t hear anything anymore and I know if I close my eyes right now I probably won¡¯t be able to open them ever again.

    Just as I was about to give up, the rat was stabbed through the skull by a sharp sword and its blood fell all over my face.

    ¡°Ryu, are you ok, Ryu?¡±

    I feel someone carrying me outside of the wheat field, with my head hanging loose I could catch a glimpse of Sera who is also badly hurt.

    Next thing I know is I¡¯m lying on afortable bed,pletely covered in bandages.

    ¡°Seriously Lorenzo, I would expect something like that from Risa, but you? You almost lost an adventurer on the rat quest!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry boss, It won¡¯t happen again¡±

    He lowered his head towards the adventurer¡¯s guild leader.

    ¡°Anyways, is it true they survived the attack of an E rank monster?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it seems they managed to kill too many rats in a short period of time, you know what happens when the big ones get upset¡±

    ¡°Really? how many did they kill?¡±

    ¡°More than sixty¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too much for a group of six, they were supposed to get fifteen as a group¡±

    ¡°About that... I didn¡¯t tell them it was supposed to be a team effort, so only four of them worked as a team¡±

    ¡°If this wasn¡¯t you, I would have trouble believing it. I expect a full report by tomorrow morning, don¡¯t spare any details¡±

    ¡°Yes boss!¡±

    Lorenzo said as the guild¡¯s leader retreated and then he sat on the chair in front of me.

 Chapter 110

    Chapter 110: Respect your instructors, please! Part

    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re awake, how are you feeling?¡±

    ¡°It could be worse¡±

    I reply in a raspy voice, I think I have a sore throat but I can¡¯t feel any pain.

    ¡°No, actually, a bit worse and you would be dead now, I think the leather patch you strapped on covering your heart saved your life. Seriously, why did you even attempt to face that rat? Don¡¯t you know how dangerous they are?¡±

    When Lorenzo mentioned the leather strap he pointed to my bandaged chest.

    ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve heard that keeping crops was a bit dangerous because of wild beasts but... It was just a rat, how was I supposed to know it was so strong¡±

    ¡°I know youck a bit ofmon sense because youe from the south, bute on! it was huge even for a big rat You should have at least noticed you were no match for it. Don¡¯t be so hasty to throw your life, if you need the money so urgently you could get a part time job¡±

    .....

    It seems he¡¯s admonishing me, but because of his bitter smile it looks more as if he was scolding himself.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to keep that in mind, but if we all tried to escape perhaps none of us would have been able to¡±

    ¡°What you say is true, E rank beasts are too strong for new adventurers. Anyways, don¡¯t judge monsters by size, a single big rat could take on two or three bears at the same time. Their skin is thick so it¡¯s hard to kill them in a single blow without a proper weapon and their sharp fangs can chew through leather, rendering any sort of leather armor useless in the first minute.¡±

    ¡°So, did we at least get a passing grade?¡±

    I ask almost whispering.

    ¡°You gathered about four times as many tails as you were supposed to, I¡¯m really impressed by your wits. When Shortie told me how you trapped them I couldn¡¯t believe how easy it was. Since you managed to get so many tails I can¡¯t really fail you. Although you can now take quests by yourself or form your own party, you¡¯ll remain in the trial period for a while. But honestly, I think you should give up on being an adventurer¡±

    The instructor looked at me straight in the eye.

    ¡°I... I can¡¯t give up so easily¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not my ce to tell you what you can or can¡¯t do, but you¡¯re not ready to create a monster ying party, not even as support, what good is a support that dies in a single blow? If anything, you could be a gatherer...¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s going to work for me¡±

    ¡°Can you at least tell me why do you even want to be an adventurer? A smart young man like you should be able to earn a living in some other way. Besides, you should know your own limits, you even had trouble dealing with a single goblin, when kids can give them a good beating without breaking a sweat. The only reason goblins are F rank is because of the danger they pose when gathered in big numbers¡±

    ¡°I know I¡¯m weak and I don¡¯t really need the money. I just need to learn as much as I can before going back to Ironwoods... also...¡±

    I hesitate for a while, this may be the best chance I get to learn more about my curse.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been afflicted by a curse¡±

    ¡°I see, so that¡¯s the reason you¡¯re so weak. May I ask how are you dealing with that?¡±

    ¡°Currently, I¡¯m pouring holy water on my sword everyday in the morning. That helps to keep the bad luck at bay¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good and bad at the same time. You see, curses will feed on your energy to grow stronger and they will drain the host up to thest drop, that obviously means death. That¡¯s if the curse doesn¡¯t kill you first. What you¡¯re doing currently is keeping the curse from affecting you, but it will keep consuming your energy until you die¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I needed to be an adventurer, It¡¯s the best way to find a priest that can undo my curse¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong about that, if you attempted to go to the sacred empire to be cured you would have died on the first beast encounter and even if you made it safely, I doubt you had the money to pay for that. The only thing priests think about is the money after all¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there something I can do? anything¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re already on the very limit. You¡¯re not emitting any energy, but you¡¯re not losing it either. You could aim to be stronger, but then the curse will grow too. I guess you¡¯ve been doing all the right things, but life is nothing but a gamble and you¡¯ve been dealt a shitty hand.¡±

    ¡°So, is there a way to know how much time I have left?¡±

    ¡°By the looks of it, if you stay just like that, maybe a month. If you be stronger, you couldst about three months¡±

    So I need to choose either to go back to Ironwoods and spend myst month with Rina or stay in here and do my best to find a solution before I run out of time.

    ¡°Mister Lorenzo, please... please help me be stronger¡±

    Because I lowered my head I couldn¡¯t see his expression, but he replied instantly.

    ¡°I refuse¡±

    ¡°Please, I can pay¡±

    ¡°I think you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re asking of me, but that¡¯s not something one can take lightly. I need to make a living out of this and I already have good candidates for a monster ying party. I can¡¯t afford to lose my time helping you, especially since your chances of outliving the curse are slim to none...¡±

    He made a quick pause to look at me and his expression softened a little.

    ¡°Don¡¯t take me wrong, I would like to help you, but that would mean putting the others aside. It would be a situation where I would be helping one while risking the life of others. I know your situation is desperate, but still...¡±

    This is nothing short of receiving a death sentence and the only crime Imitted was picking up a sword from a corpse.

    ¡°There must be something I can do, I don¡¯t want to die in this way¡±

    ¡°Well, there is something... If somehow you manage to convince miss Risa to trade pupils with me I would ept. But let me tell you, it¡¯s hard to deal with that woman and she¡¯s the one in charge of training the strongest adventurers right now. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll agree to your request¡±

    That may be so, but I got nothing to lose. Maybe I could try to bribe her, that¡¯s it!

    If I give her money she might get offended, but if I give her something she needs or likes, maybe some armor... no, thinking on the way she hardly even covers herself I don¡¯t think an armor is going to be useful to her.

    After Lorenzo left me alone, Sera came in along with Shortie. He apologized profusely, speaking so fast I could barely understand what he was saying.

    ¡°Calm down a bit please, you don¡¯t need to apologize, if anything I should be thankful because you called for Lorenzo¡±

    Shortie made a look of surprise leaving no doubt that he didn¡¯t know what I was talking about.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything, I just ran away and came back when they were carrying you back to the guild¡±

    ¡°Then, who...¡±

    Just as I was about to finish my question, Thea appeared from behind Sera.

    ¡°It was me... I called the instructor. When I noticed you didn¡¯te out of the wheat field I waited for you until I heard a scream and I ran to call for help¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really grateful for what you did Thea, shortie you go eat shit¡±

    I said in a serious tone with my still raspy voice, making themugh nheless.

    Sera and I went back to the shop as soon as they left the guild¡¯s hospital, I¡¯m still a bit tired but there¡¯s nothing a good night¡¯s rest can¡¯t fix. I could drink a potion, but my health points aren¡¯t low enough and I would end up falling asleep anyway because of exhaustion.

    That night Luke didn¡¯te back, but judging by his quick ascend in the guild rank none of us was worried. Instead, Taffy looked relieved to be able to spend a night by herself. It seems he still holds a grudge against her for rejecting him, but I can¡¯t be troubled with other people¡¯s business. Especially not now I¡¯m running out of time.

 Chapter 111

    Chapter 111: Respect your instructors, please! part

    At the same time Lorenzo and Ryu were speaking, Bob and Luke were outside the city on a quest. Risa, their instructor, was a bit disappointed at first when they were assigned to her. Not because they were weak, on the contrary, they jumped straight to D rank after their first mission, which meant they had unlimited potential to rise up once they pass the trial period. But she was way more interested in Ryu because when she faced him in battle, she experienced something she had long forgotten.

    Fear, not the kind of logical fear that made one question if everything would be alright in the end, but a primal fear that struck every nerve of her body. It was an exhrating experience that made her think about him the whole day.

    When she offered to spar with him her intention was to scare him in front of his friends and make him fail, by outing an intense killing intent that would render any adventurer below C rank powerless. Ryu looked so weak into her eyes she didn¡¯t expect to even use her weapon against him, let alone losing.

    That¡¯s why she was taken by surprise by this long forgotten feeling. It was an emotion so intense, she mistook it with something else.

    Now she¡¯s watching over Ryu¡¯s friends as they make quick work of an E rank beast mostmon in the prairies near Crent called louders. Bigger than a dog, these cricket like creatures had special thorns in their back legs that produced an eerie sound at night and they would swarm up on adventurers. But just like many other creatures, they were almost powerless during the day. Their bright red color made them stand out in the grassy fields which made hunting them an easy task, but their hard carapaces turned them into a fearsome opponent to any unarmed adventurer.

    Bob and Luke had gotten better at fighting together and were feeling really good about themselves. Especially Luke who wanted to show his best qualities in front of her and would take every chance to flirt with her.

    ¡°Say, Risa, if I manage to kill forty of this things would you go out with me?¡±

    .....

    He said with absolute confidence.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, kill a hundred and I¡¯ll suck you dry¡±

    She repliedpletely unfazed. To say Luke was in high spirits after hearing her would be an understatement, yet Risa knew all too well that finding a hundred louders in a single day was an impossible feat, no matter how strong an adventurer is, there¡¯s only so much time in a day. But that didn¡¯t stop Luke from trying until he spent thest of his stamina.

    ¡°Come on boys, let¡¯s go back to the city¡±

    Risamands.

    ¡°I- I can still fight¡±

    Luke says amidst heavy breaths.

    ¡°Ohh, are you defying your instructor¡¯s orders? Do you know what happens to naughty boys that question their instructor¡¯s orders? they go back to Crent in their birthday suit. You can¡¯t keep fighting because you already broke your main weapon and your spare is about to break, that¡¯s why it¡¯s important to bring supports on long quest. Now get up your asses and start jogging back to town, If I get there first you¡¯ll be punished¡±

    Risa apanies the threat with an evil grin that makes them both stiffen up.

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am¡±

    Risa¡¯s teaching method is one that doesn¡¯t work on just anyone. If it was only about raw power she would be one of the best instructors in Crent but shecks the ability to deal with people. Instead, she relies on flirting and tough love, making every rookie in town both excited and scared of working with her.

    But for Bob and Luke the situation waspletely different, they were bewitched by her easygoing attitude and flirty character. She made them feel special from the minute they started training with her.

    At first they didn¡¯t know what to expect from Risa, she didn¡¯t look as reliable as Lorenzo, but training consisted mostly in sparing and pointing out mistakes. It was also fun for them to have the undivided attention from a beautiful woman and her bold attire made them feel time flew by.

    The quest they just finished consisted in killing louders to keep the roads safe for travelers. Not many people decided to travel at night, precisely because of wild beasts and monsters, but keeping the road clear was one of the responsibilities of every city.

    ¡°Miss Risa, what exactly is the role of a support?¡±

    ¡°They assist in everything, from setting up tents to carrying spare weapons, they even gather materials. We could¡¯ve made some extra cash by selling hard shells, but it¡¯s tricky to harvest them from louders and you went overboard killing. It¡¯s gettingte and if we don¡¯t make it back before dusk we might be in trouble¡±

    Bob gulped down his saliva and started jogging a bit faster.

    When the city gates came in sight they were relieved, there are not many strong monsters that dare to get close to the city walls, and even if they do they get killed instantly by guards with the nightvision skill.

    ¡°I know guys, since you did so well today why don¡¯t I let you buy me a beer today?¡±

    Luke eyes were sparkling in joy at Risa¡¯s proposal.

    ¡°It would be my honor!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t join you today, Veronika is waiting for me at the inn¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s too bad¡±

    Luke replied to Bob¡¯s refusal with a wide smile.

    After separating from Bob, Luke and Risa headed to her favorite tavern. It¡¯s a ce well known for their quality ale and their cheap prices. Risa was considered a wealthy woman, even by Crent standards, but all she needed to be happy was some peace and a good drink.

    ¡°Tonight, I¡¯ll teach you how to drink!¡±

    Risa said shing her mug loudly against Luke¡¯s.

    ¡°I¡¯m quite confident in my drinking¡±

    Luke said with a flirty smile.

    ¡°Is that so? how about this, the one who passes out pays the bill¡±

    She said with a vicious tone and a sharp gaze. Just as Luke was about to reply, Lorenzo appeared on their table making the young adventurer click his tongue.

    ¡°Mind if I join you?¡±

    Lorenzo asked, but took a seat without even waiting for a reply.

    ¡°Did you finally grew a pair and decided to challenge me to a drinking contest?¡±

    ¡°No way Risa, I¡¯m just here to chat¡±

    Lorenzo said cing his hands forward as if he was trying to stop her.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to talk in front of the kid?¡±

    ¡°Who are you calling kid? I¡¯m getting tired of being treated as a child¡±

    Luke snarled.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mister grown man, I don¡¯t know how were things back on the crappy town you came from, but in here you be an adult at 21 years old and judging by your soulbound card you¡¯re short a couple years¡±

    Luke¡¯s face turned bright red at Risa¡¯s remark and he melted over his chair.

    ¡°Risa, I wanted to ask you, would you be interested in trading pupils? I¡¯m interested in those two and you could have Ryu¡±

    ¡°Read the mood you old geezer, can¡¯t you see we¡¯re celebrating?¡±

    ¡°What are you celebrating?¡±

    ¡°We just came back from hunting louders¡±

    ¡°and?¡±

    Risa drank a sip of ale while showing five fingers in front of Lorenzo.

    ¡°What? they managed to kill five louders?¡±

    ¡°Five? fifty, and we only came back because this idiot broke his sword¡±

    Lorenzo¡¯s face was that of a ghost. If only he managed to keep them from the start instead of the useless weakling he was assigned, he would have gotten a hugemission plus the money share from selling materials. Just a few quests with them and he may even be promoted to B rank again.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t look down on Ryu if I were you, I know he¡¯s weak, but he¡¯s strong in his own way¡±

    Luke said in a serious tone that surprised both instructors.

    ¡°He¡¯s kind of handy when ites to traveling, but that¡¯s not it. He¡¯s cursed and there¡¯s nothing I can do to help him¡±

    ¡°Hey hey! are you serious? why are you telling me that? if you wanted me to take him under my care you should have at least tried to hide it from me¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in doing so, you would find out anyways and I don¡¯t want you to hate me because of that¡±

    Lorenzo shrugged.

    And that night Luke was so drunk he couldn¡¯t find his way home, he couldn¡¯t find the way out of the tavern either, in fact, he fell asleep on the table and his memory of what happened that night was as scarce as his coin purse in the morning.

 Chapter 112

    Chapter 112: Don¡¯t mess with nobility, please!

    ¡°Master Ryu, it happened! it finally happened!¡±

    Mia ran across the hall calling for Ryu out loud, she opened the door to his room and there she saw a sleeping Ryu with Mochi curled up on the bed. The only one already awake was the amarok, busy chasing his own tail like always.

    That sight made Mia think for the first time on her status as a pet. ¡®How did things end up like this? Am I the same as those creatures?¡¯ she thought to herself.

    It¡¯s not that she wasn¡¯t happy with how Ryu treated her, after thing settled down Ryu had been a lot nicer to her than before. She also enjoyed everyone¡¯spany and the business was thriving more than ever.

    But these were not her friends and this wasn¡¯t her shop anymore.

    She offered herself as a pet without a second thought because at that moment it was either that or being turned to the guards. She did what she had to survive, that has always been her reasoning. She only stole what she needed to survive, she only charmed people to survive, she only put on a smile in front of everyone to survive.

    Survive, survive, survive... that was all she could think of.

    .....

    Only now she didn¡¯t have to worry about getting health potions because Ryu kept her well fed all this time, she didn¡¯t have to worry about her safety either because the ce was never alone, and as if it wasn¡¯t enough, now she didn¡¯t have to fear the merchant¡¯s association anymore because Ryu took care of it.

    Mia recalled that time Sera told her it wasn¡¯t her ce to greet Ryu on the entrance, but then, what was her ce?

    Should she sleep on his bed like Mochi? Should she guard over his master¡¯s sleep overnight as the amarok? what could she possibly do to repay her master for all he had done for her?

    With these thought in her mind Mia was so distracted she failed to notice the pillow headed straight to her face.

    ¡°Why are you so noisy in the morning?¡±

    Ryu¡¯s aim was as urate as always, leaving her with a slightly flushed face as the pillow fell to the ground after hitting her.

    ¡°M-m-master, please excuse me but it¡¯s noon already, I know you were hurt yesterday and I wouldn¡¯t bother you if this wasn¡¯t important, you know¡±

    Mia stuttered.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Miss Ath came to surrender¡±

    Ryu got up so fast Mochi fell rolling down the bed, but the fat cat was so fluffy it was as if it fell on a soft cushion of fur and didn¡¯t emit a sound.

    When Ryu entered the dining room Ath was drinking a cup of tea ire had served her while the shieldmaiden stood right behind her master.

    ¡°So, Mia tells me you have something to discuss with me, miss Ath¡±

    Ryu scoffed at thedy, who remained sitting showing the difference in social standings, wearing the now usual daydress. Ryu came so abruptly she wiggled in her chair.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, it¡¯s a pleasure to see you as always¡±

    She said after regainingposture.

    ¡°Oh, really? because I¡¯ve noticed you¡¯ve been avoiding me like the guetely¡±

    ¡°Can you really me me? I just didn¡¯t want to end up trapped in a bad deal again. Anyways, I¡¯m here to find a way to settle things that will benefit us both¡±

    ¡°Before that, I¡¯d prefer to speak with your master¡±

    Ryu said looking straight at the shieldmaiden.

    ¡°What do you mean? She¡¯s my...¡±

    Just as she was about to rebuke, the blond shield maiden put her hands on thedy¡¯s shoulder and took a seat in front of Ryu. When she took off her helmet her delicate features were revealed and her blond hair shined with the brightness of the sun leaving Ryu starstruck for a couple seconds.

    ¡°When did you notice?¡±

    The shield maiden asked.

    ¡°To be honest, I wasn¡¯tpletely sure until just now, but there were several clues. First, the way she adresses you is always respectful, the fact that she looked really worried after she couldn¡¯t use the haggle skill but when she came back she did so with confidence, so she must have consulted with someone in a higher position and finally, her attire¡±

    ¡°Her clothes?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she always dressed nicely, but after a while she started repeating her clothes making me doubt. Then I noticed despite always being clean, you smell of perfume and she does not. One of these may not seem like much, but all things put together, either you were her master or there¡¯s another person I haven¡¯t met yet¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m impressed mister Ryu, When my cousin told me how you fared in the adventurer¡¯s guild you seemed like apletely different person¡±

    ¡°Your... cousin?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Thea. I asked her to follow you around for a while in the adventurer¡¯s guild. She¡¯s already an E rank, but she registered in other city so there¡¯s no record of her in Crent. All she had to do is ask for another soulbound card and they happily obliged thinking she was a new recruit.¡±

    ¡°So... that¡¯s why that girl didn¡¯t want to hunt rats after all... she just needed to stay close to me to gather information¡±

    ¡°Actually... Things are moreplicated than that. Allow me to start over, I¡¯m Lady Ath of house Crent, and for personal reasons up to this point you have been dealing with my personal maid.¡±

    ¡°Pleased to meet you miss Ath¡±

    ¡°Lady!¡±

    The servant who everyone thought was Ath scoffed loudly.

    ¡°So, I assume you¡¯re telling me all this with a reason behind¡±

    ¡°Please, don¡¯t make it sound so underhanded. The fact that I hid my name has nothing to do with our business rtionship, it¡¯s just a safety measure. But you¡¯re right too, I¡¯m telling you this because you have me cornered. I¡¯ll be honest with you, we¡¯ve been buying all your tonics at 3 silver each everyday and selling them at the same price. In theory, my funds should¡¯ve remained the same, but after a while people were not buying them and now my warehouse is filled to the brim with tonics that no one wants to buy, I really underestimated your abilities. To think you were able to craft so many of them, even after we bribed the merchants so they don¡¯t sell you any medicinal herbs...¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t like that one bit by the way¡±

    ¡°It was just business... I would like you to break our deal¡±

    The real Ath said embarrasingly.

    ¡°That¡¯s just not possible, like you said, it¡¯s just business¡±

    ¡°But, what do you want? I¡¯m already out of funds and there¡¯s nothing else for you to gain out of this. My poor maid even sold all the clothes I gave her and...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a problem alright, but it doesn¡¯t concern me in the slightest. Don¡¯t try to take out people¡¯s businesses if you¡¯re not ready to ept the consequences if you lose¡±

    ¡°I was afraid you might say that... In that case, I¡¯ll have no other choice than to destroy youpletely. The reason why I take down businesses is not selfish at all, you¡¯re not familiar with Crent¡¯s history but there¡¯s a lot more to it and it¡¯s not your ce to know my reasons. If you¡¯re being unreasonable, I¡¯ll be unreasonable too¡±

    ¡°Wow, is that really the way you should be speaking to someone you¡¯re asking a favour? If you¡¯re not careful you might end up being a ve you know¡±

    Ryu said, inwardly cursing at Mia for her sticky phrase.

    ¡°In case you haven¡¯t noticed, I¡¯m a noble and there are many things I can do to make your life miserable¡±

    ¡°In case you haven¡¯t heard yet, I¡¯m cursed, so I don¡¯t give a literal rat¡¯s ass about your city¡¯s history, your personal issues or your nobility. If I don¡¯t find a way to fix my problem I¡¯ll be dead soon, so, unless you have a way to help me with my curse before our deal expires, you¡¯ll be so indebted to me not even bing a ve will be enough to pay back¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying you¡¯ll keep crafting those tonics?¡±

    ¡°Exactly, I will keep crafting them everyday and if you fail to pay the proper amount of money before the month ends...¡±

    ¡°You idiotic scumbag, who do you think you¡¯re talking to!? If mydy wasn¡¯t in this situation she wouldn¡¯t even speak to you!¡±

    Ath stopped her maid from further swearing by cing a hand in front of her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother, I think we¡¯ve overstayed our wee anyways. You¡¯ve made a powerful enemy mister Ryu...¡±

    She spat those words as she left the ce making everyone present sigh in relief.

 Chapter 113

    Chapter 113: Be stronger, please! part

    When Luke finally came back home, reeking of alcohol, all the fuzz caused bydy Ath had already settled down.

    He was tired because of his night out but in this world there was no such thing as sick days or free weekends and despite being reallyte, he washed up and headed to the adventurer¡¯s guild as fast as he could.

    It was past lunch time already and his stomach was grumbling non stop but none of that mattered, all he cared about was the punishment Risa would impose on him.

    She was very strict and didn¡¯t leave space for bargaining so he knew there was no way out. All he could do was to muster the courage and ept whatever she had on hold for him.

    Yet, when she showed up at the adventurer¡¯s guild Risa greeted him as if nothing happened.

    ¡°Grab your equipment, we¡¯re going on a bug killing quest¡±

    ¡°Is it louders again miss Risa?¡±

    .....

    Bob, who had been at the guild training the whole morning, asked excitedly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so impacient, you¡¯ll see when we get there¡±

    Those simple words struck fear into Luke¡¯s heart. He was certain there would be some sort of punishment awaiting for him, the thought alone made him shiver.

    Luke grabbed a couple short swords from the adventurer¡¯s guild shop, to make up for the one he broke on hisst quest, and followed Risa outside.

    The brightness of the sun hurt his eyes and all of his senses caused him a headache, for a second he thought maybe he was turning into a vampire, but then some images came back to his mind briefly. He recalled going out to drink with Risa and having a good time chatting with her when Lorenzo showed up, then he tried to drink at the same pace they did, then something about singing on top of a table.

    It didn¡¯t matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t remember what did they talk about.

    He let out a resigned sigh and kept walking on the broad road going out of the city. Thendscape was familiar because it was the same road they took the day before, but after walking a small portion of the distance he did before he was already feeling tired.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Luke? you¡¯re falling behind¡±

    Bob asked showing concern for hisrade.

    ¡°Being hangover is no joke, not only that, I waste today and miss Risa has yet to punish me. Hey, do you think she¡¯ll do something to me during this quest?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you¡¯re finally adressing people with respect¡±

    Bob chuckled tantly ignoring his question, Luke¡¯s stress skyrocketed thinking maybe Bob knew something.

    ¡°We¡¯re here¡±

    Risa said after stopping.

    ¡°Hunt anything you find, but we¡¯re currently looking for scythe cicadas. You¡¯ll recognize them because they¡¯re cidadas... with scythes. Don¡¯t stare at me, go hunt something for the love of beer¡±

    Just by hearing the word beer Luke started to tremble, but Bob started walking the ins looking for prey.

    It didn¡¯t take long before they found a scythe cicada, and just as their instructor pointed out, they were true to their name but when Bob saw it the first thing he thought was that huge cicada would suit them better.

    Despite their size being almost that of a human being they weren¡¯t as dangerous as they looked, their movements were slow and predictable.

    Bob was the first tond a hit, after activating his boost skill, and the cicada fell to the ground. Not knowing if it was Bob¡¯s immense strenght, his boost skill, luck or if the opponent was simply too weak, both young adventurers remained cautious when facing them.

    After about ten or so kills their confidence started to grow and they split up to cover more ground.

    Luke faced his next target with a single strike skill and his sword made a ng sound when it shed against the cicada¡¯s scythe.

    ¡°Try to avoid their scythes, these bugs are damn weak, but their scythes are actually a high level material. You would break ten swords before leaving a dent in them.¡±

    Risa pointed out to Luke who was in a daze after hitting something so hard with his skill. His right hand felt numb, but it didn¡¯t matter because it only took another single strike skill to sh the cicada in half.

    Bob and Luke were having fun killing insects and time flew by, Risa didn¡¯t stand idle this time and started harvesting all the scythes.

    When Luke noticed her attitude he started sweating bullets. Her usual flirtiness was nowhere to be found and instead she¡¯s been acting as a reliable instructor. She didn¡¯t nag him for beingte, she picked up an easy quest for them, she gathered materials and even pointed out their mistakes and gave tips on how to defeat their opponents easier.

    They looked like an efficient monster ying party and no one would think otherwise, but even Bob thought something was off with her today.

    After gathering enough materials they headed back to town with time to spare before dusk, she didn¡¯t even ask them to jog back and simply walked at a normal pace. Luke would have appreciated it because of his tiredness if it wasn¡¯t for the punishment he had been expecting was yet to be revealed.

    At the guild¡¯s counter Ebi greeted them and received the materials they carried back and paid them what other adventurers would consider a hefty sum, she even congratted them after a job well done, but nothing could fill Luke¡¯s void in his heart.

    Was he actually looking forward for the punishment?

    He quickly dismissed the thought shaking his head repeatedly.

    ¡°That¡¯s it for today boys, see you tomorrow¡±

    The punishment never came and the reason behind this was because Risa had been elsewhere the entire day.

    Hearing about Ryu¡¯s curse left her in shambles.

    It was usual for adventurers to die young, she had seen many of herrades die in front of her eyes, this was one of the well known truths about their profession and no one thought much of it. But she took an interest in a young man who she thought had the world in front of him, with a limitless potential for growth, but it would nevere to be.

    If only Crent had a church, no one would have to fear curses but after the war with the sacred empire political rtionships were shaky at best. The kingdom had made sure to erradicate every possible church present in their domain during the war and even now it was over, finding a priest was very difficult. Especially at a far away ce like Crent.

    While curses were nothing but annoying before the war, now they were amon cause of death among young adventurers. Almost every citizen knew one or two people who fell due to a curse. The true danger didn¡¯t lie solely in the death of a single person, but cursed objects could be passed on after a person¡¯s demise and they could affect countless people.

    She had been thinking on possible ways to aid Ryu, but her hands were tied because even if she agreed to train him, it would only help himst a couple months more.

    That¡¯s why she decided to take her job more seriously, being reminded of how fragile human lives were made her question her life choices. She had been stuck as a ranger for way too long,pared to Lorenzo who had a special ss she was considered weak.

    ¡°Poor guy¡±

    She sighed after being left alone. Looking at the other adventurers she recalled her conversation with Lorenzo. After telling her about Ryu¡¯s affliction he offered to trade pupils, fully knowing that she had taken an interest on him. But that would mean to give up on the promising pupils she currently had under her wing.

    Bob and Luke were a bit on the dull side, they were strong and eager to be stronger, but theycked the spark that Ryu had on his eyes. Even so, they were bound to achieve incredible feats and fill her pockets. She didn¡¯t even have to do anything to train them properly, she just had to make sure they take their time and didn¡¯t rush to meet an early grave due to a dumb mistake.

    After pondering for a while, Risa came to the conclusion that it would be stupid to agree to trading pupils with Lorenzo. There was nothing to gain and a lot to lose, why would she refuse the incredible luck she had when Bob and Lukended on her group.

    So she walked close to Lorenzo, who was talking to his group. She drew closer with aplicated expression on her face and after taking a deep breath she muttered.

    ¡°Let¡¯s trade pupils¡±

 Chapter 114

    Chapter 114: Be stronger, please! part

    The astonished look of Lorenzo was only second to that of his pupils.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Ahhh! I don¡¯t know!¡± She ruffled her hair in annoyance ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not sure, it was you who asked me and now you want me to beg? if you¡¯re having second thoughts we can just leave things the way they are¡±

    ¡°Eh, no, that¡¯s not it. I mean, you got those guys and...¡±

    He managed to stutter and took a quick nce at Shortie and Kinta who were right beside him.

    ¡°Oh, arent they cute little snacks?¡±

    She licked her lips seductively.

    .....

    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s trade¡±

    They went to the counter and asked Ebi to change their teams. After signing the papers Lorenzo became Bob¡¯s and Luke¡¯s instructor and Risa took Ryu, Thea, Kinta, Shortie, and the other rookies under her care.

    To make things fair on instructors the guild would always assign the higher rank rookies to the highest rank instructor and the weaker rookies would be assigned in numbers to the other instructor, thus, giving the chance to earn the same amount of money to both instructors. In normal circumstances the stronger rookies would be assigned to Lorenzo, but since he was demoted he was the same rank as Risa. This meant the fact that Bob and Luke were assigned to her was nothing short of a miracle that urred thanks to many coincidences alligning to make it happen, yet she gave up her right on her own volition.

    Ebi, who understood thispletely, couldn¡¯t think of the reason she had behind her desicion. While technically both instructors would end up earning the same money in the long run, there was always the chance that rookies would die young. Nevertheless, it wasn¡¯t her ce to question instructor¡¯s choices and after knowing them both for so long she knew there must be a reason behind this unusual exchange.

    When Ryu showed up to the guild next morning he headed towards Lorenzo who was having his breakfast on the guild¡¯s hall but Risa put her arm around his neck and dragged him.

    ¡°Where are you going? you¡¯re all mine now¡±

    ¡°Uh? I¡¯m sorry miss Risa, but Lorenzo is...¡±

    ¡°shush! We traded, now you belong to me¡±

    She said cing a finger on Ryu¡¯s lips making him blush heavily.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re the first one to arrive. I heard about your curse and I¡¯m willing to help you¡±

    Those words brought a wide smile on his face, he had been cracking his head trying to think on ways to bribe Risa into helping him. The best he idea he had so far was to give her a weapon, but her sword looked really expensive and he didn¡¯t know if he could afford a better one.

    ¡°Wow, thanks, I don¡¯t know what to say...¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t say anything, just hear me out. I¡¯ll help you to my best effort, but I don¡¯t know If we¡¯ll seed. You¡¯re going to follow my instructions and put your life on the line, If I see a half assed attitude I¡¯ll simply let you be. If you get rid of the curse, no matter if it was thanks to me or to some miracle, you¡¯ll still need to pay the price AND you¡¯ll owe me a no question asked. Is that clear?¡±

    Ryu,pletely overwhelmed by her dominant attitude, simply nodded in silence.

    ¡°Fine, then starting tomorrow you won¡¯t be using any more holy water. It¡¯s expensive, hard toe by and we¡¯ll leave it for emergencies only¡±

    When Risa¡¯s group gathered Ryu felt a little awkward around them, and not just because they¡¯ve been bonding all this time and seemed to get along, they were ring at him with murderous eyes. They didn¡¯t know the details, but they all knew it was because of Ryu that they shifted instructors.

    Every single one of them felt they lost a huge opportunity, even Shortie who was the closest to Ryu among them and even owed him his passing grade, because Lorenzo was well known in Crent as one of the strongest, if not the strongest, adventurer. The chance to train under his care was a once in a lifetime experience, and they just missed it because of a gawky guy with a fancy sword.

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve all been epted into the guild you don¡¯t have anything to prove, or so you think. Lorenzo gave me your guild¡¯s profiles and I really hope you didn¡¯t show everything to Ebi when you signed in at the counter, because if that¡¯s the case I¡¯ll be really disappointed¡±

    Risa¡¯s harsh words made more than one lower their heads in shame. They knew that keeping some skills hidden was a good idea, but they were too ashamed to show how weak they were so they showed theirplete information in the soulbound card. But that was far from Thea, Sera and Ryu¡¯s case because. While Sera and Ryu kept some skills to themselves, such as the magic rted ones, Thea was already an E rank adventurer in her hometown and was impersonating a rookie to spy on Ryu following her cousin¡¯sand.

    Just a coupleps around the courtyard wasn¡¯t enough to get them tired, but what followed disheartened them deeply. The spar wasn¡¯t against each other as they inicially thought, instead, they had to face Risa.

    ¡°Now boy, I want everyone toe at me with all you got at the same time! Use everything, I won¡¯t get mad even if you grab my ass by mistake!¡±

    She was so excited she could barely hide her emotion.

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡±

    Ryu shouted and jumped forward with his de over his head ready to strike, but suddenly he saw instructor Risa spinning around not knowing what just happened. Only when his back hit the floor did he realize Risa struck him with a wooden sword, making him fly in the air.

    From his position he saw that beside him, only Sera had moved to face Risa while the others just watched.

    Shortie was hesitating, he too was mad at Ryu for being the cause of the exchange, but he was also excited to be up close with Risa. While Lorenzo was well known as a strong adventurer, Risa was better known for her flirty demeanor and good looks.

    ¡°Come on, show me you got your balls well ced. Oh! I almost forgot there aredies in here, sorry¡± She said apologetically, Thea and the other girl in the group besides Sera thought she was apologizing for being rude, but Risa¡¯s next words proved them wrong. ¡°You two! show me you got your tits well ced too!¡±

    After that, everyone stood forward and faced Risa, surrounding her in a team effort. She dodged their attacks effortlessly and hit them back softly only to correct their posture. Sheughed in between strikes moving at what seemed to be normal speed, but she waspletely beyond reach.

    Ryu lied on his back for a few seconds looking at the sparring practice trying to grasp the situation. As long as he remained there, the instructor would not attack him anymore and he took advantage of that.

    Risa kept spinning and twisting, contorting her body so gracefully that Ryu was even able to see her muscles in action. He lost himself in the charm of a perfectbat able body before reacting and going back to think on a strategy to beat her, and then it hit him.

    ¡®Even working together, we have no chance of beating her directly, but she¡¯s been cautious not to sh her weapon against her opponents. Everyone is using wooden swords made for practice, they are sturdy, but still made out of wood¡¯

    ¡°Everyone! stop aiming at her body and aim at her sword!¡±

    The first to follow his instructions was Sera, she didn¡¯t even question the reason behind it. Thea stood up a couple seconds pondering the idea, while Shortie ran towards Ryu to help him stand up. Without time to speak, Ryu simply walked back into the fight.

    Soon, the nking sound of wood against wood was heard and Risa¡¯s smile grew wider when her sword cracked. Without a weapon to defend herself she simply lifted her arms in surrender.

    ¡°It seems someone got it. It doesn¡¯t matter how strong you are, if you¡¯re facing a beast and don¡¯t have a weapon you¡¯re dead, that¡¯s why tomorrow we¡¯re going to do some shopping. I¡¯ll lend some money to those who don¡¯t have enough and you should be able to pay after a week or so, bring as much as you can, rob your grandma, sell your bodies, I don¡¯t care. Because your life is at stake¡±

 Chapter 115

    Chapter 115: Be stronger, please! part

    Next morning Ryu skipped his daily routine of pouring holy water into his de, at first things seemed to be normal, but soon he found himself tired and experiencing bad luck. It was just as bad, if not worse, than the time he arrived at Crent.

    But this time he couldn¡¯t afford to stay inside. Risa was clear with him, if he didn¡¯t follow her instructions she would simply withdraw her help.

    The first step outside showed him what kind of day awaited for him. A white smelly substance covered his shoulder and when he looked up, a small crow seemed to mock him. When he came back after changing his clothes Sera was still waiting for him outside.

    ¡°Sera, do you mind giving me your hand?¡±

    Ryu asked embarrassingly, because he needed help to walk through the streets.

    ¡°It will be my pleasure!¡±

    Sera replied so fast it seemed as if she had been expecting it, when in reality, she simply wouldn¡¯t reject anything he asked.

    .....

    After a long and perilous walk through what any other day would have been the harmless streets of the city, Ryu finally got to the adventurer¡¯s guild despite his weakness and his bad luck.

    ¡°You finally made it boy, did you stay up toote? when I said you had to even sell your bodies I didn¡¯t think someone would actually do it¡±

    The instructor mocked him and then ordered everyone to follow her.

    Kinta, the red headed boy who turned out to be Ryota¡¯s son, already knew where they were headed because his father was an adventurer, but the rest werepletely in the dark. Especially when, instead of going to the weaponsmith, they headed to the outskirts.

    The broad streets covered in flower arrangements, paved with stone tiles and adorned by many light posts were left behind as they headed into narrow passages that curved over and over.

    Houses weren¡¯t pretty at all, buildings looked neglected, the dirt streets were covered in filth and people looked poor.

    ¡°Where are we?¡±

    Thea asked with her hands pressed against her chest looking like a scared cat.

    ¡°In the slums, keep your voice low and put your game face or you¡¯ll wake up in the gutter without money, clothes or dignity¡±

    Kinta said with a smirk after looking at her fragile and innocent appearance.

    ¡°No way! Instructor Risa would never bring us to such a dangerous ce!¡±

    ¡°Uh? I forgot to tell you, we¡¯re heading to the ck market. Please do as Kinta said or not even I will be able to protect you¡±

    Risa wasn¡¯t as yful as her usual, she waspletely serious and talked in a low voice. Everyone got shivers after noticing that even the instructor was on guard.

    The one who had it worse was Sera, who couldn¡¯t hide her beauty behind simple adventurer¡¯s clothes and drew the gazes of everyone around.

    A boy, no more than twelve, was running behind a ball and was about to bump into Risa but she dodged and hit the boy in the back of the head making him fall unconscious.

    ¡°Miss Risa! why did you do that!?¡±

    Shortie eximed disturbed by the ruthlessness of the instructor, only to fall silent when he noticed the young boy had a knife dripping a purple liquid in both hands.

    ¡°They know you¡¯re loaded, if they take me out they¡¯ll have you for dinner, just keep walking¡±

    After leaving the unconscious boy behind people surrounded him and took his belongings, just like ants over a drop of honey, and when they scattered skinny guy came out of an alleyway and dragged the boy with him.

    Everyone was so scared now they unconsciously stuck to Risa like baby chicks following the mother hen. After walking the convoluted streets they went inside a rundown house. There was a man resting on a filthy mattress and a woman sewing an old sock right beside him, but they paid no mind to the rookies. Everyone sighed in relief thinking they reached their destination, only to be disappointed after finding out it was just a means to get to another street.

    Risa deposited a copper coin in a jar and opened the door to the next street, there was a roof over the street making it look dark, but thanks to the many magicalmps hanging outside the houses it was possible to walk without bumping into each other.

    ¡°Night vision¡±

    Risa muttered, activating her skill only to be safe.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re here. Now we¡¯re safe, anyone who dares make trouble in here meets a horrible fate. That goes for you as well, I won¡¯t be able to do anything if you mess things up, so be polite.¡±

    She took them inside one of the houses that had amp post on, it was actually a shop Risa knew well.

    ¡°is that time of the year already?¡±

    ¡°Just show me your wares, and not the crap you show to tourists, I want top notch gear¡±

    ¡°Are they that good?¡±

    The man asked, but Risa shook her head in reply.

    ¡°On the contrary, they need all the help they can get¡±

    The rookies were still scared shitless and took no offense over her words. At Risa¡¯s words the man locked the door behind his customers and went behind a curtain. The instructor signaled everyone to follow him and she went inst.

    Ryu was the first to go in and walked behind the tall man. There was a long table at each side, with swords, daggers, spears, helmets, all sort of equipment just piled up. The man unlocked several locks on a door and opened it.

    Ryu was amazed at the quantity and quality of the equipment, even his sword was no match for the marvels of cksmithing that lied in front of him. From shiny te armor, to different kinds of leather that shined in various colors.

    ¡°You can look all you want but keep your fingers to yourself, or I¡¯ll im them as mine¡±

    Even Kinta, who knew more or less what to expect, gulped at the terrifying man¡¯s threat.

    Ryu¡¯s gaze went from side to side using his identify skill on everything, giving him an edge over the others who had to ask the man about every piece of gear that piqued their interest.

    There were some items on mannequins, others behind a ss counter and the most attractive ones were showcased on pedestals.

    >Runic sword of grazing: sword covered in runes, causes a small scrape on skin on contact.

    >Mithril te mail: resistance against all sorts of physical damage

    >Last will shield: after dying, there is a chance for the bearer to be undead.

    ¡°Are those items enchanted!?¡±

    Ryu almost yelled.

    ¡°Of course they are kid, what did you expect? every single item in here is enchanted¡±

    ¡°How did you get them? how can I enchant items?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the first thing about enchanting, I just sell stuff. All of these used to belong to unfortunate adventurers that died.¡±

    ¡°Oh? were they dead when you took their stuff, or they just happen to die after you took them?¡±

    Risa said in her usual yful tone and the man just shrugged in response.

    ¡°Sera, why are you not looking around?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to burden you mister Ryu, everything you spend on me would be wasted. If you need more money I can still give you mine¡±

    Sera replied.

    ¡°Alright! enough chit chat! put your coin purse in the counter and I¡¯ll advice on what to buy¡±

    The man said, nervous about having kids walking all over in his shop

    The first one to put his money in the counter was Kinta. His father had given him all the money he had because, even though Ryota had a hard time admitting it, even for him it was dangerous to head into the ck market street.

    The man ced a steel breastte and a small dagger on the counter, Kinta took them without saying a word.

    ¡°Are you not worried he scammed you? he didn¡¯t even give you back the change¡±

    Thea whispered on his ear

    ¡°Shut up, if he didn¡¯t give me change must be because he gave me a good deal. I didn¡¯t think I would have the chance to get more than one item, my father is going jump in joy!¡±

    The next one was the girl besides Thea, she was a shy looking girl with shoulder length ck hair on the front and a bit longer on the back.

    The man red at her for a second and then picked up a short sword from the wall and handed it to her. It was small, yet so heavy she had trouble lifting it.

    Thea ced her coin purse on the table and everyone stared at the ridiculous amount of money she had. It was mostly silver coins but there were a few gold coins mixed in between. It was way more than most of them had seen their entire life.

    The shopkeeper smirked and picked a jeweled dagger for her. It was small, even for a dagger.

    ¡°Hey! what am I supposed to do with this crap? I want something else!¡±

    The man took back the dagger without even blinking and handed her a mace. Thea made a few swings in the air with a satisfied smile.

    The other rookies were too ashamed to put their purses on the counter after Thea¡¯s disy, but the matter was different for Ryu. He had just been trying to decide on what he should buy for himself. ¡®I don¡¯t mind following the advice of that man if I don¡¯t find anything to my liking, but even if the shopkeeper has the consider skill and sees some of my skills, there¡¯s no way he knows about my fighting style.

    ¡°Come on, hurry up!¡±

    The man grunted, making him Ryu snap out of his reverie and ce his coin purse on the counter. It was smallpared to the rest, especially to Thea¡¯s.

    ¡°Hey! Instructor Risa asked us to gather all our money, didn¡¯t you pay attention?¡±

    ¡°Look at him, acting all high and mighty with his girlfriend as if they¡¯re superior, but he¡¯s as weak as he¡¯s poor¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you embarrassed? at least have a little shame and let the ones who have money go first¡±

    The rookies mocked him.

    ¡°Ryu... You should have told me, I can still lend you some money¡±

    Risa said awkwardly. But when the shopkeeper opened it he was left in a daze.

    .....

 Chapter 116

    Chapter 116: Be stronger, please! part

    ¡°Is this... you... and you walked all this way with so much money?¡±

    Risa¡¯s reaction waspletely out of character, but she was too bbergasted to even gather her words. The others stared inplete silence at the biggest pile of gold coins they had seen in their life.

    As if hypnotized by the money, Shortie extended a hand forward, but the shopkeeper took it quickly. No one expected something like that, not even the shopkeeper who didn¡¯t know what to offer.

    The amount wasn¡¯t that much, he couldn¡¯t afford anything made of mithril because it was much more expensive than gold. But this was the first time a rookie adventurer brought so much money.

    ¡°I would like the red leather cape, the jeweled dagger and, if possible, that ring too¡±

    Ryu said ignoring the shock on everyone¡¯s faces. The shopkeeper took the items and ced them on the counter.

    ¡°This is for you, Sera¡±

    .....

    Ryu took the ring and the cape for himself, and he gifted the dagger to Sera who received it with a flushed face.

    The tall man was desperately trying to sum up the change but Ryu stopped him.

    ¡°Whatever is left use it on shortie¡±

    It took no genius to know which one of the rookies was shortie and the man nodded to Ryu. He wasn¡¯t an adventurer anymore, but he still reminded his youthful days along hisrades at the guild making him feel respect towards the young man in front of him. If he cared enough for hispanions to gift them expensive equipment, he may seed in bing a respectable adventurer, something he always dreamed of but failed to aplish.

    It was only after bing an assassin and stealing equipment from other adventurers that he managed to climb up thedder, by the time the knights found him he was already too strong and sneaky to be taken down, so he decided to settle in the ck market street.

    Not only because it allowed him to make a living without much effort, but also because it was a safe ce to raise his daughter. Every time the knights raided the ck market street they simply turned off the lights and made a run for it, until it was so filled with mercenaries and rogue adventurers that even the knights were hopeless.

    After everyone was ready with their new gear they headed outside, the man unlocked the door so everyone could leave and ushered them outside.

    ¡°I hope you found everything to your liking¡±

    The shopkeeper said.

    ¡°Yeah, we did. See you next year, dad¡±

    Risa said after hugging the man leaving everyone astonished, but it also made sense. She¡¯s really different from everyone they¡¯ve ever met, even other adventurers, and sheing from the slums provided an exnation for her entricities.

    On the way back they didn¡¯t find trouble, attacking a group of rookie adventurers apanied by an instructor everyone wearing basic gear and loaded with gold coins was one thing, but attacking them after they geared up in enchanted items while not carrying a single gold coin was suicidal at best. Not just that, even if they managed to steal their gear, they wouldn¡¯t be able to sell them at the ck market without people finding out who attacked them and they could be attacked in revenge.

    After arriving at the guild everyone was getting ready to go back to their homes but Risa stopped them in their tracks.

    ¡°Where are you going? we have yet toplete a quest¡±

    Risa said confused by their behavior.

    ¡°Uhm, but miss Risa, it¡¯s past lunch time and there¡¯s no need to push ourselves toplete a quest daily¡±

    Thea said with a face that showed how tired she was. They didn¡¯t do much physical effort, but the mental stress they suffered was enough tost a week.

    ¡°Of course not, cupcake, but the reason we went to the ck market today was in preparation for the quest I¡¯ve already taken. You got your soulbound cards, passed the test, passed the first mission and you took a quest with your instructor, but that instructor wasn¡¯t me and I need to know what you can or you can¡¯t do. You all are able to take on any quest you think you canplete, as long as it¡¯s in your rank or lower, but only with me you can take more difficult tasks.¡±

    Everyone got excited at her words.

    ¡°Does that mean we¡¯re going to take a D rank quest!?¡±

    Ryu asked excitedly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so hasty or the beasts will eat you before I do. I¡¯m a C rank, this means I can take C rank quests or lower, but it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean I canplete them. While anyone canplete an F rank by themselves, C rank quests usually require different skills and gear so a single person, no matter how strong, won¡¯t usually be able to do it by themselves. There are special cases, some quests are pretty straightforward, like hunting rats or any kind of beast, those kind of quest depend only on raw power. I once participated on an A rank mission consisting on taking down a wyvern.¡±

    ¡°Miss Risa did you kill a wyvern!?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, it took an army and we suffered many casualties that day¡±

    She said with a sad smile.

    ¡°Anyways, don¡¯t even dream of taking on a D rank quest, even if you be D rank, people who take on D rank quests are all C rank or higher¡±

    Just as the instructor finishes speaking amotion arose at the guild hall, a huge group of adventurers surrounded the counter and then started cheering.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Shortie asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go find out¡±

    Kinda said as he walked towards his father, Ryota, who was currently active as a guard inside the guild. When Kinta came back he was as excited as everyone else.

    ¡°It seems some adventurers managed to kill a crimson cobra...¡±

    He managed to say when his voice was overshadowed by the chants of the group.

    ¡°Golden boy! golden boy!¡±

    They shouted joyfully and what followed brought a smile on Ryu¡¯s face. Luke was being lifted and thrown into the air and then caught by the adventurers, then they lifted him up and started walking around the guild visiting the tables.

    Risa¡¯s group, who still had to find a table, wasn¡¯t left out as they came close.

    ¡°This guy defeated a crimson cobra!!!¡±

    Luke waved at Ryu with the biggest smile he had seen so far on his face and it made him sincerely happy for him.

    Thea thought Luke was waving at her and her heart raced, until she noticed Ryu waving back at the blond adventurer.

    ¡°What are you doing, idiot? he¡¯s clearly waving at me¡±

    She nudged at Ryu with a frown on her face. Despite feeling wronged, he remained silent and just let her enjoy it, he didn¡¯t want to spoil anyone¡¯s mood.

    ¡°Is killing a crimson cobra a big deal?¡±

    Sera asked her instructor.

    ¡°I would say it can be a challenge even for a C rank adventurer, but for a D rank is nigh impossible.¡±

    Risa muttered wondering if she made the right choice while staring at the twenty meter snake Bob was carrying inside the guild for everyone to see.

    Lorenzo was entitled to a share of the loot, if she had stayed with Bob and Luke her purse would be heavier. Because she had been raised in the slums, money was almost all she cared about, almost... because there¡¯s only one thing that was more important and that was power.

    She knew all too well it didn¡¯t matter how much money someone had, only power could get people out of life or death matter. Beasts can¡¯t be bribed after all.

    ¡°Hey kids, we don¡¯t have time to celebrate, let¡¯s get moving,e on! we¡¯re losing daylight!¡±

    Instructor Risa hurried the rookie adventurers out of the guild and headed towards the city gate.

    ¡°Before we arrive I¡¯ll give everyone a warning. This is not a straightforward beast ying quest, there¡¯s something out there attacking the cattle near the south gate. We¡¯re only there to investigate the matter and take care of it if it¡¯s not too dangerous, but I¡¯ll be the judge of that. If you don¡¯t take this quest seriously you would be disrespecting the guild and I can¡¯t allow that, if you don¡¯t follow my instructions I can get you kicked off the guild¡±

    Even after spending the whole day with a serious and reliable Risa, they still found her attitude out of character. Be it to make them take the quest seriously or that she may be undergoing some sort of self improving period, it still surprised everyone.

    In truth, Risa always took quests seriously. She didn¡¯t have a good rtionship with her father after learning what he did for a living, despite knowing he did all kinds of dirty jobs just to be able to raise her against all odds. Taking quests and helping innocent people was her way of making amends for the pain and suffering her father had caused to so many people after years of killing and stealing.

 Chapter 117

    Chapter 117: Avoid fatigue during quests, please!

    ¡°This is the same road I took when I came from Ironwoods!¡±

    Sera had a huge smile on her face as a mild evening breeze yed with her long blond hair.

    ¡°Yeah, we came from this road too. I heard from the vigers on mountainside there was a shortcut somewhere that leads to the forest in the west, but this road seemed to be easier¡±

    Ryu was excited to be closer to Rina, even if just a little.

    ¡°Easier? we encountered bears, wasps and other nasty creatures on the way here¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not umon, but this road is actually a lot safer than the one you just mentioned. Whoever that viger was, he surely didn¡¯t have good intentions. Sending people through the forest road is really dangerous¡±

    Risa exined.

    .....

    ¡°Is it? We went to the forest to take a goblin subjugation quest and it was pretty safe¡±

    Ryu asked amidst pants, he was already tired, even walking normally was difficult for him because of the curse that drained his energy.

    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to goblins, those pesky things are annoying, but they clean the forest of most beasts. It¡¯s pretty funny to watch, they die by the hundreds trying to kill even the weakest E rank beast, but they always end up winning just because of their numbers. If you ever encounter something like that make sure to hide until the end of the battle, you¡¯ll be able to get the spoils without lifting a finger. Anyway, if someone travels from mountainside to Crent through the forest they¡¯ll encounter lizards, skitters, thorny lizards, any sort of dangerous beasts. The road is shorter, but even if an adventurer is strong enough to deal with those beasts it¡¯ll take them two or three times longer to get here. I¡¯ve taken that path a couple times, but only to hunt beasts, never to actually go to mountainside, and let me tell you, it¡¯s no walk in the park at all¡±

    ¡°Miss Risa sure knows a lot¡±

    Thea tantly sucked up to her but she waspletely ignored and they kept walking the road.

    After about an hour or so after leaving Crent¡¯s city gates the group arrived at the location pinpointed in the quest map. Risa¡¯s soulbound card had a feature that allowed her to see a map and tag locations, which wasn¡¯t a surprise because she was a C rank adventurer. The only problem with it is that it doesn¡¯t point the personal location, it was as good as a map but it still required some basic knowledge on geography to avoid getting lost.

    ¡°Hey! over here!¡±

    A small girl, about eleven years old with twin braids waved at the group.

    ¡°Good day missy, did you post the quest?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, I don¡¯t even have a soulbound card. My dad did!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great news, do you mind taking us to him?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s currently out looking for firewood, but he¡¯lle back soon. He asked me to wait for you in the road¡±

    ¡°Such a good girl, well then, lead the way¡±

    Risa¡¯s exchange with the little girl left them wondering if it was the same woman that just earlier knocked out cold a boy the same age.

    The farmer¡¯s daughter lived alone with her father, her mother had passed away a couple years ago from a sickness caused by a beast attack.

    The farmhouse was pretty big considering only two people lived there and they looked to be somewhat wealthy. They had so many animals it was difficult for them to tend to them, but they provided enough goods to make a good living.

    The barn was located in front of the house and the ce was surrounded by a shabby wooden fence broken in many ces.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry we don¡¯t have enough beds for everyone, but you¡¯re free to stay wherever you like¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that missy, we¡¯re going to be staying at the barn. Kinta and Thea, you guys go check the surroundings, don¡¯t let anything escape your eyes; Shortie and Fena you guys fix the fence; Ryu and Sera, get everything ready for our stay and help fixing the fence when you finish¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am¡±

    Everyone said in unison and went on to perform their duties.

    The farm had a little plot ofnd with crops, surrounded by a sturdy fence to keep animals from eating them, but other than that it was just pastures. Since the view wasn¡¯t obstructed, Kinta and Thea got bored easily and soon stopped walking and, instead of standing watch, they started chatting as they made fun of the others.

    ¡°Why do you think miss Risa assigned us to stand watch?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, we¡¯re the most promising adventurers from our group, it¡¯s only natural she picked us for the most important tasks. Look at them getting all sweaty after fixing a single wooden pole¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to mock them Kinta, everyone has their job and fixing a fence is an important task too¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, It¡¯s no wonder they get sweaty since they are the weaker ones, if they were stronger they would have been assigned to stand watch like us. But they sure are noisy, why don¡¯t we go over there to get away from those nuisances¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine, I guess... they¡¯re fixing the fence but that should count as guarding the ce too. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be so ipetent as to miss any iing threat with such a clear view¡±

    Without realizing it, in their minds their orders shifted from making rounds to see everything was fine, to stand watch. They may not seem that different, but in reality it was.

    When they stopped circling the farnd it was unavoidable to have a blindspot right behind the buildings, but they didn¡¯t even consider the possibility that something may be lurking in the distance.

    Fena and Shortie were working hard on fixing the fence. Fena was a shy girl with long hair and a schrly look, but despite appearances she was a lot stronger than Shortie. He had a hard time epting this fact and worked twice as hard as he would have done any other day.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    He yelped as he reclined forward and put his hand on his back

    ¡°Are you ok Shortie?¡±

    ¡°I think I pulled a muscle¡±

    ¡°Should I call the instructor?¡±

    ¡°No! don¡¯t worry, I just need a short rest and I¡¯ll be fit as a fiddle!¡±

    ¡°Can you lie down?¡±

    She said as she tried to help him lie on the ground, but the muscles on his back were clenched and didn¡¯t allow such movements.

    Meanwhile Ryu and Sera were doing their chores swiftly.

    ¡°Why are you in such a hurry mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear the instructor? when we finish we¡¯re supposed to help Shortie and the other girl, which means when they finish their task she¡¯ll ask them to stand guard. If we don¡¯t finish soon we may be left behind¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that. Do you think this is another test?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, Risa was awkwardly polite towards the girl and she¡¯s taking things seriously¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct¡±

    Risa said after walking into the barn.

    ¡°While I¡¯m not really good around people, I learned it¡¯s best to have a good rtionship with employers. If you do a good job and treat them well they may post quests requiring you specifically. This quest is low rank, but it has an unusually high reward. From what the little girl told me, losing cattle is no big deal, but the farmer is concerned about the safety of his daughter. That¡¯s why he asked for a party to investigate and lend a hand fixing the fences¡±

    ¡°Is everything alright miss Risa?¡±

    Sera asked after noticing something off in her attitude.

    ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t think so. The farmer was taking his sweet timeing back so I asked her when did he leave to look for firewood. Turns out he left this morning and hasn¡¯te back since. This quest objective has just changed, we need to find the farmer¡±

 Chapter 118

    Chapter 118: Don¡¯t waste energy, please!

    Instructor Risa did her best to make sense of this quest, but no matter how much effort she put into it, it all added up to nothing. She was respected as one of the strongest adventurers in Crent, but thinking has never been her strong suit.

    She¡¯s always been a straightforward fighter, which is why she mostly took monster subjugation quests. But rookies needed to start slow and quests that required investigation were usually less dangerous.

    People would usually post this sort of quests not only because it was cheaper, but also because more often than not the situation didn¡¯t need violence at all. A lost cow could mean lots of things after all, besides adventurers were great at solving mysteries thanks to their advanced skills. Even if the situation did require to fight beasts, adventurers were good at assessing the risk and if they were unable to kill the creatures they would rescue people or, at least, evacuate them.

    But thinking has never been Risa¡¯s strong suit. If it was, she would have asked if there was a trail of blood indicating that the cow had been killed on the spot or if it had been taken unhurt. This may not seem like a big deal for a farmer, but an adventurer would have known who was the culprit on the spot.

    Without trails of blood or footprints, most people would say there¡¯s nothing to go by, but that¡¯s a clue on its own.

    ¡°Ants!¡±

    The little girl screamed as she headed to the barn where the adventurers were taking refuge.

    .....

    ¡°Are you sure missy?¡±

    ¡°Yes! they are huge and they¡¯re all over!¡±

    Risa unsheathed her sword and both Sera and Ryu followed her example.

    ¡°Do you guys know something about ants?¡±

    ¡°No ma¡¯am¡±

    Ryu was quick to reply, they didn¡¯t have time to waste.

    ¡°They¡¯re slow as fuck, simr to scythe cicadas, there are many kinds of ants, they vary in size from tiny to bigger than a person. They¡¯re not much trouble unless you¡¯re surrounded, but that tends to happen only in dungeons. They are dumb as individuals, but in group they¡¯re incredibly cunning. In any case, don¡¯t fight anything with wings, understood?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The loud reply gave way to a crackling sound in the distance and Risa¡¯s face turned pale.

    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong¡±

    She said as she peeked out of the barn, noticing there were countless ants circling the ce, making a perimeter of about a hundred meters.

    ¡°Oh shit! we¡¯re screwed! Alright, no need for panic¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not panicking miss Risa¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking to myself¡±

    ¡°Stop messing around miss Risa, it can¡¯t be so bad¡±

    Sera said with a stiffened expression.

    ¡°It actually is. If only we had noticed them sooner... what the hell were those two doing!? How could they miss something that big!? I¡¯ll skin them alive! The only good thing is they¡¯re not attacking yet which means they know we¡¯re here but they think we haven¡¯t noticed them yet, but if we give them too much time the stronger ones will arrive. Sera, you will be acting as support, I didn¡¯t bring any spare weapon but anything you hand me will do. If someone falls to the ground you need to get them to safety. I almost forgot! if you¡¯re forced to fight, do so defensively, don¡¯t attempt to hit them, just dodge or parry, ok?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to make way for us to escape. Ryu, as soon as the way is clear I want you to take the girl with you, It would be best if you deactivate all your passive skills to regenerate stamina faster¡±

    ¡°Deactivate my skills? how do I do that?¡±

    ¡°Wait a second, you survived the curse without deactivating your skills!?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t know, maybe I did it without knowing. It¡¯s been a long time since my night vision skill stopped working¡±

    ¡°Depends on your soulbound card, I can do it with my voice but whatever, just check your soulbound card, tap each skill and deactivate them manually¡±

    Ryu put his sword back on its scabbard and took the soulbound card on his hands and a list of skills presented in front of him, he tapped the card and the list shifted to a different set of skills. There were many skills rted to his different trades, such as transmutation or cooking, and since he had been living on his own in the woods his skills were varied, but then he noticed something strange.

    Some of the skills were highlighted in yellow and others were grayed out, he could barely read them so he simply skipped them. But something caught his attention, night vision was highlighted in red.

    He tapped the skill and it went back to normal, after a few seconds without noticing any difference he did the same with the rest of the skills that were highlighted in red.

    Parry, light armor, sprint, strength boost, agility boost, regeneration, mana regeneration, spear, sword, dagger, knife, club, staff, one handed, two handed... with every skill he deactivated some of the skills that were previously highlighted in yellow went back to their usual white color and then he started noticing a change.

    He was bing less tired, more than feeling rested it was as if he was unburdened.

    Curious as he was, he decided to activate some of the skills and he tinkered with his card a little. He attempted to turn night vision on and it seemed to work, but he couldn¡¯t be sure because the sun was still high up in the sky. He tried with another one, and he left some of them on to see how did they work.

    He was having fun checking his skills, until a loud shriek shook him out of his reverie. As soon as the shriek ended, the mild crackling in the distance became louder and closer.

    ¡°Brace yourselves!¡±

    A swarm of ants entered the barn before Ryu had time to prepare and he barely had enough time to pick up the little girl before Risaunched herself forward swinging her huge sword.

    With each strike an ant dropped dead, sometimes even two at a time, it seemed as if the ants were retreating when in fact they were simply dying too fast to replenish their first line.

    Only when they managed to get outside the barn did Ryu realize how bad was the situation. The whole ce was surrounded by so many ants it looked like a ck sea, but he didn¡¯t have the time to analyze the situation.

    Instructor Risa stopped swinging her sword for a split second, allowing some of the ants to get closer and then yelled.

    ¡°sh!¡±

    A blue colored light appeared in the tip of her sword and drew a straight line in front of her that extended through the ground and cut many ants in half.

    Sera was busy trying to keep the ants from surrounding Risa, who only tried to advance as fast as possible. A loud creak was heard and both the house and the barn crumbled down like sand castles. Now they didn¡¯t even have a clue where they were headed and all they could see in the distance were ants and the only noise that could be heard besides the loud crackling was the little girl¡¯s cries.

    ¡°Damn! this things are annoying as fuck, they¡¯re weak but I can¡¯t get past them. I thought a sh would be enough to make way, but they¡¯re too many¡±

    ¡°I could try to make a run for it¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother trying, I know you¡¯re exhausted... shit, if only I didn¡¯t ask you to save your holy water forter! I never thought we would be in this situation¡±

    After a few minutes of struggling they had finally managed to get the hang of it, Sera was efficiently dying the ants that went after Risa, while the instructor circled around to keep Ryu and the girl safe.

    ¡°This is what I was talking about, when things get to a standstill with ants it means you lost. They¡¯ll tire us out and then the stronger ants will show up and I don¡¯t think the other kids can help us.¡±

    ¡°Miss Risa, I think I can make it, please let me try¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? you¡¯re carrying the little girl, if they catch you...¡±

    Ryu¡¯s expression shifted and he looked at Risa with a determined look.

    ¡°I can do it¡±

 Chapter 119

    Chapter 119: Don¡¯t let them get into your pants, please! part

    ¡°Sera, use it¡±

    As soon as she heard this Sera lifted her arms without even putting away her jeweled dagger. Risa was too busy to notice what they were doing, but she turned her head back when she felt the hot airing from behind her.

    Sera, with a wicked smile, wasunching a me about three meters long from each palm, burning the ants to a crisp in a matter of seconds. Their hard shells were useless against the fire element that boiled them from the inside out.

    ¡°Miss Risa, use sh!¡±

    Ryu shouted, and the instructor who was supposed to be giving orders followed hismands.

    They breached the seemingly endless wall of ants with ease and walked towards the ce where Shortie and Fena were supposed to be. But, just as they were about to be set free from their countless captors, a bigger ant, the size of a person, cut their path.

    It had long mandibles, clearly not designed to bite but to cut instead. It was able to move them separately at incredible speed and Risa had to make a decision.

    .....

    ¡°Ryu, Sera, go help the other guys, I¡¯ll be fine¡±

    She said, though she knew that was not the case. Facing a single special ant wasn¡¯t that difficult, but this was a soldier ant, which meant this was a well developed nest. Ants didn¡¯t have a ranking, but that wasn¡¯t because they were too weak, rather, their strength varied so much it was always difficult to exterminate them. Besides, there was no point in hunting them because they rarely nest near people and they were easy to avoid. But the true reason was that they never leave any loot.

    It didn¡¯t matter if someone defeated the ants, unless the nest is destroyed they would keeping in great numbers to feed on the corpses. Friend or foe all the same, ants leave nothing behind, not even shells or bones.

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡±

    The rookie couple dashed forward avoiding the bigger ant and it seemed the other ants made a pathway for them to get out of the encirclement.

    Once free, Ryu looked back and he caught a glimpse of an incredible fight that was taking ce amidst the ants. Now that Risa was alone she didn¡¯t have to hold back anymore.

    Her exposed curvy body moved at a speed difficult to follow with the eyes and a wide smile appeared on her face, she was having fun.

    When they got to where Shortie and Fena were previously fixing the fence they saw a few ant corpses and Shortie lying on the ground covered in them.

    ¡°Are you ok!?¡±

    ¡°Ryu, is that you? I can¡¯t move, help me get up please¡±

    ¡°Where is Fena?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, she was fighting some ants but she got hurt and ran away to take them away from me¡±

    Ryu tried to help Shortie stand up but he was still in pain and wasn¡¯t able to.

    ¡°What happened to you? are you hurt too?¡±

    ¡°No, I pulled a muscle trying to unt in front of Fena¡±

    ¡°Are you for real!? I miss the times where the only thing I had to worry was a dude chanting embarrassing words¡±

    Ryu recalled his time with Bob and the others as he took a potion from his side pocket. Shortie gulped it down without even asking what it was. The healing potion was so effective his pain numbed immediately and he stood up right away.

    ¡°Thanks, let¡¯s go find her, I¡¯m afraid she¡¯s in trouble¡±

    ¡°Are you not mad she left you behind?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, she saved my life. At first I thought she was bluffing when she said Ants wouldn¡¯t attack me if I hid under their corpses, but it worked like a charm. Every ant that passed nearby ignored me, except for the smaller ones, they¡¯re all over me¡±

    ¡°Beats being dead, anyway... Saving this girl takes priority over rescuing Fena, you go find Kinta and Thea, I¡¯ll go rescue her¡±

    Ryu said and handed the cowering small girl to Shortie.

    ¡°She ran over there¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll find her¡±

    Ryu said and started follow the footprints left by Fena. For some reason, ants didn¡¯t leave any tracks or traces, but he didn¡¯t have the time to ponder about such matters.

    ¡°That felt so good!¡±

    Sera confessed after they took some distance from Shortie.

    ¡°What did?¡±

    ¡°Using magic to burn those bugs, did you hear the sound they made?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s... sort of cruel¡±

    ¡°I know, but I can¡¯t help it. I mean, being able to use magic but hiding it has been very hard on me. They all take us like weaklings, you don¡¯t know how many times I¡¯ve wanted to beat those who disrespect you¡±

    Wondering if Sera had always been so aggressive, Ryu just kept walking focused on the tracks. They were easy enough to follow, but something kept bothering him. If Fena was hurt, how did she manage to run this farm, how did she know how to hide from ants. She had always been a timid girl that barely spoke, she was stronger than she looked and Ryu somehow started to question himself about that. He couldn¡¯t quite point his finger at it, but his curiosity had been piqued.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, over there!¡±

    Sera called for his attention with a loud scream.

    Fena was being cornered by a group of ants, but more importantly, there was a big bearded man cowering behind her. The picture in front of them was dumbfounding, a little shy girl was in front of a man two heads taller than her defending him.

    Sera felt the temptation to chuckle, but all that Ryu could do was remember the time when Niki, Ksenia¡¯ste husband, tried to use Anne as a meatshield.

    Before Sera knew it, Ryu was no longer besides her.

    The wind ran across his face, his steps left deep footprints on the ground as he advanced taking long strides, this was his first time experiencing this speed.

    Ryu passed swiftly in between the ants so fast they couldn¡¯t even react.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    Standing in front of Fena with his sword unsheathed he asked her, but she was in a daze.

    Several ants tried to get close to them, but Ryu took care of them swinging his sword without care if it chipped or even if it broke. Just like Risa, his new instructor, he was having fun.

    Sera watched the scene from the same spot where Ryu left her, she was in awe looking at Ryu copy Risa¡¯s movements, the same Ryu that was constantly exhausted after going out for a walk, the same Ryu she tended to.

    For just an instant, she was able to catch a glimmer in his eyes causing her to tremble just as she did when he used consider to check up on her health back at Ironwoods. A feeling that could only be described as brutal shook her body and left her mind in nk.

    ¡°Thanks for your help, I found the farmer but he¡¯s in bad shape. His foot was hurt and he can¡¯t move by himself anymore¡±

    Hearing this, Ryu managed to calm down a little.

    ¡°Is my daughter ok? did you find her?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s safe now, she¡¯s with one of ourpanions¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so d, I saw there was an ant near our home and I asked her to wait for you at the road while I tried to drive it away. It nearly killed me, but thanks to this brave young girl I¡¯m still alive. Please, let me see her!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to stand up, you¡¯ll only hurt yourself even more¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s carry him back to where the rest are, as long as we¡¯re separated we can¡¯t evacuate¡±

    ¡°Wait, there¡¯s something jabbed into his thigh, perhaps if we take it out he¡¯ll be able to walk in his own after drinking a potion¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, we have limited potions and he may need more than one. Besides, he could bled in a matter of seconds, so I think it¡¯ll be better to cauterize his wound first¡±

    ¡°Uh, I didn¡¯t think of that¡±

    Fena replied, ashamed of her ipetence. But it was thanks to her efforts that the man stayed alive for so long.

 Chapter 120

    Chapter 120: Don¡¯t let them get into your pants, please! part

    ¡°ouch, oww, ahhh, AHHHH!¡±

    After walking just a few steps an intense migraine hit me. It started soft, then I heard a loud ringing sound andst, it became so painful it was impossible to bear.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, are you ok?¡±

    Sera came running to me, letting go of the man¡¯s arm she was helping to carry, thus making him drop in the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±

    A feminine voice whispered in my ear.

    I wasn¡¯t able to recognize that voice but it felt familiar.

    .....

    I swiftly grab the soulbound card on my pocket and deactivate another skill, but the pain grew even stronger.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening to me, it hurts!¡±

    I roll on the ground with a feel of helplessness.

    ¡°Perhaps he¡¯s over exhausted, he¡¯s always tired¡±

    ¡°No, that can¡¯t be it, mister Ryu was feeling better¡±

    ¡°Has this ever happened before?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, what should I do? I don¡¯t know how to help him... If only miss Helena was here she would be able to find out the cause immediately¡±

    Despite the loud ringing sound in my head, I¡¯m still able to hear them clearly.

    ¡°Ryu, can you hear me? Show me your soulbound card if you can¡±

    I hand her my card without even caring what is she able to see or not on it.

    ¡°That¡¯s it! Ryu, turn off feel presence! you¡¯re aching because you are getting too much information at the same time. Thank god you didn¡¯t turn off all the other skills or you may have gone insane¡±

    As soon as I turned off feel presence the feeling disappeared, I felt incredible, My mind was clear, my body was in top shape and I could tell I was stronger than five minutes ago.

    ¡°What? how did you know what was happening to me?¡±

    ¡°It was easy, when I looked at your card you were still gaining new skills and you were kind of unlucky to gain the feel presence skill along with so many others. It must have felt terrible¡±

    Fena looked at me with concern.

    ¡°What is so special about that skill?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, my mom has it and alwaysins about how much it hurts her head when she uses it near too many beasts¡±

    ¡°So... does that mean?¡±

    Sera opened her eyes wide.

    ¡°No, we¡¯re not surrounded or anything. Now that you mention it, I was able to tell the location of the ants, I also know where miss Risa is. You guys should take the farmer with Shortie, he¡¯s with Kinta and Thea in a safe-ish ce. I¡¯ll go help miss Risa¡±

    ¡°Understood¡±

    Sera let go of my hand, I didn¡¯t notice when exactly did she grab it, but once she let go I could appreciate howforting it was.

    I got separated for the group, I can¡¯t be sure, but while I had the skill active I could feel a faint presence in between a huge group of enemies. I hope to be wrong, but I think something happened to instructor Risa.

    It took us several minutes to get here from the spot were the farm was located, but running alone It felt like four or five times shorter.

    The trees soon disappear behind me and the clear view in front of me leaves me out of breath. The ce is carpeted with ants carcasses, some are still moving but I can tell most of them are already dead.

    What worries me is that I can¡¯t see her, and I can¡¯t remember where exactly did I feel her presence. It was so weak she must be on the verge of dying.

    I walk above the corpses of defeated ants, the cracking sounds their shells make whenever I take a step is unsettling, but as long as I can keep moving I¡¯ll be out of danger.

    Now I¡¯m closer I see that what caused the movement I saw previously were not the same giant ants that attacked us, but an infinite amount of fist sized ants and smaller. They start climbing on me, but I can shake them off pretty easily.

    ¡°Miss Risa! Are you there? please say something¡±

    The sound of so many small insects moving is just like the sound food makes when you fry it.

    ¡°Miss Risa! I¡¯m here to find you, please move or shout!¡±

    But there was no reply at all, or at least none that I could hear. I start walking faster into the middle spot of the ground covered with corpses.

    The corpse of a giant ant crumbled in front of me and countless smaller ants fell into my red cape. I try to shake them off, but they are stuck.

    Soon after I feel a stinging pain inside my boots, just behing my ankle, then on my shoulder. It¡¯s not bad, but it¡¯s really annoying. I wish I could tell exactly where is she and just set the rest on fire, but it¡¯ll be too risky to do so.

    I don¡¯t have a choice, If I want to find miss Risa I¡¯ll have to use the skill. I clench my teeth in advance and tap the skill on my soulbound card.

    It wasn¡¯t as bad as before, but it¡¯s still dibobting. My consciousness expanded showing me every single ant, every animal.

    Crap, the range is too long, I¡¯ll go nuts before finding her.

    ¡®Please, just show me my allies¡¯ I mutter to myself as I try to breath slowly to focus.

    Suddenly I was able to tell exactly where miss Risa was, she was underneath a pile of corpses.

    I quickly turn the skill off and try to run where she¡¯s located, but my foot is stuck inside an ant¡¯s skull.

    Unable to run I kick the ground leaving behind me a trail of ants that fell from my clothes, my foot is still stuck inside the ant¡¯s skull but that doesn¡¯t worry me right now. What worries me is the huge distance I was able to cover with a single jump.

    My body feelspletely different than before, but it¡¯s not a bad feeling at all.

    I can see her arm now, it¡¯s sticking out from a pile of ant corpses. It moves in sudden and stiff movements, but I don¡¯t think she¡¯s doing it on purpose.

    ¡°Miss Risa! can you hear me? everything is going to be ok!¡±

    I say as I unearth her, I try to shake the bugs from her but then I realize she¡¯s being eaten alive.

    Every tiny ant is carrying a pieces of her skin, flesh and even blood. I can only see part of her arm but it¡¯s so bad her bone is exposed.

    I try to lift her up, but her condition is so dire I feel like I could break her into pieces if I¡¯m not careful and my strength is not enough to simply move everything aside from her.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry miss Risa, please forgive me¡±

    I say as I use fire magic to cleanse the ants from her, only then her arm starts moving with her own strength, but she¡¯s iling it to avoid the pain.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I need to do this to take you with me¡±

    My eyes got teary, I really hope she can endure this. Once most of the little ants died i was able to move aside the pile of corpses around her. she had been bitten, stabbed, and burnt with acid it seems, and now I set her on fire. I really hope she can forgive me.

    I run with her on my arms, despite all she had been through she was still clinging to her sword with her arms. She was unable to use her arms after all the damage she had suffered.

    Just a few meters outside the field of corpses there¡¯s not a single ant to be found.

    I ce what¡¯s left of Risa on the ground and put my backpack next to her, I take my box with potions only to find most of them are broken or cracked. There¡¯s a single healing potion safe, and now I¡¯m really d I didn¡¯t spend it foolishly on the farmer who only had a small injury on his foot.

    There¡¯s no way to make her drink the potion, she¡¯s not conscious and the only sign of life I can see is a slight movement on her chest.

    Now, most people would have rushed to give her the potion, but I tend to think things through before doing anything. I check my soulbound card and notice my first aid skill was off, I don¡¯t have the time to thoroughly check my other skills but at least I was able to turn this one on.

    I put some of the content of the vial into my mouth and pass it on to her very slowly. I can only imagine the pain she would be feeling if she was conscious.

    I repeat the process once again, this time I was able to feel her lips. Her wounds are getting better, but without nutrients she might die if I make her drink the rest of the potion. Now I¡¯m really d I always bring rations with me, my waterskin has some fruit juice and I brought some waybread, finding out there were ants covering my rations was not surprising at all, but after casting a bit of fire magic on it, it was good as new.

    Then I pass on the rest of the healing potion on to her mouth, after swallowing the first bit she clings on to me and kisses me deeply.

    I¡¯m strong now, but she¡¯s even stronger and I can¡¯t free myself without risking hurting her. I don¡¯t even know how much health does she have left.

    Her half eaten figure was less than alluring, but I just let kiss me until satisfied. She even twisted her tongue inside my mouth a little.

    ¡°Pwhaa that felt good¡±

    She said after taking a long breath.

 Chapter 121

    Chapter 121: Don¡¯t let them get into your pants, please! part

    Of all the possible results, I never thought something like this would happen.

    After being kissed by instructor Risa I took my distance, but that only made things worse. She was lyingpletely naked in front of me, at least I could confirm she waspletely healed, but this is really inappropriate.

    ¡°Come on, miss Risa, don¡¯t joke at a time like this¡±

    ¡°What? am I not allowed to thank my savior properly?¡±

    She said as she stood up.

    ¡°A simple thanks would have sufficed¡±

    ¡°Listen, you saved my ass and now you¡¯re free to use it however you like¡±

    .....

    She said spanking her own butt. I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not tempted, but...

    ¡°I have a girlfriend!¡±

    ¡°You mean that pretty blond girl? she can join, I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°No, I have a girlfriend back at Ironwoods and she¡¯s waiting for me.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t travel so far only to get fucked, in any case, my offer still stands. Whenever you want some of this, wherever you want it and however you want it.¡±

    She winked.

    We¡¯re only a few years apart, how can she be so forward. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever be able to say something like that with a straight face.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go get the others, we need to get out of here as fast as we can. if they send reinforcements we¡¯re screwed, and not the way I like it.¡±

    ¡°Before that, miss Risa...¡±

    ¡°Just call me Risa, we already kissed and...¡±

    ¡°Fine fine! Risa, I need to ask you something. Could you please not tell anyone about Sera?¡±

    ¡°You mean the magic thing? Oh, right... well, it would be a problem if people find out about her. People gifted with magic tend to disappear. Too bad, because she would be really helpful now. If we could cremate the corpses that would deal a heavy blow to the ant colony underneath¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not a problem.¡±

    I extend my hand forward facing the corpses and the biggest me I¡¯ve produced so far started a fire. The smell of burning ants was oddly enticing and it got me hungry.

    ¡°You can do magic too!? Why did you allow everyone to think you were so weak? You even made up a weird story about a curse.¡±

    She spoke as we ran towards the forest where the others were waiting.

    ¡°It¡¯s not made up, I really am cursed¡±

    ¡°But, you¡¯re keeping my pace and speaking as if nothing¡±

    ¡°I just didn¡¯t know how to turn off my passive skills.¡±

    ¡°So, all your passives have been on ever since you were born? How are you even alive?¡±

    ¡°I wish I knew, I have no memories from my past.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re weird, but you have guts, just how I like men.¡±

    ¡°Also, can you please stop flirting all the time? I¡¯m having a hard time being far from my girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°All I heard is you were having it hard.¡±

    Thankfully, the awkward conversation that seemed tost forever stopped right before we arrived at our destination.

    I don¡¯t want Kinta and the others to see me running at this speed, so I walk instead.

    Kinta and Thea were tending to the man, Shortie was panting heavily and Sera was cleaning her dagger.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°They found us, there were a lot of ants but we killed them. It¡¯s really not our fault you guys got caught, miss Risa please believe me.¡±

    Kinta hurried to reply.

    ¡°We¡¯ll talkter, let¡¯s get moving.¡±

    ¡°Miss Risa, the farmer can¡¯t walk, he¡¯s injured and Sera refuses to spare a potion.¡±

    Thea told on Sera expecting Risa to scold her, but instead Risaplimented her.

    ¡°Good thinking Sera, it¡¯s better to carry him and save the potion for the ones who can fight, it¡¯s not over yet.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not over!? This is a nightmare!¡±

    ¡°Calm down Shortie, we just need to take a different path and we¡¯ll be fine. But we have to be careful, goblin viges are far in the west which means we may encounter wild beasts around¡±

    So, it turns out goblins are some sort of pest control. To think that instructor Lorenzo made fun of me for having difficulties against a one of them.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t we just take the same road as before?¡±

    ¡°There are two main reasons, we don¡¯t know where is the anthill located and we might fall into it. Also, what¡¯s more dangerous about ants is they mark you with some sort of substance that makes it easy for them to find you. It wouldn¡¯t be that bad, if there weren¡¯t flying ants that could reach our positions easily. They almost never leave their nest, but after suffering so much loses I¡¯m sure they¡¯lle. If we go far from the anthill they might give up.¡±

    Fena exined to Thea, who was shivering in pain.

    ¡°I have another question miss Risa, Why are you naked?¡±

    Kinta said looking the other way.

    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    She didn¡¯t even make the slightest effort to cover her body.

    ¡°Mi... I mean, Risa, please take my cape.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s too shy for my taste, but ok¡±

    Sera helped her strap the cape sideways, making it look like a nice skintight leather dress, it actually covered her more than her usual clothes.

    ¡°We can¡¯t go into the forest! it¡¯s too dangerous! We made it out alive, but there¡¯s no telling what could happen if we venture into the forest.¡±

    The farmer shouted.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to go if you don¡¯t want to. As far as I¡¯m concerned we aplished the mission sessfully. You should be grateful we¡¯re escorting you for free.¡±

    And that was all it took for him to fall silent. He did lose everything he had, he called the adventurers for a simple investigation and by the end of the day he was homeless and poor as a sewer rat.

    Venturing through the forest I realized how close we were to dying. If even Risa was defeated, there was no hope for us.

    Even using magic, we would tire eventually and that¡¯s all it takes for a person to be food.

    This is a harsh world, the minute I be stronger, something else arises.

    I remember when I got my first level in cold resistance, everyone was cold but me, but when we reached Ironwoods it was just the usual weather for them.

    ¡°Are you ok mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I am, Sera, why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s not my ce but... did you do it?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°With miss Risa¡±

    ¡°Of course not! It was the ants, they ate her clothes and most of her actually, I don¡¯t even know how did she survive¡±

    My reply seemed to have calmed her down and we continued our way in silence. Carrying a huge man was a lot easier than I thought it would be. When it was my turn to carry him with Kinta, I grabbed him by the arms and Kinta by his legs. I had to fake getting tired a couple times or else they would suspect I became stronger.

    Now, that¡¯s not necessarily a bad thing. But there¡¯s something I¡¯ve learned, you can¡¯t stand out or people will have it against you.

    Back at Ironwoods I just cooked healthy meals using an unknown ingredient and people became crazy about it and before that, when I met those crappy heroes I now call my friends, If they knew I had a house they could have even taken it by force. Getting them to work alongside was hard.

    I wonder how Bob and Luke are doing.

    Having some time to think really is the best. I wish there was a way to go back home instantly and take a long rest.

    ¡°This is weird¡±

    Risa muttered.

    ¡°What is it miss Risa?¡±

    Thea asked with her usual suck up tone.

    ¡°There should be at least small lizards around this ce, but I can¡¯t see any. It seems someone cleared this area out¡±

    ¡°B-but that¡¯s a good thing, right?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Of course it is, or we would be having trouble right now¡±

    It felt good finally hearing good news.

    ¡°Is it possible to take a rest? my feet are hurting a little¡±

    ¡°Are you tired already? you¡¯re so weak, why are you even an adventurer. Stop dragging us down and sell pastries or something¡±

    Kinta scoffed.

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s take a breather¡±

    Risamanded.

    My feet are really sore, I could keep walking but all I need is a short rest and I¡¯ll be in top shape. Or that¡¯s what I thought until I took my boot off.

    My feet waspletely covered in ants who were festering on my very own flesh. Before even shaking them off I took a look at my health points and they were dangerously low. My face turned pale and my heart raced.

    ¡°Sera,e over please¡±

    I call her trying to remain calm. As soon as she got close I signaled her to remain silent. I showed her my feet and she gasped, but no one noticed.

    ¡°Do you have any potions left?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t, I didn¡¯t refuse to treat the farmer because I didn¡¯t want to. most of my potions are broken, the rest are cracked and filled with dead ants. Identify told me they¡¯re useless now¡±

    ¡°I think we¡¯re going to need a different method of storing medicine. Vials break up too easily, but that¡¯s something forter¡±

    ¡°Please tell me how can I help you¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try activating poison resistance and regeneration, but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s going to work. Can you... can you please hold my hand?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Sera smiled at me as she grabbed my hand tightly.

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122: Don¡¯t stay home, please! part

    It turns out, both skills together did wonders. I recovered my health points, my injuries healed instantly and my maximum health was boosted.

    Every time a person takes damage, their maximum health points raise by just a little, but since I¡¯m always careful not to get hurt because I was too weak, I gained at least ten points.

    That¡¯s not too much for adventurer standards, but for me it¡¯s a huge boost.

    The rest of the walk to Crent was actually pretty quiet and we got back at the adventurer¡¯s guild without issue. Risa ran to the tavern to grab something to eat, she did invite me but I excused myself iming I wasn¡¯t hungry.

    That was a lie, of course, but I don¡¯t want things to get awkward with my instructor. Especially after kissing her and seeing her naked.

    Sera and I headed straight home, dead tired, covered in sweat and beast blood. Walking the town at night was aplete new experience. The streets were deserted and mostmps were out, so it was quite dark.

    Sera took the chance to grab my arm, the softness pressing on my arm was soothing and I didn¡¯t mind it at all.

    .....

    The door was locked, of course, and while I was trying to find the key in the dark a couple of guards came to us.

    ¡°Name yourself¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Ryu, I live here¡±

    ¡°This is Mia¡¯s shop¡±

    ¡°Well, not anymore...¡±

    I said as I unlocked the door with my key, making the small bell on top of the door ring. A loud banging noise was heard and a huge dog, almost my size, came to greet me with its tail wagging.

    ¡°It¡¯s a beast! sound the rm!¡±

    ¡°Stop, please, that¡¯s my guard dog!¡±

    The guards were scared of the amarok who came to greet his master. I, on the other hand, instead of scared waspletely bbergasted. When did it grow so much?

    Seeing it wasn¡¯t attacking me they left the ce without so much as a goodbye, but I didn¡¯t mind. Next came Mochi running with its fluffy tails stiffened, all three of them... wait, didn¡¯t Mochi just have two tails? it looks bigger too.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, what happened to them?¡±

    At that moment, a shriek was hearding from the second floor where amp had been turned on letting the light pass through the stairs into the hallway.

    I quickly ran to Mia¡¯s room and there she was sitting on her bed, with themp on her nightstand on. She had both hands on top of her head and looked agitated. Her naked breasts heaved energetically as she breathed.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok Mia, it¡¯s me!¡±

    Seeing me, she covered her ample bosom with both hands, revealing two small bumps on her head.

    ¡°Master! what¡¯s wrong with me?¡±

    Sera handed Mia a nightgown with a disgruntled expression.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to work at the shop anymore, which means you¡¯ll be even more useless now¡±

    Sera sneered

    ¡°No way, why did this have to happen to me?¡±

    Mia cried inconsbly and she couldn¡¯t stop touching her incipient horns.

    ¡°Mia, I promise I¡¯ll try to find a solution, but right now I just need to take a bath, eat something and sleep¡±

    I said as I headed to the door, but the sight of her pitiful appearance and sorrowful eyes got the best of me and I walked back.

    ¡°Sera, go ahead and sleep, I¡¯ll take care of her¡±

    Sera, who waspletely exhausted, didn¡¯t even hesitate and just walked to her room.

    ¡°Master, I¡¯m sorry, I really am. I¡¯ve only caused you trouble and now...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not your fault you¡¯re different¡±

    I rubbed her back while contemting my life choices. I can¡¯t me anyone but myself that things came to this, but I can¡¯t just wash my hands and forsake her. She¡¯s been working hard everyday, and now I got to know her better, she¡¯s actually a kind girl.

    I sat next to her, holding the sobbing mess in my arms, and without even noticing I fell asleep.

    That night I had a lucid dream, it was amazing. It was like reliving the good times with Rina at the tavern, back at Ironwoods, and it felt so real.

    The soft feeling of her skin, her warmth, I could even feel her breath close to my face.

    We were at her room, it was freezing but we somehow managed to stay warm with our bodies. I went to sleep inside my dream, in the exact same way I used to sleep with Rina, which was holding her from behind.

    At the same time I went to sleep inside my dream, I woke up in real life. There was something strange though, because I could swear I was feeling the exact same thing as before. As I opened my eyes, everything became clear.

    ¡°Good morning master, did you have funst night?¡±

    Mia asked coquettishly.

    ¡°What!? please tell me we didn¡¯t do it, I was asleep!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a subus, you know? we¡¯re supposed to have power inside people¡¯s dreams¡±

    ¡°you¡¯re oddly cheerful today, what happened with the sack of tears and snot I was cuddlingst night?¡±

    ¡°My horns! they disappeared!¡±

    She smiled brightly at me.

    ¡°That¡¯s great news. So, what happened?¡±

    ¡°You dragged me into your dream, I don¡¯t know how you did it, I swear it wasn¡¯t me¡±

    ¡°I just fell asleep, I was too tired to do anything¡±

    ¡°I saw everything, that girl was pretty. Is it going to be my turn now?¡±

    Mia chuckled.

    ¡°Of course not! the girl you saw was my girlfriend!¡±

    ¡°Then you should probably let me go now¡±

    This whole time I¡¯ve been massaging her breasts just like I used to do with Rina.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m really sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, I feel better than ever! and it¡¯s all thanks to you, thank you so much forforting mest night. Please stay in bed today, I¡¯ll tend to all your needs, master¡±

    Mia ran downstairs in between joyful hops and I¡¯m finally able to have some time for myself. The first thing I notice is I¡¯m still dressed with my adventurer gear and I¡¯m extremely dirty. I can¡¯t believe I slept with her in this state, she put up with it and didn¡¯t evenin.

    After cleaning myself I went back to my room where Mia was waiting for me with the breakfast ready.

    ¡°I hope everything is to your liking, ire made it so it should taste good¡±

    ¡°Uhm, ok. You can go back now Mia¡±

    ¡°I can help you get dressed, you know¡±

    I came to my room to get dressed, after taking a bath I¡¯m only covering myself with a towel and it¡¯s getting awkward really quick.

    ¡°Please go back to your room!¡±

    Breakfast was delicious, ire got a lot better at cooking this past time, she had been cooking for a long time, yet, she only got better after I taught her and now she¡¯s even better than me.

    I think her skill was falling behind because of how weak she was back at Ironwoods, that¡¯s the sole reason why her cooking wasn¡¯t that good before. It wasn¡¯t as bad as her sister, Sera, who had been starving for a long while, but the case might be somewhat simr. Sera was very weak, not only her stats were low but also her body was extremely frail and when she got better she quickly regained her constitution back and her stats grew by leaps and bounds.

    So, how do skills get better?

    With practice, learning the proper technique helps.

    Having enough energy also means the skill will work better, I already confirmed this when I used magic yesterday. Although Dn said the only way to increase one¡¯s energy is to kill anything, beasts included.

    Could this mean I got better at cooking now?

    Excited to try cooking something I went downstairs.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, you¡¯re up!¡±

    ire stopped washing the dishes and turned back to face me, she quickly dried her hands on her apron and reached the shelf.

    ¡°Today is been a month since you left Ironwoods and Rina asked me to deliver this to you today¡±

    All my excitement for cooking disappeared in an instant, because the first line of the letter said ¡®if you¡¯re reading this, I¡¯m breaking up with you¡¯.

    .....

 Chapter 123

    Chapter 123: Don¡¯t stay home, please! part

    ¡°Come on, Ryu, don¡¯t weep over spilled milk¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±

    Ryu replied in between sobs at Luke¡¯s attempt to cheer him up.

    ¡°It means, there¡¯s nothing you can do about it, so just get over it¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easy for you to say! you don¡¯t know how much I loved her¡±

    Watching the scene unfold in front of her, ire wondered if she did the right thing by showing Ryu the letter.

    As soon as he received it, his bright smile turned off immediately and his eyes reddened. He couldn¡¯t even finish reading the letter without crying. Mia reacted fast by waking up Luke, but Bob lived a few blocks away with Veronika and she didn¡¯t want to leave the shop fearing her horns may start to appear again and her subus nature could be found out.

    .....

    Luke¡¯s words didn¡¯t seem to reach Ryu in the slightest, if anything, all he said only made things even worse.

    ¡°She was my everything! I would have done anything for her!¡±

    ¡°But clearly she didn¡¯t feel the same, she dumped you over a letter, she¡¯s a coward and a bitch¡±

    Luke, the new golden boy of Crent, acimed as one of the strongest adventurers to ever join the guild received a fist to the face from the supposedly weakest adventurer in the whole kingdom. The same man who, unbeknownst to him, had be theughing stock of the whole city after Lorenzo, who wasn¡¯t his instructor anymore, spread the rumor of him almost losing to a single goblin, punched Luke so hard he didn¡¯t even have time to react.

    It didn¡¯t matter how strong he was, it didn¡¯t matter that his skillset was focused on speed and fast reflexes, Ryu¡¯s angry fist got the best of him breaking the wall and making himnd in the next roompletely unconscious.

    ¡°Mister Ryu!¡±

    Sera shouted trying to make him regain his reason, but his madness was too far gone.

    It would have been one thing to just be dumped, but the letter Rina sent to him said something that hurt him more than anything he could remember, and he had been on the verge of death many times over the past few months.

    In the letter Rina told him that if he was able to read that letter, it meant he was yet to return to Ironwoods. She understood he had his reasons, but she said life is too short to wait on people. If he failed to return over a month, without even sending notice, it meant she wasn¡¯t his priority. All of that he could understand, but what hurt him the most was when she said Rudd had confessed to her and asked Ryu to nevere back to Ironwoods, iming she would already be with her new lover.

    His heart shattered to pieces and Luke¡¯s words were like adding fire elemental stones to a campfire. Without intending to, he had reminded Ryu that Rina was already with someone else and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

    He felt wronged, because of how many opportunities hade right in front of him and he rejected them all thinking on her. He felt betrayed, because he thought of Rudd like a friend. He felt sad, because he lost his chance with Rina.

    Yet, all that paled in front of the anger that consumed him.

    Ryu would usually take head on whatever challenge was thrown at him, but knowing there was nothing he could do gave ce to the biggest burst of anger they have seen. Still not ustomed to his new body, he didn¡¯t even control his strength leaving Luke an inch from dying.

    But he was a hero after all, Luke wasn¡¯t the same petty teen that wouldin all day he didn¡¯t get a cheat nor care about him above everything else. And the reason behind that change was the same person that almost killed him.

    Despite his weakness, tiredness, suffering and the ipetence of hispanions, Ryu would always put up a good face in front of everyone. Even in front of Luke who had been mistreating him ever since they met. Ryu was to Luke what Bob was to Ryu, in other words, someone he admired.

    Of course he couldn¡¯t bring himself to say that out loud, but he¡¯s been dropping hints over here and there hoping that Ryu would understand that he was grateful towards him. He also begged Lorenzo to not nder Ryu because that would make things even more difficult for him.

    But now, more than ever, Ryu needed him. Regaining his consciousness had nothing to do with his desire to help Ryu, in simple words, heroes were actually hard to kill. But standing up in his wounded state, with less than 1% of his maximum health, and enduring the pain to walk towards the enraged Ryu was an act of friendship made possible only by sheer force of will.

    When Ryu saw him getting close his first instinct was to hit him again. Luke, who saw Ryu getting ready to strike again, showed no signs of hostility and kept walking.

    Once he was close enough to be in range of attack, Luke opened his arms and hugged Ryu. He held him and pulled Ryu towards his shoulder. Being shorter than Ryu it was a bit ufortable, but that feeling made Ryue back to his senses.

    Every part of his mind was telling him it was awkward to be embraced like that by a dude, he wanted to be alone, he wanted Luke to let him go. But there was a warmth in Luke¡¯s gesture, it was as if the bond they been trying to establish all this time had finally solidified and without words they understood each other.

    Only when Ryu had shed thest tear Luke let him go.

    ¡°Good grief, I thought you were going to propose to me¡±

    Luke mocked Ryu.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but you¡¯re not my type¡±

    That short exchange took them back to reality, where Sera and ire were fainted on the ground while Mia, Mochi and the amarok were exhausted.

    ¡°What the hell happened here?¡±

    ¡°You caused this, you let out too much energy and they couldn¡¯t endure it any longer. Don¡¯t worry, they should be fine, just try to control your killing intent next time¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t activate that skill¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not something you activate. I¡¯ve been meaning to talk to you about this. Your theory about the rtionship between energy, stamina and mana was correct, but there¡¯s more to it. Apparently, Energy can take the form of mana, stamina and health, but there¡¯s always a missing portion that people release on a constant basis.¡±

    ¡°This is helpful and all, but we shouldn¡¯t be talking about this while the girls are still on the ground¡±

    ¡°On the contrary, we should speak about this right now so if you happen to snap again you don¡¯t kill anyone¡±

    Ryu¡¯s face turned white when he noticed how hurt Luke was. Although he knew he did that to him, he couldn¡¯t remember how it happened.

    ¡°The energy you let loose is usually harmless, it¡¯s just like the smoke thates out of freshly cut wood. The only reason there is smoke is because wood can¡¯t be consumedpletely by the fire. If you don¡¯t consume your energy it simply stays close for a while before vanishing. But killing intent is different, think of it as a poisonous smoke, people nearby might be intoxicated. While it¡¯s not the fault of the energy, but the form it takes, the more energy you have the more dangerous it is¡±

    ¡°Are you implying that I have too much energy?¡±

    ¡°Fuck, if I wasn¡¯t a hero I¡¯d probably be just like them right now. You can¡¯t use the consider skill anymore, not unless you¡¯re absolutely sure you want to harm your target, also, we can¡¯t have you lose control like that again so try to get a hold of your emotions or you might actually kill someone¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry Luke, It wasn¡¯t my intention to hurt you¡±

    ¡°I know, but you¡¯re going to pay dearly for that. Tonight we¡¯re going to party all night and you¡¯re buying!¡±

    Luke sounded cheerful and excited, but his face told a different tale. His handsome features were demolished in a single blow and he was still experiencing more pain than a normal person would be able to take without passing out. But what worried him the most was the killing intent, because unlike what he had investigated and experienced before, Ryu¡¯s killing intent was visible to the naked eye.

 Chapter 124

    Chapter 124: Don¡¯t stay home, please! part

    ¡°You got me good, since when did you be so strong?¡±

    Luke massaged his jaw after drinking the healing potion Ryu gave him.

    ¡°Ever since I turned off some of my passive skills¡±

    ¡°Why would you do that? OH! so that¡¯s why you got so much energy, I see¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think I had too many passives active and they constantly consumed my energy¡±

    The two were still chatting, even after the girls regained their consciousness.

    ¡°So, where are we going tonight? you can¡¯t stay here moping all day after a break up, you need to get back to dating as soon as possible or you¡¯ll be rusty¡±

    .....

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m not in the mood really¡±

    ¡°You beat the crap out of me, you owe me this much¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go¡±

    ¡°Mister Ryu!¡±

    Sera yelled as if her life depended on it.

    ¡°What got into you?¡±

    ¡°I would like to go out with you¡±

    Sera said in a straightforward manner.

    ¡°It¡¯s not possible, tonight it will be a boys night. Let¡¯s go pick Bob up¡±

    Luke proimed, nodding with his eyes closed.

    Luke and Ryu headed downstreet, where Bob was living with Veronika. Despite knowing the location, Ryu had never been inside. That wasn¡¯t because Bob didn¡¯t want to invite him, but Ryu was always busy and the chances of meeting were few.

    The house was big and fancy, it was also well maintained. Except for cooking whenever Bob came, Veronika didn¡¯t do any chores in the house. When they first arrived they were considered somewhat wealthy, but doing high rank quests and obtaining rare materials they became rich for this town¡¯s standards.

    ¡°Hey Luke, why are you still living with us? You rent a ce like this, just like Bob¡±

    ¡°Rent? he bought the house¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°You really don¡¯t know the first thing. Remember the red cobra I killed the other day?¡±

    Ryu nodded in reply.

    ¡°How much high quality leather do you think they made with it? think of it¡¯s size! and that wasn¡¯t all, it had poison nds and huge fangs, they were all considered high ranking materials¡±

    ¡°I guess that makes sense, but I heard houses in here are pretty expensive¡±

    ¡°They are, of course, but everyone wants us to stay in this city, so they gave Bob a loan. He also got a discount because just by moving in, the price of the neighborhood rose up to the skies. Anyway, let¡¯s go inside¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to knock?¡±

    ¡°Why should we? does he ever knock when hees to the shop?¡±

    ¡°Uh, that¡¯s right¡±

    Without much trouble, Luke dodged Ryu¡¯s question. The reason he still doesn¡¯t move out of the shop is because he wants to stay close to Sera and Mia, but he couldn¡¯t say something like that to Ryu.

    ¡°Excuse me, Bob are you there?¡±

    ¡°Upstairs!¡±

    A shout was heard from the staircase, where they found a shirtless Bob polishing his armor.

    ¡°Wow, that looks neat!¡±

    ¡°Really? I would prefer a robe¡±

    Bob sighed.

    ¡°You¡¯re still trying to be a mage uh¡±

    Ryu chuckled, but when Bob saw him he immediately dropped what he was doing.

    ¡°Ryu, you look like crap! did you find out the rumors Lorenzo had been spreading?¡±

    ¡°What? no, I couldn¡¯t care less about that. Rina broke up with me¡±

    ¡°Oh man! that¡¯s terrible! I¡¯m so sorry¡±

    He went in for a hug and Ryu let him, but it wasn¡¯t over. Bob lifted him up and shook him a little.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry to hear that, it must have hurt. Here, sit down, you can tell me everything about it¡±

    Bob was never that talkative, but seeing his friend like that, the least he could offer was to hear him out. There wasn¡¯t much to say about it, it was a short letter after all, but it improved Ryu¡¯s mood.

    ¡°You¡¯re really good atforting people Bob, if you were at the shop he wouldn¡¯t haveshed out and it would have spared me a lot of pain¡±

    ¡°Did Ryu hit you?¡±

    Luke nodded.

    ¡°And, did it hurt?¡±

    ¡°It hurt like hell¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not making this up?¡±

    Luke shook his head in response.

    ¡°This is great news! it means we can all go hunt together now!¡±

    ¡°Really? really!? I¡¯m telling you he almost killed me with a punch to the face and that¡¯s what you say? Why do I even want enemies!¡±

    ¡°Ryu, can I ask you to hit me too? not on the face of course, just my hand. Here, punch me with all you got¡±

    Ryu did as Bob asked. The punch was fast, a pping sound followed by a stream of air that rattled the stuff lying around in the room was evidence of that, but Bob remained unfazed.

    ¡°Seems you got stronger than Luke¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only a thief after all, what did you expect? If I used any skills I could have beaten him up in a second¡±

    ¡°And Ryu doesn¡¯t even have a ss... judging by strength alone, he¡¯s stronger than you, but you¡¯re probably right. Skills make a huge difference. Anyways, why did youe here? you could have called me¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I was expecting Ryu tosh out at you too¡±

    Luke chuckled evilly.

    ¡°If he hit you, then you probably deserved it¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry ok, I didn¡¯t mean it¡±

    Veronika walked in and interrupted their chatting.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, I¡¯m pleased to have you around here. Will you be staying for dinner?¡±

    ¡°Hi Veronika! I¡¯m right here too!¡±

    ¡°I know, I noticed. So, mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, Luke invited me to a boys night out so...¡±

    Ryu was feeling a bit awkward, he thought maybe Veronika wouldn¡¯t allow Bob to go out since he always declined going for drinks after questing saying Veronika expected him early. But what happened was something entirely different.

    ¡°Goodness! that¡¯s great! Please take him and don¡¯t let hime back until he¡¯s passed out drunk. I¡¯ve been nagging him everyday to go out and have his share of fun, but he always says he prefers staying at home with me¡±

    Bob had a guilty expression on his face as hispanions red at him. After a short while they went out for drinks to a local tavern far away from the adventurer¡¯s guild. none of them wanted to meet people they knew, not because they were up for something nasty, but because they were tired os seeing the same faces all the time.

    As usual, Luke was the most outgoing in the group and quickly drew the attention of the people towards him. The waitress tried to flirt with Bob, but he simply shrank on his seat and kept drinking, that was one of the reasons he didn¡¯t like going out. Both heroes emanated a strong energy, reason why even people who never seen them before knew they were strong.

    Ryu¡¯s case was different, possessing so many passive skills and a curse both draining his energy, it was difficult for him to stand out. It didn¡¯t mean he was any less handsome than his friends, but in this world people focused not only in appearance and wealth, power was the most important factor. This was for many reasons, but the main reason was that newborns had a chance of inheriting their parent¡¯s stats.

    The son of a strong adventurer may be as strong as said adventurer, having a strong son could mean a bright future for the entire family. Women didn¡¯t even care if the adventurer just wanted a one night stand, as long as they had even a slight chance of bearing their child they were happy.

    In the end, most women around threw themselves at the couple of heroes and they encountered all sorts of situations, but Ryu didn¡¯t mind being left out. He had fun joking around with his friends and was happy to beforted by them.

    When Ryu opened his eyes and noticed he was back home it was alreadyte in the morning. He didn¡¯t even remember how did he got back to the shop, let alone what happened with his friends. He tried to get up, but something heavy was preventing him to move. Thinking it was the amarok, who always tried to disobediently sleep on top of the bed, he simply lifted the bed sheets over it, making Sera and Mia roll down the bed and fall.

    ¡°Ow! it hurts!¡±

    Mia rubbed her sore naked butt.

    ¡°Good morning mister Ryu¡±

    .....

    Sera climbed back to the bed and tried to kiss Ryu, but he quickly withdrew.

    ¡°What are you guys doing here?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you remember? you asked us to sleep with youst night¡±

    Mia exined innocently.

    ¡°Oh, I see, so nothing happened¡±

    Ryu sighed in relief.

    ¡°Actually...¡±

    Sera grinned mischievously.

 Chapter 125

    Chapter 125: Don¡¯t quest with strangers, please! part

    ¡°Master, please don¡¯t kill me. I¡¯ll be good I promise! It was just a joke! waaaah¡±

    Mia pouted and tried to reach for Ryu¡¯s hand as they walked into the west forest.

    ¡°For the tenth time Mia, I¡¯m not going to kill you!¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m too weak, I don¡¯t get why did you want me toe all of a sudden¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s precisely the reason why I asked you toe, this way you¡¯ll be prepared in case something happens. Besides, I don¡¯t want to go questing with miss Risa right now, things are a little awkward with her after what happenedst time¡±

    ¡°Are you sure this is not some sort of punishment because we tried to pull a joke on you?¡±

    ¡°Sera, can you please tell her something to keep her quiet?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Calm down Mia, Mister Ryu wouldn¡¯t have made you wear leather armor if he wanted to kill you. Besides we¡¯re going to gather some herbs and even you can do that¡±

    ¡°Yeah, now that Ath failed to pay what she owes me for the tonics and ran away from Crent, all we need to do is keep supplying the market and gold coins will keeping. The reason why I need to do so many quests is so I can be able to rank up and join Bob and Luke on their party¡±

    ¡°But master is strong, why can¡¯t you simply apany them?¡±

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to show my skills at the guild and I¡¯m still rank F, both of them are rank C right now and since the difference is so big we can¡¯t make a party together¡±

    They kept walking down the forest path, everyone wearing light leather armor bought at the adventurer¡¯s guild. It wasn¡¯t just any ordinary armor though, instead of the usual brown they had lively colors because they were made with the skin of different D rank beasts. The reason why Ryu spent so much money in them was because the leather obtained from a high rank beast can barely be scratched by monsters with a lower ranking. This meant that even if they met a big rat they should be safe.

    Knowing they were heading into a potentially dangerous situation Ryu prepared his party to the best his means could allow. He had several spare weapons strapped into his vest and he brought his pets along with him. This, of course, included Mia too. Thanks to the amarok pulling a handcart he didn¡¯t have to carry the herbs and materials on him, thanks to Mia he wouldn¡¯t need to do the gathering himself and he could focus solely on defense and thanks to Mochi the pushcart was a little bit heavier because he refused to get off of it and didn¡¯t help in any way.

    No matter how many times they tried to get thezy cat to walk, he would simply climb back on top of the pushcart again and they ended up giving up and just letting him do as he pleased.

    ¡°So I do all the work and master gets the rewards? doesn¡¯t seem fair to me¡±

    Miained after a few minutes of harvesting medicinal herbs.

    ¡°Seriously Mia? you¡¯re just cutting grass and you make it sound like he¡¯s forcing you to dig a moat or something¡±

    Sera red at Mia.

    ¡°But I want a reward too!¡±

    ¡°Stop distracting mister Ryu, he¡¯s standing watch, you don¡¯t know how dangerous it can get¡±

    Hearing Mia¡¯s whining andins, Ryu wondered if he made the right choice by asking her toe with them. She was way too loud in the wilderness and she could attract all sorts of predators towards them.

    ¡°My hat is too tight¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a hat, it¡¯s a helmet, or would you rather get killed instantly after being hit in the head¡±

    ¡°Would you two please be quiet!?¡±

    Losing his patience, Ryu yelled to the top of his lungs without thinking and, for a few seconds, it was as if the whole forest had became silent.

    ¡°This is bad! Dog follow me!¡±

    The big dog wasn¡¯t nearly as stupid as Sera and the rest thought, or at least he was able to follow simplemands as he promptly followed his master. The main reason why most people thought the amarok wascking on brains was because he was always sticking out his tongue and had a funny expression on its face and, despite being big for a dog, he didn¡¯t look menacing in the slightest.

    Mia, Ryu and Sera only stopped running once they got back to the city.

    ¡°That was close!¡±

    Ryu heaved a sigh of relief.

    ¡°What was it? was something following us mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Stop being so exaggerated! we were like ten minutes into the forest, even children go to y in there, look!¡±

    Mia pointed at a group of kidsing out of the forest carrying berries.

    ¡°Things are only safe until they¡¯re not, you need to take this seriously or I¡¯ll leave you home next time¡±

    Mia didn¡¯t know why, but Ryu¡¯s words made it sound like staying back at the shop was a bad thing, so she lowered her gaze and apologized.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry master, I¡¯ll work hard next time¡±

    Entering the adventurer¡¯s guild some people took notice of Ryu¡¯s unusual partyposition and mumbled among themselves. But it wasn¡¯t the presence of the weird dog, the fluffy cat or their new gear. Most eyes were staring at both girls, the light leather armor failed to cover their beauty, if anything, it only entuated their womanly attributes. The more experienced adventurers looked at Ryu with respect, thinking there must be a reason why two beautiful girls would join such a weak adventurer, be it wealth or hidden skills. While others simply envied him and wished him ill.

    Day after day, for a whole week history repeated itself. They would go gathering herbs in the morning, go back for lunch, and then head again into the forest in the evening. But despite their hard work, Ryu¡¯s and Sera¡¯s rank remained the same.

    ¡°Good afternoon miss Ebi¡±

    ¡°Hey Ryu! what can I do for you today?¡±

    Ebi replied in a cheerful tone.

    ¡°I want to know why am I not ranking up, we¡¯ve been working hard¡±

    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s impossible for you to rank up if you keep doing F rank missions. You need to perform a few higher rank quests before being able to rank up¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair, you always assign me to F rank quests!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t make the rules¡±

    She shrugged.

    ¡°How am I supposed to rank up then!?¡±

    ¡°You can either prove you¡¯ve be stronger by showing us your souldbound card or you can join a higher rank party. I heard you¡¯re loaded, why don¡¯t you try paying some adventurers? I heard many nobles to that in order to rank up¡±

    ¡°What are you saying!? mister Ryu would never do something like that!¡±

    Sera dered confidently, what she didn¡¯t know, because she was next to him and wasn¡¯t able to see his face, was his expression brightened when Ebisu said that. Her words made it impossible for him to do that without swallowing his pride.

    Disappointed, Ryu went back to the shop where ire and Taffy were currently working.

    Ryu attempted to clear his head while crafting potions. By mixing the distiller and the craftman station¡¯s properties he was able to create even more powerful medicine than before, as if that wasn¡¯t enough, now that he was able to manage his skills properly the oue of any action he performed was enhanced thanks to his passive skills.

    There were two skills he would always keep on while crafting anything, which were fast learner and calm mind. But for crafting potions, the most useful was pharmacist, which allowed him to turn potions into pills. They had a milder effect, but they were longsting and they didn¡¯t break as easily as potions. Also, instead of vials he started using copper sks to keep potions because it didn¡¯t alter their properties and was sturdier than ss.

    Ryu knew his pills would earn him a fortune in Crent if he was to put them up for sale, but they would also attract the eyes of the greedy merchant¡¯s association and he didn¡¯t want to get involved with them ever again.

    But still, thanks to his cheap and good quality potions and tonics the town was experiencing an unprecedented power boost. Less adventurers would die when out on quests because if they were to get hurt, all they had to do was to drink a potion. This also brought an unexpected consequence, which was that support adventurers were on high demand.

    Usually, a support adventurer would simply take care of packing, unpacking and hauling materials, and during battles they would hand weapons and provide cover. But now, even the weakest adventurer would be able to save the life of just anyone, by simply providing a potion when someone got hurt.

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126: Don¡¯t quest with strangers, please! part

    ¡°Hey Ryu! I¡¯ve been looking for you. Do you want to join our party?¡±

    Shortie walked into Ryu just before he got to the counter to take a quest.

    ¡°Hi Shortie, not really, I¡¯ve been trying to rank up but Ebi won¡¯t allow me to take any E rank quests¡±

    ¡°E rank quests? You could join us as support? We¡¯re going on a D rank quest!¡±

    ¡°Like someone would agree to party with me, everyone knows about my fight with a goblin. They¡¯re even calling me goblin yer behind my back¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t beat yourself up, everyone has a their ups and downs. Why don¡¯t you join us?¡±

    ¡°Who are you working with?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I- I¡¯m working with Kinta and Thea, they said I can invite you and your friends¡±

    Shortie fidgetted with his fingers.

    ¡°That guy hates my guts, I think I¡¯d rather keep on gathering herbs, thanks¡±

    Seeing Ryu turn back, Shortie quickly moved to cut his path. The contrast between their heights made it look as if a kid was talking to a grown up.

    ¡°Fena joined us too, I really think you shoulde. Come on, inviting you was my idea, it¡¯s the least I can do after you paid for my stuff back at the ck market shop. Besides I really think you¡¯ll be of help¡±

    ¡°If you put it like that...¡±

    As they headed outside Ryu was surprised to see the party leader was nowhere to be found, but Fena and Thea were already waiting for them.

    ¡°Shortie, where¡¯s Kinta?¡±

    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s waiting for us at the west gate¡±

    ¡°But we didn¡¯t sign up at the counter¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kinta¡¯s father works for the guild, he will sign us up. Kinta is excited because they allowed him to be the leader in a D rank quest¡±

    ¡°Mia, Sera, do you think it¡¯s a good idea to join them?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be of any help, but I don¡¯t mind going¡±

    Mia replied shyly, Sera simply nodded.

    ¡°We probably shouldn¡¯t keep Kinta waiting any longer. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Thea said as she turned back to guide the group.

    ¡°Is it my idea or Thea is in a good mood?¡±

    Ryu asked Shortie, intrigued by Mia¡¯s cheerful attitude. She¡¯s always been conceited towards everyone she considers below her, and that includes almost everyone.

    ¡°She¡¯s been getting really close with Kinta ever since the ant quest, if you know what I mean¡±

    Ryu didn¡¯t think much of it and simply followed Thea to the west gate, Kinta was leaning on the wall but as soon as he saw them he walked towards them.

    ¡°Hey, why did you allow him to bring his stupid dog?¡±

    The redheaded boy asked Shortie.

    ¡°Is that a problem?¡±

    ¡°Tsk! nevermind¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s too much trouble to bring my pets, I think I¡¯d rather stay in here¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a jerk, you already said you wereing. This is a difficult quest and we need all the help we can get, even if it¡¯s you.¡±

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the quest objective?¡±

    ¡°We just need to investigate the goblin vige, it¡¯s a routine quest but I¡¯ve never been there so I need someone to guide us and I¡¯ve heard you have some... experience with goblins¡±

    Kinta snickered. Embarrassed, Ryu remained silent most of the way and limited himself to walking in front to lead them through the same pathway they took with Lorenzo.

    The rookies were carrying all sorts of gear on them, from spare weapons to cooking pots, as well as heavy bags presumably filled with supplies. With every step they took an annoying sound could be heard, but after a couple hours it became like a battle drum that helped them keep the rythm while walking.

    Of all the adventurers in the party, only Ryu was supposed to have experience in the wilderness, but Fena too moved nimbly through the vegetation without leaving so much as a foot track behind her. This didn¡¯t go unnoticed by the rest, and it raised some questions about her. They didn¡¯t know much about her, she always kept to herself and was shy around people which made it difficult to talk to her. But at least she was always nice to everyone, especially to Ryu after he saved her when she was being cornered by ants.

    Despite the fact that Ryu was leading the group, Kinta was the party leader and he called the shots. They rested when he said it was time to rest, and resumed walking whenever he said so. No one really had an issue with that, the only problem was that they were losing daylight and Kinta made too many stops.

    Everytime they stopped he made sure to show his affection towards Thea in a very physical way. It got so bad that Sera was starting to lose her patience, she knew how far they were from the spot they camped thest time and if they didn¡¯t reach the cabin they madest time they would be forced to sleep in the open.

    ¡°Hey, do you think maybe you can stop moving your tongue and start moving your feet again?¡±

    Sera interrupted the couple while they were kissing.

    ¡°Oh!? is that the way to speak to your superior? Could it be that maybe you want some of this too?¡±

    He replied, still fondling Thea¡¯s chest.

    ¡°Fine, ¡®party leader¡¯ can you please focus on the quest?¡±

    She made sure to make air quotes as she said the words ¡®party leader¡¯ which angered Kinta.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t know the first things about adventurers, do you? It¡¯s always a good Idea to remain friendly with the strongest member on your party, or else he may identally fail to cover for you when the hit gets real. It¡¯s not toote, you can still give me a kiss and I may consider saving your fine ass¡±

    ¡°You talk big game, but...¡±

    ¡°Sera, calm down please, he is the party leader and we should do as he says. He was kind enough to invite us and we should be grateful. perhaps we can take this chance to cook something¡±

    ¡°Yes, mister Ryu¡±

    ¡°See? he gets it. But there¡¯s no time for cooking, we lost too much time chatting, now it¡¯s time to get on the move again¡±

    The more they walked, the denser the forest became until faint evening sunlight barely reached the grass. Realizing how easy it would be for them to lose their way Ryota started to worry and started ming Ryu for walking too slow, but he was prepared for something like that and he simply soaked some rags in oil to make torches with sticks he grabbed as he passed by.

    By the time they reached the makeshift cabin fromst time it was already dark, everyone was tired after being forced to move hurriedly through the forest with dim light. They dropped their bags inside, while Ryu and Sera made a campfire.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never been so tired in my life!¡±

    Mia pouted as she sat on the ground next to her master.

    ¡°This is nothing, we had to walk more than a week to get here¡±

    ¡°Wow! really!?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ironwoods is quite far¡±

    Mia and Sera chatted in front of the fire, Mochi jumped down from the small pushcart and curled up on mia¡¯sp.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you, but... did you say Ironwoods? Is that a town in the south?¡±

    Fena inquired.

    ¡°Yes! have you been there?¡±

    Sera asked in hopes of finding someone to talk about her beloved town, but she was quickly disappointed.

    ¡°Not really, but I heard of it. They had it rough. I heard there was an uprising, were you in there when it happened?¡±

    ¡°Of course! I was there along with mister Ryu¡±

    ¡°Why did youe to Crent?¡±

    ¡°I followed mister Ryu, wherever he goes I¡¯ll go¡±

    The crackling of the fire, the smell of cooking on the campfire and the darkness of the night, gave the homey feeling of a night in a country house.

    When it was time to turn in for the night Kinta stopped Ryu in his tracks when he tried to get into the cabin.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but you got to keep watch tonight¡±

    ¡°Ok! who¡¯s turn is it next? I need to know who I should wake up after my shift ends¡±

    ¡°What turns? you¡¯ll be keeping watch all night, after all you won¡¯t be doing any fighting, at least be helpful in some way¡±

    Kinta said as he pushed him outside with a smirk.

 Chapter 127

    Chapter 127: Don¡¯t quest with strangers, please! part

    Contrary to his own expectations, staying up all night wasn¡¯t even remotely difficult for him. If anything, he got bored, but thankfully the soulbound card didn¡¯t need any light to be seen even at night. Ryu took advantage of this to study his own skills and fidget with them a little. New skills were still showing up on his card, but most of them were grayed out which meant he wasn¡¯t able to use them because hecked the energy, even reading their names was difficult because the letters were too faint. As he flickered and tapped the card it suddenly went nk for a second and when it came back on it¡¯s disy lookedpletely different.

    It expanded in all directions and now he could see messages below different objects whenever he used analyze, there was even a numeric indicator of the distance at which an object was located and even with the night vision skill off he was still able to see the names of the objects he had analyzed previously. The physical space the card possessed was nothingpared to the new disy, which now allowed Ryu to see the full list of skills right in front of him in what seemed to be a transparent screen that didn¡¯t block his view.

    Unfortunately for him, it was time to wake up already and he needed to start making breakfast before everyone woke up as he usually did. He always brought with him a small container with assorted spices, but he preferred to use whatever he found on the way to ¡®taste¡¯ the ces he visited, turning a simple breakfast into a memorable experience.

    He chopped some vegetables he picked up the day before and ced them into a cooking pot, stir fried them with oil and added some dried meat and water. Since the dried meat already had salt, he didn¡¯t need to add any, but he still tasted the broth to see if it was sufficient.

    The taste was a bit diluted because it wasn¡¯t ready yet and the vegetables still needed to release their vour, but it tasted just fine.

    As usual, whenever he cooked, his pets were drawn to him, and just as always, he refused to give them anything.

    ¡°You already have your croquettes, you don¡¯t see me eating your food, do you?¡±

    .....

    The amarok¡¯s energic tail, fell limp after hearing his master¡¯s words. But Mochi was presistant on getting some. Ryu took a spoonful with theddle and offered Mochi a small piece of leek with his hand.

    The purring cat drew closer to smell it, but instead of the tasty meat he so desired, it was grass! The cat opened his mouth, just a little, and a funny expression of disgust was formed on his face making Ryu chuckle at the sight.

    Mia woke up before anyone else with an unusual bitter mood which made Ryu think it was because she had been deprived of her daily health potion the day before, but the truth was something entirely different.

    ¡°Don¡¯t ever make me sleep next to another guy¡±

    ¡°What got into you Mia?¡±

    ¡°I was in the weirdest, dirtiest, dumbest dream ever. What do you think got into me?¡±

    ¡°Would a health potion make it better?¡±

    Instead of her usual eagerness to consume her favourite food, Ryu¡¯s potions, she gagged and was about to puke. She absorbed nourishment from Kinta¡¯s dream during the night and it was so perverted and disgusting, her appetite waspletely ruined. The residual energy Kinta let escape during the night amounted to nothing but a snack, not only because her subus absorbed more nutrients from bodily fluids but also because his energy was way too low for her, and the taste was so terrible she felt sick.

    ¡°Charming him into stabbing himself would make me feel better¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s forbidden, you know if they find out about you I won¡¯t be able to protect you any longer and We wouldn¡¯t be able to go back to Crent anymore¡±

    Ryu looked at Mia straight in the eye, and she reluctantly acknowledged his orders by nodding.

    One by one everyone got up and grabbed a bowl of soup. Shortie, who had been awfully quiet most of the trip, dodged Ryu¡¯s attempts to make conversation and when Ryu questioned him about his strange behavior thinking maybe he wronged him without noticing, Shortie said he simply wanted to focus on the quest and didn¡¯t feel like chatting. That actually made sense to Ryu, since focusing on the quest was the proper thing to do.

    They broke camp soon after breakfast, but Kinta and Thea didn¡¯t bother to wash their dishes or pick up after themselves

    ¡°Are you seriously not going to help!?¡±

    Sera asked Thea in a less than friendly tone.

    ¡°Why should I get in the way of supports doing their job?¡±

    ¡°Precisely, you guys are the supports, in fact you should be carrying our bags too¡±

    Kinta threw his bag directly at Ryu, with the intention to hit him on the face, but he didn¡¯t have trouble catching it in the air.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but our pushcart is full¡±

    ¡°I knew you were stupid, but I didn¡¯t know you were this stupid! that¡¯s why you will be carrying it yourself, or you are so weak you can¡¯t even carry a small bag. Shortie, Thea Give Ryu your bags too¡±

    Shortie looked awkwardly at Kinta for a few seconds, but he lowered his gaze and handed Ryu his bag.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t have a choice¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare opening our bags, if something goes missing we¡¯ll know it was you!¡±

    Thea scoffed at Ryu, as she followed her boyfriend who was now leading the group. There was only one path and the bushes and trees on the sides prevented people from straying.

    They had to spend one more night in the forest before arriving to the ce the goblin vige is located. This time Kinta ordered Ryu, who had been walking the same as the others, to stand watch too, only this time he had Shortie apany him iming it was too dangerous.

    Again, Ryu didn¡¯t have trouble remaining awake, he was tired but drinking a tonic was enough to replenish his energy. Thanks to his second sleepless night he acquired a new skill called night owl. It didn¡¯t have a description, but he figured out pretty quickly it allowed him to remain alert at night.

    Breakfast next day wasprised of dried meat and wild berries, they were too close to the goblin vige to risk being spotted by enemies and they were known to defend their home no matter how many of them died. Even high rank adventurers would get killed if they didn¡¯t run away in time.

    Not even two hours after breaking camp thendscape in front of them changed abruptly, allowing them to see in the distance.

    ¡°Hey Kinta, is this normal?¡±

    ¡°How am I supposed to know, Ryu is our goblin expert, Hah!¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know that much about goblins, but they cut off all the trees in the vicinity. One thing I know for sure is we can¡¯t get any closer without being spotted¡±

    ¡°No shit¡±

    Kinta scoffed and set foot out of the woods. They couldn¡¯t move to the sides because they were surrounded by dense vegetation which left only forward and backwards as their only options.

    ¡°I¡¯m not failing this quest only because a simple support got scared, if you want to go back you¡¯re free to go alone but the girls stay with me¡±

    ¡°Speak for yourself, If Ryu leaves we go with him¡±

    Sera didn¡¯t take any form of disrespect towards her savior lightly and she was already tired of Kinta¡¯s constant abuse.

    ¡°If you go, I won¡¯t be signing you on to this mission and you would have wasted all this time. If Ryu leaves but you stay behind I could still think about it¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s the reason why you didn¡¯t sign us up in the counter, you scum!¡±

    ¡°If you keep talking dirty to me I may fall for you¡±

    Kinta directed his lustful gaze towards Sera, but she remainedpletely unfazed.

    ¡°The wimp is probably right, we shouldn¡¯t walk in the open¡±

    Thea tried to keep her boyfriend from getting near Sera and stood in front of him.

    ¡°Hey! I have an idea¡±

    Kinta said staring at Ryu.

 Chapter 128

    Chapter 128: Don¡¯t quest with strangers, please! part

    ¡°You should walk over there and see if the goblin Vige is nearby and report to us what you see, then we can all go back home¡±

    Kintamanded Ryu to go out in the open field and investigate by himself.

    ¡°Now you¡¯re being unreasonable. I¡¯m against walking out in the open, since you want to do it, you can go yourself¡±

    ¡°Really!? I¡¯m generous enough to invite you here and you defy my orders as party leader?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind following reasonable orders, but this is suicide. Besides you¡¯ve been saying all the time you will be the one doing all the fighting, if I go over there I¡¯ll be spoted for sure and I¡¯m too weak to fight¡±

    ¡°You want to do things the hard way, don¡¯t you? fine, now ites to this I have no choice¡±

    Kinta went behind Mia¡¯s back and put a knife to her throat.

    .....

    ¡°Do as I say or sugartits here gets a taste of this¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t possibly be serious! if they find about this in the guild they¡¯re going to kick you out!¡±

    Ryu eximed, still trying to keep a hushed voice.

    ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t worry about me, worry about yourself¡±

    ¡°But there¡¯s many witnesses here, if you kill her in cold blood you¡¯ll be branded as a criminal!¡±

    ¡°Witnesses? I don¡¯t see any¡±

    Kinta pointed towards his aplices, Shortie and Thea.

    ¡°All I see is ythings and an idiot support that just won¡¯t fall in line. If you do as I say I¡¯ll let her go and we can all go back home, I promise¡±

    Left with no choice but to do as Kinta asked, Ryu headed into the open field after asking the amarok to stay. Seeing Ryu give orders to such a dumb looking beast brought a mocking smile to Kinta¡¯s face.

    Once Ryu was far enough into the open field, Kinta grinned.

    ¡°Alright girls, drop your weapons and take your clothes off¡±

    Mia, who not only was being held hostage, but also was unable to use her charm skill because Ryu forbade her to, was left with no choice but to follow hismands. But Fena and Sera didn¡¯t want to drop their weapons and be left defenseless.

    ¡°Are you stupid? Ryu still has your supplies, what are you going to do if he loses them?¡±

    Sera sneered at Kinta.

    ¡°Supplies? why would we bring supplies when we¡¯re so close to the city. No one will starve in just a couple days¡±

    ¡°But those bags...¡±

    ¡°Oh! those bags? they were filled with stones¡±

    ¡°You scumbag! why would you do something like that to Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡±

    Kinta shoved Mia in front of him and stared at her her naked torso. Seeing him distracted, Fena took the chance to attack him from behind but a hand, solid as a wall, stopped her.

    ¡°Are you blind kid? She almost got you good¡±

    Ryota, Kinta¡¯s father, appeared in the precise moment to stop the attack.

    ¡°Hi dad, thanks for that!¡±

    Kinta said scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

    ¡°Whew! look at that Rack! now I see why you got distracted¡±

    Ryota said staring right at Mia¡¯s chest while Fena tried to get free from his hand, yet he held her without breaking a sweat.

    ¡°You heard the kid, hand over your weapons and get naked¡±

    Now that Kinta¡¯s father showed up they had no hopes of fighting for their freedom anymore, he was a C rank adventurer which put him at the same level as their instructor, Risa, and they knew they didn¡¯t stand a chance.

    Thea looked at the girls with an air of superiority as they undressed. She was always envious of the attention Sera got at the adventurer¡¯s guild, but what annoyed her the most was Sera¡¯s indiference towards even the most powerful adventurers that tried to flirt with her.

    If she was that pretty she wouldn¡¯t need to be Kinta¡¯s girlfriend and could score someone a lot more powerful, maybe someone like the guild¡¯s new golden boy. Luke had all the traits she sought after, strenght, fame, wealth, he was also very handsome! She didn¡¯t want to be and adventurer in the first ce, all she cared about was getting enough money to be able to disown herself from her troublesome family.

    ¡°Hey, you too!¡±

    Ryota pointed one of the knives his son bought at the ck market towards Thea.

    ¡°What are you saying mister Ryota? please don¡¯t joke around, I¡¯m your son¡¯s girlfriend!¡±

    ¡°This stupid bitch... Do as my father says!¡±

    Kinta pped her on the face so hard her senses were numbed and she nearly fainted. He was a rookie, but he inherited his father¡¯s stats and was trained by him ever since he was able to walk which made him even stronger than Ryota at his age. If it wasn¡¯t for the skills his father developed and his dual ss, Kinta would even be able to beat him.

    Seeing she was lying on the groundpletely defenseless, Kinta simply took her mace away and undressed her like he usually did whenever they spent the night together.

    ¡°Get up!¡±

    Ryota said kicking her after leaving herpletely naked. She was still so affected by the hit to the face she didn¡¯t even try to cover herself. She looked at Shortie, begging with her eyes for help, but he avoided her gaze. Making her realize the stupid mistake she hadmited.

    If he was able to betray even Ryu, who had been a goodpanion, why would he risk helping her. She always mistreated and looked down upon him so he had no reason at all to help her, more so, he even felt a bit of joy after seeing her being humilliated.

    ¡°You- can¡¯t- you can¡¯t do this to me, I¡¯m...¡±

    Thea waspletely helpless.

    ¡°Oh so you want another one? perhaps you want us to drag your sorry ass to our camp¡±

    Thea covered her face and tried to get up but she was too dizzy, Kinta helped her out by pulling her hair forcing her to stand up.

    ¡°I must tell you son, you really did a great job, the bitch and the shy one are so so, but the other two are going to make us a fortune!¡±

    Kinta scratched his nose, proud after beingplimented by his personal hero, the person he admired the most in the world.

    ¡°By the way, should we kill those beasts? they¡¯re Ryu¡¯s pets¡±

    ¡°Nah, look at them, they¡¯re so dumb they didn¡¯t even notice what¡¯s going on, and If we attack them the goblins will be on alert¡±

    They walked in line through the dense vegetation, contrary to Ryu, he was very familiar with the ce and didn¡¯t risk getting lost if he went far from the path. Ryota was in the lead position, while Kinta and Shortie took the rear guard.

    Kinta made sure to leave Sera right in front of him, he simply couldn¡¯t get his eyes off of Sera¡¯s buttocks and nearly tripped more than once due to being distracted, but Shortie kept his gaze directed towards the ground the whole time.

    Everyone walked in silence, except for Mia who would sometimes yelp after stepping on a branch or a pointy stone. She was the weaker among them, at least physically, and her feet really hurt with each step she took.

    ¡°Hey guys! Check out the goods my son brought with him!¡±

    Ryota said as he greeted his friends, they were ve drivers that worked in all sorts of criminal activities, ranging from stealing to assasination. There were six of them at the camp site and two more standing guard.

    Their usual method was to lure people into quests with the promise of low risk and high reward, and after stealing from them and using them however they wanted, they would sell them on the ve market.

    Some where stronger than others, but Ryota was among the strongest being one of the only two members of their group that had two sses instead of one.

    When they saw mia they started whistling and cheering in loud voices.

    ¡°She¡¯s got a pretty lewd body!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to make a fortune today!¡±

    ¡°I want to go first!¡±

    But when they saw Sera, they all gasped and fell silent in admiration. She was the most beautiful girl they had ever seen, her long blond hair cascaded down her back and a bit on her front. Her smooth skin which would be spotless if it wasn¡¯t for the scratches she made on the way to the clearing after walking through the bushes. Her skin was so smooth it made everyone think she may as well be made of porcin and her deep blue eyes left them in a daze.

    ¡°You can do what you want with the others, but you can¡¯t touch this one! She alone is worth more than all the others put together!¡±

    Ryota said, snapping everyone from their trance.

    Fena, Mia and Thea were shocked when they heard those words, they knew what would happen to them and if they didn¡¯t stand a chance when Ryota showed up, now they were as good as dead if they didn¡¯t do whatever the men in front of them wanted.

 Chapter 129

    Chapter 129: Leave no witness, I beg you! part

    There is no goblin vige here!

    I don¡¯t even know how it is supposed to look like, but there¡¯s not even traces of buildings nearby. All I see around me is tree stumps and some bushes Either they moved long ago or... there never was a goblin vige here to begin with.

    At this point, I¡¯m not even worried of being found out by goblins, Kinta didn¡¯t even know the way and he took the lead on thest part of the trip. Most likely, we¡¯re lost and he kept quiet because he¡¯s too proud to admit it.

    I hear a disturbing howl in the distance and the hairs on the back of my neck all stand up at once. The amarok came out of the forest, I bet he¡¯s trying to tell me something¡¯s wrong, but even when he was the size of a regr dog he still had the strength to break a wall, now he¡¯s grown to the size of a medium wolf I don¡¯t really think they¡¯ve been attacked.

    I start walking back, but then I notice there¡¯s no one over there.

    Did they just leave me behind?

    I bet Kinta would have loved to do so, traitorous bastard!

    .....

    It would be one thing to find blood or traces of fighting, but there¡¯s pieces of cloth scattered all over the ce. Just how bothersome can that guy be!?

    Without any clue on where they headed I can¡¯t follow them. I could try to activate sense presence but It consumes a great deal of energy, especially if it¡¯s set to a wide range, and I prefer to keep it as myst resource.

    ¡°Hey buddy, do you think you¡¯ll be able to follow their scent?¡±

    The amarok wagged it¡¯s tail furiously. I swear, if he finds them I¡¯ll finally think on a proper name for him. I drop the bags with supplies on the ground to pick up the clothing, but when the bags hit the ground one of them opened and it was filled with stones.

    It was a set up all along. They were trying to tire me out before making their move.

    After unstrapping the dog and taking the cat in my arms, I let him sniff a random piece of cloth which happened to be Sera¡¯s panties. I¡¯d probably blush if something like this happened in front of other people, but now I can¡¯t afford to worry about those kind of things.

    The amarok darted through the bushes in what seemed to be just a random direction, until I realize there¡¯s a clear path in front of me. The amarok is fast, but I somehow manage to follow his pace.

    Since Kinta already threatened Mia in front of Shortie and Thea and they didn¡¯t say a thing, it can only mean they¡¯re working together. The chances of solving this without a fight are slim to none and I need to prepare for the worst case scenario.

    After a while of running through the dense vegetation, the amarok slows down until it stops.

    ¡°What is it? did you lose their track?¡±

    He just tilts his head and sits.

    I don¡¯t know if he understood what I said or not, but he¡¯s refusing to go any further. I take this chance to tinker with my skills.

    Strength boost, Adrenaline rush, Dexterity boost, Stamina regeneration, Health regeneration, Evasion, Boldness, Stone skin, Stealth and pathfinding are among the ones I activated. Thest one is kind of like the light step skill that allowed Anne to walk without leaving foot tracks, but it also seems to allow me to move faster in obstructed terrain.

    I left all the weapon rted skills on because I found out their energy consumption was so low they never turn off by themselves, even if I activate all my passive skills at once.

    Now it¡¯s time to activate sense presence and try to find them from the distance, but then I noticed a strange message at the bottom of the disy.

    >Quest: enemies 0/12

    What!? What does that even mean!?

    There¡¯s no description, does it mean there are goblins nearby?

    I rush to activate my sence presence skill and everything starts making sense.

    I can¡¯t really tell who is who at this distance, but there¡¯s many enemies nearby. I can¡¯t see them, it¡¯s only a sensation like there¡¯s someone watching me and it gets stronger the closer I get.

    The reason why it¡¯s so different from the time I was surrounded by ants is because I learned to control it so it doesn¡¯t hurt my head. I¡¯ve been practicing a lot with it since it¡¯s so useful, and now all my hard work has paid off.

    The reason why the amarok stopped right here was because there¡¯s a guy approximately thirty meters ahead. It seems like he didn¡¯t see me so I may be able to deal with him swiftly.

    I get close enough to see him without being spotted, my sense presence tells me he¡¯s somewhere above me, which can only mean he¡¯s on top of a tree.

    It¡¯s a man wearing light clothes and he¡¯s got a single shoulderpad on the left side. I can¡¯t see any details from behind the bush I¡¯m hiding, but I try to analyze his gear to check if he¡¯s wearing some sort of neck protection.

    I need to take him out silently, which means I can¡¯t afford to knock him unconscious, I¡¯ll have to kill him in a single attack and I can¡¯t let something like when I fought the captain of Bianca¡¯s guards back at Ironwoods to happen again. That guy was wearing a leather gorget that got in the way and things got messy afterwards.

    Pants, robe, boots, shoulderpad and many concealed weapons, but no neck protection or any weapon on his hands currently.

    I climb up the tree right next to the one where the guy is. He¡¯s resting on a branch but his eyes are open. I get close enough without being noticed thanks to my stealth skill.

    I move from below, taking advantage of his position and reach towards his neck. I slide the obsidian dagger across the man¡¯s throat and blood spurts upright like a geyser. I quickly take cover to avoid getting soaked in blood and the man falls from the branch he was resting on the ground like a ripe fruit.

    >Skill acquired: assassination

    >Enemies 1/12

    I don¡¯t even have the time to check if he¡¯s still alive so I quickly stab him with my spare sword repeatedly. His face waspletely liveless, but his eyes were looking at me, no, they were empty as if they were looking right behind me.

    Uh? what is this feeling? my hands are trembling, my heart is racing and I¡¯m shaking like a leaf.

    I lose the grip on my sword and it falls to the ground, not long after I fall to my knees and start puking my guts out.

    I can¡¯t focus, the man¡¯s face is engraved in my mind and I can¡¯t think on anything else.

    Shit! I forgot to turn on calm mind!

    My hands are so shaky I can barely pick up my soulbound card, I can¡¯t activate or deactivate passive skills without tapping it but I¡¯m failing miserably and tap everywhere but where I¡¯m supposed to, after a few tries I manage to tap the right ce and then, I went back to my old self.

    It¡¯s as if I don¡¯t care about anything anymore and my only worry is to aplish my task.

    I run in the direction my sense presence skill guides me and I get near a clearing in the forest. I can see it in the distance, but I can feel many presences nearby so I stop myself from running head on into trouble.

    I turn my back to the clearing and take cover behind a bush.

    ¡°You guys take care of any weak or distracted enemy gets back into the forest, but if they¡¯re strong avoid getting caught.¡±

    I whisper to my pets crouching near them.

    As I get closer to the clearing I see Thea¡¯s naked torso facing to the ground, the rest of her body is behind a tree and I can¡¯t see it. My first instinct is to run over there and rescue her immediately, but thanks to calm mind I was able to think things through. She¡¯s most likely on Kinta¡¯s side so there must be something going on. Then I notice her strange movements, she seems to be twitching in a rythmic fashion as if she was being pushed from behind.

    Sense presence alerts me there¡¯s someone behind her and, despite not being able to see behind the tree, I quickly made sense of the situation.

    I get closer to her keeping a finger on my lips signalling her to be quiet, she¡¯s facing towards me but she¡¯s not even aware of my presence. Her expresionless face remains all the same as I turn around the tree and slide the man¡¯s throat in a single movement.

    >Enemies 2/12

    >skill acquired: Single strike

    Without emitting a sound he drops dead right on top of Thea, her pale skin became a canvas painted in crimsom.

    She¡¯spletely unresponsive, but I won¡¯t be using my consider skill on her now because it¡¯s effects can be overwhelming. Her face is covered in tears and snot, her eyes are wide open and she¡¯s not even blinking. All these are symptomps of paralysis.

    I don¡¯t feel any pity, she simply picked the wrong side and she paid the consequences.

    I¡¯ll have to be careful, one or more of them may be using some sort of poison.

    Before I¡¯m able to pull the naked corpse on top of Thea, another guy steps in and I quickly run to cover myself behind the bushes. If my fight against that goblin taught me anything is the importance of concealing yourself.

    I may not be able to do it during a battle, but as long as I¡¯m able tond the first hit I¡¯m confident I can win against twelve people, even if it¡¯s one by one. Well, after killing two of them it should be only ten.

    ¡°Hey, why are you taking so long? it¡¯s my turn already, you don¡¯t have to keep appearances! we let you first because we know you can barelyst a couple minutes hahahaha!¡±

    The man mocks hispanion, not knowing he¡¯s already dead. If he finds out I¡¯ll miss my chance and this one looks a lot tougher than the other two.

    I¡¯m in an awkard position and I won¡¯t be able to strike from behind, but at this distance I doubt he¡¯ll be able to dodge an arrow to the face. After sheathing my sword I draw my bow. I guess being a support is not so bad, It¡¯s my duty to carry many different weapons on me, too bad I left the carcaj at the pushcart and I only have a single iron tip arrow.

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m talking to you! did you fall asleep on top of that bitch?¡±

    The chunky man that looks like a warrior kicks hispanion and tips him over.

    ¡°Hey! are you ok? what happened? did the bitch do something to you?¡±

 Chapter 130

    Chapter 130: Leave no witness, I beg you! part

    It¡¯s useless, hispanion is already dead and soon he¡¯s going to join him. I shoot the arrow and it passes right through his skull before he¡¯s even able notice my presence.

    >Skill acquired piercing shot

    >Enemies 3/12

    Another one drops dead without being able to alert hispanions. The new disy is really helpful, it allows me to know whenever I gain a new skill and it also helps me to keep track of my objectives.

    I could wait in here until one or moree over, fighting like this really gave me an advantage over those guys, but I can¡¯t afford to lose my time when they could be experiencing the same thing Thea did, if not something even worse.

    I walk near the clearing and I¡¯m able to hear two of them talking.

    ¡°What are you saying you idiot? of course we got lucky! we¡¯re going to make a shit ton of money after this¡±

    .....

    ¡°Yeah, maybe, but we only get to have fun with one of them. It¡¯s a shame considering how good looking the others are¡±

    Does this mean Sera, Mia and Fena are fine? If they expect to get any gold from them, they should be fine, or at least alive.

    ¡°Dude, you¡¯re so stupid. If you want to do the subus you¡¯re free to try your luck, but everyone knows those things will drain you until you die¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but you get to die with a smile on your face¡±

    Both menughed.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, If I don¡¯t go next I¡¯ll just do the subus¡±

    ¡°Whatever, it¡¯s my turn next and I¡¯m not going to let you go before me. You¡¯ll mess her up too much and I don¡¯t feel like shagging a corpse¡±

    ¡°Come on man, we can go at the same time, she¡¯s got plenty of holes anyway¡±

    Hearing them speak like that disgusts me, I can¡¯t believe these people can talk like that without even a trace of human emotion. Or maybe that¡¯s what it means to be human, we are all wed. Everywhere I go I see nothing but selfishness, cruelty, greedyness and evil. Even in Crent, which seemed to be much friendlier than Ironwoods, it turned out they simply hide their dark side.

    There they are!

    Three girls are naked at the center of the clearing sticking together, no, they¡¯re tied up together.

    If I want to have a chance to rescue them I need them to underestimate me.

    What should I do?

    Right! they think I¡¯m weak! I¡¯ll just y dumb and bait them.

    I step out into the light with a clueless expression.

    ¡°Hey Kinta! why did you leave me behind!? wait, who are those guys!?¡±

    The two men that were discussing just before pointed their bows at me and were about to shoot, but Ryota stopped them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother wasting your arrows, he¡¯s the weak ass guy I told you about¡±

    ¡°Should we kill him?¡±

    ¡°No, they want him alive, why else would I let that trash live for so long?¡±

    Kinta said in a conceited manner.

    Did someone ce a bounty on me or something? it seems I¡¯ll have to keep Kinta alive, at least until I get my answers. I try to run doing my best impression of a scared rookie. Thanks to my recently developed power I could easily outrun them, but I let them catch me anyway.

    ¡°No! please let me go, I didn¡¯t see anything!¡±

    I say struggling without using much force, trying to get them to stay as close to me as possible.

    ¡°Ah Ryu, you still don¡¯t figure it out? just how stupid can you be?¡±

    Kinta punches me in the stomach leaving me out of breath, but causing me little to no damage. The stone skin skill is true to its name.

    ¡°If you want gold I can....¡±

    Another punch to my stomach.

    ¡°Damn You¡¯re a lot harder than you look!¡±

    He said rubbing his knuckles and continued

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to give me your money, I want to take it myself, I¡¯ll take everything from you and that includes your girlfriends. Especially the pink haired bitch, why didn¡¯t you tell us she was a subus? you lucky bastard! you were having all the fun yourself. I want to kill you so bad¡±

    ¡°Kinta you idiot! he got past the watchmen!¡±

    Ryota shouts in the distance trying to warn his son. Now that Kinta turned to reassure his father that everything is fine, it¡¯s time to make my movement.

    The two guys holding me seem weaker than the ones I defeated before, I think the first two were thieves, the chunky one was a warrior and this two are definitely archers. Archers are fast, but not that strong and they won¡¯t stand a chance against me being this close.

    After helping Anne practice with her skills I¡¯m familiar with an archer¡¯s basic skill set, I use my strength boost to grab each of my captors. Their clothes make a leathery sound as I clench their wrists with my hands, I even heard a bone snapping like a twig. Guess strength boost is really something.

    Without any time to lose I push them to the ground. They were so confused by my sudden change in strength they couldn¡¯t even react. I don¡¯t let them go because if I did they could simply run away or attack me from each side, instead I take a small jump andnd with my knee right on both their chests using their arms to sling me, increasing the damage they took. Their rib cages cracked, but they¡¯re still alive. I take two spare knives from the straps on my side and stab them in the heart leaving the weapons stuck in there.

    >Skill acquired: dual wielding

    > Enemies 5/12

    Kinta realized his mistake just a second toote, he was running away from me but he was still too close. I pounced on him and pinned him to the ground. He tried to wiggle his way out but I was using my body weight to make it more difficult for him to move.

    ¡°HOW!? You¡¯re a fucking F rank!¡±

    He only shut up and stopped moving after I ced my obsidian knife on his neck. The edge is so sharp just a slight movement made him cut himself and blood trickled from his neck. Fortunately it was only a shallow cut, I can¡¯t use him as hostage or ask him any questions if he dies so I was being especially careful.

    ¡°Shit! he killed them! What should we do boss?¡±

    One of the three thugs next to Ryota said in despair, but he was ignored.

    ¡°Hey Kinta, wasn¡¯t he supposed to be an F ranker!? You said you already confirmed he was as weak as they said¡±

    Ryota asked in a cold voice.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, dad! help me please!¡±

    Kinta pleaded.

    ¡°Let the girls go!¡±

    ¡°Why should we? if you kill him you¡¯re dead, if you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll simply kill one of the girls, if you don¡¯t surrender by then I¡¯ll kill the next one. I just need the blonde after all¡±

    Ryota shrugged.

    I knew that, there was no chance they would let the girls go, but this allowed me to buy some time to use sense presence to locate everyone.

    ¡°SHIT! FUCKING BASTARDS¡±

    I shout to the top of my lungs in fake anger as I run back to the forest leaving them dumbfounded.

    ¡°Well, that was unexpected!¡±

    Ryota sneered.

    ¡°He¡¯s turning tail! should we follow him?¡±

    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t bother, he¡¯ll have toe back if he wants to save his precious girlfriends¡±

    That¡¯s all I was able to hear before going back into the dense forest. What they don¡¯t know, and probably won¡¯t notice until it¡¯s toote, is the reason why I shouted.

    Inside the forest, right on the other side of the clearing, there¡¯s arge number of goblins. If they attack, maybe I¡¯ll be able to take it as an opportunity to save the girls.

    After my shout I was able to sense their movements and everything indicated they were now aware of our presence. Every passing minute more and more goblins gathered near the clearing surrounding it little by little.

    Now there¡¯s only seven enemies, There¡¯s Ryota and Kinta, one guy that looks like a warrior and two that look like thieves. But there are two enemies missing.

    Unless... maybe Shortie and Thea are counted as enemies too. It didn¡¯t cross my mind because I saw Thea being abused, but even if the thugs turned against them it doesn¡¯t make them any less my enemies.

    A loud horn Interrupts my thoughts.

    ¡°It¡¯s the goblins! Run for your life!¡±

    The weakest looking thief runs to the forest right on the direction the amarok and Mochi are waiting. Then a loud scream was hearding from that direction.

    >Enemies 6/12

    Guess that leaves only a warrior, a thief and Ryota to be worried about.

    The goblins areing and I can¡¯t leave the girls behind so I step back into the clearing.

    ¡°Sera! cut the ropes!¡±

    ¡°Are you daydreaming now? how is she supposed to cut the rope without a weapon, uh!?¡±

    Ryota mocked me, but he was stunned in ce when he saw fireing out of Sera¡¯s hand.

    ¡°She¡¯s a mage! Don¡¯t let them escape we¡¯re gonna be filthy rich!¡±

    .....

    The other thief shouted, but it was toote. Mia and Sera ran towards me as fast as they could. it took Fena a few seconds to realize she was free from her bindings though. Only when she heard them announce Sera was a mage did she notice the rope had been cut.

    I ran towards the center to cut the thugs path, keeping them from harming the girls in any way.They were wary of me now and didn¡¯t attempt to attack directly.

    We finally reunited at the center of the clearing, Mia was in really bad shape, she had bruises all over her body and her face was swollen, her eyes were reddened from crying and then I noticed her horns had appeared on her head along with a thin pointy tail that was born on her back near the cys.

    ¡°Mia, are you ok!?¡±

    ¡°Masteeeer! bwaaahhhhh¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry mister Ryu, she¡¯s fine. They wanted to force her, but when they got closer her horns appeared and they freaked out. They just beat her to keep her from using charm¡±

    ¡°Sera, Mia, get behind me... I¡¯m going to fucking kill them¡±

 Chapter 131

    Chapter 131: Leave no witness, I beg you! part

    It¡¯s funny, It really is. I thought I¡¯d be scared if I ever had to fight other people but it turns out it¡¯s just the same as fighting against beasts.

    Jackals, wolves, bears, rats, it¡¯s all the same. It¡¯s kill or be killed.

    I drop my backpack on the ground and jump as high as I can towards Ryota who was standing right in front of his son. Animals always take care of their cubs and when they¡¯re protecting them is when they¡¯re more dangerous. Even a cornered beast won¡¯t fight as hard as a mother bear protecting their cubs.

    A throwing knife whistles on its way towards Kinta and Ryota deflects it with his sword, but it was never my intention to kill his son, not in such a quick fashion at least. All I needed was for Ryota to be distracted for just one second. I kick him in the face expecting to send him flying, but he blocked it with his hand in thest second and didn¡¯t budge an inch, I use the recoil to twist on the air and kick him on the back of his head forcing him to kowtow in an awkward position.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think apologizing will save your life¡±

    I say in a mocking tone, but he seemed to be too pained to be angry.

    This is Anne¡¯s fighting style, she always mixed kicks and punches along with weapon strikes making it very diffcult to parry without getting hit. Thanks to that I threw him out of bnce and I manage to sh Ryota in the shoulder with myst spare knife. Just a bit to the left and It would have been a deadly hit on the back of his neck.

    .....

    ¡°You¡¯re not half bad kid, but you¡¯re ten years too young to face me¡±

    He said even beforeposing himself.

    ¡°Bash!¡±

    Ryota yelled as he took flight from the ground and ran towards me. It happened so fast, it was like being hit by a charging bear and I couldn¡¯t avoid being sent to fly in the air andnding on my back just besides Sera.

    The amarok and Mochi both came running towards us and Sera helped me stand. At first I thought it was because they wanted to help, but they seemed to be scared. Only then do I realize we¡¯ve beenpletely surrounded. I didn¡¯t even need sense presence. Hundreds of goblins stepped outside the forest sealing all the possible exits from the clearing.

    ¡°Mister Ryu! they¡¯re everywhere!¡±

    Some were climbing on the trees, others hid in the bushes and others simply stepped into the clearing at a safe distance from us.

    Little by little our space was reduced until one of them shrieked and they stopped. Since they were smaller than humans we were able to see them making way for one of them.

    It was just a bit taller than the rest of them, his green skin was also a darker shade and he had a better quality gear, particrly a shortsword that looked like a proper wide sword in his hands and a metal shoulderpad he was using as a chest te piece. Goblins had a malicious wrinkly face which amounted to their pointy fangs made them unsightly, but this one had a distinctive feature... He had a long scar that crossed from the top of his forehead, across his eye, down to its cheek.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    I gasp in surprise. Not even the calm mind skill was enough to keep my mind focused. I could hear myself thinking, but it was as if my own thoughts weren¡¯t really mine.

    ¡°Kyakyayakyaaa!¡±

    The goblin emitted something that sounded like a mockingughter and the circle around us became even smaller.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on dad!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯smon for adventurers to wait until goblins kill beasts and then they walk in to kill them and get the spoils without risking their life...¡±

    ¡°I know that already, just tell me!¡±

    ¡°It seems they¡¯re doing the same to us¡±

    ¡°Kyakyakyaaa¡±

    The goblinughed in reply.

    ¡°No way! these things are stupid! it¡¯s impossible!¡±

    Kinta shouted, then the goblin with a scar on his face nodded at the one closest to him. The smaller one shot an arrow thatnded straight in Kinta¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°Are you ok son!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it bounced right off, it didn¡¯t even draw blood¡±

    Kinta said after running his hand across his forehead where only a small red dot could be seen.

    ¡°So they¡¯re really that weak, perhaps we could try to run away¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get confident son, they rely on numbers and we¡¯repletely surrounded, besides, there¡¯s something strange... That arrow was too fast for me to deflect it, if it had an iron tip instead of wood you¡¯d be a corpse now. If we don¡¯t y our cards right... this could be our grave¡±

    ¡°Mas-master Ryu!!! bwaaah¡±

    Mia couldn¡¯t stop crying, I looked at Sera but she seemed to be unfazed.

    ¡°Sera, are you not scared?¡±

    ¡°I am, but I have calm mind too. There¡¯s no point in crying right now¡±

    So that¡¯s how she managed to remainposed all this time. I¡¯ve always known she has aptitude for magic, this confirms it, calm mind is a mage ss skill. I didn¡¯t want to think about it but it seems I have skills from different sses, or could it be there¡¯s a basic skill set that everyone can acquire?

    ¡°Hey kid! What do you say we make a truce and fight the green ones?¡±

    Ryota says out loud in an amicable tone of voice without even looking at me.

    ¡°So you stab me the minute I turn my back on you? no thanks¡±

    ¡°Tsk! don¡¯t be stupid, there¡¯s no choice!¡±

    As if following our conversation, the slightly bigger goblin with a scar on his face seemed to finally recognize me and made a grin.

    He lifted his arm and the rest of the goblins started hitting their spears on the ground as they stomped their feet. Being the size of children, it may not seem so scary, but their huge numbers made up for their size and the ground was trembling under our feet.

    When the goblin leader put his arm down everything fell silent again. Then, just as quickly as they came to the clearing they disappeared into the forest and, because I had sense presence active I could tell they really did retreat.

    ¡°We¡¯re saved!¡±

    Kinta shouted in relief.

    ¡°It¡¯s not toote, we can still team up and get out of here alive¡±

    ¡°Dad! why are you still asking him!? he¡¯s just a weakling with a strong weapon, we can kill him and take it for ourselves. If the baron asks what happened to him we can simply im he was killed by goblins¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid! I told you before, they¡¯ll simply wait until either side wins and then they¡¯ll kill the rest¡±

    Ryota quickly reprimanded his son.

    Noticing how distracted they were I run full speed at Ryota looking for an opening, but he wasn¡¯t distracted at all. As soon as I got close he threw a bottle right in front of me. The ss shattered and a foul stench kept me from taking another step.

    >Skill aqcuired: Resistance to paralysis.

    I may have acquired a new skill but my limbs feel numb.

    I can only hope that my antidote potion works, fortunately I have a few copper vials on me.

    Every passing second the numbness spread further inside my body and my movements became like those of a marite. Unbuttoning my leather pocket was a difficult task, that¡¯s what I get for being so paranoid to think people might steal them from me.

    Now Ryota runs towards me. One second he was in front of me bare handed and the next one he was behind me with his sword unsheathed.

    A spurt of blood came out of my chest as I fell to the ground.

    This reminds me of the time miss Risa threw me to the ground and I remained still to buy time and find a solution. Only this time I took the chance to drink the medicine without being noticed.

    The sh didn¡¯t hurt me nearly as much as I thought it would, so I just drank an antidote saving myst health potions forter.

    ¡°Mister Ryu!¡±

    Sera yells, she always shouts like that when she worries about me but this time it¡¯s something entirely different.

    Ryota didn¡¯t stop after running past me, instead he ran over to Mia and stabbed her in the chest piercing through her heart.

 Chapter 132

    Chapter 132: Leave no witness, I beg you! part

    I watch inplete and utter despair as Ryota pulls out his sword from her chest and Mia falls limp to the ground with a liveless expression.

    Her beautiful pink hair stained with dirt and blood spread wide around her head. Her bruised body and reddened buttocks made a pitiful picture to behold and I¡¯m left in shock.

    It¡¯s true, she wasn¡¯t human, she was cheerful, kind, talkative, a bit annoying, but most importantly, she was pure hearted like no adult human I¡¯ve met so far.

    She was supposed to be a man hunter demon who feasts on bodily fluids, but she was so...

    ¡°Stupid...¡±

    I say out loud with a tear running down my cheek.

    She was stupid, she refused to feed on humans despite knowing she would be more powerful if she did so. It was as dumb as a vegetarian wolf, she was so against feeding on humans she even went bankrupt buying health potions to be able to sustain herself.

    .....

    When we first met I was wary of her, but thinking back she gave us all the money she had at the time, knowing full well it would mean she wouldn¡¯t be able to buy potions after she ran out.

    I feel a slight push from my back, then another from the side.

    She really loved my potions and she worked so hard to earn them.

    Another push, this time I feel something warm running down my chest, it¡¯s blood.

    The warrior, the thief and Kinta had been hitting me non stop as I watched Mia bleed out in front of Ryota who held a victorious smile on his depraved face.

    ¡°What is it? are you mad I killed your ything? why do you care she wasn¡¯t even human. But don¡¯t worry, after you¡¯re dead I¡¯ll make sure to not let the others feel lonely tonight hahaha!¡±

    After being kicked, punched and stabbed several times my legs fail to support me and I get on one knee.

    ¡°She... was... she was a better person than the lot of you!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this guy!? why isn¡¯t he dead already!?¡±

    ¡°Hurry up, use your poison!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fucking using it already!¡±

    They spoke without stopping to hit me and try to jab their knife into any unprotected spot, but they were failing miserably.

    I grab a knife that was stuck into my vest and parry an iing hit from a shortsword. The knife breaks and the sword grazes my cheek. Without even blinking I make good use of my crouching position and hit the warrior in the jaw with an uppercut taught to me by Luke.

    He alwaysined how Bob was a difficult sparring partner for him because of the difference in height, that is until he learned this move.

    The warrior fell backwards just like a tree when you chop it down.

    >Enemies 7/12

    Kinta was left speechless and took a step backwards, but the thief took a step forward instead.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to use this against a lowly F ranker like you, but you¡¯re a lot tougher than you look. Feel honored because I¡¯ll show you why they call me the crimsom dagger¡±

    I feel like mocking his obvious nickname, especially when he pulled a red dagger from his sash. But I don¡¯t have it in me anymore, not after seeing what they did to Mia.

    The thief takes a step closer swinging his dagger at me in a shing manner, leaving a red trace in the air. It looked just like the tip of a burning stick that moved fast at night.

    I try to block the attack with my forearm but the dagger cuts through my flesh like butter.

    I pick the dead warrior¡¯s sword from the ground and try to hit the thief, but he¡¯s too fast and dodges all my attacks. Even worse, everytime he parries using his dagger the sword is chipped until it bearkspletely.

    ¡°Hahaha! This is an enchanted dagger, it pierces through armor and shatters any weapon!¡±

    ¡°It does? uh...¡±

    I say as I take my bastard sword from the scabbard.

    As soon as my skin made contact with the grip an eerie ck aura starts surrounding my de, I don¡¯t know if they can even see it but it looks almost like a dark fire.

    All it takes is a swing from my arm to shatter his dagger to pieces.

    ¡°No, no fucking way, he¡¯s a fucking monster!¡±

    The thief tries to make a run for it, but he doesn¡¯t stand a chance.

    I wave my de around slowly leaving a small trace of dense ck aura in the air, it persisted in the air for a few seconds before disappearing.

    Then I swing it towards the thief puting all my strength behind it, allowing me to send a st of the dark fire in his direction. Somehow I was able to know exactly what would happen, it was as if the sword was telling me how to use its energy.

    What I didn¡¯t know was what would the thief do after noticing my iing attack in the distance. As he ran past Kinta he used him as a human shield and the st of energy made a deep cut across Kinta¡¯s body nearly cutting him in half.

    ¡°Argh! Daaad! Daaad, it hurts so much dad! save me!¡±

    Without even caring about the hostages he was holding, Ryota ran towards his son, passing right next to mepletely defenseless. Yet, I didn¡¯t move a muscle to keep him from saying his farewell to his son, which was a lot more than he deserved.

    The reason why I let him go wasn¡¯t something vain like kindness or pride, in reality, I simply remembered something after wielding my sword.

    Mia was still lying on the ground, but Sera had turned her over and ced her face onto herp. Just like myself a minute ago, she was crying her soul out in sorrow after Mia¡¯s death.

    I slowly walk towards them and kneel in front of Mia and pour a copper vial on her mouth.

    After a faint cough she quickly regains her counsciousness.

    ¡°Mas-ter, are you ok master?¡±

    ¡°Mister Ryu! you brought her back from the dead! this is a miracle!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, how are you feeling?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m *cough* I¡¯m fine, my chest hurts a little and I feel... a bit aroused¡±

    She whispered thest part blushingly.

    ¡°You horny demon!¡±

    Sera quickly let her head fall to the ground after hearing thest part.

    ¡°Ouchies! why did you do that! I was dead you know!? and I am a horned demon, not what you said!¡±

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m gonna stop you two right now. it was nothing like bringing Mia from the dead. When I grasped my sword I remembered that Mia is, in fact, not human. As a subus she¡¯s weak to anything holy and I¡¯ve heard holy water is highly umon in Crent, it was almost impossible for Ryota to have a sword soaked in holy water¡±

    ¡°Wow! master is so smart!¡±

    Mia pped her hands in quick movements making her breasts jiggle mesmerizing me for a short second. Watching her like that no one would believe she had been stabbed through the heart just a minute ago.

    ¡°You guys! how can you be so careless!? Battle is not over yet!¡±

    Fena said angrily with reddened eyes. So far I¡¯ve beenpletely ignoring her, not because I don¡¯t care about what happens to her but I thought she may feel a bit awkward talking to me naked as she was. She¡¯s so shy she even had trouble speaking to me in a day to day situation and I thought this situation was less than ideal for her.

    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to fight anymore, we can simply escape and...¡±

    >Enemies 8/12

    My thoughts get interrupted by a sudden message in the disy and a loud scream was heard at some distance behind me, it was Ryota mourning his son.

 Chapter 133

    Chapter 133: Leave no witness, I beg you! part

    ¡°How is she alive!? I¡¯m sure I stabbed her right in the heart!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to tell you anything¡±

    ¡°Please! Do the same for my son, bring him back! I¡¯ll do anything!¡±

    Ryota begged me, but I wasn¡¯t having any of it.

    ¡°Sera, Mia, take Fena, Mochi and the amarok back into the woods, Thea should be there lying in the ground, don¡¯t forget to rescue her¡±

    ¡°But mister Ryu, she betrayed us and...¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care Sera, we still need to take her back to Crent, they¡¯ll decide what sort of punishment does she deserve, right now I have something to discuss with that scumbag¡±

    .....

    I didn¡¯t know if he had the intention of threatening me or someone else in order to coerce me to help him, but I could sense it, somehow I knew he was getting ready to attack. He left me no choice but to turn to face him.

    My steps be heavy as I walk towards Ryota who was already getting closer to me, still asking me to save his already dead son.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about your son, turn back and get lost for all I care, but if you take another step...¡±

    ¡°Bash!¡±

    Ryota¡¯s skill activated, but before he could get in range I activated my consider skill and the disy showed his name and ss above his head.

    Ryota (Thief-Warrior) (Healthy)

    Blue energy envelops my whole body and a deep understanding on the enemy¡¯s status came into my mind. His bash skill did nothing but enhance the strenght of his legs and overall defence. The flow of time seemed to have slowed down and I could see Ryota¡¯s every movement until he finally came to a stop.

    His legs were trembling and a stain was formed on his pants.

    ¡°You! But you¡¯re ssless! how can you use killing intent like that!? please spare me, I won¡¯t do anything to you, I learned my lesson¡±

    Ryota pleaded, but I can¡¯t afford to let him live.

    ¡°You¡¯ve done too much harm already¡±

    I take the obsidian dagger from my sash, there¡¯s no point in making him suffer any longer. I¡¯ll simply put him down in a painless manner, just like I would to any defenseless beast.

    Once I was close enough I could see a grin form on Ryota¡¯s face and a sudden pain invades me, I¡¯ve been stabbed in the back. The wound is deep and I¡¯m having trouble breathing.

    How could I be so careless!

    It must be the thief that ran away, he must havee back to save Ryota.

    Turning around there¡¯s a boy shaking in fear, it was Shortie who fell on his butt after stabbing me.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ryu, I¡¯m sorry for everything, but you can¡¯t live. You saw everything, If they find out I helped them they¡¯ll kick me out of the guild and...¡±

    Ryota kicks me to the side as I¡¯m helpless in the ground, coughing blood.

    Much to my despair, as soon as I stand up I notice the thief dide back and now the three of them are surrounding me.

    ¡°That was a good one Shortie! how did you manage to pierce his armor?¡±

    ¡°I-I used this knife I got from the ck market¡±

    Shortie showed the thief a dagger with a weird form that resembled a snake.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a knife you idiot, it¡¯s a kris! hahaha, those wounds are really hard to treat! not bad, not bad¡±

    ¡°Crimsom you fucker, you used my boy as a fucking meatshield!¡±

    Ryota yelled, but the thief only shrugged.

    As soon as I turned my back to face one of them, he would retreat and the others would advance, forcing me to spin continuosly to keep them at a distance.

    ¡°Shortie, how could you do this to me, you bought that one with the money I gave you!¡±

    Even shouting that drained a lot of my energy.

    A blunt hit on my back sends me tumbling towards Shortie, it was Crimsom wielding Thea¡¯s mace.

    Shortie then tries to kick me in the ground but I roll over and counter with a sweep making him fall on his knees.

    ¡°Bash!¡±

    It¡¯s Ryotaing towards me at a high speed, I try to get up but then I notice there¡¯s a small jeweled dagger is embedded into my thigh, and I take Ryota¡¯s bash in full.

    Everytime I try to stand up they attack me, my health points are dangerously low.

    I¡¯m already tired and using my cursed sword could be dangerous in this state, fortunately, I still have a weapon I can use.

    I take the jeweled dagger from my thigh without caring if I bleed out, now that I have a weapon in my hands they seem to be wary again and stop their attacks.

    I try to attack one of them, but as soon as I get closer to any of them, they would simply take a few steps back. I¡¯m trapped.

    Only then I remember.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the strategy we used against the rat, eh Shortie!?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! you finally realized it! that¡¯s exactly what we¡¯re doing now, you¡¯re nothing but a rat, and you¡¯ll fall by the same strategy you taught your friend!¡±

    Ryotaughed like a maniac.

    There¡¯s Nothing I can do in this situation, at least not by myself.

    ¡°AMAROOOOOOK!¡±

    I shout the loudest I can, then... only silence.

    A few seconds passed and Ryota startedughing, only this time he was cut short before he could say a word.

    A huge dog bashed at him making him disappear from my line of sight, leaving the other two in a daze.

    I take this chance to throw the jeweled dagger towards Shortie, who falls to the ground. The thief, realizing he¡¯s now at a disadvantage throws a smoke bomb and disappears in front of my eyes.

    ¡°Find him!¡±

    The amarok growls in response and pounces onto the smoke cloud.

    ¡°Get off of me, let me go you stupid dog¡±

    I walk as fast as I can, limping due to the deep wound on my thigh, and slice the thief¡¯s throat with my obsidian dagger unceremoniously. His whole body trembles as if trying shake off his deathly fate.

    >Enemies 9/12

    >Skill acquired Camouge

    Then I walk towards Shortie, only to find him already breathing his final breath.

    >Enemies 10/12

    But Ryota... he¡¯s nowhere to be seen, only this time I was paying attention. Sense presence alerted me of someone getting close to me from behind.

    I turned back as I unsheathed my sword and shed into the air. Blood sttered everywhere and Ryota became visible again.

    ¡°No, please! I was wrong¡±

    Those were Ryota¡¯sst words.

    >Enemies 11/12

    >skill acquired: grievous wound

    I thought I was going to let out a sigh of relief, but I coughed up blood instead.

    Just when I thought everything was ok, It turns out my bleeding hasn¡¯t stopped and I don¡¯t have any more healing potions.

    At least the girls are safe.

    I have no regrets, I did the best I could with what I had at my disposal. The only reason I was caught with my guard down wasn¡¯t because I was overconfident, but because Sense presence consumes too much energy and focus. It was hard, but I won and everyone is safe.

    I fall on the hard ground as blood gushes out from my body alongside with my health points.

    Lying in the ground I hear steps in the distance.

    Thest thing I was able to see before closing my eyes was the scarred goblin¡¯s grinning face.

 Chapter 134

    134 The faithful mage (that can¡¯t cast any spells)

    The dark figure of a tall and bulky man was towering on the entrance of the bakery. The girl behind the counter felt a shiver running down her spine as the man stepped inside panting heavily.

    It was almost closing time and she wasn¡¯t supposed to be alone that day, but her co worker left early to take care of her son.

    A loud metallic sound echoed in the bakery, it was Bob who left his hammer in the ground.

    Poor Mary was scared out of her wits, her hands started shaking in fear and her teeth ttered against each other.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, you must be cold. I¡¯ll close the door right now¡±

    Bob said in a friendly manner, thinking that maybe the girl felt cold because he left the door wide open behind him. But it only made things worse, feeling trapped, the girl was about to scream bloody murder, only then she noticed Bob¡¯s glimmering eyes as he leaned on the counter.

    ¡°Oh! these look so good! Veronika¡¯s gonna love them! and this!? what¡¯s this?¡±

    Bob walked from one side to the other inside the bakery with a broad smile.

    .....

    ¡°T-that¡¯s a mirth cake¡±

    ¡°Mirth cake!? I want it! and these ones too! oh, and a loaf of breed. Whew I¡¯m so d I made it in time¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°My girlfriend asked me to bring a loaf of bread, but the quest took too long¡±

    For some reason, Bob feltfortable speaking with people behind counters. They never judged the client, the only downside was they always tried to push him to buy more stuff than he needed.

    That¡¯s how Bob met Mary, it was scary, but it soon became a good memory thanks to the friendship they built over the time.

    The first encounter with Bob usually went like that and soon people began chatting behind his back. Bob waspletely oblivious of his fearsome appearance, but the main topic of the rumours had nothing little to do with that. Instead, everyone talked about the gentle warrior who was always smiling, the same that would remember everyone¡¯s names and yet he would only speak to them when he was buying something.

    Veronika, of course, found out about these rumours, but she didn¡¯t mind at all. All she wished for was to live a peaceful life with Bob, marry him and start a family. But there was something worrying her.

    She used to be a prostitute and, as such, she had to take contraceptive medicine for years and its side effects were well known. Said medicine was actually just an infusion of a poisonous herb named Vad, it was dirt cheap because it was found nearly everywhere and was mostly considered a weed. It wasn¡¯t toxic enough to kill people, but a woman wouldn¡¯t be able to get pregnant if she consumed it regrly. Sadly, long term ingestion also caused infertility.

    It was impossible for Veronika to bear Bob¡¯s child.

    Everytime she thought about this she would cry herself dry. Bob was the most gentle, kind and pure hearted man she had ever known, while she was an old prostitute that had nothing to offer at all. She felt worthless,not only she had been with many different men and done unspeakable things, but also she would never be able to give him a son, she was poor and as if that wasn¡¯t enough she was also weak.

    Although she did everything in her power to keep her insecurtities from Bob, he eventually noticed and tried his best to make her happy again.

    Everytime he would go questing, he woulde back with gifts, flowers, pastries, anything that brought a smile to her face.

    It wasn¡¯t until she found about the rumours from Mary from the bakery, that a glimmer of hope came to her in the form of an idea. If she convinced Bob to take a second wife, they would be able to build a normal family and would finally bepletely happy.

    But Bob didn¡¯t want that, everytime Veronika brought up the idea of finding another woman, Bob would try to reassure her that he would always love her and only her.

    The more Veronika tried to push him, the more he would cling to her. The first thing he always did after finishing a quest was to go back home as soon as he got his hands on something to gift her. He ended up going to every single shop in the city and became quite popr among thedies, which made Veronika really happy.

    ¡°Oh! Veronika, just where did you find such a lovely man?¡±

    ¡°Veronika, tell Bob I got some new goods at my shop, I¡¯ll give him a nice discount¡±

    Most people where aware of their rtionship and were friendly towards Veronika, she was all Bob talked about after all.

    ¡°Say Mary, what do you think about Bob?¡±

    Veronika asked Mary after buying Bob¡¯s favourite cake.

    ¡°He¡¯s ok, I guess...¡±

    ¡°Please darling, I¡¯m asking seriously, I won¡¯t mind if you¡¯re honest¡±

    ¡°Well.... At first I thought he was scary, but then, he turned out to be so sweet¡±

    Veronika nodded in agreement, she actually thought the same when she first met him.

    ¡°Would you say you like him?¡±

    Mary was taken aback by her question.

    ¡°Miss Veronika, what are you saying all of a sudden!?¡±

    Veronika closed in and whispered in her ear

    ¡°Mary, I¡¯m looking for a fine and decent woman to be Bob¡¯s second wife¡±

    Mary¡¯s expression brightened.

    At the same moment that conversation was taking ce, Bob was dealing thest blow to a big rat at the farnds.

    ¡°Thunder bolt!¡±

    He yelled as he let his huge warhammer fall down right on the rat¡¯s skull.

    Lorenzo shook his head in resignation, it didn¡¯t matter how many times he begged Bob to not yell random words whenever he was about to hit something, he would still do it the next time.

    ¡°You¡¯ll get used soon enough¡±

    Luke ced a hand on his instructor¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to get used to this, what happens if people listen to him making a fool of himself like that?¡±

    They were on their way back to the adventurer¡¯s guild after finishing a D rank quest that should have taken them at least two days, yet they finished it in the same day they epted it. All thanks to Bob¡¯s impatience to get back home.

    He in such a hurry that when the big rat appeared in front of them, he wasn¡¯t even startled and dealt with it so fast Lorenzo wouldn¡¯t even have noticed if it wasn¡¯t for Bob¡¯s loud fake spell.

    ¡°Why does he even do that? he does know he¡¯s not a mage, right?¡±

    Luke shrugged in response and they quickly resumed their walking. After the incident with the red cobra, they made sure to always bring many supports with them. Bringing the loot back by themselves was difficult and supports didn¡¯t charge that much.

    Lorenzo¡¯s only worry was that people might start talking about Bob¡¯s weird behaviour behind his back, an adventurer¡¯s reputation meant a lot when trying to rank up and he wanted his students to rank up as fast as they could so he could get his hands on a biggerission.

    Bob said goodbye to everyone as he rushed towards the bakery as he usually did before going back home. He didn¡¯t even give hispanions a chance to invite him for a beer or something.

    Usually, whenever he went to the bakery he would be greeted by Mary¡¯s smile. But this time he found her blushing in a hot red, almost fuming.

    ¡°M-mister Bob! what are you doing here!?¡±

    ¡°Uh? Didn¡¯t you say there would be a fresh batch of mirth cake today?¡±

    ¡°Oh- I mean- I- yes!¡±

    Bob watched Mary as she stuttered, even biting her tongue, thinking maybe she wasn¡¯t feeling ok. He was disappointed when he saw there wasn¡¯t any mirth cake in the counter and Mary couldn¡¯t find the words to exin to him why there wasn¡¯t any cake without telling him that Veronika had been in the bakery just a few minutes ago to ask her if she was interested in bing Bob¡¯s second wife.

    ¡°If you¡¯re not feeling well, I¡¯ll juste back some other day then. Please take care of yourself and let me know if you need anything¡±

    Bob left the bakery in a hurry and went home with a wry smile. ¡®I couldn¡¯t get the mirth cake for dinner today, I hope Veronika doesn¡¯t think I forgot about her¡¯ He thought inwardly.

    Veronika greeted him at the door and kissed him deeply.

    There was a mirth cake and hot tea waiting for him at the table, Veronika had also prepared the bath for him but Bob, thinking he had to make up to Veronika for not being able to bring the cake, didn¡¯t even notice.

    He simply held her in his arms and carried her to bed.

 Chapter 135

    135 Luke has a drinking problem

    ¡®This tastes like piss¡¯ was Luke¡¯s impression after drinking his first beer, and in a parallel world no less!

    But seeing everyone drinking it so happily, he forced himself to drink just to avoid being look down. After living for so long in a forest with a bunch of inept people and so far from civilization, all he wanted was to impress other people.

    He had a rough start with hispanions, but he was sure he would be able to make new friends in Ironwoods.

    He tried to wash down the taste of beer with cider, but cider wasn¡¯t the sweed drink he thought it to be, it was bitter and tasteless. In short, he was awfully disappointed by the taste of alcohol.

    ¡®Why does everyone go mad about this stuff?¡¯ he couldn¡¯t wrap his head arount it.

    It wasn¡¯t until he set foot into the brothel that he finally got it.

    ¡°I want a drink¡±

    He asked a hot brte that was leaning on the bar.

    ¡°Of course handsome¡±

    .....

    The prostitute replied smoothly, it was the first time she saw him, which could only mean he came from out of town. Travellers were usually loaded and were more than eager to spend it on booze and women. She also noticed how inexperienced Luke was, he didn¡¯t stutter so at least he was able to talk to women, but he was cold and distant which could only mean he was a young boy that wanted to keep the appearance of being cool in front of others.

    Prostitutes were really good at judging the character of people, mostly because the amount of money they were able to squeeze from someone depended heavily on that. But Taffy was even better than most of them, it was a natural thing for her and it gave her an edge over the other girls at the brothel.

    She took a jar of beer to Luke¡¯s table and casually sat on Luke¡¯sp. He thought she would y hard to get, but her direct approach didn¡¯t bother him in the slightest. He simply closed his eyes and focused on the soft and warm feeling for a while.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? do you not find the beer to your liking?¡±

    ¡°Oh, of course¡±

    He drank a sip of beer, hiding his disgust for the taste behind a poker face. Taffy sighed in mock relief, it was all a y to please her customer.

    Though Luke always behaved like a big shot, he wasn¡¯t really experienced in matters of love. Anne was his first crush, then Helena, and both rejected him to pursuit Ryu.

    He wasn¡¯t used to the bitterness of alcohol, but there was something else wasn¡¯t used to and that was its disinhibiting effect.

    ¡°And that¡¯s why I¡¯m telling you, that Ryu guy is the worst! the worst!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I can see that mister Luke, he must truly be an awful person if you dislike him¡±

    ¡°Oh,e on Taffy, just call me Luke or I¡¯ll be mad¡±

    ¡°Sure thing Luke!¡±

    She squinted her eyes in an amicable smile, but on the inside she was boiling in rage. This guy got drunk after two beers and doesn¡¯t let her go. To make matters worse he doesn¡¯t stop groping her, if things continued like that he would pass out on the table and she would end up as poor as she was before she met him.

    Luckily for her, she knew exactly what to do to take him off of her.

    ¡°Luke, wouldn¡¯t you like to drink with me?¡±

    For an experienced prostitute like her, asking that was the same as admiting defeat. Not only she had to swallow her pride and ask her customer to buy her a drink instead of him begging her to drink, but that also meant she was giving up on bedding him.

    When morning came Luke found himself butt naked inside a room he didn¡¯t know. He didn¡¯t know what happened, only that he was feeling awful and his head hurt as if he had been stabbed right through the eyes.

    This was aplete new feeling for him, but much to his surprise, he didn¡¯t wake up alone. There was a beautiful brte beside him.

    From that point on he vowed to not drink until passing out, since he lost all memories about what had happened. The only proof of his lost virginity was that his purse weighed slightly less than the day before.

    Luke, being the proud and powerful hero he was, of course didn¡¯t keep his vow and got drunk on a daily basis. It got so bad he wouldn¡¯t even leave the room. He had plenty of money to spare, food, drink and as many beautiful girls as he wanted.

    One at a time, two at a time, it didn¡¯t matter. He had the looks of a prince and the stamina of a wild beast, there was no stopping him.

    The true charm of alcohol wasn¡¯t its taste, but it¡¯s disinhibiting effect.

    After his first drink he became a smooth talker, after the second he became even mor handsome and after his third he was loved and admired by everyone. All of that, of course, was nothing but an illusion created by his alcohol abuse.

    He spent his days leasurily, endulging on the sweet pleasures of flesh and berating against Ryu.

    But something good came to happen by sheer luck.

    Luke was known in the brothel for three things: his wealth, his despise for Ryu and his alcohol abuse. It got to the point that prostitutes would talk right in front of him thinking he was too drunk to remember, which was true most of the times. Yet, it only took once for him to notice what they were talking about.

    ¡°What do you think happens to the girls that can¡¯t make any money in the brothel?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? madame Bianca sells them to a city far north from here¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but... I mean, that won¡¯t happen to us right?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, at least not as long as we have him paying for our services¡±

    Two prostites talked on the bed while Luke was still awake right in between them.

    He did pass out drunk, but after so much time drinking heavily, he acquired a poison resistance skill that allowed him to recover quickly from his slumber.

    On that day, or more like night, he decided he would lower his alcohol consumption and hear all the rumours he could about what was going on in town. But it turned to be much more difficult than he initially thought.

    He always said to himself ¡®I got this, I can quit whenever I want¡¯ when in truth he was helpless. His resistance skill didn¡¯t make things better, on the contrary, it only meant he needed to drink even more to get as drunk as before bing one of the brothel¡¯s best clients.

    Money wasn¡¯t a problem for him, his carpentry skill allowed him to craft a sled in a few hours, and those were on high demand. Since Ironwoods was covered in snow for the most part of the year, sleds were a lot more useful to them than carriages, and they were cheaper too.

    Hispanions were worried about his behavior, but couldn¡¯t say much because he kept crafting sleds earning a lot of money for everyone. But Hiraku, who saw Luke almost as his own son, always nagged at him.

    At first Luke would just dismiss all of his lectures, but after finding out madame Bianca¡¯s scheme and Ironwoods dark secret, he would endure the lengthy lectures as if he was a martyr of some sorts.

    He couldn¡¯t tell Hiraku, in fact, he could tell no one about his findings until he found some evidence, but he was willing to fall rock bottom in alcohol and women to find out the truth.

    ¡°Drink, drink, drink¡±

    A woman on her twenties chanted while sitting next to Luke. He took the mug and gulped it down in a single motion earning him the cheering of the four prostitutes that were tending to him. Taffy always made sure to pick the girls that would serve Luke herself, earning her a little extraission and if things went her way, she would be able to buy herself from Bianca before the freeze.

    Life was good for everyone at the brothel, but especially for Luke who had all the admiration and attention he wanted now, he had much more money than he was able to spend and he was even able to investigate madame Bianca¡¯s wrongdoings. Things couldn¡¯t get any better for him and slowly but surely he started forgetting about Anne, Helena and more importantly, he started forgiving Ryu.

    He had always know that Ryu was a lot morepetent than the rest, he also knew he wouldn¡¯t be alive now if it wasn¡¯t for him, but he always had felt Ryu took the girls from him.

    Now that he was living ¡®his best life¡¯ he couldn¡¯t care any less about a stupid grudge like that.

 Chapter 136

    136 Heal your wounds properly, please! part Pain is often described as a negative feeling, something any sane person would try to avoid at all costs. Some would kill or even betray their loved ones only to avoid it, while others would risk their own lifes out of fear of it.

    But that didn¡¯t apply to Ryu, not in the slightest. Right now he found himself trapped inside his own mind in a nk space where nothing could be seen or felt. For him, pain was a reminder that he was still alive, that there was something he needed to do in order to survive.

    Did he identally trip over a root and lose a health point? the pain he felt that day allowed him to continue, to keep walking knowing full well he couldn¡¯t afford to stay put in a dark forest.

    What about the time he got bitten by a jackal? that pain was almost unbearable, yet, it reminded him that he needed to clean and dress the wound appropriately or he might lose a limb.

    It didn¡¯t matter if it was sickness, cold, injury, any sort of pain would keep him motivated to go on, to move forward, to fight for his life.

    Trapped inside his counsciousness he couldn¡¯t help but think he was already dead. He was fine with death now, he made peace with the idea of dying after saving everyone.

    He wasn¡¯t strong like the rest of the heroes, at least not until recently, but he always admired their will to help everyone.

    While he was able to feel sympathy for other people, he would only help those in front of him and didn¡¯t really care for the fate of strangers on far awaynds. That¡¯s why he secretly admired Luke¡¯s intention to be the hero that would save the world.

    From what exactly? nobody knew just yet.

    .....

    Then a thought invaded him, he was dead now and will never be able to find out what was the big event that was threatening mankind. This little idea made him regret dying.

    Not because he wanted to help hispanions, which he did, or because he wanted to help others, which he sort of did... but because his curiosity was insaciable. It was like an endless pit of knowledge that always drove him towards the most outrageous situations.

    He wanted to smile thinking on the time he spent the tavern¡¯s supplies experimenting on potion crafting or the time he wore a pile of fur and leather as armor to see if he gained a skill. But he had no body to control, and no face to smile.

    Then, a female voice interrupted his line of thought.

    ¡°Can you hear me?¡±

    ¡°Who are you? your voice sounds familiar¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not important now, you need to wake up!¡±

    ¡°Wake up? Am I not dead?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, you won¡¯t die so easily¡±

    ¡°Please tell me, who are you?¡±

    ¡°I promise I¡¯ll answer your questions eventually, but right now there¡¯s no time to lose. Anne needs you¡±

    ¡°Where is she?¡±

    ¡°Read thest page of your card everyday, everything will start making sense once you wake up¡±

    Ryu didn¡¯t have a body inside of his mind and neither did the female voice, so the whole conversation was held using only their thoughts.

    ¡°How can I wake up?¡±

    Ryu asked, but there was no reply, only silence. He could feel that whoever that was, was no longer inside his mind.

    ¡°Since I don¡¯t have a body I can¡¯t pinch myself, how am I supposed to wake up?¡±

    His thought was louder than he meant which made him counscious about something he had missed entirely. Though he couldn¡¯t feel the air getting inside his lungs, he could tell he was breathing.

    Without a drop of fear, Ryu held his breathing as long as he could. He didn¡¯t feel any difort and thought it wasn¡¯t even working. That was until he found himself out of breath, an urge for breathing tried to take control of his body, but he refused to breathe anymore.

    He suddenly woke up, covered in sweat and gasping for air. He tried to get up from bed, but his head hit the roof. The pain from the hit helped him wake uppletely, not long after he noticed there was no bed at all.

    He was inside a small wooden room,pletely empty and there was no one around. His torso was naked, the only piece of clothing on him were his pants and he didn¡¯t have any weapons on him.

    The situation was bad, but he calmed down after noticing someone treated his wounds. A dark green poultice covered his wounds, and he could tell his deepest wounds were stuffed with that thing, but he felt no pain at all.

    Someone knocked on the door and Ryu reflexively asnwered.

    ¡°Come in¡±

    He was expecting Sera or maybe Mia, but he was shocked to see the scarred goblin walking towards him baring his fangs. Ryu quickly drew his hands towards his sword, but it was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°Good you awake¡±

    ¡°You can speak!?¡±

    To say Ryu was shocked wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration.

    ¡°I learn¡±

    ¡°I was told every sentient creature was able to speak fluently without the need to learn, even some animals can speak¡±

    The goblin looked confused at his words and then muttered

    ¡°I learn slow, no hard words¡±

    ¡°Nevermind then. Did you save me?¡±

    ¡°The other no warriors, many fight one, one wins. you good warrior, warrior save warrior¡±

    Trying to make sense of the goblin¡¯s words, Ryu scratched his head.

    ¡°Are the girls safe?¡±

    ¡°Females? yes¡±

    ¡°Am I a prisoner?¡±

    ¡°No prisoner¡±

    ¡°Can I go see my friends?¡±

    ¡°No¡±

    ¡°But...¡±

    Before Ryu could finish, the goblin growled in a displeased manner.

    ¡°You hurt, no go¡±

    With those words, the scarred goblin stomped out of the room. Goblins were considered among the weakest beasts, even kids with sticks were able to defeat them. But this goblin was able to whithstand a fight against Ryu.

    At the time, Ryu himself thought it was because of his own weakness, but then he remembered when the goblinmanded an army and surrounded them in the clearing. This meant that this particr goblin was stronger than the rest. Somehow he felt relieved and came to the conclusion that he shouldn¡¯t be ashamed of ending his fight in a tie against him anymore.

    Now instead of worryng about his own weakness he started worrying about how strong this goblin was, and how could he escape from his captors. The goblin¡¯s words didn¡¯t do much to reassure him, even after he told Ryu that he wasn¡¯t a prisoner.

    ¡°Master Ryu! you¡¯re awake!¡±

    A crying naked Mia threw herself on top of Ryu, making him feel pain for the first time since he woke up.

    ¡°Calm down Mia, I¡¯m still recovering!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just got excited you know¡±

    ¡°How are you? did they hurt you? where¡¯s Sera?¡±

    ¡°Calm down master Ryu, Sera is fine, she went back to Crent with Fena and Thea. They¡¯ve been treating me well these past days¡±

    ¡°Days?¡±

    ¡°Yes master, you¡¯ve been sleeping for two whole days. The girls must have arrived at Crent already¡±

    ¡°Ok, ok... tell me everything... but first, can you please give me some space?¡±

    Mia was still on top of Ryu, pressing her bare chest against him and it made it difficult for Ryu to focus on a serious conversation.

    ¡°I refuse¡±

    She said brushing her body against his. The small room didn¡¯t give Ryu any chance of escaping from her.

    ¡°Mia...¡±

    Ryu frowned, but before he could continue Mia cut him short

    ¡°Please master, I¡¯m starving! Only by staying close to you can I replenish my energy, even if it¡¯s just a little. The only reason why I didn¡¯t go back with Sera is because I¡¯m hurt too and since I haven¡¯t eaten in two days I¡¯m too weak to walk such a distance you know¡±

    ¡°Fine, just tell me everything¡±

    Ryu sighed.

    ¡°Yes! When you copsed, Sera ran towards you, but before she could reach you she was surrounded by goblins. Without any weapons we werepletely defenseless, I wanted to fight, but then the scarred goblin started treating your wounds. Then they took us to their vige, it¡¯s really impressive you know!¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll know what I¡¯m talking about when you see it yourself. The goblin doctor said you would be able to walk tomorrow, you just need to eat some food and rest today¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, I¡¯m starving¡±

    Ryu¡¯s stomach was as empty as Mia¡¯s since both of them had spent thest two days without a meal.

    ¡°They¡¯re preparing something for you right now. but...¡±

    ¡°That bad uh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Sera said it was worse than Luke¡¯s cooking¡±

    .....

    An unfathomable fear struck Ryu¡¯s heart.

    He wasn¡¯t afraid of fighting for his life, of being alone in the wilderness, of sickness, as much as he was afraid of Luke¡¯s cooking. The one time he tried it, he felt his whole body was about to give up on life. He didn¡¯t get the status effect of poison, but that only meant his resist poison didn¡¯t take effect either.

    There wasn¡¯t a skill to resist Luke¡¯s cooking and If what Sera said was true, then it must mean it really is something terrible.

 Chapter 137

    137 Heal your wounds properly, please! part When Mia left the room to fetch Ryu¡¯s food he took it as a chance to check out his soulbound card. It was a good thing they didn¡¯t take it away from him ebcause it was inside his pocket.

    He skimmed through his status, then his skills, and then

    >Enemies 11/12

    Quest failed.

    A sense of regret invaded him. So far he hasn¡¯t been able toplete a single quest from his soulbound card, he didn¡¯t know where did theye from, but he was certain there must be some sort of reward afterpleting them.

    He flicked the page on the metallic looking card that acted like a remote control for his disy. Then he saw it, a message just on the bottom of thest page.

    >Heal your wounds properly, please!

    ¡°What the!?¡±

    Ryu gasped. There really was a message. His mind fell into a daze for a few seconds.

    .....

    This meant his dream wasn¡¯t really a dream, and whoever that person was she really existed. There were many questions inside his head, but one stood out above the rest. ¡®How can Imunicate with her?¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯m back, master!¡±

    Mia said as she came through the small door in the opposite wall leaving him no chance to ponder on his own matters. Since the door was so low, she had to bend down to go inside leaving her exposed breasts hanging freely and Ryu unconsciously didn¡¯t miss the chance to take a peek at her, making her giggle.

    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s not what you think!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry master, there¡¯s no need to hold back. I can only feed on aroused males, so this works on my favor you know¡±

    ¡°Does that include goblins?¡±

    Ryu asked, but Mia, noticing his intention to get rid of her she shook her head.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I really don¡¯t want to feed on anyone else other than master. It¡¯s your duty to take care of me anyways¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right... I guess¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this convenient? you can eat and I can eat too¡±

    Mia said cing the tray in front of Ryu. There was a big wooden bowl filled with a thick purple liquid which, despite being cold, was bubbling loudly. The smell reminded him of the one he felt after the ant onught.

    ¡°I can¡¯t really say anything about it until I taste it, but it does look better than Luke¡¯s cooking¡±

    Miaughed heartily at his joke and she sat in front of Ryu crossing her legs exposing almost too much of her anatomy in front of him.

    He did his best to avoid his gaze, but he really didn¡¯t want to look at the food he was about to eat and then he noticed Mia¡¯s wound on her chest killing the previous joyous mood.

    Ryu, reluctantly, took a sip of the cold soup. It was awful, but he couldn¡¯t afford to waste any source of nourishment right now.

    He tried tofort himself thinking on the poor people of Ironwoods and how they would have loved to have anything to eat, even something like this. He drank it to thest drop. There were pieces of ¡®things¡¯ that he didn¡¯t want to identify and he simply swallowed them whole.

    ¡°Wow, you finished itpletely!¡±

    ¡°Why are you so surprised? didn¡¯t Sera finish her soup too?¡±

    ¡°No, she just took a sip and imed that even the famished people from her town would rather die with dignity than drinking something like that¡±

    A sense of revulsion twirled inside Ryu¡¯s stomach, but he fought his own instinct and kept himself from vomiting.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel so good¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! What did you expect, that thing smelled hideous you know!¡±

    Mia couldn¡¯t hold herughter anymore.

    Since Ryu couldn¡¯t move, Mia spent the whole day cuddling up with him. At first he felt in heaven, being up close with a top ss beauty like Mia made his heart race and the touch of her skin was pleasant and soft. But then things started getting awkward, after a while he felt ufortable and switched his position constantly, the floor was too hard and sweat made him feel sticky, still Mia wouldn¡¯t let go of him for a second and soon enough Ryu found out the reason.

    Mia had a flushed face and, what he thought was sweat, was actually Mia¡¯s drool!

    ¡°What are you doing Mia!? your mouth is watering too much!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry master¡±

    She said blushingly

    ¡°but I¡¯m just so hungry you know! It¡¯s like having the most delicious meal right in front of you, being able to touch it, to smell it, but unable to actually eat it!¡±

    ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is you want to eat me?¡±

    Ryu forrowed his brows in disbelief.

    ¡°Not you, master, I would never harm you. But... your fluids... even if it¡¯s just a little... I haven¡¯t eaten in two days and if it¡¯s with master I think I will be fine¡±

    Mia said shyly.

    ¡°So, would it be ok if I spit in a cup or something?¡±

    ¡°How can you be so mean!¡±

    Mia pouted, her pink hair tickled Ryu¡¯s chest when she moved so suddenly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not mean, just ignorant about your race. I don¡¯t even know the reason why you don¡¯t like feeding on humans¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll understand but... whenever a subus feeds they share a bond with their meal, errr... I mean, with their master. We absorb some life force and provide pleasure in return, but that¡¯s not everything. It¡¯s a... hmmm... intimate process and I really don¡¯t want to do it with just anyone. I¡¯m a girl too you know¡±

    ¡°If I let you feed from me directly, will I lose something? when you said you feed on life force, it sounds kind of dangerous¡±

    ¡°Not at all! we¡¯re nothing like those blood suckers, we simply take the excess energy. You would lose those fluids anyway¡±

    ¡°Huff... Fine, you can feed from me¡±

    Mia took her time and caressed Ryu¡¯s chest lightly, she rubbed her body against him slowly kissing his neck. The fear of her biting him did not help him rx at all, but he simply closed his eyes and clenched his fists to let Mia feed on him. Noticing Ryu¡¯s determination, Mia started kissing his chest and his abdomen.

    ¡°Is that really necessary?¡±

    ¡°I Don¡¯t know, this is my first time after all... but the more aroused you are, the more nourishment I should be able to get¡±

    ¡°Fine, just get it over with¡±

    Ryu closed his eyes and lied on his back, Mia nodded and went in for ¡®the kill¡¯ attempting to take off Ryu¡¯s pants.

    ¡°What are you doing!?¡±

    Ryu shouted holding onto his pants for the life of his and smacking her on the back of her head.

    ¡°I was about to...¡±

    Mi pouted more frustrated than pained.

    ¡°No! that¡¯s not allowed¡±

    ¡°Then how am I supposed to feed?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s fluids you need then... then just kiss me¡±

    Mia nodded in agreement and kissed Ryu on the lips. Ryu had been holding himself back ever since he left Ironwoods and Mia was more than alluring, but he still couldn¡¯t shake Rina off his mind. The physical feeling was indeed pleasant, yet he couldn¡¯t get himself to enjoy it, instead, something in his heart kept him from feeling anything at all.

    ¡°This is not enough.... I don¡¯t know why but you don¡¯t smell so good anymore and you¡¯re tasteless¡±

    Mia said with a pitiful expression. She said she didn¡¯t know the reason, but she did.

    Ryu was not aroused in the slightest, thinking she wasn¡¯t good enough for her master really hurt her and she did her best to hold a tear that came trickling down her cheek.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s my fault... I.... can I touch you?¡±

    Ryu blushed so much he would probably shine in the dark.

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Mia took a small distance from Ryu, allowing him to look at her naked body, but he closed his eyes and caressed her thigh, his hand moved nimbly towards Mia¡¯s chest and then her neck. His nimble hand traversed her body freely, with a touch so soft it sent Mia into oblivion.

    Ryu pulled Mia closer to him and kissed her deeply. Mia couldn¡¯t even react to the sudden estimtion, his hand, his lips, she felt as if she was being covered by a warm nket of sweet pleasure that enveloped her whole body.

    She closed her eyes and let herself drown into Ryu¡¯s gentle embrace, gasping and moaning softly in between breaths. Then, the sweetest vor she had ever felt flooded her mouth and she couldn¡¯t keep herself from swallowing. She ced her hand on her neck, following the path of pleasure that went down her throat. Her hands went instinctively towards her chest and crotch area, she was going insane.

    ¡°Master, I can¡¯t hold any longer, please...¡±

    She took some distance, turned her back towards him and lowered her head to the ground, exposing her rear towards Ryu inplete submission. She wasn¡¯t asking, she was actually begging.

    ¡°I think that was enough Mia¡±

    Ryu muttered.

    ¡°Master, please!¡±

    She turned her head back at him coquettishly, only to find his master pale as a ghost, his facepletely drained of color.

    It wasn¡¯t the fluids she took, but the life force she drained that got Ryu on that state. Just a few seconds longer and he may have ended mummified.

    ¡°Oh no! I¡¯m sorry master! I¡¯m so sorry!¡±

    Ryu let out a sigh as his eyes closed, on Mia¡¯s imagination he was already dead and she threw herself on top of him to mourn the death of her master.

    .....

 Chapter 138

    138 Heal your wounds properly, please! part Ryu woke up after two more days feeling like crap, it wasn¡¯t like his usual refreshing sleep. Instead, it felt as if he had just blinked and two more days had passed.

    His stomach grumbled and Mia was nowhere to be seen, but fortunately his wound had healedpletely.

    The sight in front of him when he opened the door left him in a daze.

    It was aplex system of elevators and stairs that connected several buildings made with wood and monster parts. They were small, but looked sturdy enough to whitstand the weather and maybe fend of some predators. The room he left behind wasn¡¯t a room but an entire medium sized building located at ground level, it had no windows and it¡¯s roof was made with solid wood instead of tiles.

    Ryu¡¯s first impression was that whoever called this a vige must have been blind, it was clearly a thriving metropolis.

    There were several hundred goblins in sight and no one seemed to pay any mind to him, they didn¡¯t greet him but didn¡¯t attack him either which made him feel relieved.

    He walked through the broad street with the same face a tourist from the country would have on his face after visiting the capital from the kingdom for the first time.

    Everyone seemed to be working on something, to his right there was a fletchery, to his left a grocery shop, a little bit ahead something that looked like a warehouse.

    There was a small wolf tied to a post outside of a building, did goblins tame pets too?

    .....

    It looked like they had built a wonderful city with an amazing society and the only thing theycked was technology. Still, they were smart enough to be able to build elevators using only wood, ropes and rocks.

    He started feeling tired again and slowed his pace, mostly because he had forgotten to deactivate all the skills he had activated to fight and the ones he acquired after defeating the criminals. Thinking back on the fight his heart became heavy, he felt really bad for Shortie. Since he was younger than Ryu, he wanted to help him as much as he could because he didn¡¯t want to see him getting killed by a beast in front of him, and he ended up killing him himself.

    Only then did Ryu realize he was strolling through town like nothing when he waspletely surrounded by what other adventurers considered beasts.

    He would be wary even if this was a human town and he couldn¡¯t afford to lower his guard here either and he quickly activated sense presence.

    He feltpletely overwhelmed by the amount of creatures around him, but it onlysted for a brief second until he adjusted it¡¯s range.

    Something caught his attention in the warehouse, there were two presences he felt were somewhat familiar to him, but he didn¡¯t know who they were.

    There were goblins guarding the entrance, but when Ryu came close they didn¡¯t attempt to stop him when he tried to get inside.

    There was a blond woman who seemed to be on her twenties with extended arms tied to wooden poles on the sides of the building. Her face was lowered and he couldn¡¯t recognize her, the only thing he noticed was the fact she waspletely naked. Her exposed breasts were moving softly along with her weak breathing and she showed signs of being tortured.

    Ryu got close to her and lifted her face careful not to wake her up, only to find out a barely counscious Ath.

    ¡°Ath? what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯sdy Ath¡±

    A woman scoffed in a weak voice right next to Ryu.

    It was the maid that always apanieddy Ath and pretended to be her.

    She too was naked, but instead of being tied to poles like Lady Ath, she was pinned to the ground with a U shaped wooden contraption on her neck. It seemed to be buried deep enough to prevent her from moving, but only choked her partially.

    Though both were in bad shape, they didn¡¯t seem to be in any immediate risk.

    ¡°Can you tell me what happened to you?¡±

    ¡°What does it seem like? we got captured! can you seedy Ath? what¡¯s her condition?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s unresponsive, but she¡¯s fine¡±

    Ryu¡¯s word seemed to have calmed her down for a few seconds, but then she got impatient.

    ¡°Did you set her free already?¡±

    ¡°Uh, no, why would I do that?¡±

    ¡°Wait, so you didn¡¯te to rescue us?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even know you were here¡±

    Ryu shrugged, but the maid wasn¡¯t able to see anything because of her position. Ryu would have gotten closer to her, but it would only make it more difficult for him to leave her in there and he wasn¡¯t sure he would be able to do anything to help them.

    ¡°Are you a prisoner too? good, you deserve it¡±

    She said without even waiting for a reply.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a prisoner, I think I¡¯m a guest¡±

    ¡°You what!?¡±

    The maid said in a loud voice, leaving her out of breath for a while. Ryu couldn¡¯t even begin to guess what were they doing in the goblin vige, but the maid wasn¡¯t being helpful at all so he decided to ignore them and just go look for Mia and his pets.

    As soon as he set foot on the outside, his green host was already waiting for him.

    ¡°You awake... good. You want food?¡±

    The small goblin gestured with his hands as if he was drinking from a bowl, Ryu¡¯s appetite soon vanished as he reminded the cold soup they gave him.

    ¡°No thank you¡±

    ¡°You no like?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d prefer to hunt something myself if that¡¯s not too much trouble¡±

    ¡°Hunt, good, warrior hunt good, good warrior. That female no good warrior, but she teach me words¡±

    ¡°Why is she imprisoned?¡±

    ¡°She killed younglings, bad warrior. Goblin no kill human younglings¡±

    Ryu was fascinated by the goblin¡¯s sense of honor. Of course killing the young was a terrible thing to do, but to think they actually cared about it was something unheard of. He had heard from Lorenzo that even human kids would sometimes kill goblins. Perhaps it didn¡¯t have much to do with their strength and more with goblins being unable to fight back without staining their reputation as good warriors. But still, the treatment both women received was less than humane, they had bruises and scratches all over their body and the position Ath was tied suggested she had been toyed with. There was that kind of rumours about goblins after all.

    ¡°Is that why you tortured her?¡±

    ¡°No torture, she escape I catch. She escape, I tie. She escape I tie harder¡±

    Making sense of the green creature¡¯s words was difficult, but he didn¡¯t seem to be lying, Ath must have gotten hurt attempting to escape. It made sense, she must have heard the rumours too so she must be truly desperate to escape from the clutches of her captors.

    And yet, against all odds, the gobling in front of him had been a decent host for him, he provided lodging, food and they treated him nicely.

    ¡°My name is Ryu, what is your name?¡±

    He asked not only because of curiosity, he also needed a way of addressing him properly if he wanted to ask him to set them free.

    ¡°No names¡±

    Ryu pondered for a few seconds if he should give him a nickname or something, but it felt like a rude thing to do and decided against it.

    The sound of horns quickly drew everyone¡¯s attention and all the adult goblins abandoned their tasks and armed themselves.

    ¡°You want hunt,e¡±

    The goblin said with a smirk.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t have my sword!¡±

    ¡°Good sword, there¡±

    The goblin pointed towards a building on the top of a tall tree, but how could Ryu get it? The answer came in the form of a small wooden tform tied on all corners with a simple rope.

    The goblin leader apanied him and pulled a lever and the tform went up amidst creaking sounds.

    ¡°Is it really ok for you toe with me to fetch my sword?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, goblins scout only, no me, no attack¡±

    The elevator stopped at an impressive height, if Ryu was as weak as he used to be he would be scared, but now he was sure he couldnd on his feet if he fell from the tform.

    Another elevator came close and the small creature hopped in, although hesitantly, Ryu followed suit. The same thing happened a few times until they finally reached close enough to the building, they jumped onto a static tform that looked like a wooden dock, and went up a spiral staircase that led them directly to the building.

    Once inside Ryu noticed it wasn¡¯t a mere building, it was a shrine built for special weapons. There were swords, spears, shields and all sorts of gear.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use this weapons?¡±

    ¡°Cursed, bad¡±

    ¡°But you said my sword was good¡±

    ¡°No know the words, but sword good¡±

    The gobling, evidently flustered at his ownck of vocabry, pointed at Ryu¡¯s sword. It was inside its scabbard on top of a pedestal, it was clear they ced it there with great respect.

    When Ryu grabbed his sword a nostalgic feeling invaded him, it was the same feeling he would be getting if he was reuniting with a long lost friend. He could feel his energy being drained, but it wasn¡¯t an unpleasant feeling, it felt ticklish and joyful, so he let the sword drain his energy as it pleased. He then used his identify skill on it and what he found out left him even more confused than before.

    >de of cowardice +1 500/500

 Chapter 139

    139 Don¡¯t rescue enemies, please! part Sera and Fena had been walking for a whole day and were still a long way from Crent. It was all due to being forced to carry the still unconscious Thea. She wasn¡¯t really heavy, but it was difficult to carry her through the vegetation and it was taking them way longer than they initially expected.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand mister Ryu¡¯s intentions, why do we need to save this... thing¡±

    Sera pointed at Thea. She would have kicked her if it wasn¡¯t for Ryu¡¯s order to rescue her and she didn¡¯t know if she would survive.

    Sera didn¡¯t have her sister¡¯s ire soft attitude and gentle character, she didn¡¯t care about Thea in the slightest.

    ¡°We need to extract all the information we can from her so we can catch the criminals that tried to capture us¡±

    Fena replied coldly, she didn¡¯t care about Thea either and the only thing she wanted was to go back home and tell her mom everything that happened.

    The fire in front of the girls crackled and the smell of cooked food arose in the air. Sera took one of the skewers she had prepared and took a bite.

    ¡°Not bad, but I prefer mister Ryu¡¯s cooking¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so special about that guy? when did he be so strong?¡±

    .....

    Fena asked.

    ¡°You¡¯re not qualified to know and if you don¡¯t adress him with the respect he deserves I won¡¯t be talking to you anymore¡±

    ¡°Y-You¡¯re right, I¡¯m sorry, he did save us after all¡±

    Fena took a skewer for herself and couldn¡¯t help but let out a gasp. It was delicious, even better than the food back at Crent. But then she remembered that Ryu¡¯s cooking was indeed better and the only reason why she was taken aback by the mushrooms taste was because of her hunger.

    All they had to eat were the mushrooms Sera picked, it was none other than Ryu who taught her which of them were edible and which were poisonous, and if it wasn¡¯t for the experience she acquired thanks to all the gathering quests they took together she wouldn¡¯t have been able to find anything to eat at all because goblins are excellent harvesters and their territory is huge which made it difficult for them to find food. Before leaving their vige, they offered them some travel rations, but if their food was inedible then how bad would their travel rations be? Sera shuddered at the thought.

    ¡°We won¡¯t be able to reach Crent tomorrow, I think we should focus on gathering some more supplies¡±

    ¡°No, we need to arrive as soon as possible¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t afford to travel naked and unarmed through this forest, we may be strong but we¡¯re defenseless. If we don¡¯t eat properly we would be too weak even to run. Mister Ryu always prepares supplies before travelling and it¡¯s worked for us so far¡±

    Sera was aware that most adventurers would simply skip their meals, they had strong bodies and could afford to spend a week without food and days without water. The sooner they finished their quests the sooner they could go back to their city and eat their full. But Ryu, who had been the weakest in their group for so long, always made sure to have enough supplies for everyone.

    She thought back at the time when she was starving and the difference it made when she finally started eating appropriately. She had always been weak, frail and ugly. It was only after eating Ryu¡¯s cooking she got her womanly shape, her strength and even learned magic.

    They spent the next day gathering berries, fruits, herbs, mushrooms, anything they deemed as edible and Sera was pleasantly surprised when she found out Fena knew what she was doing. At least she didn¡¯t have to teach her the basics of gathering.

    ¡°Where are we? what happened?¡±

    Were Thea¡¯s first words when she woke up, but both Sera and Fena gave her the cold shoulder.

    She was left alone with her own thoughts for a while and everything starteding back to her in waves.

    Their n to capture and enve other adventurers, Kinta¡¯s betrayal, her humilliation, the pain, everything came back on her mind so suddenly she couldn¡¯t keep away the tears and started sobbing.

    ¡°So you remembered now¡±

    Sera, who was standing right in front of her, looked down at her pitiful figure. Thea just kept crying, her wavy hair and slender body were covered in dirt and dried blood.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m really sorry, please don¡¯t kill me¡±

    ¡°Kill you? why would we kill you? Mister Ryu ordered us to rescue you¡±

    Thea breathed a sigh of relief, but Fena reacted differently when she heard Sera say Ryu ordered them. ¡®Just who does she think that guy is to be ordering others around?¡¯ Inside Fena¡¯s mind there wasn¡¯t a hint of the shyness she showed to the rest of the world. Needless to say, it was all a facade.

    Never before had Thea been so hurt, dirty, humilliated as she found herself now, yet all those didn¡¯t matter to her right now because of a single feeling she had never experienced so strongly in her entire life.

    She was hungry.

    It wasn¡¯t the kind of hunger that made her stomach grumble and her mouth wasn¡¯t watering either. All the damage she withstood and the exertion of her body trying to fight the poison left her without energy to move, it was the kind of hunger that consumed her from the inside and she had never experienced something like that before.

    Sera knew that feeling all too well, but wasn¡¯t nning on making things easy for her prisoner. Ryu asked her to rescue Thea, not to treat her well.

    Thea crawled towards the firece and attempted to grab something to eat, but Sera stepped firmly on her hand.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing crawling like a worm? If you want to eat, you need to beg first¡±

    She said as she put more pressure on her hand.

    ¡°Please, give me something to eat, I¡¯ll die if I don¡¯t eat something¡±

    Thea was too tired and too hungry to care about something as stupid as pride or nobility.

    ¡°Now I wish I brought some of their food with us¡±

    Sera sighed thinking on the cold soup she tried at the goblin vige.

    Fena couldn¡¯tugh because she was still trying to keep up appearances, but she did find Sera¡¯s malicious behavior to be rather funny.

    ¡°Sera, let her eat, we need her to walk on her own two feet tomorrow, we can¡¯t carry her anymore¡±

    ¡°What if she tries to run away?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t! I would never...¡±

    Thea¡¯s plead was interrupted by Sera replying to Fena.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll feed her¡±

    She took a bowl, which was actually just half of the shell of a huge nut-like fruit they gathered in the morning, and ced it in the ground. Thea hurriedly took the bowl with her hands, It was a cold night and they were stark naked, just holding the bowl in her hands provided her some much needed warmth.

    ¡°Uh? why did you pick that up? you¡¯re a beast and you should eat like one¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a beast!¡±

    Thea said tearfuly.

    ¡°Really? then why did you turn against us? not only you knowingly lured us into a trap, I remember damn well the way you looked at me when you thought you had us cornered. Only beasts attack adventurers so you¡¯re a beast now¡±

    Thea tried to think of something, anything she could say to rebuke her, but there was nothing she could say in her favor. When Kinta proposed her the idea of trapping other adventurers for profit she didn¡¯t hesitate for a second, the first person she wanted to enve was Sera. She had always been envious of her and seeing her suffering would have filled her with nothing but joy. Now the roles reversed she had nothing to do but to ept the consequences of her actions.

    She nodded at Sera and got on all fours leaning towards the bowl of fruit slowly, her breasts made contact with the forest soil, but she kept going and started eating like an animal.

    Not too long ago Sera had discovered the pleasure of making others suffer. Back at the shop she would always bully Mia, at least until Ryu caught wind of the situation and asked her to stop.

    The noblewoman Thea, who used to be so arrogant in front of everyone, was now butt naked in the ground slurping thepote. That sight made Sera tremble slightly from pleasure, but she was far from satisfied, she wanted to push her to the limit.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good girl, you do know your ce after all¡±

    Sera said cing her foot on top of the back of Thea¡¯s head pushing her towards the hot liquid.

    She was taking things too far for Fena¡¯s taste and she was starting to get scared, but Thea didn¡¯t react, she didn¡¯t even try to push against her feet.

    That¡¯s what she got for betraying herrades, she deserved that and much more. Nothing Sera could do to her wouldpare to what other people would have done to her had she been enved, once she realized they actually saved her from a much more terrible fate she simply surrendered to whatever Sera did to her.

    But that was like stoking the fire that was Sera¡¯s devious personality and things got even worse afterwards.

 Chapter 140

    140 Don¡¯t rescue enemies, please! part The next day Thea was in better shape, at least she was able to walk on her own, but she found herself in a much worse situation than the day before.

    ¡°Walk faster you beast!¡±

    Sera hit her bottom with a long straight stick, there were many red lines drawn on her white skin already.

    ¡°Yes miss Sera!¡±

    Sera had her walk in front of the group and everytime she slowed down Sera would hit her in the butt. It would have been endurable for her if not for the fact that walking in the front position meant she was getting hurt by all sorts of branches, ivies and thorny bushes, to make matters worse, even if she walked fast she would still be hit randomly.

    Sera held an evil grin on her face the whole time, she was having way too much fun.

    Fena held no love for Thea, but even she was starting to think it may be a better idea to separate from the group and travel by herself. Sera¡¯s behavior had be more and more dangerous by the minute.

    What would happen to her if she found out the truth?

    Things became even more dire for Thea when she tripped and fell on the ground. Before she was even able to stand up Sera ced the stick right in between her buttcheeks leaving herpletely defenseless. She shivered in fear of what Sera might do, it would take a simple thrust of her hand to impale her.

    .....

    shes of memories from the abuse she suffered by the thugs she thought were her allies ran across her mind, but her will had already been broken and she wouldn¡¯t fight back against Sera, no matter what she did to her. She could only beg to keep whatever dignity she had left.

    ¡°No! please don¡¯t! Miss Sera I beg you¡±

    ¡°Stop it already Sera, you¡¯re starting to really scare me!¡±

    Fena said from behind because she didn¡¯t dare to face her directly. She was naked and unarmed, while Sera had the ability to conjure mes from her hands, in other words, she simply didn¡¯t stand a chance against her.

    Sera didn¡¯t reply, but she allowed Thea to stand up and keep walking.

    The rest of the trip was mostly quiet and they weren¡¯t attacked by any beasts which gave them the opportunity to cover themselves with leaves and vines.

    Despite their ridiculous attire, all of them would be considered beautiful in the eyes of most people. Especially Sera, who stood out with a fairplexion and her exceptional proportions.

    When they got back to Crent, the city guards standing watch on the west gate thought they were being attacked by some sort of beasts and were about to sound the rm.

    ¡°Halt! we¡¯re adventurers!¡±

    Fena yelled with an authoritative tone of voice that shook Sera. Fena was supposedly a shy girl and that behavior waspletely out of charactering from her, but Fena had too much of Sera¡¯s wicked attitude and couldn¡¯t care any less about keeping her facade.

    It creeped her out to the point the only thing she could think of was she didn¡¯t want to spend a minute longer with her. The guards who greeted the girls thought theplete opposite as they were bewitched by Sera¡¯s beauty, two of them even volunteered to escort them to the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    ¡°Here, miss, please put this on¡±

    One of the guards said as he covered Sera with his cape, earning him a hateful re from hispanion. He wanted to smack him in the back of the head for taking away the alluring visage of Sera¡¯s exposed body, at least until he saw her wearing the cape with such grace he thought he found himself in front of an exotic princess from a far away country.

    There was a hugemotion in town all the way to the adventurer¡¯s guild. Some of the more daring amongst the crowd even followed the girls only to prolong the time they were able to see them. Desire and lust filled their hearts, yet no one even catcalled Sera, her cold attitude could freeze ake and they didn¡¯t want to be subject to her disdainful re any more than they wanted to be stabbed in the eye.

    Fena stepped into the adventurer¡¯s guild back entrance and signalled the others to follow her. Thea, of course, was reluctant to do so.

    She couldn¡¯t think of a single scenario where she would escape a horrible fate, but when Sera noticed she was staying behind and turned back to see her, her whole body shivered in fear and she hurried up her pace.

    ¡°Mom!¡±

    Fena said as she threw herself into the adventurers guildmaster¡¯s arms.

    ¡°There there¡±

    The huge warrior looking woman patted Fena¡¯s back. Both Thea and Sera were stunned by the revtion.

    ¡°She¡¯s your mother!?¡±

    Sera asked Fena, yet she ignored her.

    ¡°Tell me everything dear¡±

    ¡°Ryota, Kinta, Shortie, Crimsom and the others, they were all killed!¡±

    Sera¡¯s face suddenly became pale as she realized Fena was reporting the death of the criminals too. The adventurer¡¯s guild leader shouldn¡¯t have known about them, so that left only one possible exnation.

    ¡°You were working with them!¡±

    ¡°Of course I was you dumb bitch! I was the contact with the sacred empire!¡±

    ¡°But, they took off your clothes too!¡±

    ¡°I asked that idiot to tie me up with you, It was ast resort in case something went bad and it worked like a charm¡±

    She snickered.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡±

    Sera said as she pointed her hands towards Fena and shot out a steady stream of fire heating the room, It was a miracle the walls didn¡¯t caught fire. After a few seconds Sera stopped, expecting to see her enemies scorched in the floor, but they were standing like nothing happened.

    ¡°You can¡¯t harm people with such weak magic¡±

    Fena said with a smug as she lowered the magic protection barrier she had just conjured.

    ¡°So, did this weakling kill everyone?¡±

    ¡°No, it was the other guy. He was strong, way stronger than the others, but he must be dead already... he got caught by the goblins¡±

    ¡°You did well my child, its sad that we suffered so many loses, but we can¡¯t fight the divine providence.¡±

    ¡°What should we do now, mom?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm... We¡¯ll pin the deaths of Ryota, Shortie and Kinta on the mage girl and the weird guy¡±

    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll buy it?¡±

    ¡°Why of course, we have two witnesses after all¡±

    Fena and her mother stared at Thea who put on a bright smile.

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Sera would be trembling in fear if it wasn¡¯t for the effects of calm mind.

    She bullied Thea on their way back thinking she was already safe, but it turned out she was betrayed once more.

    She waspletely powerless and alone, but she could still count with Bob and Luke, if only she was able to send them a message. Why didn¡¯t she try to go back to the shop to dress herself before entering the adventurer¡¯s guild? What could she possibly do to escape now? those thoughts ate her from the inside. Even the calm mind skill wasn¡¯t enough to keep her emotions at bay and fear was starting to overwhelm her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make you pay for everything you did to me¡±

    Thea grinned as she walked towards Sera.

    Sera¡¯s poker face was starting to break to pieces and her eyes were already tearing up. A horrible fate awaited for her, but not everything was lost yet. She backed out swiftly and tried to make a run for it, not knowing that the guildmaster was expecting her to do so.

    She calmly unsheathed her sword and made a small cut on Thea¡¯s forearm, making her yelp in pain. Then, the tall woman went outside the door and shouted.

    ¡°Everyone, capture Sera the F rank adventurer! She killed her party members and attacked us!¡±

    The adventurers standing guard appeared out of nowhere and pinned Sera to the ground before she could make it to the exit.

    There wasn¡¯t a single thread of hope to cling on to, she resolved herself to fight to the death, but she was knocked out before she could lift so much as a finger.

    ¡°Are you sure that girl is not going to betray us?¡±

    The guildmaster asked her daughter.

    ¡°Thea hates Sera¡¯s guts, and not without reason. I think we can keep working with her¡±

    Thea felt like a piece of furniture in the room, they talked to each otherpletely ignoring her, but it was better than the alternative.

    By the time they let Thea go it was night already and she hurried back to her empty house. Her cousin was nowhere to be found, she had left the city without a word long before she got together with Kinta.

    That night she cried herself to sleep curled up in the corner of her room. It took her days until she was able to muster the courage to go outside, and she did so with the sole purpose of meeting with someone.

    She wasn¡¯t surprised when she found out Sera had been used of murder, it was just like the guildmaster said.

    She headed towards Risa, who was sitting in front of an untouched breakfast.

    ¡°Uh?¡± Risa barely even lifted her head, the news of Ryu¡¯s death took her by surprise and sent her into a state of grief. She couldn¡¯t even return his cape or properly thank him for saving her life from the ants, and now she will never get the chance to do so.

    ¡°Miss Risa, we need to talk¡±

 Chapter 141

    141 Don¡¯t waste beast materials, please! part After learning so many different skills unrted to battle and leveling them up, Ryu¡¯s body was aching to grow but itcked the energy to do so. That¡¯s why when he disabled his passive skills for the first time, he experimented a sudden raise in all his stats and he was finally able to be stronger.

    As far as he knew there was only one method to increase one¡¯s maximum energy, and it was killing something. Ryu never liked killing, taking the life of other beings just to be stronger wasn¡¯t something Ryu would do, but things were different if it was fighting for his own survival. By killing the criminals that attacked him, his maximum energy increased my leaps and bounds.

    A new unencumbered Ryu found himself running at an impressive speed through the bushes in the forest near the goblin¡¯s vige. His pathfinding skill allowed him to traverse without difficulties and yet, the goblins were able to follow his pace.

    He couldn¡¯t understand why would the adventurer¡¯s guild tag them as weak beasts, because after all he had seen at their vige they were neither weak nor beasts. The only difference with humans was that they spoke a differentnguage, but other than that they were able to create a society, build houses and take care of their own.

    And that was precisely what they were doing now, whenever the horns sounded it meant there was some danger nearby.

    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s ok for me toe with you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, warriore, you see and learn¡±

    Ryu had been awake for less than two hours when he decided to join the goblin¡¯s hunt, this wasn¡¯t only because he wanted to somehow repay the kindness he had received, but also because he couldn¡¯t stand the thought of eating their food again. The cold bubbling purple soup they gave him tasted so bad it could be considered a method of torture.

    ¡°Lizard!¡±

    .....

    The goblin running next to Ryu eximed after sniffing the air.

    Ryu grabed his cursed sword by the hilt instinctively, it felt simr to when he kissed Mia. It was as if his energy was being drained little by little, but now he was able to tell the amount of energy he was losing and it was nothing to be worried about.

    A loud hissing sound let the leader know it was time to stop. Every goblin followed themand without fail and the only one who kept running was Ryu who couldn¡¯t see the signal due to the difference in size.

    While the goblins saw the tallest of their kin lifting his hand high above their heads, for Ryu they all looked the same and they were so small that it would have been difficult for him to see it even if he jumped. What he did notice, though, was the sudden silence behind him and he turned back to see what was going on.

    Ryu wasn¡¯t really a skilled hunter, but he knew the slightest sound could trigger an attack, he had seen the consequences of being caught off guard by beasts and didn¡¯t feel like going through that again.

    The goblinmanded his army without a single word, only hand movements, gestures and low growls. Everyone seemed to understand and they scattered around, except for Ryu who remained nailed to the ground.

    Every single goblin was either climbing on a tree or hiding on a bush so Ryu tried to do the same.

    ¡®This human is worthless¡¯ Grok told Thoba in theirnguage, but Thoba shook her head.

    ¡®He¡¯s just different, if you discriminate him for that you¡¯ll be just as bad as the ones who treat us like beasts¡±

    ¡®But he¡¯s so ugly¡¯ Lauda giggled just a bit too loudly, earning her the scolding look of Bardun, the goblin leader.

    Ryu heard that conversation, but for him everything sounded just like growls and snarls.

    After activating his stealth skill he hid beind a tree and took a peek at the beast in front of them

    It was an enormous quadruped ck lizard

    >Megnia Rank B (healthy)

    A system message popped in front of him, after he unintendedly activated his consider skill. A smile appeared on Ryu¡¯s face when he noticed his system had be a lot more reliable after his fight against the criminals who tried to capture them.

    It was the first time Ryu saw a B rank beast and there was nothing he couldpare it to, but one thing he knew for sure, the goblins were no match for that thing.

    The goblins finished surrounding the beast before he could warn them and Bardun sent the signal to attack. Dozens of goblins came out of their hiding spots at the same time and jumped on the unaware lizard. It happened so fast it didn¡¯t have time to react and simply tried to shake them off.

    They were all sent flying into the distance, but not before being able tond their attacks against the defenseless creature. It would have been a great strategy, but after all that effort and sacrifice there was a single scratch on the lizard¡¯s back.

    It was so small it didn¡¯t even draw blood.

    ¡°Stop! it¡¯s a B rank beast!¡±

    Ryu shouted in despair, but it was toote.

    Once the megnia became alert it was able to easily spot the goblins, even the ones in hiding, after sticking it¡¯s tongue out. Like many reptiles, this beast was able to smell the air with it¡¯s tongue, it was so precise that skills like stealth and concealment were useless against it.

    Hundreds of goblins rushed in to encircle the creature with their wooden spears, the stronger ones seemed to be wearing stone tipped spears but even those were unable to actually do any harm. Even if Ryu wanted to help, they all moved so quickly it would have been imposible for him tond a hit without identally hitting an ally.

    Goblins were dying in the most gruesome ways right in front of Ryu, who could only watch in despair as they were eaten, stomped or hit by the creature¡¯s tail.

    > Megnia (Healthy)

    It¡¯s name still appeared in green letters, which meant they weren¡¯t even close to kill it.

    ¡°You no fight?¡±

    Bardun, the goblin leader, asked Ryu.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to, but I don¡¯t see an opportunity, If I hit the megnia I might hurt someone. Aren¡¯t you worried your soldiers are dying?¡±

    ¡°Warriors die good deaths¡±

    Bardun replied without a trace of empathy. For them, it was considered an honor to die protecting the vige and they happily threw their lives in numbers fearlessly. Contrary to human¡¯s way of thinking, Goblins were fierce warriors and weren¡¯t scared to face their own demise, the only thing they cared about was the greater good. In short, as long as the vige was safe, everything was fine.

    It wasn¡¯t unusual for beasts to get into goblin¡¯s territory, it was much moremon than humans who only ventured far into the forest a few times a year. They always dealt with humans the same way they dealt with everything, sheer numbers.

    It was Bardun¡¯s idea to do things differently, when he fought against Ryu he realized something none other of his species did. Despite all humans looking the same, they were different from each other. His fight against Ryu proved to him that there were some honorable humans and he might be able tomunicate with them.

    The mere thought of humans being intelligent didn¡¯t cross their mind, they were seen the same as beast. They were vile, cruel, they killed without a reason and never attempted tomunicate. Even though Ryu and Bardun didn¡¯t talk during their fight, theymunicated with their attacks and some sort of mutual understanding was formed that day.

    Ryu was taken by surprise and Bardun didn¡¯t have any reinforcements, he was training younglings at the time and couldn¡¯t rely on them.

    It was the first time in more than a hundred years that a goblin had survived a fight one on one against a human, not only that, he even picked up some tricks from Ryu. Goblins were short lived creatures and because of that they were fast learners.

    Surviving a fight against an adult human was a feat so incredible, it earned him the title of goblin hero and within a week he had be the leader of his vige, on top of that he got many wives and was treated like a king.

    All the expectations of his people were ced upon his shoulders, but there was something he didn¡¯t count on.

    As luck would have it, a strong beast, stronger than any they¡¯ve ever faced, found it¡¯s way within the forest and got too close to their vige and if Bardun wasn¡¯t able to kill it, all the honor he obtained would turn into shame instead.

    He watched in disbelief how even their strongest warriors were swatted like flies and the only thing they¡¯ve achieved so far was filling the beast¡¯s stomach.

    He took a nce at Ryu, pondering if he should ask for his help, but decided against it. The goblin vige was already doomed and the only thing he could hope for now was a honorable death.

    He jumped out of the bushes wielding his sword, it was small but it looked huge in his hands, and shed at the beast¡¯s neck drawing a short red line. He let himself fall with a satisfied smile, he had aplished his duty as a goblin and now he was free to die a warrior¡¯s death.

    The megnia barely even felt the attack as an itch and tried to reach for its neck with its front paw, hitting Bardun unintendedly and sending him to fly into a tree.

    Blood was dripping and whatever was left of the goblin slid down the tree slowly.

    Ryu couldn¡¯t wait any longer, if he didn¡¯t do something every single goblin around him will end up throwing themselves to their deaths.

    ¡°Retreat!¡±

    A loud shout echoed in the forest.

 Chapter 142

    142 Don¡¯t waste beast materials, please! part Ryu stood in front of the megnia without something even resembling a n. All he had at his disposal was his cursed de and the broken pointy sticks the goblins used as weapons lying around.

    As soon as the bothersome goblins stopped their attacks on the lizard it turned its attention towards Ryu. A loud hissing sound resounded like a roar, the air that came out of its mouth carried a foul stench that made Ryu cover his mouth, but he didn¡¯t flinch.

    The megnia, angry at the man¡¯s defiance, charged towards him. It was big, it was strong, but it wasn¡¯t as fast as Ryu who simply let it pass nearby as he swung his de causing a small wound on it¡¯s belly.

    The beast stomped its feet as it turned back, this time wary of the little creature that hurt it.

    The megnia charged again and Ryu did the same, only this time the megnia received the sh on its head causing it no damage whatsoever.

    Ryu was standing there like a bullfighter, and the megnia did its part scratching the ground with it¡¯s front paw before charging again.

    Ryunded multiple hits, but the beast shrugged them off and countered with its tail.

    Ryu was sent tumbling down, dragging his bare back against the ground for several meters. The small amount of damage received shocked Ryu, if he had his shirt on he was sure it would have been shredded to pieces, but his skin was barely grazed.

    It could be said both opponents had received the exact same amount of damage, but the difference in their maximum health points was too much for Ryu to keep up with this.

    .....

    He couldn¡¯t be sure about the amount of healthpoints the megnia had since the system only showed the exact healthpoints of creatures with small amounts of it, but he was sure the lizard had at least ten times as much health as him.

    Ryu gripped his sword and plunged forward in an attempt to sh at the beast¡¯s paws, but the beast tail was way longer than he expected and got whipped in the chest. The beast quickly followed with a stomp that would have ended the fight right then and there, but Ryu somehow managed to roll on the ground and dodge it by the skin of his teeth.

    For a brief second he considered retreating, but he couldn¡¯t afford to back down now. Not after seeing the only goblin he knew dying in front of him. What would happen to Mia if the goblins became hostile towards them?

    He didn¡¯t even want to think about it.

    Defeating the megnia would prove he¡¯s friendly towards the goblins, and in case that doesn¡¯t work, at least it will prove he¡¯s stronger than the creature they couldn¡¯t kill by themselves.

    What Ryu didn¡¯t know was Bardun wasn¡¯t dead yet and he was watching inplete awe the fight developing in front of him. For the first time in his life he felt the selfish desire to survive, not for the greater good, but for his own.

    If both of them were equal in strength at some point in time it must mean he would be able to be as strong as Ryu is now. There must be a secret to that human¡¯s power and he was set to discover it. But he was bleeding out and all of his bones were shattered to pieces, even his skull whichpletely deformed his head. He was barely able to remain counscious thanks to his healthpoints still being high enough, but every drop of blood he lost was drawing him closer and closer towards his demise.

    ¡°Fight!¡±

    Was all Bardun managed to shout with what little strength he had left before passing out. The sight of Bardun was miserable, he was hurt beyond recognition, but it helped Ryu gather his thoughts.

    He was still on time to save the goblin leader and if he did, he would earn their gratitude. It may not seem like a big deal, but that may give him the chance bargain for Ath¡¯s freedom and maybe, just maybe, her rude maid¡¯s freedom too.

    But how could he defeat such a terrible opponent? he had faced many enemies, but the strongest so far have been humans. He didn¡¯t even know the ranks of the enemies he defeated, how could hepare the weak thugs he faced with a seemingly unbeatable lizard?

    He didn¡¯t have enough energy to use the cursed sword to its full potential. Last time he did, he noticed it wasn¡¯t the sword¡¯s energy but his own, and he simply used the sword to channel it. But it was way too inefficient, he would run out of energy before killing the lizard.

    Although Ryu didn¡¯t notice, all his thoughts took nothing but an instant. The more he focused, the slower time passed, and right now he was on a state that could almost be considered meditation.

    Lots of ideas ran across his mind as he kept dodging the megnia¡¯s attacks.

    Stab, sh, poke, hit, nothing he thought could work. He tried to think of any passive skill that could make a difference, but there was nothing as convenient as that. Then an Idea came to mind, Ryu tended to overthink things and more often than not it costed him many loses. That¡¯s why he decided to go through the basics and an image appeared on his mind.

    He had seen Luke use single strike before, it was a skill that focused energy onto the de and caused a lot more damage than a normal hit. Not only that, it also seemed to find openings by itself. Luke described it as an ¡®auto-attack¡¯ and fortunately he acquired that skill recently.

    ¡°Single strike!¡±

    He yelled, but nothing happened. The time he spent shouting was nothing but a waste as the megnia drew closer and being observed by so many goblins as he shouted the name of a skill without it triggering made him understand a bit more how Bob felt whenever he shouted his fake spells.

    Bob really had a thick skin to be able to keep doing it despite the embarrassing situations it caused.

    The megnia learned from its previous failures and instead of using his slow paws to attack Ryu,shed out at him with it¡¯s tail. The fast moving tail was so huge it produced waves in the air and Ryu had trouble dodging.

    If shouting the name of the skill didn¡¯t activate it, perhaps he needed to tap his soulbound card to do so. He really wished that wasn¡¯t the case because he couldn¡¯t see himself poking at the metallic looking card in the middle of a fight.

    Ryu was rapidly losing ground but just when he was about to be cornered against a tree he resolved himself to stop dodgning the attacks.

    He nted his feet on the ground, held the sword tightly and braced for the iing attack in what could be seen as a textbook defensive stance. Then he let his energy flow outside, just like he did when Mia was kissing him. A soft blue light emerged from him, because of how little food he had consumedtely he didn¡¯t have much energy inside his body, but he couldn¡¯t afford to be cheap about it now that his life depended on it.

    He was about to put all he had into a single attack.

    ¡°Single strike!¡±

    He yelled through his teeth as he was tightly clenching his jaw.

    His de shone across the megnia¡¯s tail and cut it like butter.

    Not wasting a single second he pounced at the beast¡¯s neck. Somehow knowing he couldn¡¯t repeat the same skill despite having enough energy left, instead he channeled whatever energy he had left on his de.

    >Skill aqcuired: Energy maniption

    A message from the system confirmed he defeated his opponent, but every muscle on his body was cramped and he fell on the ground as if he had been electrocuted.

    Thest thing Ryu noticed before passing out was the feeling of being lifted by several small hands.

    ¡°Master! master are you awake?¡±

    ¡°Please... Please tell me I didn¡¯t sleep for two whole days again¡±

    Ryu¡¯s face looked as if he had just sucked on a lemon.

    ¡°No, they just brought you back to the vige¡±

    Mia giggled as she knelt down next to Ryu, he felt relieved after noticing she was wearing a white-ish cloth tied up with a rope as a dress this time.

    ¡°What happened to the megnia?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you mean that thing?¡±

    She said as she moved to the side, allowing him a clear view on the headless corpse behind her. It was so immense he couldn¡¯t figure out how such feeblish creatures managed to bring it back.

    ¡°Help me stand up please¡±

    Fatigued as he was, he found the strength to stand up with her help only because of his hunger.

    He took his obsidian knife and stood in front of the carcass, not knowing where to start cutting. He couldn¡¯t even focus on the task at hand because of the chaotic ambience surrounding him. Hundreds, if not thousands, of goblins gathered around him and tried to touch him in hopes of bing stronger.

    If Bardun was considered the vige¡¯s hero, Ryu was now considered their god.

    Ryu understood their feeling, he could rte to weak beings that faced hardships to survive. In fact, probably no one in the world understood goblins as he did. Nevertheless he was starting to lose his temper, if they didn¡¯t make way soon he might as well eat one of them.

 Chapter 143

    143 Don¡¯t waste beast materials, please! part Dismantling the megnia turned out to be an impossible feat, especially since he was so tired he couldn¡¯t even climb on top of it. Thankfully, he had already cut its tail and the goblins had brought it along with the rest of the body.

    His obsidian knife¡¯s sharpness had no equal, but it was too short tofortably slice through the broad tail. He could have asked Mia to help him, but she waspletely useless in anything rted to food so he asked her to make a firece instead.

    After spending ten minutes painstakingly peeling and cutting, he finally got a nice piece of meat out of the tail and he quickly threw it over the fire. He didn¡¯t care about the taste, all he wanted was to eat something.

    His very sanity was on the verge of copse as the meat started sizzling. But it wasn¡¯t ready yet, he still needed to turn it over and wait for it to cook properly. As much as it bothered him, eating something that may cause him to throw up would be counterproductive.

    The smell of cooked meat was new to goblins, but some of them were familiar with the taste since sometimes they would get it after looting the adventurers they killed. Despite their appetite being stoked, none of them dared to touch the megnia.

    Goblins would steal whatever they could from enemies, but doing the same to an ally was unthinkable and Ryu was now considered as such to them.

    Ryu wolfed down the meat so fast it seemingly vanished into thin air. Some goblins even gasped in awe while others covered their youngling¡¯s eyes, but Ryu was too excited to care. It didn¡¯t matter to him that such primitive beings considered him to becking in manners, all he cared about was about the tasty juices of the first decent meal he had in almost a week.

    Mia ced leaves on the ground for Ryu to stock up the raw meat, but it was so much it was impossible to cook it all by himself.

    He grabbed a piece of raw meat and offered it to Lauda, one of Bardun¡¯s wives, but instead of cooking it she simply nibbled on it and then spat it out.

    .....

    ¡®What is the human doing!? This tastes really bad!¡¯

    Lauda grunted wrinkling her face

    ¡®How dare you spit his food!? you just insulted our savior!¡¯

    Thoba scoled her, she too was one of Bardun¡¯s wives, but she was stronger and had a higher status than her. She quickly grabbed the piece of raw meat from Lauda¡¯s hands and gave it a big bite. The taste of blood was disgusting and she couldn¡¯t help but spit it out too.

    ¡®Yes, this is terrible¡¯

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not supposed to eat it, you need to cook it first¡±

    Ryu said, but the small creature had no idea what he was saying. It was the first time he had experienced thenguage barrier and he didn¡¯t know what to do.

    ¡°I have an idea, master¡±

    Ryu didn¡¯t expect much from her since she was usually just an airheaded girl that goofed around most of the time, but he was curious too so he nodded at her to do as she pleased.

    Mia grabbed some meat and put it on a skewer, handed it to Thoba and took her near the firece. She held the goblin¡¯s hand for a while until Thoba seemed to understand.

    ¡®They seem to be hurting the meat with fire so it tastes better¡¯

    The rest of the goblins were dumbfounded, cooking was a new concept for them. The closest thing they did was mixing different kinds of fruits and mushrooms, but they never consumed any meat because they would get sick after eating it raw. They weren¡¯t used to fire either, they knew how to start a fire, but it was mostly useless to them because they were resistant to cold and were able to see in the dark since birth.

    ¡°That actually worked!¡±

    Ryu said in awe.

    ¡°Of course master! what did you expect?¡±

    ¡°To be honest I thought you would end up doing something stupid and...¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so mean!¡±

    Mia pouted childishly.

    ¡°Can you cook all the meat?¡±

    Ryu asked Thoba showing her the piles of raw meat. Thoba nodded and signalled her brethren to help her.

    Other goblins attempted to help Ryu dismantle the lizard but their tools were inefficient and they were making a mess so he stopped them. But after realizing it was simply too much work he had no choice but to ask them for help.

    It took Ryu and the goblins a whole day to dismantle the lizard since it was bigger than a human house. He did the best he could with what he had at hand, but it turned out to be a lousy butchering job and part of the leather was ruined.

    The goblins didn¡¯t take their eyes out from Ryu, he had theirplete attention as they tried to learn from him. At first they tried to help despite not knowing what they were doing which only annoyed him.

    But as time passed they became better at everything.

    As soon as Ryu mounted the first tanning rack the goblins made another just like it. Ryu was pleasently surprised at their learning speed and decided to teach them properly but in order to do so, he needed to provide them proper tools.

    He took a fang from the severed head of the megnia and he started grinding it against a stone to fashion a knife. The fang was sharp enough but it was too big for their small hands and carving a hilt was a difficultbor, it would have been impossible if it wasn¡¯t for his high level tool and weapon creation skills.

    Once the goblins understood what he was doing they repeated the same process and fashioned the fangs into carving knives that were sharp enough to cut the hard skin and tough meat.

    And thats how, with the assistance of his new goblin helpers, Ryu managed to dismantle the gigantic corpse within the day.

    ¡°Ath, are you awake?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here¡±

    A weak voice replied at him in theplete darkness.

    ¡°I brought you some food¡±

    ¡°I appreciate it but... I can¡¯t eat by myself¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, I¡¯ll help you¡±

    Ryu got close to her confidently using his night vision skill and ced a small piece of meat inside her mouth. Her dry lips closed on his fingers making Ryu feel a bit awkward, but he continued feeding her and giving her some water.

    feeding the maid was more difficult because she was lying in the ground and she choked on the water he provided, but it was better than dying of dehydration.

    ¡°Is it true?¡±

    Ath muttered her question, her eyes were wide open but she couldn¡¯t see anything.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°That you¡¯re not a prisoner¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll try to negotiate your release soon, so please hold on a little longer¡±

    ¡°But, how is it possible!?¡±

    Ath couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing, goblins were despicable creatures and, as far as she knew, they weren¡¯t able tomunicate with humans.

    ¡°Now it¡¯s not the time for exnations, but please don¡¯t try to escape or you might get killed¡±

    His words brought fear and hope in equal measure into Ath¡¯s heart. She wanted to ask him to stay by her side, but before she could say another word Ryu went out the door.

    From that day on, it was Mia instead of Ryu who came to feed her. At first Ath thought she might try to exact revenge on her, but Mia didn¡¯t held a grudge against her. If anything she was even grateful towards Ath because it was only thanks to her that she was able to meet her master.

    Little by little Ath regained some of her strength and, thanks to Mia¡¯s cheerful attitude, her mood gradually improved. She was starting to see the ss half full now.

    She was defeated in battle by goblins and should have been killed, but it wasn¡¯t the case for her. They took her prisoner and, despite all the rumours about goblins doing unspeakable acts to women, the only times she got hurt was whenever she tried to run away.

    Now that Mia was taking good care of her she could even afford to get bored. How long had she been prisoner? she didn¡¯t know, the passing of time became confusing after the first few days.

    Mia came three times a day to feed them both and to keep them clean using a wet towel and eventually Ath started looking forward to those moments until she ended uppletely losing interest in escaping.

    She was by no meansfortable, but at least she could endure it. Food became better everyday and she wasn¡¯t alone. If only she wasn¡¯t tied up she would feel a lot better, but Mia was clear when she said she wasn¡¯t able to free her yet.

    It was a day like any other when something unexpected happen. Instead of Mia, it was Ryu the one who came into the prison.

    For a brief second she feared he hade to wash her with a towel like Mia usually did, or maybe something even worse, but at this point there was nothing she could do to protect her dignity.

    Instead, a bright smile appeared on her face the minute Ryu set her free.

 Chapter 144

    144 Enjoy goblin city, please! part Ryu walked across the room with a frown on his face.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do¡±

    ¡°What do you mean master?¡±

    Mia was sitting in the wooden floor following his master with her gaze.

    The first thing that Ryu asked Bardun when the woke up after being unconscious for several days was to allow him to set Ath free and he agreed on the spot. Everything would have been fine if not for Ryu¡¯s distrustful nature.

    Whenever things went too smoothly he started second guessing himself.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if setting Ath free was the best choice. What happens if she goes to Crent and thenes back with an army and exterminates the goblins?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think she would do something like that you know¡±

    ¡°But, what if she tells everyone I sided with the goblins or something¡±

    .....

    Distress wouldn¡¯t even begin to describe how Ryu felt right now.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to worry about that master, after all she¡¯s in no condition to travel¡±

    The long time imprisonment weakened Ath to the point she wouldn¡¯t even be able to go back to Crent on her own, and her maid¡¯s condition was even worse.

    ¡°Hello¡±

    A goblin, who they were able to recognize as Thoba, entered Ryu¡¯s house as if she owned the ce. Knocking on doors wasn¡¯t a thing for goblins and it annoyed Ryu to no end, but he couldn¡¯tin since they had veen very kind to him.

    When Bardun started learning humannguage most goblins were against it, Thoba included, but after Ryu killed the megnia and saved the vige, every goblin in town tried to learn. At this point, the only one who was able to hold a conversation was Bardun, but the others learned some basic words and used them tomunicate with Mia and Ryu.

    ¡°Come¡±

    She pointed at Ryu and Mia who then followed her across the street, into an elevator and then inside the goblin leader¡¯s house.

    ¡°Good, you came, sit¡±

    ¡°Why did you ask for me?¡±

    ¡°Today first day I healed, we need to drink¡±

    Ryu¡¯s instincts were on high alert, if they made him drink something weird he might as pass out or worse. But he was pleasantly surprised when they brought two bowls of a clear liquid that Ryu was able to identify.

    >A bowl containing Goblin¡¯s liquor

    A bowl was ced in front of Ryu by Lauda, who then retreated a few steps back and alligned with the rest of Bardun¡¯s wives. They all showed great respect in their faces. Mia didn¡¯t understand the situation, but she silently stood up in the opposite wall.

    ¡°Goblins drink to be brothers, you drink with me¡±

    It was a sacred ceremony for goblins that held an important significance in their race and it was the first time in goblin¡¯s history that someone from another race was allowed to participate.

    Ryu, who was able to perceive the importance of the matter and sat in front of Bardun without saying a word. He limited himself to mimick the goblin¡¯s movements and drank the whole content of the bowl in a single gulp.

    Although it looked like regr alcohol Ryu couldn¡¯t help but think it might taste awful, but it not only tasted delicious, an enjoyable tingling ran across his his body rxing his body and mind.

    ¡°Today we be brothers, you me big brother now. As brother, you are goblin now. Name is Bardun¡±

    The goblin said solemnly as he poured another bowl for Ryu.

    ¡°My name is Ryu¡±

    Every goblin present, including Bardun, repeated Ryu¡¯s name while nodding as if it was the first time they heard it.

    ¡°Names important for goblin, names are not forgotten by goblins¡±

    Now Ryu understood why he refused to tell him his name the first time he asked. It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t have names, but they didn¡¯t trust him enough at the time.

    ¡°Thank you for allowing me to release Ath¡±

    ¡°You ask for the female yes, wife?¡±

    ¡°No, she¡¯s not my wife¡±

    ¡°Good, she no good warrior. You take goblin wife, I take human wife¡±

    After Bardun said those words several goblins entered the single room house, bringing along Ath¡¯s maid and Mia chuckled at the sight of the female goblins lining up in front of Ryu.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea¡±

    Ryu said in a soft tone of voice trying to avoid offending his host. The female goblins heaved a sigh of relief after he rejected them, but the maid didn¡¯t even understand what was going on.

    ¡°Good. I no like humans, they ugly¡±

    The goblin snorted yfully.

    ¡°Would it be possible for me to release this woman too?¡±

    Ryu pointed at the maid. Even though he knew she despised him, he had to at least try to set her free.

    ¡°Possible? yes. Good? no. I need more words¡±

    The gobblin looked troubled at Ryu¡¯s request, it showed how difficult it was for him to refuse. Ryu could only nod in understanding and the maid resigned herself to a life in imprisonment.

    ¡°How about improving her living conditions?¡±

    ¡°Good¡±

    The goblin smiled.

    After that, the female goblins retreated taking Mia and the maid with them. Once Bardun and Ryu were alone in the room, the goblin became serious again.

    ¡°What do you know about curses?¡±

    ¡°I know they kill their bearers with bad luck or by draining their energy¡±

    ¡°Yes, true. But not all. Cursed and enchanted, same. Goblins know this. Now you goblin too, now I tell you goblins history, you listen. Goblins older than the sun, older than trees¡±

    Ryu paid attention to the story that Bardun told him. It was a mythological tale that felt like the ravings of a madman, buting from the mouth of what everyone considered a beast rather than a sentient creature made it more believable.

    Acording to Bardun, Goblins were the first sentient creatures that walked the. They lived in peace and harmony until the was invaded by gods from other worlds.

    At first they considered it to be a good thing and received them with open arms, despite being gods they weren¡¯t much stronger than goblins and the only difference was that they had the ability to use mana to create things out of thin air.

    Soon enough thend was filled with nts, treasure and all sorts of creatures giving birth to a golden era where goblins ruled with wisdom above all the other races.

    But everything changed when the sun was created because humans, who up to that moment depended on fire and magic to be able to see in the dark, thrived in the new environment and soon became strong enough to challenge the goblins.

    The gods, who never meddled in the goblin¡¯s affairs, sided with the humans giving them an edge over goblins who didn¡¯t know how to use magic. Feeling betrayed by the gods they weed into their world, they fought back with everything they had and eventually won the war against the humans.

    But things didn¡¯t end like that, one of the gods created a new race, stronger than the others, turning the tide of war and almost erradicating the goblinspletely. That race was the horrible mix between humans and beasts and they were unstoppable, a single one of them was able to kill hundreds of goblins before falling.

    Decimated and tired, the goblins made a deal with another race, a long forgotten one. They were few, but powerful enough to keep the enemies at bay.

    For centuries things remained in a standstill and the whole was divided in half. Believing that everything was over, the goblins and the other race thought to be safe, but the god who created the beastkin did the unthinkable.

    He started eating his own children and, by doing so, he became the strongest god and ended the war in a single battle.

    As a result of that, most goblins perished cursing the god who killed them with theirst words, giving birth to a supreme weapon that allowed them to defeat the god and force him into slumber for thousands of years.

    ¡°So, If I understand this correctly, curses are enchantments too? and there¡¯s a goblin weapon that can defeat even gods?¡±

    The goblin nodded feeling ted for the first time after speaking with Ryu, not being able tomunicate properly was his main source of frustration, somehow Ryu now understood what he was trying to tell him, but the man himself wasn¡¯t feeling so great. Making sense out of Bardun¡¯s words took a toll on him producing a major headache and he couldn¡¯t wait to get some sleep.

    The goblin vige was dark at night because they didn¡¯t need any sort of light source to be able to see in the dark and despite Ryu¡¯s night vision skill, it was still difficult to move around since his range of vision became shorter and he wasn¡¯t able to distinguish colors.

    He entered silently on his room and lied on his bed next to Mia. They became quite close after their feeding session, but it didn¡¯t get to the point of being romantic. For Mia, sleeping next to Ryu was a necessity, since she was able to feed off the excess energy that manated from his body, thus reducing the amount of fluids she would need to ingestter.

    For Ryu matters were entire different.

    He foundfort in sleeping together with her, especially now that both Mochi and the amarok were lost in the forest. Ever since Rina broke up with him his pets had be the sole object of his affection, and that included Mia as well.

    He lied next to Mia and caressed her soft hair as he usually did before falling asleep. Only this time Mia stiffened up and trembled lightly, he found her behavior odd but paid no heed to it and kept going until his eyelids closed.

 Chapter 145

    145 Enjoy goblin city, please! part Mia chuckled at the sight of Ryu holding on to Ath with both arms, he even had a leg on top of her.

    ¡°Help me please¡±

    An Ath with reddened eyes and a face that showed she didn¡¯t blink an eye during the whole night whispered at Mia.

    ¡°Shhh, you¡¯ll wake him up. It¡¯s your fault for falling asleep in master¡¯s bed¡±

    Mia ced her finger in her lips signalling her to keep quiet, but Ryu was about to wake up anyways as the dawn was already breaking.

    ¡°Mia, how many times do I need to tell you that you need to put some clothes on if you¡¯re sleeping with me¡±

    Were Ryu¡¯s first words after waking up. His eyes were still closed but he felt the warmth of a naked woman besides him.

    ¡°Hold on a second, what are you doing over there? if you¡¯re already up... then who is beside me?¡±

    Ath covered herself with the nkets one second toote as Ryu caught the sight of her naked breasts.

    .....

    ¡°Lady Ath, aren¡¯t you too daring for a noblewoman?¡±

    He yfully joked, calling her ady on purpose.

    ¡°N-no! that¡¯s not it! I swear it was an ident¡±

    ¡°Is it the usual for you to identally sleep naked with men?¡±

    Ath blushed heavily at Ryu¡¯s remark. Mia did her best to hold on, but eventually exploded inughter but Ryu looked at her with reproachful eyes.

    ¡°Mia, why is she still naked? if you¡¯re free enough to beughing at other people¡¯s expense you¡¯re also free to work, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes master¡±

    Mia lowered her gaze in a regretful manner.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, I need to speak to you if possible¡±

    Ath said afterposing herself.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you at least wait until Mia makes you something to dress?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think this can wait any longer, besides...¡± She slowly uncovered her upper body, cing the tip of the nket on top of herp. Her breats were again fully exposed, only this time she didn¡¯t show the slightest sign of embarrassment. Instead she beared a determined look on her face.

    ¡°This might be the right way to speak to you about what I want¡±

    She waved her golden hair back, revealing her face and giving Ryu a clearer view of her naked body. Ryu couldn¡¯t help but re at her body with his eyes full of desire. She was a mature woman, but she couldn¡¯t be considered old by anyone¡¯s standars, and he was a man after all.

    ¡°Fine, just tell me what you want, but first... Mia, don¡¯t you have somewhere else to be?¡±

    Mia looked at him with a reluctant expression, Ryu¡¯s desire made his energy taste so much better she could barely contain from throwing herself into his arms, but she eventually nodded and left the room.

    ¡°Before anything, I would like to thank you for rescuing me and my maid¡±

    Ath bowed her head for a few seconds before continuing.

    ¡°Right now I don¡¯t have anything to properlypensate you for what you¡¯ve done for me, so instead I¡¯m going to tell you everything. I¡¯mdy Ath of house Crent, in the distant past Crent wasn¡¯t a city but a kingdom in its own right. Eventually, Crent and the kingdom of Loudeac merged and my house became one of the most reputable noble houses in the kingdom¡±

    ¡°What does any of this have to do with me?¡±

    ¡°Please, just listen to me. What I¡¯m going to ask you is not something that can be discussed so easily. I¡¯m the current head of my family but... we lost almost all of our members along with our funds too in the past war, in fact, though I was raised as a noble my family wasn¡¯t really that rich and we were barely able to get by¡±

    Her tone of voice became more serious before she continued

    ¡°I¡¯m not proud of the things I¡¯ve had done to acquire the necessary funds to recover the fief that belongs rightfully to my family, but ever since I took matters into my hands we are the closest we have ever been to do so. To tell the truth, it¡¯s mostly thanks to my maid, an orphan my mother raised to be our servant, she¡¯s really capable as a merchant and possesses the haggle skill¡±

    ¡°Is that why you had her pretend to be you during your deals?¡±

    ¡°Precisely because of that. I made the contracts and signed them myself, but she negotiated the terms and we took advantage of that¡±

    ¡°Then what reason did you have to take down businesses?¡±

    ¡°That is... well, the thing is I made a deal with the merchant¡¯s assosiation. They¡¯d let me do business my way as long as I took care of taking down certain shops, that was the case of miss Mia. She was just too popr and...¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it, why would you deal with corrupt merchants if you wanted to recover ther city? even if you seeded, wouldn¡¯t that leave you surrounded by corrupt people?¡±

    Ath seemed to ponder at Ryu¡¯s question for a few seconds before replying

    ¡°That¡¯s why I told you I¡¯m not proud of the things I had done. It doesn¡¯t matter anyway because I ended up losing so much money to you my house is no longer ruined, it¡¯s heavily sunken in debt¡±

    ¡°I get it now, is that why you wanted to speak to me naked? If you¡¯re offering yourself as a form of payment, let me tell you it wouldn¡¯t cover more than a few silvers...¡±

    ¡°No! that¡¯s not it! but... if you like what you see, you could marry me and be a noble. That should bepensation enough¡±

    ¡°And why would I want to be a noble?¡±

    ¡°But the whole city might be yours!¡±

    ¡°I refuse, I¡¯m not interested in marriage, nobility or in you¡±

    ¡°But mister Ryu! I went as far as travelling to the sacred empire to find a cure for your curse! I even got caught by goblins and they kept me prisoner for weeks! I don¡¯t have any money, I don¡¯t have anything to repay you the money I owe you or the kindness you showed me!¡±

    Ath¡¯s tone became desperate.

    ¡°I¡¯ts true I told you I needed to find a cure for my curse but right now I think I have it under control. This curse... It doesn¡¯t seem to want to hurt me anymore, it does consume my energy, but it¡¯s not so bad I can¡¯t endure it. You don¡¯t have to worry about repaying me, you were caught while trying to do what Iasked you, so you can say we¡¯re even now. Ah! you still need to pay me the money or return the tonics you bought from me¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll give them back to you, I promise!¡±

    It goes without saying that Ryu had little to no use for money right now because goblins didn¡¯t have any sort of currency, but Ath had a warehouse filled with tonics that he could either sell or use.

    At the same time that conversation was taking ce, Mia went outside to make some clothes for Ath as Ryu ordered her. She went to check the tanning racks in case the leather was ready. There wasn¡¯t a single piece of leather that could be used at the moment, but Mia was pleasantly surprised when she noticed there were goblins adjusting the ropes to expand the letter just as Ryu taught them.

    They were hardworking and good willed, which made their help invaluable for dismantling the megnia and making the most out of it¡¯s parts. They too were quite happy because Ryu gave them some of the fangs as payment and he was willing to teach them how to craft weapons and armors.

    As if that wasn¡¯t enough, they were experiencing the benefits of cooking with fire and they were able to prepare meat by themselves for the first time ever. Bardun was unconscious for less than a week, but when he woke up his vige looked like a different ce, buildings looked sturdier, goblins had better weapons already and the streets were filled with all sorts of new products.

    Mia was walking those streets right now looking for a piece of cloth she could use to fashion a dress for Ath.

    ¡°Hello¡±

    ¡°Hello! hello!¡±

    Every goblin greeted Mia with their limited vocabry, it sounded like a strange chorusprised of only bad singers, but she was really happy they to be recognized by them and tried to befriend everyone. Even learning their names was an impossible task, since they were so many and they all looked simr, but that didn¡¯t stop her from trying anyway.

    It took Mia more than ten minutes to find a goblin who had some half decent fabric in their tent.

    ¡°Hello! I want this please¡±

    She said as she lifted the pieces of cloth from the ground. The goblin inside the hut understood exactly what she meant and quickly nodded, he didn¡¯t even try to bargain with the pink haired human female that they all thought was Ryu¡¯s wife.

 Chapter 146

    146 Dress properly, please!

    Mia didn¡¯t want to abuse the goblin¡¯s generosity and she attempted to pay him with a bone taken from the megnia. It was the closest thing to money she had since goblins went crazy for beast parts. But the goblin shook his head and wouldn¡¯t receive anything from her.

    He was one of the many goblins that almost perished fighting the huge lizard and, even if he couldn¡¯tmunicate it with words, he wanted to thank the person who saved him. If he knew Mia actually wanted the fabric to make a dress for Ath, the bad warrior who killed younglings without hesitation, he would have asked for properpensation. In fact, he would have overcharged her.

    By the time Mia went back to Ryu¡¯s house there was yet another pile of gifts waiting outside, goblins were truly grateful towards Ryu. She took the gifts inside and rummaged into them to find something that could be helpful.

    She had the fabric and some thread, but there was something she didn¡¯t have and she didn¡¯t realize it until she was already back at Ryu¡¯s house.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Mia? you look confused¡±

    ¡°Master, I don¡¯t have a needle to sew the dress¡±

    She said with teary eyes

    ¡°How did you make yours then?¡±

    ¡°I just covered myself with a piece of cloth and tied it by the waist with a rope¡±

    .....

    While her dress was nothing to be proud of, she actually looked really nice. No one would have guessed that she wasn¡¯t wearing an actual dress.

    ¡°Then you need to make a proper dress for you too Mia, I have the sewing and tailoring skills but I think it would be better for you to learn new skills¡±

    ¡°Is it really ok? I might end up wasting lots of materials¡±

    She said somewhat troubled.

    ¡°As soon as the leather is ready I intend to craft some armor for them so you don¡¯t need to feel bad about wasting some resources¡±

    While Mia nodded in all seriousness, Ath lost her cool when she heard about Ryu¡¯s intentions to craft gear for those ¡®beasts¡¯.

    ¡°Howe you refuse to help me, but then you go out of your way to craft armor for them? since when are you sided up with those beasts? You are treading into a dangerous path, turning your back on humanity like it¡¯s nothing¡±

    ¡°Uh? do you seriously expect me to answer? tell me, what have you done for me other than bringing me trouble? what did the other adventurers do for me? even Lorenzo refused to help me when I was desperate, not only that, he ran the rumour that I lost against a goblin just to make fun of me. The other rookies betrayed us, heck, even Shortie the guy I helped the most stabbed me in the back, quite literally by the way...¡±

    Ryu was starting to lose his temper after hearing his own words so he took a few seconds to regain hisposure.

    ¡°And then the goblins, which I had faced as enemies before, not only saved me from certain death, they also gave me food and shelter for free. I¡¯m not saying I¡¯m on anyone¡¯s side, Human or beast I don¡¯t care, I¡¯ll always repay kindness with kindness and pain with pain.¡±

    Ath¡¯s face grew paler and seemed quite overwhelmed by Ryu¡¯s attitude, he had always been mild mannered and respectful in front of her. But she didn¡¯t dislike his new behavior, in fact, she thought it was manly.

    ¡°I can respect that actually, now I really wish I didn¡¯t try to escape so many times. To be fair, they only hurt us when we attempted to run away...¡±

    After reaching some sort of understanding, Ryu turned his back on Ath and picked a stone from the pile of gifts he received. Goblins had a knack for trading because they didn¡¯t have any sort of currency, and that meant every single one of them hoarded everything they could get their hands on.

    A simple stone that might have little to no value for a person, could be considered a treasure for a goblin. That made the fact that they willingly showered Ryu with gifts even more impressing.

    It took a single point of mana for Ryu to turn the useless stone into several needles sturdy enough to be useful, at least with clothes.There was no chance for a needle like that to be able to pierce leather made from the megnia. But that was a problem for the future, and he needed to solve the girl¡¯s dressing problem as soon as possible.

    It didn¡¯t matter how much he still loved Rina, he feared he would fall into Mia¡¯s mind games or Ath¡¯s straightforward attitude, he wasn¡¯t made of steel after all. Of course clothes had little to do with that, but at least seeing them dressed instead of naked would give him some peace of mind.

    Unbeknowsnt to Ryu, they were on a pretty simr situation. When the goblins rescued Ryu his shirt was already tattered and when the goblin doctor removed it for treating his wound it became nothing but shredded fabric.

    He had been walking around all day dressed with his boots and pants, revealing his new constitution. His abdominals were so chiseled Mia often sighed thinking she could even use his belly to wash clothes without issues. Not only that, but now even his chest was that of a proud warrior instead of his past rather skinny self.

    Of course he waspletely oblivious to the changes his body had gone through, it happened while he was unconscious and there was no way he could have noticed without a mirror.

    after threading the needle mia wanted to start sewing right away, but she was so distracted by Ryu¡¯s presence she forgot to tie the thread and it passed right through the fabric, she also pricked her fingers almost after every stitch.

    Being a subus, one of her most notorious traits was she was able to taste people energies. Every person had a distinctive vor and every emotionplimented it.

    She hadn¡¯t been able to feed properly for days, since everytime she tried to make a move on Ryu, he would turn her down. Being close to him provided her the bare minimum of energy she needed to survive, but it was the same as a hungry person standing in front of an all you can eat buffet with their favourite dishes.

    To make matters even worse, her body reacted to hunger in a different manner than humans. The more hungry she was, the more devious her behavior became. She would also experience a state of constant arousal that couldn¡¯t be put down by herself even if she wanted to. In short, she was desperate for Ryu¡¯s fluids but he wasn¡¯t budging.

    ¡°Uhm, master¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Could you please...¡±

    ¡°No¡±

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t even let me finish!¡±

    Mia pouted as if she had been unfairly treated.

    ¡°Ok, finish what you were saying¡±

    ¡°Could you please feed me?¡±

    ¡°No¡±

    ¡°Why!?¡±

    She puckered her lips in frustration.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I don¡¯t want to do that sort of things with you¡±

    ¡°Am i not attractive?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, but our rtionship will changepletely if we cross the line and I don¡¯t want that to happen to us¡±

    Ryu was beingpletely honest with her and shepletely understood where he came from. Her personality differed from her race so much that she was able to endure starvation so far, but that didn¡¯t make it any easier on her.

    ¡°If only you had some potions, no, just one would keep me going for a couple days¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just not possible, your craftman station is back at Crent along with my equipment. Even if I asked the goblins to make the equipment for me, it would take them weeks, and that is if they¡¯re even able to do so. Distillers are reallyplicated, I¡¯m not confident I could craft one¡±

    Ryu looked nostalgic for a second.

    ¡°What!? I thought you made your own equipment¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Luke tell you about Ayumi?¡±

    ¡°Yes! he told me about a granny that always nagged at him. He said she was quite the hipocrite and he was d to be free from her¡±

    ¡°He said that?¡±

    Ryu was shocked by Mia¡¯s words. Both Ayumi and Hiraku always treated Luke as their own son, they always fought and argued, but whenever Lukeined Hiraku would tell him ¡®that¡¯s what families are for¡¯ andugh it off.

    ¡°He did, but he looked sad everytime he talked about her¡±

    She said shaking her head from side to side. Albeit briefly, Mia met Hiraku and she had an idea of the kind of person he was, but after hearing Luke¡¯s bberings about his wife she made apletely wrong idea about her. She pictured Ayumi like an old wrinkled witch with a pointy hat and a wart on her nose.

    By the end of the day Mia finished two decent dresses, one for Athe and one for herself, while she talked with Ryu about his past with the group of heroes. Some of the stories she heard, like the time Ayumi had an allergic reaction to a nt when trying to make beauty products, had aplete different meaning in her head. She could already see her in front of a cauldron swirling an irondle with an evil grin and, because Ryu was too busy feeling nostalgic, he didn¡¯t even notice the mixup and kept on telling stories.

    It felt good for him to be able to share memories, since he had none from before that time. It was a new feeling he couldn¡¯t even begin to describe.

 Chapter 147

    147 Find your pets, please! part Almost a full month had passed since Ryu saw the amarok or Mochi for thest time, they were supposed to be nearby but whenever he attempted to use sense presence he rapidly lost his focus and got a headache just like the first time.

    Most skills would be enhanced the more they were used, but it seemed to be the opposite with this one. Learning it was easy enough, it simply popped in and that was it. Mastering it was a difficult process that took him a lot of effort and practice, he spent long hours practicing it with Sera whenever they went for gathering quests.

    But now, it was as if the skill was rapidly decreasing it¡¯s effectiveness and it became almost impossible to control. That¡¯s why Ryu decided to go out to look for his pets before he lost the skillpletely.

    He asked Bardun to help him track his pets, but it was useless. Goblins were exceptional at hiding, not so much at tracking beasts. It didn¡¯t mean that it was easy to get past them, but the amarok had such an acute sense of smell it would be nearly impossible to catch him off guard.

    Even the first time Ryu caught him, it was only possible thanks to thebined effort he made with Anne and even then, despite Anne¡¯s unnatural stats, it was a difficult task that costed them a lot of effort and time.

    Now he was by himself and his only advantage was that as soon as the amarok detected him, he would run towards his master like usual.

    Ryu had been enjoying his stay at the goblin vige, at least a lot more than he did at Crent. Here not only people didn¡¯t think of him as their inferior, but he was almost revered by the inhabitants.

    His words were taken asw, they would shower him with gifts on a daily basis and they all helped him in any task he wanted. He didn¡¯t even have to ask, in fact, most of the times goblins would simply walk in and lend a hand, even if Ryu didn¡¯t want them to.

    It was only thanks to the goblin¡¯s help that Ryu was able to craft almost a full attire with the megnia leather. Thankfully, he figured out that the creature¡¯s fangs were the same rank as its leather and he used one of them to punch holes into it.

    .....

    Now he was wearing gloves, pants, boots and a cloak all brand new. He was able to copy the same design from the pants he was already wearing and he did the same with the boots, but sadly he didn¡¯t know how to make a shirt and didn¡¯t have any sort of mold to copy so his torso was almost uncovered.

    While his new outfit did look fashionable, he didn¡¯t really care that much about that, what really excited Ryu was the defensive capabilities that undoubtedly better than those of a steel armor.

    The ck leather was soft to the touch and somewhat stic and after the tanning process it became really difficult to pierce or cut, but most importantly, it was almost invulnerable against blunt or abrassive damage.

    ¡°Master you¡¯re forgetting your rucksack!¡±

    Mia handed Ryu a ck leather rucksack she made for him with a leftover piece of leather she picked from the ground secretly. It¡¯s design was rather simple, but it costed her a great deal of effort and pain. She poked and pricked her fingers so many times while crafting it she lost count and simply kept going until she finished it.

    ¡°Uhm, thanks Mia! I can¡¯t go out without my provisions!¡±

    A smile dawned on Mia¡¯s face as she handed Ryu his new rucksack, but it was actually so small he could barely fit in rations for a couple days, thankfully with all his acquired experience on the wilderness he was quite confident in his ability to survive by himself.

    Besides, the forest was goblin¡¯s territory and it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult for him to find a friendly little helper on the way.

    Before leaving,Ryu kissed Mia softly on the lips. Despite what it looked like, it wasn¡¯t a romantic gesture, it was simply a safety measure in case he didn¡¯te back soon enough. As much as he wanted to keep Mia out of his pants, he couldn¡¯t let her starve and they agreed that kissing on the lips wasn¡¯t that dangerous for either of them, so they built an habit of kissing at least three times a day. When they woke up, when they went to bed and also when he came back home.

    Ryu took off at a frightening speed and Mia was left with a flushed face as she waved at him saying goodbye in a lovely fashion.

    Judging by Ryu¡¯s speed, he could reach Crent within the day, but he couldn¡¯t afford to go back there until Sera came back. He knew nothing about her current situation and the danger she was facing, instead, he thought she was simply being dyed by Luke who wanted to date her or something of the sorts.

    A month was a long period for Ryu, but it wasn¡¯t that long for regr people. At least not for Rina, who apparently moved on very quickly after dumping him. This sort of thoughts invaded Ryu whenever he was alone, and now he was venturing into the wild on his own again.

    As much as he hated being alone, no one could keep his pace or help him in his current endeavor, not even Ath who was actually a dual ss adventurer.

    The first couple days after leaving the goblin vige were the hardest for him, not only he didn¡¯t find any tracks to follow, he also found himself alone with his thoughts at night, sleeping on top of trees like he did back when he met the heroes.

    Everything wasing back to him, only this time it wasn¡¯t a nostalgic feeling, but a remorseful self hate that was born after second guessing his every choice.

    ¡®What if I had stayed at Ironwoods? would I still be with Rina?¡¯ of course not, the curse would have killed him. ¡®What if I went back as soon as I got my soulbound card?¡¯ Then it wasn¡¯t certain he would have found out how to deactivate his passive skills.

    So many thoughts traversed his mind in such a short period of time, it was as if he was apletely different person. But that wasn¡¯t it, he was actually just learning to know himself.

    Every day he spent with his friends was another day he had to put on a mask of strength and wisdom, despite being the weakest of them all for so long everyone relied on him for everything. From basic chores to life threatening desisions.

    The quiet of the goblin¡¯s forest was the perfect ce to get to know himself. There wasn¡¯t a single animal sound in the distance because goblins made quick work of everything they found, even insects, and unfortunately even fruits.

    By the fourth night he was out of food and was considering going back to the goblin¡¯s vige, when he finally found something that could be considered a hint on his pet¡¯s location.

    He didn¡¯t find any tracks, which somewhat relieved him because it meant they at least were able to hide them to be safe. What he found was some of Mochi¡¯s fur lying around in afy spot in a clearing.

    Why didn¡¯t he start looking in those kinds of ces? of course Mochi would find afortable ce were he could sleep and bezy.

    Ryu couldn¡¯t do something as convenient as picking up the scent from the fur Mochi shed, but there was something else he could do now that he was in the outskirts of the goblin territory. He nimbly jumped on top of a low tree branch and used it as a step to jump even higher. Hanging on with both hands on other branch he lifted himself until he was at the treetop.

    He couldn¡¯t see that far away, all he could see was nothing but trees. What he could do, though, was activate his sense presence skill to the top of it¡¯s capacity. He knew there would be a price to pay in pain, but that was his only useful skill for tracking and he was willing to endure it for his pet¡¯s sake. For Ryu they were the closest thing he had to a family of his own.

    He sat on the branch and attempted to focus, but it was useless. It was as if the skil wasn¡¯t being activated at all. Still, Ryu wasn¡¯t the kind of person that would surrender after the first try.

    He then remembered how natural it felt when he used the single strike skill and tried to replicate it.

    He started by releasing energy in vasts amounts and then noticed how it was easier to manipte the energy once it left his body, of course he wouldn¡¯t be able to re absorb it, but at this point all he cared about was finding his pets as soon as possible. Blue energy was being released in a constant stream from his body, it looked almost like steam but instead of rising to the skies, it umted until it enveloped himpletely.

    His self awareness diminished, but at the same time his senses were heightened and he was able to quickly find them, or at least the general direction where they were. And, despite not being able to see them, he could have sworn the amarok turned back to see him.

    The amarok and Mochi were moving fast and by the looks of it, it seemed as if they were running away from something and then it hit him.

    His beloved pets were running away from him!

 Chapter 148

    148 Find your pets, please! part Ryu raced across the forest without a care for the world, he passed right next to predators and prey alike, without paying them any heed.

    He was like a professional athlete in ¡®the zone¡¯, his vision tunneled as he treaded lightly on the grassy ground thanks to his pathfinding skill.

    Both Mochi and the amarok were really fast, even for a beast¡¯s standards, but they were no match for Ryu in his current condition. It was only a matter of time until he caught up to them.

    After running non stop for about an hour Ryu finally came into view distance, the amarok was a lot bigger than before and it moved gracefully across the dense vegetation, but despite being certain that Mochi was moving in the same direction he was nowhere to be seen.

    When the amarok noticed Ryu was close, it stopped running and turned back to face him. Ryu, thinking his pet was d to see him again, hurried up to them with a smile on his face.

    Usually, whenever the amarok saw his master, he would jump on top of him wagging his tail furiously. Now, instead, the only furious thing about him was his expression.

    The amarok bared its fangs against his master with a low growl that worked as a warning, it was as if he was saying ¡®if you take one more step I¡¯ll attack you¡¯.

    ¡°Easy boy!¡±

    Ryu said in an attempt to soothe the beast, but the amarok kept showing clear signs of agression. When Ryu was close enough, he noticed how much the amarok had grown in the little time they¡¯ve been apart, but that wasn¡¯t all, it also changed its appearance drastically.

    .....

    The amarok used to be a little bit big for a dog, but too small to be mistaken as a wolf. The creature standing in front of Ryu right now was bigger than any wolf he¡¯d seen, even his fur was a different color, it was still brown but it had some white patches beneath giving it a weird looking appearance.

    For a brief second Ryu thought maybe he encountered a different amarok, but then he caught a glimpse of something fluffy on top of the amarok¡¯s loin.

    It was Mochi, he looked pretty much the same as before, except his tail was a lot more fluffy now.

    ¡°Mochi! you¡¯re there! haha! so that¡¯s how you managed to run so fast, you just hitched a ride on the amarok and let him do all the work! ok nowe here¡±

    The cat¡¯s ears tingled when he heard his master, but limited himself to yawn and remained curled up on top of the amarok.

    ¡°Just what got into you guys? I¡¯ve been worried sick for you all this time and this is how you repay me?¡±

    The amarok turned his head to the other side ignoring Ryu.

    ¡°This is ridiculous! stop your drama right now or you¡¯ll leave me no choice but show you who¡¯s boss¡±

    The amarok turned to face Ryu again, growling louder and licking his fangs. He¡¯d seen this before only once when he fought against him the first time. Only now his expression didn¡¯t look funny in the slightest, he always had this sort of dumb face that peopleughed at, but now he was even more fearsome than the wild alpha wolf he met at the hill near the mine.

    ¡°You really want to do this? fine, have it your way. I¡¯ll kick your ass and then I¡¯ll kick Mochi¡¯s ass too!¡±

    The cat spiked his fur and stiffened up after hearing him and quickly jumped off from the amarok and ran towards his master.

    ¡°Finally! you came to your senses so I¡¯ll spare you¡±

    The cat purred and rubbed himself against Ryu¡¯s feet. His adorable attitude made it difficult for Ryu not to pick him up and pet his soft fur immediately, but it was too dangerous. The amarok was getting ready to attack.

    Ryu could have unsheathed his sword, but decided against it. He didn¡¯t want to harm his pet, even if it became a bit aggressive, it was his fault for not taking care of him properly after all.

    When the amarok charged at Ryu he took a bit of impulse and kicked him right in the snout. It would have been enough to knock out cold a D rank adventurer, yet it didn¡¯t even make the amarok flinch.

    The amarok tackled Ryu with such force that he dragged him along for a few meters leaving a deep mark in the ground, but Ryu held on to the beast¡¯s neck with all he had.

    Feeling his master¡¯s new strength, the amarok bit his shoulder viciously. Blood dripped on the ground, but instead of letting go or hitting back, Ryu started petting his fur.

    ¡°There there, I know you¡¯re mad but fighting won¡¯t solve anything with violence. You need to let me know why are you behaving like this and maybe I¡¯ll find a solution or something¡±

    The amarok felt guilty, he didn¡¯t really want to hurt Ryu and the only reason he bit him was because he felt overwhelmed.

    The growling stopped suddenly and the amarok curled his tail in between his rear legs, his fangs were still stuck deep into Ryu¡¯s exposed shoulder when he started crying like he used to do when Ryu trapped him in madame Bianca¡¯s dungeon and left him alone.

    But he wasn¡¯t scared now, instead he was feeling a deep sense of remorse most beasts never experienced in their whole life. Beasts were supposed to be just like animals, they had a wide range of emotions but guilt wasn¡¯t thatmon. Why would an innocent animal feel remorse?

    And still, this amarok knew full well that he hurt someone who actually loved him. The huge canine beast let go of him, his fangs were soaked in Ryu¡¯s blood but he didn¡¯t look fierce, just remorseful. He averted Ryu¡¯s gaze by lowering his snout towards the ground.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, now tell me what¡¯s wrong with you¡±

    Ryu said trying to ignore the pain as he took some distance to be able to use his analyze skill on the amarok.

    >Juvenile Amarok (healthy) (Loyal)

    >Amaroks are magical beasts that are afflicted with insatiable hunger their entire life. Instead of simply eating to replenish satisfy their needs, they eat to be stronger.

    ¡°I got new information from the soulbound card, it says that you¡¯re always hungry. Is that why you¡¯re mad at me? is it because I didn¡¯t feed you all this time?¡±

    The amarok didn¡¯t react, so Ryu kept reading the information disyed in front of him.

    >Bonding with this creature will cause the master the same affliction.

    Thisst part left him in a daze.

    It was one thing to learn that this poor creature was always hungry, but something else scared him.

    Ryu had been feeling hungry for a long time, it didn¡¯t matter how much he ate, it was very difficult for him to satisfy his hunger. Could the amarok have something to do with this? if that was the case, then it was possible that bonding with Mochi and Mia had some effects on him too.

    If it was Mochi, it was clear that it had something to do withzyness. The damned cat would sleep in the middle of a battlefield without issues, not even an earthquake would get him to skip his sleeping schedule.

    But what about Mia?

    Cold sweat ran down his forehead as a single thought crossed his mind. He didn¡¯t want to say it out loud because it sounded really bad but... ¡®Mia must be afflicted with stupidity!¡¯

    Of all things he couldn¡¯t think of anything worse than that, if he became like her not only his life would be in peril since Ryu had always relied on his wits to survive, but he would also be too stupid to even realize he¡¯s in danger until toote.

    The amarok rolled over on the ground exposing his belly towards Ryu and he unconsciously reached to pet him. His brown fur was somewhat stiff, but the white fur beneath it was soft to the touch. It seemed as if he was about to shed his entire fur and change into a different color.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll keep saying things and you let me know when I say the reason why you¡¯re mad, ok?¡±

    The amarok started wagging his tail in a cute manner and Ryu stroke his belly even faster.

    ¡°Is it because I paid more attention to Mochi? is it because I didn¡¯t let you fight against the thugs back then?¡±

    The mention of the thugs brought back bitter memories, but also reminded him of a certain promise he made. He facepalmed so hard his forehead became red.

    ¡°How could I forget!? Is it because I didn¡¯t give you a name?¡±

    The amarok quickly let out something simr to a bark.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I really am!¡±

    Ryu apologized sincerely from the bottom of his heart. Thinking on a name out of the blue was something difficult, but on his rush he thought of something that sounded appropriate.

    ¡°From now on your name will be Famine¡±

    Famine threw himself on top of Ryu¡¯s chest and started licking his face. It would have been adorable if not for his incredible size and weight, but at least he was showering his master with affection like he always did before.

 Chapter 149

    149 Make a rescue n, please! part ¡°Miss Risa, we need to talk¡±

    ¡°You said that already, but I¡¯m not interested¡±

    Risa let out a sigh.

    ¡°Please, we don¡¯t have much time!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about your problems kid, just go y tea time with your friends or whatever you nobles do¡±

    ¡°I just want to grab a beer with you miss Risa, let¡¯s go to the tavern¡±

    Thea whispered thest part. Risa¡¯s eyes were wide open and she quickly pulled Thea out of the guild whileughing heartily and pretending to be having fun.

    Risa wasn¡¯t a smart adventurer, she didn¡¯t rely much on her int stat because it was low, in fact she wasn¡¯t smart even whenpared with normal people which was pretty rare for an adventurer, but one thing she knew for sure was that Thea would never drink with her, at least not in a tavern.

    Thea thought that taverns were cheap, dirty holes were low ss adventurers would drown their sorrows in tasteless alcohol and she would never set foot inside one of those ces, but that was something only people who knew her would know.

    .....

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter kid?¡±

    Risa dropped her facade and red at her.

    ¡°it¡¯s about Ryu, no, mister Ryu... he¡¯s in trouble¡±

    ¡°Spit it out already, can¡¯t you see I¡¯m worried sick about him!? they said he was dead¡±

    ¡°No, he¡¯s not dead, at least he wasn¡¯t dead when I saw himst. We were caught by the goblins like they said, but not only they let us go, they also treated his wounds¡±

    ¡°Is it really true that Ryu killed Kinta and shortie?¡±

    Thea nodded in response.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure he had his reasons...¡±

    Risa didn¡¯t know how she felt about Ryu, but she was indebted to him and even if Thea said something outrageous like he killed them out of spite or something, she would have convinced herself that he did it for a reason. Fortunately that wasn¡¯t the case.

    ¡°They tried to enve us and they... they did things to me¡±

    Thea¡¯s eyes became teary but she was holding a determined look on her face.

    ¡°Why are you telling me all this now? why didn¡¯t you tell me before!?¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t... It¡¯s been difficult for me after what happened. It took me days to gather enough courage to get out of my room. The only reason I¡¯m telling you this is because Ryu saved my life¡±

    ¡°So, the thing about Sera hurting you, was that a lie too?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit moreplicated, but you need to know that the ones behind everything were the guildmaster and her daughter. They have some sort of connection with the sacred empire and they want Sera because she¡¯s a mage¡±

    Thea told Risa everything that happened, includings the parts she herself would rather forget. Her n to betray herrades and how it backfired, the abuse she suffered and even the fact that Ryu killed the guy while he was still inside her. She didn¡¯t notice when she started crying but tears didn¡¯t stop flowing from her eyes.

    Risa was infuriated, but she managed to keep calm and listen everything from start to finish without muttering a word. Still, the only reason she didn¡¯t kill Thea on the spot was because she was taken aback by the sincere tears that were trickling down her cheeks.

    Thea felt somewhat relieved aftering clean and her pain was eased, even if just a little. Risa didn¡¯t say a word and simply turned her back to her and headed to Ryu¡¯s shop.

    Not everyone knew he actually owned the ce, but Risa was well informed about her pupils. Ever since she took an interest on him she had been gathering information about Ryu and she was certain that she knew everything there was to know about him.

    When Risa pushed the door open she found ire and Taffy behind the counter selling potions like usual, the stock was running low but they still had enough to sell for a week or so.

    ¡°Miss ire, you might not know me but...¡±

    ¡°What happened miss Risa?¡±

    ¡°So you do know me!¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t take a genious, you¡¯re wearing mister Ryu¡¯s cape after all. Now please tell me why you came, if you have any news on him I¡¯ll pay you handsomly¡±

    Risa felt embarrassed after ire pointed out how she found out her identity, but she was in a hurry too.

    ¡°Is Luke around?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s at Bob¡¯s ce at the moment¡±

    ¡°Thank you, please don¡¯t tell anyone I came here¡±

    Risa could hear her own heartbeat, the hope of finding Ryu alive was so thrilling that she could barely hide her excitement, but as much as she wanted to rush into the forest and rescue him, she had to let Ryu¡¯s friend know what happened to him and there was also Sera¡¯s situation.

    She actually didn¡¯t like Sera that much, but she was close to Ryu and if he ever found out she abandoned her, he might never forgive her. She knocked on Bob¡¯s door and as soon as the door was opened she pushed past without caring for Veronika.

    ¡°Luke! Bob! Are you here?¡±

    ¡°What are you doing here miss Risa?¡±

    Veronika said hiding her anger behind a fake smile.

    ¡°I need to speak to them¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but they¡¯re busy right now, they¡¯ll be back in about a week¡±

    ¡°They went to look for Sera?¡±

    ¡°Of course not miss Risa, do you really think my Bob is capable of going against the adventurer¡¯s guild?¡±

    ¡°Of course he¡¯s capable of that, I¡¯d be disappointed if he didn¡¯t have the balls for that. I really need to speak to them, can you please tell me where are they?¡±

    Risa was so desperate she would have knelt down to beg without hesitation, but once Veronika confirmed her sincerity she let out a sigh and pointed upstairs.

    ¡°Please be careful with what you say, I find your rudeness amusing but they¡¯re not in the mood for that, they¡¯re still mourning their friend¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly woman! Ryu is alive!¡±

    Risa bolted upstairs and then she heard a loud wailing.

    ¡°Why!? Why did it have to be goblins!? those things are so weak! Did you see how strong he got? he knocked me down with a single hit, how could she fall to goblins? I¡¯m going to kill them dead!¡±

    Luke was crying, cursing and wailing all at the same time. Bob was sitting while staring at the ceiling with dead eyes.

    When Risa walked in the room the first thing she noticed was the stench that came out of them, it was a mix of snot, tears, sweat and alcohol.

    ¡°What are you idiots doing here?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re mourning the dead, did youe to join us Risa?¡±

    Luke said without even looking at her.

    ¡°I meant, what are you idiots doing in here instead of rescuing your friend you morons?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested, she flipped out and killed innocent people and now she needs to pay for it like any citizen¡±

    ¡°Are you stupid? I¡¯m not talking about Sera! Ryu, he¡¯s alive!¡±

    Risa mocked them, despite being in a simr state before Thea spoke to her. Bob and Luke smiled from the bottom of their hearts because they knew Risa wouldn¡¯t joke with something like that. Risa proceeded to fill them in with everything Thea told her, emphasizing the fact that goblins seemed to have treated his wounds but that she didn¡¯t know the reason for that and he might not have much time left.

    ¡°Bob grab your weapon, let¡¯s get going!¡±

    Luke tried to stand up but he stumbled drunkenly, Bob stood up so fast he flipped the table upside down making a mess.

    ¡°Come on guys, you¡¯re better than this. If we go out like that we¡¯re going to get killed before we even reach the forest! besides I¡¯ll probably be the first one to drop dead, you guys stink worse than the undead and it¡¯s killing me!¡±

    She pinched her nose with a disgusted grimace.

    ¡°Yeah, maybe we should take a bath first¡±

    Luke scratched the back of his head and started taking off his clothes on the spot.

    Risa, as the refineddy she was, stared tantly at Luke as he undressed. He had a rather thin frame, but that was a good thing for a thief. He wasn¡¯t in bad shape at all, his skin was milky smooth, his face wasn¡¯t manly but his blond hair gave him an air of royalty.

    Risa was very amused at the sight of Luke¡¯s buttcheeks and felt the urge to p him in the ass, but she dropped the idea once she noticed Bob staring at her.

    Bob was an entirely different matter, his huge size and muscr body gave him a rough appearance that contrasted heavily with his benevolent face. Still, he was a lot more to Risa¡¯s liking and she was eager to find out what was hiding beneath his pants.

    She didn¡¯t say a word and simply kept watching as a confused looking Bob started taking off his pants making her gulp in anticipation. ¡®If it wasn¡¯t for this stench this would be the happiest day of my life¡¯ she thought.

    But just before the best part Risa felt a pair of cold hands covering her eyes, it was Veronika.

    ¡°Just what do you think you¡¯re doing Miss Risa?¡±

 Chapter 150

    150 Make a rescue n, please! part Risa was disappointed after the show in front of her got interrupted by Veronika, but she still had many things to worry about.

    Her top priority was to rescue Ryu from the beasts that held him captive, but at the same time she knew it was an impossible task with such a small and weak group. Goblin viges were easy enough to find, at least for someone with her abilities, but raiding them was an entirely different matter.

    Even an A rank adventurer could fall at the hands of goblins if he wasn¡¯t careful enough, that is why the kindgom had been pondering on eliminating the goblin vige for a while now but the risk was too high and the reward too low. Not only that, despite being considered ugly mindless beasts, they were peaceful if left alone and even kept more dangerous beasts at bay.

    WhiIe Bob and Luke were taking a bath Risa took it upon herself to create a n to invade the goblin vige as safely as possible. But making ns wasn¡¯t her strong suit at all and so far she had only figured out they needed more people.

    When Bob came downstairs, still drying up his short hair, he found her muttering to herself with her hand on her chin making it clear she was trying to think of something.

    ¡°Mis Risa, you¡¯re still here, don¡¯t you need to get prepared for the trip?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m making a n to raid the goblin vige?¡±

    ¡°Luke and I got that covered, we just need to grab a few things...¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Spare weapons, food, water, bigger backpacks, better gear, camping equipment, rope and...¡±

    Risa felt embarrassed for not nning ahead while her former pupils knew exactly what they needed and she blushed lightly.

    ¡°Fine! I get it! you¡¯re smarter than me, so what¡¯s the n?¡±

    ¡°First we¡¯ll go rescue Sera¡±

    Luke said as soon as he got there, he took a little longer than Bob getting ready because he always took great care on his appearance.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the time to think with your dick, we need to move quickly and rescue Ryu or else...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking with my dick uh? then how do you expect to break into enemy territory by ourselves? Are you capable enough to fight endless beasts by yourself? The reason we need to rescue Sera has nothing to do with my crush on her, she¡¯s a mage and as such she¡¯s really good at fighting multiple enemies¡±

    ¡°That makes sense but Ryu might be in danger as we speak!¡±

    ¡°Tsk! That guy is near unkible, I¡¯ve seen him kill beasts ten times stronger than him without so much as a weapon¡±

    ¡°So he¡¯s always been that strong?¡±

    ¡°Haha, no, but even a wolf was ten times stronger than him so...¡±

    ¡°What Luke is trying to say miss Risa is that he won¡¯t die that easily and you already told us the goblins treated his wounds, but if we don¡¯t do something about Sera she will soon get out of our reach¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but why didn¡¯t you guys attempt to rescue her before? didn¡¯t you think it was kind of obvious she was being falsely used?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, It was precisely the part about her killing herpanions what made us believe it was all true. She¡¯s pretty and all but she¡¯s a bit deranged¡±

    Luke shrugged.

    Risa couldn¡¯t agree or disagree with Luke¡¯s statement, he certainly knew Sera better than her, but it amazed her that Sera¡¯s own friends thought bad of her like that.

    Sera woke up un the guild¡¯s dungeon, it was a cold and damp ce and there wasn¡¯t a single lightsource, which made her think she was being held underground. Her hands were cuffed behind her back but her legs were unhindered. Most people would freak out if they woke up in a ce like that, but Sera was cold andposed. As soon as she was caught she knew she would be put in a ce like this.

    What she didn¡¯t expect was the awful simrity with the dungeon beneath Bianca¡¯s brothel.

    Just remembering the state in which they found the people she had held captive for her own amusement struck fear into Sera¡¯s heart and the only thing that kept her from screaming was her calm mind skill that allowed her to think rationally.

    It wasn¡¯t a coincidence that the ce was dark and damp, capturing an adventurer was difficult, but imprisoning them was a challenge. In this world where a single person could defy an army, where the elements would bend to a mage¡¯s will and even the strongest materials could be broken with brute force, they needed to take every security measure to make sure they wouldn¡¯t be able to escape.

    It was a good thing Sera didn¡¯t panic and started to move around carelessly because the ce waspletely covered in traps of physical and magical nature. She didn¡¯t know that, but she was smart enough to realize how dire her situation was.

    As days went by she realized they weren¡¯t going to feed her, it was most likely a strategy to weaken her and keep her from trying to break out. Being left alone in the dark meant she had all the time in the world to think about her situation and she did so by thinking the same way their captors did.

    If they wanted to weaken her then it also meant that they were going to move her. She didn¡¯t know this for sure, but instead of spending her energy trying to escape in vain, she kept her eyes closed the whole time and focused solely on her mind.

    Thanks to that she gained a new skill called meditation which reduced her need for food and water and enhanced her mystical abilities. It was the best thing that could have happened to her because thest time she ate something was the day she arrived back at Crent, but just like with anything in life, there was a downside to it.

    She lost track of time.

    When the guild¡¯s guards came in to transport the F rank prisoner to the city of Baroco, they found her much more healthy than they thought she¡¯d be. They were adventurers themselves, but they couldn¡¯t figure out how did she manage to stay in good shape after all the time she had been imprisoned.

    Sera kept quiet when they opened the door, she didn¡¯t resist when they restrained her even more and she didn¡¯t say a word the whole time she was being transported through the underground tunnels.

    Because the guild kept Sera¡¯s transport a secret, no one knew when or where was she being sent to, and thanks to the tunnels being underground, they were able to take her out of the city without no one noticing.

    Only a few adventurers were able to enter the dungeon and unfortunately, Risa wasn¡¯t one of them and the group didn¡¯t know anything about it and they had to spend a week or so trying to gather information.

    Luke¡¯s thief skills proved to be really helpful in such matters, not only was he able to spy on people without being noticed but he also was able to pick locks and detect traps.

    Unfortunately, by the time Luke realized Sera wasn¡¯t in Crent anymore it was already toote. Sera was escorted out of town by two adventurers and she was put into the city soldier¡¯s custody.

    Soldiers were nothing like adventurers. Instead of being ranked by the level of quests they could take, they were ranked by power and responsibility. It could be said they were weaker than adventurers, at least in raw power, but they had two advantages over them. The kingdom provided them with everything they needed, food, shelter, gear, transportation and also they were trained daily.

    If a soldier and an adventurer with the exact same level of power were to bepared, the adventurer could take on a much stronger beast than the soldier could by himself, but on the other hand if they fought each other the adventurer wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.

    Kingdom issued gear was noughing matter at all and it made a huge difference.

    Sera was now being escorted by no less than five soldiers, every single one of them at least as strong as Risa.

    ¡°Hurry up, we need to catch up to them as soon as we can!¡±

    ¡°Miss Risa, I think it¡¯d be better if you let Luke take the lead¡±

    Bob said awkwardly. In the few days they spent preparing Luke was able to gather information and make a n for rescuing her, meanwhile Risa spent her days leisurely resting on the couch on Bob¡¯s house freeloading.

    ¡°I¡¯m a higher rank than him and I could defeat the both of you with a hand tied on my back, why should I follow his lead?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who is the strongest, you need to think things through. Leading is not about sheer power, but about strategy¡±

    Luke said thispletely aware that he had been just like her before. He was reluctant to follow Ryu¡¯s leadership for a long time, until he finally realized that Ryu was more suitable to be leading them.

    Bob chuckled at Luke¡¯s words, but then he faked a cough to cover it up.

 Chapter 151

    151 Make a rescue n, please! part ¡°Tell me, how exactly is your n any better than mine?¡±

    ¡°Well, for starters, you don¡¯t even have a n!¡±

    ¡°I do! We catch up to them, beat their asses and then head back with Sera to Crent¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t simply leave Crent as we are! Veronica, Taffy and ire would be left defenseless. What good would it do to rescue Sera, only to find out they killed our loved ones!?¡±

    ¡°So you do love Taffy after all...¡±

    Bob muttered.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it! I didn¡¯t mean it like that, but that¡¯s far from the point I¡¯m trying to make. If we leave in a hurry they¡¯ll be able to capture the people we know under false pretenses, not only that, even if we somehow find Sera we can¡¯t be sure we¡¯ll be able to beat the guards¡±

    ¡°Then what do you propose!?¡±

    Risa and Luke were somewhat simr and couldn¡¯t avoid yelling at each other whenever they argued. Bob was much more calm than them and he always tried to put out the fire in their fights, but Veronika was being affected by the poor mood that reigned over her house.

    .....

    Veronika wasn¡¯t really a confrontational person, even back at the brothel she would rather avoid conflicts against other prostitutes, but that didn¡¯t mean she would allow people to make a fuss in her own house.

    ¡°Can you please keep it down?¡±

    She said in the fake smile she always put whenever she was mad.

    ¡°This is none of your business!¡±

    Risa yelled at her, but that proved to be a big mistake.

    ¡°Is it not my business when youe into my house, eat my food and drink my wine? I guess you don¡¯t want dinner then¡±

    Risa didn¡¯t think much of her words and simply kept arguing with Luke about who would be a better leader. When dinner time came the table was filled with cooked meat, steamed vegetables and all sorts of dishes Bob loved. Veronika wasn¡¯t nearly as good as Ryu when it came to cooking, but Bob would eat her food over Ryu¡¯s any day.

    ¡°Veronika, I think you forgot my share¡±

    ¡°Did I?¡±

    Risa stared at her empty te, there were also some empty bowls in front of her. There was also a jug and a ss, but both were empty.

    ¡°Come on Veronika, I¡¯m sorry ok, you can¡¯t do this to me!¡±

    Risa¡¯s eyes were teary and she pouted. Seeing a woman on her twenties act like that was a funny sight for Bob and Luke, she was older than they were, but Veronika was already on her thirties and wouldn¡¯t budge against a childish tantrum.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t respect my house, you don¡¯t get to eat my food¡±

    And that¡¯s how Risa found out Veronika wasn¡¯t the pushover she thought she was.

    ¡°So what¡¯s your n?¡±

    Risa tried to keep busy chatting to cope with her hunger.

    ¡°We already investigated, but unless we¡¯re able to capture Fena and get her to tell us everything we won¡¯t be able to get any more information in Crent. I doubt many people will know about their schemes, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be too useful and we would be wasting our time. In this case, we need to follow them without being noticed and see what happens, if we¡¯re lucky enough not every soldier in their group is corrupt and we might get a chance to rescue Sera while they fight each other¡±

    Luke exined what was on his mind as he kept eating right in front of Risa. He knew Veronika would never forgive him if he offered Risa anything to eat. But Bob¡¯s case was different and he couldn¡¯t stand seeing his former instructor suffer so much.

    ¡°Honey, I think miss Risa learned her lesson. Why don¡¯t you let her eat too? we need her to be in top shape, our very lives will be on the line¡±

    ¡°Of course sweetie!¡±

    Veronika said as she leaned to kiss on Bob¡¯s cheek. She loved him so dearly there was nothing she wouldn¡¯t do for him. Whenever she woke up next to Bob she would thank the gods for blessing her so much. She was a woman from humble origins, even if she hadn¡¯t be a prostitute her chances of marrying someone who treated her decently were slim to none, and yet there she was with a handsome man, much younger than her that treated her as if she was the queen herself.

    Once Risa had food on her te she couldn¡¯t be bothered to talk about their n and the table fell silent.

    At that moment Luke found himself thinking what would Ryu do in his ce and second guessing his every thought. There was a high possibility that things didn¡¯t go as nned and even if they did, it would still be too hard for them to take out five soldiers by themselves.

    In all truth he didn¡¯t fear failure so much as getting someone on his team killed and now he faced a big problem. ire, Taffy and Veronika weren¡¯t fighters and they would only get in the way and slow them down.

    ¡°Bob, I think we should send Veronika and the girls back to Ironwoods¡±

    ¡°Uhm...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the only way we can be certain that they¡¯ll be safe, if the guildmaster really is conspiring with the sacred empire she won¡¯t mind taking hostages and ying dirty¡±

    ¡°Uhm...¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I agree with you but we can¡¯t send them back by themselves, what If they¡¯re attacked by bears or wolves? or maybe something even worse¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s won¡¯t be an issue! we can post a quest to send them back to Ironwoods, if we pay good money you can post it as a C rank quest. Even the guildmaster doesn¡¯t have the authority to meddle with quests¡±

    Bob¡¯s face brightened up.

    ¡°That¡¯s it! thanks miss Risa¡±

    ¡°So, this is what we¡¯ll do. We¡¯ll pack up our most valuable items and send them back to Ironwoods so they don¡¯t suspect us, we¡¯ll hire adventurers to protect the cargo but we¡¯ll tell them to prioritize keeping the girls safe. We¡¯ll see the girls out, then we¡¯ll give chase to the soldiers and follow them without being noticed until we find an opening. Any questions?¡±

    ¡°I have a question... Who died and made you team leader?¡±

    Risa scoffed at Luke who then lowered his gaze and he pinched his sinuses to fight a headache. But he couldn¡¯t say anything about her behavior because he knew he had been the same, if not even more bothersome towards Ryu.

    Despite Risa¡¯s protests they did as Luke said. It was a safer alternative to Risa¡¯s frontal attack strategy.

    The next day Bob and Veronika held hands and kissed for thest time before parting ways. The carriage was filled with many valuables, including Ryu¡¯s equipment, which meant the girls had to walk on their way back. None of them minded that,though, because they were ustomed to the hardships of this world.

    The quest they posted was an oddly specific one, but fortunately one team filled all the requirements.

    It had to be a teamposed with at least two C ranked adventurers, a minimum of five people and they all had to be women. Bob wouldn¡¯t let any men near her Veronika if he could help it and Luke didn¡¯t mind getting acquainted with pretty girls.

    Technically, those C rank adventurers should have been as strong as Risa and a lot stronger than Bob and Luke, but that wasn¡¯t the case. Risa was considered to be almost a B rank since the only thing she wascking was a second ss, while Bob and Luke were heroes with incredibly high stats and otherwordly knowledge.

    They hired the best team of adventurers money could get them, they paid three gold coins in advance and ten gold coins afterpleting the quest to each member. This may not sound like much, but it was considered a small fortune. Unfortunately for them it was really hard finding strong adventurers in Crent because it was considered as a small city near the border of the kingdom in a ce so remote it was governed by a lowly baron, the bottom of nobility.

    Bob waited until the cart waspletely out of sight before moving,he had time to spare since they were going to leave Crent at dusk. Then Bob rushed to the tavern near the northern gate to meet with Luke and Risa who were waiting for him and had bumped into someone they didn¡¯t expect.

    ¡°Mister Lorenzo, you finally came back from your quest!¡±

    Luke smiled at his instructor.

    ¡°Yeah, it was no big deal at all, what are you guys doing here? don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to challenge Risa again¡±

    He mocked Luke reminding him what happened thest time he drank with her.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, we¡¯re on a quest¡±

    ¡°Without your instructor? I thought I told you guys to wait until I was back before taking any quest by yourselves, you¡¯re still too green¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m right here you geezer!¡±

    Risa red daggers at her friend.

    ¡°So, what are you hunting?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not hunting anything, we¡¯re going to rescue Sera¡±

    Against allmon sense, Risa disclosed the nature of their secret mission with a proud smirk on her face. Luke was dumbfounded, but still he ced his hand on the hilt of his shortsword in case Lorenzo tried to stop them.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so jumpy Luke¡±

    Lorenzo said with a stern face

    ¡°In fact, If you want I can join you guys as soon as I get some rest¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary mister Lorenzo¡±

    Bob, who only recently arrived at the tavern, said in a serious tone.

 Chapter 152

    152 Seriously? please! part ¡°Come on Bob, you can¡¯t possibly be thinking Lorenzo will betray us¡±

    Risaughed as she patted his shoulder, but Bob didn¡¯t reply. It was only after Luke saw Bob so serious that he realized the mistake he just made. Even if lorenzo had been Sera¡¯s instructor before, it didn¡¯t mean he would help them. Not only that, all it took for him to frustrate their ns was to tell on the adventurer¡¯s guildmaster.

    ¡°Yeah Lorenzo, don¡¯t worry we¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯re just going to Baroco to appeal to Sera¡¯s sentence¡±

    Luke said in an attempt to cover their true intentions. Thankfully, for the first time Risa caught wind of Luke¡¯s intentions and confirmed his words.

    ¡°Of course, I wouldn¡¯t tag along if they were nning on doins something stupid¡±

    Lorenzo seemed to be convinced and then sighed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll take your words into consideration, her crimes are too serious. But I wish you the best of luck¡±

    They decided to have one more beer for the way before heading off, walking at night was especially dangerous but they didn¡¯t have a choice if they wanted to catch up to Sera.

    The road outside the northern gate of Crent was light up with severalmp posts, but only for the first kilometer or so. It was a good thing they prepared for this trip beforehand, because Luke got the chance to buy somemps fueled by elemental stones just like the ones he bought back at Ironwoods, only these were a bit more advanced and provided a more steady lightsource.

    .....

    After spending most of their savings in gear and whatnot they didn¡¯t have much money to cover their stay in cities, which is why they were nning on skipping as many towns as possible and only go into popted areas when they needed to re stock themselves.

    The trip to Baroco on foot was lenghty, it could take them as much as a whole month, and that was only if the soldiers were actually heading that way. If instead they were going to the sacred empire, the trip could be extended for another month.

    Risa had been so eager to start their journey that she couldn¡¯t hold her excitement, she was so anxious to set off that she kept annoying Bob and Luke all the time when they were at Bob¡¯s ce. But now that they started their travel she was already feeling homesick.

    It would be one thing if she knew this was a short trip like when she goes questing, but she knew she wouldn¡¯t be back for a while and this was the first time she was heading to a ce so far away.

    It was really umon for people to move to another city, especially one so far away. Most people were born and died in the same ce, while only high rank adventurers and nobles were strong or rich enough to afford travelling.

    Any sort of carriage or mount was heavily sought after, even theme horse they had was so expensive Luke used topare his price to that of a luxurious car from his world.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t we simply run all the way to the next city?¡±

    Risa asked impatiently.

    ¡°We are still to close to Crent and we are heading towards louders territory, you already know how messy they get at night and we can¡¯t afford to get tired mid way¡±

    ¡°That might be so, but they¡¯re super weak¡±

    She said waving her huge knife looking sword in the air.

    It took them about half an hour to reach the hunting grounds and despite their efforts to go unnoticed they were found by the cricket like creatures.

    Luke attempted to kill it stealthily before it rmed the rest but Bob had other ns.

    ¡°zing dragon rage hellfire!¡±

    Bob swung his warhammer as he yelled in the quiet of the night, breaking the mantle of silence that protected them from the nocturnal creatures. A loud chirping that honored the creature¡¯s name alerted the others and then dozens of huge insects surrounded them.

    Of course they didn¡¯t have trouble killing them, but it was tiresome and they were getting soaked in their filthy blood and entrails.

    ¡°Dude, why couldn¡¯t you just let me handle it quietly!?¡±

    Luke grunted angrily as he dodged a tackle from the side.

    ¡°Have some balls Luke, you¡¯re such a coward!¡±

    She said as she turned a louder into minced meat.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a coward, but this is not a hunting trip! we¡¯re supposed to catch on to the soldiers, there¡¯s no point in following them if they¡¯re faster than us¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t hear you because of all this chirping, so I¡¯ll assume you agreed with what I said¡±

    Risa mocked Luke angering even more.

    ¡°This chick is going to cause me an aneurysm¡±

    Luke muttered to himself, yet Risa was able to hear him because she went to the oracle before leaving Crent, unlocking the archer ss. This didn¡¯t mean she had became an archer though, it simply meant that she was able to acquire the skills. It takes time for a new ss to settle in and it didn¡¯t count unless it was shown in the soulbound card.

    ¡°Just who do you think you¡¯re calling a chick!? do you wan¡¯t me to discipline you?¡±

    Luke didn¡¯t mind Risa¡¯s threat and simply kept fighting against the endless insects that wereing his way.

    ¡°Single strike!¡±

    A beast that got too close to Luke was sliced in half sttering himpletely.

    At the break of dawn they were exhausted, fortunately for them, these creatures were mostly peaceful during the day those remaining went ahead and started eating the corpses of their fellow louders.

    There was a high pitched noise resounding inside everyone¡¯s mind, it was a harmful status effect none of them experienced before and it was caused by acoustic contamination. They were also so filthy and sticky they couldn¡¯t walkfortabily.

    ¡°This is what you get when you rush in and start yelling Bob!¡±

    Luke was mad at Bob and not without reason, it was only because of his silly chanting they had to spend the night fighting endlessly.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry Luke, It¡¯s the force of habit...¡±

    Bob was ashamed and apologized profusedly, but their mood was already ruined. It was their first night travelling together and they found themselvespletely bathed in filth, fatigued and they already broke about one third of their spare weapons.

    Thankfully, there was a river near the road. Of course this was no coincidence because the road was made so it follows the river for as long as possible. Water wasn¡¯t amodity, but a necessity for beasts and humans alike.

    While Bob and Luke were cleaning themselves, especially Luke who was scrubbing his clothes energetically to clean them off, Risa instead cleaned her sword.

    After washing it down, she waved it in the air to dry it and then she sat down and started applying some kind of oil in it. Physical hits reduced the durability of weapons, but by providing a dutyful maintenance adventurers were able to keep them from breaking. Risa¡¯s sword wasn¡¯t only huge, which made it¡¯s maintenance difficult to perform, but it was sharp so she needed to be really careful when applying the oil.

    ¡°Are you seriously not going to clean yourself?¡±

    Luke said in a bitter mood even after cleaning his clothes.

    ¡°First things first, one¡¯s weapons must be in top shape at all times, but if you want to see me naked that badly...¡±

    Risa said with a smirk and she started taking off Ryu¡¯s cape she had been using as a dress. Luke gulped down his saliva as he stared at her.

    ¡°That¡¯s cheating!¡±

    Luke eximed feeling like he had been lied to, because beneath the cape Risa was wearing her former attire, which was actually pretty revealing, but it properly covered her nudity.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you a little too excited though?¡±

    After a sleepless night in which they were forced to fight, they werepletely spent and decided to have breakfast near the river. Making a fire was too hard for them, they always relied on Ryu for such matters, but Risa was more experienced in camping.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need a fire, we can just drink this water without boiling it¡±

    ¡°Are you sure its safe?¡±

    ¡°Of course! I do it all the time!¡±

    It was at that time they knew they made a mistake.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel so good¡±

    Bob eximed after his stomach grumbled loudly.

    ¡°Let me check¡±

    Luke used his consider skill and noticed something that worried him greatly.

    ¡°Dude, you¡¯re sick!¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    If Bob didn¡¯t have a tone of voice so low that would have sounded like a squeal.

    Risa waspletely ok with drinking unboiled water because her defenses had been strong since she was a child thanks to her upbringing in the slums. But Bob and Luke were different, not only they lived peaceful lives in a modern civillization until not long ago, but their defenses were those of a newborn child and theypletely forgot about that.

 Chapter 153

    153 Follow the n, please! part ¡°What do you mean you didn¡¯t bring any potions!?¡±

    Luke yelled at Bob who held a troubled expression on his face.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d need them and those were Ryu¡¯s so...¡±

    ¡°We are literally doing this for him, do you really think he would get mad at you for taking some of his potions?¡±

    Risa, who had enough of Luke¡¯s attitude tried to jump in on the argument to defend Bob.

    ¡°Well, miss Risa, if you knew him better you¡¯d know he really hates wasting his potions... he¡¯s even let people die in front of his eyes to avoid spending them¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t possibly be serious! That¡¯s not the Ryu I know¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter! we¡¯re barely outside of the city and we¡¯re already sick and exhausted. If things keep going like this we might not even be able to reach Sera at all, let alone rescue her!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re such a pessimist Luke, grow a pair already!¡±

    .....

    ¡°Oh, blow me!¡±

    ¡°I would if you had something in between your legs!¡±

    As Luke and Risa were quarreling, Bob¡¯s condition became even worse and he was starting to look pale. It wasn¡¯t a life threatening situation, but it was bad enough they couldn¡¯t walk too much that day.

    By night, they found themselves in prairie wolves territory which adventurers would usually avoid at night. Wolves weren¡¯t strong at all, but they were certainly smarter than insects and they were a bothersome enemy to face, especially in the dark.

    Bob shivered in the tent while Risa and Luke stood watch for the night, the constant howling in the background kept them awake worsening their situation.

    ¡°It¡¯s our second day walking and we¡¯re at a distance an average person should be able to cover in six hours, as if that wasn¡¯t enough, Bob is still sick!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, Luke, just go ahead and rescue Sera¡±

    Bob was still lying down tryng to recover as much stamina as possible, but it didn¡¯t matter how much he rested all his stamina remained depleted.

    ¡°Bob, do you remember how did the berries that Ryu used to cure stomachahe looked like?¡±

    ¡°Oh right! the berries! they were uh... small and round... and red... I think?¡±

    ¡°You think? ufff, nevermind, I¡¯ll just go fetch whatever berries I find and hopefully you don¡¯t end up dead after eating something poisonous. Risa, get a fire going in the meantime¡±

    Risa hated receiving orders from others, even more if they came from someone she deemed weaker than herself, but Bob didn¡¯t look so great. He was in pain, tired and suffered from severe diarrhea and she decided to keep quiet and do as Luke asked only for Bob¡¯s sake.

    Luke had no idea of what he was doing, he simply picked whatever he found in the bushes, even some insects without even noticing. Ryu would usually take it slow and analyze everything before storing it in a separate container, Luke instead relied on his speed to grab as many berries as he could.

    When Luke came back to their camp there was a lit fire, water boiling on top of it and Risa was sleeping right next to Bob to keep him warm.

    Luke was sleepy and tired, spending more than two days awake was hard even on strong adventurers like him, so he felt the need to wake Risa up. If he wasn¡¯t allowed to sleep then no one was allowed to sleep.

    It was only when he was already next to Risa and he looked at her rxed face, so innocent and calm, that he realized how selfish he was being and how it made no sense to fight over something like that. He woke up Bob instead of Risa and showed him the berries he brought back with him.

    Bob did his best to remember how did the medicinal berries looked like, but it had been too long since he saw themst. In the end he discarded the ones he was sure he had never seen before and only two types of berries remained.

    ¡°I¡¯m absolutely certain that one of these is the medicine, but I can¡¯t tell which one¡±

    Luke was desperate, hispanions were an absolute mess and they were so ipetent, yet he depended on them to rescue Sera. While he really thought rescuing her first was the right choice, he wondered how easy things would be if Ryu was with them.

    He calmed himself down and decided to shut off his ego for a few minutes while wondering what would Ryu do. If only he had paid more attention to him while they were at their settlement.

    There were two different types of red berries that Bob thought might be the medicine.

    Either of them could be medicine, food or poison and he had no way of figuring out what was what. He could choose one randomly and feed them to Bob or mix them both and hope for the best.

    While picking at random had a fifty percent chance of being correct, mixing them both had the advantage of being one hundred percent certain that Bob would get the medicine and only a thirty three percent chance of ingesting a poison.

    ¡°Bob, I¡¯ll mix them both in an infusion if you¡¯re ok with this¡±

    Bob only nodded in reply, he trusted Luke¡¯s judgement and he wanted to get better as soon as possible to be able to resume their quest. But he was also somewhat scared because his sickness was so severe, about half of his healthpoints had been lost already and he wasn¡¯t sure he could survive if he ingested something toxic.

    The taste of the infusion Luke gave him was odd to say the least, It was so bad that no one would ever call it an acquired taste and drinking it on purpose would be considered nothing but masochism. That contrasted heavily with what Ryu made back then, but he fell asleep before being able toin about that.

    By nightfall Risa woke up to stand watch and let Luke get some sleep. She was grateful towards him because he let her sleep and didn¡¯t nag at her when she woke up, thanks to that she resolved herself to follow his lead as long as he didn¡¯t ask something really stupid.

    ¡°Good morning everyone!¡±

    Were Bob¡¯s first words after waking uppletely refreshed with his health points to the max. He felt even better than before, he regained his strength, his cheerful attitude and even the bags under his eyes had disappeared.

    ¡°Dude you look great!¡±

    ¡°My mom made me this handsome¡±

    Bob joked.

    ¡°Haha, now seriously, I don¡¯t remember Ryu¡¯s medicine being so effective¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because it wasn¡¯t, I don¡¯t know what you gave me yesterday but now I feel amazing!¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s something I didn¡¯t consider. The unidentified berry could have been poison, food, but I didn¡¯t even think of the possibility that it could have been a medicine too!¡±

    ¡°Does this mean...¡±

    Risa barged in the conversation rubbing her eyes but before she was able to finish her sentence Luke replied.

    ¡°We have medicine now!¡±

    The next few days they ran at full speed to make up for the lost time and covered an insane amount of distance. They learned their lessons and made a firece wherever they camped and they skipped every town in their way because they didn¡¯t have the need to buy supplies.

    They fought many different kinds of beasts and because Risa was an experienced adventurer, she knew most of them and provided useful advice on how to defeat them efficiently. Since they were walking along the road they didn¡¯t encounter as many beasts, the closest to a city or town the weaker beasts were.

    Adventurers and soldiers alike made quick work of anything that came too close, but the middle point in between two citiies was always the most dangerous.

    ¡°What is that thing!?¡±

    Luke opened his eyes wide at the sight of a weird looking creature with huge protruding thorns on it¡¯s back and tail.

    ¡°That¡¯s a thorny lizard, you got to be careful because...¡±

    ¡°Fiery spiral of death!¡±

    Bob spinned on his feet as he swung his hammer at the creature. The thorny lizard took heavy damage and fell into a daze after being hit on the head, but Bob fell on one knee right in front of the beast.

    ¡°You idiot! those things reflect part of the damage they take!¡±

    ¡°How are we supposed to kill it then?¡±

    Luke screamed without trying to hide his fear. Thorny lizards were huge beasts, he could onlypare it¡¯s size to a school bus, but that wasn¡¯t all. Their appearance was as fierce looking as it¡¯s attack damage which increased the damage they could reflect with their passive skill.

    ¡°You usually trap them and kill them with ranged attacks, or wait until it gets too tired to activate it¡¯s skill. Anyway, as long as you don¡¯t touch it directly you won¡¯t receive any damage¡±

    Risa walked towards the stunned creature until she was about five meters from it, then she took some knives from her waist and threw them at the beast¡¯s neck. Most of them bounced off on it¡¯s spikes, but some got stuck in between it¡¯s scales causing some minor damage.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you scared to get so close?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m new to archer¡¯s skills so I¡¯m useless from afar¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re useless from close up range too, get back or it might hit you!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s stunned,I¡¯ve seen this many times. Nowe over and throw some stones at it¡±

    Unfortunately for the poor creature, it ended up being stoned to death in a slow gruesome manner unfit for any hunter to inflict upon their prey. By the time it finally died even Risa had a grim expression on her face, no one enjoyed doing that but they couldn¡¯t afford to let such an agressive beast roam around near the road.

 Chapter 154

    154 Follow the n, please! part Four footmen were walking in line escorting a chained up blond woman and the captain remained right besides her. They were professional soldiers of the kingdom of Loudeac, proud and disciplined men and women with an outstanding sense of duty and honor.

    Sera walked with her bare feet and a tattered cloth apparel provided to her before the transfer. She had been nning and scheming of ways to escape for days, but once she saw them fight a giant cobra as broad as a barrel and so long she couldn¡¯t see its tail shepletely surrendered to her fate.

    Fortunately for her, they treated her well because she was obedient and well behaved, and so far she had been the perfect prisoner.

    ¡°It¡¯s about to get dark, let¡¯s find a ce to spend the night¡±

    ¡°Yes sir!¡±

    They kept walking for about ten minutes looking for a ce that looked both safe and protected from the environment, but when they finally found such a ce there was a fire going in there already and a robed person poking at the mes with a stick.

    Soldiers and prisoner alike were disapppointed because it meant they had to walk for another ten to twenty minutes to find a ce like that again and they were tired already. Especially Sera because her feet were hurt and she was having difficulties walking in the stony road.

    They were about to walk past the firece, which was about ten meters from the road right in between some trees at just the safe distance, when the captain stopped the march.

    ¡°Evening, mind if we share the fire?¡±

    .....

    The captain greeted the stranger and asked politely, only then realizing it was actually a woman. She tried her best to cover her face with the robe, but what gave her away were her hands that remained uncovered.

    The captain nodded at his soldiers who broke the line and gathered near the firece. It was a cold night and they were in a dangerous spot close to the western forest. It wasn¡¯t umon for beasts to appear suddenly out of the woods, only to feed on the unwary travellers and then go back into hiding, so the woman allowed the soldiers to sit close by.

    ¡°Do you want some?¡±

    The woman offered a piece of cooked meat to the youngest soldier, he looked at his captain to seek for approval and then epted it.

    ¡°Thank you! I¡¯m tired of eating dried meat, its nice to have something juicy from time to time¡±

    ¡°I got more if you guys want¡±

    All the soldiers joined the woman and shared their wine with her, although no one could see her face, her tone of voice showed how happy she was.

    ¡°So, what brings you to this ce? are you perhaps heading north?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m actually heading south¡±

    The woman shook her head.

    ¡°What business do you have there? Life is a lot tougher down there¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not really business, I just don¡¯t have anywhere else to go. What about you?¡±

    ¡°See our captain over there? the blond woman next to him is a dangerous prisoner, she alone killed a high rank adventurer in Crent and some kids too¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be true!¡±

    The woman took off her robe revealing her silvery hair and fairplexion.

    ¡°Sera, is that you!?¡±

    Anne moved so fast the soldiers couldn¡¯t even react, one second she was sitting in a log in front of them and the next one she was in front of Sera and the only thing they felt was a gust of wind.

    But the captain was a lot stronger than his subordinates and stood quickly in front of his prisoner.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing!?¡±

    The captain said in a stern voice.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I know that girl¡±

    ¡°Anne, is that really you?¡±

    When Anne saw her friend¡¯s pitiful appearance her heart was moved. She ignored the captain¡¯s warning and performed a feint and walked past the captain in fluid movements and then she hugged Sera tightly.

    ¡°What have they done to you? are you hurt?¡±

    Anne cried, but Sera shook her head.

    ¡°No, they¡¯ve been treating me well, at least for a prisoner¡±

    ¡°Did you really do the things they say?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯splicated, actually...¡±

    Before Sera could finish her sentence the captain unsheathed his sword, seeing this the soldiers took their spears and quickly surrounded Anne.

    The captain shed at Anne without hesitation but she jumped back dodging the attack.

    ¡°Calm down please¡±

    ¡°How do you expect us to calm down when you¡¯re so strong?¡±

    ¡°Strong? maybe, but I mean no harm. Would you go into a smander¡¯s nest and then attack it because it¡¯s strong? I was here before you and I didn¡¯t know you would be passing by¡±

    ¡°Captain, she doesn¡¯t seem like a bad person, why don¡¯t we...¡±

    ¡°Shut up, it¡¯s not your call, if I say she¡¯s dangerous she is¡±

    The soldiers who only a few seconds ago were reluctantly pointing theirs spears towards Anne, who had been kind, were now resolved to follow his captain¡¯smands despite not agreeing with him.

    Years of training and following the chain ofmand worked wonders to dull their own judgement.

    ¡°I¡¯m not dangerous, please just let me talk to her¡±

    Anne tried to reason with the captain to no avail, the captain shed at her again with the same result as before. Anne simply jumped backwards, only this time she found herself right in the middle of the soldiers surrounding her on all sides.

    ¡°Attack!¡±

    The captainmanded and the soldiers plunged their spears at Anne with a speed difficult to dodge even for Anne. She was being swarmed by spear thrusts from all sides and her robe was turned into tatters revealing a skin tight leather armor that left part of her thighs and belly exposed in a fashionable way.

    She then grabbed a short sword by the hilt and used it to deflect the spears until she was out of the entanglement, but the captain was ready for this.

    ¡°Charge!¡±

    A swift tackle that held the strenght of a charging beast hit the defenseless Anne sending her flying towards a tree. A loud nking sound echoed through the forest, but no beast dared toe out of their hideout.

    ¡°Now you¡¯ve done it!¡±

    Anne quicklyposed herself and jumped back into the vegetation, the soldiers stood still trying to hear the soundsing from the forest, but Anne, as an archer, was too quick and she held the upper hand inside the forest.

    An arrow whistled in the air and a soldier fell on his knee, he was hit from behind. The others didn¡¯t try to help him, they were too busy trying to hold the cold sweat that ran through their foreheads.

    In just one movements the tables were turned and now they were defenseless.

    ¡°Show yourself or I kill the girl!¡±

    The captain held a knife to Sera¡¯s throat.

    She was so startled when the fight broke out she didn¡¯t even try to run away and now she waspletely defenseless because her hands were tied on her back and she couldn¡¯t even lift them to protect her neck. Her fate waspletely on the captain¡¯s hands.

    Anne, who didn¡¯t want to see Sera die in front of her eyes, came out of the forest raising her arms above her head.

    ¡°Now we¡¯ll have to transport two prisoners instead of one¡±

    The captain said with a smirk.

    ¡°I just defended myself, you guys attacked me without provocation!¡±

    ¡°Secure her, now!¡±

    But before they were able to do so, Sera let out mes that came out from her hands. They shined so bright in the middle of the night the soldiers were blinded for a second and when they wanted to notice Anne had already released Sera from her chains.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡±

    ¡°My hands hurt a little, but I¡¯ll be fine¡±

    ¡°You ipetent bunch, go capture them!¡±

    The soldiers threw themselves at Anne, even the one who still had an arrow stuck behind his knee. Their attacks were so well coordinated that the girls couldn¡¯t dodge thempletely and they were getting hurt little by little.

    When one of the soldiers made a mistake and got too close, Anne didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to grab on to his spear and disarm the soldier throwing it to the ground. She then jumped forward andunched a barrage of attacks that left the three soldiers standingpletely defenseless, their steel te armor was battered by her every strike, thus reducing it¡¯s effectiveness and their movement capability.

    The captain took the chance to attack from behind, skillfully slicing Anne¡¯s back but failing tond a desicive blow.

    Anne was feeling pain, but she wasn¡¯t going to give up yet. Using the spear to support her weight she stood up. She was again surrounded, only this time she had been hurt and her fighting prowess was halved.

    At that precise moment the bushes rustled as two figures appeared from within the forest.

    When they came into sight, the head of one of the soldiers dropped to the ground after being sliced cleanly.

    ¡°Well, well, well, what¡¯s going on here?¡±

    A male voice resounded in the dark.

 Chapter 155

    155 Don¡¯t disrespect the priests, please! part ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing Stefan?¡±

    The captain asked the man who was still in the dark.

    ¡°Is that the proper way to speak to your superior?¡±

    A woman dressed as a nun reproached his manners.

    ¡°He¡¯s not my superior, he¡¯s just a business partner¡±

    The captain shrugged.

    ¡°What do I think I¡¯m doing uh? I got tired of waiting and came to meet you when I noticed you were in trouble¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not in trouble, this is only a minor incident. The real trouble wille after they find out a priest from the sacred empire killed a soldier from the Loudeac kingdom¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem at all, my son, all we have to do is kill the witnesses¡±

    .....

    The soldiers were dumbfounded and couldn¡¯t make sense of what they were hearing, all they knew was they were shivering in fear and couldn¡¯t get a hold of themselves.

    ¡°Yeah, but i¡¯ll charge twice my fare this time for ¡®my troubles''¡±

    The group that walked out from the woods wasprised of a male priest, a female priest and a male pdin named Stefan that seemed to be the one in charge.

    Anne was able to easily understand the situation, since the sacred empire and the kingdom weren¡¯t in friendly terms, it was more than obvious that the captain was making shady deals with agents from the empire. What she couldn¡¯t understand was why would they bother in sending a pdin to fetch a simple prisoner from the kingdom.

    Although Anne¡¯s stay at the empire was quite short, she knew that pdins boasted very high ranks in their society. Not only were they strong, but they were the embodiment of what the empire stood for.

    Anne made a small movement, just a slight adjustment on her footing that barely made a noise, but Stefan stared right at her. Despite being dark, he somehow was able to notice her intention and just by looking at her she could feel the tremendous difference in power. That man was strong, not only stornger than her, but on apletely different level.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter child? do you, perhaps, want to run away?¡±

    His face held a grin that probably wanted to seem kind, but it creeped Anne to the bone. Sera, who was exhausted after many days of walking non stop and her explosive use of mana, was about to fall on the ground, leaving Anne no choice but to try to talk her way out of the situation.

    ¡°I¡¯m honored by your presence, your holiness¡±

    ¡°Who are you and what are you doing fighting against these heathens?¡±

    ¡°I came from the sacred empire to spread the word, your holiness. They approached my campfire, I shared my food with them and they shared their wine with me. Yet, they attacked me when I tried to speak to their prisoner¡±

    ¡°Ah, such piety at such a young age¡±

    The pdin heaved a sigh

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that we have to kill you, but think of it as the greater sacrifice for the greater good... of the empire¡±

    At his words, the two priests in front of him jumped forward at a frightenind speed, even the nun that looked to be on the weak side. Anne knew that if she dodged the onught they would take Sera from her side, in her despair she did the only thing no one should ever do in a fight, she closed her eyes.

    A nking sound of metal against metal, just inches from her face, forced her to open her eyes.

    The dawn was breaking at that precise moment and a pale light shone on Ryu¡¯s face.

    ¡°Long time no see, Anne¡±

    He said with a smirk.

    ¡°Is that you, Ryu!?¡±

    The impossible sight of his close friend made her rub her eyes in disbelief. He looked taller, stronger, with defined muscles and, of course, more handsome than before.

    ¡°Were you expecting someone else?¡±

    His bastard sword, the de of cowardice, contended the push of the female priest¡¯s mace.

    ¡°What are you doing Lea? finish him!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying, but he¡¯s too strong!¡±

    That was a word Anne never thought would describe Ryu, there was just too much information to process inside her brain which left her in a daze.

    ¡°Wow thank you, I¡¯m currently single now and you¡¯re pretty. Why don¡¯t you drop your weapon and go out with me instead?¡±

    Ryu said jokingly.

    ¡°Like I would go out with someone like...¡±

    Lea said in an angry tone that diminished as she stared at the man in front of her. Ryu¡¯s hair was a bit long for her taste, but he was certainly handsome, dressed in a fashionable way and, more importantly, shirtless. She blushed up to her ears when she noticed that Ryu was chuckling at her behalf after she didn¡¯t even finish her sentence.

    But that moment didn¡¯tst forever, as the priest took it as his queue to attack with his il. Ryu dodged the attack, thus letting go of Lea¡¯s mace, but instead of hitting Anne it fell powerless to the ground.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing!? attack!¡±

    Stefanmanded, but Lea was already lost in her thoughts. He knew her well, she was one of the strongest priestess in the empire and that was precisely why he chose her for that sacred mission. The oracle said she only needed a small push to acquire a second ss and Stefan expected her to breakthrough in this mission.

    What he didn¡¯t expect, though, was Ryu¡¯s sudden appearance.

    ¡°Anne,take Sera away, I¡¯ll take care of this guys¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little bit too cocky?¡±

    Anne said in a mocking manner, but Ryu didn¡¯t even look at her. He waspletely focused on his enemies.

    While Ryu had be stronger, strong enough to challenge a B rank beast by himself, he was facing the equivalent to two B rank and an A rank adventurer.

    ¡°Alright, quit toying with him, we can¡¯t let the mage escape¡±

    Stefan said as he put his hands together to pray.

    ¡°Oh lord, please bestow upon your humble servant the power of the sun¡±

    His praying continued as the priests attacked Ryu from both sides, none of them managed tond a proper hit, but they were only trying to stall for time until the pdin was ready to attack.

    When Ryu noticed that despite the long prayer nothing was happening on the pdin¡¯s side, he thought maybe he was simr to Bob who chanted useless stuff all the time with no effect at all, but by the time the pdin was about to finish his prayer the two priests retreated quickly.

    Ryu braced himself for an attack that never came, instead the priests were kneeling down in front of steffan.

    ¡°Heavenly blessing!¡±

    A yellow light shone brightly over them both creating something that looked like an halo that remained on top of their heads.

    Lea, the priestes, and the unnamed priest stood up with a solemn expression and their eyes closed.

    ¡°You are so dead, I¡¯ll mess you up real good now!¡±

    The male priest waved his il in the air and, despite being about twenty meters away, Ryu could feel a stream of air that followed the rythm of the priest¡¯s weapon. There was a strange preassure in the air that alerted Ryu of his enemy¡¯s prowess and he promptly activated his consider skill.

    Jonas (Priest)(Healthy)(Blessed)

    Usually, after being the target of his consider skill, enemies would be left in a daze for a short while, but Jonas remained unfazed.

    When both priests charged at Ryu he panicked and did the only thing that crossed his mind.

    ¡°FAMINE!¡±

    ¡°Is that a heathen skill? I¡¯ve never heard of such thing¡±

    The pdin said in a mocking manner, but his smirk froze on his face as a huge wolf like creature came out of the woods and bit Jonas on the head without stopping, thus dragging him away into the field.

    The poor man lost the grip of his il and tried to set himself free from the deathly grasp of the amarok¡¯s fangs, but every movement only made him bleed even faster. When Jonas finally realized his efforts were futile and he couldn¡¯t even sceam for help, he tried to reach for his secondary weapon, but the amarok shook him in the air to prevent him from doing so.

    ¡°Heal¡±

    The muffled sound of the priest¡¯s voice was heard. Lea was torn in between charging towards Ryu who now was running full speed away from the enemis or go help herpanion. After just a second of hesitation she resolved herself to save her friend and ran behind the amarok after picking the il that was left in the ground.

    ¡°Stupid child, I ordered you to attack the man, just do as I say, If Jonas dies it¡¯s the divine providence¡±

    The remaining soldiers from the kingdom didn¡¯t know who to root for. In one hand they had to fulfill their duty no matter what, even if it meant dying. But on the other hand, they knew they would be killed if the priests won the battle.

    But all their doubts were cleared when the captain shouted hismand.

    ¡°Get the prisoner back!¡±

 Chapter 156

    156 Don¡¯t disrespect the priests, please! part The soldiers snapped out of their reverie and started hunting down the badly wounded Anne and the exhausted Sera across the open field. They didn¡¯t have the time to process the events that transcurred in front of their eyes, but that didn¡¯t make their duty any less important.

    They had to follow the chain ofmand.

    Ryu was now being chased by the pdin, the priestess and the captain.

    ¡°You coward! Aren¡¯t you a man? turn back and face us!¡±

    The captain yelled to the top of his lungs. His words reached the young F rank adventurer, but he wasn¡¯t embarrassed in the slightest.

    So far he¡¯s been doing his best to avoid any sort of conflict. Not only because of his peaceful nature, but also because he was too used to being the weakest among everyone. Even now, after his new found strength, his health points were still lower than the average which meant he could fight for a limited period of time.

    Ryu¡¯s mind was trying to think on something, anything that could help him defeat his enemies because he knew if he had to face them upfront he was as good as dead.

    After retrieving his lost pets, he travelled the western forest and the ins trying to find his way back to the goblin vige without facing any enemies. It was a lot more difficult that he expected and he eventually got so lost he couldn¡¯t find his way back to any known ce.

    Only then he thought of asking the amarok to follow the smell of people he knew, unwittingly meeting with Anne. But the happiness that came after the reunion was quickly obfuscated by the difficult situation he was put on.

    .....

    ¡®Why do I always end up in the worst situations!? could it be the curse that¡¯s still trying to kill me?¡¯ he thought inwardly as he treaded across the rim of the forest.

    Now that even the pdin was after him, he knew he would be eventually caught, but there was something he had his enemies didn¡¯t.

    He quickly popped a pill into his mouth, it wasn¡¯t a healing medicine but a stamina regeneration tonic. Then he gulped down a speed potion that allowed him to move twice as fast as before.

    Of course that something as useful as that had a downside, while the speed potion increased his speed, it also multiplied his stamina consumption thrice. The only reason he quaffed the potion without hesitation was because he thought he found a way to get rid of the people following him.

    ¡°Conceal, camuge, stealth¡±

    He muttered, activating those skills instantly. All of them had the same purpose, but worked in very different ways. Stealth made his presence less noticeable, conceal allowed him to seemingly vanish in front of his enemy¡¯s eyes and camuge made it so the enemies wouldn¡¯t be able to see him unless their perception was high enough to nulify it¡¯s effect.

    For just a brief second Ryu was able to feel safe, only to be disappointed after the priest shouted loudly the activation of a skill that countered ryu¡¯s skills.

    ¡°Reveal!¡±

    Ryu could now feel again the infuriated stare of his enemies and the only thing he managed was losing his precious time and giving them the chance to almost catch up to him.

    After his skills failed him, he could only rely on his strength and wits which is why he ventured into the forest. He knew that hiding would be pointless, but sensing his presence and actually seeing him were two different matters.

    He was certain that he could defeat the captain since he was weaker than the other two, but he was at a great disadvantage against the priest and the pdin because he didn¡¯t know the first thing about their skills.

    The only reference he had was Helena, but up until thest time he saw her she still had but a single skill and she had no control over it whatsoever.

    After finding an appropriate ce to set up a trap, he tied a rope to two trees that were on each side of the pathway, forcing whoever followed him to either stop or trip on it.

    It wasn¡¯t concealed, instead, he made sure it was visible, because the real trap wasn¡¯t at ground level but on top of a tree.

    ¡°Where are you little coward?¡±

    The captain taunted at Ryu, who was standing in the middle of a clearing.

    ¡°There you are!¡±

    The captain, believing Ryu had finally decided to face him like a man, ran in a straight line at him at full speed.

    He didn¡¯t even notice the trap, but Ryu¡¯s joy was short lived as the captain kept running without so much as tripping. The rope wasn¡¯t as strong as to be able to held back a charging soldier and it was cut in such manner that it¡¯s tips looked like a blossoming flower.

    The captain waved his sword at his enemy and Ryu easily dodged it, but as the de went past Ryu the captain used a skill.

    ¡°sh!¡±

    The tip of the de became bright blue, but kept going in the same direction about topletely miss Ryu, and then ¡°Single strike!¡±

    Defying all logic, the de moved in the opposite direction as if time itself was being unwinded. Ryu couldn¡¯t parry the attack in time and received the sh across his chest in full, but not before being able to throw a knife at a seemingly random location.

    ¡°You better say your prayers kid¡±

    The captain said with a mocking tone that got into Ryu¡¯s nerves.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a religious person actually¡±

    Ryu said with a hand over his chest as if trying to stop his bleeding, but it was useless. Even so, he held a satisfied smile.

    ¡°What are youughing at?¡±

    ¡°I won¡±

    A ho nest had fallen right behind the captain, thanks to the knife that Ryu threw at it just before receiving the attack.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    The captain yelled after being forced to turn his back to Ryu by the sharp pain he felt from behind, without knowing that it would be hisst word.

    Ryu¡¯s sword cut off his head in a clean movement.

    Meanwhile Famine had just finished his own opponent and was feasting on his corpse in an unsightly and brutal scene that would have struck fear into most people¡¯s hearts.

    Anne walked shouldering Sera to keep her walking as fast as she could, but Lea and the soldiers were about to reach them and hope was as scarse as water in the desert.

    ¡°Leave me here miss Anne, I¡¯ll keep them distracted for as long as I can¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid Sera, I won¡¯t leave you behind!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I think they want me alive so...¡±

    Before she could finish her sentence a macended right in front of them cutting their path. They turned around only to find out Lea, the priestess was running full speed at them and the mace had been nothing but a distraction.

    The soldiers huffed and puffed trying to keep up the pace, but it was impossible for them because they were wearing a heavy set of armor.

    It was Anne¡¯s chance to attack because Lea was unarmed and too close to dodge a close range attack. Contrary to Ryu, Anne was already familiar with a priest¡¯s skills. At least the basic ones.

    Helena had learned some of them while in their travel and Anne witnessed first hand their effects. A priest¡¯s blessing provided an increase in all stats as well as a minor defensive buff. It was useful, but not to a point where it would make a huge difference.

    Sadly, she wasn¡¯t aware that a pdin¡¯s blessing worked at apletely different level since it not only increased stats and defense, but also boosted the proficiency in all skills.

    Anne attempted to kick Lea back, but she blocked the attack with her arms crossed to diminish the impact to the minimum. Anne was at a loss, she couldn¡¯t understand the sudden change in her opponent¡¯s fighting prowess and was unable to react to Lea¡¯s counter attack.

    While Lea wasn¡¯t necessarily a violent person, her punch carried the strength of a well trained body with the blessings of a high rank pdin.

    ¡°Miss Anne!¡±

    Sera stumbled as fast as she could towards Anne, only to find her breathing with difficulty. A small stream of blood manated from the silvery archer¡¯s mouth and her eyes were lost.

    ¡°This is terrible, make way so I can impart god¡¯s mercy upon her soul before she passes away¡±

    Lea said with a face that showed an honest concern for her fallen enemy. Sera wasn¡¯t ready to give up on Anne just yet, but there was nothing she could do to save her.

    Just when she thought all hope had been lost, a blond man appeared out of the thing air and stood in between the priest and the novice mage.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok Sera, we came to rescue you!¡±

    Bob¡¯s manly voice was heard from behind Sera, making her feel safe already.

 Chapter 157

    157 Don¡¯t leave people behind, please! part As fate would have it, everyone ended up gathering on the same point at the same time. Anne, Ryu, Sera, Bob, Luke and Risa, they all arrived at the same location within less than ten hours.

    Luke, who still hadn¡¯t recognized Anne who was spitting blood out of her mouth and didn¡¯t have a clue on what was going on, simply stood in front of Sera preventing Lea from attacking her.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on Sera?¡±

    ¡°Anne is dying!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t- be- such a drama- queen- I¡¯m fine¡±

    Anne said in between gasps for air, with a voice that sounded more like a deted baloon than a person speaking.

    ¡°Anne, is that really you?¡±

    Luke turned to check on her using his consider skill. It might have seemed like he was being careless, when in reality he did it on purpose to distract Lea from Risa¡¯s attack.

    A quick swing of Risa¡¯s sword was sure to end Lea¡¯s life on a single hit, but that was only if shended it which wasn¡¯t the case. Lea moved her neck right at thest second allowing the huge de to go over her head harmlessly.

    .....

    After seeing herselfpletely surrounded by enemies, Lea took some distance from everyone. Bob, who was the slowest in the party, was finally able to reach Anne and give her the medicine they recently brewed.

    ¡°This tastes like Luke¡¯s cooking¡±

    Anne scoffed making everyone but Lukeugh, but she wasn¡¯t joking at all, the medicine tasted really bad.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, don¡¯t drink it¡±

    Luke shrugged.

    The soldiers, who had been sprinting behind Lea all the way to where the heroes were located, werepletely exhausted and abandoned by the priestess. Once they realized their circumstances, the soldiers attempted to turn tail and run away.

    They were dutiful, but not suicidal.

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡±

    Risa closed up on them.

    ¡°This... uh...¡±

    ¡°Miss Risa, please bring them over¡±

    Sera asked her. It wasn¡¯t even a difficult task, all Risa had to do was walk slowly towards the soldiers herding them towards the group.

    ¡°Please, have mercy on us, we were simply following orders¡±

    ¡°I know, we¡¯re not going to do anything to you. I simply wanted you to know that you were betrayed by your captain, he¡¯s working for the sacred empire¡±

    ¡°I figured that out¡±

    One of the soldiers replied.

    ¡°Then why are you following his orders? they¡¯re not going to let you off, if the kingdom finds out about his doings he¡¯ll be executed!¡±

    ¡°But... he¡¯s our captain¡±

    One of the men said, not even he was certain about the reason why he had to obey a traitor.The truth of the matter they were trained over the years to not cuestion orders and simply follow them blindly, footmen were the weakest in the army, but more importantly they were also the cheapest to train.

    Whenever the army needed cannon fodder, they would simply send them in mass with the sole purpose of gaining a couple seconds for a high ranking officer or adventurer to recover.

    ¡°That may be so, but don¡¯t you think you¡¯d be a lot more useful to the kingdom if you were toe back bearing those news? A traitor among the ranks of the empire, and a captain at that, is sure to earn you at least some sort of reward¡±

    The soldiers got excited at the prospect of earning some money and reputation, it goes without saying that being able to leave the ce with their heads still on top oftheir shoulders was also a great incentive.

    ¡°I¡¯m feeling a lot better now¡±

    Anne said as she stood up as if nothing had happened, her pierced lung seemed to have healedpletely and her healthpoints were almost to the max. Luke¡¯s medicine was the product of luck, but it didn¡¯t make it any less effective.

    ¡°Now can someone please fill me in?¡±

    Risa was still confused about what was going on, she didn¡¯t know anything about the silver haired woman in front of her. She thought they already seded in rescuing Sera and didn¡¯t understand the reason why they weren¡¯t walking back to Crent yet.

    She had been on the road for weeks, sleeping on the hard ground and enduring all sorts of hardships, partially due to Luke¡¯spany.

    ¡°I¡¯ll fill you in alright¡±

    Luke replied with a luscious smile. Risa would usually reply with a flirtatuous joke with the intention of embarrassing him, which was actually pretty hard because Luke had no sense of shame at all.

    But what happened instead was Anne¡¯s hand smacking the back of Luke¡¯s head with a pping sound.

    ¡°How can you tell such things to ady!¡±

    ¡°I like her already¡±

    Risa smiled at Anne with an amused expression.

    ¡°Mister Ryu... he came for me!¡±

    Said Sera blushingly.

    ¡°Oh right! we need to hurry before they get to him!¡±

    ¡°Those weaklings?¡±

    Risa pointed at the cowering soldiers.

    ¡°Not them! the pdin!¡±

    While Bob and Luke remained unfazed, Risa¡¯s eyes were wide open. A pdin was the empire equivalent of a B rank adventurer, but some were even stronger than that. She herself was considered an upper C rank adventurer, not only she was strong but she had been working as a ranger for a long time near Crent. The only reason why she was still hasn¡¯t been ascended to B rank was because she had but a single ss. She already visited the oracle to get a second ss, but now she had to learn all the archery skills before she could be considered a dual ss.

    Everyone gathered their belongings and ran into the forest, leaving the dumbfounded soldiers behind.

    When Lea found Stefan, he was already fighting Ryu, but more than a fight it was a one sided beating.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this, how can the divine providence be favoring a heathen like you!?¡±

    Stefan gasped for air, while Ryu was in top condition. That was because of the pills he had been taking, his pharmacy skill allowed him to turn any potion into pills. The process was a bitplicated without the proper equipment, but there was a reason why he made them instead of potions.

    While he was still looking for his pets he had more than enough time to gather medicinal herbs, but hecked spare containers to make potions. Instead of that, he made a paste with the herbs and then dried it slowly at the campfire.

    They weren¡¯t as effective as potions, but crafting them kept him busy and focused.

    ¡°Would you shut up already?¡±

    Ryu was losing his patience. He had been fighting with all he had from the start, but despitending many hits and causing some damage, Stefan kept healing himselfpletely voiding his efforts.

    It was a standstill were one part would attack relentlessly and the other would defend wlessly.

    The arrival of Lea at the scene didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Ryu, who pounced on her like a wild beast.

    It made sense to take down the weakest enemy first, especially if it was someone adept at healing. But a pdin¡¯s strenght wasn¡¯t in raw power, unless they were fighting the undead or evil forces, they weren¡¯t good at the offense.

    But that didn¡¯t apply if there were allies in the battlefield.

    ¡°Sacrifice!¡±

    The pdin activated his skill and took the damage that was to be inflicted upon Lea. Stefan¡¯s outstanding defense capabilty allowed him to withstand the fatal blow, while Lea turned on her barrier immediately, making it impossible for Ryu¡¯s sword to reach her.

    ¡°Now you made a big mistake young man, this skill allows me to soak up the damage directed towards one of my allies¡±

    ¡°Sounds like the only thing I need to do now is beat the crap out of that woman and you¡¯ll be helpless¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not all, after sacrificing myself to protect an ally my attack power increases. The more damage I receive protecting others, the more damage I can inflict. And you just tried to kill her! mwahahaha!¡±

    Stefanughed like a maniac, but Ryu wasn¡¯t amused. He was starting to feel tired and the effect of the speed potion was starting to wear out, he didn¡¯t have any more potions and his pills would do him no good at all.

    Lea didn¡¯t have to attack Ryu now, all she had to do was use her barrier to keep him at bay while Stefan was free to do as he pleased.

    Stefan held the hilt of his sword tightly and jumped on the already tired Ryu who now was fighting defensively.

    nking sounds echoed in the forest disturbing the peace of the creatures that called it their home, but none of them dared to appear at the scene. Ryu swung his sword to the best of his capabilities, but his technique was rough at best, while the pdin had years to polish his swordmanship.

    Steel against steel collided in a fric battle, until Stefan¡¯s sword broke near the hilt giving Ryu a much needed respite.

    ¡°How could my sword break before yours did!?¡±

    Stefan was bbergasted, but didn¡¯t wait to hear an answer as he drew his spare weapon. It was a heavy morning star with a minor enchantment that emited sparks whenever it hit something or if it was waved in the air.

    It¡¯s effect was mostly cosmetic, but it did look scary enough.

    Ryu, now cornered against Lea¡¯s barrier tried to block a hit from Stefan, but the chain wrapped around his sword and he was hit in the face leaving himpletely defenseless.

 Chapter 158

    158 Don¡¯t leave people behind, please! part Ryu wouldn¡¯t fall so easily, a single hit in the face was nothing to fear and, despite being somewhat inexperienced in fighting, he wasn¡¯t scared to get hurt if it meant surviving.

    However, he was facing ill odds and the only thing he could use now was his cursed sword.

    Ryu grasped his sword as if his life depended on it and let out all the energy he could muster. He didn¡¯t think on what would happen afterwards, he didn¡¯t think on saving some energy to recover his stamina or health, all he had to do wasnd one decisive blow to end the fight in one movement.

    The sword absorbed Ryu¡¯s energy as fast as he was able to expel it, transforming the blue colored light into a darkfire that seemed toe directly from the abyss.

    Stefan¡¯s jaw was about to hit the floor, the dark energy started surrounding Ryupletely, it wasn¡¯t like anything he¡¯d seen before and despite knowing himself stronger he couldn¡¯t keep himself from shivering in fear.

    It looked like a liquid that floated on the air, but at the same time, it remained connected directly to Ryu and it didn¡¯t hide him from sight.

    When the strange energy became in contact with the barrier, it started cracking until it disappeared leaving Lea unarmed and defenseless. Stefan tried to repel the energy with his own barrier, but it turned out to be in vain.

    While It didn¡¯t cover a huge area, it was just a small radius near Ryu, it was dense and gave off an eerie feeling.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready now!¡±

    .....

    Ryu smiled with a wicked smile with two glimmering eyes that adorned his face, his fangs were protruding now. Unbeknownst to him, his appearance now was that of a beast. He had ws on the tips of his fingers and two small bumps that reminisced Mia¡¯s horns could be seen on top of his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s the devil! your holiness do something!¡±

    Lea cried as she fell to the floor in terror, but Stefan was in no condition to do anything either. That is, until Ryu started coughing up blood and fell unconscious.

    ¡°Was that it?¡±

    Lea asked intrigued after a whole minute had passed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know child, I think... no, this can¡¯t be!¡±

    The pdin¡¯s eyes grew wide and his expression froze.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter father Stefan!? please tell me!¡±

    ¡°This is... He¡¯s wielding a cursed sword! hurry up and bless him¡±

    ¡°But... If I do it he¡¯ll be stronger and... Shouldn¡¯t we just kill him?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m disappointed child, If we kill him now we won¡¯t be able to get rid of the curse, someone would eventually pick up the sword and we¡¯ll be in the same predicament. If we bless him now, the curse will most likely starve to death¡±

    The priest hurried to bless Ryu, but instead of a light shining on top of his head, Lea¡¯s hands were glimmering intensely.

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it, he¡¯s resisting the blessing¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how this happened, but it seems like the curse its rooted deep inside the host. He should have died long ago, but it looks like he provided enough energy to feed the curse and it stabilized¡±

    Stefan replied at Lea who was still trying to bless Ryu.

    ¡°Is that why his appearance changed?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t be sure, but it seems like he¡¯s linked with other creatures¡±

    ¡°So, he¡¯s not the devil?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly child, he¡¯s simply cursed. Still, to be able to synchronize his soul with so many creatures, I don¡¯t even know how did he do it. It¡¯s good that we found this poor creature before it fully merged...¡±

    At that precise moment the heroes walked into the clearing and found Ryu bleeding out in the ground, his appearance waspletely normal and there was no trace of any physical change whatsoever.

    Luke hurried up and used his consider skill on Ryu, but what he saw left him horrified. Ryu was dying, his health points were depleting at an rming rate and if they didn¡¯t do something soon he would be dead within minutes.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing to Ryu!? let him go!¡±

    Anne, Bob, Luke and Risa walked into the clearing wielding their main weapons, they were in high spirits after scaring Lea away, but they were still wary of the pdin.

    As always, Luke was the first to react, kicking the ground with all his might he quickly closed the gap between him and the priestess. A quick swing of his short sword without hesitation was all he needed to make her retreat.

    ¡°Did you break the curse child?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡±

    Lea said agitatedly and Stefan clicked his tongue in frustration.

    ¡°What did you do to him!?¡±

    Luke ced his hand over Ryu¡¯s chest to check his breathing, but he didn¡¯t take his eyes out of the opponents.

    ¡°We were simply trying to break the curse that afflicted him, there¡¯s no need for violence. If you let us go, no one will get hurt¡±

    ¡°Do you really expect us to beliece something like that? how stupid¡±

    Luke sneered.

    ¡°Actually, I think they¡¯re telling the truth. I spent a while on the sacred empire with Helena and that light looked like the blessing skill¡±

    ¡°Wait, what were you doing over there? we¡¯ve been waiting for you at Crent for ages!¡±

    ¡°We took a shortcut...¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t shortcuts supposed to take less time? it¡¯s been months!¡±

    ¡°We got lost, that¡¯s all!¡±

    Anne scoffed angrily.

    ¡°Like I said, there¡¯s no need for us to fight each other, I¡¯ll let you take the prisoner and we¡¯ll leave in peace¡±

    Stefan said lifting his arms to emphasize his words.

    ¡°You see, I wouldn¡¯t mind letting you go, but the thing is... you hurt our friend!¡±

    Luke said as he vanished from sight, not even Stefan was able to see him despite his reveal skill. I looked as if he had became invisible, but in reality he simply moved too fast to be noticeable in the dense vegetation.

    Next thing Stefan knew was he was being attacked from all sides by the heroes. He parried an attack with the handle of his morning star, but the next two attacks hit him proving just how strong were the heroes. Even when facing a much stronger opponent, their stats were noughing matter.

    Anne, how held a grudge against Lea, focused all her attention in defeating her as quickly as possible. This time Stefan couldn¡¯t afford to use sacrifice to save her, he didn¡¯t care about her that much anyway and the only reason why he used his skill before was to increase his attack power.

    The intense fight didn¡¯tst for long, because once the pdin saw himself being cornered by the young adventurers, he simply retreated leaving hispanion behind.

    ¡°Father Stefan! please don¡¯t leave me!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the divine providence, my child. I¡¯ll pray for your soul¡±

    With these parting words, Stefan ran away from the scene. Luke would have loved to pursuit him, but Bob stopped him. Now they had something more important to worry about.

    Once Luke went back next to Ryu, he tried to give him the medicine, but he couldn¡¯t swallow the medicine because he was unconscious.

    ¡°It¡¯s not working and we don¡¯t have much medicine left!¡±

    Bob eximed with a worried expression.

    ¡°Should I...?¡±

    Luke gulped his saliva down. Everyone knew what he meant, he had to feed Ryu the medicine mouth to mouth.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s much choice...¡±

    Risa shrugged. Luke drew closer to Ryu, it was morning already and everyone had a clear view of what was about to happen. Just as Luke was gathering his resolve to pass on the medicine mouth to mouth, Sera came hurriedly from where she was hiding.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing? if someone has to feed him the medicine it has to be me!¡±

    ¡°What!? why you?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, mister Ryu came here to rescue me after all. I should be the one taking careof him¡±

    ¡°Those are big wordsing from someone in your position¡±

    ¡°So, Luke, what you¡¯re telling me is that you really want to kiss him that badly?¡±

    Sera stared at him, only then Luke realized all he had to do was to let someone else feed Ryu the medicine.

    ¡°Of course not! but no one else volunteered!¡±

    Luke said as he threw the waterskin filled with the medicine towards Sera. She took a sip and then sealed Ryu¡¯s lips with a soft kiss as she passed him the much needed medicine. Even though Luke didn¡¯t even have an alchemy skill, the ingredients in the medicine were so effective that it worked miracles.

    ¡°This tastes like crap, just let me die¡±

    Ryu joked as soon as he opened his eyes. Although it might have seem like he was exaggerating, the taste was really bad and so far, the only one able to tolerate it properly had been Bob while he was suffering from the stomach ache.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, don¡¯t drink it¡±

    Luke shrugged.

 Chapter 159

    159 Don¡¯t leave people behind, please! part ¡°I¡¯m sorry Luke, thanks for the medicine¡±

    Ryu said in between coughs.

    ¡°Are you ok mister Ryu? you still look pale¡±

    Sera said as she ced her hand on Ryu¡¯s forehead showing great concern for him.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine... I just... Wait, where¡¯s my sword!? they took it!¡±

    ¡°Uh, no, you¡¯re still holding it¡±

    Luke said somewhat confounded.

    Ryu then stared nkly at his hand, he was grabbing on to the hilt of the bastard sword, but he couldn¡¯t feel it. It was as if he was holding a stick, he couldn¡¯t feel even a trace of the cursed de¡¯s power.

    It took Ryu a while topose himself and understand what had happened, even though his health points had recovered already. It was morning already, but everyone was so tired they decided to rest for a while.

    .....

    Lea had been taken prisoner, Stefan was nowhere to be seen and the soldiers ran back to Crent. The peaceful sounds of the forest apanied the group as they chatted, until Ryu finally stood up and walked towards Anne with a determined expression.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re really here...¡±

    ¡°Uhm, yeah... I¡¯ve missed you too¡±

    ¡°I... what are you saying all of a sudden. We¡¯ve been waiting for you guys for so long, where¡¯s Helena by the way?¡±

    ¡°Things areplicated...¡±

    ¡°Hey Anne! you said you would tell us what happened once Ryu woke up!¡±

    Luke prompted Anne to speak and everyone took a seat in the forest ground to listen to what she had to say.

    ¡°Helena decided to stay at the sacred empire, that¡¯s why I¡¯m travelling alone¡±

    ¡°Why would she do something like that!? she even let you travel all by yourself!¡±

    ¡°Ok guys, if you really want me to tell you everything you got to stay quiet and listen¡±

    Anne directed one of her signature icy res at Luke leaving him in a daze.

    ¡°When we left Ironwoods we stopped by Mountainside to rest, a sketchy guy over there convinced us to take a shortcut but we ended up getting lost in the forest. We got attacked by lizards, spiders and creatures I can¡¯t even begin to describe, at first it was really difficult, but we became stronger and it made things a bit easier¡±

    ¡°Sounds like you had it hard Anne, I¡¯m sorry... If only I went to look for you¡±

    Ryu said with oozing regret and sadness. He was reunited with Anne after so long, only to learn that Helena was still at the empire and he won¡¯t be able to see her in a long while.

    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it Ryu, we learned lots of things and we had some fun times too¡±

    Anne sighed.

    ¡°What happened then?¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t have any map orpass, all we saw for weeks was nothing but trees and ceatures. At some point we started going in circles and then we decided to rest for a couple days and take the chance to explore the forest. Then, we were found by a party of five men from the church. At first we were worried they might try to do something bad to us, but somehow they learned of Helena¡¯s priest ss and they treated us with the utmost respect and brought us back with them to the sacred empire¡±

    ¡°Why would you go with them instead of asking directions to head to Crent!?¡±

    Ryu sounded both mad and surprised at the same time, this time he too earnedone of Anne¡¯s icy res.

    ¡°Why else? we were desperate to find a cure for your curse! Once we reached the sacred empire they took Helena to a church to learn new skills. She learned so fast they took her to the oracle in less than four days and she became a high priest¡±

    ¡°A high priest!? I¡¯ve heard that those are pretty rare even in the sacred empire!¡±

    Risa eximed drawing all the attention upon herself.

    ¡°Yes, they are, that¡¯s why they insisted on training her. Not only they taught her for free, they even provided her with an allowance¡±

    Anne replied, still unsure about who that weird looking woman was.

    ¡°Is Helena really safe over there?¡±

    Bob inquired.

    ¡°Uhm... I guess,st time I saw her she looked really happy¡±

    ¡°So, what is the empire like?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you all about it when we¡¯re safe, there¡¯s actually a lot more I want to discuss with you guys¡±

    As soon as Anne said that Ryu got up and started cooking, needless to say he was less than excited to be the one doing all the work, but it couldn¡¯t be helped since his cooking skill was the highest among hispanions. A high cooking skill not only meant eating tastier food, raw ingredients provided but a hint of the nutritional value a properly cooked dish possessed.

    Ryu stirred the cooking pot as if trying to hasten the cooking process, It was a vegetable stew made in a hurry, but the smell that came out of the pot was so enticing even Ryu¡¯s pets came close to the fire. It was an enjoyable meal for almost everyone.

    There was someone in the group who couldn¡¯t care any less about the food and the only thing she wanted was to find an opportunity to escape. Lea was restrained and tied up with ropes, her weapon was confiscated along with her provisions and money. She was the one holding the money they were supposed to pay to the corrupt captain, which is why her purse was so heavy.

    The one leading the group back to Crent was Luke, this was because his group was the only one that came directly from that city, but also because nobody else wanted to take the lead.

    Ryu was exhausted and Anne was oddly silent, staring at Ryu at every chance she got.

    Famine walked along the road with Sera mounted on top of his loin, since she wasn¡¯t wearing any footwear it was the best course of action. Forcing her to walk like that would only result in her getting hurt and slowing their walking speed. The amarok looked fierce and was a lot bigger than she remembered, but since it was Ryu himself the one who asked her to climb on top of it she didn¡¯t hesitate.

    To say Sera was ecstatic wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration, she was sure that Ryu had tome to her rescue and she couldn¡¯t wait to thank him properly with her body. When they first met she was a skinny girl and, despite being the elder sister, she looked younger than ire.

    That was because of her starving status that was caused by her unintended mana consumption. Mages, especially those who didn¡¯t know they were mages, were prone to starvation because they needed to replenish their mana consuming great amounts of food, Ayumi¡¯s eating behavior was proof of that.

    Once Sera consumed the croquettes made by Ryu, which contained a high nutritional value thanks to the elven wheat fruit flour, her body quickly took it¡¯s fated shape giving her the perfect proportions and the fairestplexion. The process was something simr to what Ryu experienced after he recovered from his wounds at the goblin vige. When he killed those criminals his maximum energy increased and, thanks to being apart from his cursed sword for a while, his body was finally able to develop into his new toned form.

    Sera, who had always thought of herself as an ugly woman undeserving of love, but now things were different. Her outstanding beauty was all that men around her talked about and she was aware of that. So far she¡¯s been ying it safe with Ryu, but she was really excited now she had an excuse to throw herself into his arms.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to let you get inside the city with that thing¡±

    Risa told Ryu while she pointed at the amarok.

    ¡°That thing is my pet, if they don¡¯t let me get inside I¡¯ll have no choice but to live somewhere else¡±

    He shrugged.

    ¡°I see¡±

    Risa seemed to be pensive.

    ¡°By the way miss Risa, why did youe with them?¡±

    ¡°I still need to thank you properly for what you did for me back then, I also need to return you this cape¡±

    She said coquetishly as she pulled the cape she was wearing as a dress in an odd but still fashionable way, the sudden movement of the leathery attire made her bossom jiggle. It wasn¡¯t a coincidence, she had actually rehearsed beforehand how to answer Ryu¡¯s question in the most flirtatious way, and that¡¯s what she came up with.

    Still, Ryu didn¡¯t even look at her, he was too distracted thinking on the events that transcurred during the night and early morning.

    First he met Anne by chance, then he realized that Sera had been caught and she was in danger, then Bob, Luke and Risa appeared out of the blue. There was a lot of fighting too and as a result his sword seemed to be dead.

    The strong connection he felt whenever he touched the hilt of his de had disappeared, now his sword seemed to be just a regr bastard sword. Although his life had been in danger many times because of that weapon, he was more than used to wielding it, it felt as if it was a part of him. A part that he no longer could count on.

    After their first night together everyone woke up with renewed energies, allowing them to travel almost as fast as if they were riding a carriage.

 Chapter 160

    160 Don¡¯t leave people behind, please! part When Sera noticed the way Risa flirted with Ryu she wasn¡¯t worried in the slightest. She knew the instructor¡¯s intentions and waspletely certain that she wouldn¡¯t try to take Ryu for herself.

    What troubled her was Anne¡¯s behavior. It was clear she was more than happy after being reunited with her friends, but she stared at Ryu whenever she thought he wouldn¡¯t notice making it obvious that she was interested in him. That was a problem, at least for Sera, because she knew Anne wouldn¡¯t want to share Ryu and would try to seduce him and keep him all to herself.

    The road ahead was straight and their viewing range widened as they left behind the dense forest. A beautiful mountain stood tall in front of them and a small town was located near it¡¯s base. The grassy fields and the unobstructed sunlight provided the perfect environment for a light hearted journey and everyone hurried their pace to be able to sleep in a proper bed, courtesy of Lea¡¯s purse which they requisitioned when they captured her.

    Bob, Luke and Risa passed through this town on their way to save Sera, but it was a short visit because all they needed was to get some water from the well so they didn¡¯t really know what to expect. That¡¯s why they asked Ryu to keep the amarok near the forest, just in case people were scared after seeing it.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re ok Sera?¡±

    ¡°Yes mister Ryu! walking bare feet on this soft grass is actually a nice experience¡±

    Sera replied with a wide smile on her face as she walked with her arm interlocked with Ryu¡¯s. For Ryu, it was a matter of safety and caring, but Sera took it as a sign of something else and she quickly developed different scenarios, each and every one of them ended in bed.

    ¡°I want to try it too!¡±

    Rina merrily took off her boots and jiggled her toes in the soft grass.

    .....

    ¡°Ahhh! it feels like walking on a cloud! you guys should try it too!¡±

    After seeing her wide smile everyone feltpelled to follow suit and they took their footwear to appreciate the new sensation. While it was indeed an enjoyable feeling, it held a special significance for Sera since she was born and raised in a cold ce and never had the chance to actually enjoy something like that.

    Once they got into town they soon noticed the strange red that were directed towards them. The inhabitants seemed to be wary of them and they hurried to their homes and shut their doors and windows.

    ¡°Are we some kind of ouws or something?¡±

    Luke asked to no one in particr and the one to answer was no one from their group.

    ¡°Greetings adventurers, I¡¯ve been expecting you. I¡¯m the town¡¯s mayor and I¡¯m here on behalf of the citizens of Quarrydew¡±

    His greeting was nothing out of the ordinary, adventurers were usually greeted by people in high standing whenever they arrived at a small town or vige, but his voice was shaky making it obvious that he was scared.

    ¡°Thank you for the warm wee mister mayor, is there anything we can do for you?¡±

    Luke replied assuming the role of the party leader.

    ¡°No, not at all... well... not for me anyways, there¡¯s someone I would like you to meet¡±

    He proceeded to lead the group to a cozy tavern located in the middle of the town, right in front of the water well. The ce looked a lot better than Rina¡¯s tavern, or at least that was the impression it gave.

    It was smaller, but it was decorated in a rustic but fashionable way. The tables and the bar were made of polished stone and there were some flower vases on top of them. The decoration was simple but nice.

    The man behind the bar poured them drinks and a youthful looking girl served them their food.

    After seeing that their guests were happy eating and drinking to their heart¡¯s content he excused himself and left to fetch the person he talked about.

    It was just before they finished their meal that the mayor came back with an elderly man.

    ¡°I hope you found our food to your liking, this is the man I wanted to introduce you. He¡¯s the owner of this town¡¯s hot springs...¡±

    Everyone in Ryu¡¯s group, heroes and natives alike, grew wider at the sole mention of hot springs. Each had their own motives to looking forward to visit the hot springs, but Sera was especially excited about it.

    The elderly man didn¡¯t let the mayor continue and interrupted him mid sentece.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, let¡¯s cut to the chase before I die of old age. I need your help, we are experiencing some troubles with the hot springs...¡±

    ¡°We ept¡±

    Everyone said in unison.

    ¡°No, no, you see...¡±

    ¡°We ept!¡±

    ¡°The thing is...¡±

    The poor old man was experiencing the same frustration he caused to the town¡¯s mayor, and he didn¡¯t like it one bit. Being the owner of the hotsprings, his monthly revenue was the same as the yearly ie of the tavern, and he wasn¡¯t used to people disrespecting him. His old age did nothing to appease his arrogant behavior and only made it worse.

    Still, now that his hot springs were experiencing difficulties he was forced to bow down his head and ask for a favor. It took him a while to gather the resolve he needed to let go of his pride.

    When the soldiers that survived the fight against the sacred empire agents came through town, he took it as a strike of luck andmanded them to perform their duty as servants of the kingdom and help him. But they were in such a hurry to go back to Crent that they ignored him, but not before telling him about the strong adventurers that were sure toe after.

    Of course he wanted to introducehimself as a wealthy old man that held a higher status than the mayor, he was used to dealing with all sorts of nobles and even the royals fromtime totime since his springs had medicinal properties, but now the old man had no choice but to ept their help withoug being able to put pressure on them at all.

    He had to wait until the adventurers finished their drinks and then some more, as excited as they were to try the hot springs, they needed to restock before going anywhere. Lea watched in disbelief as they spent a hefty sum in things that seemed to bepletely useless.

    Why would adventurers who were able to pass a week without eating or drinking water buy so much food? why did they need to bring with them so many nkets, cookware and even clothes?

    She was dumbfounded, not only because of their odd behavior, but also at the speed they spent the money without even caring. Even though it was technically her money they were spending, it was entrusted to her by the hands of father Stefan himself, it was going to be used to pay the wages of a corrupt captain that wasn¡¯t alive anymore so she didn¡¯t care about what they did with it.

    Both the mayor and the old man had to wait for them at the tavern the whole time they were on their spending spree. By the time they were finished it was gettingte already and the trip to the hot springs was about half an hour in carriage but it could take more than three hours on foot since it was uphill.

    The old man hoped in the carriage and, since not everyone would fit in, they decided to let Ryu and sera ride with the old man while the others walked on foot.

    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s ok mister Luke?¡±

    The old man asked the one he thought was the party leader and Luke nodded in reply. Thinking on the reason why did they chose those two to ride with him up the mountain he came to a conclusion, the woman was the most beautiful he had ever seen, it was obvious for him that she was a noble and the man must be his servant.

    After all, they bought the most expensive dress and footwear in town for her, which was a lot more expensive than what could be found in nearby towns. Quarrydew wasn¡¯t a mere stone quarry but an imperial stone one, it was a powerful building material and the only ones allowed to buy it were the royals and nobles. It was said that the sole reason why the sacredempire couldn¡¯t invade the kingdom after they gained control over the obelisk in the holynd was solely because of the kingdom wall made with this powerful material that grew stronger with time.

    It was a small but highly profitable town, not everyone was allowed to stay in there and they were really protective of their town affairs. There were lots of high end products in the market, mostly because of the regr visits from people from high standings, but also because even the citizens were all wealthy.

    It took a while after the carriage set off, but the old man finally decided to introduce himself to the person he thought was the most important in their party.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for troubling you mdy, I¡¯m Heimar of Quarrydew, would you be so kind as to honor me with your name?¡±

 Chapter 161

    161 Caution with the hot springs temperature, please! part ¡°Pfffft Hahaha! Mister Ryu, can you believe this fool?¡±

    Sera let out a mockingughter that embarrassed the man to no end. Why was the noble woman referring to the shirtless man with such respect?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I somehow offended you mdy, but...¡±

    ¡°Let me stop you right there, I¡¯m not ady, I¡¯m a simple F rank adventurer¡±

    Heimar looked at Ryu to confirm if what she was saying was true and Ryu nodded at him.

    ¡°Yeah, actually I¡¯m an F rank adventurer too¡±

    ¡°So they let you ride with me so you don¡¯t slow them down, not because you were stronger or in higher standing?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably true¡±

    Ryu shrugged.

    .....

    Realizing his mistake, Heimar decided to keep his words to himself. Even though he didn¡¯t intend to be respectful towards measly F rank adventurers, the soldiers warned him that the party was really strong and he couldn¡¯t dare to make enemies of them. As weak as they may be, there must have been a reason for the stronger adventurers to let them tag along with them.

    Once they arrived at the hot springs they were pleasantly surprised. Everything looked to be perfectly decorated and well mantained, not only that, it was spotless.

    Their first thought once Ryu and Sera set foot inside was how fancy everything looked. They expected the ce to be nothing more of a big house with many rooms, but it was a huge building.

    A beautiful woman with brown hair bowed her head in front of the guests and led them to a waiting room and the mayor left without a word.

    ¡°Would you like something to drink until your friends arrive?¡±

    ¡°No thank you¡±

    Sera said in a rare episode of shyness, she feltpletely overwhelmed by the opulence of the hot springs. It didn¡¯t help that she thought they might charge them an insane fee even for a cup of hot tea, but Ryu was a lot more confident in such ces. Wealth meant nothing to him and they were guests, so he reprimanded Sera.

    ¡°What are you saying Sera? feel free to ask anything you like, I don¡¯t think our host will be so cheap as to charge us, am I correct?¡±

    Ryu asked at thedy who was serving them.

    ¡°Of course not, we¡¯ve been instructed to make you feel at home and we wouldn¡¯t dare to charge our master¡¯s dear guests¡±

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯d like some alcohol, something strong please¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the same¡±

    Sera asked for some alcohol to brave herself into making a move on Ryu, but when she heard him ask for some alcohol too she was more than certain that he too wanted to have some nightly fun. In truth, Ryu¡¯s reasoning was that he didn¡¯t want to think on what to order and simply asked for the same that Sera took. Be it beer, tea, juice, wine, whatever would have been fine, all he wanted was for time to pass quickly and be reunited with his friends.

    The woman came back quickly holding a te in her hands, her elegant movements denoted all the experience she had on serving nobles.

    Ryu and Sera both grabbed the drink in front of them and they took a sip, it was a bitter liquor much more fragant than tasty. Ryu was enjoying the new taste and took small sips, but after her first sip Sera gulped down the whole content.

    It didn¡¯t take long for her face to be fllushed in red, the hostess didn¡¯t even ask and simply went in to get another drink for Sera. Only this time she wasn¡¯t capable of drinking it, she was too drunk already.

    ¡°Would you like me to take you to your room? I don¡¯t think your friends will arrive soon, it would be wiser to take care of her now¡±

    The woman said to Ryu, she had seen the same scene many times. It was more than usual that nobles would bring naive girls to this ce, onlyt to get them drunk and take advantage from them.

    At first she felt bad for the girls, sometimes she would hear them scream for help and even try to run away, but she was forbidden to intervene in any way unless the woman was a noble. If that was the case, she a former B rank adventurer, would have to take matters into her own hands and keep her safe, but no one was stupid enough to raise any trouble against the nobility in the Quarrydew hotsprings.

    ¡°Yeah, I think so too¡±

    Ryu took Sera on her arms and followed the hostess, she lead them out of the building into a small cabin. It took them about five minutes to get there and, while it was nowhere as fancy as the main building, it wasn¡¯tcking in decorations either and it was surrounded by a wall that provided enough privacy to engage in any sort of night activity.

    Sera felt in heaven, she was on the strong arms of the man she loved on the way to a secluded and cozy ce. It would have been perfect if not for how dizzy she felt. It was an awkward sensation that kept her from thinking straight. Not only that, she felt that she could vomit any time now and if she did so while being carried by Ryu she wouldn¡¯t forgive herself.

    As soon as Ryu entered the cabin along with Sera, the woman retreated to the main building leaving the couple alone. Ryu didn¡¯t know if he was supposed to spend the night there or what, but the ce was certainly big enough to host the whole party without issues. Or at least that¡¯s what he thought until he found out there was but a single bed in the whole cabin, it was huge and it looked reallyfortable, but it had a sturdy metal frame with a suspicious shape. It was almost as if it had been designed to tie someonefortably, Ryu disregarded such thoughts as he ced his drunk friend on the bed and proceeded to turn his back on her.

    ¡°Where are you going mister Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep in the living room¡±

    ¡°No, you shouldn¡¯t do that, why don¡¯t you stay with me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that won¡¯t be possible Sera, we shouldn¡¯t be sleeping together¡±

    ¡°Why is that? didn¡¯t we sleep together when we were out in a quest? is it not the same situation? we should stay close, just to be safe... we don¡¯t know this people and they might be up to something nasty¡±

    She said thest part covering her mouth from one side as if she was telling a secret. Ryu pondered for a few seconds but ended up agreeing with her.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that...¡±

    There was a lit magicalmp on the night stand and Sera turned it off as soon as Ryu nodded and she quickly started taking off her clothes. Ryu, who up to that point had the night vision skill activated just in case, turned it off to give Sera some privacy.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes mister Ryu, sorry for the wait¡±

    Sera said thinking he was asking her if she was ready for some action, when in fact he was asking if she was already covered with the nkets.

    Ryu climbed on top of the bed and didn¡¯t cover himself with the nkets trying not to unsettle Sera, what he didn¡¯t know was that she was lying naked just beside him expecting him with her open arms.

    When it became apparent for Sera that Ryu wasn¡¯t going to try anything dirty on her, she simply rolled on the bed and reached for him.

    ¡°W-what are you doing? why are you naked?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious mister Ryu? I¡¯ve been waiting for this moment for so long!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a good idea Sera, you should cover yourself¡±

    ¡°But why!? I thought you wanted it too! You know how I feel about you and I know you¡¯re single too... I won¡¯t ask anything of you, I only want to feel what it¡¯s like to be loved once¡±

    She sniffled thest part trying to hold back her tears.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say...¡±

    ¡°Am I not beautiful enough? am I not to your liking? I¡¯ve been trying so hard and yet you always ignore me. When you came to my rescue I thought you had finally changed your mind and I¡¯ve been expecting this for so long. I don¡¯t care if you don¡¯t love me, I don¡¯t care if you only use me... I just don¡¯t want to be left behind, to be thrown away when I¡¯m not useful anymore¡±

    ¡°Seriously Sera, what got into you?¡±

    ¡°I know you want to be with miss Anne... If it was any other woman I wouldn¡¯t mind, but I¡¯m certain that once you start a rtionship with her she won¡¯t let you take other women, this might be myst chance, please don¡¯t make me beg¡±

    Sera leaned on Ryu¡¯s chest, making sure to make as much physical contact as she could.

    ¡°You¡¯re drunk, I can¡¯t take advantage of you like this¡±

    ¡°Seriously? mister Ryu I didn¡¯t expect you to be so clueless, what I¡¯m telling you right now is that as long as it¡¯s you I want to be taken advantage of. Kiss me, take me however you like, y with my body, hurt me, do anything you want but just don¡¯t ignore me anymore!¡±

 Chapter 162

    162 Caution with the hot springs temperature, please! part Ryu found himself between a rock and a hard ce, or more like he was rock hard in a ce.

    Words are a funny thing, they are simple thoughts without shape or physical manifestation, yet they hold the power to take a life, bind people together for life and also shake a person to the very core of their existence.

    ¡°Sera... I love you¡±

    She was stunned, those ephimeral words resounded inside her mind and she couldn¡¯t tell if she had imagined them. There was not a trace nor a record of those words and she couldn¡¯t be sure unless she asked, but the words refused toe out of her mouth.

    ¡°I really love you Sera, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking. I don¡¯t have any memories of any people from my past and, even though I¡¯m an adult, my memories don¡¯t go too long in my past. That¡¯s why every single person I¡¯ve met has left a deep impression on me. You¡¯re one of the first friends I made and I appreciate all the things you¡¯ve done for me so far, but I really don¡¯t want you to make an effort for me. You¡¯re not supposed to try hard to be loved¡±

    ¡°Then what am I supposed to do? should I simply give up? is that what you¡¯re telling me?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    Sera fell from the highest cloud to the deepest abyss with a single word.

    ¡°Is- is there really no hope for me?¡±

    .....

    ¡°No, I mean... I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m just... that came out wrong. What I mean is, you¡¯re drunk now and we shouldn¡¯t be talking about these things like this¡±

    ¡°But I need an answer¡±

    Sera bit her lip so hard, only a lost health point kept her from drawing blood.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like I said... You¡¯re precious to me and I¡¯d do anything to keep you safe and to make you happy. I would never abandon you and no matter who asks me to, I wouldn¡¯t budge on that. I just don¡¯t know if we can be a couple and keep things as they are¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for marriage, just some... relief¡±

    ¡°Relief?¡±

    Sera grabbed Ryu¡¯s hand and ced it in her agitated chest, giving him a clear idea of what she meant, he found a hard spot in between the softness of her touch and his mind went nk. Sera guided Ryu¡¯s hand along her waistline as a soft moan epassed the soft motion.

    ¡°Sera, you said you would do anything I asked of you, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    she replied faster than the speed of light.

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll ask you to be patient. I really can¡¯t do this if you¡¯re drunk. You must understand me, I can¡¯t even think on taking advantage of someone, even less if it¡¯s someone I care about so deeply¡±

    Understanding Ryu¡¯s feelings, Sera finaly relented, but not without a condition.

    ¡°I understand, but I want to ask something in return¡±

    She said as she turned on themp, revealing her magnificent body that could easily start a fight in between different countries and every single fallen soldiers would have died with a smile on their face knowing their cause to be fair.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Ryu asked still unsure of what she was going to say.

    ¡°I want you to give me my first kiss¡±

    Ryu couldn¡¯t believe how lucky he was and couldn¡¯t keep himself from feeling just a little bit stupid for refusing having sex with her. But he knew very well that if he took advantage from someone like that, he would never forgive himself.

    ¡°If it¡¯s just a kiss...¡±

    He said leaning in closer. She grabbed him by the neck and pulled him so softly that it was as if he floated towards her, he ced his hand on her waist and kissed her lips with the touch of a feather.

    The kiss was so subtle they both broke into shivers, their skin reacted as if asking for more and their breaths sychronized as they stayed really close, each breathing the air of the other.

    Although it was but a minute, time had seemlingly stop for both of them. Their minds raced in between rational thought and emotional actions in a constant struggle for control, but their minds held control of the situation. It was only thanks to their passive skill, calm mind, that they were able to resist the undeniable attraction they felt towards each other.

    Ryu foundfort in sera¡¯s embrace and she felt like she could finally rest assured that she wouldn¡¯t be abandoned by him. Naked as they were, they slept hugging each other in the most innocent way without going any further.

    Waking up in the morning with a smile on their faces, they found themselves naked in front of each other. Sera herself didn¡¯t know why, but she hurriedly covered herself with a nked to keep Ryu from looking at her. Last night she wouldn¡¯t have minded if Ryu stared at her all night, but right now she found herself deeply embarrassed.

    Someone knocked on the door and they both got up as fast as they could ready to plead guilty as charged, just as if they hadmited a crime.

    ¡°Ryu, open up, it¡¯s me!¡±

    Anne shouted at the door and by the time she ended her sentence they were aleady dressed.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Ryu opened the door shyly, but Anne pushed past it and found a deeply flushed Sera trying to look casual but failing miserably.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on in here?¡±

    ¡°Uh, no- nothing really¡±

    Ryu tried to avoid her gaze, he didn¡¯t know why he was behaving like a child but he couldn¡¯t keep himself from stuttering in front of Anne.

    ¡°Uhhh, listen guys I don¡¯t care what happened in here, just be ready, Heimar wants to speak to us all¡±

    Anne¡¯s words brought them back to reality, they weren¡¯t on vacation but on a quest and it was their duty as adventurers to help as much as they could.

    They were all summoned in the hall, where Ryu and Sera had drinksst night. Once everyone was present, Heimar came along with his daughter, a beautiful brte dressed in what looked like a traditional dress with a flower pattern, giving her a refined and lovely look.

    ¡°Good morning dear adventurers, I would like to start by thanking you all foring in to lend a hand when needed, it¡¯s hard to find dutiful adventurers such as yourselves. This is my daughter Hana and she¡¯ll be the one to exin matters to you as I¡¯m not feeling well¡±

    Heimar said in a standing position, but then he sat on a chair that the hostess ced for him. Hana, his daughter, took a step forward and bowed in front of the party. She was so young it seemed impossible for her to be that old man¡¯s daughter, but she did resemble him even if just a tiny bit.

    ¡°As my father told you, I¡¯ll be exining everyhing to you, if you have any questions I¡¯ll dly answer after I tell you what¡¯s afflicting us¡±

    Hana looked at each and every party member to confirm if they understood, she was young but very imposing. Although she wasn¡¯t a noble, she was more than ustomed to them and part of her behavior was because of that.

    ¡°We at the Quarrydew take great pride in our hot springs, they have excellent medicinal properties and they soothe all the stress away from people. Be it magical or not, they¡¯re highly sought after by nobility and the wealthy which made us the most profitable business in town for decades. You see, this town used to be a simple quarry, hence the name, but once the wall was built many people were left without a job.

    When my ancestors found this ce, they founded this inn and they worked hard to be a sessful business. All the buildings, all the services we provide, would bepletely useless if we didn¡¯t have the hot springs to draw in our customers. And, as you may have guessed it, we lost them.

    We are unsure about what happened, but now the water thates off is boiling hot and people can¡¯t even dip on them without being harmed. Not even my father who possesses an exceptional hot resistant skill can get into the water. This has brought our business down, but that¡¯s not everything!¡±

    After losing control of her emotions for a second, Hana made apause topose herself and then continued.

    ¡°My father is old and very ill, if he doesn¡¯t dip into the hot springs everyday he won¡¯t be able to get better. Every passing day his health ispromised, but he refuses to rest in bed until we find someone who could help us fix this problem.

    Your mission will be to investigate the matter, try to find out what¡¯s causing the sudden change in temperature and fix it if possible. The reward we offer... it will depend on your performance.

    But I¡¯ll make this promise, if you do fix our hot springs you won¡¯t regret it. We are wealthy enough and well connected too, you can¡¯t even dream of the rewards that await you should you sed.

    Any questions?¡±

    Hana looked perplexed at the many hands raised in front of her.

 Chapter 163

    163 Caution with the hot springs temperature, please! part ¡°Can we get an all season pass for the hot springs?¡±

    ¡°I was about to ask the same thing!¡±

    Sera and Risa said in a hurry to get the answer they were looking for, but pretty much everyone had their hands up in the air and they stated what they wanted in a disorderly manner.

    ¡°Could we get, like, a lot of money?¡±

    ¡°I want to be a mage¡±

    ¡°I want to live in here!¡±

    The party asked for the possible rewards without even waiting to hear a reply, it was just a constant muttering that resounded in the room.

    ¡°About the mission?¡±

    All hands fell and disappointment was the mood of the whole room. The party, because they wanted to know what were the possible rewards and Hana, because she wanted reliable people and now she doubted they would be able to solve the problem.

    .....

    ¡°Alright folks, let¡¯s get going then¡±

    An excited Risa, eager to start the quest,manded and started walking, but the rest remained in their positions. It was only after Luke gave the go that everyone, except for Ryu, went outside.

    ¡°Miss Hana, I have a question. Why didn¡¯t you go investigate youselves? If you¡¯re as resourceful as you say you are, you must have capable people within your ranks¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, we have strong people, but we can¡¯t venture that far into the mountains. Being as wealthy as we are, we can¡¯t simply leave the ce alone or we could be raided. So far we¡¯ve never encountered something like this and we weren¡¯t prepared for this situation¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The kingdom withdrew most of the soldiers from town just a little bit after our hot springs became too hot, maybe the nobles thought that since this ce wasn¡¯t useful anymore it wasn¡¯t worth protecting it either¡±

    While Hana kept the same arrogant attitude as before, she looked really sad and frain in Ryu¡¯s eyes. He felt the urge tofort her somehow but found himself unable to do so, the only thing he could do was to find a solution.

    ¡°Alright guys, let¡¯s check our gear!¡±

    Luke shouted with a smile on his face and everyone proceeded to ce their gear in front of them. Ryu, who had been living with the goblins and then by himself for so long, wasn¡¯t used to this but he thought it was a great idea so he did as Lukemanded.

    Hana remained by the entrance door looking at them with disbelief, and it wasn¡¯t without reason. The same adventurers she deemed unworthy of the task at hand turned out to be better equipped than she initially thought.

    Risa had her huge sword in front of her, the red leather cape, knives and a short sword. Since her fighting style depended heavily on speed, wearing armor or carrying too many extra weapons would do nothing but hinder her in battle which is why she only carried small spare weapons strapped into leather strips in her thighs and arms.

    Bob had his warhammer and a machete, despite being strong enough to carry as many warhammers as he wanted, it was really bulky and he couldn¡¯t carry many weapons on him, but the machete was an excellent tool to make way through the dense vegetation they sometimes had to cross.

    Luke ced his short sword in the ground, some knifes and two daggers he just bought at quarrydew. They were nothing but in daggers with afortable hilt, however, they allowed him to fight using a dual wielding style most fit for a thief like himself.

    Anne carried a bow with a quiver and a spear, making it obvious for anyone with a brain that she was an archer and a very skilled at that. Her bow was a regr sized in bow that looked ordinary, but Hana was able to tell how difficult it would be to draw it. It meant that Anne wasn¡¯t only a dextrous person but a very strong one too.

    Sera carried all sorts of spare weapons hanging on a leather backpack and strapped in her body, she was strong enough to carry them but her damage output would be too low which is why she took a supporting role.

    Hana was taken aback by the amount, quality and usefulness of the variety of weapons the party showcased in front of her, but when Ryu ced his weapons in front of him she was left dumbfounded.

    Most of Ryu¡¯s weapons were crafted with beast parts, there was a short made with a w, some knives carved out of bone or fangs and an obsidian knife. If it wasn¡¯t for the bastard sword he always carried on its scabbard she would have thought that Ryu was some sort of primitive human that came from a tribe instead of a town.

    Everyone oiled their weapons and then, only after checking every piece of weapon, armor, climbing equipment and supply they stood up to set off.

    ¡°Wait a second, I¡¯lle with you¡±

    Hanna said hurriedly.

    ¡°Are you sure miss? this isn¡¯t going to be a stroll through town¡±

    Luke sneered.

    ¡°I¡¯m a capable adventurer just like yourself, but contrary to you I¡¯m very familiar with this ce and I know what kind of beast can be expected to attack¡±

    ¡°That may be so but it¡¯s too dangerous, if something was to happen to you we wouldn¡¯t get our reward¡±

    Risa shrugged, her mind set on getting a free membership to the hot springs.

    ¡°Listen, the very fate of our business depends solely on your sess. We fed you, provided lodging and even offered to guard your prisoner until youe back, this is the least you can do in return¡±

    The look that everyone directed at Ryu for confirmation was mistaken by Hana, who thought they were worried about not being able to protect two people.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be worried, I know for sure I¡¯m stronger than that guy so I¡¯ll be able to take care of myself¡±

    She said as she showed a beautiful zhanmadao with a red and green hilt, it¡¯s beautiful de reflected the sunlight just like a mirror would proving both its quality and the proper maintenance provided to the de.

    ¡°Fine, but as long as you¡¯re in our party you¡¯ll be in the lowest rank, you¡¯ll have to follow any and everymand. Got it?¡±

    Luke asked in all seriousness, but Hana simply nodded as if it was something obvious. Of course she would have to respect the party leader¡¯smands. She was raised in a wealthy environment, but she had the best teachers and trainers for as long as she could remember. When she became an adventurer, only for show because she had neverpleted a quest, she was ced immediately at the D rank and she was told that they she would have be a C rank adventurer if she took just a few missions.

    Before leaving Ryu inspected the hotsprings with his analyze skill, but there was nothing unusual, they just were at a dangerous temperature and the system didn¡¯t provide any sort of information about the cause.

    It was only after half an hour of walking aimlessly throughout the terrain surrounding the hot springs that they realized they had no idea what they were looking for. None of them was an expert on hot springs and they didn¡¯t even know what to expect. Risa, as a C rank instructor, should have been able to help in some way, but she was just an airhead with a particr strong sense of battle.

    Still, nothing prevented them to enjoy the beautiful scenery in front of them. The ce was somewhat green and there was a healthy amount of trees around, but once every few minutes they came across a spot with unobstructed view that allowed them to see far away into thend.

    Cities looked so small it would be easy to miss them and the rivers andkes looked like glimmering treasures in the distance thanks to the angle of the sun. Up above, the snowy peak rested on the distance, appearing to be closer than it actually was.

    Flowers, bushes and ferns of all colors and sizes kept Ryu distracted, but contrary to what others may have thought, he was actually looking for any clue he could find about the reason behind the hot springs decay.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you guys think this would be a nice ce to rest and grab something to eat?¡±

    Luke asked in what looked like amand in Hana¡¯s eyes. Everyone nodded and both Ryu and Sera started preparing a firece to cook something.

    Hana,pletely ustomed to being served, saw nothing wrong in this arrangement. It was obvious that the weak should be the supports to help the proper adventurers keep their strength. Of course it had nothing to do with that, and more with Ryu¡¯s extraordinary cooking skill and inventive to make new dishes out of whatever he found in the wilderness.

    Sera was the only one that knew exactly how to help him without being a nuissance and she was d to be of any help to him. But after their kissst night she was feeling awkward around him. She knew she had feelings for him and that kiss was the crystalization of everything she had dreamt about, but now that it became true she was so nervous around him she couldn¡¯t keep herself from shaking.

    just when she was peeling a potato, her hand slipped clumsily causing her a deep cut on her thumb.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

 Chapter 164

    164 Caution with the hot springs temperature, please! part ¡°Are you alright Sera?¡±

    ¡°This is nothing mister Ryu, I can still help you¡±

    ¡°I admire your resolve, but we can¡¯t have you bleeding on the food, please call Anne¡±

    Ryumanded and Seraplied without showing any trace of her disappointment. It wasn¡¯t just the fact that her clumsiness brought trouble for Ryu, but also she couldn¡¯t help but notice how fast he asked for Anne¡¯s help when he could have asked anybody else. Of course that wasn¡¯t exactly true because Bob¡¯s hands were too big for dealing with such small vegetables, Luke couldn¡¯t touch food without turning it into inedible trash and Risa, well, he wanted to keep his distance from her as much as possible.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Here, please peel this potatoes¡±

    ¡°Is that why you called me? seriously? I thought you ran into trouble or something, I can smell a faint trace of blood...¡±

    Anne said sniffing the air.

    ¡°Is that a skill!?¡±

    .....

    ¡°No, I just have a keen sense of smell I guess¡±

    ¡°I see, so that¡¯s why you used to rub the silver flower into your neck...¡±

    Anne blushed at Ryu¡¯s remark and decided to cut the chat and focus on the cooking.

    Lunch was mostly quiet, not because there wasn¡¯t anything to speak about, but because everyone was submerged in the amazing taste of Ryu¡¯s improvised cooking. Next thing they knew they were already filled with energy and eager toplete the quest.

    They broke campas soon as they finished eating and they started following Anne and Luke who were the fastest and better suited formoving into uneven terrain.

    Just when Luke was starting to get bored of all the hiking and no action they came across a path that was covered in green goo. Anne crouched and dipped her fingers into the sticky substance, Luke tried to hide his luscious re after Anne but failed miserably because he was right in front of everyone.

    ¡°Any idea of what is this?¡±

    Anne asked Hana, who was staring at Luke with reproachful eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like that, not even when we came to investigate after the hot springs became too hot to be used¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think we might be up to something here¡±

    Risa nodded pretending to know what it meant.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, do you think it¡¯ll be dangerous?¡±

    Sera asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one way to find out, we alreadymited to this quest, we¡¯re as ready as we¡¯ll ever be and I think it¡¯s better to run into trouble on the first day when we¡¯re still fresh¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but there¡¯s no rush. You can always go back to the inn and get a good night sleep, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re far anyway¡±

    Hana shrugged.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been encircling the inn, although we walked for hours, we can return in less than half an hour¡±

    Anne replied.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! let¡¯s follow the trail then!¡±

    Morale skyrocketted at the thought of being able to go back to sleep to the inn. They all had the best night they¡¯ve ever had since they came into this world, everyone, including Risa who was a native.

    The sticky goo was covering all the nts and trees at just about a person¡¯s height but it was denser and more abundant in the ground. It was so sticky that eventually everyone had been slowed down by the substance and they were tiring out rapidly.

    ¡°Yuk! This thing is dripping from the trees too! it¡¯s disgusting!¡±

    Anne said as she tried to bush off some of the substance from her shoulder, but she ended up smearing it all over her robe.

    ¡°Hey Luke!!! do you think... maybe...¡±

    ¡°Are you thinking what I¡¯m thinking!?¡±

    ¡°SLIMES!¡±

    They jumped excitedly at the thought of facing those well known slimy creatures from old rpgs. The rest of the group, not knowing why they were in such a good mood, thought they were excited because they found the cause of the hot spring¡¯s phenomena and got excited too.

    ¡°Look out!¡±

    Ryu yelled out of the blue and threw himself over Sera to cover her, they ended up falling and getting stuck in the goo.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you Ryu!? shouting like that, don¡¯t scare us!¡±

    ¡°Hey, keep your thoughts to youself blondie, he must have seen something¡±

    ¡°Yep, over there, there¡¯s a green thing and I sensed it was about to attack¡±

    The green jelly in front of them didn¡¯t move at all, it was simply wiggling like a regr jelly.

    ¡°That¡¯s just jelly!¡±

    ¡°No, wait, it¡¯s actually a creature!¡±

    Everyone gaped, it didn¡¯t look to be sentient or even dangerous in any way.

    ¡°Mister Ryu...¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Could you... could you please move?¡±

    Sera said amidst panting and blushing as they were face to face awkwardly facing each other.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying, but this thing is too sticky!¡±

    ¡°Nice one Ryu, but this is not the time to be flirting around¡±

    Luke said as he walked back to pull Ryu up, but he was struggling, Bob came from behind and lifted everyone effortlessly in a single move.

    ¡°So, how do we kill it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not getting near that thing¡±

    Anne scoffed.

    ¡°Let me try, zing hell of fury!¡±

    Bob yelled while hitting the jelly with all his might, his bulging muscles allowed him tond ahit that no living creature could shrug off easily, except for that jelly who apparently didn¡¯t even notice the attack.

    ¡°Maybe someone with more than half a brain could give it a try¡±

    Hanna said oozing sarcasm.

    ¡°Let me try¡±

    Anne grabbed her bow and shot an arrow at the thing from the distance. As the proyectile pierced it¡¯s green membrane it squelched in what could be interpreted as asign of the attack working.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! keep going pretty girl!¡±

    Risa cheered as if Anne was one of her pupils. Yet, even when Anne ran out of arrows the jelly was still ¡®alive¡¯ blocking the pathway.

    ¡°Do you think that thing is mmable?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it, we¡¯re all covered in that substance, if you set it on fire we¡¯ll follow¡±

    ¡°I think we should just head back... It¡¯s gettingte and I¡¯m getting tired already¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it Sera, I¡¯m getting tired too...¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t go back now, that thing doesn¡¯t move from it¡¯s position, how did it get there?¡±

    ¡°Uh? what do you mean Ryu?¡±

    Anne said, still somewhat upsed because she wasted all her arrows.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how does that thing reproduce or how does it move, but I think I know how does it feed. We¡¯re all covered in that green substance, what do you think would happen to a tired creature that¡¯s left defenseless in the ground?¡±

    ¡°Doyou think we¡¯ll get disolved?¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, not right away, but we could be in trouble if we get tired. Maybe it¡¯ll feed of the nutrients of dead creatures, it can afford to wait until we die and rot away...¡±

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s a bit dark, don¡¯t you think? So what do you propose Ryu?¡±

    Prompted by Risa, Ryu took a minute toponder about their options and then he came up with an idea.

    ¡°Bob couldn¡¯t damage that thing despite his brute force, yet Anne was able to do some damage from a distance with her arrows. The difference is the type of attack. While Bob¡¯s warhammer inflicts blunt damage, Anne¡¯s arrows inflict piercing damage. I think we should try to hit it with our swords¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s put that theory to the test¡±

    Luke stepped in and shed at the green jelly with his short sword, destroying it with a single hit.

    ¡°And that¡¯s how you deal with those things!¡±

    ¡°You just swung your sword blondie, no need to look that proud of yourself¡±

    .....

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s keep moving¡±

    The goo covering the pathway, the greenery and even the one covering the party members was slowly but surely disappearing on it¡¯s own. The sticky substance became something more simr to water than jelly, making Ryu wonder how exactly did it work.

    Of course he was worried because it seemed like a dangerous opponent to face without knowing anything about it, but his curiosity wasn¡¯t driven by fear at all. He liked to discover new ces, new creatures, new nts, anything he didn¡¯t know before filled him with awe and joy. Especially when it also meant facing something difficult to exin withmon sense, even if it wasn¡¯t something rted to mana, it felt magical to him.

    ¡°Is it my idea or the air around here is getting warmer?¡±

    ¡°it¡¯s not your Idea, there¡¯s something weird going on, I can sense it¡±

    Anne and Luke stopped in their tracks and everyone did the same.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t see further ahead, there seems to be a strange mist¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you use your night vision skill or something?¡±

    Anne shook her head at Hana who was impatient to find whatever it was killing her business.

    ¡°How do you even know about her skills?¡±

    Luke asked intrigued.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? All archers have the same skill set unless they be dual ss¡±

    ¡°Wait... so, do you know all the skills that the basic sses can have?¡±

    ¡°Pfff! didn¡¯t you guys go to school?¡±

    ¡°WHAT!?¡±

    The otherwordly adventurers were left shocked by Hana¡¯s casual reply.

 Chapter 165

    165 Caution with the hot springs temperature, please! part ¡°It¡¯s just school, a ce where people go to learn¡±

    ¡°Of course we know what a school is, we just didn¡¯t know there were any in the kingdom¡±

    Luke grunted offended by Hana¡¯s condescending attitude.

    ¡°What Luke is trying to say is that we never had the chance to study in school, so we don¡¯t really know about other sses¡±

    Ryu said hurriedly trying to prevent Luke from ruining their chance to get some information.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not here to teach you, even if you didn¡¯t go to school you must have had an instructor, or was he so ipetent that he didn¡¯t even teach you about the different skills?¡±

    Hana¡¯s words irked Risa, but she couldn¡¯t say anything to rebuke her words.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we have time to spare, steam keeps rising as we speak. We can either keep moving or back down¡±

    Anne said after staring at the mist blocked pathway for a full minute.

    .....

    ¡°That may be so, but there might be a skill that one of us may possess that could be helpful. I don¡¯t want to risk going into a ce with almost no visibility¡±

    ¡°Listen, Ryu is it? We hired you because we need to find a solution. If you want to go back you still get the reward for being able to identify this strage phenomenon. I know you¡¯re scared of going into the mist but don¡¯t try to stop the stronger adventurers from aplishing the quest¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not stopping anyone, I¡¯m simply stating the obvious, if we set foot in there without so much as a n we¡¯ll be in danger. If there¡¯s something you know that can be of help right now it¡¯d be a good time to share it¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no skill for seeing in the mist if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking¡±

    Although Hana did her best to hide the fact that she looked down on Ryu because she deemed him the weakest in the party, she wasn¡¯t as polite to him as she was to Luke. The mist kept crawling towards them at a slow yet steady pace, in the few minutes they spent talking the mist almost reached Anne and she backed down a few steps.

    ¡°Are you saying we should head back to the inn Ryu?¡±

    Luke asked a bit disappointed, because he wanted to finish the quest as soon as he could to spend a day in the hot springs.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a possibility, I don¡¯t feel it¡¯s safe to head in there, but judging by it¡¯s speed if wee back tomorrow it¡¯d be even more difficult to find the source¡±

    Ryu shrugged and then started rummaging into his backpack and took a rope out of it.

    ¡°I think we should tie all of our ropes together and tie it to a tree, if we don¡¯t find the source of the steam by the time we run out of rope we go back to the inn and try again tomorrow, with more rope obviously¡±

    ¡°Now we¡¯re talking!¡±

    Risa said in a loud voice that snapped everyone out of their reverie, now they had found a way to prevent being lost in the mist they would be able to keep advancing. She quickly took the tip of her rope and tied it to the nearest tree, but Luke scolded her because she didn¡¯t take into ount that the mist would advance while they explore.

    In the end, they asked Risa to tie the rope to a tree that led right into a clearing they¡¯ve been before. It wasn¡¯t that close so they ended up spending one quarter of the length of the rope, but in Ryu¡¯s words it was better to be safe than sorry.

    The first thing they noticed when they set foot into the mist was that, even though they couldn¡¯t see that far, everyone was able to see the person in front of them and the one behind them.

    ¡°This feels just like a sauna!¡±

    ¡°Tsk! It¡¯s wet and ufortable!¡±

    Luke antagonized Anne who was enjoying the soothing sensation of the steam that surrounded them. As a former influencer she wasn¡¯t a stranger to saunas, she used to go there all the time to keep a smooth skin and a healthy appearance.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go back in the line then? you¡¯re taking the best spot¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious! uff, fine, there¡¯s no need for me to be in the front anyways. We haven¡¯t encountered a single beast inside the mist so far¡±

    Luke headed back in the line leaving Anne in the front position followed by Ryu, Hana, Luke, Bob, Sera and Risa in the back.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s going on in between you and Sera?¡±

    ¡°I- uhh, well, the thing is¡±

    Ryu, who didn¡¯t expect Anne to ask so tantly stuttered and even bit his tongue before being able to reply.

    ¡°Listen,it¡¯s all good, I have a boyfriend so...¡±

    Hearing that Anne has a boyfriend was the same as being stabbed through the heart for Ryu. Despite not knowing how he felt exactly, he felt almost as bad as the time he swallowed the bitter poisonous ck berry.

    Hiraku¡¯s words resounded in his mind. He told Ryu that it would have been ok to be with both Anne and Helena, and even Rina, as long as they were ok with that. Anne had been so straightforward towards Ryu that he took her for granted, but if she already had a boyfriend it meant that he missed his chance.

    ¡°You do?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s back at the sacred empire¡±

    ¡°How is he?¡±

    ¡°I have no way of telling¡±

    Anne tried to dodge the question.

    ¡°No, I mean, what¡¯s he like¡±

    ¡°Oh, well... he¡¯s tall, handsome, he has ck hair and he¡¯s kind to everyone¡±

    He didn¡¯t realize the obvious similitude between her alleged boyfriend and himself wentpletely over his head.

    ¡°I¡¯m d for you¡±

    Those unfelt words did hurt Anne back. Truth of the matter was that she didn¡¯t have a boyfriend or anything of the sorts and the only reason why she told a lie like that was to get an honest answer from him, but she didn¡¯t expect him to be happy for her.

    ¡°Well then, what about Sera?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re just friends but... we¡¯re still trying to figure things out¡±

    Speaking in the mist made it difficult tomunicate properly, since they weren¡¯t able to see the each other¡¯s faces. If they were able to, they would have noticed how sour their expression was.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we¡¯ve walked a bit too much?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean Anne?¡±

    ¡°The rope wasn¡¯t that long to begin with, it should have ran out by now¡±

    They stood still for a few seconds so everyone caught up to them.

    ¡°What now?¡±

    Hana scoffed impatiently.

    ¡°There seems to be an issue, we should have ran out of rope by now but somehow we were able to walk up to this point¡±

    ¡°Oh! don¡¯t worry about that! we ran out of rope a while ago but I fixed it!¡±

    Risa said puffing out her chest.

    ¡°Miss Risa, how exactly did you fix it?¡±

    Ryu asked somewhat scared of the possible answer.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I simply tucked it and it got free¡±

    Everyone lowered their gaze, Luke even facepalmed in frustration.

    ¡°Do you understand what you just did!?¡±

    ¡°What? If I didn¡¯t do it we wouldn¡¯t have been able to walk so far!¡±

    ¡°That was precisely the point you stupid bitch¡±

    ¡°Who are you calling stupid you blond eunuch!¡±

    ¡°Come on guys, please don¡¯t fight¡±

    Bob said cing himself in between them, his body so huge it was almost the same as if a wall had been built in a second, thus ending the fight immediately.

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no need to fight, we can still do this. Everyone tie the rope around your waist¡±

    ¡°Why? wouldn¡¯t that put us at a disadvantage if we were to fight something?¡±

    ¡°This rope is not so strong as to prevent us from moving, if we encounter something all we need to do is cut it. But we can¡¯t afford to get separated¡±

    ¡°How can you be so calm Ryu? this airhead screwed everything¡±

    ¡°Not really, it was just a precaution... besides, I think we already found what we wereing to investigate¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°The source of this steam must be a body of water and I can hear a waterfall in the distance¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, there should be a waterfall somewhere around this ce¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you mention it before? we wasted the whole morning wandering around. Didn¡¯t youe as a guide?¡±

    Hana simply ignored Anne, who then turned her back towards the group and started sniffing the air.

    ¡°What is it Anne?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a strange smell in the air¡±

    Anne¡¯s keen sense of smell was able to pick up something even inside the dense mist.

    ¡°It¡¯s sulfur!¡±

    .....

    Anne said after pondering about the smell for a while and everyone understood what it meant. The source of the smell was also most likely located in a body of water connected to the hot springs.

 Chapter 166

    166 Caution with the hot springs temperature, please! part The party advanced slowly following the pathway towards the sound of falling water that could be heard in the distance. It wasn¡¯t far, yet it took them about fifteen minutes because they were forced to walk in an awkward position because they were tied to each other.

    Fortunately for them, there were still a couple hours of sunlight left and they didn¡¯t encounter a single beast while being inside the mist.

    Beasts had a more developed sense of smell and they disliked anything new in their environment. As soon as the mist appeared, most ofthe beasts that inhabited the ce left to seek for a safer ce to live.

    The steam became even denser as they closed in and the smell got so strong everyone was able to feel it.

    ¡°It smells like rotten eggs¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, this is the smell that our hot springs usually have, only a lot stronger¡±

    ¡°Ouch! why did you hit me Anne?¡±

    ¡°And you have the guts to ask! you just grabbed my ass!¡±

    ¡°Actually, I think that was me, I¡¯m sorry¡±

    .....

    Hana apologized sincerely as she blushed

    ¡°Well, I guess it can¡¯t be helped, we can¡¯t see anything anyway¡±

    ¡°So, when you thought it was me you jumped in to hit me, but now you know it¡¯s Hana you just shrug it off?¡±

    ¡°What can I say Ryu, she¡¯s ady and you¡¯re a pervert. Don¡¯t think for a second I forgot the time you pped my butt back at Ironwoods¡±

    As that conversation unfolded Hana made apletely wrong idea about Ryu¡¯s character, while it was true he did something like that in the past it was only because he had been tempted many times by Anne and he felt the need to exact a little revenge from her.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    Another yelp of pain was heard, this time it was no other than Bob.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me!¡±

    Ryu hurriedly said as if someone would have med him for something.

    ¡°Don¡¯te!¡±

    Bob managed to say just a second toote, Risa and Luke fell right on top of him and they slid in a muddy slope. Since everyone was tied to each other and Bob was so heavy, they dragged everyone along and they ended up sliding almost all the way down what seemed to be a crater.

    ¡°Is everyone ok?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I still think this idea of tying to each other was stupid¡±

    ¡°You should have said something a bit earlier don¡¯t you think missy? So far you¡¯ve been nothing but a nuissance, if you don¡¯t shut up I¡¯ll fix that mouth of yours¡±

    Risa was getting tired of her negative attitude and she was the first one to speak up. Before she could evenin about the way Risa treated her, a hand was ced on her hand.

    ¡°Everyone quiet¡±

    Anne said in a soft voice, yet everyone went silent. They weren¡¯t used to be together in the same party and they haven¡¯t seen each other for a long time, but they knew how to behave when things got serious.

    Anne concentrated on her hearing and was able to sense a sizzling sound that came from the bottom of the crater.

    Everyone stood up and attempted walking down the slope. Heat was rising up in all directions and the sizzling noise became louder the closer they got. Now not only they were unable to see, they couldn¡¯t hear each other either.

    Being forced to focus on his other senses, Ryu managed to feel something he was so ustomed he ignored it most of the time, It was his mana sense.

    A strong and unfamiliar energy flowed from the middle of the crater and filled up the steam that surrounded everything. It allowed him to somehow get an idea of what the terrain looked like and after a couple minutes he was able to sense everyone¡¯s location by their mana alone.

    It was entirely different from his sense presence skill, not only was Ryu able to tell where everyone was located, but he was also able to tell exactly their pose, movements, even their breathing. He felt just a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information, but just like with sense precense he was able to adjust the range by concentrating.

    Just when he thought he had the hang of it, he felt the source of the mana that filled everything around it. It was as big as Mochi, it had an oval shape and it was located at the center of what Ryu could now tell was a dryke.

    All the water that fell from the waterfall evaporated as soon as it touched the source of the mana and that was causing the mist and the heat.

    ¡°I think I found the cause of the mist and may be able to stop it, but I need everyone to untie from the rope so I can move around freely¡±

    Before Ryu even finished speaking most of the party had already untied from the rope. They ng to it and helped Ryu climb down the crater to the bottom.

    ¡°Stop! pull me back!¡±

    Ryu shouted because it got so hot it was bing unbearable. Everyone tried their best to pull the rope as fast as they could, with such bad luck that it ended up snapping making everyone fall on their butts in the slippery mud and Ryu falling feet first right into the oval shaped stone.

    >Heat resistance +1

    A message appeared inside his mind and on the disy, yet he paid no heed to it as he felt as if he was being cooked alive and his new resistance skill proved to be too weak to actually make a difference.

    Ryu filled his lungs with the hot air to shout, but he got burned from the inside. It was so painful and despairing that he felt helpless.

    His thoughts drifted from one possible solution to another, but he couldn¡¯t keep himself from getting closer and closer to the very source of the heat that was killing him. It was a situation that most people couldn¡¯t survive, the pain was almost unbearable to the point that remaining conscious was a feat on its own. His body wanted to fall into shock but his strong will prevented it.

    Ryu didn¡¯t let his will falter and closed his eyes as he tried to slow his descent by burrowing his hand in the hot mud, although his hand couldn¡¯t feel the texture of the mud because of it¡¯s temperature, he was able to sense it¡¯s mana flow.

    There was a faint connection in all the dirt that surrounded him and he could sense some pathways that could be controlled by him should he pour some mana into them.

    Left with no other choice but giving his all to overtake the natural flow of mana in the dirth bellow he poured as much mana as he could until he could feel the mana veins as if it was an extension from his body.

    A dome was formed right on top of the source of the heat and the bottom of theke started to fill with water that quickly cooled down everything. The sound of water boiling stopped and before Ryu was covered by the huge amount of water that came down from the waterfall Risa and Anne picked him up and dragged him up to where the others were located.

    Without the source of heat altering the environment, the mist started dissipating in the surroundings and they were able to see a bit further away allowing them to climb up to solid ground.

    ¡°Geez Ryu, how do you always end up unconscious like that!? can you please be more cautious?¡±

    Ryu was able to listen to Anne¡¯s words but he couldn¡¯t reply. His lungs expanded and contracted but he wasn¡¯t able to breathe any oxygen into his bloodstream. His lungs werepletely burned from the inside and they didn¡¯t work like they were supposed to.

    ¡°Hurry up and give mister Ryu a potion! he¡¯s dying!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a little burn, he won¡¯t die from that¡±

    Hana pointed at Ryu¡¯s red skin that was seconds away from bing charred meat. It was true, however, that his external injuries were nothing even for a regr F rank adventurer.

    Fortunately for Ryu, Luke used consider on him and he was able to tell how bad the situation was. Ryu¡¯s usually small health amount of health points was so slim that he was already on the verge of dying, that alone was worrisome but Ryu¡¯s status effect wasn¡¯t just the expected (burned) but it also included (asphyxiated)

    ¡°Hurry up and give him a potion already, he needs to breathe!¡±

    Luke¡¯s words made Anne realize just how bad Ryu¡¯s condition was. If even Luke, who she thought held no love for Ryu, was worried about him it could only mean that it was serious.

    Anne patted Ryu¡¯s pockets and then checked his backpack, but besides everything being hot to the touch she couldn¡¯t find any potions.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have any potions on him!¡±

    Anne cried and Sera ran towards Ryu and wordlessly took a pill from Ryu¡¯s pocket and popped it into his mouth.

 Chapter 167

    167 Don¡¯t forget your reward, please! part The sound of heavy rain woke up Ryu early in the morning. The first thing he noticed after being able to open his eyes was the warmth of two girls sleeping besides him and the fact that he waspletely healed. Since it was still dark Ryu checked his soulbound card to confirm his skills and found something that filled him with joy.

    A small ray of sun just broke through the mountain revealing the makeshift camp that was set next to the incipientke that was reforming with the help of both the waterfall and the rain.

    Ryu got up doing his best not to wake Sera and Anne who were still sleeping on each side of his cramped tent. There was no hope of setting up a campfire with the amount of rain that was pouring down, but the fresh air he was able to breathe now felt like nature¡¯s way of apologizing for his terrible experience the day before.

    He nibbled on some waybread as he stared at the small earth dome that lied in the middle of theke. He was still able to sense the mana that manated from it, but the mist hadpletely dissipated.

    ¡°Good morning Ryu, how are you feeling today?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean today? how long was I asleep?¡±

    Luke greeted Ryu and he replied with a question.

    ¡°It¡¯s been five weeks already¡±

    Luke said with a grim expression.

    .....

    ¡°No way!¡±

    Ryu was disheartened by Luke¡¯s statement, but was quickly relieved when Bob ced a hand on Luke¡¯s shoulder and scolded him for messing with him.

    ¡°It¡¯s only the day after you got hurt, you recovered pretty quickly from your wounds, but I don¡¯t think you should be walking. Why don¡¯t you rest for a while?¡±

    ¡°I feel great actually, not only my health recovered but my max health was increased too!¡±

    Ryu replied with a contagious smile.

    ¡°Still, you already fixed the problem and there¡¯s nothing to do so...¡±

    ¡°No, there¡¯s actually something that needs to be done. I merely ced a dome covering the source of the heat, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll hold for long and as soon as it breaks the water will start boiling again and everything will be covered with mist, we should try to get rid of it now that the water is still shallow¡±

    ¡°What do you mean shallow, it¡¯s still deep enough to drown if you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing. You¡¯re just being reckless again and I won¡¯t allow it¡±

    Bob scolded Ryu showing nothing but honest worry for his friend.

    ¡°Listen Bob, I know you¡¯re worried but we need to do this... besides, I think that what¡¯s causing this mess could actually be something really helpful¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening¡±

    Luke said with greed on his eyes.

    ¡°Remember the fire elemental stones?¡±

    ¡°Of course! they¡¯re pretty expensive outside Ironwoods, even the smallest ones, those that are used to activatemps and stuff are somewhat expensive¡±

    ¡°Yeah, well... I think everything was caused by a fire stone¡±

    ¡°That is amazing! Imagine the amount of money we could earn by selling something that powerful!¡±

    Luke almost jumped in ecstasy.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so... first we would need to find someone willing to pay forsomething as dangerous as that. Someone like that is bound to be a dangerous person, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°That may be so, but still¡±

    Luke pouted.

    ¡°No, there¡¯s a better use for something like that, I don¡¯t want to say anything too soon, but I think Bob will be excited about it¡±

    ¡°Ryu, don¡¯t tell me... did you find a way to allow me to cast magic!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet Bob, but as I was getting close to that thing I gained heat resistance so I checked my soulbound card when i woke up¡±

    He showed Bob his card and the words that appeared in it filled Bob with hope.

    >Fire attribute 4

    >Earth attribute 3

    ¡°What does it mean?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I sometimes get a message that says I got a point in the fire attribute, but the numbers don¡¯t add up so I think it¡¯s something like a level¡±

    ¡°So, if I get near that thing I may gain the fire attribute too!?¡±

    ¡°Again, I don¡¯t want to get your hopes up and it¡¯s also very risky to do so, but studying it might be a good start. Perhaps if we take the stone to Ayumi she might be able to find out something about it¡±

    ¡°Oh Ryu, please don¡¯t try to find excuses to head back to Ironwoods, it¡¯s not good to go back to your ex you know¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that! We really need to head back to Ironwoods! Or do you guys want to abandon Hiraku and Ayumi?¡±

    ¡°Well... that¡¯s true, we also sent the girls back there¡±

    ¡°Girls? what girls?¡±

    ¡°ire, Taffy and Veronika of course¡±

    ¡°Oh, right...¡±

    ¡°So, what¡¯syour n? don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t think of a way of getting that thing out¡±

    ¡°That was precisely what I was doing when you guys interrupted me¡±

    Ryu shrugged.

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying we are nothing but annoyances to you? All I heard is you asking for a kick in the butt, did you hear that too Bob?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, he¡¯s hurt!¡±

    Bob replied and Ryu sighed in relief only to be defenseless against Bob¡¯s huge hand that held him tightly.

    ¡°Now Luke, tickle him until he pisses himself!¡±

    ¡°Ahhh! bullying! stop bullying me guys!¡±

    The merry trioughed in the rain as they goofed around, Ryu fell many times trying to run away from Bob, who also tripped and fell a few times. Luke was the only one that managed to keep his foothold in the muddy terrain.

    Truth is, Ryu¡¯s skills were a lot better than Luke¡¯s at walking in difficult terrain, even slippery mud, but Luke¡¯s stats were a lot higher than Ryu¡¯s.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing to mister Ryu?¡±

    Sera¡¯s re froze everyone in the spot

    ¡°We¡¯re just¡±

    ¡°Shut up and let him rest!¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am¡±

    Both Bob and Luke were scolded by Sera, they lowered their gazes and repented in silence, but Ryu wasn¡¯t safe from her anger. She took Ryu¡¯s arm and dragged him back to bed, where she let him right next to Anne with a heavy heart.

    Ryu spent most of the morning trying to get some rest next to Anne who was obviously faking to be asleep to avoid the awkwardness of being by Ryu¡¯s side after sleeping with him.

    Meanwhile Risa and Sera explored near the campsite to make sure there weren¡¯t any beasts nearby. Hana, as the spoiled wealthy rich girl she was, remained in bed expecting to be served breakfast in bed like usual. It would have been one thing if the adventurers on her party were her usual underlings or even regr adventurers, but most of the party wasprised of otherwordly adventurers with unusually high stats and two girls who simply didn¡¯t care about her money.

    After being ignored for most of the morning she eventually got up with a bitter mood that threatened to worsen her already bad character.

    ¡°Is there no one with a brain inside their head? why did no one bring me my breakfast?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Ryu asked her as he stepped outside of his tent. The rain clouds disappeared leaving a beautiful clear sky on top of their heads.

    ¡°Were you not hired by me to fix the hot springs? I was kind enough to spend the night out here in the wild to wait until you recovered, the least you can do is attend to my needs! now hurry up and make me something to eat¡±

    She sounded just as arrogant as she was beautiful, but Ryu wasn¡¯t moved at all by her looks. However, it was true that, for whatever reason, she did spend the night outside so in the end Ryu gave in and looked around for twigs and branches to light up a fire.

    Every piece of wood he found was soaked in water and setting up the campfire proved to be more difficult that he initially expected. If it wasn¡¯t for the generous amount of oil he added and his ability to manipte fire with magic it would have been even harder.

    After the fire was going everyone gathered up nearby by instinct and they dried some of their clothes. Risa¡¯s leather cape that she was wearing as a dress of sorts and Ryu¡¯s attire that was also made of leather didn¡¯t need much to get dry. But everything was different for the rest of the party and they had to take their someof their clothes off and hang them near the fire to dry them properly.

    Ryu stepped near the edge of the small, but deep,ke that was still just a crater with some water in the bottom with the hopes of finding the answer he was looking for. But no matter how much he stared at the earthly dome that rested in the middle he couldn¡¯t figure out how to pull it out.

    That was, at least, until he saw Anne hanging her robe in a tree branch and he remembered the way she used to hung whatever she hunted in branches to keep predators off and bleed them properly before butchering.

    ¡°I think I got it!¡±

 Chapter 168

    168 Don¡¯t forget your reward, please! part Ryu¡¯s lips curled up in what looked like a childish smile that held the charm of a fresh morning breeze. Everyone who knew him felt motivated to work because they were aware of his unusual, yet almost always, reliable way of thinking. The only one who distrusted him was, of course, Hana.

    She was about toin again, but even she wasn¡¯t as shameless as to throw dirt on someone that was al least trying to be helpful. Even if it was a lowly F rank adventurer.

    ¡°The least we can do is hear you out¡±

    Hana scoffed earning her the murderous re of most people present.

    ¡°If we can tie an end of the rope to the dome we can use a tree to pull it up while someone goes down there and pushes it¡±

    Ryu said thest part staring right at Bob, who then felt the pressure of everyone¡¯s eyes upon him.

    ¡°I can try, but I can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll be able to push it all the way up by myself¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t expect you to do it alone. Since Sera is the weakest among us, at least physically, she will be following you trying to make footholds for you to rely on. We just need to level the terrain in some ces so you can rest without the dome rolling down¡±

    ¡°I have a question mister Ryu¡±

    .....

    Sera lifted her arm in the air. She had been trying to avoid Ryu ever since they kissed, but that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t going to do her best to help him however possible.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°What should we do if the thing breaks out of the dome? isn¡¯t it too dangerous? don¡¯t get me wrong, I don¡¯t mind taking the risk if you ask me to... but... what should we do then?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a valid question Sera, I don¡¯t think we can afford to try a second time. If we fail, we¡¯ll go back to the inn and ask for help. Our reward may be lowered, but there¡¯s really no need to push ourselves¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say wimpy stuff like that! I¡¯m sure that my dear students are more than capable of lifting that thing up by themselves, even the useless blondie over there¡±

    Risa nodded with her eyes closed

    ¡°How can you make fun of our party leader like that!?¡±

    Hana, who wasn¡¯t as experienced as Risa in adventures but had been on a few of them before, knew exactly how important it was to respect a party leader¡¯s position. Not only their very lives depended on the party leader, but also the share of the loot and even the reward sometimes.

    Without even realizing it, she had been developing an interest in Luke. It was all thanks to his confident attitude and his outstanding appearance that suited her taste, and the fact that he bossed everyone around only confirmed her suspicions that he was also the party leader. While it was true that Bob looked stronger than him, she knew better than to judge people by appearance alone, or at least that¡¯s what she thought.

    ¡°What are you bbering about? Ryu is our party leader¡±

    Anne scoffed at a dumbfounded Hana after everyone, even Luke stared at her with a confounded expression.

    ¡°Why would you believe I was the party leader?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve been walking in front of everyone and givingmands, it was kind of obvious¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re not big on following orders, but we mostly follow Ryu¡¯s crazy schemes¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re pulling my hair, right? You must be joking! That guy doesn¡¯t even look that strong, I mean, yes he has a toned body, but his presence is as low as hers¡±

    Hana pointed a finger at Sera

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean by that, but we¡¯re not joking. Ryu has saved our asses more times than I can count and we wouldn¡¯t even be here if it weren¡¯t for him¡±

    Hana fell silent while everyone started preparing the terrain to make it easier for Bob to pull the dome up. Ryu went as close as he could to the dome without slipping down and ced his hands on the ground.

    Finding a connection with the mana flow was a lot easier this time, although he wasn¡¯t able to see it, it was almost the same thing. Despite earth being unmoving, there was a strong current flowing within it, the strong energy that lied below the surface was unstoppable, but it could be redirected.

    By connecting his mana flow with that of the ground he was able to change the shape of the dome into a morepact round shape from the distance, then he made some small rings on the surface of the ball shaped container. Now all they had to do was tie the rope into the rings and then pull it up until Bob was able to push it to ease their job.

    ¡°Hold on a second please!¡±

    Bob shouted preventing Rina from dipping into the water to tie the rope in the ball shaped container.

    ¡°What is it handsome?¡±

    ¡°The rope snapped when we pulled it too hardst time, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be able to hold the weight of that thing, it looks really heavy¡±

    ¡°That, my friend, is exactly why we need you to push from below. You see, if we only relied in the rope all the weight would be relying solely on the thin rope, but if you push it, the rope will be only a secondary help to you strength¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but I can¡¯t push it while it¡¯s underwater!¡±

    ¡°Oh! I actually know this one!¡±

    Luke eximed with a refreshing smile that produced goosebumps onto Hana¡¯s skin.

    ¡°Water has weight too you know, that makes any object below the surface a lot lighter!¡±

    He further exined.

    ¡°Right... but then again, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to do it all by myself, I would feel a lot safer if we had iron chains or something even stonger to pull it up¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t take you for such a coward big guy¡±

    Risa said and she finished by sticking out her tongue in a mocking, yet charming, manner.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, I just don¡¯t want it to fall into theke again and be forced toe backter¡±

    Ryu pondered Bob¡¯s words for a few seconds. There was the possibility of creating stone chains but he didn¡¯t know how strong they would be and how much mana he would need to consume to make them.

    ¡°You¡¯re overplicating it, all we need to do is to braid the rope¡±

    Anne said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but no one understood what she meant by that.

    ¡°Come on guys, I used to do climbing. Whenever a rope snapped or was cut I had to fix it, and sometimes I needed stronger rope too, when you braid a rope it¡¯s likebining their resistance¡±

    Anne proceeded to show everyone how to properly do it and it was so simple even Risa was able to understand how to do it.

    It wasn¡¯t aplicated process, but it was long and tiresome, still, they decided to give it a try since no one really wanted to be surrounded by steam again, except for Hana.

    Her family had been the owners of the hot springs for generations and they perfected every possible aspect of their service to turn a simple inn into one of the biggest businesses in the whole kingdom.

    They offered the best quality of sleep, privacy, security, high end food, rare drinks and all sorts of entertainment varying from sports to skilled prostitutes from all over the kingdom.

    It may not sound like much, but to think that it all started with a simple pond of hot water in the ground was really impressive.

    Hana had lived a life of wealth, her closest friends were all nobles and she was ustomed to having all of her needs and wishes fullfilled as soon as she voiced them. But she wasn¡¯t a spoiled brat, her ancient family passed on the tradition to keep only the most capable members in charge of the hot springs and she was most likely the one to be the next head of the family.

    It wasn¡¯t solely her talent for administration, she had experienced all the benefits from living in the inn ever since she was young. She could tell where did any winee from and how old it was, she could also tell the ingredients a dish was made from and she could tell with a simple nce and a quick touch the quality and ce of manufacture of any piece of high quality fabric. All of that without even using her identify skill.

    Living the same as the most distinguished guests for so long allowed her to put herself in their ce, thats why she was able to tell immediately the amazing possibilities that a steam bath could provide. It was something so incredibly simple and yet no one had ever thought of something like that before. It was truly a remarkable business opportunity.

    She was really grateful towards the heroes that worked so hard to save her inn without asking for a reward upfront, but she was even more thankful to them because they allowed her to tag along.

    ¡°Hey Hana! help us braid the ropes too!¡±

    ¡°Are you stupid?¡±

    But not as grateful as to ruin her nails doing handy work.

 Chapter 169

    169 Don¡¯t forget your reward, please! part Risa ended up being the one in charge of tying the rope around the round object, not only was she the fastest but underneath her red leather cape she was wearing something more simr to a tiny swimsuit than actual clothing.

    Theke received the full amount of the waterfall during the night and the morning, nevertheless it wasn¡¯t enough to fill even a hundreth part of theke¡¯s maximum capacity.

    After aplishin her task, Risa pulled the rope softly two times to signal everyone up top that it was time to pull. She then ran as fast as she could to reach the top where everyone was already pulling with all their strength.

    The rope creaked as they tried to unearth the stone container from the bottom of theke. Once the ball was out of the muddy ground it became a lot easier to pull and when Bob was able to push it uphill it became a lot lighter giving everyone a chance to catch their breath.

    The advance was slow but steady and even Bob was surprised at how easy the task turned out to be. It looked so huge, but it wasn¡¯t a solid piece of rock but an almost empty container. The oval shaped stone inside rolled a bit from side to side sometimes making a nking sound against the stone container fashioned by Ryu¡¯s magic.

    After a few stops in the designated ces and a lot of sweat from everyone, Hana included, they were finally able to lift the container from the ground. There was one thing they didn¡¯t take into ount,one small detail they overlooked simply because they did what they had to do to keep the water from boiling up, and it was how the difference in temperature between the outside and the inside of the container would weaken it¡¯s surface.

    As soon as the ball was on even ground, right next to a bunch of exhausted adventurers, cracks were starting to form in all of it¡¯s surface threatening with a sudden burst of stone.

    ¡°Take cover, it¡¯s going to explode!¡±

    Risa shouted as she ran behind a tree, everyone did the same but Sera and Bob who were too fatigued to move on such short notice. Bob, being the gentle but brutish type didn¡¯t hesitate tounch Sera in the air in the direction of Risa, who nimbly caught her in the air before taking cover again.

    .....

    But he remained in the same spot, Ryu noticed this and used his body to cover Bob¡¯s.

    His reasoning was quite simple, if the explosion was strong enough to kill Bob then he would be dead too. But if cing himself in front of his friend allowed him to live, it would be a huge win for everyone in the world. He couldn¡¯t let anything happen to the kindest man he¡¯d ever known.

    ¡°No! Ryu!!!¡±

    Bob shouted, but it was toote, when the first crack turned into a hole, the air pressure that was built up inside the stone container exploded creating a dangerous storm of shrapnel that hit Ryu who didn¡¯t even try to cover his vital points. He was trying to cover a much bigger man than himself, and if anything, he¡¯d rather die a quick death instead of being maimed.

    But what happened next left everyone in awe, including Ryu. The shrapnel didn¡¯t inflict as much damage as they initially thought, but that wasn¡¯t everything. Just inside the stone container there was a huge ck egg that looked to be made out of stone.

    It¡¯s surface was rough and irregr, and it too showed some cracks. This time, instead of exploding in a sudden burst of energy caused by the difference in the air pressure, something poked a hole and slithered outside.

    It was a in looking snake that got right in front of Ryu, it was small in size but it looked to be intelligent. It lifted its head as tall as it could and stared right into Ryu¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°What the hell Ryu!? I just told you not to be so reckless!¡±

    Bob scolded Ryu with tears in his eyes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say, I simply reacted¡±

    ¡°No Ryu, you don¡¯t get to do that! you¡¯re weak, a lot weaker than I am. It¡¯s my duty to protect everyone. I wouldn¡¯t know what to do if one of my friends died in front of my eyes, especially if it is to save me. I can¡¯t stand it!¡±

    Bob cried out loud, he didn¡¯t even try to cover his tears and he only rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand to be able to see.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to save me if it puts you in danger, this goes for everyone! if someone tries to pull something like that again I won¡¯t forgive you!¡±

    Everyone went out from their hideouts, the only one who got hurt was Ryu but it was nothing to be worried about. When Sera tried to get him to take some medicine, Ryu refused saying that they were in no position to waste healing items like that.

    The snake remained in the same spot it was before Bob¡¯s outburst and Ryu picked it up in his hands. It¡¯s little face had something that resembled a smile and he assumed it was happy.

    ¡°So, do you have a new pet now?¡±

    ¡°I guess... I just hope it¡¯s not as much trouble as my dog¡±

    Ryu shrugged.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t like snakes¡±

    Anne muttered, but everybody else seemed to be delighted to see the newborn snake.

    ¡°I think it looks cute¡±

    Risa said as she tried to pet the small creature, but it bared it¡¯s fangs with a hissing sound as soon as she got close.

    ¡°Wow, she looks cute but she¡¯s really grumpy¡±

    ¡°What makes you think it¡¯s a she?¡±

    Ryu asked his former instructor.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? if it was male he would have fallen at my feet seduced by my feminine charms¡±

    When the mist surrounded the area, every single creature attempted to leave the ce in search for a safer ce to live, and yet, everyone could have sworn they heard crickets after Risa¡¯s cocky statement.

 Chapter 170

    170 Don¡¯t forget your reward, please! part The way back was as smooth as it could be expected, everyone was a bit gloomy and tired, except for the little snake that looked at everything with curiosity. Every smell, every color, every sound, everything was new to it.

    Ryu stared at it in disbelief, it behaved almost like Mochi when he became loyal, it was yful and seemed to be smart enough to understand its surroundings. Only then did he realize that he didn¡¯t use any skill to find out more about it and he took the chance while the snake was distracted, Ryu took it on his hand and used his identify skill on it.

    Normally he would have needed to use his consider skill, but since it had some strange effects sometimes he used it as little as possible. Besides, if the creature wasn¡¯t hostile identify was more than enough to find out what he needed to.

    >Wurm hatchling (healthy) (loyal)

    ¡®What!? how is it already loyal!?¡¯ Ryu thought to himself, but he couldn¡¯t hide his dumbfounded expression. Fortunately, no one was paying any attention to him and he went unnoticed.

    It would have been awkward for him to exin things even he didn¡¯t understand.

    Upon reaching the hot springs they were greeted by the employees who were happy to announce that the water started cooling off. It wasn¡¯t instant, but the change was noticeable.

    Two rows of employees bowed their heads as everyone entered the inn, Heimar was already waiting in the hall.

    All the guests were treated to avish meal prepared with high end ingredients, the alcohol served was of a quality and rarity that most people weren¡¯t able to taste in their whole lives and everything felt like a dream for most of them.

    .....

    Ryu felt bad for Lea, she wasn¡¯t their partner but their prisoner, and even though he knew this she was still a human being. Not many people would think like Ryu, but he couldn¡¯t help but think that Lea was on a simr situation to that of Sera when she got caught by the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    While Sera had some friends that cared about her, it was true that when Bob and Luke heard that shemitted a crime they didn¡¯t even bother in trying to rescue her, at least until Risa went to look for them and exined the situation. She was abandoned by her friends and Lea too was abandoned by someone she cared about.

    Of course Ryu¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t filled with rainbows and puppies, he did know about the evil within humanity and couldn¡¯t care less about people who got what they deserved. But this time, he couldn¡¯t keep himself from thinking on how he would have felt if Sera was mistreated by the soldiers.

    That¡¯s why he went to to the dungeon and asked the guards to free Lea.

    ¡°What are you doing in here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m taking you upstairs so you can have a decent meal¡±

    ¡°Are you for real? I know what you¡¯ll do to me, I think I¡¯m safer in this jail, thank you very much¡±

    ¡°I actually am for real and as long as you don¡¯t try to escape I¡¯ll make sure everyone treats you well. I don¡¯t know what you think I¡¯ll do to you, but I¡¯m not interested in the slightest¡±

    Lea, having no reason to turn down Ryu¡¯s offer, followed him upstairs and joined the feast awkwardly. Everyone was already having fun and eating to their hearts content.

    For most of them it was like a dreaming true. Risa being more experienced than the rest of them, had been in more than one celebration after an aplished mission, but even she was surprised at the amount and quality of the meal in front of them.

    No one asked what was Lea doing sitting by Ryu¡¯s side, they all knew he must have had his reasons and she wasn¡¯t a threat to anyone present anyway. No oneined, but they didn¡¯t interact with her either.

    Food never ran out, drinks kepting, but even good things could be better, and the one in charge of that was no other than Hana who after talking long to her father about what happened was tasked with rewarding the adventurers.

    ¡°May I have your attention please?¡±

    Hana¡¯s words resounded in the huge room and everyone remained silent. Her arrogant attitude that had be softer during their short adventure, was the same as it was before joining the party, but this time she did sound a tad friendlier.

    ¡°To the adventurers that lent us a hand despite not knowing our situation, we are truly grateful. Here, in the quarrydew hot springs, we value qualities like honor, loyalty, friendship, courage and integrity, all of which are present in your outstanding party and we¡¯d like to offer you our friendship, from here on you are wee here and will be treated the same as family¡±

    Everyone at the party smiled at the thought of being able to spend some time leisurely in the hot springs whenever they wanted. They didn¡¯t know, however, that a statement like that held a deeper meaning than they realized at the time.

    Although Heimer himself wasn¡¯t a noble, it wasn¡¯t forck of trying. The royals had been attempting to draw his family from generations in the past, but they always refused. The reason behind this was a mistery to everyone but the head of the family, and it would baffle everyone who ever found out about it.

    Hana proceeded with a long and boring speech that everyone but Bob and Luke ignored, they too would have been bored if not for their vast experience in role ying games. To them, this whole adventure in Quarrydew was nothing but a side quest, but they knew how important it was to pay attention to dialogues.

    It would have been one thing if they were inside one of such games, but this was reality and the speech itself held no value at all. It was just pleasantries mixed up with some nobility talk and it was made tost long without saying much. Needless to say, it was Hana¡¯s way of taking a small revenge on the adventurers that caused her so much trouble during their quest.

    Hana¡¯s way with words was more than even the excited duo was able to handle and their mind too started drifting away after no more than ten minutes.

    By the time Hana finished her speech no one knew what she had actually said, but two maids came back with tes that contained their money reward.

    It was a single light blue coin to each adventurer in the party and nothing else. They didn¡¯t think it was worth much, but none of them was disappointed because they already got the reward they were actually looking for, now they were able toe and go to the hot springs as they pleased.

 Chapter 171

    171 Enjoy the hot springs, please! part ¡°After all the trouble we went through all we got was this lousy coin, It doesn¡¯t even look that valuable¡±

    ¡°Shut up Luke, you always find something toin about¡±

    ¡°You shut up, if it wasn¡¯t for me, you would have kicked the bucket already!¡±

    ¡°Uh!? do you want me to kick you again?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve never kicked me, you punched me!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see the difference¡±

    Ryu shrugged

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you the difference!¡±

    Luke was about to fall head on into Ryu¡¯s taunts, but Bob stood in the middle and grabbed them on each arm and carried them as if they were a sack of potatoes.

    .....

    ¡°You guys are too drunk, now I¡¯ll take you to bed¡±

    ¡°No! please let me go! I can still party some more!¡±

    Ryu begged.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother, there¡¯s no reasoning with him when he gets like that¡±

    Luke let himself be carried, his limbs hanging freely like wet noodles, inplete surrender, contrary to Ryu who was still kicking to get free.

    ¡°Uh, now that I think about it, where are you guys staying at?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember, It waste night when we first arrived remember?¡±

    Luke said a bit disgruntled because he wanted to keep drinking.

    Although Bob looked like he was sober, he too was drunk, his huge frame and chunky appearance gave the impression to being really tolerant to alcohol, but in truth he wasn¡¯t ustomed at all to drinking. He was still just a regr college student that was transported into another world, his new body was certainly stronger than his past one but being technically a new body he needed to build up resistance and tolerance to many different environments and substances. Luke, on the other hand, had a lot more tolerance than him because of the time he spent at the brothel indulging in his lowest desires, but even he got wasted after staying up sote with hispanions.

    They were having so much fun reminiscing the old times, even if they only went back a few months, that they didn¡¯t even notice when did the girls leave the dinning hall. Now they were in the dark, in an unknown ce that was too big to memorize it in a single day and because of that it wasn¡¯t long before Bob got lost in between all the luxurious looking vis and started going in circles.

    Every vi had their own hot spring and they were surrounded by fences or bushes to provide the privacy their hosts needed and, despite having almost a hundred employees, it was really difficult to find them at such hour.

    ¡°Hey put us down¡±

    ¡°No way, you¡¯ll keep fighting!¡±

    ¡°We weren¡¯t fighting Bob! we¡¯re all good friends!¡±

    Bob put them both in the ground, Ryu stood up on his own two feet, but Luke melted over the sidewalk sticking his ass up in the air.

    ¡°What are you doing Luke, get up!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s sofy, just let me sleep in here, I won¡¯t bother you guys¡±

    He sighed.

    The silence of the night was soothing, maybe a bit too much for the group of adventurers that had been working hard and then celebrating even harder. Bob and Ryu sat in the ground besides Luke, who was still in an awkward position and they looked at the unobstructed starry sky that graced them with the most fantastic sight they¡¯ve caught ever in their lives.

    ¡°Wow! this is beautiful! I don¡¯t have words to describe it, but it makes me feel so small¡±

    ¡°It is¡±

    Ryu said and Bob replied as eloquent as a brick.

    ¡°Tell me Bob, did the sky look like that where you came from?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s difficult to exin¡±

    ¡°Let me see!¡±

    Luke turned around and sat like his friends, but he was too drunk to keep his back straight and leaned on Bob who simply let him do as he wanted. Although Bob wasn¡¯t that good with words, he did enjoy the time he spent with his friends.

    ¡°This is the first time I see something like this!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, I always lived in the city. Whenever I looked at the sky all I saw was clouds or smog. I mean, I¡¯ve seen the stars before but this is something else¡±

    Luke fell silent making Ryu impatient. After a good minute ofplete silence Ryu pushed Bob with his body moving him just enough to nudge on Luke prompting him to speak.

    ¡°You see the moon and the stars, right? well, I don¡¯t know what those colorful clouds are, but they look amazing¡±

    The sky was adorned with glimmering stars and even some nebs that were visible to the naked eye.

    ¡°It¡¯s also different, I don¡¯t know much about constetions, but I¡¯m certain these are not the same stars from my world, I can¡¯t recognize a single one. Never before have I seen a green star or one as big as that one¡±

    Despite Ryu not being able to see where was Luke pointing at, he was somehow able to tell exactly what he meant. There were stars in the sky that were obviously bigger than the rest.

    ¡°Hey Luke, do you think it¡¯s possible that we were abducted by aliens?¡±

    ¡°Oh! I didn¡¯t think of that! If that were the case we would be the first men to ever contact aliens!¡±

    ¡°Aliens?¡±

    Ryu was at a loss, he couldn¡¯t follow their conversation at all.

    ¡°People from outside of the are called aliens, but they never found any¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they would appreciate that, I hated whenever Anne called me a native¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Luke, that¡¯s probably offensive¡±

    ¡°Who cares if it¡¯s offensive, I got more important things to worry about¡±

    ¡°Like what for example?¡±

    Ryu asked without much interest in what he had to say, it was most likely something like bing a hero or ying a mythical beast, his usual hero fantasy bber. But, instead of saying anything Luke pointed at the distance.

    There was nothing but a regr fence, only instead of surrounding a vi it was encircling an area behind a small cabin. The cabin had two entrances next to each other, one of which had a blue curtain and the other had a red one. It wasn¡¯t as big as the vis, so it was most likely a changing room, but what Ryu was able to see wasn¡¯t nearly as important as he was able to hear. There was a strange sound in the distance, like a giggling, and the muffled sounds of a happy conversation, whatever it was, it could only mean one thing: the girls were over there.

 Chapter 172

    172 Enjoy the hot springs, please! part ¡°Hey Ryu... Didn¡¯t you say you have the stealth skill too?¡±

    Ryu gulped down his saliva at Luke¡¯s words, he knew exactly where he was going with that.

    ¡°I... well... I do but¡±

    ¡°No buts Ryu! it¡¯s our duty as fellow men to explore the unexplored, to reveal what is hidden and to learn all the misteries of the universe!¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t that just grand words to say peeking at naked girls?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you guys do something as dishonest as that!¡±

    Bob barged into the conversation, resolved to even fight his friends to protect thedies from their depravity.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Bob, I wouldn¡¯t do something like that¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just saying that because you¡¯ve seen all of them naked, haven¡¯t you!?¡±

    .....

    Ryu felt heat rise up to his cheeks,pletely speechless.

    ¡°Ryu is not like that! He¡¯s always nice to them and he respects women, he wouldn¡¯t... Ryu, why are you blushing up?¡±

    ¡°I knew it! Did you do it with Anne?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°But you don¡¯t deny having seen her naked!¡±

    Ryu looked at Bob with pitiful eyes, in an attempt to defend himself from Luke¡¯s usation, but Bob was having none of it

    ¡°You look pretty guilty right now Ryu¡±

    Bob said a little disappointed in his friend.

    ¡°Come on guys, please don¡¯t make me say it. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m a pervert or something, it just happened! She has this habit of going around naked!¡±

    ¡°Does she!? then why haven¡¯t I seen her naked? He Bob, have you seen her in her birthday suit? no! of course you haven¡¯t either! This is unfair, I should go take a peek after all¡±

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going¡±

    Bob held Luke¡¯s shoulder to prevent him from spying on the girls.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t rmend peeping... miss Risa and Anne are both strong and skilled in detection, if they catch you... I don¡¯t even want to think about it¡±

    Luke shivered at the thought, he didn¡¯t need to imagine it because he had already tried to peek on Risa while they were on their way to rescue Sera and he faced the consequences of his actions.

    While Risa was usually pretty flirty and open about her own desires, she wouldn¡¯t tolerate under any circumstances any sort of advance against her will or without her consent.

    Risa¡¯s way of thinking was highly unusual in this world and it was due mostly because she was raised in the slums where she had to protect her body everyday from harm and abuse, even before hering of age. But on the world the heroes came from it was consideredmon sense, in fact, even keeping ves, somethingmon in the world they are now, was considered one of the most heinous crimes. Not only it was ouwed long ago, there were several organizations that fought against modern very.

    Luke¡¯s intention to peek on the girls would be considered nothing but a child¡¯s joke in this world, but on the world he came from it was a crime.

    However, this world was not as nice as their own. People lived and died by the sword, good honest people struggled to get by and unfairness was the rule of the game. There were no organizations to help the people, no police and nobles had authority over people¡¯s lives. All the summoned heroes had to adapt to their new circumstances and they experienced in just a few months, things that most people wouldn¡¯t see in their lifetimes.

    ¡°You¡¯re probably right Ryu, it¡¯s not worth the risk. Why don¡¯t we just take a quick dip into the hot springs before going to bed?¡±

    ¡°Are you being reasonable Luke? this is something I never expected¡±

    ¡°Hey Ryu! just who do you think I am? I¡¯m not some pervert and I don¡¯t want to hurt my friends¡±

    ¡°You say that now, after Risa gave you the beating of your life when you tried to take a peek when she was taking a bath¡±

    ¡°That was an honest mistake! How was I supposed to know she didn¡¯t want me there when she spent the whole day flirting with me!? Besides, she¡¯s almost naked all the time!¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re allowed to go against her wishes. You really need to learn how to treat women, why don¡¯t you take me and Veronika as an example and try to live a modest life¡±

    ¡°Whatever¡±

    Luke¡¯s mood was ruined by Bob. Not only did he scold him and reminded him of the time he got his ass handed to him by Risa, but he also bragged about something he could never dream to have. The only time he fell in love was back at the brothel when he was with Taffy, the prostitute that led him to believe he was a hero saving a damsel in distress. But it turned out to be a lie she, just an illusion she faked to keep him spending money on her so she could buy herself back.

    To add insult to injury Hiraku and Ayumi, Bob and Veronika, even the short lived rtionship between Ryu and Rina! They all looked like the perfect couples. Everyone but him had experienced love in this world and the closest thing he had experienced so far had been the physical intimacy with prostitutes.

    Disheartened, he went through the blue curtain that led him to the male changing room. Bob and Ryu followed closely and they all took off their clothes in clumsy drunkedness, cing everything they had on them including their clothes in the baskets ced on the shelf for that purpose.

    They grabbed some towels and put them on their waists, Ryu didn¡¯t know what he was doing because he didn¡¯t have any experience in hot springs, so he limited himself to imitate his friends.

    Luke was the first to cross the door to enter the hot springs, but then, all of a sudden, all the beauty of the previous starry scenery that moved Luke¡¯s heart was outshadowed by what lied in front of his eyes right now.

    Risa, Anne, Hana and even Lea werepletely naked enjoying the warm water, Sera was the only one from their group not present because she was waiting for Ryu on the vi.

    Just when Luke thought he was about to get killed by any or every women in the hotsprings, Risa grinned cunningly.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing blondie? hurry up and get inside, it feels amazing!¡±

    Bob and Ryu, without even wasting a full second, walked past Luke who was frozen in the spot like a marble statue. He didn¡¯t know where to put his gaze without offending the girls.

    ¡°What are you doing in here? we entered through the blue door that said ¡®men¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Oh that? It¡¯s just for the changing room, this is the only mixed hot springs in Quarrydew. It is also the biggest, that¡¯s why I brought the girls over¡±

    Hana exined lifting both arms above the surface of the water, partially exposing her chest.

    ¡°You two! how can you be so calm!? didn¡¯t you just said peeking was a bad thing!?¡±

    ¡°Well, they invited us so it means they don¡¯t mind¡±

    Bob shrugged and dipped in the water, Ryu did the same not minding the presence of the girls in the slightest because he was still too drunk to care.

 Chapter 173

    173 Enjoy the hot springs, please! part *Ugh*

    ¡°Where am I?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re in your room, mister Ryu¡±

    ¡°No, I meant, what is this?¡±

    Ryu patted the soft cushion that threatened to suffocate him.

    ¡°That¡¯s miss Risa¡¯s breast mister Ryu¡±

    Sera replied coldly, giving way to a very awkward moment where Ryu¡¯s mind attempted to move away but his body refused to obey.

    ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself, you must be feeling awful¡±

    ¡°Not really, I just need some tea and I¡¯ll be as good as new¡±

    .....

    ¡°Please let me brew some for you¡±

    Sera bowed her head politely and left the room withoutmenting on Ryu lying next to a sleeping Risa, right in between her two soft mounds.

    Risa was crossed diagonally in bed with her beds spread wide open and hugging Ryu in her sleep. She had an innocent smile on her face with her unusual protruding fangs barely showing and there was a small thread of drool dripping down her cheek.

    There was a soft snoringing from somewhere in the room, but despite Risa looking like a hibernating bear, it wasn¡¯ting from her.

    Ryu tried to get up but Risa held him tighter, pressing his face against the softness of her chest, he was being treated the same as a regr plushie. It took some effort, but he was finally able to wiggle out from her embrace and he was able to see where was the snoringing from.

    Luke was sleeping beneath Ryu¡¯s bed and only his legs were showing.

    ¡°Just what in the world happenedst night?¡±

    ¡°A lot happened¡±

    Sera replied, she brought with her a tray with tea, bread, cheese and some cookies. Although Ryu ate his fullst night and had a lot to drink, he still felt a bit hungry and epted with gratitude the abundant breakfast Sera offered him.

    Risa started sniffing the air with her eyes still closed and suddenly sat in a straight position.

    ¡°Food!¡±

    Risa took a piece of bread and started chewing it loudly, crumbs falling on top of the bed, but Ryu didn¡¯t mind it. After a few sips of tea he was feeling better already, and he woke Luke up.

    ¡°Where am I? uh? what are you doing in my dream Ryu?¡±

    ¡°Get up already, there¡¯s food on the night stand¡±

    The sole thought of food hit Luke in the stomach and he couldn¡¯t keep himself from puking his guts out in the floor.

    ¡°Dude, get a hold of yourself!¡±

    It was past noon and everyone but Sera was feeling tired and sluggish, especially Luke. Risa, who was a lot more resistant to alcohol was the only one who knew exactly what happened before they got to bed but her lips were sealed, Sera didn¡¯t know a thing because she was already asleep by the time they got to the vi.

    ¡°Please Risa, tell me what happened!¡±

    ¡°Nope¡±

    ¡°Come on, you owe it to me!¡±

    ¡°I owe you!? you should be grateful to me, if you remembered what happened you would be on the floor licking my feet¡±

    ¡°I can do that if it gets you to tell me¡±

    Thest thing that Luke remembered was going to the hot springs and finding out the hot springs were mixed, but his memories were fuzzy at best and he couldn¡¯t remember what happened after that. He couldn¡¯t even recall what did the girls looked like, all he knew was that they were in the hot springs.

    Ryu wasn¡¯t much better, he did remember a bit better, but as soon as he dipped into the water his mind went nk.

    All the heroes spent the rest of the day recovering from the previous celebration, but Heimar summoned Ryu to the main building. The maid who came looking for him was very polite about it so he didn¡¯t find a reason to decline.

    ¡°Good afternoon mister Ryu, I hear you¡¯re the actual party leader, is that correct?¡±

    ¡°It is, but, who are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Heimar¡±

    A tall young man dressed in afortable silk robe stood in front of Ryu, they were almost the same height so they looked each other in the eye without difficulty.

    ¡°You look...¡±

    ¡°Younger, I know, that¡¯s why I summoned you here... to exin you why we couldn¡¯t ask the kingdom for help¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it, are the hot springs really that effective?¡±

    ¡°I could answer your question, but then you wouldn¡¯t be able to leave this ce¡±

    Ryu gulped down his saliva at Heimar¡¯s statement, there really was something weird about the hot springs, but for the first time his curiosity waspletely nullified by the fear he felt. The same old man that had trouble walking with his own legs, now looked like a seasoned warrior. It wasn¡¯t that he looked that strong, but the strange phenomenon was unsettling.

    ¡°What did you want to tell me then?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be frank, I need the egg shell. I know you have it and it¡¯s necessary for the spring to keep functioning. The creature that came out of that egg is no ordinary beast, it¡¯s actually a mythical beast¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious, this little buddy is just a snake¡±

    ¡°Snake!? it¡¯s a snake the same as you are a monkey! it¡¯s not a snake but a dragon!¡±

    Ryu stared at heimar in disbelief, allowing the old man to further exin.

    ¡°Do you really think a normal egg can heat a wholeke and evaporate itpletely in less than a month? This has never happened before, and yet we knew it would happen eventually. My ancester was this age when she found the egg, its mana was so strong she almost fainted just by being nearby. She threw it into theke and took it upon herself to guard theke and its secret, after centuries of studying my family found out that¡¯s precisely what dragons do to hatch their eggs. Theyy eggs in bodies of water, inside volcanos, any ce with a strong mana flow¡±

    ¡°Why are you telling me all this? how am I supposed to believe any of this¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you believe it or not because you¡¯ll see it for yourself, all I care about is that you give me the shell so the hot springs can keep functioning. I won¡¯t have it against you if you decide to keep it, but it would do you no good, while it can keep my family safe for another hundred years or so¡±

 Chapter 174

    174 Run, please! part Ryu ended up agreeing to Heimar request, It wasn¡¯t that he was under any threat, but he did feel a bit pressured into giving him the egg shell. Of course Heimar wasn¡¯t going to simply take it from Ryu, and he paid quite handsomly with gold and the light blue coins that Ryu didn¡¯t know were made of mithril, a rare metal with magical properties.

    By the time Ryu got back to his vi, Luke and Risa were nowhere to be seen, instead Anne was sitting in the dinning room drinking tea with Sera. For a brief second they both seemed startled, but they quicklyposed themselves.

    ¡°Took you long enough, why did he call for you?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much, he just wanted to buy the eggshell¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s weird... Anyway, I just dropped by to invite sera to the hot springs, I¡¯ll head back now¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to hurry¡±

    ¡°Actually, there is, Risa and the others are already waiting¡±

    ¡°Are you not going Sera?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know... would it be ok mister Ryu?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Of course, why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe you¡¯ll need me for something¡±

    ¡°Not really, go on, have some fun and pass the word that we leave tomorrow at dawn break¡±

    Finally alone, Ryu rushed to the bedroom and basked in the freedom of having the bed all to himself. It was a nice feeling, but he missed sleeping with his pets.

    He spent a long while with Famine and Mochi after chasing them, he trained his skills daily and lived the kind of life he always dreamed about. Exploring new ces, living off the nature and spending time with his trustworthy dogpanion.

    Except it wasn¡¯t a dog but an amarok, the kind of creature that brought chills in the spine to regr people. During the period he traversed the woods he became ustomed to sleeping on his now light brown soft fur, he used to be almost the same color as tree bark but after growing up he shedded and became a different color.

    Mochi too shed a lot, but instead of changing its color he simply left a bunch of fur anywhere he went. Now his two pets were inseparable, Mochi loved to hitch rides on Famine, and Famine enjoyed the constant grooming on his fur by the fat cat. At night, both his pets would cuddle up to Ryu, allowing him to get a nice warm sleep wherever he went, not just that but they showered their master with affection on a daily basis.

    That meant that now, despite having thefiest bed he ever had all to himself, he ended up feeling lonely, then bored, then anxious.

    His hands started sweating, he couldn¡¯t keep his eyes still and started looking for threats everywhere in the room, but there was nothing at all.

    It was an odd feeling he never experienced before, his heart raced and time seemed to slow down. But there were no menaces at sight, nothing at all that could exin how he felt.

    He picked up his soulbound card and checked on it, maybe he fell victim to a status effect without knowing it.

    The first page was filled with information that was of no use at all, just the usual. The next page contained all his skills and he tinkered with them a little, there were many passive skills that he kept at the ready just in case he needed them. Most of which didn¡¯t consume much energy.

    Then it hit him, he could use sense presence to detect any possible threats that lurked in the shadows.

    His consciousness expanded the same as his awareness, he was able to sense even the small bugs that lived in the bushes outside the vi. He expanded the range of his skill by concentrating harder until he was able to feel the presence of every single one of hispanions. None of them seemed to be in danger, Famine and Mochi had followed them from afar and were waiting for their master just outside the Quarrydew hotsprings.

    Being in a nice,fortable, quiet room made it easy to use the sense presence skill. He practiced a bit more with it until he feltfortable enough to use it alongside mana sense. It proved to be too difficult for him, so instead of going all in from the start, he reduced the range and tried again.

    Mana sense by itself should have been able to detect anything and everything, since mana was a strange energy that was present even in lifeless materials like stones. But in truth it wasn¡¯t nearly as convenient because it was unable to detect small amounts of mana, it was helpful in other ways nheless.

    The mana that flowed below the ground made it clear to Ryu why did theke affected the quality of the hot springs. There was a strong mana flowing from the direction where theke was located, it followed a path to every single hot spring present. Meaning, all the water that flowed from below the ground was somehow connected to theke in some way.

    It was then that, by mere chance, Ryu sensed the outline of some people inside one of the hot springs. Since the water was rich in mana, he was able to tell, with incredible precision, the shape of anything and anyone below its surface.

    As fate would have it, the person he was unintendedly focusing on was Anne. Ryu¡¯s consciousness traced Anne¡¯s body in the same way the water did. He was able to sense her soft curves and the more pronounced ones, every small detail in the shape was revealed to Ryu. All the nooks and crannies were unable to hid themselves from Ryu¡¯s curious mind.

    There wasn¡¯t a trace of lust or depravity, pretty much the same as the first time he peeked at her naked body by ident. It was honest curiosity and eagerness to try out the mix of his two skills.

    >Skill acquired: Awareness

    That message snapped Ryu out of his reverie and his consciousness came back to a blushing body that was finally able to understand that he had just sensed Anne¡¯s naked body. Startled by this notion, he tapped on his soulbound card as if trying to hide the fact that he just acquired a new skill by peeping, but what he saw in the bottom of thest page of his card made shivers run across his back.

    The feminine voice thatmunicated with him on rare asions had told him to check up on her messages daily, but he hadpletely forgotten about it. Now, by mere chance, he looked at the page where such messages appeared and it read:

    ¡®RUN!¡¯

 Chapter 175

    175 Run, please! part Ryu wasn¡¯t as reckless as to leave everything behind and run away, but he took only what he considered essential to stay alive. Money, weapons, clothes, his leather rucksack and a bit of food. Then he bolted through the door in the direction where the girls were located.

    Only then did he remember about the small wurm hatchling he recently adopted as his pet, he still didn¡¯t believe Heimar¡¯s words stating that it would eventually be a mythical beast, but he already had tamed an amarok so anything was possible.

    Without any time to spare he headed right into the hot springs where the girls were rxing, this time Sera included. When they saw Ryu appear out of nowhere they were all startled, except for Risa who bared her breasts proudly with both arms extended onto the rim of the pond.

    ¡°Deja vu¡±

    Risa giggled, but Anne didn¡¯t take it as calmly as her. She covered her exposed chest by crossing her arms and blushed heavily. Not knowing if it was embarrassment or anger. But Ryu didn¡¯t give her any time to figure it out.

    ¡°Get dressed and gather only the essential, Serae with me, we¡¯re leaving right now¡±

    ¡°How bad is it?¡±

    Anne inquired havingpletely forgotten about her nakedness.

    ¡°Worse than the hill¡±

    .....

    Those words brought Anne to shivers, the mere thought was enough to be alert and even though she wasn¡¯t able to sense anything, she trusted Ryu more than she trusted her own instincts.

    Sera jumped out of the pond and ran to the changing room, leaving only Risa and Hana still dipped into the water.

    ¡°Are you not going to follow them miss Risa?¡±

    ¡°I am, but I left all my belongings in the changing room, I don¡¯t mind if I risk my life by staying just another minute. I know if I don¡¯t stay inside this hot spring as much as I can I¡¯ll regret itter¡±

    Bob and Luke were having dinner on the main building and, fortunately, they were ready to go because they wanted to do a bit of exploring at night. It¡¯s not that they were actually going to hunt something, but they liked the feeling of walking around carrying weapons, it made them feel like real adventurers.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on Ryu?¡±

    Luke asked when everyone was gathered at the entrance.

    ¡°There¡¯s a threating this way, I can¡¯t exin but...¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right, there¡¯s people from the sacred empireing¡±

    Lea, who had been freed with the condition of not making any attempt to escape, said in a loud voice.

    ¡°How long have you known that?¡±

    Ryu didn¡¯t waste a second in anger, all of his senses were focused solely on surviving.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really know that, but I figured father Stefan woulde to free me. If you let me go, I promise I¡¯ll speak nice words about you and your party. After all you¡¯ve treated me well so far¡±

    ¡°Thanks, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a possibility¡±

    Ryu said in a serious tone, staring at her right into the eye.

    ¡°W-what makes you say that¡±

    ¡°I hate to break it to you, but you were abandoned by that guy¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! I¡¯m a priestess of the sacred empire! He cares about me!¡±

    ¡°What makes you think that? are you more important than the guy he let die in the maws of my dog?¡±

    Lea shuddered at the memory of the huge beast appearing out of the woods and taking her fellow priest away to kill him.

    ¡°I-I...¡±

    Her voice broke to pieces, she couldn¡¯t thread a single thought that allowed her to rebuke Ryu¡¯s words.

    ¡°Why do you think someone that let others die so easily and abandons hispanions without so much as attempting to bargain for her life, would go through the trouble ofing back to set you free? you¡¯re of no use to them and I bet he¡¯s willing to dispose of you the same way he nned to dispose of the soldiers once they outlived their usefulness¡±

    Lea started crying inplete silence, tears simply ran down her tears without even sobbing. It didn¡¯t look dramatic, but those were definitely the most bitter tears she had ever shed.

    ¡°Take me with you, please!¡±

    ¡°Why should we do something like that?¡±

    Luke barged in, now understanding the situation a little better

    ¡°I¡¯m still your prisoner!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a liability, what would stop you from backstabbing us? just stay here and repent for your sins¡±

    Anne added, knowing full well her words would hurt Lea¡¯s already weakened heart even more.

    ¡°Please, I beg you, don¡¯t let me die! I¡¯ll do anything!¡±

    ¡°Again!? why does this keep happening to me? I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t take care of you now, our lives are at risk and...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a priest! I can heal you! I can even restore the curse!¡±

    Lea said thest part in utter despair as the heroes were already turning their backs to her one by one. She didn¡¯t know if she was actually able to do something like restoring a curse, what she did know was that most of Ryu¡¯s strength vanished along with the curse she dispelled with her blessing. Even if the chance was slim, it would at least buy her enough time to run away from the adventurers.

    Even for a priest as skilled as her, leaving the heroes behind was difficult, but outrunning people from the sacred empire sent on a holy assassination mission waspletely impossible.

    ¡°What are you saying you dumb bitch, why would someone want a curse back!?¡±

    ¡°Please, miss Risa, let her talk¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to restore your curse to its previous state!¡±

    ¡°Are you absolutely certain you can do something like that?¡±

    Ryu asked with suspicion.

    ¡°I- I actually don¡¯t know, what I do know is you have no chance of doing so by yourself!¡±

    ¡°Sera, tie her up, Bob you¡¯ll be in charge of carrying her, Famine will carry Sera and the supplies¡±

    He said after crossing the exit door, then he whistled by putting his fingers on his mouth and a huge wolf-like creature split the night with its amazing speed.

    Famine, the amarok, stood proudly in front of the group and howled at the moon in a gant way.

 Chapter 176

    176 Run, please! part It is said that ces where mana overflows are truly magical filled with natural beauty and a sacred atmosphere. Such ces do exist in this world, although nobody knows what produces them or how to find them, making it the stuff of old legends that people tend to forget.

    Unknown to most people, wars have been fought with the sole purpose of controlling such ces. It wasn¡¯t just because of the unexplicable phenomena that usually afflicted such ces, but also because some rare products could only be found over there.

    Quarrydew was the name of the small town at the foothill of a mountain that produced Imperial stones, and the whole town thrived thanks to that.

    Imperial stones are a sturdy building material that is able to be even stronger the more mana gets poured into it, when Ryu found them in the river before arriving at Ironwoods, he took advantage of this strange property without even knowing it, and used imperial stones to craft an axe for chopping wood.

    There was, however, no chance of him knowing the importance of such material at the time, and now the group traversed through the biggest imperial stone quarry in the whole kingdom. They could have taken the main road back to the town of Quarrydew, but Lea suggested otherwise.

    If they were being chased by the members of the church of the sacred empire like Ryu thought, they were most likely toe from the town.

    A quarry is simply what they call a ce from where it is possible to extract a certain type of stone material inrge qunatities and,in theory, it should be pretty safe to walk by. But given the magical nature of the imperial stone, it was actually filled with beasts, especially at night.

    ¡°Tell me again, why can¡¯t we just fight our way through the quarry?¡±

    Risa asked

    .....

    ¡°Miss Risa, it¡¯ste night already, and we can¡¯t really afford to be taken by surprise by the agents of the sacred empire. Stefan is one thing, but if he finds us with better equipped soldiers, we won¡¯t be able to hold our ground against them, especially if we have to fight beasts at the same time¡±

    Risa seemed to understand and kept the pace, threading lightly on her feet. She was still an apprentice archer, but the light step skill was already showing its effects.

    Anne walked in the front, not only because she was the most experienced in sorting obstacles and finding the best pathway, but also because her perception was outstanding. particrly, her sense of smell was akin to that of a beast, although no one was brave enough to say that to her face.

    Anne was followed by Ryu and Risa, both were quick on their feet and were skilled enough to keep an enemy distracted. After them came Sera riding the amarok and Bob was besides her carrying a tied up Lea. She hadpletely given up to her fate and didn¡¯t fight back thinking that she was, again, turned into a prisoner when in reality Ryu had her tied up just in case they did encounter people from the sacred empire, to make them believe she was with them against their will in hopes that they would spare her.

    Last in line was Luke, he was the fastest of them all and could move easily to the front if they needed, but his skills were more effective if he remained undetected.

    Ryu hade up with this formation after they set off, it was a bit improvised but better than just walking disorderly. Risa was actually very impressed with Ryu¡¯s leadership skills, not because he gave the correct orders, but because instead of shoutingmands, he taught everyone what their role was and how to properly perform it during battle, making it unnecessary to give anymands at all.

    Everyone knew exactly what they had to do, so they didn¡¯t waste any time and simply focused on their own duty. It also exined Bob¡¯s and Luke¡¯s behavior, they always worked together in an efficient teamwork without speaking their minds out loud, and it took her some time to get ustomed to their fighting style. If ryu had been with them while they travelled from Crent to rescue Sera, things would have been a lot easier.

    The quarry was just an open field next to a part of the mountain that had been mined for centuries, it looked like a huge stone wall crowned by dirt on top, and the only cover that was avable was that of the big chunks of rock lying around the field.

    Since the party came from above, they were able to catch a glimpse of the entire path ahead of them. The road went down to the quarry and it eventually connected to the western forest, which was their goal for the night, the only problem was to get there unnoticed.

    There were many beasts lurking in the shadows, while others were strong enough to be out in the open minding their own business.

    The party stopped for a few minutes, allowing Anne to study the road properly and Ryu to spot any dangerous beast. They were the only ones with the night vision skill developed to a point where they could actually see as far at night as they would during the day. They couldn¡¯t discern colors, but it was a nice tradeoff all things considered.

    ¡°I think I got it¡±

    Anne nodded to the rest of the team and they resumed their march downhill. Sera, being the only one riding a beast, was also the only one who could focus entirely on their surroundings.

    It was a beautiful night that held the secrets of thend covered with imperial stone. But almost all of her focus was situated on thendscape, growing up she had never set foot outside her hometown, and now she was so far she couldn¡¯t believe it. She did her best engrave into her memory everything she could, and then she noticed something in the north.

    ¡°What is that thing in the north? it looks like a ck tree without any branches¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the sacred obelisk¡±

    Lea replied from her awkward position on top of Bob¡¯s shoulder. She was being carried just like luggage. Her reply didn¡¯t actually answer Sera¡¯s question in the slightest, but she was amazed at everything and simply moved on to the next thing that caught her attention.

 Chapter 177

    177 Run, please! part The first beast to appear in front of them was something they had never encountered before, it was an oversized scorpion with a hard stony caparace. Anne was startled by it because, despite being able to see it, she couldn¡¯t tell it apart from a rock even at a close distance.

    It seemed like a bad start, considering they ran into it almost the second they reached ground level, but it proved to be no challenge for Anne¡¯s quick reflexes. She brandished her spear graciously, cutting the scorpion tail without even needing to use a skill.

    It¡¯s shell was hard, but its joints were weak enough for any regr weapon to cut through like butter.

    As he passed by the corpse of the creature, Ryu picked up it¡¯s venomous tail and threw it to Sera, who in turn stored it away into one of the bags hanging on the side of her mount. The amarok didn¡¯t miss the chance to grab a quick bite too and ate away most of the scorpion corpse amidst loud crunching sounds. It was almost the same as eating rocks, but apparently it was tasty enough for the beast¡¯s brutish pte.

    Walking quickly in between covers, they managed to reach the middle ground with ease, but things became a bit more difficult when Sera looked behind her, noticing three light sourcesing down the path downhill they just walked an hour ago.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, over there!¡±

    Ryu¡¯s night skill was good enough to see the figures walking in the distance, but it was too far away to be able to get any information. The night vision skill was truly handy, but it had its limits, after all it only allowed the user to bee able to see ¡®as good¡¯ as if it was day and not any better.

    ¡°It seems they found us already, we should start running¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily Risa, they might not be able to see where we are¡±

    .....

    Anne replied, still trying to figure out how many people were following them. They were carrying torches, which obviously made them easy to spot and that raised a question on everyone¡¯s mind but only Luke spoke it out loud.

    ¡°Why are they being so careless?¡±

    ¡°Your guess is as good as mine¡±

    Ryu shrugged from behind his cover.

    ¡°I have a theory¡±

    Lea spoke, drawing everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°They don¡¯t know we know about them so they didn¡¯t even think in hiding. By the way, how did you know we were in danger?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not really important right now, I guess we could talk about it once we¡¯re safe¡±

    ¡°About that, I have an idea¡±

    Luke said in a somewhat shy voice, something very uncharacteristic of the usually over confident hero

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we lure all the beasts we can and start a massive fight to distract our pursuers?¡±

    ¡°That is the most stupid idea I¡¯ve ever hearding from your mouth, and that says a lot¡±

    Anne scoffed at Luke¡¯s seemingly idiotic n

    ¡°I said I had an idea, not that it was any good¡±

    ¡°Hang on a second. Not even Anne is able to see them, my guess is they can¡¯t see us either. From that distance all they¡¯ll see is a ruckus going on and it may be enough to discourage them from following us. Also, if we draw the beasts attention to something else, it would make it easier for us to advance and we¡¯ll reach the forest even faster. Once in the forest they¡¯ll have no clue as to where we¡¯re headed¡±

    ¡°That could work...¡±

    Bob said cing his hand on his chin in a pensive manner, the rest of the group pondered Ryu¡¯s words for a second before nodding in agreement

    ¡°Howe when I think of a n that could potentially save us it¡¯s garbage, but if you hear it from Ryu it¡¯s suddenly the best course of action?¡±

    Offended, Luke stomped his foot on the ground, not knowing the unusual earthly sense of the rock scorpions that were able to tell the distance of prey from the vibrations in the ground.

    ¡°Because, you¡¯re always reckless and want to do things your way, Ryu actually listen to us¡±

    Anne replied emphasizing thest part. Luke hadn¡¯t been jealous of Ryu for a while now, but he couldn¡¯t help getting frustrated because he¡¯s been trying hard to be a team yer and so far nobody has acknowledged his efforts. He had always been prone to envy and jealousy, no matter how much he wanted to change, he simply couldn¡¯t re write his character in so little time.

    Offended as he was, he decided to keep his frustration to himself when he noticed Anne¡¯s worried expression, followed by a crackling and rustling sound in the distance.

    ¡°Good news is, we don¡¯t have to think on a way to draw their attention. Best news is... we finally get some action!¡±

    Scorpions crawled from every direction in a straight line towards the adventurers, if they found an obstacle in between like a big rock they simply climbed it and kept going.

    The small wurm that chose Ryu¡¯s leather rucksack as it¡¯s nest, became unsettled, warning Ryu of an iing attack. Although he didn¡¯t know what type of attack it was, he was able to sense it because it was filled with mana and he still had his mana sense activated.

    Being able to feel the power drawing near, the direction it came from and even its speed was one thing, but dodging it sesfully was another thing entirely.

    The proyectileing their way was too strong and too fast to be dodged, leaving Ryu with no other choice but to cover himself as best as he could with his megnia ck leather cape. He took one tip of the leathery cape and covered himself at the same time as he turned around and the proyectile sttered on his cape with a sizzling sound that revealed its nature.

    >Skill acquired: acid resistance

    A new skill was almost always reason enough to celebrate, but he was in no condition to rejoice because of the soaring pain he felt on his back. The leather was unscathed, but somehow part of the liquid was able to pass through and burn Ryu¡¯s back severely.

    Noticing its master distress, Famine quickly drew closer and Sera helped him up to give Ryu the chance to heal himself.

    The battle had begun.

 Chapter 178

    178 Run, please! part The first tond an attack was Bob, who mmed his warhammer with all his might at a Rock scorpion, leaving but a small dent on its hard shell.

    ¡°What are you doing Bob!? use a piercing weapon instead! They¡¯re made of rock, try to aim for a weakspot¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t have any! I only carry my warhammer!¡±

    Bob said in despair, it¡¯s beeb a few times where his warhammer has proved less than effective but he always relied on his strength to overwhelm any opponent.

    ¡°Here! take this!¡±

    Sera called for his attention as she handed him a small sword that looked almost like a butter knife on Bob¡¯s huge hands.

    ¡°What am I even supposed to do with this!?¡±

    ¡°Pointy part towards the enemy, then swing it as fast as you can, if the enemy is not dead yet, simply rinse and repeat¡±

    ¡°You make it sounds like it¡¯s so easy but...¡±

    .....

    Bob was about to rebuke Anne¡¯s words, when he noticed that she was surrounded by scorpion corpses already. This opponent was a terrible match for Bob who relied solely on strength, Anne, Luke and Risa instead relied on their high speed and attack cadence. Archers weren¡¯t supposed to be strong in closebat, but Anne was fearless, giving her an edge over beasts and humans alike. She wouldn¡¯t close her eyes even in the most difficult situations allowing her to dodge iing attacks that anyone but her would have no choice but to take head on.

    Rock scorpions were falling like flies all over the ce, their slow movements were easy to dodge if properly anticipated and their big bodies made them easy targets. Sera, whose only means of attack and defense was to cast fire magic could do nothing but support her allies, while taking care of Ryu who was still conscious but in pain.

    His back had been burned, but he was in no immediate danger. In fact, just one medicine pill was enough to heal most of his damage and health points.

    Meanwhile, Bob struggled to defeat even a single rock scorpion with the small sword, but then Sera noticed there was a weapon in Famine she wasn¡¯t familiar with. She called for Bob¡¯s attention again and handed him Lea¡¯s spiked mace.

    With a grin on his face Bob swung it over and over sending pieces of hard shell flying into the air with every hit hended.

    ¡°We can¡¯t keep this up forever! n was to get the beasts to fight each other!¡±

    Luke struggled against a rock scorpion that managed to interlock his venomous sting with his short sword.

    ¡°Uh, don¡¯t be a crybaby! we¡¯re doing just fine¡±

    Ryu, who was resting on top of Famine¡¯s loin, had the same field of vision Sera had, but his night vision skill allowed him toprehend a lot better the situation of the battlefield. It wasn¡¯t just that there were too many rock scorpions, there was a bigger danger lurking in the distance.

    A huge, horrible, fat and gross bloated white worm squeezed its muscles in an undting wave manner that gave Ryu the creeps. it was also, most likely, the culprit behind the acid attack he just received.

    Most scorpions attempted to move away from it, but ended up being crushed or even eaten by it, but not before stinging it with venom as Ryu confirmed after using his consider skill.

    >Giant white worm mass (Healthy)(poisoned)

    ¡°There¡¯s a big enemy iing, we need to fall back!¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t, there¡¯s too many scorpions!¡±

    Anne shouted trying to dodge the many attacks headed her way, most of them missed but one managed to jab its sting into her thigh.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, should I use it now?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it Sera, if you do what you¡¯re thinking we¡¯re going to be spotted easily by the people following us¡±

    Situation worsened by the second when Bob¡¯s mace broke leaving him with nothing but an iron short stick. Famine, understanding the situation, drew closer to Bob allowing Sera to hand him another weapon, this time a long spear.

    In Anne¡¯s hand a spear would have be a shing, blunt, piercing or throwing weapon at her convenience, but on Bob¡¯s hands it was nothing more than a long stick.

    Having lost his patience, he didn¡¯t even attempt to hit the creatures¡¯ weak spots, and instead put as much strength as he could on every blow. After even that spear broke, Ryu decided to ask Bob to retreat himself for a while. He was quickly breaking weapons without inflicting nearly enough damage to justify it.

    The worm, stilling their way, stood still for a few seconds but kept undting his muscles in a disgusting manner. Then, he shot another acid bolt towards the group, this time aiming directly at Anne who was already experiencing the first stage of the rock scorpion¡¯s venom.

    Bob, in utter despair, threw the first thing he found in the ground nearby towards Anne to cover her. The acid bolt hit the scorpion corpse, bouncing off its caparace leaving no trace of damage whatsoever.

    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±

    Ryu climbed down the amarok and jumped towards the biggest rock scorpion corpse he could find. With the aid of his trusty obsidian dagger he peeled off the caparace from the body so cleanly it almost didn¡¯t stter any blood at all.

    Piercing a hole through the caparace was difficult, but his enhanced stats amounted to his high crafting skill allowed him to do an outstanding job all things considered, and within a minute he had crafted a, very primitive, rock scorpion caparace shield for Bob. When the huge chunky warrior received the shield, yet another huge smile was drawn on his face. He understood what he was supposed to do and it washed away all the frustration he was experiencing from the previous battle.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let that thing get close to us!¡±

    Lea cried,pletely disgusted by the bloated appearance of the huge whi worm the size of a whale.

    ¡°What do you mean kid? that¡¯s exactly what we need¡±

    Risa, excited by the heat of the battle, brandished her huge knife looking sword skillfuly getting rid of every scorpion on her close vicinity. She stood right in front of the giant white worm with her arm extended to the right and the huge sword almost touching the gorund, a strong breeze waved her hair and before her hair could settle, she jumped in the direction of the worm with a battlecry.

    ¡°Take this you...¡±

    Ryu, who couldn¡¯t understand the reasoning behind Risa¡¯s confident attitude, was able to see the instant regret on her face when the worm opened its maw so wide it swallowed her whole.

    ¡°Risa¡¯s been eaten, do something quickly!¡±

    Luke shouted, but no one knew what to do, they were all busy fighting their own opponents. Moreover, judging by the worm¡¯s appearance it would have been impossible to guess it was able to open its maw so wide, and now they all wondered just what other secrets could the worm possibly be hiding under that unsightly appearance.

 Chapter 179

    179 Run, please! part The answer came with a loud shriek that threatened to burst everyone¡¯s ears. The critter emitted a sound so prating, even the heroes were left in a daze for a few seconds. The rock scorpions, having no ears whatsoever, were left unaffected and carried on their onught against the defenseless heroes.

    Thankfully for them, Famine was able to withstand the terrible shriek by countering with one of its own. The wolfish beast grabbed a stunned Ryu by the cor and threw him in the air, knowing full wellthe extent of its master¡¯s capabilities.

    Ryunded on top of his loin and the amarok jumped towards the white worm with a powerful tackle that caused enough damage to tilt it over. But the giant worm was far from done and it attempted to counter with an acid strike, but when it opened its maw to fire the acid bolt, Risa made her way out the disgusting worm with only minor burns.

    Her body was a bit reddened, steam came out from her skin and she carried a foul stench with her, but she was mostly unscathed. It didn¡¯t take a genious to notice the role of the red cape in this matter, contrary to the ck leather cape Ryu was wearing, Risa¡¯s cape was made from a much rarer creature with the special ability of beingpletely immune to acid. Nevertheless, it did nothing to prevent the psychological trauma that most people would face after being swallowed alive but such horrid creature, but Risa held a victorious smile on her face.

    After climbing down the amarok, Ryu attempted to buy a few seconds for Risa to rest, drawing his bastard sword and swinging it with all of his might and speed. Over and over the de bounced off the creature that seemed to be taking little to no damage.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t working¡±

    ¡°No shit, let¡¯s retreat¡±

    Risa gasped for air showing clear signs of exhaustion.

    They turned they backs on the worm and ran as fast as they could towards the rest of the group, only to find out Anne was lying on the ground. Her limbs became swollen, and her breath jagged, the poison inside her body was still acting its effects and now she was starting to feel and excruciating pain. Still, being the battle hardened warrior that she was, she didn¡¯t let go of her weapon.

    .....

    Poisoned, sick or hurt, an adventurer could heal with proper rest and a healthy diet, but there was nothing even a veteran adventurer could do against a beast without a proper weapon. The minute an adventurer loses their weapon, the only possible course of action is to retreat.

    Bob was tired of holding the shield up without any means of fighting back, but thankfully, Luke was there to help his friend. He remained by Bob¡¯s side for as long as he could, abusing his single strike skill to fend off the beasts.

    Ryu had to make a decision, and it had to be quick. It didn¡¯t matter how strong heroes were, in the end it all came down to the amount and quality of their weapons.

    ¡°Famine, run around luring as many scorpions as you can, then lead them over to that thing¡±

    Just before the amarok turned around, a fluff the size of a watermelon jumped down the beast. It was mochi the cat, who had been napping on top of Famine¡¯s from the start. He walked towards Ryu brushing past his legs as he usually did whenever he wanted to be held on its master¡¯s arms, but Ryu was on high alert checking his surroundings while the rest kept the rock scorpions at bay.

    Then, Mochi noticed something small slithering down Ryu¡¯s sleeve. It was the wurm hatchling, that never parted from its master. Curious, like any regr house cat, the moon cat came close to the small snake like creature and sniffed it, only to be greeted with a sharp bite on its nose.

    Nowpletely awake, and in pain, Mochi finally realized the situation they were in. He looked in despair anyone he could climb to be kept safe from the terrifying creatures that closed in by the second, but everyone was too busy fighting for their lives. Mochi saw the amarok running in circles around the big wurm with a helpess expression if anyone ever saw one in a cat.

    His bristly fur shined in the moon dazzingly for a second and suddenly, Mochi, the fearsome moon cat that once killed an armed guard to protect his master, ran away hoping on top of the rocks scrambled on the field.

    As fate would have it, one of those rocks was not a lifeless mineral, but a full grown rock scorpion, the broodmother.

    ¡°Run now!¡±

    Risa made way for everyone to break through the now thin line of enemies. Needless to say it was all thanks to the amarok¡¯s efforts, since killing the scorpions was extremely difficult and tiresome because of their sturdiness and luring them turned out to be a much better alternative.

    By the time they were at asafe distance, they were able to see the disproportioned battle between the broodmother and the giant white worm mass. The huge scorpion was too big for its own sake, and it moved so slowly it would have been really easy to dodge or even outrun, but things were different for a bloated worm whose only means of defense were either crushing smaller creatures or spitting an acid that waspletely ineffective against rock scorpions.

    Two huge monsters fought in an epic battle right in front of everyone¡¯s eyes, but Ryu¡¯s gaze was centered on the amarok that remained luring and herding enemies towards the battleground.

    Ryu bit his nails in worry, having sent the amarok to do something so dangerous was eating him away, but much to everyone¡¯s relief the beast was able to return safely towards the group.

    The sh in between those creatures was enough to make the ground tremble, scaring even the battle maniac Risa with their might, but however srong they were, it was a stalemate. The worm¡¯s acid was useless against the scorpion broodmother and the scorpion¡¯s poison was useless against the worm.

 Chapter 180

    180 Don¡¯t forget the antidote, please! part ¡°Why did we retreat!? did you see the size of those things!? we could have be a lot stronger just by killing them¡±

    ¡°Some of us would have be stronger, and the rest would have be food... are you seriously moping about losing the kill?¡±

    ¡°It feels like such a loss¡±

    Luke pouted but kept running alonside hispanions.

    Anne was in no condition to be running, so she traded ces with Sera and now Sera was running besides Ryu. Lea, who had remained tied through most part of the fight, was now free of her bindings and running along with them.

    Much to her dismay, travelling with them was a lot safer than returning to the sacred empire and finding out an assassination order against her had been issued or walking aimlessly through enemy territory.

    After leaving the quarry they had to pass yet another open field, but it was far easier to avoid enemies than it was on the beast infested quarry. It was of the utmost importance to get as soon as possible into the woods, because they needed to mislead their pursuers before being able to rest.

    Anne was losing about two health points every five minutes, it may not sound like much, but as slow as it was it didn¡¯t stop. Thanks to Famine, she didn¡¯t need to spend her own energy running and was able to take some of Luke¡¯s bitter medicine, but the poison kept her from recovering any lost health points.

    Now that Anne couldn¡¯t activate her night vision skill, Ryu asked Risa to activate hers¡¯ because it was impossible for him to check all their surroundings by himself. Although Risa did have that skill, her proficiency was nowhere near Anne¡¯s or even Ryu¡¯s, but it was worth the small energy expenditure.

    .....

    The group reached the woods barely before dawn, they entered the forest just enough so they couldn¡¯t be spotted from the outside and set up a quick camp to treat everyone¡¯s wounds and rest for a little while.

    Ryu started cooking something fast and easy to prepare meanwhile Sera examined everyone¡¯s wounds. The ones in worst condition were Anne with her poison status ailment followed by Risa¡¯s extremelly sore skin. Mochi, who had ran away to avoid the battle, rejoined the group as soon as they were out of danger and was now resting on top of Anne¡¯sp.

    Ryu and Luke did all they could to help her, but she wasn¡¯t responding to any treatment. Ryu even tried to feed her medicinal herbs he often used to craft antidotes, but it was pointless. Her condition worsened and now she was losing three health points per five minutes.

    At first Ryu had no reason to worry about Anne¡¯s condition, so far his medicine had been enough to heal most ailments and wounds and the only variable was the amount of medicine needed. But when it failed for the second and the third time he started second guessing himself this time. After that, only despair filled his eyes as he was able to see how Anne¡¯s health points dropped to dangerously low levels, up to the point when she had no more than 10 health points left.

    Just when everyone was about to lose hope, someone stepped in with a solution.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you guys let me help her... I¡¯m not an expert on venoms, but I should at least be able to stabilize her¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it sounds suspicious, why would you want to help us?¡±

    Luke red at her with sharp eyes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to gain by letting one of your party members die, but I have everything to lose if I at least don¡¯t try to do something. Promise me that if...¡±

    ¡°Are you, perhaps, under the idea that this is something like a negotiation?¡±

    Ryu shifted his gaze towards the young priestess, while slowly moving his head to catch up with his eyes. His tone, his attitude, everything made it seem like he was apletely different person. Just being close to him brought chills to most party members.

    ¡°I-I didn¡¯t, I- didn¡¯t mean it like that, please hear me out¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. I have a counter offer for whatever you were going to say. If you don¡¯t try to heal Anne, you¡¯re dead. If you try and fail, we¡¯ll abandon you¡±

    ¡°And what if I seed?¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t kill you, and that should be enough. Anyins?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    Lea said hurriedly. Anne was already unconscious, but it wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing because it made her treatment a lot easier for Lea.

    She took off Anne¡¯s robe and opened her shirt to expose just a bit of her chest, she then proceeded to ce both hands on the area where her heart was located. She wasn¡¯t an expert on venoms, but she did know a thing or two, and the fact that poison travelled through the circtory system and passed through the heart was well known even to novice priests.

    A dim yellow light, much fainter than Helena¡¯s started glimmering and became stronger with time.

    Everyone watched Lea¡¯s work inplete silence, the whistling of the wind and the sound of the trees were the only thing that could be heard, at least until Lea let out a loud shriek. Anne was spared from feeling the pain of having her organs being melted from the inside thanks to her passing out, but Lea waspletely conscious and felt everything on her own body.

    Even if it was to a much lesser degree, she experimented it all in one go making it impossible for her to focus.

    Lea was left panting heavily, with tears on her eyes and an expression of pain on her face. She took her hand to her chest and pressed hard, as if trying to keep her heart from pounding out of her body.

    ¡°And?¡±

    Luke asked and Lea replied by shaking her head with a saddened expression. She tried to the best of her abilities, but there was nothing she could have done, at least not after things got to that point.

    Then a cold voice was heard ¡°What are you doing? why did you stop?¡±

    It was Ryu¡¯s voice.

 Chapter 181

    181 Don¡¯t forget the antidote, please! part ¡°I can¡¯t do anything, she¡¯s far gone¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re saying, but you still have some mana left, I can see it¡±

    Ryu saidpletely Ignoring the fact that no one was supposed to know that mana could be seen by the naked eye after using a skill. Lea didn¡¯t have the time to ponder if she believed him or not and hurried to reply before facing the consequences.

    ¡°I do have mana, but... If I keep going I might die, for real!¡±

    Contrary to Helena, Lea had formal training as a priest and she was able to regte the amount of mana poured into someone to make the healing process more efficient. It was slower, but she was able to heal more health points at a reduced cost of mana.

    ¡°I will only say this once, so better listen well, you have to save her, you have to, even if it means losing your life¡±

    ¡°Now you¡¯re being unreasonable¡±

    ¡°Enough bbering¡±

    Ryu¡¯s eyes glimmered and energy started pouring from every part of his body. It wasn¡¯t as dense as to be able to be seen like in past times, but it was strong enough to be felt by everyone.

    .....

    Without a choice in the matter, Lea ced her hands again, only to receive the same results. Ryu let her rest for a minute and then prompted her to continue.

    ¡°Again! do it again!¡±

    Healing, screaming, excruciating pain over and over. After her fifth failed attempt her mana was running low and her mind was almost broken. She was drooling and couldn¡¯t close her mouth, her eyes were shut open.

    ¡°Again!¡±

    Lea didn¡¯t react, it was as if she couldn¡¯t hear him, but she did. Ryu¡¯s voice resounded in her mind and she couldn¡¯t hold her fear. Despite knowing that it might kill her she ced her trembling hands on top of Anne¡¯s chest one more time.

    ¡°AHHH!¡±

    She fell right on top of Anne, but Ryu pulled her hair and lifted her. Everyone from their party stared in disbelief how Ryu was treating Lea after being so nice to her. They couldn¡¯t believe how a nice man Like Ryu could have be so ruthless.

    Sera stared at the scene with a pleasure she had never experienced before, she held a wicked grin on her face and her soft tongue licked her lips ever so slowly. Her sadist personality was thriving in this situation and she embraced her dark desires, seeing her beloved mister Ryu behaving like that was the most exhrating moment in her entire life.

    ¡°Keep healing her, you still have some more mana left!¡±

    Ryu¡¯s glimmering eyes pierced the young priestess, she was already on the verge of bing a mindless husk. She had lost control of her dder, her muscles were sore and stiff and she was moving like a puppet.

    Wishing an end to it, Lea ced her hands on top of Anne once more. She waspletely certain that this time she wouldn¡¯t survive and she felt relieved by that fact.

    ¡°Do it, why are you taking so long!?¡±

    Ryu lifted his hand to p Lea on the face, but he was stopped by Bob, who avoided his gaze.

    ¡°Ryu stop already, can¡¯t you see she¡¯s helpless?¡±

    Ryu tried to move his hand away, but Bob¡¯s grip was too strong.

    ¡°Come on man, let her go, she¡¯s just our age¡±

    Even Luke tried to convince him, but Ryu¡¯s heart was unmoved. But everything changed when he glimsped Sera¡¯s arousal at the sight of the needlessly violent scene. it somehow brought him back to his senses and snapped out of it.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sory, but I¡¯m just desperate¡±

    ¡°If only we kept one of the venom nds we could try to make an antivenom¡±

    ¡°What did you say Luke?¡±

    ¡°An anti venom...¡±

    ¡°We do have one!¡±

    Ryu looked at Sera, who was still daydreaming, and she hurried to look for the venomous sting they picked up earlier.

    ¡°How do you make an anti venom?¡±

    Ryu asked Luke who had suggested it in the first ce.

    ¡°How am I supposed to know!? I just know it existed in...¡±

    ¡°Luke... I never expect much from you, and somehow you still disappoint me¡±

    Ryu¡¯s words hurt him worse than stabbing his heart, it made him question every choice he made up to this point. Deep down he knew he was a disappointment to everyone, he knew well how Anne and Helena looked at him with disgust, how everyone disregarded his opinions and the worst part was, he knew he earned it.

    He acted too arrogant at the beggining, then he took advantage of everyone and did the bare minimum to help hispanions. He let himself drown in the pleasures of the flesh and always acted in a selfish manner. Without even knowing why he held to the slim hope that Taffy was lying to him when she told him she yed him for money. All he needed was someone to rely on, and now he had chosen his new friends and tried to be the best version of himself, he couldn¡¯t endure the feeling of being, yet again, a disappointment to everyone.

    It reminded him of his past life, being a spoiled rich kid in the wealthy part of town. Every whim he had, anything he wanted, was immediately addressed. He didn¡¯t need anything outside his toys, his consoles and his tv shows.

    And then, just before he sank deep into the chain of events that led him to be transported into this world, he suddenly remembered he always watched docummentaries and, in a sudden strike of inspiration he was able to remind the process.

    ¡°I remember now! they poisoned strong animals that were able to resist the poison, then used their blood to craft the anti venom!¡±

    Ryu took a quick glimpse at Famine, who wailed softly and lowered its snout to the ground. The poor beast was more than willing to sacrifice itself for its master, but it didn¡¯t mean he was immune to pain or fear.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly Famine, I wouldn¡¯t do something like that to you, specially not after you risked your life for us¡±

    Were Ryu¡¯sst words before sticking the venomous sting on his neck.

 Chapter 182

    182 Don¡¯t forget the antidote, please! part ¡°Dude, what the shit!¡±

    Luke cursed out loud after seeing Ryu jab the venomous stick into his neck and pump the poison nd emptying its content entirely.

    ¡°Why did you do something like that Ryu!?¡±

    Bob couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Sera was speechless, she couldn¡¯t say a word as her thoughts were flooded by regret thinking she shouldn¡¯t have provided him with the means to take his own life.

    Ryu¡¯splexion became pale and his stamina was drained quickly, soon enough he wasn¡¯t able to even stand on his own so he sat right next to Anne.

    ¡°Calm down guys, I¡¯m not dead¡±

    ¡°How can you be so calm? Didn¡¯t you see Lea almost lose her life trying to save Anne?¡±

    ¡°Just listen to me, everything will be alright¡±

    ¡°What could possibly make you think that poisoning yourself in such a stupid manner is going to make things better?¡±

    .....

    ¡°You just said it, all we need to do to save Anne is to make some anti venom. My resist poison skill should be higher than Anne¡¯s. Thanks to Lea¡¯s healing, Anne has enough health points to hang on for a while, now all we need to do is wait until my body fights the poison and then draw my blood and give it to Anne¡±

    Everyone was absolutely dumbfounded by Ryu¡¯s simple way of thinking and the fact that he was able to behave normally after almost pushing Lea to death in a horrible and painful way only added to their amazement.

    ¡°That is the stupidest thing I¡¯ve ever seen you do Ryu, and that says something¡±

    ¡°What do you mean Luke?¡±

    ¡°For starters, you may not survive the poison but, even if you do, how are you going to make a transfusion? because we don¡¯t have an intravenose¡±

    ¡°We could use the same venom nd to suction my blood and then give it to Anne, see?¡±

    Ryu pumped the exposed venom nd in the poison sting, then jabbed his vein with it, after letting go of the poison sack it drained some of his blood. After pumping it again, it returned to Ryu. He did it with such naturality, as if it was obvious, but Luke was about to get a stroke.

    ¡°You are so fucking reckless!¡±

    ¡°Ryu, even if it works like that, Anne could have a different blood type and that could lead to severe consequences¡±

    Bob said a bit more calm, but still worried because two of his friends were now poisoned and they didn¡¯t have an antidote or antivenom, but then Sera spoke in a cold manner.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about this, but if mister Ryu it¡¯s clearly because he ws desperate. Even if it doesn¡¯t work, at least he would be absolutely sure he did everything on his power to save Anne. None of you both did anything to save her, yet you jump to point all the mistakes at the first chance. It may not work, but it may as well do!¡±

    Sera had made up her mind long ago to support Ryu in everything and anything. of course she wasn¡¯t happy to see him risk his life, but going against his wishes or nagging at him needlessly wasn¡¯t in her ns.

    ¡°Look, we already know the medicine is not effective against the poison, but it could be effective against the consequences of receiving a different blood type. The only certainty we have is if we do nothing, Anne will die¡±

    The forest was calm,pletely impervious to the drama unfolding within their borders. Birds sang in the distance and the branches creaked with the soft breeze, the fragance of the forest soothed Ryu who waited patiently for the poison to be dissipated from his body.

    Luke used consider on Ryu every so often to check if his (poisoned) status was still active. Ryu remained conscious, despite the pain he was experiencing, because he was worried something could go wrong if he let himself sleep.

    Fortunately for everyone, the pain subsided soon enough, along with the stattus effect.

    Luke hurriedly shook Ryu to let him know, he was about to fall asleep leaning on a tree while Sera took care of him with a wet towel.

    ¡°You¡¯re alright now! hurry up and do the transfusion¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know Luke, I don¡¯t feel so good¡±

    Ryu said barely moving, he looked the same as if he was wasted on alcohol, but it was because of the poison. Luke facepalmed at Ryu¡¯s statement, not only it was obvious, but also because everything would have been worthless if he wasn¡¯t able to do it.

    ¡°Let me do it!¡±

    Sera rolled on her sleeves and picked the rock scorpion sting, she pumped some blood from Ryu and then put her into Anne. Luke made sure to check on both Anne and Ryu¡¯s healthpoints to make sure he would notice as soon as it took effect.

    The rock scorpion venom wasn¡¯t fast acting, but it was strong, not only did they use it for self defense, but they needed to use it to feed. They didn¡¯t gain much nourishment from fresh victims and their mandibles made it difficult for them to chew on their victims.

    But nature is wise on every possible world, and rock scorpions had an interesting way of procuring food. After poisoning their target, they didn¡¯t fight to kill, all they needed was to stall for time and by the time their enemy drops dead, their flesh would be tender and juicy, perfect for their consumption.

    That was precisely what made it so difficult to deal with the rock scorpion venom, because it wasn¡¯t intended to paralyze a victim, but to digest them from the inside out. Most prey would meet their end before even killing a single rock scorpion, because they were so sturdy it took a long time to defeat them.

    Thankfully, the venom being slow acting was also the only reason why Anne was able to hold up until they cameup with a method for curing her. It didn¡¯t take long before Ryu¡¯s blood traversed Anne¡¯s circtory system getting rid of the poison and, luckily, she also didn¡¯t experience any side effect from receiving another person¡¯s blood.

    Now, the group was facing another problem, they couldn¡¯t move because most of them were either hurt or tired, making them easy to hunt down by their pursuers.

 Chapter 183

    183 Watch your back, please! part Anne¡¯s breath stabilized after a fewminutes and Ryu¡¯s face was starting to regain color, but their stamina waspletely depleted and couldn¡¯t move at all.

    Sera was busy taking care of them, but there was no way she alone could do all the work and scanned her surroundings looking for Risa. She would have asked either Bob or Luke, but they were mister Ryu¡¯s friends and she regarded them to be in higher standing that Risa, despite her being her instructor.

    ¡°Where is miss Risa?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, she¡¯s been awfully quiet¡±

    Luke shrugged, without being able to see her either

    ¡°Miss Risa, I need your help, could you please go fetch some water?¡±

    Sera shouted, not so loudly to avoid disrupting mister Ryu¡¯s sleep.

    ¡°No way! over here!¡±

    Risa lied on the ground just besides the amarok, her body was swollen and her hands were purple already. Luke hurried to fetch the medicine, but Risa shook her head with what little strength she had left.

    .....

    ¡°Please make sure Ryu is safe first, I don¡¯t care what happens to me¡±

    Her voice was so soft they had trouble understanding her

    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid, you¡¯re low on health and your hands...¡±

    Luke scolded her, fearing she might lose her hands. He had never seen anything like that, but it looked gruesom. In fact, if he had seen something like that before being sent into this world, he would have probably puked his guts out. Nevertheless, things were different now, he was a summoned hero with a duty to uphold and these were hispanions. He couldn¡¯t let something like that scare him, and he had to make sure everyone survived.

    ¡°Listen Risa, this I¡¯m not asking, I¡¯m ordering you to take the medicine. With Ryu down I¡¯m the acting party leader¡±

    Luke¡¯s words were backed up by the single truth all adventurers lived by, obey your party leader. She knew this by heart because she had been saved from terrible situations thanks to following the chain ofmand.

    She had participated in many quests that required multiple parties to join, on these asions party leaders had to coordinate in between them and it made things a lot more difficult. It only took a single team to disobey an order to spoil a strategy and during the battlefield it was simply impossible to exin why did they issued a certain order, they simply expected it to be aplished.

    Those thoughts rushed through Risa¡¯s mind. She didn¡¯t want to waste the medicine on something as unimportant as a little swelling, she had been hurt way worse than that, she was even half eaten by ants once. On the other hand, she remembered all the time she spent with Luke while travelling and how he took charge, she never thought someone as petty as him would be able to be such a good leader.

    He always had his priorities on spot, he took responsibility for his mistakes and never pressured the others for making mistakes, instead he provided insight on whatever he could.

    ¡°Fine, give me the medicine¡±

    It only took Risa a couple gulps from Luke¡¯s bitter medicine to make her regret agreeing to take it. It was so numbingly bad that she couldn¡¯t even puke it out,although she wished she could.

    ¡°Bob, guard the ce until Ie back¡±

    ¡°What are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the edge of the forest to confirm if the enemy is still chasing after us¡±

    ¡°But they¡¯ll be able to... oh right¡±

    Bob was cut off by Luke¡¯s stealth, which allowed him toy low without disappearing from sight. His presence faint and his steps were silent. While it was possible to discover him, Luke hoped that the distance and the woods were enough to remain unnoticed.

    It took Luke less than fifteen minutes toe back and he looked relieved, especially after noticing Ryu was already up, Anne was conscious and Risa looked a lot better.

    ¡°Thanks for taking charge Luke¡±

    ¡°I do all the work while you rest in a beauty¡¯sp and all I get is a thank you!? next time I¡¯ll let Risa take the lead¡±

    A look of genuine worry appeared on Ryu¡¯s face, he was still to exhausted to notice he was actually joking. Sera kept Ryu¡¯s head on herp and brushed her hair gently, she tried her best to keep her excitement from showing but it was impossible.

    ¡°And?¡±

    Eloquent as always, Bob prompted Luke to tell them about his findings.

    ¡°I can¡¯t be sure, but I think they waited until daytime to cross the quarry. That should give us a couple hours¡±

    ¡°What makes you think so?¡±

    ¡°I just do, ok?¡±

    ¡°What do you think we should do now?¡±

    The blond hero was taken aback by Ryu¡¯s question. Of course he was eager to step in and save the day for everyone, but he never thought Ryu would ask him what to do.

    He was jealous of Ryu for a long time, but eventually he made peace with the idea of following his lead because not only did he save his life, he also seeded where he failed, he convinced all heroes to work together for theirmon goals.

    Ryu also kept everyone safe in Ironwoods by scheming and taking every possible safety measure from the very start. Luke would have simply walked in and probably would have gotten everyone on their party killed, he knew this well.

    But now, the first person in this world he got to respect was asking him what to do. The mere thought scared him a little, but he took it seriously.

    ¡°I think we should travel only by night¡±

    Luke said with his eyes closed, but then he opened them revealing a sharp gaze much like Hiraku¡¯s whenever he became serious.

    ¡°With the cover of the night we won¡¯t be spotted so easily, but even if we are it¡¯s really difficult they¡¯ll notice how badly wounded we are. If we run into some beast or enemy at night we can scatter and at least some of us will be able to survive¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t possibly be serious! are you really thinking on abandoning someone?¡±

    Bob was starting to get worked up again, he didn¡¯t like people talking so lightly about abandoning others.

    ¡°That¡¯s just how things are. We don¡¯t know what they want, but maybe, just maybe, they want one of us alive and don¡¯t care about the others. If it wasn¡¯t like that they would have given chase to the soldiers first because they were on their way to inform about the sacred empire¡¯s doings¡±

 Chapter 184

    184 Watch your back, please! part Bob felt depressed, their current situation was too much for his kind heart to take. He hated seeing everyone suffer, he hated being forced to run away, but what he hated the most was that deep down he knew Luke was right.

    There wasn¡¯t much he could do to help, he wasn¡¯t a healer and he wasn¡¯t as strong as people thought. He did have the power to break a rock with his fists, but raw power meant nothing when he was at a disadvantage, and unfortunately, he had faced many enemies that naturaly countered his skills.

    The only thought that crossed his mind over and over was how different things would be if he was able to actually cast any magic. Although he looked like a warrior and he wasn¡¯t as smart as hispanions, he was actually pretty good at using magic, at least on role ying games.

    He always loved the idea of a magical power that ruled over the elements and thews of physics, and the many ingenious ways of using it to ovee any difficulty that might arise. Bob couldn¡¯t understand why would the god that summoned into this world decide he would have made a good warrior, he hated to harm others or inflicting pain, magic was powerful and it would have made it possible for him to defeat enemies without killing them, capture them or even run away easily.

    Although Luke wanted to move by night only, they needed to hide before the enemies crossed the quarry or they would be easy prey.

    Bob, along with Famine, helped in digging a small shelter, just big enough for everyone to fit in. Even though Bob wasn¡¯t happy with his current ss, it turned out to be really helpful in such situations because not even Luke with his high stats would have been ble to do it as easily and quickly as Bob.

    Sera and Luke covered the whole with sticks and branches and ced some bushes on top. While it wasn¡¯t impossible to tell it apart from thendscape, it didn¡¯t stand out too much and it would certainly make it more difficult to detect them.

    By nightfall everyone was ready to start moving again, they were almost certain that the enemies had lost track of them and they were already inside the woods.

    Before heading south, they made sure to head west for a while, until the vegetation became denser and made them feel safer.

    .....

    The walk was tiresome and slow, but even if they were healthy they couldn¡¯t simply run through the forest. This was also the first time Ryu wasn¡¯t in the mood to appreciate the different nts and fruits on his path, despite the poison being out of his body he still felt the consequences, his organs were more damaged than a simple medicine like that could heal in just a day. He was barely able to walk and he pushed himself, breaking sweat and feeling ill.

    They didn¡¯t encounter a single beast in the way, and this time it wasn¡¯t thanks to goblins because they were far from their territory. The reason why they didn¡¯t find any beast wasn¡¯t because there weren¡¯t any, but because they were a big group advancing trough the forest at night with heavy steps and did little to nothing to cover their advance.

    Beasts were smarter than people gave them credit for, as hungry as they could be, they would avoid strong opponents as much as they could and it was actually pretty rare to run into an apex predator in the forest.

    It wasn¡¯t like they weren¡¯t doing their best to cover their tracks, it was simply because it was impossible with people being so hurt and tired.

    When they finally felt the ce was safe enough to start heading south, they made a ny degree turn. It was a good thing that Anne was conscious now because even if she wasn¡¯t able to walk in the front, she was able to lead the group by telling them an approximate direction.

    No one had apass, but Anne had spent longer than any of them traversing the forest, even Risa had trouble walking in the forest without being lost because she never ventured that deep into the woods.

    As soon as the sun rose in the sky they set up camp, the cold night didn¡¯t make their walk any easier and they were eager to get a hot drink and rest in the sun for a while. Luke, tired as he was after opening the way for everyone, did his best to set up the camp, easing Ryu¡¯sbour so he was able to cook something for everyone.

    Sera helped with the campfire and preparing the ingredients, but it was Ryu the one cooking. The smell of food cooking in the fire, the warmth of the sun and the soothing sounds of the forest did wonders for their morale, but also made them quite sleepy.

    The only able bodied adventurer left in the party was Bob, and he was tasked with the watch duty.

    His perception was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was better than being taken by surprise. Besides, his appearance was more than enough to scare most people and predators. After all, he was a lot bigger than the average adventurer.

    There were no news until past noon, Bob had been nodding his head to the rythm of the forest sounds when a sound in the distance took him back from his daydreaming.

    He quickly stood up and woke the rest one by one. If it was something urgent he would have sounded the rm by shouting, but the sound seemed to be really far away, but also very loud and even if he couldn¡¯t tell exactly what it was, he was sure it wasn¡¯t something friendly.

    No one said a word as they quickly grasped the situation. They didn¡¯t even bother in trying to cover their stay in there, hiding a firece and removing tracks was difficult and it took a lot of time. Beides, if it was a beast following them it couldn¡¯t care less about their tracks. If, on the other hand, it was people following them, it meant they somehow were able to pick up their trail and there was nothing they could do to hide.

    They could only rely on one thing now, speed.

 Chapter 185

    185 Watch your back, please! part Breaching through the dense vegetation was Bob, the one in best shape among the adventurers and also the biggest which helped a lot in making way.

    The only downside to it was he was slowly but surely depleting his healthpoints. Everytime he passed through thorny bushes or hard branches, his health took a small hit.

    Once night started to fall, it was Luke¡¯s turn. He didn¡¯t have the night vision skill, but he did have a torch Ryu handed to him.

    ¡°It would have been nice to have amp¡±

    ¡°Stopining ad do your job¡±

    Sera scoffed at Luke, before he even finished. She felt anxious moving in the jungle, and Ryu being hurt didn¡¯t help at all.

    Anne was the only one mounting Famine now, except for Mochi that is, it didn¡¯t matter how hard they tried, Mochi refused walking on his own paws.

    Although adventurers like them were supposed to be able to travel long distance for a long period of time, without sleeping or eating, they decided to take some breaks and have decent meals. The reason behind this was, of course, to keep their stamina high at all times and to recover some lost health points.

    This was only because they knew, once their pursuers picked up their tracks, a fight was unavoidable and they couldn¡¯t afford to caught while tired. Still, no one mentioned it and they acted as if they didn¡¯t notice.

    .....

    Eventually, it became apparent the enemies were drawing near. There were shouts in the middle of the night and when hey were finally able to see the lights in the distance they knew it was time to get ready.

    They chose a clearing to be theirst stand, if things went south there was always the possibility of scattering in multiple directions. Ryu set up a couple of traps, he wasn¡¯t an experienced hunter but he picked up some tricks by chatting with the hunters at the Ironwoods tavern.

    A cord on the path their enemies wereing from and a pitfall to make them fall if they avoid the first trap. He also fasioned a spiked barricade with the help of Bob, and that was it. There wasn¡¯t much time or resources to get ready.

    When Bob ced the barricade on the pathway, everyone fell silent. Their breath could be seen because it was a cold night, Luke ced some torches around, they weren¡¯t on lit yet, mostly because they didn¡¯t want to draw unnecessary attention. But in the end, it was useless.

    ¡°They are about ten people, fast moving, fully geared and they¡¯re mounting on...¡±

    Anne started to say out loud what she was able to see, providing any piece of information could mean a huge difference. But she had to stop because she couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing.

    ¡°Are those raptors!?¡±

    Anne was gaping at the sight of adventures riding on biped lizards, they were just the right size for riding, but not to big as to hinder their movement in the forest. Their fierce looking ws and maws made it difficult to believe they were tame.

    ¡°What is a raptor?¡±

    Risa asked more confused than scared.

    ¡°It¡¯s a lizard, the size of a person, but they¡¯re riding those¡±

    ¡°No, no, no! this is bad! this is really really bad!¡±

    Risa¡¯s face was drained of color and her easygoing attitude was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°What is it miss Risa, why are you so scared?¡±

    Sera asked in a calm voice, but inside her mind she knew this must be very bad news. She had never seen Risa so scared before, if anything, she was always excited to fight a strong enemy.

    ¡°Those are dragons!¡±

    ¡°What!? Do you mean big lizards that spit fire?¡±

    Luke¡¯s eyes were filled with excitement for a brief second, until he remembered they were being chased after.

    ¡°Exactly, those are pseudo dragons, they are fast moving, can walk on any terrain, they¡¯re tough and can spit a variety of elements from their mouths¡±

    As fear started to crawl in on everyone¡¯s minds, the enemies drew closer and closer.

    Ryu, who had always relied on stealth attacks and tactics, climbed on a tree just like a gobling would do and Luke followed his example. Bob and Risa stood just behind the barricade, waiting for the enemy. Anne and Sera took cover behind the amarok and they took Lea with them, she had been unresponsive since she attempted to heal Anne so many times and they couldn¡¯t just let her wander off.

    Risa tried to grasp her sword, but her fingers were still swollen because of the acid, if she hadn¡¯t been wearing the red cape she would have been done for on the spot when she was swallowed by the giant worm.

    The enemies were close enouogh to be seen, they carried elemental stone powerednterns on them. When they noticed there was a clearing on the way they started slowing down, one of them, obviously the leader, kept advancing towards the hulking figure of Bob.

    He seemed to want to speak, but before he could do so, his pseudo dragon tripped over the rope and fell right into the pitfall. The pseudo dragon wailed in pain because it was pierced by many wooden spikes ced inside the pitfall for that very purpose, but the man was unscathed because he was wearing full te armor.

    A ray of light was seening out of the pitfall, followed by a tall man climbing out of it. The light of thentern casted a terrible shadow on the trees. Ryu was about to drop on top of the man, but before he could do so the man raised his voice.

    ¡°Why the fuck would you guys do that!?¡±

    To say everyone was dumbfounded would be the understatement of the century. They were so worried because they were certain they were being chased after by the sacred empire, but they never stopped to consider that maybe, just maybe, it could have been a different person.

    Risa took a step forward and greeted the man with a smile.

    ¡°Hey! so you finally came, Lorenzo!¡±

 Chapter 186

    186 Watch your back, please! part ¡°What are you doing here Lorenzo?¡±

    Luke greeted his instructor with a smile, Lorenzo turned back to see his pseudo dragon agonizing in the pitfall, and then replied with a dumbfounded face.

    ¡°Apparently, I¡¯m falling into idiotic traps, why did you ce something like that in the way?¡±

    ¡°How were we supposed to know you were the one following us?¡±

    ¡°For starters, you were the ones who told me toe help you, remember?¡±

    Because Luke was ecstatic that the people following them weren¡¯t enemies, hepletely forgot that he told Lorenzo they didn¡¯t need his help and the one who asked for his help was Risa.

    Ryu was still concealed standing on top of a branch, directly above Lorenzo, still suspecting there could be something wrong. Although he respected Lorenzo when he was his instructor, he was disappointed in him when he declined helping him with his curse, and it was entuated when Lorenzo started the rumour of him losing a battle one on one to a goblin with the sole intention of damaging Ryu¡¯s reputation.

    A dark feeling, intense and numbing, outbursed within Ryu¡¯s heart. It became denser and heavier the more he thought about what Lorenzo did to him, but that wasn¡¯t everything.

    Just when everyone was about to heave a sigh of relief,pletely certain that they were no longer in any danger, Ryu made his entrance by falling on top of Lorenzo, pointing the tip of his bastard sword directly on his cervical vertebra.

    .....

    Lorenzo didn¡¯t have enough time to react, but he managed to dodge a fatal blow by tilting his body and ended up receiving a minor wound on the shoulder.

    ¡°This dipshit!¡±

    Thiking that Ryu lost his mind again, Luke hurried and tried to stop him from striking again after he regained his foothold, but Ryu wasn¡¯t nning on stopping anytime soon.

    ¡°Single strike!¡±

    Ryu¡¯s sword glimmered in a faint light and it moved swiftly across Lorenzo¡¯s breastte, leaving a scratch mark behind.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡±

    No one really wanted to acknowledge it, but Ryu¡¯s past behavior with Lea scared them. It wasn¡¯t just that he was too cruel, but because such actions were unthinkableing from the gentle Ryu they knew and loved.

    Ryu shifted his position to strike Lorenzo from behind, taking advantage of the fact that he was cing his right hand on top of his wound and Luke tried to get to Ryu, not knowing what to do in order to stop him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, he¡¯s unhinged! we need to stop him before he hurts someone¡±

    But Luke was the only one moving to defend Lorenzo. The rest of the group, albeit scared, still believed Ryu must have had his reasons and everything happened so fast they couldn¡¯t process what was going on.

    Everything became clear when Lorenzo startedughing like a mad man.

    ¡°So you figured it out, uh!¡±

    He said once he calmed himself down. Ryu didn¡¯t say a word, he only panted heavily with an angry re.

    ¡°I guess there¡¯s no point in hiding it anymore¡±

    Lorenzo lifted his arm and the people who were supposedly riding the pseudo dragons, appeared from the surroundings of the clearing. They wielded maces, longswods and spears with their two hands, reminding Luke how a baseball yer looked like before hitting the ball.

    Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t ten people but only four. The others seemed to be supports and stayed back with their mounts.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on Lorenzo?¡±

    Risa said with an uncharasteristic sharp gaze.

    ¡°Fuck, I knew you were dumb, I¡¯ve known you for a long time, but really? Guess I¡¯ll have to exin it to you¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that¡±

    Ryu cut him short while nodding at Sera who in turn used her fire magic to light the torches. Ryu and the members from his party closed their eyes for a brief second to avoid getting dazzled by the sudden light.

    When Lorenzo opened his eyes there was no one left at the clearing.

    ¡°Hurry back to the dragons!¡±

    The soldiers that came with him followed hismand despite still being blinded by the light, one of them ran into a tree and other tripped over a root, but one of them took the worst part.

    He ran directly towards Lorenzo, following his voice to avoid stumbling into something while he couldn¡¯t see anything. But the former instructor instead of leading him, simply moved and let him fall in the pitfall on top of the dead pseudo dragon.

    ¡°What a bunch of ipetents¡±

    He lowered his gaze and covered his eyes with a hand in shame. It was clear to him that rushing behind them was a bad Idea, all they had to do was ride at an easy pace until they got tired.

    Ryu had left the ce with Sera and Anne, Bob, Lea, Luke and Risa ran the other way to mislead the enemy party.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, what should we do?¡±

    Sera anxiously asked as she traversed the woods with difficulty.

    ¡°We can¡¯t worry about them now, all we can do is trust they will be safe. i¡¯ll try to use magic to make some pitfalls and small obstacles in the way so their mounts have trouble running fast, but that¡¯s all I can do¡±

    ¡°How did you know?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean how? you saw theming from the woods too right?¡±

    ¡°I mean, I did, but how did you know it was going to happen?¡±

    ¡°While Lorenzo tried to draw our attention to him, he made a signal to his goons on his back to surround you guys. It was a standard signal for adventurers and, obviously, I recognized it¡±

    ¡°So you did be an adventurer like Luke wanted¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t just Luke, it was the most convenient course of action at the time and we benefited a lot from that. Hang on a second, you didn¡¯t be an adventurer?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot I haven¡¯t told you guys yet, but there¡¯s no point in doing it now. I¡¯m just d you didn¡¯t go nuts like you did with Lea¡±

    ¡°I- I didn¡¯t... You were awake?¡±

    Anne shook her head, she was unconscious at the time, but being healed isn¡¯t just an exchange of mana. Mana is used to focus the energy, it could be said it¡¯s the mostplex ability because it affects health points, mana and energy, all at the same time. It also had an unexpected effect in which the priest and the patient stablished a link for a brief period of time.

    While Anne couldn¡¯t feel any pain, she knew what Lea was experiencing. Inside Anne¡¯s mind she saw a tiny Lea scared and cuddling to herself in front of a gigantic representation of Ryu¡¯s face with cold murderous eyes.

 Chapter 187

    187 Watch your back, please! part ¡°You need to understand, all I could think about was you passing away in front of my eyes. I felt helpless¡±

    ¡°Is that how you justify going all out on a defenseless girl?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like she didn¡¯t deserve it, you know what she wanted to do to Sera but, do you know what she did to me?¡±

    Anne kept looking into Ryu¡¯s eyes and he took it as his queue to further exin

    ¡°She blessed me¡±

    ¡°How is that a bad thing?¡±

    Ryu sighed, he too couldn¡¯t properly understand why exactly was it a bad thing that Lea got rid of his curse. He didn¡¯t understand yet the nature of curses and blessings but he knew there was a lot more to it than what people knew.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think this is the right time to speak about this, we should focus on what to do next instead¡±

    Sera said after passing Ryu a watersking. They were tired after their escape, and they knew time was not on their side. Anne fell silent for a couple seconds, then her mood shifted, she had a look of determination and stared right at Ryu in the eye.

    .....

    ¡°What¡¯s the n leader?¡±

    ¡°First tell me how are your health points¡±

    Ryu could have simply used his consider skill, but it might end up triggering another side effect, he couldn¡¯t control it so he always tried to avoid using it on allies.

    ¡°I¡¯m somewhere about 70% of my max health points but...¡±

    Anne made a pause thinking on wether she should tell them about it or not, but ended up deciding to do so. Even if Ryu lost control for a while, it was only in order to save her from a certain death.

    ¡°My maximum health diminished¡±

    ¡°Miss Anne!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about it Anne, you just need to get some rest¡±

    ¡°How can you be so sure?¡±

    ¡°I know most people don¡¯t have the consider skill and are only capable of knowing their own health points, but Luke and I can see people¡¯s health points all the time. Sick people often lose a part of their maximum health, even after healed they can¡¯t regain it, but if they get enough rest it will recover eventually¡±

    Anne was relieved after hearing that, but it didn¡¯t change their situation in the slightest.

    ¡°So, who¡¯s that guys chasing after us, you seemed to know him¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s Lorenzo, our former instructor¡±

    ¡°Is he strong?¡±

    ¡°He is, but he¡¯s also sort of a... what was the word Luke always used...¡±

    Ryu, who for a while had picked up luke¡¯s bad habit of swearing without even noticing it, was trying to remember the exact word his blondpanion always used.

    ¡°I believe he said he was a douchebag¡±

    ¡°Now, who are you calling a douchebag?¡±

    Lorenzo appeared as if summoned by Sera¡¯s name calling. His towering figure riding on a pseudo dragon left an impression on Anne who didn¡¯t know much about him. All she could do is judge by his weapons and armor, and that scared her a little because everything looked to be high quality.

    Ryu stood in front of his former instructor, wielding his bastard sword with both hands. The grip on his weapon was so tight his gloves creaked.

    ¡°Sera, you know what to do¡±

    Sera nodded at Ryu¡¯s words and took off. She was instructed beforehand to lead the amarok and Anne to safety if they were caught.

    ¡°Do you really think you can beat me kid?¡±

    Lorenzo brandished a thin longsword that Ryu had never seen before. It didn¡¯t look that dangerous, but on the hands of a B ss adventurer even a kitchen utensile could be a killing device.

    ¡°The real question is, do you really think you can escape from this alive?¡±

    Ryu red at Lorenzo and his eyes shimmered faintly as he used his consider skill. Lorenzo now felt the same pressure Risa felt when she faced Ryu, but he already knew about this ¡®trick¡¯ of his.

    ¡°That¡¯s not going to work on me¡±

    That¡¯s what he said, but his voice was unusually low and his hand became shaky.

    ¡°Tell that to your hands¡±

    With a smirk, Ryu stepped in tounch the first strike.

    A nking sound made both swords collide in equal strength. Not being able to overwhelm his former student only added to the primal fear that was coursing through his mind making him lose focus. He expected to be able to defeat Ryu in no more than two movements, he had seen him train with Risa and had an Idea of how far his skills and stats could take him, but he never saw Ryu after he became stronger.

    Thanks to Lorenzo¡¯s mishap Ryu was able to scratch, yet again, his armor with the tip of his sword, this time drawing a little bit of blood that brought lorenzo back to his game.

    ¡°Do you know what kind of weapon is his?¡±

    Lorenzo said after waving it in the air a couple of times. Ryu, feeling a little angry about his former instructor trying to y the teaching card to distract him, attempted to move in for another strike, but Lorenzo plunged forward aiming his sword at Ryu¡¯s heart.

    The young adventurer knew it was useless to try to parry the attack, he was able to see that Lorenzo utilized his ¡®bash¡¯ skill increasing his speed and defense for a short while, so he turned on his back instead.

    Lorenzo¡¯s sword slipped on Ryu¡¯s cape, passing by his side allowing Ryu to grab Lorenzo¡¯s wrist and take the sword directly from his hand.

    ¡°This is a rapier¡±

    He said after analizing it.

    ¡°That was impressive, I didn¡¯t know you were so strong, but when I heard you killed Ryota I knew something weird was up¡±

    Lorenzo said as he rubbed his hand to numb the pain he felt after feeling Ryu¡¯s powerful grip on his wrist.

    ¡°Tell me something kid, why the hell did you go as far as pretending that you had trouble facing a goblin?¡±

    Lorenzo was at a loss, he couldn¡¯t wrap his head around Ryu¡¯s behavior. Ryu didn¡¯t answer at all as he was still trying to familiarize himself with wielding two swords at the same time.

 Chapter 188

    188 Watch your back, please! part A breeze hit Ryu¡¯s cape making it look like a g in the middle of the forest. Lorenzo, who was seemingly unarmed tried to step back, but Ryu wouldn¡¯t let him.

    As soon as he was in close range Ryu let out both his swords from the sides with all his strength but Lorenzo drew short daggers from his side with a reverse grip and countered with a kick.

    ¡°These are called Tantos, pretty handy for closebat¡±

    Ryu sheathed his bastard sword after realizing he couldn¡¯t make the most of the two weapons at the same time. it might seem like a disadvantage, but more weapons don¡¯t always mean more attack power.

    A low dual wielding skill meant the user was capable of wielding two weapons at the same time, not that they would be any good at it. It¡¯s only after a lot of effort and training that a person can increase their attack cadence and attack damage with two swords instead of one, and even then it¡¯s not really a good idea against armored enemies since a lot of the strength gets lost on speed.

    Before Ryu evenposed himself after sheathing his sword Lorenzo took a shot at him, attacking from both sides at the time, shifting his position, attacking over and over, but Ryu parried every single blow barely losing terrain.

    Lorenzo¡¯s attack speed was amazing, but Ryu had sparred with Anne and even Luke before. Although both of them would be considered C rank adventurers, their stats were amazingly high wich made them terrible foes even without proper technique.

    But Lorenzo was one step above, although he was considered a C rank adventurer he held the power of a superior B rank adventurer, something highly unusual even for Crent standards.

    His hands became brighter and his speed started to increase after each hit parried by Ryu until he was eventually unable to keep up, even with the light de he was now wielding.

    .....

    For a quick second he thought in countering with a single strike skill or even an iron strike skill, but that would have left him open for a fatal blow and he had the suspicion that was what Lorenzo was aiming for.

    After taking some distance Ryu noticed how chipped the rapier was, only thirty durability left on what seemed to be a fine de. He could still wear it, but after parrying only a few hits it might break up leaving him defenseless.

    ¡°Are you thinking now on taking my offer? You can still hand me the girl and live a long life anywhere but Crent. I don¡¯t really want to hurt my student¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your student anymore, haven¡¯t been for a while¡±

    ¡°Ah, Ryu, You could have been earning big all this time, if you were stronger than Ryota you would have been making a lot of good money. I really don¡¯t get it. Why did you have to y dumb?¡±

    ¡°You know what I don¡¯t get... Why didn¡¯t you help me? Why didn¡¯t you do anything when I told you I was cursed?¡±

    ¡°I sent you to Risa, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°You did, but only to dispose of me and get more money from Bob and Luke¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s your answer right there, money. Do you think I enjoyed teaching spoiled brats, year after year it was always the same. I used to be a big deal, people in town respected me, I was Crent¡¯s hero¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t... Don¡¯t use that word so lightly!¡±

    Ryu said, suddenly reminding everything he went through with his friends who were actual summoned heroes.

    Noticing Ryu lost his cool, Lorenzo smirked widely and headed back to his pseudo dragon.

    Fearing he would fight while mounted Ryu took a few steps back, but what he saw left him speechless and frozen at the same time.

    Lorenzo grabbed a huge knife like sword from his mount¡¯s saddle. It was Risa¡¯s sword, it was spotless as usual, except for a stter of blood on the hilt. Lorenzo, keeping the cocky smile on his face, proceeded to slowly wipe it clean with a handkerchief and wielded it extending his right arm to the side, just like Risa used to do.

    ¡°Do you like this weapon? I just got it, you could say I had a big discount... a five fingers discount¡±

    Ryu jumped at Lorenzo bursting in anger, but Lorenzo parried by simply cing the tip of the sword in the ground and moving to the sides. The de was so gigantic, it became impossible for Ryu to actually hurt Lorenzo who was too quick on his feet moving around to dodge or blocking with the sword.

    ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t my fingers, but Risa¡¯s. I would have brought them to show them to you, but who knows where that bitch put those filthy fingers before. I wonder if they still carry her smell, she was always a smelly one, I guess It can¡¯t be helped since she came from the slums but...¡±

    Lorenzo kept ranting about Risa, Ryu¡¯s most respected instructor, increasing Ryu¡¯s anger by the second. It got to the point where he couldn¡¯t even speak anymore and attacked like a wild beast with no trace of any technique whatsoever.

    The rapier broke in his hands, but before Lorenzo could take the chance Ryu had already half drawn his bastard sword and used it to block Lorenzo¡¯s strike. The former instructor lost bnce and fell back a few steps, dumbfounded about Ryu¡¯s reckless, yet effective, technique.

    But the young adventurer wouldn¡¯t let go of him and brandished his de relentlessly against Risa¡¯s sword.

    Lorenzo tried a heavy attack but the de was too difficult to maneuver, even for a weaponmaster like himself, leaving his back open for just a second.

    Ryu didn¡¯t miss his chance and hit his armor repeteadly, it sounded just like rain falling on metal, thest hit carried all his might, causing little to no damage thanks to the, now battered, steel te armor but sending Lorenzo to fly away from his stolen weapon.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for me to take my kid gloves off¡±

    Lorenzo said with a grin as he unsheathed a two handed sword from his back.

    ¡°Meet my enchanted de¡±

 Chapter 189

    189 Be wary of enchanted des, please! part If someone, anyone, had told me back then that I would be facing my former instructor as an enemy in the middle of nowhere I would haveughed like an idiot.

    It¡¯s not just that the idea of an instructor turning against his own student is ridiculous since they¡¯re the ones in charge of protecting them from harm, but also because I was no one.

    Strength and power always eluded me. I tried so hard, everyday, all day, I strived to be stronger, and yet, I remained the same. No matter ho much exercise I did, no matter how many skills I practiced, my stats remained the same, I would tire out easily and my health increased slower than Mochi¡¯s, myzy ass cat.

    Lorenzo was like a cloud regr adventurers could never touch. He was gentle, wise, strong, knowledgeable and wealthy, he was all the things everyone admired. When he became our instructor he seemed to be a lenient teacher and a strong role model to follow. He always provided knowledge about history, weapons and stuff some people found boring, but that was actually the part I liked the most about his teachings.

    I learned about this world without the need of travelling to distant countries or dangeroous ces, I learned about their people and their customs and even about beasts. Of course not all of what he said was helpful, I think it was because his lectures were intended to increase our focus more than our knowledge about the world, but still, it was fun listening to him in the adventurer¡¯s guild courtyard.

    Sometimes Sera brought snacks with her and we enjoyed them sitting under the sun, while Bob and Luke struggled to keep up with Risa in sparing matches.

    But this period was so short, it was nothing but a gust of wind in this hurricane of experiences that threaten to take me away.

    It all feels so far away now, the good old times, simple times.

    I¡¯ve be a lot stronger now, but I still don¡¯t know the source of my power. Things seem to be different for me and very little people know about this. Sera says I¡¯m special, of course she would say that, she was dazzled when I healed her and she¡¯s been attempting to repay me ever since.

    .....

    How many more times do I need to tell her that she doesn¡¯t owe me anything, that she has done enough.

    Now she even confessed her feelings for me, but I¡¯ve known for a long time. Why else would someone put up with all the stuff that happens around me all the time?

    I should have said yes, I should have, because now I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll make it out alive.

    >Two handed sword of lighting (Excellent)

    Lorenzo draws his weapon from his back, I¡¯ve always seen him carry it, but never seen him actually use it. Even when he saved my life back then, he pierced the rat¡¯s skull with another sword, a regr one. I hear from Luke that he says he never uses it because it¡¯s a weapon made for killing only, and he would only draw it on life or death asions.

    My throat feels dry, I know I would be at an advantage if I keep pressuring him, but that sword gives me an eerie feeling. There¡¯s a white light that sparkles all around it, I can¡¯t even look straight at the de, but if I had to describe it in one word it would be: dangerous.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Ryu? Are you, perhaps, still worrying about Risa?¡±

    Lorenzo scoffed with a grin on his face.

    Miss Risa, I¡¯ve never seen her without her sword. I know for a fact that she takes her sword even when she bathes, not that I¡¯ve ever spied on her, but she¡¯s such an easygoing and open person everyone knows about that. There¡¯s no way she would have let someone, even Lorenzo, take it away from her.

    Risa was also a good instructor to me, to everyone actually. She¡¯s not nearly as good an instructor as Lorenzo, hermunication skills are slim to none existent, but she taught with her actions. Even though she¡¯s far from perfect, at l?east she has a heart of gold.

    She¡¯s told me many times already how much she wants to repay me, ping her ass and winking at me. Saying things like I could ¡®use¡¯ her however I like, I kept rejecting her, of course, but why? She was always nice to me, she even offered to lend me a hand when no one else did. She¡¯s only a bit older than myself, maybe around Bob¡¯s age, and she¡¯s attractive and very seductive.

    Why would someone reject someone like that?

    There¡¯s another regret, am I really going to die?

    Why can¡¯t I think of anything useful?

    All I can think of is girls and weapons, girls and weapons.

    I don¡¯t know why I always thought of my cursed de as a girl, it¡¯s strange considering it was taken from a man¡¯s corpse. I did hear a voice once, but to think a curse could speak is just crazy.

    Then who is the person that speaks to me in my dreams?

    I asked Mia once, because as a subus she has the power to get inside people¡¯s dreams, but she didn¡¯t know. She said that my dreams were normal, pleasant and calm, she often tells me how much she loves to see my old cabin in the woods when I dream about it and how much she¡¯d love to go there with me some time.

    ¡°Are you still there Ryu? if you won¡¯t make the first move then...¡±

    Lorenzo ran forward with the same smirk as before, he¡¯s using his bash skill again, I can clearly see the mana focusing around his legs, and just likest time it will be impossible for me to dodge. I parry with my bastard sword, only to immediately regret it. An excruciating pain traversed my body, Ipletely lost control over it, my brain and heart seemed to have taken the most damage.

    In a daze, I try to regain my foothold, the pain seemingly disappeared but Lorenzo slowly tapped my de with his. This time I was able to feel how the energy coursed through my de, my hand and eventually my whole body. I shiver in the ground with my eyes closed.

    Is this how am I going to die? is this the person that will kill me?

    ¡°This is almost as easy as my fight against Risa, don¡¯t worry though, I¡¯m not into guys so I won¡¯t be doing to you what I did to her, aside from cutting your hands just like hers¡¯ that is¡±

    ¡°You... how could you do something like that to her? she was your friend!¡±

    ¡°To me she¡¯s ways been a nice piece of ass, the only reason I always declined banging her was because there was nothing in between her ears. I mean, you should get it, she said something like she was saving herself for you but you kept rejecting her. By the way, did you know she was a virgin? hahaha who would have thought something like that was possible!? I always thought she was a whore, no, wait, whores at least get paid. Anyway, she screamed and cried, but you know what, I thought she looked kind of sexy without hands¡±

    I grip my hand onto the hilt of my sword while Lorenzoughed maniacally and with my other hand, a handful of dirt.

 Chapter 190

    190 Be wary of enchanted swords, please! part My first instinct was to throw dirt at Lorenzo¡¯s eyes and follow with a swing of my de, but even I somehow managed to hit him his steel te armor would stand in the way just like before. Instead, by cing my hand on the earth I sensed a familiar feeling, the same feeling I experienced when I dug my hand in the mud at the bottom of theke.

    The flow of mana wasn¡¯t nearly as strong here as it was over there, but it¡¯s enough.

    The only thing I need to care for is to avoid touching that sword, even indirectly. The misterious energy that courses through his de is so fast it¡¯s impossible to dodge, but as long as I don¡¯t touch it I should be safe.

    An Ideaes to mind, but I¡¯ll have to put it to the test first. Instead of throwing dirt as it is, I harden it. Good thing is I only needed to spend a single point of mana for that.

    I throw the arrowhead shaped piece of hardened dirt just to the side of Lorenzo, but try to keep control over it in the air to make it turn and hit him.

    *nk*

    Of course it did no damage, he didn¡¯t even notice it, but a grin appears on my face.

    Confident on his advantage, Lorenzo allows me to stand up on my own. My trembling legs barely support my weight, but my resolve is too great.

    I don¡¯t hate him, I just hate the fact that he turned his back on me, that he betrayed his friends, people who trusted him. But he¡¯s only human and I can¡¯t me him for that.

    .....

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re being paid handsomly for this, because if not you¡¯ll regret it¡±

    ¡°Oh, I am being paid a lot more than your worth¡±

    Lorenzo replied with a smirk, and just before he went in for another hit I started pouring all my mana outside. Just likest time, I couldn¡¯t care less if I¡¯m left empty, I can¡¯t afford to focus on expending it slowly.

    The natural flow of mana gets invaded by my own, overtaking its course by force. Three thin lines made out of my own mana rush over to my former cursed de, Risa¡¯s sword and my obsidian knife at the same time. Dirt gathered on their hilts in a thinyer, but strong enough to lift the weapons in the air the same as if they were being wielded by a human hand, and they started spinning around me in a simple but fast manner.

    Althought their movement is predictable, Lorenzo is taken by surprise. I guess no one would expect something like that to happen. It¡¯s not really a spell or a skill, but something in between. I just hope this is enough to keep him from getting near me.

    I need to keep my focus on the pieces of dirt controlling the seemingly flying des, but my hands are free now which allow me to grab a potion and recover myself while Lorenzo is still gaping at my demonstration.

    ¡°Just what the fuck are you?¡±

    He said in a low tone of voice.

    I could answer, but I¡¯m currently too busy trying to control my weapons, Lorenzo tried to probe my defense and poked with his de. The tip of his sword shed against a fast moving obsidian dagger,pletely crushing it.

    But then I realized, I was able to feel my obsidian de the same I could feel the earth under my feet. It¡¯s sharp pieces scattered on the air, but somehow I was able to put them together and shape it into a different shape.

    Lorenzo didn¡¯t know what to do, the enchantment of his sword was rendered useless and I was left with an advantage. But I didn¡¯t want to win the fight, I bought enough time already and all I needed was to run away with my head still on top of my shoulders.

    But how am I supposed to leave after hearing what he did to miss Risa? she didn¡¯t deserve something like that, much less at the hands of someone she thought was her friend.

    Just a bit of payback, that¡¯s all I need.

    Instead of retreating like I was supposed to, I tried to push my advantage by walking close to Lorenzo. My spinning des were swirling faster and faster, the sound eventually became louder and gusts of wind dispersed close by.

    Lorenzo tried to fall back, only to find himself cornered against a tree.

    When I walked forward, controlling the des as best I could, Lorenzo simply climbed on top of a branch, rendering my onught useless.

    As if things weren¡¯t bad enough, Risa¡¯s sword got stuck on the tree, leaving me with only two floating des.

    The branch creaked as Lorenzo jumped on top of me knowing full well I would be unable to block or parry his attack, but there was one thing he didn¡¯t expect me to do.

    Now that he was on free fall right on top of my head, I shifted all the mana I was focusing on the des into the fire attribute.

    Fire gathered on the palm of my hands and grew in a split second because of the sudden burst of mana, something like a ball made out of fire was shot directly at Lorenzo who had nothing but a sword to defend himself.

    He fell limp in front of me, but my consider skill warned me that he was still alive and conscious. His hair had been burned and his sword fell at some distance from him.

    Just when I thought It was safe to run away, he startedughing like a maniac again.

    ¡°Hahaha, I didn¡¯t think you would even put up a fight and now I¡¯m like this. Guess I have no choice but use everything I have¡±

    He said after letting out a whistle, calling his pseudo dragon.

    Five seconds, ten seconds, a full minute and nothing happened. We were just standing there awkwardly waiting for the other to make a move.

 Chapter 191

    191 Be wary of enchanted des, please! part ¡°What the fuck is going on!?¡±

    The gentlemanly, well mannered instructor, didn¡¯t hesitate to swear now that he was no longer employed by the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    Even if I wanted to answer the question I couldn¡¯t, I was just as surprised as he was, yet, all it took was a quick check with sense presence to realize what had happened. Lorenzo¡¯s pseudo dragon had been defeated by a mob of goblins.

    They not only killed the beast, but also butchered it and took all of Lorenzo¡¯s belongings.

    I start retreating without turning my back on my enemy, I¡¯mpletely defenseless against the powerful enchantment embedded on his de. Blocking or parrying arepletely useless, and if I try to hit him I risk being zapped.

    My mana has ran outpletely, but luckily he doesn¡¯t know that.

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going? If I don¡¯t bring the girl I won¡¯t be paid and all of this will have been for nothing¡±

    ¡°You say that like it¡¯s my problem¡±

    ¡°It kind of is, why did you have to stand in my way... why couldn¡¯t you act like a proper adventurer and make money for me? I want you to know that what happened to Risa is all on you, if you didn¡¯t y such stupid games I wouldn¡¯t have been pushed to do this, now my only chance of making it alive to the sacred empire is to bring a mage with me, I wonder how much will they give me for you¡±

    .....

    His bloodshot eyes looked like those of a wild beast, his facial hair was non existent and his skin was ckened by the fire. It would have been a fun sight, it may have even brought a chuckle from his pupils, but he looked so fierce and dangerousughing was thest thing Ryu would do.

    ¡°So it was about money, uh, how about I give you what¡¯s on my purse and we part ways then?¡±

    I¡¯m not a good negotiator, but even stalling for time could be useful to recover myself from the huge toll my body took after harnessing so much mana at the same time.

    ¡°And why would I let you go when I can simply beat the crap out of you and take what you got?¡±

    He shrugged with a wide smile as he walked towards me, unarmed.

    I know his sword was dangerous, but for some weird reason his behavior now was even more terrifying.

    ¡°You want this!? go fetch it dog!¡±

    I say as I show him one of the light blue coins Heimar gave me as payment afterpleting his quest. Lorenzo¡¯s face brightened up at the sight of the immensely precious coin and followed it with his sight as it disappeared on the dense vegetation.

    ¡°Why did you have to do that!? do you even know how valuable mithril is!?¡±

    He didn¡¯t throw himself into the bushes like I thought he would.

    ¡°If you have the guts to throw a mithril coin like that, it can only mean you have more on you¡±

    That¡¯s true, I do have more, Heimar did pay handsomly for the egg shell, but there¡¯s no way he knows that for sure.

    ¡°Stealth, camouge, concealment¡±

    I whisper to myself, activating all three skills in rapid session.

    ¡°Do you really think you can hid from me like that? I still see you, as clearly as before. Don¡¯t you know you need to disappear from someone¡¯s line of sight before activating them?¡±

    ¡°I knew you would say something like that, but you see... that¡¯s only true if I fight like a human¡±

    I draw a knife from my sash, it¡¯s not enchanted, it¡¯s not even a good one. Just a regr, in steel knife I got cheap at Quarrydew.

    My grip on the hilt is so tight I can feel my veins pumping blood, I feint an attack but instead of going for Lorenzo I jump head first into the bushes.

    Lorenzo followed me with his eyes until Ipletely disappeared in the foliage.

    ¡°That¡¯s useless too! hahaha¡±

    But hisugh was short lived as I attacked him from behind. My cheap knife was no match for his high end te armor, but just like the rock scorpions, the joints were unprotected. I went for his right leg, shing directly behind the knee cap. It was just a shallow wound, but he let out a yelp.

    The second he turned back to face me, I was in the bushes again.

    Lorenzo quickly understood what I was doing and rushed for his sword. As soon as he grabbed it, the sparks started fizzling again in the air.

    ¡°So you¡¯re fighting like a gobling now!? It really suits a weakling like you I must say¡±

    The next second I was right in front of him, wielding my knife directly at his sword. The battle hardened warrior held his sword tightly and braced for the impact, but I let the knife fall, shifting it into my other hand only to stab him, using my aim skill, precisely in between the junctions of his armor.

    Lorenzo let out a groan and hit blindly in the air, but I was already on my way south to reunite with my friends.

    Last thing I saw was a barrage of arrows flying towards Lorenzo, forcing him to run the other way. Not even an A rank adventurer was an opponent for a goblin army, let alone a former B rank adventurer like him.

    Bardun was the first to greet me, not even a minute had passed since I left the battle, but as soon as I saw him I already knew I was safe.

    ¡°Hello brother, I came to rescue you but it seemed to me you had things under control¡±

    The goblin said in a fluent manner, I¡¯m actually surprised at how much he improved in this little time.

    ¡°Thank you foring, but how did you know?¡±

    ¡°Goblins know what happens in our turf, I¡¯m sorry for your friends, they were good warriors, but we werete¡±

 Chapter 192

    192 Get back on your feet, please! part The way to the goblin vige was long, heavy and sad.

    ¡°Stop crying now, warriors don¡¯t cry!¡±

    ¡°How am I supposed to stop crying when my friends were killed so recently!?¡±

    Said Ryu amidst sobs.

    ¡°Goblins live, goblins die, all the time the same, that¡¯s goblin life, you need to deal with it¡±

    ¡°Goblins really suck atforting people¡±

    Anne, still on top of Famine, scoffed at Bardun, who didn¡¯t know who this person with a silvery blond hair. He felt she was being offensive towards his whole race and made a note in his mind that he didn¡¯t like that female human.

    ¡°I know, brother, but these were my family. How would you feel if one of your wives die?¡±

    ¡°I would fight for them, they won¡¯t die before I do¡±

    .....

    ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t there for my friends, and I could do nothing to help them¡±

    ¡°I see, now I understand, you can be sad then¡±

    Bardun nodded with his eyes closed and letting air out of his nose, as if giving his permission to be sad actually changed anything.

    The rest of the trip south was more or less uneventful, apart from a few stops for rest, bathroom, eating and fighting weak beasts, there was¡¯t much to mention. Ryu was less than motivated to speak and Sera, who was really tired after chasing after taking Anne to safety and asking the goblins for help, could barely move her legs. She did go through a lot just to contact the goblins, she wasn¡¯t sure if they would even remember her and feared they might attack her. What she didn¡¯t know was that most humans looked the same to them, just how goblins looked the same through human eyes.

    Despite her weak physical condition, Sera was greatly respected among goblins now. What earned her their respect had little to do with how she took care of her friend and did whatever she could to seek help for her beloved Ryu, what did the trick was the fact that she found even though they were hiding.

    Not even Sera herself knew the reason why she was able to find the goblins so easily, but it wasn¡¯t a new skill or an exceptional perception. It was Ryu¡¯s ring, the one he bought at the ck market.

    What neither Sera nor Ryu knew at the time was how the identify skill provided useful information, but that information didn¡¯te from people¡¯s mind, it actually came from the obelisk located at the core of the sacred empire.

    Anything and everything ever documented, including properties, atributes, abilities and materials, was stored within its walls. But the thing about this ring was that its properties werepletely unknown, Risa¡¯s father sold it merely because he didn¡¯t know its story or properties, it was almost worthless to him.

    Had he known the actual worth of the only ring of ¡®true reveal¡¯, he wouldn¡¯t have sold it at all.

    Of course goblins didn¡¯t know this either and, by the time they reached the goblin vige, no one had any stamina to spare into useless talking.

    Goblins tore appart a huge radious of trees around their vige to be able to spot enemies as soon as they stepped out of the woods. It was a bit redundant because goblins were exceptional watchmen, but if they were to be attacked by a stealthy opponent, having clear view of them was a more than weed extra advantage.

    A thin Mia with lean cheeks was on the vige entrance already waiting for the iing group after scouts announced their arrival.

    Without so much as a ¡®hi¡¯ Mia threw herself into Ryu¡¯s arms and kissed him deeply and, much to Anne¡¯s and Sera¡¯s surprise, Ryu didn¡¯t even try to push her back.

    ¡°What are you doing you horny woman!?¡±

    Sera let out a shriek more proper of a goblin than a beautiful princess looking beauty like her, but she got no response and they continued kissing. Mia¡¯s trembling hands parted from Ryu¡¯s face and she let out something in between an aroused moan and a stuffed sigh.

    ¡°Thanks for the meal master¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for taking so long, but I thought you¡¯d be making potions for yourself¡±

    Ryu replied, a little weakened and pale after sharing so much of his own energy.

    Anne was dumbfounded at the scene. Even though she lied to Ryu and told him she already had a boyfriend waiting for her back at the sacred empire, she thought he would still have feelings for Rina, or for Sera. She wasn¡¯t expecting a neer being the one to win over Ryu¡¯s heart.

    Sera¡¯s chain of thoughts was in between tearing Mia apart limb for limb and joining a threeway. Of course she would keep both options alive until the chance for either showed up.

    ¡°Just what is going on Ryu?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t owe any exnation to you Anne, you have a boyfriend, so stop meddling in people¡¯s lives¡±

    Ryu¡¯s words excited Sera, so much so she almost started pping.

    ¡°Brother Ryu, this is were we say goodbye, I was in the middle of an exploration when I heard about your situation, but now I have to go for about a week. Will you still be here when I get back?¡±

    ¡°I guess that depends, I don¡¯t know what to do right now, I don¡¯t feel like I aplished anything with this trip and I lost my friends so...¡±

    ¡°Take some time to rest and recover, warriors like war but they need peace¡±

    ¡°Those are big wordsing from a beast¡±

    Anne red at Bardun, she really hated goblins. Their ugly appearance deeply offended her aesthetic sense, she knew they were able to speak because Sera warned her beforehand, but that didn¡¯t mean she had to like being in the goblin vige.

    ¡°Goblins are not beasts, it would be good for you to remember that while you are in our turf. We don¡¯t take strangers badmouthing us kindly and the only reason you¡¯re allowed in is because you¡¯re one of my brother¡¯s wives¡±

    Quiet as ake, Anne lowered her gaze. Bardun took it as a sign of understanding and respect, earning her a few points in his book, what he didn¡¯t know was she was actually in a daze after being called one of Ryu¡¯s wives.

    Bardun didn¡¯t enter the vige since it would take him too much time, goblins celebrated big time whenever their leader came back after a mission, but he had no time to spare.

    ¡°Before I go, brother, I must tell you something in case I don¡¯te back¡±

    Ryu remained silent and looked at his goblin brother in arms.

    ¡°There¡¯s an unrest in the north side of the forest, we don¡¯t know what it is, but beasts are behaving in weird ways. Please take care of Thoba and the others until Ie back, don¡¯t send for me ore looking for me, just take care of everything¡±

    ¡°Are you asking me to run the vige?¡±

    ¡°Of course I am, are you not my brother? you¡¯re supposed to take charge of things when I¡¯m not around¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just asking too much Bardun, I¡¯m truly grateful for what you¡¯ve done for us, but I¡¯m not even a goblin. Why do you think they¡¯ll follow mymands?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in arguing, just do your best. if you have to leave, you have to leave. But if you stay, please make goblins strong, I know only you can do it¡±

 Chapter 193

    193 Get back on your feet, please! part The group entered the goblin vige without their escort, they came all the way only to make sure that they¡¯d reach the vige safely, but if goblins saw their leader returning they¡¯d assume he was sessful and his quest was far from over yet.

    It would have been shameful for him to return like that.

    Ryu and his group were led to the house goblins built for him in his absence. It was a lot taller than the wooden box he woke up at when he first arrived at the vige, but if bob was there he would have hit his head on the ceiling.

    Mia took care of supervising the building and also furnished the house, it was cozy and cute, but most of the decoration was primitive at best. There were a few knitted dolls on the shelf, Mia had tried to reproduce every one of her friends, they looked as if a kid had made them but no oneughed.

    She made Bob, ire, Luke, Sera, Taffy, Veronika and even Hiraku who she only met briefly, all the dolls were smiling and were holding hands right behind Ryu¡¯s doll. Thetter was, of course, the biggest and the finest of them all. Mia depicted him with his ck hair and his leather attire, including the rucksack. Everything was knitted on wool of course, but she paid special attention to detail.

    It looked like a family of dolls.

    Although childish, everyone was moved by her silly gesture. Even so, the only one who was able topletely get it was Ryu.

    Mia was always a very sociable person, she loved to chat and hang out with people. She owned a potion shop but shecked the skills to actually craft useful potions. The only ones she made with moderate quality were the healing potions.

    She had spent months now far from the city with goblins as her onlypany. Not only they were just learning how to speak with people, but they also weren¡¯t too good at making conversation. They were much more practical than humans, they spent long hours working and if they didn¡¯t have something useful to say they¡¯d rather be quiet. They didn¡¯t get Mia¡¯s need to talk about her day and whatnot.

    .....

    After Ryu left to look for his pets she was left alone, in a strange ce, surrounded by people from a race she didn¡¯t understand and as if that wasn¡¯t bad enough, she ran out of healing potions to sustain herself.

    Goblins walked far and wide trying to look for medicinal herbs, but it was simply too difficult for her to craft healing potions without her craftman station.

    In the end she became sad, lonely and her health deteriorated to the point she even considered feeding from a goblin.

    Thankfully for her, after kissing Ryu she regained some of her health and her mood improved greatly when she saw himing back with more humans.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the inconvenience but there¡¯s only one room in this ce and we will have to sleep together tonight¡±

    Although her words were saying she was troubled by this, she held a huge smile on her face. Mia¡¯s joyful attitude remained oblivious to everyone¡¯s grief. Despite this, no one felt like crushing her mood after seeing her cute little dolls.

    Sera was even a little ttered because she made a doll after her and, secretly, she wanted to steal Ryu¡¯s doll to sleep at night.

    Everyone was fatigued after their long trip through the forest, they were strong even among adventurers, but they were hurt and they moved too fast resting only the minimum necessary.

    Ryu, still worried about Anne¡¯s health, let her take the bed along with Sera, while he slept on the wooden floor with Mia. It didn¡¯t matter how tired they were, they didn¡¯t sleep right away.

    Anne was pondering what was Ryu¡¯s situation with mia, Sera was snuggling to the doll she took without permission, and Ryu was awake thinking on his friends.

    The next day, someone knocked on their door. Ryu, being the only one with the habit of getting up early, opened the door.

    It was no other than Thoba, she was one of the very few goblins who bothered knocking, and this was only thanks to Mia¡¯s nagging.

    ¡°Hello, brother of my husband¡±

    ¡°Hi Thoba, it¡¯s been a while¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    After her response and awkward silence followed.

    ¡°Is there anything I can help you with?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    ¡°How can I help you then?¡±

    ¡°I need you toe take you wife with you¡±

    Ryu,pletely confused after her words, decided to y along and followed her.

    They climed into one of the many wooden elevators and arrived at a small tree house. Ryu took a second to look around him, although the buildings were on the same ce, everything looked to be in better shape than when he first arrived, not just that, there weren¡¯t items lying around in front of the shops and everything seemed to be in order.

    Thoba barged into the treehouse, this time without knocking, and pointed at a blond woman in a cute light blue dress.

    ¡°Ath?¡±

    ¡°Husband!¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m not your husband!¡±

    ¡°Shhh¡±

    Ath shushed him before throwing herself on Ryu¡¯s arms. Only when Thoba saw this she left the room.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? why are you pretending to be my wife?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Mia tell you?¡±

    Ath exined to Ryu the reason why she called him husband.

    Ath wanted to stay in the goblin vige until Ryu came back, but goblins didn¡¯t like her at all since she was considered a criminal who ughtered their young without hesitation. She was considered a bad warrior, and that was even worse than not being a warrior at all like her maid.

    In order to have goblins ept her into their vige, Mia came up with a n. Everything made sense to Ryu, especially the part where Mia was involved into convincing goblins that Ath was one of Ryu¡¯s wives.

    ¡°Only that airhead subus could think of something like that¡±

    Ryuined, but Ath¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°A subus!?¡±

 Chapter 194

    194 Get back on your feet, please! part Ryu brought Ath to back to his house on the goblin vige and the first thing he did after opening the door was shout Mia¡¯s name. She knew this was going to happen eventually, but didn¡¯t expect it to be so soon.

    ¡°What in the world were you thinking?¡±

    ¡°Master Ryu, it¡¯s not what you think, you know¡±

    ¡°Did you not tell Ath to convince the goblins that she was my wife so they let her stay in the vige?¡±

    ¡°Then it is exactly what you¡¯re thinking¡±

    She pouted.

    ¡°Tell me now, why did you do something as reckless as that?¡±

    ¡°Because she was pitiful, they wanted to kick her out. They even let her maid stay, why did they want to kick her so bad?¡±

    ¡°Uh, maybe because she killed goblin children!?¡±

    .....

    ¡°But she didn¡¯t know them at the time, if you were on her shoes you might have done the same thing!¡±

    ¡°Of course not! why would I kill children? I don¡¯t care the species, that¡¯s just evil!¡±

    ¡°I was fighting for my life! I couldn¡¯t even recognize their children at the time, they all looked the same¡±

    Ath tried to defend herself, but Ryu ignored her. He never considered Ath as part of her close ones, from the first time he saw her he realized she would be nothing but trouble.

    A noblewoman who pretended to be her maid¡¯s servant, only because she waspletely ipetent as a merchant and didn¡¯t even have the basic skills for it. She was a musclehead that only relied on her status as a noble, and yet she held big dreams of reinstating her family as the rightful rulers of Crent.

    ¡°Mia, I know you have trouble understanding things sometimes, but this is very important so pay attention. I told Bardun Ath wasn¡¯t my wife, so either you¡¯re lying and they¡¯ll kick you out or I¡¯m lying and it will cause Bardun a lot of trouble¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s another solution. You can always marry me and make it intro the truth¡±

    Ath stepped in with another idiotic n

    ¡°Why would I marry you?¡±

    ¡°Wealth, status, nobility, strength and I¡¯ll give you many strong children¡±

    ¡°How can you say stuff like that with a straight face crazy woman!?¡±

    Sera almost threw herself at Ath¡¯s neck, she was losing her patience. It had been days since she confessed to Ryu, but they were yet to talk things over.

    Anne, who couldn¡¯t keep herself from joining the fray, also started arguing and pointing out she was the one who knew Ryu for the longest period.

    Mia, who didn¡¯t yet understand why everyone was fighting, but wanted to participate anyway started saying random facts that werepletely unrted to what they were fighting over.

    Ryu stayed for a couple minutes attempting to calm the girls down, but it was like herding cats, but then he went out of the house to cool down. With all the fuss inside he wasn¡¯t able to even listen to his own thoughts.

    He took a stroll around the goblin vige, noticing the clean houses, theck of piles of items in the way, the newly decorated houses and the guards patrolling the streets. It all looked so different from his past visit, he really wanted to know the reason behind so many changes, but he had many things to think about.

    He spent a long while on the wilderness with his pets and had became ustomed to it, dealing with people now was difficult for him.

    He knew about Sera¡¯s feelings, about Ath¡¯s intention to marry him, about Anne¡¯s deep feelings that she dragged for a long time and about Mia¡¯s dependence towards him, but he didn¡¯t know how he felt about any of them.

    He told Sera he loved her and they kissed after, but it made things so awkward Sera wouldn¡¯t speak to him for days. She was beautiful, had a nice figure and was blindly loyal to him. The problem with Sera was something he had suspected for a while now, she had a terrible personality. She was kind and caring towards him, but she waspletely apathic and merciless towards others, in fact, it seemed like she actually enjoyed inflicting pain to others.

    Ath was a perfect candidate for marriage that any sane man wouldn¡¯t refuse, she did offer a great deal, but Ryu didn¡¯t know why was she interested in him in the first ce. He also knew she wasn¡¯t too bright and didn¡¯t feel a thing for her, if he was to pick her it would be for convenience and would have nothing to do with love.

    That actually made things easy for him, he didn¡¯t have any memories from his past, but if he knew one thing it would be that he would only marry the girl he loved.

    Then was Anne, the stunningly beautiful and strong silver goddes from ironwoods. She was also a summoned hero and he knew her for the longest time. She was actually the first person he remember seeing. She was as beautiful as Sera and as strong as Ath, but she said she had a boyfriend now and Ryu couldn¡¯t understand why was she even arguing with the others.

    The thing with Mia was somethingpletely different. It could be said that she was the one he loved the most out of the rest, even more than Anne. He had spent a long time with her on the goblin vige and they got to know each other a lot better. Not only that, but her presence soothed him and they shared an inexplicable bond that could actually be felt. But their rtionship was that of a master and a pet.

    It actually took Ryu a long time to get ustomed to the idea of having a person as a pet, but after a while he finally understood that adopting a pet wasn¡¯t something as casual as picking up a stray cat and giving it a name. It was an actual mystical bond, created from the intention of two creatures, where one was subordinated to the other, it could be said it¡¯s a contract of servitude.

    Ryu¡¯s orders were absolute for Mia, she couldn¡¯t refuse or disobey him, and in return, Ryu would have to take care of her. If he failed to do that, her loyalty would decrease and she would again be able to act freely.

    Pondering about these things, Ryu sat in a rock and looked at the goblins give their all working. Now they knew how to cook and tan leather, they were better dressed. They also had better gear than thest time he saw them, everyone had at least one short knife carved out of a creature¡¯s fang.

    Goblins who passed him, all said hi and showed great respect towards him. He was the first human to ever be recognized as a goblin citizen, so every single inhabitant knew about him.

    Of course Ryu got distracted from his thoughts, he distractedly checked on his soulbound card where a single message changed his moodpletely and helped him gather the resolve he needed to get back on his feet.

    Thest page, where she was able to get messages from an unknown entity had a short line that read:

    >They¡¯re alive

 Chapter 195

    195 They¡¯re alive!

    After running away from Lorenzo¡¯s group, Bob, Lea, Luke and Risa took off to the west. The n was to meet up with Ryu after running for a while, but Lorenzo¡¯s group went after them in hopes of their target being with them.

    Without Anne to lead the way or Ryu toy traps behind them, it didn¡¯t take long until they were caught by the group of pseudo dragon raiders giving them little time to prepare.

    ¡°Why the fuck did Lorenzo turn against us?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about something like that, now we need to prepare a trapor something¡±

    Luke scoffed at Risa, who had clearly lost her cool.

    ¡°I can¡¯t dig a pitfall, all the tools are in the amarok¡±

    The group kept running, but they couldn¡¯t leave Lea behind. She didn¡¯t have any wound, but her mental health was in shambles. After what Ryu did to her she was left deeply traumatized and she couldn¡¯t even move properly.

    ¡°i don¡¯t want to hear any excuses, just try to think on something useful or remain quiet¡±

    The dense vegetation proved to be a hindrance to the group, but the real problem was they were leaving an obvious trail behind them which not only made it easier for their pursuers to follow, but also allowed them to run faster without so many obstacles.

    .....

    ¡°Over there!¡±

    Luke pointed at a hollow tree hidden behind some bushes. He took off his cape and ced it inside, then climbed a tree just like Ryu did before.

    ¡°What do you expect to happen?¡±

    ¡°Nevermind that and keep running, they¡¯ll chase after you¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t do soemthing like this, they¡¯ll kill you¡±

    Bob pleaded

    ¡°It would be impossible for them to one shot me, as long as I survive the first strike I can always run away, but you can¡¯t hide your presence or cover your tracks. Just keep running, I¡¯ll catch on to youter¡±

    On his mind, he looked really cool saying something like that, but in reality he was dirty, tired and his voice didn¡¯t sound nearly as manly as he thought it did. Even so, Risa appreciated his gesture and saw the reason behind it and nudged Bob to keep runing.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot Bob, he¡¯s finally growing a pair and you¡¯re trying to disrespect him like that. Just don¡¯t let his sacrifice be in vain¡±

    The group disappeared in the middle of the night and everything seemed to fall silent for just a second, until Luke was able to listen to the sounds of the forest. Crickets, small insects, birds, they formed a symphony that couldn¡¯t be described with words and only a person who had been in theplete dark in a forest could understand.

    It was absolutely terrifying.

    Lorenzo¡¯s group was right behind them, they didn¡¯t rush into the chase just to tire their enemies before facing them while they were able to ridefortably through the dense vegetation.

    Pseudo dragons were a lot slower than horses, but they were one of the only mounts avable at a cheap price that were able to walk through obstructed terrain with ease because they had the pathfinding skill. Forests like these were their natural habitat and they excelled in traversing them and fighting on them.

    ¡°Hey, go check that out¡±

    Lorenzo ordered one of his goons to check the hollow tree. He wasn¡¯t as naive as Risa and knew there was something odd with that, that¡¯s precisely why he asked one of the supports instead of the fighters.

    Luke almost clicked his tongue, but if he did so he would have given away his position. When the unarmed man came close to the tree trunk where Luke ced the piece of cloth, he had to face an impossible choice.

    He knew that despite them knowing it was a trap, they wouldn¡¯t be able to locate him. Thieves were especially good at hiding, but on a forest like this it was almost impossible. Only the reveal skill would be able to detect him with ease, but even then, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him.

    Luke could let the man go and remain safe, or he could ambush him and reveal his position, endangering him but buying a couple minutes for hispanions.

    Luke dropped on top of the oblivious man, killing him instantly.

    ¡°I knew it was you Luke¡±

    ¡°Shut up and fight me, Lorenzo!¡±

    ¡°Why would I do something like that, you¡¯re just too stupid. We can easily leave you behind now¡±

    Lorenzo spurred his pseudo dragon, and those on his group followed suit. Luke wasn¡¯t able to throw weapons as good as Anne or Ryu because he didn¡¯t have the aim skill, they were going to leave him behind and there was nothing he could do about it. Except maybe for one thing.

    With his high dexterity stat climed back on the tree so quickly it would have been impossible to do for a regr person, he then jumped on the next tree and the one that followed. He moved fast, but he wasn¡¯t a match for the fast moving reptiles, forcing him to do something he would have never dreamed he would be doing.

    He jumped onto a vine, bncing his body to gather momentum while yelling at the top of his lungs making an impersonation of a character he only knew existed but never actually saw on tv.

    Thanks to the impulse he took he did move fast enough, but he couldn¡¯t really control where he was heading, the only thing he could do was let himself go at the proper time. If he let go of the vine too early, he wouldn¡¯t be able to reach anyone. If, on the other hand, he let go toote, he would pass them over, or even worse, end up in the same ce.

    In the end, he didn¡¯t need to actually make that choice, because the vine couldn¡¯t support his weight and speed for long and it cut.

    Luke was shot out like a projectile, keeping his eyes open despite the speed and fell unceremoniously on top of thest armed guard that formed Lorenzo¡¯s party. The guard was easy enough to kill for him, it only took him one of his spare knives and a push through the man¡¯s chest.

    But he was leftpletely surrounded by the supports riding on their own pseudo dragons.

    A sh of light broke through the dark forest as the ridersmanded their beasts to breathe fire onto their target.

 Chapter 196

    196 Are they alive?

    Two minutes, that¡¯s all Luke was able to buy for his partners.

    When Bob saw Lorenzo¡¯s groupe close, the first thought that crossed his mind was that Luke had been killed, but he didn¡¯t rush to conclusions. After all, Lorenzo was in the same condition he had been before and Bob knew full well that if Luke was forced to make ast stand, he would at least make sure to hurt him.

    Lorenzo, who didn¡¯t even notice about Bob¡¯s state of mind, climbed off his ride.

    There was no reason for a strong adventurer like him to risk his mount needlessly in a battle. Pseudo dragons were strong, but those weren¡¯t their own beasts, they were just rented from the adventurer¡¯s guild. This meant they weren¡¯t bonded properly with them, not just that, they were cheap young pseudo dragons, inexperienced in battle and their level was low. They weren¡¯t intended to fight, but to be used as mounts, which was precisely what Lorenzo was doing.

    Of course he couldn¡¯t care less about returning them, because his intention was to run away to the sacred empire, and having a mount could save his life in a pinch.

    ¡°Where is Luke?¡±

    Bob asked in a low voice giving Lorenzo an idea, he could try to make him angry and take advantage of the situation. He didn¡¯t know Bob¡¯s power, all he knew was how he yelled strange things whenever he attacked.

    ¡°Do you really want to know? I guess you¡¯ll have to defeat me first¡±

    Lorenzo didn¡¯t wait for Bob¡¯s reaction and jumped forward brandishing a broadsword, but before he could get to his pupil, Risa came forward with a grin on her face and stopped him by shing her sword against his.

    .....

    The huge knife like de was impossible to stop and Lorenzo had to take a few steps backward. Still, he was ready for that and attacked with one of his spare weapons. Risa, who excelled in fast movements even brandishing her huge sword, quickly blocked the attack, but it turned out to be a feint.

    Lorenzo dropped his main weapon and unsheathed the sword in his back, Risa already knew this weapon and she knew it couldn¡¯t be blocked. She tried her best to dodge it, but she didn¡¯t expect him to use it so early on the battle.

    A swift motion of Lorenzo¡¯s main weapon and Risa¡¯s hands fell on the dirt.

    Risa didn¡¯t show the pain she was experiencing, her usual battle smile was still frozen on her face and she quickly countered with a roundhouse kick directly to Lorenzo¡¯s face.

    Lorenzo too was a battle hardened adventurer and shrugged off the attack, but it gave Risa enough time to retreat.

    Bob, who suffered from what would have been called post traumatic stress disorder after the hill massacre, was stunned in ce. Anger, sadness, fear, everything came back to him and left himpletely useless in battle. His mental state was even worse than Lea¡¯s, who had been tortured.

    That left only Risa to fed off Lorenzo¡¯s merciless attacks, but after losing her hands she couldn¡¯t even pick up her sword, let alone draw her spare weapons. The only thing she could do was run away, but that meant leaving herpanions in an awful situation.

    ¡°Bob, get a hold of yourself, we¡¯ll be killed if you don¡¯t do something, our deaths would be in your hands!¡±

    Risa, being the tough adventurer she was, said with a stern voice, she didn¡¯t think it would be enough to actually get him back into a fighting stance, but at least it would be enough to snap him out of his reverie.

    What she didn¡¯t know was how her words triggered the only memory inside Bob¡¯s mind that would be able to help him.

    A sh of a diner table, Luke and Ryu sitting with him and chatting, empty dishes on the table and a mug of beer in front of him.

    His own words resounded into his mind, he told his friends how bad it was for him after he went through the hill massacre, and how he learned that everything was on him, because of his own weakness.

    ¡®I don¡¯t want to go through that again¡¯ he thought to himself as he walked in front of Lorenzo who was getting ready to charge at them using his bash skill.

    Lorenzo dashed forward at an incredible speed, brandishing his two handed sword, only to be stopped by Bob¡¯s Iron strike skill.

    He didn¡¯t chant a fake spell, he didn¡¯t even chanted the activation of his skill.

    He simply wielded his warhammer with such conviction that he would stop Lorenzo, that his body reacted by expelling energy on its own.

    Was Bob¡¯s appearance always so fiercesome? that thought crossed Lorenzo¡¯s mind.

    He always saw Bob as this cheerful young warrior with a lot of potential but so stupid that he would believe himself to be a mage. Just like many other people, he thought the only way Bob would be able to actually hurt another human being would be by second hand embarrassment.

    But the man who stood tall in front of him now waspletely different from what he expected.

    His eyes were those of a cold blooded murderer, his hands looked so big making it seem he could crush a man¡¯s skull effortlessly and his warhammer, amon weapon without any enchantments, was even able to withstand the shock from his enchanted two handed sword.

    Lorenzo looked at Bob right in the eye to intimidate him, but what he found was Bob¡¯s resolve to kill or be killed and now he wasn¡¯t so sure he would be able to win, in fact, he was actually the one afraid.

    Left with no choice, Lorenzo clicked his tongue as he picked Risa¡¯s weapon from the ground and turned tail.

    ¡°Miss Risa, are you ok?¡±

    Bob grabbed her by the waist to prevent her from dropping on the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, you did well¡±

    ¡°But your hands...¡±

    ¡°I said I¡¯m fine! let¡¯s wait for Luke, he¡¯ll probably know what to do¡±

 Chapter 197

    197 Make them obedient, please! part Receiving that message was like a blessing from heavens, Ryu felt like a huge weight was lifted from his heart and was finally able to think straight.

    There were several issues that needed to be adressed and the sooner he did it, the sooner he would be able to reunite with his friends.

    He would have gone back home right away, but he didn¡¯t want to deal with the monkey circus, so he decided to go back home only after the girl¡¯s fight had subsided. It could take an hour or a whole week, but he couldn¡¯t go back without a solution.

    The first thing he needed to sort out was his objectives.

    It¡¯s been long since he actually thought about what was his goal in life. Of course he wanted to get back his memories, but after experiencing so many bad things, he was also a bit scared of finding out he was a terrible person or something like that.

    After thinking for a while, he decided his first goal was to get his love life sorted. He didn¡¯t need to make a decision right away, but he needed the peace of mind.

    Then, he needed to help Bardun in leading the goblins for a while. He wasn¡¯t thrilled, mostly because he knew it would be a difficult task. Making goblins obey a human was a challenge in its own, but also he knew little about their way of life and without Bardun to guide him he was bound to make many mistakes along the way. Still, it was something he needed to do to repay the goblins for their help and it was also nice to have a safe ce to remain until he had to make a move.

    After that, he needed to find his lostpanions. He knew they were alive, but that¡¯s all he knew. They could be in trouble or hurt, but Ryu decided to trust them. It wasn¡¯t the first time Bob and Luke went missing, and they were fine then, there was no reason to think this time would be any different.

    Lastly, he really needed to understand the source of his power and why everything was different for him. Everyone could activate skills by voice, which was his case, but he was also able to activate them by expelling the right amount of energy or mana in the right way. There was so much he needed to test with his energy maniption skill, but he knew himself too well, the minute he started researching he would get so immersed into it he would forget about the rest of his tasks.

    .....

    Goblins walked the streets carrying small packages, purses and rucksacks, they all looked so busy that Ryu started feeling useless. He had already made up his mind, but he needed to wait a couple hours until things settled back home so he went for a small stroll through the vige and then check on his pets.

    He didn¡¯t get into any elevators and simply checked the ground level, most stores were located there because getting heavy stuff up on the trees was too bothersome and goblins were a very practical race.

    Ryu made sure to note the things that were on disy on most shops, he was d to see that there was a butchershop now and there were some grocery shops that offered cooked meat. But that wasn¡¯t the only novelty, the weapon shop disyed several weapons made of bone, not only the basic carving knives that Ryu taught them how to do, but also spears, arrows and even clubs.

    Ryu used identify on a random weapon, only to be amazed at it¡¯s unusual durability.

    >Forest armadillo club 850/850 (bad)

    It had a high durability for something that was supposed to be of bad quality, he wanted to ask the goblin in charge of the shop about it, but he decided against it.

    Goblins had a different way of buying and selling than humans. They took any payment, a stone, a leaf, anything will do. It¡¯s kind of a trading system, it¡¯s a bit odd at first, but once Ryu realized that the point wasn¡¯t to get rich but make every single citizen cooperate as much as they could and to make daily necessities and items avable to everyone, it made sense.

    The same knife could be sold for a stone pebble or for a chunk of meat, they didn¡¯t care. In a sense, goblins shared everything they had, but in a chaotic way.

    After an evening browsing through the wares of many different shops and epting the kind offerings of some goblins, Ryu went back home.

    What awaited for him wasn¡¯t anywhere near what he expected. Every single one of them was busy knitting dolls. Even Sera, who wasn¡¯t that great with crafts, was doing her best in learning while Mia gave instructions.

    ¡°Oh, hi Ryu!¡±

    Anne barely lifted her eyes from the doll she was making.

    ¡°Master Ryu, you¡¯re finally back! did you have something to eat already?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, yeah, I¡¯m fine, goblins made me some fruits on the way here¡±

    Ryu didn¡¯t want to disturb the peaceful scene in front of him, it took him a while to gather the resolve he needed to confront them, but he didn¡¯t expect to find them like this. If he was to bring up the subject it would be him the one causing a ruckus.

    Or that¡¯s what he thought, but mia faked a cough catching everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°I believe everyone here wants to have a word with you master¡±

    The girls trembled at Mia¡¯s words and they didn¡¯t dare to lift their gaze from the dolls they were making.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry mister Ryu¡±

    Sera was the first to apologize and the rest followed suit. Ryu was speechless, he couldn¡¯t possibly ask for a better oue than this, but he didn¡¯t understand how did things be like that.

    Mia had her hands behind her back and moved slightly from side to side, a simple gesture she usually made whenever she wanted to be praised. This lead him to believe that she was the one behind the girls sudden change in attitude.

 Chapter 198

    198 Make them obedient, please! part Mia had her eyes closed and a bashful smile adorned her face, she was really expecting to be praised by her master, but what Ryu startled her instead.

    ¡°Mia, undo the charm right this instant!¡±

    He scolded Mia with a big frown in his face.

    ¡°I didnt use my charm, I swear!¡±

    Mia said pping her arms to her sides. Anne, who didn¡¯t know she was a subus, couldn¡¯t understand what they were talking about and shrugged it off as if they were talking about Mia¡¯s charisma.

    ¡°Then how do you exin this? they were about to poke each other¡¯s eyes out and now they¡¯re drinking tea and knitting!¡±

    ¡°I just talked to them, it¡¯s pretty funny actually and if you allow me to exin everything will be clear¡±

    Although reluctantly, Ryu agreed to listen to Mia¡¯s recount, but even after listening to her it was difficult for him to grasp the situation.

    After arguing for a while, Mia who had no part in the discussion and simply yelled random facts, casually mentioned that Ryu and her never had intercourse. Not only were they surprised, because they thought they had a physical rtionship, but they were also interested in the reason behind it.

    .....

    After hearing that, they all came to the conclusion that must be already in love with one of them and they wanted to figure out who was the lucky one. It also meant that they had nothing to gain arguing with each other, so they settled to wait for Ryu¡¯s return to learn the truth from the man himself.

    He would have felt deeply offended by this if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that each one of them washed themselves and dressed properly, highlighting their natural beauty. There was even a sweet smelling from Anne that tickled Ryu¡¯s nose, bringing back old memories.

    ¡°So, let me get this straight, after yelling and shouting embarrassing things in front of me and driving me out of my own house, now you want to listen to what I have to say?¡±

    They all nodded shamelessly, even Mia was curious. Ryu covered his eyes in sufferance.

    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll listen to what each of you have to say first, but make it quick¡±

    Anne was the first one to speak.

    ¡°I know I told you I had a boyfriend, but... that¡¯s not true, I just sort of panicked. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d meet you then and there and I thought you were with Sera and...¡±

    ¡°Ok, ok! fine! I got it¡±

    Next one to speak was Ath, she was just as blunt as she had been before.

    ¡°I think we both have a lot to gain by being together, and if it¡¯s any of these fine girls I wouldn¡¯t mind you taking them as second wives. I would actually encourage it, it could only mean our house will be stronger. Any or all of them at the same time, as long as you fullfil your duties as my husband and the head of house Crent I wouldn¡¯t mind¡±

    Sera, was next, but she was moreposed than Anne and just as straighforward as Ath.

    ¡°I believe you and I still have a pending conversation. You already said you love me and I do to. I will be forever loyal to you and only you and there¡¯s nothing in this world I wouldn¡¯t do to prove my love for you¡±

    Mia faked a cough and wanted to go next, but Ryu cut her short.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even bother Mia. Now everyone listen, something like this happened to me before but I don¡¯t think I handled things in a good way that time¡±

    Ryu said thinking back on the time he ended up dating Rina, although he was happy with her, it ended up bringing so much pain to Anne. Now she was back in his life and he didn¡¯t want to repeat the same mistakes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really understand what do you even see in me, but I¡¯m no one to judge your tastes on men. Anyway, I don¡¯t really have any short terms ns, but you all must understand that I do have different goals I must fullfill eventually and I won¡¯t allow anyone to get in between them¡±

    The girls nodded in understanding, but Ryu couldn¡¯t help but think that they were just agreeing to get him to continue.

    ¡°Since we don¡¯t know each other well, I believe it would be in our best interest to date for a certain period or maybe a certain amount of times before making any decision, of coursedy Ath would be excempted from that because she¡¯s mostly interested in a convenience marriage. But she does make some good points so I¡¯ll still give her the chance if she¡¯s interested¡±

    ¡°Thank you mister Ryu, I too believe it would be good to get to know each other better¡±

    Ath replied quickly to avoid losing the chance to spend time with him alone. She was confident that she would be able to seduce him before the others, be it my wealth or might.

    ¡°Master, this is unfair, I too want to date master¡±

    Mia pouted.

    ¡°That reminds me of something. Mia is something like a servant of mine, she¡¯s not an employee but she does get paid, she¡¯s not a ve but she can¡¯t go against my will. Whoever wants to date me, must befortable with me being close to her¡±

    The young subus eyes glimmered in joy and she even covered her mouth, barely hiding her beautiful smile.

    After agreeing on the details, Ryu was finally free to go to bed.

    There was so much on his mind, he really wanted to tell everyone he knew their friends were alive, but he had no way of proving it or even exining how did he get that information.

    That night ended being a lot more fruitful than Ryu expected, not only everyone was already calm when he got back, but they were able to hold a mature conversation. It did feel somewhat surreal, Ryu couldn¡¯t wrap his head around the fact that so many beautiful and powerful women wanted to be in a rtionship with him.

    He never considered himself ugly, but he also didn¡¯t think of himself as a handsome man either. He wasn¡¯t that powerful and his good qualities were also present in many different people. He couldn¡¯t avoidparing himself to the handsome Luke, the gentle Bob and the loving husband Hiraku and he couldn¡¯t find a single point where he was superior to them.

    But matters of the heart can¡¯t be easily understood, sometimes they can¡¯t even be expressed with mere words. Sometimes it doesn¡¯t take a handsome appearance or an immense gesture, sometimes all it takes to draw people close is to be a decent person, to actually care for others and to be honest, some people even go as far as to faking those qualities, but they all came naturally to Ryu, the humble man from the woods.

 Chapter 199

    199 Make them obedient, please! part Ryu woke up, yet again, surrounded by half naked beauties and there was nothing he could have done to avoid it. He was the first one to fall asleep after all, whatever they did while he slept was on them.

    The only problem was that he was also the first to wake up. He wasn¡¯t a pervert who would take advantage from any of them, but he was deeply unsettled. A sudden feeling of embarrassment, as if he was being watched while he was doing something wrong, kept him from staring directly at the naked bodies of the girls attempting to seduce him.

    Most of them thought that just being naked in front of a man was enough motivation to make him fall to his low desires, Ath actually sleptpletely naked in hopes that Ryu wouldn¡¯t be able to resist himself at some point and he would do something perverted to her. If he made a move on her with so many witnesses in the room she would have had him in the bag already.

    But Ryu wasn¡¯t a pervert, and Anne knew this too well.

    She was the only fully dressed in the room and she slept peacefully in the other corner of the room while the rest gathered as close to Ryu as it was possible for them. In Anne¡¯s experience, the more she pushed Ryu the further away he would go.

    Now, instead of pushing him, she decided to give him as much space as possible, but she would still be nice to him.

    Her time in the sacred empire was filled with bitter memories which only made her long even more for thepany of her friends, Ryu being at the top of the list. She wanted to be his girlfriend, but more than that, all she really wanted was to feel reassured and safe.

    Despite being almost worshipped as a goddes in this world, she was but a regr young woman that was summoned into another world, they gave her power and even more beauty than she already possesed, but it did nothing to change her personality or fears. Her soulbound card stated she was a hero, but she never felt like one, not even when she fought beasts and helped people, inside her mind she was still a lonely scared girl that longed for a normal life.

    Ryu walked through the pile of naked bodies as if she was walking onndmines, but just when he was about to set foot in the safety of the wooden floor, Sera turned around in her sleep making him trip over her arm.

    .....

    Ryu fell helplessly head first right on Anne¡¯s chest. It did look pleasurable in a way, at least that¡¯s what someone like Luke would say, but in reality it was painful for both parties involved, especially for Anne who just a few seconds ago had been sleepingfortably.

    ¡°Aw my boob!¡±

    ¡°I- I¡¯m sorry! it¡¯s really not what you think! pse don¡¯t hit me!¡±

    That weird chain of events brought back memories to Ryu, and he was scared shitless. He knew how badly Anne would react whenever stuff like that happened, even by ident.

    ¡°I know, did you trip or something? are you ok?¡±

    Anne sighed.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, and you?¡±

    A sly thought crossed Anne¡¯s mind, she was just waking up, but she had always been a quick thinker.

    ¡°It really hurts, you do know I¡¯m still recovering from the poison. Do you happen to have medicine? if that¡¯s the case, do you mind checking me?¡±

    She averted her gaze the whole time and blushed heavily. What came to her mind were memories of Ryu tending to Helena¡¯s wounds on her butt after she was bit by a jackal.

    ¡°Sure, no problem, I¡¯ll bring some medicine¡±

    ¡°Not here, I don¡¯t want them seeing me naked for no reason. It¡¯s better if we do it in the main room since they¡¯re still asleep¡±

    ¡°Ok!¡±

    Ryu agreed, still feeling bad about hurting her, and in such a delicate ce.

    Ryu kept all the gifts he received from the goblins piled up in the entrance and in his absence Mia did the same. The only difference was that he sorted them first, Mia simply piled everything in such a mess that it looked like garbage. It took Ryu more than two minutes to find a useful herb.

    ¡°I can make the medicine in no time, I¡¯ll leave it here so you can apply it¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t have the first aid skill¡±

    Anne looked troubled, but on the inside she was almost screaming in joy.

    ¡°If you want me to apply the medicine...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think something weird Ryu, you can simply close your eyes and I¡¯ll guide you. I can¡¯t uncover just my torso because I¡¯m wearing a gown so It would be easir for me to simply take it off. Just keep your eyes closed at all times¡±

    Ryu felt like rejecting her, he could sense there was something off, but all of his hesitations vanished when Anne faked to be in pain. She touched her right breast and let out a small yelp of ¡®pain¡¯.

    ¡°fine¡±

    ¡°You need to promise!¡±

    ¡°Ok, I promise¡±

    Ryu proceeded to close his eyes after putting on some of the paste he had just made on his fingertips.

    ¡°Ok, now extend your arm, I¡¯ll get close to you and move your hand¡±

    Ryu did as he was told and Anne held the widest naughtiest smile she had ever made in her life. Back on her world people were a lot more free to do anything they wanted with their bodies, it wasn¡¯t umon for people to engage in sexual rtionships sometimes even with strangers, but she had never done something of the sorts. She was extremely unexperienced about the subject, sometimes even naive, and she would have never thought she would have been doing something like that. Nevertheless, she had never been as resolved as she was now and she was willing to go all in with her n.

 Chapter 200

    200 Make them obedient, please! part Ryu got closer to Anne, still with his eyes closed and his hand extended. She proceeded to softly grab his hand and lightly brush the side of her breast, where a small red mark could be seen. Ryu couldn¡¯t actually feel a thing because of the thick paste, but then Anne pressed a bit harder to smear it on the affected part.

    At that point she didn¡¯t know what she was doing, alone in a room with a person of the opposite gender,pletely naked. It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t like the sensation, but it was really awkward for her and the only thing that kept her from going crazy with shame was that Ryu remained true to his promise of keeping his eyes closed.

    ¡°How does it feel?¡±

    Ryu inquired about her health, but Anne was focusing on a different sensation. Ryu¡¯s fingertips were cold because of the medicine, but once she pressed just a bit harder she felt a tingling sensation running through her back, starting from the back of her head down to the middle of her spine inviting her to press his hand against her breast.

    ¡°It feels amazing~¡±

    She moaned in a voice so soft Ryu felt his own ears melting. Annemanded Ryu¡¯s hand to move and caress her and heplied. With his eyes shut, he focused all of his attention on his other senses, he felt as if he was in a trance and let himself go along Anne¡¯s words.

    They started heaving about the same time, panting for air as their body heat rised. Anne leaned closer to Ryu and went for a soft kiss, to which Ryu couldn¡¯t resist. He did attempt to break free, but Anne was still too strong and kept his hand pressing on her.

    It onlysted a few seconds until Mia woke up, mesmerized by the intense emotions filling the air in the other room. She woke up as if she had smelled fresh pancakes and joined the fun.

    che ng to Ryu¡¯s shirtless back and rubbed herself on him, kissing the back of his neck as he had lowered his face to kiss Anne and for a couple minutes they let themselves be driven by their desires.

    .....

    After the session of passionate kisses, Anne regained her senses for just enought time to dress herself before the others woke up.

    ¡°You can open your eyes now Ryu¡±

    She said to the young, handsome man that apanied her in all of her good experiences in this world.

    Ryu, who was petrified in ce after Anne let him go, finally opened his eyes finding himself in an awkward position with his head leaning forward, his hand extended right in front of him and Mia rubbing her chest against his back. Without wasting a second he turned around and gave Mia a yful, but still just a bit scolding, bump on the head.

    ¡°Owie! Why did you do that master?¡±

    ¡°Why do you ask? who invited you here?¡±

    Mia was left pouting in the corner of the room, but she didn¡¯t regret a thing. She loved the taste of her master¡¯s energy signature, but whenever he was aroused it became even more delicious.

    Ryu, who couldn¡¯t be really mad at her because he knew how deprived of food she had been during all the time he was out, could only me himself for letting loose like that. It wasn¡¯t until he took a minute to think about what just happened that he realized one simple, yet often forgotten fact, he was single now, which in turn meant he had done nothing wrong.

    Before Ryu had the chance to start breakfast, Anne was already cooking for everyone, he asked if he could help in some way but she politely declined.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need, I can do this by myself. Besides, I really want to share some of the recipes I learned in the empire¡±

    Anne said as she stir fried something Ryu couldn¡¯t see, but the smell was certainly delicious. He was about to pick up their makeshift broom to do some tidying, but Mia took it from his hands and started brooming the ce cheerfuly.

    When the others woke up, they started sorting the pile of offerings made by the goblins and Ryu was left with absolutely nothing to do.

    He sat in the floor watching in disbelief how everyone took care of the daily chores with a smile on their faces, he wasn¡¯t used to seeing people working hard around him because they would usually rely on him for those kind of things.

    It felt nice, but at the same time, a little awkward. It was like seeing a theatre y going on in front of him. Girls smiled and worked together, not only tidying but also decorating the ce with extreme care. Even Sera, who was always a bit inexpressive, had the widest smile on her face and Ryu couldn¡¯t tell what was going on.

    They were all so happy that even if they had known about what happened between Anne and Ryu, they might have just let it slip.

    The reason behind their happiness and cheerful mood was because they had slept right next to mia and, while Mia only fed on her master¡¯s energy, she took some time to ¡®visit¡¯ them in their dreams.

    Because of her unusual habit of refusing to feed on bodily fluids, Mia was always on the weak side, so much so that she even struggled to keep her charm active. Even using her other racial skills, like dream walking and beautification, was a gamble. There might be times when she wouldn¡¯t even be able to activate them.

    But everything was different now, she noticed it herself after Ryu left the goblin vige to seek for his lost pets. The time she had been spending close to her master and the physical intimacy not only provided her the nourishment she needed to survive, but she actually became a lot stronger.

    The first time they kissed, Mia unintendedly drained a huge chung of her master¡¯s life force, but it was all due to her previous deprived state. After fixing her longsting energy starvation, she was finally able to develop properly, bing even more beautiful than before, but also a lot stronger.

    There was, however, a downside to it and it was that her daily need for energy to sustain herself increased by leaps and bouds. Just like how stronger adventurers needed to consume food of better quality and quantity, Mia now needed a lot more life force just to survive.

 Chapter 201

    201 Make them obedient, please! part After breakfast, Ryu left the ce having enough with the feeling of being useless.

    He couldn¡¯t deny it felt good being showered by attention and everyone working hard in front of him to get on his good side, but he knew it wouldn¡¯tst forever.

    He wanted to enjoy the feeling some more, but at the same time, he didn¡¯t have any time to waste because there was an important task only he could perform now and that task was to take charge of the goblin vige while Bardun was out on a mission.

    Ryu went directly towards Bardun¡¯s house, it was one of the biggest buildings in the vige because he was the goblin with the biggest amount of wives. He knocked on the door, but then remembered how goblins didn¡¯t have such habit and simply walked in.

    ¡°Excuse me¡±

    Ryu said as he stepped in.

    ¡°Did you do something wrong?¡±

    Lauda, one of Bardun¡¯s wives asked with more curiosity than worry.

    ¡°Not really, I don¡¯t think so¡±

    .....

    ¡°Then why are you apologizing?¡±

    ¡°Because I just entered another person¡¯s house¡±

    ¡°Humans are weird¡±

    Lauda giggled in a charming way that most humans would believe it to be a threat upon their lives, goblins had a growling sound to their voice that just couldn¡¯t be turned off after all.

    ¡°I¡¯m here on Bardun¡¯s request, where is Thoba?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s taking care of the younglings, right now I¡¯m in charge of this house. If you have something to ask of me, I¡¯m right here¡±

    ¡°Wow, you are a lot more talkative than Thoba, I thought goblins didn¡¯t like to do much talking at all, and you speak very well too!¡±

    ¡°Why do you sound so surprised? our new maid is great at teaching and I am great at learning¡±

    ¡°Maid, what maid?¡±

    Just as Ryu was voicing out that question, Ath¡¯s former maid appeared in tattered clothes bringing a tray with beverages. There was little about her past snob attitude, but she didn¡¯t look unhappy, it was the first time Ryu saw her with a smile on her face.

    It was only after she retreated that Lauda replied to Ryu and exined him how did she end up being a maid. After Ryu refused to take a goblin wife, Bardun wasn¡¯t obligated to marry the maid but he did take care of her.

    He offered her a job, a room that aodated her needs and her conditions were pretty good, especiallypared to those of humans.

    While in human society maids were expected to work all day, everyday, goblins had no such thing as schedules. They were all naturally hard working creatures and most of them didn¡¯t have a specific job, any goblin was more than happy to jump in and help whenever it was needed, but they weren¡¯t forced to work if they didn¡¯t feel like it.

    There were a lot of benefits to their system, but there was also a huge disadvantage.

    Ryu had been thinking long about the fact that goblins were fast learners and were capable of sharing the knowledge efficiently. They didn¡¯t need to exin things most of the time, they simply observed how everything worked and they did whatever they could whenever they could to improve or repair things.

    But that didn¡¯t apply to more specific lines of work, they were unable to cook meat before they met Ryu and handling fire was considered a dangerous task so they appointed a few people to be in charge of any work that required the use of fire.

    It sounded a bit deranged to Ryu, but after realizing that goblins lived in the forest and fire was a great threat to their environment, it made sense to be so cautious.

    ¡°Lauda, I¡¯ve been tasked by Bardun to take charge of the goblin vige while he¡¯s outside. Do you think they¡¯ll listen to me?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? of course they will¡±

    ¡°How can you be so certain? I¡¯m different¡±

    ¡°Different how? you¡¯re a goblin, you¡¯re one of us. No one can deny that fact, they¡¯ll follow yourmands just like they followed Bardun¡¯s¡±

    Ryu sighed, still unsure about it. He had been thinking on different ways to improve the vige, but he was scared to make changes that could make Bardun angry, but what worried him the most was not being up to the task that he entrusted him.

    ¡°I have some requests then¡±

    Ryu said, without much confidence, as if testing Lauda¡¯s mood after hearing it, but she remained unfazed.

    Ryu then went on and asked her to build a solid wood tform on top of trees, he didn¡¯t provide much exnation as to why did it have to be made, butuda didn¡¯t ask about his reasons. He also asked for a meeting with every single goblin in the vige, to announce the changes he was going to be making.

    While it felt like he was being disrespectful towards Bardun, Ryu was worried that goblins may eventually be targeted by humans. They were about two to three days from Crent, this seemed like a long distance when in reality they were closer than any human city and the only reason it took so long to go from one ce to the other was because of the increasing density of the forest.

    Things needed to change.

    Asuda was making preparations for the gathering, a different kind of meeting was taking ce in Ryu¡¯s house.

    Anne, Ath, Mia and Sera were discussing about their agreement.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, I don¡¯t need to go first, but I don¡¯t want to gost either¡±

    ¡°No, no, it should be settled by luck. Why don¡¯t we draw sticks?¡±

    Anne and Ath were arguing in a peaceful and friendly manner.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we let Mia decide?¡±

    ¡°Uh?¡±

    ¡°Let her take care of everything, after all, she¡¯s the only one that will remain to be a part of mister Ryu¡¯s life no matter the oue. If Ryu chooses Anne, I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be letting me anywhere near mister Ryu, on the other hand, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll take Ath¡¯s offer of taking more than one wife¡±

    Sera said, trying to remain calm, but she felt as if she was fighting for her very life.

    ¡°What makes you think that way?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s had many chances of taking more than one woman, I¡¯ve been there. It¡¯s not that hecks desire, but he¡¯s different from other men¡±

    ¡°I hear Bob also refused a second wife¡±

    Mia barged in.

    ¡°And how is it allowing Mia to be in charge of everything going to solve things?¡±

    Anne asked, still not knowing the charming Mia was actually a subus.

    ¡°Actually, I agree. She can be the judge, because she will know who among us is the mostpatible to be in a rtionship with him¡±

    Ath replied while Anne still had question marks written all over her face.

 Chapter 202

    202 Make them obedient, please! part A crowd was gathering in front of their interim leader, but it wasn¡¯t the usual crowd one could find in just any city.

    People that gathered in front of Ryu were actually from a different race. On his mind, it made them no less of a person, but Anne thought very differently. Their pointy ears, their green skin and their wrinkly faces made her shiver in disgust.

    ¡°People of the goblin vige, I need you to hear me out on Bardun¡¯s request¡±

    Everyone fell silent for his speech, but Ryu had trouble keeping his cool. It hasn¡¯t been long since he regained consciousness in the forest to the south of ironwoods, but he had time to learn about himself when he traveled the forest with his pets and one of the biggest aspects of himself that became clear to him during that period was that he had something simr to social anxiety.

    It wasn¡¯t as bad as to make it impossible for him to speak to people, but it made things difficult for him. His mouth would get dry and he would stutter for no reason.

    It took him all of his focus and willpower to speak in front of so many goblins, but everyone agreed that he did just fine. Especially goblins, since they valued short speeches and efficientmunication.

    What Ryu asked of them was to form different teams of professionals in different jobs to make sure they would progress in that areas. It was difficult for goblins to ept this because every single goblin considered themselves a warrior and what Ryu was telling them was that some of them would not be able to ever pick up a sword again.

    What started as loud cheers, soon became a deathly silence. But Ryu was far from over, he asked them to make stockpiles of everything they had in their possesion and mint a coin. Goblins had different materials in their possession, but they were used raw. Because of their reluctance to handle fire, they never smelted metal.

    Their weapons were rustic at best and the only weapons they crafted with metal were wood maces with a tip made from metallic items such as bundles of coins or pieces of armor. To say it was an inefficient use of materials would just be the start of all the things that were wrong with their weapons. Now that they learned how to craft knives from beast parts they were going somewhere, but goblins in general had trouble innovating.

    .....

    Be it science,nguage, art, crafts, even politics, they were behind in almost every aspect whenpared to human society.

    Despite most being against the changes that Ryu wanted to impose, they still followed theirmands to the letter. They were really against changes, Bardun had been one of a kind in his generation by stepping forward and attempting tomunicate with humans, but they were really good at it.

    Took them less than a full day to put the different teams together and pile their belongings in the middle of town. Meanwhile, Ryu made some forges with Ath¡¯s help and taught goblins how to operate it.

    It was a good start, but to be able to produce enough copper or iron to satisfy their demand they would need to build a mine somewhere, but that was a job for the prospecting team. Goblins with the highest perception skill were sent along explorers to gather information on different resources, Ryu even assigned team leaders to write reports.

    Things advanced so well during the first day, so much so, that by the second day there was no need for him to be involved in the process. All he did was delegate the work and, because Thoba was still assigned to caring for the younglings, Lauda remained by Ryu¡¯s side.

    She waspletely stunned at how much the vige had changed. While Ryu was out, Bardun asked his new human maid a lot of things about human cities and little by little performed many changes.

    He did assign guard duties and tried to keep the streets clean, but those were shallow changes and needed constant supervision. Ryu used the same strategy he used when he had to act as a party leader, every single goblin was supposed to know his role and perform it and, in the case that someone fell behind on his tasks, there was a substitute system in ce.

    ¡°Why are they making clothes too? we have clothes, nice clothes!¡±

    Lauda inquired, still in shock after seeing how much things changed in just one day.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve found out that proper clothes reduces stamina consumption, thus reducing the need for food and water. You might think it¡¯s not that important, but it will have a bigger impactter on¡±

    Mia was teaching goblins how to craft fabric, wool and basic pieces of clothing. It hasn¡¯t been that long since she learned, but she had more talent in tailoring than she had in alchemy. Next one was Anne, she was supervising the plowing ofnd, she didn¡¯t have any sort of talent for growing crops, what she did have instead was an advance knowledge on techniques developed back on her homeworld.

    It wasn¡¯t an extensive knowledge on agriculture, It was mostly just consideredmon sense, but it was centuries more advanced than people in this world possessed.

    Sera was taking care of sorting through the different items tht goblins possessed, it was a difficultbor that unfortunately only she could perform because so far no goblin had developed the identify skill. They still tried to help however they could, but finding goblins with a high dexterity or strength stat was easy, finding goblins with a high intelligence stat was more difficult because intelligence wasn¡¯t something that could be tested so easily.

    It was yet another productive day in the goblin vige and as days went by more and more changes took ce. Everyone, including those against it at the beggining, couldn¡¯t deny the immediate positive effects that came one after the other.

    Food provisions, weapons, safety, tools, every single aspect became better in a matter of days, the same goblins that looked like nothing but skinny little creatures, now looked fiersome and ready for war and Ryu hoped that they would be even stronger. By focusing on learning a single skill and then having them shift their jobs, he was expecting to produce an effect simr to what he experienced, leveling up different skills to the max increased his stats immensely back when he lived in Ironwoods.

    All of this had a single purpose on Ryu¡¯s mind. He wondered why were goblins such short lived creatures, was it because they had short life spans? or was it because they always met an untimely end?

    Right now, he wanted to protect the goblin vige, at least long enough for their true leader toe back.

 Chapter 203

    203 Don¡¯t date the crazy one, please! part Anne almost finished ironing her dress, two weeks had passed since Ryu took charge of the goblin vige and, even though he wasn¡¯t that busy, he had to supervise goblins and teach them whatever he could until they were ready to do things on their own.

    Bardun was supposed to have returned to the vigest week, but there had been no news of him, but Ryu was done worrying, especially because he had a special date today.

    Anne put on her new dress while it was still warm, it was a in dress crafted by Mia but it had a cutece around the waist and Anne made sure to provide some imput on how to make it look more ssy.

    She washed her face and put on some handmade make up while looking at her own reflection in a water mirror. In a single word, she was gorgeous.

    Ryu came to pick her up early in the morning, the agreement was that they were to spend the whole day together and, if things went well, they were allowed to spend the night too. The only condition was that the others too will get their chance, no matter how things went.

    Anne tried to keep her excitement hidden behind a poker face, but Mia did no such thing. She was ecstatic, not only her master would finally pick a girlfriend which would hopefully increase the nourishment she would be able to get from him, but also she wanted to be part of a family.

    She knew that humans were selfish creatures that didn¡¯t like to share their love, even though poligamy was epted it was still umon for the average people. What she couldn¡¯t understand was what would her role be after Ryu got into a rtionship. Would her master still feed her directly? She really hoped so, she looked forward to those little intimacy moments they shared and, without noticing it, she had already developed romantic feelings for Ryu.

    Anne greeted her date with a soft smile that drew his attention, the light pink on her lips did wonders for her face and it was the first time Ryu saw something like that. He took her by the arm and left for their first stop.

    Ryu had nned the whole day, it wasn¡¯t something that ured to him, in fact it was Anne herself that told him that it was expected of the man to n the date. He didn¡¯t know if it was true or not, but heplied nheless.

    .....

    First stop were the stables. There were lots of small wolves being raised by goblins to ride on them, it was very rare for goblin raiders to survive and everytime they lost a wolf they had to capture a new one and train them. It was only thanks to Anne¡¯s suggestion that they started breeding them.

    It was still too soon to see the results, but Ryu¡¯s choice to take Anne over there was on spot. She loved any outdoors activity, and spending time with animals was the next best thing. She had always tried to hide that fact from everyone out of a sense of guilt, her family was always against any activity that could result in getting dirty or not looking great.

    It could have seemed like an inconsiderate choice by Ryu, because she had put on such a cute attire and she had made so much effort to look more beautiful than ever. But he was the only one who knew just how much did she love animals.

    Whenever Ryu wasn¡¯t near, Anne would cuddle up with Mochi or brush Famine¡¯s furry loin. But he found out about it from the goblins who reported directly to him.

    After spending part of the morning feeding the wolves and bonding with Famine and Mochi, they headed to the newly inaugurated restaurant in the tforms.

    The tforms was the name of the ¡®ceiling¡¯ over the goblin vige. Built on top of the trees, it was a vast open space perfect for building all sorts of facilities.

    The idea of building in there wasn¡¯t just because they looked nice, but they provided a safe ce to watch over the distance.

    The tree tops moved from side to side with a creaking sound, making it seem as if they were on a boat in a calm weather. It was a pleasant feeling that everyone enjoyed from time to time.

    The goblin restaurant was supervised by Sera, but she didn¡¯t work in there. All she did was teach goblins as many recipes as she could and they did the rest themselves, but that didn¡¯t mean they were bad at their job.

    What goblin cookscked in experience and creativity, they made up for in hard work and in following the recipes so strictly it almost seemed religious.

    The first course they were served was a dish Ryu wasn¡¯t familiar with, it was a small bird called fizzlebird, as their name implied they had a strange texture that felt simr to spicy food but it was something entirely different.

    Ryu had to close his eyes to enjoy the full experience of a new taste, but Anne was distracted. There was a lot in her mind and she just didn¡¯t know how to put it together.

    ¡°Say Ryu, why did you agree in all of this dating nonsense?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean nonsense? I think it¡¯s a nice solution to our current situation¡±

    ¡°I mean, yes... but I know you¡¯re not the kind of guy who cares much about these stuff and here I am, sitting in a nice table in a cute restaurant located in the middle of a goblin vige. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing anymore¡±

    ¡°Let me get this straight, you fought the others to be with me, but now you don¡¯t know if this is what you really wanted?¡±

    Ryu said lifting an eyebrow, Luke had told him howplicated women were, in fact he alwaysined about it, but this was something far beyond what he had expected.

    ¡°No, yes, no¡±

    ¡°Make up your mind already¡±

    Ryuined as he held on to his head with both hands.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like you, but a lot of things have happened and, to be honest, I just don¡¯t want to be alone anymore¡±

    Anne¡¯s eyes started tearing up, leaving Ryu in the most awkward situation.

 Chapter 204

    204 Don¡¯t date the crazy one, please! part ¡°Are you ok? I¡¯m not that experienced in dates, but if you¡¯re crying it can only mean this isn¡¯t going the way you wanted¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. Today¡¯s been fun and I really like spending time with you, it¡¯s just that, I miss Helena so bad¡±

    Anne said amidst sobs.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me about it? It might help you feel a little bit better¡±

    Ryu said with aplicated expression on his face and Anne reacted by drying her tears with the napkin. She didn¡¯t have a handkerchief and Ryu was too inexperienced and ignorant to even know it was expected of him to offer her one. All Ryu could do was be there for his friend and listen to what she had to say.

    ¡°Truth is, Helena and I didn¡¯t part on the best terms. When we were back at Ironwoods everyone loved me and people knew and respected me, I was considered the strongest person along with Bob, but since I saved people using your medicine they even thought I had supernatural powers.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I remember, I bet it was tough being so popr.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mock me, I know It got a bit up to my head, but what else did you expect? everyone relied on me, even you!¡±

    Ryu shrugged at her remark trying to get her tough, yet only a small chuckle escaped her beautiful lips.

    .....

    ¡°When we arrived at the sacred empire, it was incredible! It looked like a medieval city, but their society was far more advanced than it was on Ironwoods. It felt almost as if we were in a modern city. They had central heating,modities, entertainment and their society thrived because they even had industries andpanies!¡±

    ¡°You seem excited, but why do you sound so sad?¡±

    ¡°Because, instead of me, it was Helena the one being worshipped. She was a priest, a profession considered to be the most sacred, but it wasn¡¯t just that, she was on the right track to be a high priestess so they treated her as royalty. But on this city I was no one, I was weak, powerless and people didn¡¯t even talk to me! It was as if I didn¡¯t exist. Can you imagine how did that feel?¡±

    Ryu thought back on all the times he had been ignored or mocked at, he could rte to what Anne had been through, but at least he had always had Sera by his side.

    ¡°It must have been hard¡±

    ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s not half of it. There are so many religious fanatics over there, it¡¯s like a sect. I didn¡¯t have many job opportunities and struggled to survive, while Helena was being taught all the priest skills and was even given an allowance. I tried to talk to her so many times, I just wanted to leave that damned ce and you know what she told me? she said I was jealous! Me, jealous! After that we had a big fight and we parted ways, but I was left alone and defenseless in a strange ce¡±

    ¡°Uh, so that¡¯s why you left the empire?¡±

    ¡°No, even after our fight I still wanted to rescue Helena from those fanatics, but it was toote. In the end I was chased out of the city gates and told never toe back¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Anne, I really am. I know you were friends, but...¡±

    ¡°Ryu, I want to ask something of you¡±

    Anne said with a determined expression as she grabbed his hand.

    ¡°I want you to help me save Helena¡±

    ¡°Listen Anne, I wish I could help but if she doesn¡¯t want to leave there¡¯s nothing we can actually do¡±

    ¡°I know she thinks she¡¯s right where she¡¯s supposed to, but I¡¯m sure she¡¯s being manipted somehow. If you help me, If you agree to do this for me, I¡¯ll be with you. I¡¯ll let you do all the things you want to me, I won¡¯t even mind if you take Sera as a wife or whatever, but please help me!¡±

    ¡°No¡±

    Ryu shook his head breaking Anne¡¯s heart to pieces.

    ¡°What do you mean no? am I not enough?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it Anne! you should know it by now. There¡¯s little I wouldn¡¯t do to help you or Helena, it¡¯s hard for me to say it, but the same goes even for Luke. You guys are my family and I wouldn¡¯t abandon any of you.¡±

    ¡°Then does this mean?¡±

    ¡°Let me finish please. Why are you always in such a hurry Anne!? it¡¯s so bothersome, please let people finish talking before you speak¡±

    Anne lowered her gaze as Ryu scolded her, she didn¡¯t know why but a feeling of happiness started to rise from the bottom of her heart.

    ¡°This was supposed to be a date, all we had to do was have fun, but now it became too dense. If you ask me to help you, there¡¯s nothing you need to offer me, just say the word and I¡¯ll do my best. But as long as Helena is safe, even if she¡¯s being manipted, there¡¯s nothing I can do, going there is jus too dangerous! or did you forget what happened before?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, I¡¯m sorry for ruining this for you Ryu¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t apologize, I¡¯m d we did this. Somehow I knew that you weren¡¯t really interested in this dating thing and it helped me get some experience¡±

    ¡°Hey! don¡¯t go using me as a learning tool!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just try to utilize me too?¡±

    Anne giggled at this, suddenly the tense ambience felt a lot less heavy, enjoyable even.

    ¡°Fine, we¡¯re even then¡±

    ¡°You know, I would appreciate it if you gave me some tips¡±

    Ryu did his best to hide his embarrassment after asking her to actually teach him, but Anne was percetive enough to notice. While it did put her in an awkward position, because she still needed to figure out how she felt about Ryu, she was also her friend and felt that it was something nice to do for a friend.

    ¡°First, if you see ady crying you need tofort her, the least you can do is offer her a handkerchief so she dries her tears¡±

    Anne said reluctantly and Ryu nodded at her prompting her to keep speaking.

    ¡°Also, you need to offer her your arm when walking the street, it would have been nice if you held me while using the elevator too! those things are scary. And you need to be more considerate, if the girl you¡¯re dating puts on an extra effort in her looks, the least you can do is put on a shirt!¡±

    ¡°Hey! that¡¯s unfair, I don¡¯t have any shirts and I can¡¯t craft one myself so there¡¯s no way I can teach goblins how to either. And don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice you staring right at my chest the whole time, you acted just like Luke the whole time, you pervert¡±

    Bothughed heartily and continued to enjoy their meal in the most impossible restaurant in the whole world.

 Chapter 205

    205 Don¡¯t date the crazy one, please! part It was Ath¡¯s turn now, but she didn¡¯t know what to wear or how to even use make up. Of course she was used to dressing properly, wearing parfum and make up was also part of her daily life, but she never knew how to use them because she had always had a maid by her side.

    Living in the goblin vige had its perks, all her needs were satisfied, but it was impossible to buy human goods. Those were unnecessary to goblins, but Ath waspletely hopeless.

    ¡°Uh... Ath, why are you wearing your te mail to a date?¡±

    Mia said to her friend, she had long dropped the ¡®miss¡¯ after they spent so much time together, besides, her status of nobility didn¡¯t matter in the slightest in here.

    ¡°It¡¯s the only thing I can wear, I don¡¯t even know how to put on make up... I¡¯d look like a clown!¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask Anne for help then?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s obvious isn¡¯t it? why would she help me when she wants mister Ryu to herself¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think thats true, they came backtest night, but nothing else happened¡±

    ¡°What, are you sure Mia?¡±

    .....

    Ath¡¯s eyes were brimming with hope after hearing her words.

    ¡°If anyone can notice, it¡¯s me¡±

    Mia pointed her thumb at her puffed chest dering the obvious, she was a subus after all and if she missed the obvious signs of people having a physical rtionship she would be even more of a shame to her race.

    ¡°Mia, please help me¡±

    Ath was really nervous, the fate of her house was on her shoulders and unfortunately for her the only way she could get what she needed was aplishing something that was way beyond her area of expertise. She needed to seduce a man.

    A knock on the door ended whatever hope Ath had of getting ready in time.

    ¡°Hang on a minute, I¡¯mming! Please Mia do something, help me here¡±

    The first part she said loudly but in a sweet voice towards the door, thest she whispered to Mia in utter despair.

    ¡°Alright, take off your armor, I¡¯ll entertain master in the meantime¡±

    Mia went in and opened the door to let Ryu inside.

    ¡°She¡¯s not ready, right?¡±

    Mia replied by nodding.

    ¡°Should Ie backter?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll have her ready in less than ten minutes!¡±

    Mia rushed towards the other room and she kept to her word, she came back with a stunningly beautiful Ath that for the first time in months actually looked like she was part of the nobility.

    ¡°You look beautiful today,dy Ath¡±

    Ryu said with a fresh smile on his face. needless to say, he was putting to practice what was taught to him by Anne just the day before.

    ¡°Thanks, you too- eh, I mean, you look handsome¡±

    Still a little nervous, Ath stepped near Ryu who quickly offered his arm to her. After feeling his steadyness, she finally let out a sigh and calmed herself.

    What followed was an uneventful stroll through the streets. Even still, uneventful didn¡¯t mean it was boring in the slightest.

    Ryu made sure to take Ath to the most beautiful ces in the whole goblin vige, he knew about some that were already there and others he asked to be made just for the asion. They visited an arch made of flowers, a pond of clear water, a small grassy hill where they had a snack and a drink of wine and then she took her to a specially old tree that was twisted and hollow on the inside.

    The tree didn¡¯t look like much to her, it wasn¡¯t even that imposing since it wasn¡¯t that big and the only noticeable thing about it were their deep red leaves. But Ryu, who was able to see mana thanks to his mana sense skill, was able to see the full scale of that apparently regr tree. It was majestic, it¡¯s deep roots seemed to raise from the very core of the and it manated several strains of deep condensed mana into the air.

    ¡°So, mister Ryu, why did you bring me to this ce?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not even sure myself, I like this ce because it¡¯s peaceful, yet at the same time a lot of things are going on if you know where to look¡±

    Ath took notice of his words and spinned slowly on her heels, only then did she stop worrying about how to bring Ryu over to her side and actually enjoyed herself.

    Human cities could be big, modern, offer a lot ofmodities and beautiful buildings, but the beauty of the goblin vige relied on the fact that they didn¡¯t chop down the trees, they actually lived in them. It was a ver dynamic ce, it wasn¡¯t surrounded in nature it was made of it.

    All the time she had been held captive, her only thought was how she had made a mistake by attempting to cross the west forest on her own, then how much she missed the city and even after her release, she never took even a minute to actually see what was right in front of her eyes.

    The goblin vige wasn¡¯t a primitive odd looking ce, it was chaotic, but there was an order to it.

    Flowers, bushes, ferns, trees, goblins made use of everything to create a living breathing environment. They didn¡¯t tend to submit nature to their will, they simply worked around it.

    The only exception being the breach they made to separate themselves from the forest. Although they didn¡¯t have the tendency to take such drastic meassures, Bardun himselfmanded them to chop down those trees to avoid falling victims to the ill intentioned use of fire. After all, humans weren¡¯t the only creatures to weaponize it, there were other creatures adept at hunting using fire to draw out their prey.

    Ath couldn¡¯t believe she spent so much time in the goblin vige and only now she was able to realize just how beautiful it was. She felt so small and suddenly, even goblins looked like kind creatures in her eye.

    ¡°I think i get it now¡±

    She sighed as she identally touched Ryu¡¯s hand with her own. He mistakenly thought she was offering him her hand and she followed Anne¡¯s previous advice and grabbed her hand as if it was the most natural thing to do.

 Chapter 206

    206 Don¡¯t date the crazy one, please! part Hours went by without Ath noticing, time flies by when you¡¯re having fun and that was precisely her case. She didn¡¯t know much about Ryu, he had been rude towards her but she knew full well it was justified. Now she got to know him, she found out he was yful, cheerful and easygoing which really surprised her because the image everyone had about him was that he was this serious, strict and hardworking person that expected a lot from people under his care.

    When sun was about to set, Ath finally remembered the motive behind the whole date and she faked a cough before speaking.

    ¡°Tell me Ryu, are you truly not interested in bing a noble?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t put much thought into it really, so far I haven¡¯t met a single noble¡±

    ¡°What about me? what about my cousin?¡±

    ¡°Oh, do you mean your cousin, the one that lured me into the woods and tried to sell my friends into very and have me killed or worse? Thinking back on that, I¡¯m not that interested¡±

    ¡°Come on, I¡¯m being serious here. I know what my cousing did was wrong and I¡¯ll have a serious conversation with her, but that¡¯s not what I¡¯m asking you¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it, why are you so stubborn about it? why can¡¯t you just find someone else?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know how it is, as ady all that was ever expected of me was to find a nice husband, hopefully marrying to money because of the state my house was in. But my father, he was a good man, he never onceined to me for taking sword lessions, for bing an adventurer and he let me do whatever I wished. He never onceined that I was already past my twenties and had no suitors¡±

    .....

    ¡°I still don¡¯t see why did you have to choose me¡±

    ¡°You were a neer, someonepletely oblivious to Crent¡¯s history. Even now you still don¡¯t know the powers at work beneath our seemingly peaceful society, yet you showed wealth, wisdom and... charisma. I admit that you didn¡¯t catch my eye at first, but after you made that clever device I knew you were the one. I¡¯m not that smart...¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say things like that Lady Ath, you are an incredibly talented person¡±

    Ryu attempted tofort her.

    ¡°But you can¡¯t deny my words, I¡¯m stupid, there are lots of things I don¡¯t understand and they all expect so much of me. Being noble is a burden because the fate of so many people rest upon your shoulders and of all things, the heir of house Crent had to be born stupid. I heard the elder maids all the time, they alwayspared me to my cousin. They all said that as long as I was able to get a good husband everything would be ok, and since I was beautiful I would have no trouble at all. But that was far from the truth, I never did well in society and most men felt threatened by taking a high level adventurer as their wife.¡±

    Ath started shedding honest tears in front of Ryu, it wasn¡¯t a facade to get him to pity her, yet that¡¯s exactly what happened. Ryu offered her his handkerchief and she dried her bitter tears, still looking at him in the eye.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, no, Ryu... I know I look tough and I don¡¯t know the first thing about seducing men¡±

    ¡°Is that why you insisted on talking to me when you were naked that time?¡±

    Ath blushed slightly at Ryu¡¯s remark.

    ¡°Well, yes, I don¡¯t know the first think about how men think, they always told me how it was so easy and all I had to do was get naked and wait, but I promise I¡¯ll learn how to satisfy your needs in bed. I¡¯ll let you do anything you want and i¡¯ll learn, I¡¯ll be a good wife, an obedient one and I would never be violent towards you, so you don¡¯t need to worry about that. There¡¯s a lot of things I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m willing to learn.¡±

    Ryu didn¡¯t know how to reject her without making her cry and Ath took his silence as hesitation and she sweetened the deal even more.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you everything I have and you¡¯ll be able to live a peaceful and luxurious life in the keep. Please, all I¡¯m asking you is to restore house Crent to its rightful ce. I owe this much to my family¡±

    ¡°Well, this is awkward but, I must refuse. There¡¯s a lot you don¡¯t know about me, but I would never get married out of convenience¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s love you seek, I won¡¯t get in the way if you take other spouses, as many as you want, you can build a harem for yourself for all I care¡±

    Ath pleaded, she did make a convincing case, but Ryu had already made up his mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ath, I can¡¯t marry you¡±

    Far from giving up, Ath gathered up all of her courage and drew closer to Ryu. She brushed her hair to her back and she whispered in his ear.

    ¡°Then how about you give it a try tonight? maybe you¡¯ll change your mind afterwards¡±

    Ryu felt shivers run down his spine, a beautiful woman was whispering such things on his ear, of course he was moved, but then he realized those words were very uncharacteristic of the clumsy Ath he knew.

    ¡°Was this Mia¡¯s idea?¡±

    ¡°Wha-what? how did you know? did she tell you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, but you just confirmed it, what made you think it was a good idea to begin with?¡±

    ¡°Well... she¡¯s a subus!¡±

    ¡°Did she also tell you that until a short while ago she had never fed from a human?¡±

    Ath was left in a daze, she ced her hand over her chin and pondered for a while before asking.

    ¡°Does this mean you don¡¯t do that sort of things with her?¡±

    ¡°I only kiss her so she can sustain herself, we¡¯ve never done it before and since she says she¡¯s never fed from a human, she¡¯s not as experienced as you might expect from a subus¡±

    Suddenly, Ath felt heat rise to her cheeks, she had been tricked into thinking that following her advice would lead her to her goal, but now she wasn¡¯t as confident as before so she had to utilize herst resort.

    ¡°Ryu, listen to this, even if you don¡¯t marry me, if you help house Crent rise up and retake control over the city, I¡¯ll still give everything I promised¡±

    And so, she made a vow deep in her heart, that it didn¡¯t matter to her if she was to be seen as an outcast by noble society, as long as her house was to rule Crent, she would give her everything and dedicate her life serving Ryu.

    The date ended at dusk with a gentle hug in between them, but things became awkward once Ath noticed a bulge in Ryu¡¯s pants.

    ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡±

    She managed to say in a muffled voice.

    ¡°N-no! it¡¯s not it!¡±

    The wurm hatchling slithered down Ryu¡¯s pants and fell to the floor, making her sigh after losing herst hope of being able to seduce Ryu.

    ¡°Come here pal¡±

    Ryu picked the little wurm and ced it on top of his shoulder and waited until Ath got inside the house and then he rushed towards Bardun¡¯s ce, which was where he was currently staying.

 Chapter 207

    207 Don¡¯t date the crazy one, please! part It was finally Sera¡¯s turn and she didn¡¯t need make up or nice clothes to be the most outstandingly beautiful girl Ryu had ever seen. Yet, she did her best to be even more if that was even possible.

    Her long blond hair fell on her back like a golden cape that separated her and the rest of the mortals, her deep blue eyes with a sharp gaze and a coquettish look in them could melt a man¡¯s heart and her full lips were so perfect bards would get in line just to nce at them in hopes of getting some inspiration for songs.

    Ryu tried topliment her beauty, but was suddenly unavable to do so, although no one would have med him for being speechless. Sera was ustomed to such reactions from strangers, but experiencing it from mister Ryu was the biggestpliment she could ever dream of.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go mister Ryu!¡±

    She said with a smile as she grabbed on to Ryu¡¯s arm, pressing her breasts against it and leaning close to him. Walking like that was difficult and they stiffly made his way towards the elevator. Sera didn¡¯t mind where they were going, as long as it was with Ryu she would have followed him anywhere in the world.

    The only thoughts that crossed her mind were rted to him, she didn¡¯t mind thendscape, the goblins, nothing, her full attention was focused directly on him.

    ¡°Are you ok Sera?¡±

    ¡°Of course I am, mister Ryu!¡±

    ¡°Listen, I¡¯ve been meaning to tell you this, you can call me just by my name, there¡¯s not need to add ¡®mister¡¯ when you refer to me¡±

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s the force of habit, I¡¯ve been addressing to you in such manner for so long it would be hard for me to stop now¡±

    Sera felt a bit ashamed, but even in her head she always thought of him as mister Ryu.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t want to make you ufortable, I just, nevermind¡±

    Ryu sighed, it didn¡¯t matter how many times he told the stubborn Sera to just rx around him, she would never do it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry mister Ryu, where are we going by the way?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m taking you to a ce I¡¯ve only been with Bardun, I need to do something and I would appreciate it if you were to apany me¡±

    Sera was mortified by his words, of course she didn¡¯t mind running errands with mister Ryu, or even doing them for him, but she was expecting an intimate date. She thought there might be a chance to talk things over and, on her mind, her chances of bedding him were pretty high since she heard from Mia that Ryu didn¡¯t spend the night with Anne or Ath.

    It didn¡¯t take long to arrive at their destination, it was the shrine located on top of the tallest tree, even though Ryu asked the goblins to build tforms on the tree tops, this ce wasn¡¯t connected to them. This was because the shrine was treated the same as a biological waste disposal.

    Sera nced briefly at all the swords, spears, shields,nces, pieces of armor and equipment but quickly lost interest.

    ¡°Do you know why did I bring you here?¡±

    Ryu asked and Sera replied by shaking her head.

    ¡°This is the ce where goblins deposit all the cursed weapons, they consider this to be a dangerous ce and only the leader and a few others are allowed in¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see the appeal in a ce like this, not for a date at least¡±

    She whispered thest part.

    ¡°There¡¯s something I haven¡¯t told anyone. Ever since I became stronger I was able to feel a connection with my sword. It was almost like what I feel with my pets, but now...¡±

    He unsheathed his sword and ced it on the ce that held it for a short period, while Ryu was still recovering after his fight against the ouws who tried to enve them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel anythinging from it, it¡¯s almost as if it was killed¡±

    ¡°Why did you bring it here then?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it feels like a proper burial and I didn¡¯t want to be alone at a time like this¡±

    Ryu held Sera¡¯s hand trying to find somefort in Sera.

    ¡°Thank you mister Ryu, I¡¯m deeply moved by your trust in me¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true this sword was important to me, I experienced many setbacks because of it but eventually it became my strength. Despite all the bad luck and the horrible fate I was supposed to meet because of it, I ended up getting attached to it and now it¡¯s dead. To me it¡¯s almost the same as losing apanion and having you here with me brings mefort, but that¡¯s not the reason why I wanted toe here with you¡±

    Sera gazed at Ryu¡¯s eyes expecting to find sadness in his eyes, but he had a resolved look that looked quite masculine. She was starting to regret being disappointed aftering in here with him, after all, this wasn¡¯t a simple errand but an important moment for her beloved mister Ryu.

    ¡°This sword apanied me for so long, it reminds me of my time in Ironwoods and all the sweet and sad memories I have from that ce. Today marks the beginning of a new part of my life and I called you in here because I want you to be a part of it¡±

    Sera couldn¡¯t believe her ears, she was so shocked she couldn¡¯t even get excited.

    ¡°Am I understanding this correctly?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Sera, I really enjoy yourpany, but I can¡¯t do this. If you want to join me on my journey, we need to get things clear. I don¡¯t want to be in a rtionship¡±

    Ryu remained silent after that, it took Sera no effort to know what he meant by that, of course he needed to turn the page on Rina before starting something new. It didn¡¯t matter how hard Ryu tried to hide it, it was evident for her that the only reason why he¡¯s been keeping his distance from women was only because of his past breakup with Rina.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, I would like to join you on your journey. I don¡¯t care if you can¡¯t be in a rtionship with me, all I want is for you to be happy and... to get some relief. If you can promise me that you¡¯ll never abandon me, I¡¯ll follow you anywhere, all I ask is you show me some affection¡±

    ¡°Listen Sera, I really want you toe, but I think it would be better to remain friends¡±

    ¡°But why!? It shouldn¡¯t be too hard for you, you already told me that you love me and you do these things with Mia. Why can¡¯t I be treated the same? If you want I can be your pet too! your ve, I don¡¯t care, please, just...¡±

    Ryu let out a sigh.

    ¡°Calm down please, there¡¯s no need for that. I guess it¡¯s not impossible as long as I¡¯m single and no one gets hurt. Let¡¯s have fun today and see how it goes, maybe we can have dates from time to time¡±

    Ryu, who brought Sera only to draw some boundaries in hopes of remaining friends with her, couldn¡¯t find it in his heart to turn her down once again.

    Sera was always respectful towards him, sometimes maybe too much. While respect is something nice, being extremely polite towards someone makes it feel like they¡¯re distant. Ryu knew that, as long as Sera kept addressing to him as ¡®mister Ryu¡¯ there would be no hope for them as a couple, but also, he didn¡¯t see the harm in dating her.

 Chapter 208

    208 I told you not to date the crazy one, please! part Ryu¡¯s first thought after going back home had nothing to do with dating. Bardun had been missing for a while and there had been no news of him, he tried to do his best leading the goblins but he felt out of ce.

    Even though goblins revered him and treated him with respect, he knew this wasn¡¯t a ce for humans.

    Lying on his bed, he found himself thinking back on the good old times with his friends. Anne, Ayumi, Bob, Hiraku, Luke and Helena. Of course he wanted her back, just as much as Anne did, but there was nothing he could do if she didn¡¯t want toe back.

    ¡°What are you thinking master?¡±

    Mia said as she lied next to him, leaning her head lightly on his chest.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m not sure myself. This ce is wonderful and everyone respects me, but I feel stagnated. There¡¯s so much that needs to be done and I¡¯m not getting any stronger¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you simply go out and hunt beasts?¡±

    ¡°Because they¡¯re living beings! It¡¯s not ok to just barge in and kill needlessly just to be stronger¡±

    ¡°But everyone does it¡±

    .....

    ¡°Does it make it ok? Do you think it would have been ok to kill you just because you¡¯re not human?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say it¡¯s ok, but that¡¯s how things are. I was a subus living among enemies, they weren¡¯t supposed to be my friends but my food¡±

    ¡°But you befriended the people in Crent and...¡±

    Mia tapped on Ryu¡¯s chest and shook her head.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true, I did my best to fit in, but by the end of the day I knew I was alone. You are the first friend I made in my life¡±

    ¡°That sounds lonely¡±

    Ryu said as he stroked her soft pink hair and patted her head.

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m really happy about my life. I have friends now and you take good care of me, that¡¯s why I¡¯m doing my best to repay you. By the way, how did things go with Sera?¡±

    ¡°Fine, I guess... I took her to the shrine, we chatted for a while, then we grabbed a bite, nothing out of the ordinary. We also agreed to date from time to time¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t sound so excited¡±

    He sighed at Mia¡¯s remark, what drove Ryu to start dating was little more than lust and he knew it well. Rina left a deep scar on him and there was nothing he could do to change that fact. He felt as if his heart was closed and couldn¡¯t find a way to open it again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt Sera, I wanted to be just friends, I think that things might getplicated¡±

    ¡°Things are alwaysplicated, but that doesn¡¯t mean you don¡¯t get to enjoy yourself. Just be a little more selfish¡±

    ¡°What if things don¡¯t work out with her?¡±

    ¡°Did she ask you to marry her like Ath did? did she ask you to go on an impossible quest? maybe she made some strange demands?¡±

    ¡°Not really, she said it was fine to just date as long as I gave her some ¡®relief''¡±

    ¡°What does she mean by that? Ohhh! I like her!¡±

    Mia had a coquettish look on her face, she was already looking forward to the tasty energy that would emanate from her master.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make a perverted face like that!¡±

    Ryu swatted Mia on the back of her head and she was left pouting.

    Life in the goblin vige became morefortable as days went by, Ryu stayed in Bardun¡¯s house performing his role as the vige leader. He worked long hours in front of his desk piling up paper sheets with important information, with only Mia by his side. Humans were not allowed into the goblin leader¡¯s house. Of course Ryu could have made an exception, just as Bardun did with his human servant, but there was no real reason to do so.

    Even after agreeing to date Sera from time to time, it didn¡¯t happen as often as Sera would have liked and she didn¡¯t hesitate to share her concerns with him.

    Meanwhile Sera was on Ryu¡¯s house in the ground level, her face was bright with joy and she held a genuine smile that couldn¡¯t hide her emotions. The instant Anne saw her face, she knew she had already lost.

    ¡°Judging by your mood things went well with Ryu, are you boyfriend and girlfriend now?¡±

    Anne inquired but Sera limited herself to shake her head.

    ¡°No, but I got him to promise me that he would show some affection to me and date me from time to time¡±

    ¡°Uh? are you stupid? why would you agree to something like that?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you get it Anne? Mister Ryu has been through so much, I don¡¯t want to keep him for myself, I just want him to be happy. If I can make him forget about his sadness for just one minute, that¡¯s more than enough for me¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you remember how things were when we lived together in the tavern? it will be more than one minute, it might be more than you can handle¡±

    Anne¡¯sment made Sera chuckle, but also got her hopes high. Being inexperienced, Sera didn¡¯t really know what to expect, all she knew about intimate rtionships came from what she was able to overhear in the widows barracks, which wasn¡¯t that explicit, most women would keep the details from young girls out of decorum, but it also caused them tock any kind of sexual education.

    ¡°Anne, do you have any experience with men?¡±

    Anne blushed at Sera¡¯s question, she did know the theory, but only because she came from a world where sex education wasmon and people would discuss such matters openly.

    ¡°Not really, I just know how it works... there¡¯s also what Helena taught me¡±

    Sera¡¯s eyes became wide and she put her hands together in a pleading manner.

    ¡°Can you teach me please?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a good idea, are you sure you want me to spoil it to you?¡±

    Sera nodded rapidly, Anne sighed and sat down next to Sera and taught her all she knew.

    She told her in detail all the basics she had learned from school and some facts from popr culture, but when she went in to exin what Hna taught her Sera¡¯s face went from disgust to shock, she blushed and squirmed in her seat but Anne wouldn¡¯t stop.

    They both giggled and blushed heavily so many times it was ridiculous. This could have been considered an educational speech, but Anne¡¯s facts were a little off. She mistook Helena¡¯s tales and ¡®experiences¡¯ that she learned from a certain type of novels she enjoyed in her world, for actual real life experiences.

    Things were going well until she happened to mention Bondage and sadomasochism practices. At first Sera was a bit confused about people showing affection through pain, but then a wide smile formed in her face, sealing Ryu¡¯s fate.

 Chapter 209

    209 I told you not to date the crazy one, please! part ¡°Mia, pack up your belongings, we¡¯re leaving this ce¡±

    ¡°Uh? master? why are you in such a hurry?¡±

    Mia rubbed her eyes in the dark room, although sleepy, she did as her mastermanded and gathered whatever she thought they would need but she didn¡¯t know what were Ryu¡¯s intentions so she simply packed for a light trip.

    Despite Bardun¡¯s wishes, Ryu was nning on going to look for him under the cover of the night.

    Ryu stood outside grabbing famine¡¯s reins, Mochi was already on top of his head taking a nap and Mia quickly packed up things and put them into the saddlebags. They made a quick stop near the tree with a strong mana flow and Ryu grabbed a big branch from it, he didn¡¯t know why but he felt like he could craft something interesting out of it.

    They did their best to leave the goblin vige in secret, but Lauda and Thoba were already waiting for them at the entrance.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in trying to hide it, I¡¯m going to look for Bardun. I appreciate your hospitality, but there¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to be the leader of this vige. I have my own goals to fulfill¡±

    ¡°We know this, what Thoba asked was how are you going to find him without one of these?¡±

    .....

    Lauda took a ss bottle the size of a potion vial with a strange shiny creature inside.

    ¡°What is that thing?¡±

    Mia asked, cing a curious finger on top of her bottom lip.

    ¡°This is a fairy, these creatures mate for life and they can detect each other no matter the distance. By separating them, you¡¯ll always be able to tell where the other one is. Bardun never leaves the vige without his fairy, with this you¡¯ll be able to easily find him¡±

    Ryu took in his hands the pitiful creature, it had the shape of a woman but the contrast between its shiny appearance and the dark of the night made it difficult to tell anything other than the sadness it felt. For a brief second Ryu couldn¡¯t help but sympathize with the fairy, he knew first hand what it felt like to be apart from the one he loved and made a silent vow of helping them reunite.

    Ryu walked next to the amarok while Mia rode on its back, they traversed the silent woods slowly but they weren¡¯t worried about being caught by beasts, the reason why they were silent waspletely different.

    Ryu expelled a strange energy and Mia wasn¡¯t able to tell what it was, it was a distinct vor she had never felt, it was both sweet and sour. It wasn¡¯t until half an hour in that she gave up in trying to figure it out by herself and proceeded to ask her master.

    ¡°Master Ryu, what happened? why did we leave in such a hurry?¡±

    Ryu¡¯s face became bright red, but this went unnoticed thanks to the cover of the night.

    ¡°We need to find Bardun, I can¡¯t stay in the goblin vige anymore¡±

    ¡°I know, but why are we going alone? wouldn¡¯t it be safer to travel with your friends? I¡¯m sure Sera would have loved toe with us¡±

    Ryu shivered after hearing Sera¡¯s name.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t mention her¡±

    Ryu thought back on what had happened to him that day, he went on a date with Sera and everything seemed to be normal, but what happened after the date unsettled him.

    Sera insisted on taking Ryu to a ce she had discovered, it was a cave located not far from the goblin vige. She had scouted the whole ce and found it was safe, there weren¡¯t any creatures living on it and there was a rock covering the cave so there was only one possible entrance.

    She insisted on going alone with Ryu telling him that she needed his night vision skill to further explore the ce and he happily joined her because he enjoyed uncovering misteries. After they reached the end of the cave, Sera kissed Ryu deeply as she grabbed his hands.

    Realizing he had been tricked wasn¡¯t that hard for him, but he went with the flow because it was as good opportunity as any to let himself loose a little.

    Sera quickly advanced and took off his clothes, the dim light of themp she took with her provided a warm ambience and they caressed and kissed as the mood became spicier.

    Ryu was pleasantly surprised when he noticed that Sera had thought things through and brought a nket, candles and some snacks previously and they lied together in the secrecy of the cave.

    It was amazing, Sera¡¯s eagerness to learn amounted to what Anne taught her before made up for herck in experience and Ryu was quickly entranced by her movements.

    Everything would have been fine if things ended like that, but after the deed, when Ryu was at his weakest and still holding a naive smile on his face, Sera took the chance to tie Ryu up with the rope they always carried as experienced adventurers.

    Ryu, who didn¡¯t know better, let her do whatever she wished. He was so mesmerized and spent that his mind was almost nk, that is, until she gagged him with a piece of cloth.

    Unable to speak, tied up andpletely naked, Ryu found himself defenseless against Sera¡¯s curious experiments. She hit him with a rope, poured hot wax on him and even pinched him on all the soft parts. Just when the pain was almost too much to bear, she would shift her approach and kissed him on the neck, clearing the road down to his much more sensitive spot.

    Sera kept her yfulness alternating pain with pleasure, almost driving him crazy. It might, just might, have been a pleasurable experience, but Sera was rough and unskilled forcing Ryu to try to find a way to escape.

    He wiggled, turned, squirmed, nothing was working. The rope she used was adventurer grade, made with monster parts. This meant that even for a B rank adventurer it would have been difficult to cut it without any tools or weapons and Ryu had nothing on him.

    For hours Ryu tried to escape, it was all he could think of and he put all of his effort into it. He was about to lose hope when finally a message popped in his head.

    >Skill acquired: escapology

    He grabbed his belongings and got dressed on the way back to the goblin vige with Sera running behind him and pleading for him to go back. That was the reason why he woke up Mia to leave the vige as soon as possible.

    What happened to him led him to a single conclusion, dating Sera was a mistake.

 Chapter 210

    210 Listen to me, please!

    Mia and Ryu traversed the woods with ease, the goblin forest was mostly safe for anyone, but especially for them. Goblins were the protectors of the forest, they kept dangerous beasts at bay but didn¡¯t bother the ones that meant no harm to them and Ryu not only had permission to move freely through the forest, but he was also considered the vige leader during Bardun¡¯s absence.

    They walked the whole night and set up camp in the middle of the day. Once the firece was ready, Ryu went through their provisions to prepare something for breakfast, after parting with his sword his metabolism had slowed a bit, but he was still hungry most of the time because of his link with Famine, the amarok.

    ¡°Uh, Mia, I can¡¯t find the food.¡±

    Ryu¡¯s words sent cold shivers through Mia¡¯s back and she started sweating buckets. As a subus she had little to no interest in human food, sometimes the smell was pleasing, but most of the time it did nothing for her. That¡¯s the reason why had the tendency to forget that humans needed to eat to sustain themselves.

    ¡°Mia?¡±

    ¡°Master, please don¡¯t be mad, but I forgot to pack up any food.¡±

    ¡°What!? what did you pack then?¡±

    Ryu took all the contents of the saddlebags without even waiting for a response. Most of the content were clothes and tools for sewing and knitting. The only weapon Mia packed was Risa¡¯s sword, which Ryu had taken back with him to the goblin¡¯s vige, leaving him with only that huge knife like sword and his obsidian dagger. This dagger had changed his shape after his fight against Lorenzo, Ryu molded it and even rebuilt it from scratch after it was shattered to pieces using magic, but he did notice it looked a bit smaller than before. It didn¡¯t matter though, because he wasn¡¯t nning on using it to fight, it was incredibly sharp but also too frail to be helpful.

    The sword, instead, was somewhat brutish and inelegant, it was also too heavy for Ryu to wield itfortably, but it was sturdy and of great quality. Curious as always, Ryu decided to identify it.

    .....

    >Risa¡¯s innocence (artifact)

    Taken aback by what he just learned, Ryupletely forgot theck of food. So far he had never encountered anything that could be considered an artifact, it wasn¡¯t because he had nevere across one though, but merely because of hisck of power. The more powerful a being is, the more effective their skills be.

    Without much else to do, since they had nothing to eat, Ryu fell into a peaceful slumber under the shadow of a leafy oak tree.

    The soft breeze caressed his cheeks, his hair waved in his forehead and the pleasant feeling of easiness and calm invaded him.

    Ryu found himself inside a nk space, it felt incredibly huge and at the same time, extremely ustrophobic.

    ¡°Am I dreaming again?¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not, I summoned you here¡±

    The feminine voice appeared again inside his mind.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because you never read my messages! I warned you not to date that crazy woman and you didn¡¯t listen to me!¡±

    ¡°Why do you sound so mad? I can¡¯t possibly check my card for messages all the time¡±

    ¡°But you do check your card everyday, why is it so hard for you to just turn to thest page?¡±

    ¡°Why should I? I don¡¯t know who you are, why should I trust you?¡±

    ¡°I warned you about Anne being in trouble didn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°You did, but it was sort of useless, I would have found her anyway. The only time you were helpful was when you told me my friends were still alive. How are they now by the way?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re struggling. Risa has no hands, Bob and Luke are tired and Lea is luring them to the sacred empire. You must stop them from going there or things will get out of control.¡±

    ¡°So, Lorenzo really did those things to her...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he didn¡¯t touch her.¡±

    ¡°What do you want from me, why do you keep sending messages? If you don¡¯t answer my questions I¡¯ll never read your messages again, see if you like that¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m goddess Aruru, nice meeting you Ryu¡±

    ¡°Goddess? did you bring me here? did you summon me into this world?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to exin things to you, but everything in due time. If I told you everything I know about you right now it would only raise more questions and I don¡¯t know the answers yet. All I can tell you about this now is that I didn¡¯t summon you. About your other questions, I¡¯m currently imprisoned in the obelisk in Babylon city, you can see it from the distance. Most people even forget it¡¯s there.¡±

    ¡°So, why do you keep contacting me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s obvious, I¡¯m your patron. I¡¯m supposed to take care of you and also, I would like you to set me free...¡±

    ¡°Why would I do that?¡±

    ¡°I honestly hoped that you would do it out of the kindness of your heart, but after watching over you all this time I don¡¯t think that¡¯s even possible. What I¡¯ll do instead is help you be stronger, and in return you¡¯ll promise me you¡¯ll set me free once youe to the obelisk¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s not in my ns to go over there¡±

    ¡°But you have to, unless of course you want this world to be destroyed¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? is this world really in danger?¡±

    ¡°Well, not the world, but the people. You experienced the cold snap in the south, remember those pretty lights in the sky? that was actually the mana flow of this world.¡±

    ¡°It did look a bit like when I use mana sense but...¡±

    ¡°I canmunicate with you for longer periods of time now, but you¡¯re still not strong enough. Time is precious so let me exin. The obelisk was made by the first humans that arrived in here, it channels the mana and powers many devices, one of this devices is the soul link that allows sentient beings in this world to receive messages. They think it¡¯s something mystical when in reality it¡¯s just a machine powered by mana. There are many devices, some of them are used to link the craftman stations, others are used to enchant weapons, there¡¯s even a device that allows people who speak differentnguage tomunicate and thest one is my prison.¡±

    ¡°And what does it have to do with the lights in the sky?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have much time, I¡¯ll contact you before it happens again. For now, head north and prevent your friends from going over to the sacred empire, because if they do they¡¯ll probably join them and it will make your task much more difficult. Please check your messages daily!¡±

    Ryu was once again alone with his thoughts in the nk space.

 Chapter 211

    211 Follow the fairy, please! part Ryu woke up just before sunset with all of his pets piling up on top of him, even the baby wurm hatchling.

    ¡°Master Ryu, are you ok? I couldn¡¯t see what you were dreaming and I got worried!¡±

    Mia said with teary eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I just had another visitor in my mind. I think I told you about her, now she says she¡¯s a goddess and I don¡¯t know what to make of it¡±

    ¡°A goddess!? that¡¯s incredible! As expected as master Ryu¡±

    ¡°What do you mean as expected? who could have possibly expected something like this!? A weird voice appeared on my head and I was supposed to somehow know it was a goddess?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that, I¡¯m just impressed¡±

    They kept chatting as they broke camp and Ryu told Mia everything that happened inside his mind, Mia nodded from time to time but remained silent until he finished.

    ¡°Was she hot?¡±

    .....

    Was her only question, Ryu could feel his blood boil in anger.

    ¡°Why would you even ask something like that? she¡¯s nothing but a voice in my head, I don¡¯t even have a body inside that ce!¡±

    ¡°Wait, did you just say you didn¡¯t have a body?¡±

    Mia became somewhat pensive and looked in the distance as if pondering something really serious. Ryu knew better than to expect something useful, but he asked nheless.

    ¡°What is it? do you know something about it?¡±

    ¡°Well, not really, but when a subus enter someone¡¯s dream we don¡¯t have a body. Have you ever seen me inside your dreams? of course you haven¡¯t or you would have kicked me out immediately. The reason why we don¡¯t have a body is because we are not inside our mind, it¡¯s really difficult to control what someone sees or feels during a dream. I¡¯m only a young subus so I just limit myself to make slight changes to make your dreams more tasty¡±

    ¡°And you say it like it¡¯s nothing! I now forbid you from entering my dreams!¡±

    ¡°Noooo! master please don¡¯t! I¡¯ll starve before we can replenish on healing potions... will you take responsibility? are you really willing to let me feed directly from you?¡±

    ¡°Ok, fine, I take it back.¡±

    Ryu sighed as he climbed on the amarok, he then extended a hand towards Mia and she climbed behind him.

    ¡°Is this ok Famine?¡±

    The wolfish beast wagged its tail like a domestic dog, he was more than eager to show his true worth to his master. Be it two or ten people he would be able to carry them all, the only reason it wasn¡¯t possible was because the space on his loin was reduced.

    Famine moved fast through the forest in the direction that Ryu pointed, following the fairy¡¯s direction like apass.

    Ryu was able to feel the wind on his face and the scenery changed many times over the course of an hour, but that wasn¡¯t all he was able to feel. The incredible speed at which the amarok moved had an unexpected secondary effect.

    Mia¡¯s bosom, quiterge and firm, moved upside down brushing past Ryu¡¯s back. Ryu tried his best to divert his thoughts from anything dirty, but he was unable to do so. Mia, who was able to feel her master¡¯s arousal, would have loved to remain like that but the movements were too rough and she was starting to ache.

    ¡°Please master, ask Famine to go slower, I can¡¯t take it anymore!¡±

    ¡°Can you endure it a bit longer? I think we¡¯re getting close.¡±

    ¡°If you ask me to, I will, but It hurts you know¡±

    ¡°Would you prefer to ride in the front?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Hang on a second, why did you answer so fast? Just as I thought, I think it¡¯s better if you hold on for a while¡±

    Ryupletely ignored Mia¡¯sints and he focused solely on the ss bottle he was carrying on his hand. The small creature did its best to fly towards a certain direction, but being trapped in such an enclosed space it often shed against the ss.

    >Fairy (healthy)

    The fact it wasn¡¯t hurting itself brought somefort to Ryu, but it didn¡¯t make him pity the fairy any less.

    The dense forest became a little scarcer and the path widened enough to fit five people walking side by side. nts and trees were also noticeably different and there were many traces of beasts, Ryu took the reins and signaled Famine to slow down.

    Still on top of the amarok¡¯s loin Ryu ced his hand on top of a w mark on the tree. They looked nothing like the markings a bear would leave, but they clearly served the same purpose.

    ¡°We are in a predator¡¯s territory now Mia, please remain quiet¡±

    He whispered. Mia covered her mouth and nodded as the amarok resumed it¡¯s movement, this time slowly and stealthy, as if it was stalking on a prey.

    Famine had an outstanding sense of smell, so much so that Ryu had never been able to see the full extent of his pet¡¯s ability, but sadly the amarok couldn¡¯t tell what all those new smells were. Although many people didn¡¯t know this, and Ryu tended to forget it, but Famine was actually just a pup andcked the experience a wild amarok would supposedly have. Because of this, they were forced to move slowly and keep their alertness to the maximum, they could be attacked by anything that deemed them weaker than themselves and it was a lot safer for them to remain unnoticed.

    The amarok slowed down and then came to a full stop as it crouched in an attempt to hide within the bushes on the side of the road. There was an unknown creature ahead.

    A four legged creature, simr to a boar, but with a long and thin snout filled with fangs like those of a crocodile was feeding scratching the earth as if looking for something located below the surface.

    Ryu attempted to use his consider skill on the creature but it was too far away, forcing him to expel a small amount of energy to power it up.

    >Trapjaw boar C (healthy) (enraged)

    ¡°Hang on tight Mia, that thing can detect energy¡±

    Ryu said as the creature rushed towards them.

 Chapter 212

    212 Follow the fairy, please! part Ryu clenched his legs around the amarok as the trapjaw boar came close, he braced for the impact but what happened was something entirely different. Famine pounced on the beast and bit it behind its head.

    A loud shriek was heard on the forest in an obvious call for help. The boar did its best to get free, but the amarok quickly shook it from side to side breaking its neck.

    ¡°Wow! that was incredible!¡±

    Mia cheered, but Ryu didn¡¯t feel safe yet, he ordered the amarok to move forward but it was toote. Famine was already feasting on the corpse of the creature, it was about half of its size and eating itpletely would take him a long while, if even possible.

    After dismounting, Ryu tried to pull the reins as hemanded his pet to keep walking, but it was impossible. Drool was dripping from his maw and had a nk stare of ecstasy on his face.

    ¡°Come on buddy, I promise I¡¯ll get something nice for you to eat, just keep walking¡±

    Even with Ryu¡¯s enhanced stats the huge beast wasn¡¯t budging an inch, leaving him no choice but to let it finish his meal.

    It didn¡¯t take long until the first soundsing from the distance started to resound in the forest. Ryu grabbed Risa¡¯s sword from the saddlebag and prepared himself for an unnecessary battle to death.

    Mia watched in horror as no less than ten trapjaw boars appeared in the distance and rapidly surrounded them and, to add insult to injury, Famine was still eating and paid no heed to the enemies around them.

    .....

    ¡°Master Ryu, we¡¯repletely surrounded!¡±

    ¡°I know, stay on top of Famine, if things go dire just escape¡±

    Ryu said as he carefully ced the wurm hatchling on Mia¡¯s hands. The little creature didn¡¯t seem to have an issue with this and rapidly wrapped around Mia¡¯s arm beneath with it¡¯s long and thin slithery body.

    The first to attack was the biggest of the herd of wild boars, Ryu attempted to ce the sword on his side as he had seen Risa and Lorenzo do before, but it was so heavy it touched the ground. Instead of shing at the boar Ryu decided to kick it¡¯s snout redirecting its charge towards a tree. In a daze, the boar shook its head and attempted a second charge, only this time it was filled with mana.

    ¡°It¡¯s using the bash skill!¡±

    Ryu gasped. Just as he finished speaking, mana started to flow from within all the other beasts and wrapped their bodies, focusing particrly on their hind legs. They were all considered rank C beasts which meant they should be able to defeat them, but their bigger numbers made it uncertain. As much as Ryu hated to admit it, he was at a disadvantage.

    He was the only fighter avable, but all he could do to was dodge their onught in hopes of finding an opening. And even in the slim chance something like that happened, he couldn¡¯t wield Mia¡¯s sword properly.

    ¡°If I had known something like this was going to happen I would have practiced with this sword before¡±

    There was little to no value in letting his frustrations out and he was well aware of this fact, but he did feel just a little bit better, enough for Ryu to realize something. This sword probably required a skill he didn¡¯t possess, which meant that no matter if he was able tond a hit it would probably be a lot less effective than when Risa used it. As if it wasn¡¯t enough, Risa needed a couple hits to dispatch her enemies, meaning that the sword itself had a low attack damage.

    Thinking about this, he came to a conclusion. It was better to fight with a weapon he was already familiar with, even if it wasn¡¯t as shy as Risa¡¯s sword.

    ¡°Mia, hand me the tree branch!¡±

    Mia did as asked and threw theplete branch in Ryu¡¯s direction, the wood was too hard to remove the side branches on the side with his bare hands, but luckily for him he had just the proper tool. After nting the branch on the dirt he maneuvered Risa¡¯s sword and, just as expected, he ended up crafting a staff.

    It was of afortable size and Ryu could feel it was a proper weapon, but the boars gave him no time to identify it and they kept charging at him with the bash skill activated.

    Faster than they should be, more resistant to damage and in great numbers, one of them managed to tackle Ryu. Instead of letting himself be flown away by this, Ryu mustered all of his strength and performed a lock on the boar¡¯s jaw with the staff keeping it shut.

    Thispletely nullified the boar¡¯s capability of biting, but it also left Ryu defenseless against the rest of the enemies.

    Hurt, tired and fearing the end was near, Ryu relied on hisst resort.

    Mana quickly flowed from his body right into his palms, his eyes glimmered in deep blue as he focused on casting mes, but nothing happened. All the mana he expelled was soaked into the branch on his hands.

    Whatever Ryu was trying to do, the trapjaw boar wasn¡¯t going to let it happen and bucked as hard as it could to shake the pesky human.

    Stubborn as always, Ryu refused to let go of the staff and continued to pour mana into it, his mana reserve was nothing to be scoffed at since he had been using magic on his daily life since he learned it, not only that, but he also practiced the use of mes and earth repeatedly. But it didn¡¯t matter how much mana he spent, the staff would absorb itpletely.

    Close to giving up, Ryu let go of one end of the staff and wielded it in one hand against an iing beast. The strike was so powerful it broke the boar¡¯s skull with ease.

    Waving the staff in the air with both hands mimicking Anne¡¯s movements, Ryu managed to stand his ground against the wild beasts that threatened to end his life right then and there.

    After each sessful hit, a loud sound was heard and another boar would drop until only four of them remained and they finally relented their attack.

    Both Mia and Ryu were d to see them disappear into the deep forest, but Ryu also wondered what had just happened. Still tired, Ryu sat on the ground and proceeded to analyze the staff.

    >Staff (good)

    It wasn¡¯t that great a weapon and his power was way beyond expectation, Ryu tried to solve the mistery that lied in front of him analyzing the staff until Mia finally answered by letting out a question.

    ¡°Master Ryu, just how high is your blunt weapons skill?¡±

 Chapter 213

    213 Follow the fairy, please! part ¡°I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t tell how high my skills are and my soulbound card doesn¡¯t exactly show me a level either.¡±

    Ryu said as he poked at his soulbound card.

    ¡°Can I take a look?¡±

    ¡°Sure¡±

    Ryu handed Mia his card with all the information avable and she read it entirely with a serious expression. After being surprised so many times by Mia¡¯s resourcefulness he decided to keep an open mind and just listen to what she had to say. After five minutes of nodding and sighing, Mia handed Ryu his soulbound card.

    ¡°Just as I thought, I don¡¯t understand any of it.¡±

    ¡°Then why would you ask me to look at it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I figured I could learn something, I don¡¯t have a card of my own you know.¡±

    just as Ryu took his own card back, he noticed something weird. Skills shifted position, some were positioned above others and it got him thinking that maybe there was a meaning to it. Trying to make sense of it, he carefully noted all the skills that were listed in the top positions and the ones that were on the bottom position and then it came to him. While skills didn¡¯t have a level attached to them, the position they upied in the skill list was rted to their power level.

    .....

    The highest ranked active skill Ryu had right now was identify, followed closely by night vision. Among the passive ones calm mind was in the top position and among the weapon skills blunt weapons was, just as Ryu thought, in the pot position too.

    ¡°It seems I¡¯m pretty good at blunt weapons¡±

    ¡°Could it be thanks to all the time you spent chopping down trees with sticks?¡±

    ¡°How do you even know about it?¡±

    ¡°Anne told me. She told me many things about the time you spent together before going to Ironwoods¡±

    Mia chuckled.

    ¡°Whatever, let¡¯s keep moving before it¡¯s toote¡±

    Ryu pulled on the frenzied amarok¡¯s reins but just as before, he was unmoving. Not just that, he had already started to eat the second corpse.

    ¡°Mister Ryu, I don¡¯t think Famine wants to keep walking, why don¡¯t we take a rest in here? Maybe you can have something to eat... and me too¡±

    Ryu pretended to ignore Mia¡¯sment and looked for a ce to set up a camp. The ce was nowhere safe, but just by raising a few spikes in the ground and making a couple pitfalls it felt like a fortress. He raised a small wooden roof hanging over on a tree so even if it rained, they would be safe.

    Since Mia waspletely useless in skinning a creature, Ryu had to do all the job by himself. It was like a race against the amarok, who kept eating the whole time.

    ¡°I wonder how can he fit all that food inside his little stomach¡±

    Mia inquired while seated on a dried tree trunk. Famine wasn¡¯t small by anyone¡¯s standards, but what Mia pointed out got Ryu to realize that there was no way the amarok could have fit so much food into his belly. pondering about this matters, Ryu¡¯s stomach grumbled.

    He cut off a leg from one of the previously skinned boars using his obsidian dagger. It had always been sharp, but after its remodeling it was incredibly effective.

    He tore apart a small slice of raw meat and handed it to the wurm hatchling entangled on Mia¡¯s arm. After swallowing the piece of meat whole, the small creature slithered back onto Ryu¡¯s sleeve and then wrapped itself on the staff.

    Ryu, curious as always, used his identify skill on it.

    >Staff (good)(recharging)

    This new piece of information was enough to give hope to Ryu. It wasn¡¯t just a piece of wood hard enough to withstand heavy strikes, but it also seemed to have some unknown properties. After this, Ryu took his time to retrieve all the small side branches that fell off after he peeled them and ced them on the amarok saddlebags.

    Ryu took a short nap and Mia woke him up when Famine was almost done eating all the corpses.

    ¡°Master Ryu, we should get going¡±

    Mia whispered under the cover of the night. Ryu then proceeded to grab the ss vial that held the fairy prisoner, only to realize it was broken.

    ¡°Uh oh¡±

    Ryu said in a low voice, Mia¡¯s eyes widened as she had never seen him make such a face.

    ¡°Is everything alright master?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, I think the fairy escaped¡±

    ¡°What!? how will we find Bardun!?¡±

    ¡°Calm down Mia!¡±

    Ryu grabbed her by the arms and shook her until she became dizzy.

    ¡°I¡¯m calm already, please let me go! I¡¯ll throw up, for real!¡±

    Although she said this, as a subus she was physically incapable of throwing up.

    Just when Ryu was about to give up on finding the fairy, he noticed a dim yellow lighting from behind a tree. There was the small creature, attempting to fly as hard as it could but it was impossible. She just didn¡¯t have the strength to lift her own weight.

    >Fairy (starving)

    For a brief second, Ryu thought in attempting to tame it, but decided against it. He didn¡¯t want to keep it separated from its partner any longer than necessary.

    ¡°Hang in there little one¡±

    Ryu said as he took it on his hands and, by doing this, he couldn¡¯t help but notice two soft bumps on the fairy¡¯s chest that marked her as a female. The fairy struggled to be released, but to no avail. Ryu wasn¡¯t trying to imprison her again, but to keep her from falling on the ground.

    After cooking some meat Ryu offered it some, but the fairy refused to eat.

    ¡°Hey Mia, what do you think these things eat?¡±

    ¡°How am I supposed to know? do I look like a beast expert?¡±

    ¡°Are fairies really considered beasts? she kind of look like a human¡±

    ¡°No, they¡¯re beasts. They¡¯re incapable of speaking and some think they¡¯re also incapable of thinking. Fairies are known to be stupid¡±

    Just as Mia said so, the fairy calmed down for a second and then red at Mia. The light that surrounded her made it impossible for Ryu to see her face, but somehow they knew she was angry.

 Chapter 214

    214 Pick up the scent, please! part We don¡¯t have a choice, all we can do Is follow Bardun¡¯s previous location blindly. We don¡¯t have any water or food and Mia keepsining she¡¯s hungry. I could feed her, but that would deplete a great deal of my energy and having spent so much mana recently I can¡¯t afford to do it.

    Instead of kissing, as we used to do, I simply let her to stay close to me and feed on the energy my body expels naturally.

    The fairy seems tired, but it doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s in any danger. Maybe they kept fairies from eating to prevent them from escaping, or maybe they simply forgot to tell me what did fairies eat. I really don¡¯t get goblins at all.

    At times they seem like this nature oriented race that can live in bnce with other creatures, but other times they seempletely cruel and immune to other¡¯s feelings.

    The road ahead is really easy to follow, especially while riding on Famine. I felt bad for making him work so hard, but after abandoning me in the middle of the fight I don¡¯t think he deserves any reward at all. i really thought pets couldn¡¯t defy their master¡¯s orders, but I guess it doesn¡¯t apply if they¡¯re really hungry.

    Mia hangs tight on my back, but the feeling is warm and pleasant. This could be a nice trip if it wasn¡¯t for the task I have at hand. How am I supposed to stop the heroes from going to the sacred empire and, at the same time, getting Bardun to go back to the vige?

    I can¡¯t be in two ces at the same time, and even if I could, I don¡¯t know where they are now.

    An Idea pops into my head.

    ¡°Hey buddy, do you think you can track any familiar scent?¡±

    .....

    The amarok, still a bit regretful after abandoning his conscience and falling into a feeding frenzy, wagged his tail furiously. I love it when he does that, his tail is so expressive even though he looks like a fierce giant wolf now, his tail behaves like that of a small pup.

    Without further instructions, Famine darted down the road following an invisible trail of scent. I don¡¯t know where is he headed, but I¡¯m certain he¡¯s got something.

    The saddle we made for him is a bit ufortable, it also doesn¡¯t help that Mia is clinging to me as if her life depended on it, but it¡¯s still a pleasurable experience and we can¡¯t move this fast without a mount.

    Not even five minutes after we set off, Famine came to a stop and pointed towards a bush. Thinking that maybe he found Bardun, I was getting ready to dismount, but this silly dog didn¡¯t give me a chance as he pounced on top of a distracted trapjaw boar.

    A battle started between the two beasts, after the initial bite the amarok let go of its prey and retreated just enough for the boar to be able to dash towards us. Famine took a small jump to the side and tackled the boar.

    After falling on its side, it waspletely defenseless against Famine¡¯s numerous bites. With a paw over his prey, Famine howled in joy and started eating bite after bite.

    It was a quick and efficient battle, he dispatched the enemy so quickly I was tempted topliment him, if it weren¡¯t for two issues. First, he was supposed to take us to a familiar scent, of coourse he¡¯s familiar with the smell of trapjaw boars but that¡¯s beyond the point. And also, we were still on top of him and we got dizzy from all the shaking.

    ¡°Hey Famine! you were supposed to take us to ourpanions or Bardun, we¡¯re not on a hunting trip¡±

    I patted his head from behind with just enough strength to catch his attention,pletely forgetting that Mochi usually rests on top of the amarok¡¯s head.

    Instead of patting the hard skull of Famine, my hand sunk deep into Mochi¡¯s soft fur. Startled, the moon cat¡¯s tail stiffened up and ran away.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him escape!¡±

    Famine seemed to understand what I was saying, but he was too busy eating, leaving me no choice but to dismount and run after Mochi.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry master, once he finishes eating I¡¯ll get him to follow you!¡±

    Mia yelled behind my back as I rushed through the bushes.

    I¡¯m fast, faster than Mochi at least, but this damned cat can crawl in the tiny spots in between bushes forcing me to go through thorny bushes and hard branches.

    This is why I love my stone skin skill. It¡¯s helpful against all types of damage, except for blunt damage, but it makes me almost immune to small sources of damage like this.

    After running for a while I start losing my breath.

    Is it my idea or Mochi became a lot faster?

    There¡¯s no way I became weaker, I got rid of the cursed sword and I¡¯m supposed to be a lot stronger in every sense ever since my stats increased. I took a small rest to check on my stats, skills and any piece of information I might get from my soulbound card, but everything seems to be normal. I don¡¯t even have too many passive skills active, but I deactivate some of them just to be sure.

    I rememberst time I chased after Mochi I was, in fact, faster than him.

    Of course i can¡¯t deactivate sense presence, or else I won¡¯t be able to follow Mochi through this forest or even detect any possible menaces towards me.

    After sprinting for about fifteen minutes Mochi finally slows down in what seems to be a clearing in the woods.

    As I get closer and unsettling feeling rushes through my spine and it didn¡¯t take me long to realize the source of this feeling.

    Three people stand in front of Mochi, I can only sense their presence since they¡¯re still to far to be in sight, especially with so much vegetation in between, but the presence of one of them seems familiar to me.

 Chapter 215

    215 Pick up the scent, please! part It¡¯s Stefan!

    I use my stealth skill in hopes that he doesn¡¯t have his revealing skill active, but it proves to be useless.

    ¡°Come outside young man, there¡¯s no need to lurk in the shadows like a beast¡±

    Before going out I set my passive skills in a more battle oriented manner and walk out with my hands above my head.

    ¡°What are you doing in here?¡±

    Before I can get my answer, I watch in horror as a priestess with a ck blindfold over her eyes crouches and picks up Mochi.

    Are they really going to use my cat as a hostage?

    Mochi seems to be oblivious of the danger he¡¯s in and starts purring in the priestess generous bossom.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit dirty for people from the church to use such dirty strategies, leave my cat out of this¡±

    .....

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, I love this little guy¡±

    The priestess chuckles as she squishes the cat a bit harder, intensifying the purring.

    ¡°Lower your guard young man, wee in peace¡±

    Stefan says calmly. Now I see none of them grabbed their weapons, even after I came out of the woods. I lower my hands, still on high alert.

    Stefan is wearing a new set of armor and he¡¯s carrying different weapons, he also has a shield on his back. Next to him there¡¯s a priest with a mace on his side, there¡¯s nothing interesting about him except his buzz haircut. Although he¡¯s a priest, he looks like military.

    Then, there¡¯s the beautiful woman that picked up Mochi. She has a gentle look, so strong that she almost shines, she has a fairplexion and a beautiful figure. She kind of reminds me to someone I know but can¡¯t put my finger on it.

    ¡°There there Mochi, did you miss me that bad? I missed you too.¡±

    ¡°How do you know my cat¡¯s name? who are you!?¡±

    ¡°It makes me sad that you don¡¯t remember me, Ryu.¡±

    I don¡¯t know why, but It¡¯s like I can¡¯t hold back my tears. An intense emotion overwhelms me and It makes it difficult for me to call her name, I¡¯m scared of being wrong.

    ¡°He-Helena!?¡±

    She nods with a kind smile on her face. I run towards her like a child to their mom,pletely forgetting about anything else.

    After a longsting hug that filled me with joy, I finallyposed myself.

    ¡°Wow! you look...¡±

    I tried to keep myself from pointing out the obvious blindfold over her eyes, but I just couldn¡¯t get the words out of my mouth.

    ¡°Gorgeous right? I lost some weight!¡±

    She said happily as she took a spin on her heels.

    ¡°Helena, why are you here? what are you doing with those guys?¡±

    Helena doesn¡¯t let go of my hands keeping me close to her, it¡¯s a bit unsettling to be like this near enemies, but her soft touch took me back to the times where she used to hold my hand tofort me, giving me a deep feeling of calmness.

    ¡°I came here to look for you guys and to rify a misunderstanding¡±

    ¡°A misunderstanding? Do you seriously call that a misunderstanding? these guys tried to kidnap Sera and...¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what happened. They were actually going to rescue her from the hands of the corrupt kingdom¡±

    She shook her head cutting me short.

    ¡°Did they? then why did they attack Anne?¡±

    ¡°I can answer that. We were on a sacred mission to rescue a magician from those filthy heathens and we were caught by miss Anne. I had no way of knowing she was arch priestess Helena¡¯s friend and for that, I humbly ask for apologies¡±

    ¡°You say that, but you alsomanded Lea to kill my sword, I know you did and there¡¯s nothing you can say in your favor¡±

    Helena turned towards the pdin, it seems he omitted this piece of information.

    ¡°That¡¯s actually true, it was a cursed sword and it was a threat to your life. I asked Lea to bless you, but we didn¡¯t attempt to harm you while you were down. If we really wanted to harm you, it would have been easy for us to kill you¡±

    If they had done so maybe a month before I would have been really grateful, maybe there wasn¡¯t a way for them to know that the curse had settled in and it wasn¡¯t a threat to me anymore.

    Thinking about this, I lower my gaze.

    ¡°Ryu, I know you¡¯re distrusting, but I¡¯m your friend, you can always trust me. The sacred empire is actually a good ce, everyone will see that once they arrive¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? you aren¡¯t going back to Ironwoods?¡±

    ¡°Why would I? There¡¯s so many people that need us in the sacred empire, we have a mission to fulfill. You promised to help us, remember?¡±

    ¡°Helena, you can¡¯t be serious. We haven¡¯t seen each other in how long and the first thing you say is how we should go over to a ce that sent people to kidnap us and they even attempted to kill Anne. What if they seeded? would you still be siding with them?¡±

    ¡°Probably not, but they didn¡¯t. Everything that happened was the will of the gods, can¡¯t you see? If youe with me, you¡¯ll be able to be so much stronger and you¡¯ll be able to actually help people instead of ying around in sinful actions¡±

    This is weird, Helena never spoke like that. Actually, despite being really nice and kind, I always suspected she had a lewd mind. I still remember her frustration when she learned that priestess aren¡¯t supposed to have sex.

    ¡°What made you change so much? you don¡¯t seem like the Helena I used to know¡±

    ¡°I saw the truth!¡±

    Helena said as she took off her blindfold, revealing her white eyes that couldn¡¯t see anything anymore.

    ¡°You really are blind!?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but It doesn¡¯t matter. I can see so much more than I used to, I see your energy, your stance, I can even feel the strong presence of Mochi. You two have gotten stronger, but you¡¯re no match for the people in the sacred empire.¡±

    ¡°This is madness, you¡¯re mad Helena!¡±

    ¡°I am not! I saw god in person, with my own two eyes. All I want is for you to experience the same thing, you¡¯ll thank meter. I¡¯m an arch priestess now! You can¡¯t imagine the power I hold in my hands right now!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s really no point in arguing. Why don¡¯t we find the others first and then make a decision?¡±

    ¡°The others? oh! yes, they¡¯reing this way already¡±

 Chapter 216

    216 Pick up the scent, please! part I didn¡¯t know what Helena meant by saying they were on their way already, but she refused to exin any further making the wait a bit awkward.

    I¡¯m a bit worried because If Mia and Famine arrive before the others, they might be in trouble. From what Mia told me, the kingdom of Loudeac is not a safe ce for races other than human, but at least it is possible for them to remain hidden in between the crowd, besides most cities allow other races to coexist with them.

    Since the kingdom of Loudeac is so far spread and it takes a long while to move from town to town, the crown doesn¡¯t really hold any actual power in cities far away from the capital. Most cities have their own set of rules that depend solely on the whims of the noblemen, which is why Crent doesn¡¯t allow other races.

    But the sacred empire is entirely different. I¡¯ve heard from Mia that they actively hunt for people from all races and enve them, more like forcing them to be pets to be toyed with. I don¡¯t know if what she says is the truth, because Anne refused to speak in depth about what she witnessed in the sacred empire. She did tell me it looked a lot more like the ce she came from than the kingdom of Loudeac and that people there were a lot stronger, but she didn¡¯t talk about much else.

    There¡¯s also another issue. Mia not only isn¡¯t human, she¡¯s a demon ss race and people from the sacred empire are openly against demons and undead.

    ¡°What worries you Ryu?¡±

    Helena tugged on my sleeve.

    Should I really be worrying about this? I mean, this is Helena, I can think of few people more kind and good hearted than her. Perhaps if I speak alone with her I could find a solution to this.

    ¡°Hey, Helena, why don¡¯t we catch up for a while until the others arrive?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Uh? oh! that sounds great, let¡¯s take a walk through the woods like we used to!¡±

    We set off a random direction and walk slowly arm in arm. A soft sensation I didn¡¯t know I missed so much ran across my arm. I could be wrong but it seems like they got bigger.

    ¡°They¡¯re bigger aren¡¯t they?¡±

    Helena giggled.

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t y shy Ryu, we¡¯re all adults, remember?¡±

    Her words took me back to the time we slept together for the first time, It feels as if it was just yesterday that any physical contact with her made me blush brightly.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Hey, does this mean you¡¯re doing this on purpose?¡±

    ¡°Of course I am! or did you really think a girl doesn¡¯t notice whenever something brushes past her breasts? that¡¯s a really sensitive spot!¡±

    ¡°But you used to do this all the time, why did you?¡±

    ¡°Because I liked you silly! I thought maybe you would notice and act on it, but you never did. By the time I mustered the courage to confess my feelings it was already toote.¡±

    She held my arm a bit tighter in between her breasts, freezing me in the spot.

    ¡°Does this mean that you still do?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m an arch priestess now. I¡¯m only doing this because I wanted to reminisce the good old times.¡±

    She shook her head.

    ¡°There¡¯s something I need to tell you, but first... I need to know you won¡¯t do anything rush¡±

    Before I even finish my sentence, sense presence alerts me of somethinging towards us. Helena quickly draws a scepter from her side and pushes me away, making me fall on my butt.

    ¡°Take cover, something¡¯sing!¡±

    Her scepter starts shinning in a bright yellow light, but before she manages to use her skill I stand in front of her.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to talk to you about! They¡¯re my friends!¡±

    Famine stopped and, thanks to the soulbound card disy I can even tell the distance at which they are, which is roughly about twenty meters, not that knowing this can do me any good. It seems the amarok felt something was off and kept his distance.

    ¡°But that¡¯s a demon!¡±

    ¡°Her name is Mia and she¡¯s not a bad person!¡±

    ¡°Not a bad person you say!? she¡¯s not a person at all! how can you remain friends with someone like that? do you even know the damage they cause to the empire? the amount of people killed everyday by them!?¡±

    Helena grips her scepter even tighter as she gets angrier by the second. I need to do something before she attacks, I fear that even if I try my best I wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat her in hand to handbat.

    ¡°Hold on please! She¡¯s done nothing like that, she¡¯s innocent!¡±

    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s go back and try to solve this. Ask that thing to follow us please¡±

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not a thing, I¡¯m master Ryu¡¯s pet!¡±

    Mia stated proudly as if being called a pet was better than being called a thing.

    ¡°You are? She is?¡±

    Helena asked her and then me with a ck jaw.

    ¡°Well, I can exin...¡±

    ¡°No, there¡¯s no need. If she¡¯s your pet then I¡¯m fine with it, I just thought she was a feral.¡±

    Helena sighed in relief.

    ¡°Is it really ok?¡±

    ¡°Of course, keeping pets from other races isn¡¯t a bad thing. Even if it¡¯s a dirty demon, they all have their uses. I just didn¡¯t expect you to be able to tame a subus, it seems you did have a naughty side after all.¡±

    Helena seems just as she was before in the outside, but on the inside it feels as if she was apletely different person. I instructed Mia to follow us from a distance just in case she tried something, and then we headed back to the clearing where a surprise awaited for me.

    Bob, Luke and Risa were tied up and kneeling in front of Stefan, the priest and two people in armor I never seen before.

    ¡°Guys! are you ok? what happened?¡±

    ¡°Ryu!? is that you Ryu?¡±

    Luke eximed with his face swollen beyond recognition, it seemed as if he wasn¡¯t able to see anything because he didn¡¯t even look at me.

    ¡°Don¡¯te! run away Ryu!¡±

    Bob yelled with a spear still jabbed on his stomach, his wounds looked really awful, a regr person would have been dead already.

    ¡°Stefan! what did you do!? they¡¯re my friends!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything miss Helena, it was the enforcers.¡±

    ¡°Miss Helena, we deeply apologize for the state your friends are, but they didn¡¯t believe us when we told them we were with you and they attacked us. They¡¯re pretty strong and we couldn¡¯t bring them in without seriously hurting them first, but their wounds have been taken care of¡±

    ¡°So it was true...¡±

    Bob said as he looked at Helena with genuine sadness, no, more than that, it¡¯s pity.

    ¡°Of course it is, that dumb bitch!¡±

 Chapter 217

    217 Pick up the scent, please! part ¡°Don¡¯t you dare insult our arch priestess, you lowly thief scum!¡±

    One of the enforcers crossed Luke with a p.

    ¡°Stop it right now! the next one who touches my friends will face the consequences¡±

    The air around Helena started to feel dense and her hair was lifted for a brief second as if a strong breeze of wind ran from bellow her, except it wasn¡¯t air. I can see it, clear as day, it¡¯s mana.

    The only one who wasn¡¯t intimidated by this was the priest next to Stefan, all the others reacted to her outburst and the enforcers quickly untied them, except for Risa. It seems like Helena warned them that they shouldn¡¯t hurt her friends, but she didn¡¯t know Risa they didn¡¯t care about her.

    Since she had lost her hands, she was being tied by the neck, the rope was so tight she had trouble breathing. The first thing Luke did after being released was head towards her and release her too.

    Helena walked solemnly towards the adventurers and healed their wounds with a bright yellow light.

    Luke¡¯s face became that of a handsome young man in seconds, the spear piercing Bob was expelled out of his body and Risa¡¯s bruises and scratches healed instantly and skin covered her stumps instantly.

    As soon as Risa was healed and released, she ran towards me at a frightening speed. Feeling threatened for just an instant, I tried to block her, but she stopped right in front of me.

    .....

    ¡°My sword! Lorenzo took it from me, did you find it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s over there!¡±

    I pointed towards the amarok and she darted over there. Having no hands, it was impossible for her to pick the heavy sword up, but it didn¡¯t stop her from trying. It was a pitiful scene that forced everyone to look the other side.

    ¡°So this are your new friends? They don¡¯t seem like good people... at all¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re a bit rough, but can¡¯t me them after all they¡¯ve been through¡±

    Helena sternly replied.

    ¡°And you say you¡¯re an arch priest now. Is there something you can do for Risa?¡±

    I turned my back to see her, still trying to pick up the sword, this time she was trying to use her mouth.

    ¡°Of course, I could grow her hands right now¡±

    She dered, but took no action giving way to an awkward moment.

    Luke and Bob came to my side, they were unarmed just like I was, but it looked like they wanted to start a fight.

    ¡°What got into you guys? why are you so angry?¡±

    ¡°Lea...¡±

    Bob muttered, I just nodded my head in understanding. Helena didn¡¯t let us catch up to the events that happened while we were separated, she pped her hands and addressed to all of us.

    ¡°Listen guys, I know you¡¯re upset but this is of the utmost importance. I can¡¯t stress this enough, we need you. The sacred empire is failing to keep the enemy at bay and it¡¯s our duty to make sure that humanity survives the events toe.¡±

    Against everything I knew about Luke, he didn¡¯t pay any heed to Helena as she yed the ¡®sacred mission¡¯ card. They just weren¡¯t interested in anything she had to say.

    ¡°I¡¯m disappointed in you Helena, I never thought you would side with guys like that.¡±

    Bob said under his breath.

    ¡°What do you mean? they¡¯re the good ones!¡±

    ¡°The good ones you say... who on their right mind would abandon theirpanions like nothing? They left Lea to die!¡±

    Luke shouted angrily, startling the enforcers who were about to draw their weapons.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that exactly what you did with me and Anne? did you at least look for us while we were lost in the forest? If it wasn¡¯t by the grace of the gods we would have died many times over!¡±

    Helena too raised her voice.

    ¡°Guys, calm down. We have a lot to discuss but I don¡¯t think this is the right ce to do so. We¡¯re in the open and we need to catch up first.¡±

    I try to mediate in between them before things get out of control. I know Luke¡¯s hot headed behavior, but I can¡¯t really tell what¡¯s Helena thinking right now. She could be apletely different person from the kind girl I used to know.

    ¡°You¡¯re right as always Ryu, why don¡¯t we head back to the sacred empire and talk things over there in a morefortable manner? you can even take your pets with you, Ryu.¡±

    It took a simple nce at my friends to realize none of them wanted to go with her making the decision easy, but breaking it to her is actually harder than I would have expected. If she doesn¡¯t like my answer we might find ourselves in trouble.

    ¡°Actually Helena, I think it would be better if we talked things over in the kingdom. Anne is waiting for us over there¡±

    ¡°Now, there¡¯s no need to lie to me Ryu. I can see through lies clear as day¡±

    I¡¯m doing my best to remain unfazed, but ended up gulping unintendedly.

    ¡°Fine, I just don¡¯t want to go to the empire. I feel it¡¯s not a safe ce.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I wish I could stay with you and reminisce about the old times, but the people in the sacred empire need me. If you change your mind you know where to find me.¡±

    ¡°Is that it? you¡¯re letting us go? why go through all the trouble of catching us if you¡¯re letting us go so easily!?¡±

    Luke grunted.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t pretend for something like this to happen. I¡¯ll make sure the enforcers pay the right price for their sins and I apologize, you¡¯re my dearest friends and I never want to see you harmed. Oh! before I forget, I brought something with me to help you be stronger, I wanted to give it to you once we were back at the sacred empire but since you¡¯re going to the kingdom I may as well give it to you know¡±

    Helena said as she took a beautiful jeweled box containing a seemingly ordinary cyan stained ss orb.

 Chapter 218

    218 Pick up the scent, please! part Helena then proceeded to exin to us all she knew about the oracle and how it worked.

    Apparently, it¡¯s amunicating device connected directly to the gods. By utilizing it, a person can be evaluated by the gods and assigned a new ss depending on theirpatibility. Of course Bob was tempted to use it right away, without even listening to Helena¡¯s exnation, but Luke stopped him in his tracks.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot Bob, this could be dangerous, can¡¯t you see how different Helena is from how she used to be!? I bet this is a weird mind control device¡±

    ¡°Uh, no. That¡¯s a regr oracle¡±

    Risa barged in from behind Luke.

    ¡°How can you tell?¡±

    Luke asked, doing his best to hide the fact that he was startled by her.

    ¡°Because the oracles had been a thing for longer than the sacred empire even existed, and they consider them a divine tool that is not to be tampered with. The sacred empire provided the kingdom of Loudeac with enough oracles even during the war and not even once did anyone experience something weird like mind control¡±

    ¡°That is correct, I was told the same thing. This is just an ordinary oracle, the same kind of which you would find anywhere, but they can only be used every so often and it is difficult to to be given the chance to use it. Especially for lower tier adventurers¡±

    .....

    ¡°Are you implying we¡¯re weak? I¡¯ll show you how weak I am!¡±

    Luke rolled up his sleeves, ready to screw up everything as always.

    ¡°Calm down and let Helena continue her exnation please. We don¡¯t have much time, didn¡¯t you hear she needs to leave soon?¡±

    ¡°Tsk! whatever!¡±

    ¡°Ok, as I was telling you guys, the way to use it is super simple, ok? you just need to ce your hands above it and done. Most people im they lose some time, others faint, but very few people remember their encounter with the gods. I did and that¡¯s the reason why I¡¯m blind, but they told me this is only for a short time until I perfect my mana sense skill. Actually, I could heal my eyes right now, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to be a full fledged arch priestess if I did so¡±

    ¡°Can I be a mage?¡±

    Bob asked with his eyes filled with hope. For as long as I can remember Bob has been saying how much he wants to be a mage, it¡¯s almost all he talks about and he doesn¡¯t speak that much either. He also chants weird words whenever he attacks, so he must truly be desperate to be a mage, knowing this made watching what followed after difficult for all of us.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, Bob. Mages and priests are rare. You need to understand that it¡¯s not like the gods give you any power when they grant you a ss change, it¡¯s more like they unlock your potential making it easier for you to advance. Since we are ¡®special¡¯ I bet our stats are a lot higher than regr people, but that doesn¡¯t necessarily mean you meet all the necessary conditions¡±

    Helena exined calmly, but it was obvious she was in a hurry to go back to the sacred empire.

    ¡°Then, what are these conditions I keep hearing about?¡±

    Luke asked while picking on his ear, as if he wasn¡¯t interested. Now this is something that probably only Bob and I know, but Luke hates his ss. He didin about it a bit when we were all together in the settlement, but we didn¡¯t know much about sses at that time. After he became an adventurer he finally confessed why did he hate the thief ss so much, it¡¯s because he couldn¡¯t see how a thief could possibly be a worshiped hero. All he ever wanted was to be the hero that would save humanity, but as a thief it just didn¡¯t fit his own narrative.

    ¡°To be a warrior one must have strength as the highest stat, it doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s high or low, it just need to be the highestpared to the others. To be an archer one needs a minimum dexterity level that has been measured as just above average, in other words pretty much anyone can be an archer. To be a mage one needs to have a high intelligence stat and also, at least a couple skills rted to magic at a decent level. Finally, a priest needs a high wisdom stat, but that¡¯s not everything, one needs to be chosen by a god.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound too hard Bob, maybe you can still be a mage.¡±

    Luke tried to lift up Bob¡¯s mood, but he was almost in tears. I turn towards Helena to get an exnation.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? why is he crying?¡±

    ¡°He must have noticed it too, being a warrior all of his mage skills are blocked and he will never be able to learn any. The same goes for anyone with a ss... listen, I would love to stay and chat all day, but it¡¯s about to get dark and I really need to head back to the sacred empire as soon as possible. If you want to know more you can visit me in there, or you can ask in the kingdom, but I assure you they don¡¯t know half of what the sacred empire does. If they did, they wouldn¡¯t have lost the war.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t you do anything for Risa? please¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ryu, but even though I can heal her, it¡¯s not like I have any sort of obligation towards her. She doesn¡¯t strike me as a bad person, but she¡¯s from the kingdom. If it were one of you i wouldn¡¯t hesitate, but...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, I get. Goodbye, please take care of yourself¡±

    We hug again dearly and she kissed me on the cheek. She may not be the same Helena we used to know, but not because she¡¯s less naive it means she¡¯s a bad person. I know I need to make a decision in between the kingdom and the sacred empire, but there¡¯s no point in rushing things. Especially since i still need to find Bardun.

    If anything, the only thing that bothers me is that Risa wasn¡¯t able to recover her hands.

 Chapter 219

    219 Pick up the scent, please! part After Helena left the clearing, the sun gave way to what seemed to be the longest sunset I¡¯ve experienced so far. We were speechless, time seemed to be frozen still until Risa let out a long sigh.

    ¡°Whew, that was something. I assume she was your friend.¡±

    ¡°Things are a lot moreplicated than that miss Risa.¡±

    ¡°Things are alwaysplicated Ryu, I¡¯m just grad you¡¯re alive and well.¡±

    I was just about to say the same thing to her, but after taking a nce at her stumps It feltpletely out of ce.

    ¡°She¡¯s crazy, why didn¡¯t shee back with us? what does she think she¡¯s doing ying hero in another country? If she asked us nicely we could have gone together, why did they have to go and force us!?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Luke, she has her own problems.¡±

    ¡°But she¡¯s an arch bishop, or priestess, or whatever! It should be easy as cake for her to heal Risa, why didn¡¯t she!?¡±

    ¡°Listen, I know you¡¯re mad, but try to get on her shoes. If I was on her situation I may have done the same thing. Why do something when it brings me no benefit? Even more, she could have been in danger, after all it seemed as if you guys wanted to attack her.¡±

    .....

    ¡°That¡¯s precisely what I was trying to do, but those enforcers were really strong, there was nothing we could do to defend ourselves even when armed, now we don¡¯t even have our weapons.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they even took my warhammer.¡±

    ¡°By the way, what happened to Lea?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been in the forest all this time, it was difficult for us and she did her best to help us, but she was only a novice. In the end, those guys caught us by surprise and, of course, they took out the healer first.¡±

    ¡°Did they at least tell you why didn¡¯t they bring her over too?¡±

    ¡°It seems she was emunicated from the church, they didn¡¯t kill her but didn¡¯t help her either. She must be bleeding out somewhere.¡±

    Luke said with a surprisingly calm voice.

    ¡°Then we got to find her before it¡¯s toote.¡±

    Our new group consisted in a dual ss warrior archer, a warrior, a thief, a subus, an amarok and me, an F ss adventurer who used to wield a cursed sword with extraordinary powers, but now we¡¯re all unarmed. Risa¡¯s sword is still in the amarok saddle and I guess Bob would be the only one able to wield it properly, but hopefully we won¡¯t need to resort to violence.

    I have plenty of skills that would allow me to detect an enemy from afar and as long as Bob doesn¡¯t start yelling weird stuff, we should be able to get to Lea undetected.

    Luke led the way as he was used to, of course an archer would have been a better choice to move through the dense vegetation, but we couldn¡¯t afford to let Risa in the front position. After being healed such deep wounds, Bob, Luke and Risa were fatigued.

    Whenever someone received any sort of healing, the body consumed whatever energy it has, and it¡¯s necessary to rest a while. In Bob and Luke¡¯s case it wasn¡¯t as bad, even though they had gruesome looking wounds, as heroes they have an incredible endurance. But Risa¡¯s case was different, strong as she was, she spent a long time in the forest with her stumps only partially healed. To say it was a miracle her wounds didn¡¯t became infected wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration.

    ¡°Luke, are you sure you know where you¡¯re going?¡±

    ¡°Shut up Risa, I¡¯m doing my best¡±

    ¡°Wow, calm down dimwit, I¡¯m only saying that because I¡¯m sure we¡¯ve been here before. It seems to me we¡¯re going in circles.¡±

    Now that Risa pointed it out loud, It does seem like we¡¯ve been through here before. I wonder how is it possible that she noticed it, yet none of us did.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid, it¡¯s impossible for me to get lost, Lea should be over there somewhere¡±

    Luke sneered, but his confidence was quickly shattered once he looked at the ground and noticed the foot tracks on the ground. His face turned pale and he ced a hand over his eyes trying to hold back his tears, Luke is clearly off his game.

    ¡°I have an Idea, do you guys have something that belonged to Lea? anything?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t we lost most of our stuff while we were trying to survive in the woods, and the rest when the enforcers caught us.¡±

    Bob shrugged.

    ¡°Well then, I guess there¡¯s nothing to lose by trying. Hey Famine, can you smell any other human in this forest?¡±

    Famine turned to see me, but his tail was stiff pointing to the ground.

    ¡°I could be wrong, but it seems like a ¡®no¡¯ to me¡±

    Risa giggled. How can she keep her positive attitude even without hands, I knew she was a strong woman, but I didn¡¯t know just how strong her mind was. I don¡¯t know If I could ever be like that.

    Just as I was about to lose hope, something came out from my clothes. It was a dim light that floated around shyly.

    ¡°is that a fairy!?¡±

    Risa yelled in awe.

    ¡°Yeah, the goblins gave it to me to find their leader.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, the what now!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the goblins.¡±

    ¡°Are you for real!? did you side up with them?¡±

    Luke yelled angrily.

    ¡°Come on guys, why the sudden mood shift? what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Dude, the goblins tried to kill us so many times! They were the ones who caught Lea!¡±

    The silence of the forest was broken by the sudden movement of the bushes nearby and I could feel several presences getting closer.

    Less than a minute after we werepletely surrounded by green little creatures, one of them held a ss vial with a fairy inside. My own fairy went over there and poked at the jar with its head.

    Mypanions where left bbergasted, even more so when the goblins knelt in front of me and the one holding the jar spoke in a deep voice.

    ¡°Chieftain Ryu, we¡¯re d you made it. we need your help to find Bardun¡±

 Chapter 220 - 220 Pick up the scent, please! part 7

    220 Pick up the scent, please! part ¡°Long time no see, Grok!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, no time to talk, help us find Bardun.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯s precisely why I¡¯m here. I¡¯ll need you to give me all the information I need, but first, did you happen to run into a wounded human female by chance?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t run over her, I captured her. She tried to do something weird, she will be made a servant, but if you want her as wife I can give it to you¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not a thing you stupid mongrel!¡±

    Luke ced his hand on the side of his sash were his short sword was supposed to be, but there was nothing he could use as a weapon. Less than three seconds afterwards, Luke was pinned to the ground by several goblins who jumped on top of him trying to keep him from harming me or Grok, meanwhile I was facepalming at his hot headed behavior.

    ¡°Luke, can you just stay calm... seriously, these guys are friends¡±

    ¡°Mhmhm mh mhmh¡±

    ¡°Yes, they are better than the guys from the sacred empire¡±

    .....

    Bobughed at Luke¡¯s words. I have no idea how was he able to understand him though.

    Relieved after finding out that they did, in fact, take care of Lea¡¯s wounds and she was in good shape, we were taken to the goblin camp.

    Unfortunately for everyone, there was little to no food, almost no clean water and most of the goblins were tired or hurt.

    ¡°What happened here?¡±

    ¡°Beasts from the north went crazy, we have been fighting non stop for days.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you guys let them through then?¡±

    ¡°Impossible, Bardun¡¯smands were clear, we are to stop anything that tries to go south this camp.¡±

    ¡°What happened to him?¡±

    ¡°He went hunting for food, but nevere back!¡±

    Grok looked really troubled, I guess goblins can¡¯t function without a leader after all.

    ¡°That¡¯s terrible, how long has it been?¡±

    ¡°Twelve hours!¡±

    ¡°Hey Ryu, if it¡¯s only twelve hours it shouldn¡¯t be that bad...¡±

    Risa barged in, she waspletely fine with helping goblins after I exined everyone about my rtionship with goblins on the way to the camp.

    ¡°Not really miss Risa, goblins are pretty good hunters. They either win ande back or they lose and never return. If they¡¯rete to return, it can only mean he lost and is probably dead, you know.¡±

    Mia pointed out.

    ¡°Mia, please don¡¯t say bad things like that. I could agree with you if it was any other goblin, but Bardun is a lot more resourceful and doesn¡¯t fear thinking outside the box¡±

    The goblin camp consisted on many buildings on ground level, made entirely with sturdy monster parts, bones, skin, tails, even ws and fangs. It looked like a war camp, it was a heavy contrast with the goblin vige¡¯s peaceful aura.

    ¡°Grok, I need a building on the rooftops, make it look like the restaurant on the vige. Also, bring me the best ss bones, fangs and ws you have avable and don¡¯t forget the food.¡±

    ¡°Will you be cooking for us tonight?¡±

    A goblin in the crowd asked tantly.

    ¡°I will.¡±

    As I replied, a loud cheer was heard in the whole camp. They started jumping and high fiving in between them. Their exhaustion was exchanged into a wild celebration as they started to gather the materials for the building on the tree tops. The method was easy enough, but it took time to build, and in the meantime I readied myself to cook.

    The pile of ingredients the goblins presented to me was less than enough to feed the entire camp. To say it was enough even for only the humans present would be a stretch, but it was better than nothing.

    Six potatoes, a basket of mushrooms, two baskets of wild berries and a deer they hunted previously.

    ¡°Is this everything you have? did you eat things raw again?¡±

    ¡°This is everything we were able to get, we know better than to eat ingredients raw, of course we cooked them! but there¡¯s just not enough food around to sustain us¡±

    Grok snorted.

    ¡°But you said you have been fighting all this time, howe you don¡¯t even have enough meat¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m telling the truth. Beasts that act weird can¡¯t be consumed, they taste bad even when cooked and many goblins became sick after trying them. We lost most of our supplies trying to find a way to eat them properly¡±

    ¡°Can you show me one of these corpses please?¡±

    The goblin took me to a pile of dead beasts, they had already been skinned so I couldn¡¯t really recognize any of them, but there was something weird.

    Even though most corpses do have a bit of mana, the mana present in those was a lot stronger than it was supposed to be. It was so dense, it felt almost as if they were still alive.

    It wasn¡¯t until I used my identify skill that I got my answer.

    >Magical beast corpse

    ¡°These aren¡¯t regr beasts! they¡¯re magical beasts!¡±

    I said as I ran to wake up Luke who had fallen asleep waiting for the meal.

    ¡°Luke, do you know anything about magical beasts?¡±

    He opened his eyes abruptly after being woken up, but he had no answer to my question. I thought he may know something because he was always talking about his deep knowledge on fantasy worlds, but he said how things might be really different from what he knew and didn¡¯t dare say anything about them. Unfortunately for mypanions, this was an important matter that needed to be settled as soon as possible so I was forced to wake each of them up, however, the result was the same.

    No one knew a thing about magical beasts.

    Not wanting to risk getting sick after consuming bad meat, I had no choice but to give up and start cooking with what I had at hand, I boiled the potatoes and the berries separately. After pouring the juice that came out of the berries on several containers I mixed them with the potatoes and mashed them together.

    I cooked the mushrooms with the berry juice, then added the deer meat and made a soup.

    It was the most efficient way of sharing the meal with everyone. Even if it was only a little, every goblin got their share of the stew. Us, instead, had to share a slice of a breadlike cake that was the result of mixing the berries and potatoes, then cooking it up directly over the fire.

    It smelled delicious, but I was certain that it would be nowhere near enough to replenish our lost stamina, especially that of those who were healed by Helena.

    Then, someone I didn¡¯t expect, joined me in front of the fire following the delicious scent that came out from the campfire.

    ¡°Lea, I-¡±

    ¡°I heard you were asking about magical beasts, I¡¯ll answer all of your questions if you give me that piece of bread¡±

 Chapter 221 - 221 Find the goblin, please! part 1

    221 Find the goblin, please! part ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t do that¡±

    I shrugged as I took the freshly made loaf of whatever it was.

    ¡°Then, there¡¯s nothing else to talk about¡±

    Lea said as she turned her back to me, but after quickly slicing the bread I stopped her and handed a slice to her.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t enough for me to tell you anything, so why did you even bother in giving it to me?¡±

    ¡°I just wanted to say I¡¯m sorry for the way I treated you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, we were supposed to be enemies anyway. I don¡¯t think I would have done something like that, pushing a novice healer to cast heal on an near death patient is the cruelest thing you can do to someone, but after spending so much time with Bob and Luke in the forest I think I got it. You guyse from the bottom of the world and don¡¯t have anymon sense.¡±

    After walking a few steps Lea noticed I was walking towards the same direction I was, to make things less awkward I gave her some space and kept walking behind her.

    To my surprise, she was dividing her share and offering a piece to everyone.

    .....

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that, I made this for everybody, everyone gets a slice.¡±

    Lea looked dumbfounded as she looked at me sharing what little food we had, but for the rest of them it wasn¡¯t surprising. If this was a regr party only the strongest fighters would get a share, meanwhile the rest would need to hold on for as long as they could.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would share it with everyone, It seems like what I heard from the kingdom may not all be the truth.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that, Lea?¡±

    ¡°Father Stefan always said that people from the kingdom wouldn¡¯t hesitate to abandon theirpanions, are cheap with pay and don¡¯t treat all their members equally¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that sort of what he did to your otherpanion?¡±

    ¡°Things were different, we were on a sacred mission and it was expected of us to die in the line of duty.¡±

    Fearing I might say something that could be offensive to her, I simply let it go and enjoy my measly slice of bread. It¡¯s dry but fragrant, it¡¯s actually pretty nice if it wasn¡¯t so stiff.

    We simply sat next to each other and started eating our meal as we chatted about unimportant matters. It was tough for everyone to see how little food we had, but at least we had something.

    ¡°So, Ryu, I heard you¡¯re going out to look for this lost goblin, is that really necessary?¡±

    Risa inquired after finishing her piece of potato bread.

    ¡°It is necessary. Goblins had been good to me and, like I said before, I¡¯m technically their leader now. If we don¡¯t find Bardun, I may be stuck into this position for who knows how long.¡±

    ¡°A human being the goblin leader, it¡¯s just incredible. I wouldn¡¯t believe it if I didn¡¯t see it myself, they follow yourmands and now they¡¯re even building you a house.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not actually a house miss Risa. We need some time to prepare before going to look for Bardun. We need food, but for that we need weapons, and to make weapons we need a ce to work properly. Besides, having a nice ce to rest won¡¯t hurt.¡±

    ¡°This is heresy! how can you be helping those mindless beasts!¡±

    Lea scoffed at the same time she finished herst piece of food.

    ¡°First, it¡¯s not heresy because I don¡¯t share your beliefs, don¡¯t try to measure me with your own rules. Second, they¡¯re not mindless, they¡¯re capable of learning so fast It¡¯s amazing, andst, they¡¯re not beasts, they¡¯re just another race.¡±

    ¡°You just don¡¯t get it do you? The sacred empire has been holding off the beastkin attacks for a long time, we have suffered heavy casualties all this time and even...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to stop you right there Lea, are you sure you are still with the sacred empire? I heard from them that they emunicated you so there¡¯s nothing for you even if you return alive. Before judging them as evil beasts that need to be exterminated you should consider who hurt you and left you for dead and who healed you. If I were you I would reconsider my opinion on goblins and beasts, because right now, you belong to them and the only way out would be bing my wife.¡±

    My words seem to have struck Lea¡¯s core of beliefs, because she fell silent for a few seconds. She seemed to be struggling but the next words that left her lips were nothing I could have expected.

    ¡°You wanted to know about magical beasts, right? Magical beasts are not the same as regr beasts, that¡¯s obvious, but the difference goes beyond what can be seen with the naked eye. They are filled with mana and consuming them is impossible for humans and beasts alike. Only magical beasts can feed upon them. Besides that, they¡¯re hard to kill and can cast skills or even magic, hence their name.¡±

    ¡°Then what use is killing them? even if we go out to find your goblin friend, we might not find any food.¡±

    Luke, who was exhausted after being healed, was disheartened by Lea¡¯s words, but things were different to me. I already knew they were filled with mana and that they can¡¯t be consumed, but, isn¡¯t Famine a magical beast too? I bet he can be a lot stronger and having him fight magical beasts can both reduce the amount of food we need to gather and help him be stronger.

    Now that I think about it, the so called goddess told me she was being kept prisoner inside the obelisk. I may be able to gather information from Lea, but I need to find a proper way to ask without giving her any information about myself.

    ¡°Tell me something, what is the obelisk and why was there a war for its control?¡±

    ¡°I only know what they taught me in school, the obelisk is the core of our kingdom and we need to protect it from the heathens. It¡¯s also filled with all sorts of magical beasts and we often use it to train or gather rare materials. Magical beasts are way stronger than regr beasts and their parts can be crafted into powerful equipment, if you add some elemental stones or crystals you may also get an enchanted item.¡±

    Enchanted items!? Now we¡¯re talking!

 Chapter 222 - 222 Find the goblin, please! part 2

    222 Find the goblin, please! part At dawn break we were still chatting. Lea held a lot of valuable information for us even though she didn¡¯t know.

    At first she was reluctant to talk, but once she started there was no stopping her.

    She told us many things about different beasts and about the sacred empire. It did seem like a nice ce to visit during peaceful times, but right now they were waging war against the feral beast kin that lived in the wastnds to the east. The people from the sacred empire were under constant attack and even the routes weren¡¯t safe to travel.

    Of course they wouldn¡¯t stand idle and let it happen, they actively hunted for any non human race and enved them. Instead of taming creatures with patience, love and a lot of food, they simply crafted ve cors that would either torture or kill the bearers if they refused to followmands.

    They even had several facilities to train ves for different purposes and, what horrified me the most, they had breeding grounds.

    So yeah, that¡¯s not a ce I¡¯d like to visit after all.

    Since the tform and the elevator were ready and the only thing left to finish building was the house, we climbed over there and started making the most out of daylight.

    Bob remained on ground level gathering different types of resources and helping goblins in tasks that required heavy lifting, Luke helped me in the crafting process while Mia brushed the amarok¡¯s fur. He was a messy eater and we couldn¡¯t keep riding him all covered in blood and entrails.

    The goblins helped us lift all the materials they had gathered so far and, despite having taught them how to butcher creatures and get the most out of them, they weren¡¯t nearly as skilled as a proper butcher. Still, we got a few nice thigh bones, fangs and ws. Leather was mostly useless because it needed to be tanned first, but I did cut some strings to use as rope.

    .....

    Thanks to Luke¡¯s help we finished a few weapons in about an hour, none of them were too great and would hardly qualify as spares, but as time passed we got better in working together.

    Unfortunately, because of theck of materials, we were capable of crafting just three spears, a bone short sword and Risa¡¯s new weapon.

    Lorenzo once taught me about an ancient weapon used by assassins called qatar, I¡¯ve never seen it but the concept was easy enough to replicate. It¡¯s just a concealed weapon strapped onto someone¡¯s forearm, sharp enough to slice someone¡¯s throat and dripping with poison.

    Of course we skipped the poison, especially because we didn¡¯t know if Risa would actually be able to wield it properly and we wanted to avoid her poisoning herself by mistake. However, she was really happy with the result and thanked us profusely, especially me. She, again, hinted that I could do whatever I wanted with her, only this time she added that she promised not to p me in the face even if I grabbed her but.

    It was both funny and sad in equal measure, but Iughed it off anyway since we really needed a boost in our morale.

    Lea and Mia would be helpless inbat which is why we decided to leave them behind and provide support in the camp.

    Just like that, we were almost ready, all we needed now was to craft a weapon for me. I was more than happy to lend Bob my staff since he would probably be a lot better with blunt weapons than I am.

    I took a couple of branches from the mana tree, they were what came off from the branch when I made the staff. They were flexible and pointy, but mostly straight. After observing them for a couple minutes an Idea crossed my mind, what if I was able to pour mana into them just like I did with the staff, but then instead of thinking on casting mes through my hands I focused on doing so through the wand?

    As always, I fist expelled some mana from my body and the small branch soaked it all up, but since it was a lot smaller than the staff it was filled within the minute.

    Then I pointed it towards a tree and attempted to release mana from the wand, but it was impossible. It didn¡¯t feel like a part of my body so I couldn¡¯t actually control the mana within it. Thinking I had wasted so much mana in a pointless endeavor got me down, but it was a possibility worth exploring.

    Just as i was about to surrender, I thought it would be funny to wave it in the air and imitate what Bob used to do all the time.

    ¡°Fire bolt!¡±

    Although I said fire bolt, I actually thought of the regr mes I always conjure. I fell on my butt as mes came out of the stick with incredible power. I couldn¡¯t even tell how far the fire spread, because as soon as I was startled by its power, I lost focus and the mes stopped.

    ¡°Hey Bob!e up here!¡±

    I shout from the tform. He¡¯s carrying some logs that were needed to build the house on the tree top so he jumped into the elevator. Since the load was so heavy and Bob himself weighted a good deal, the goblins operating the lift had trouble lifting him up.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the pulleys it would have been an impossible task. I looked at the poor creatures spinning the gear with all their might with pity, it took them a good ten minutes to get him up top and in the end they were leftpletely spent.

    ¡°I have something for you, Bob, but I don¡¯t want to get your hopes up only to be disappointed afterwards, so please give it a try first.¡±

    I handed Bob the stick and he looked at it confounded for a few seconds.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? is this a wand? did you make a wand!? is it a magical wand!? is it!?¡±

    Bob was brimming with joy and he hopped like a kid with a new toy. His hands were sorge the stick looked weird in his hand, but he pinched it carefully with his index and thumb and then flicked it.

    ¡°Fire bolt!¡±

    A small projectile, made entirely out of fire, was shot from the wand. It was so fast I was almost unable to follow it with my eyes and it pierced through the leafy treetops with ease until it seemingly dissolved.

    Is that what real magic is supposed to look like?

    I couldn¡¯t believe my own eyes.

 Chapter 223 - 223 Find the goblin, please! part 3

    223 Find the goblin, please! part After preparing our equipment carefully, we set off in an adventure that would most definitely change the course of our lives.

    It was an important mission for different reasons.

    I needed to find Bardun so I could give up on my role as leader. I can¡¯t actually believe Lea would say goblin were mindless creatures, because it seems like Bardun yed me like a fiddle, so what does it say about me? I bet he always knew this wasn¡¯t a simple matter and he wanted me to keep the vige safe.

    Bob needed to get some food, he received an important internal injury that, when healed, consumed most of his energy. Sadly, because of hisck of energy, no amount of resting would replenish his stamina and all his stats had been halved already. They all say that adventurers are so strong and regr people are often envious of their endurance, but having more power also means a bigger upkeep. I don¡¯t even want to think on how much food does Bob need to consume to recharge his lost energy, but I bet it¡¯s not as simple as a regr meal.

    Luke was hungry too, but more than that, he just wanted to vent out his frustrations. Risa was hurt and he could do nothing to help her, they long time in the woods and because of his ipetence andck of skills he couldn¡¯t lead them back to safety. But more than anything, he felt so betrayed by Helena that he could barely think straight. I know him, he¡¯s always been hot headed, but this is something different. It feels simr to when he speaks about Ayumi or Hiraku, he seems angry on the outside, but what he feels is closer to sadness.

    And then there¡¯s Risa, who was the highest ranking adventurer on her team but was powerless against the enemy and was left maimed and powerless. Not only that, but she was also betrayed by someone she deemed as a close friend. All Risa needs now is a win, even if it¡¯s a small one.

    After setting foot outside the camp we immediately understood what did goblins mean by constantly fighting for their lives. There were several corpses of beasts and goblins alike, all scattered across the battlefield.

    Even though goblins had be a lot stronger than they used to be, thanks to the use of better weapons and properly cooked food, it looked like magical beasts were a lot stronger than what I initially thought.

    The scene in front of us was gruesome, to say the least, even those who not long ago considered goblins to be nothing but beasts feltpassion for those who fell fighting the magical beasts. For me, instead, it was looking at the faces of fellow townsmen. I spent a long time living among them and I knew some of their faces. I could feel a pinch on my heart everytime I looked at them, but I endured and kept myself from shedding tears, we are on a mission and I can¡¯t afford my emotions to best me.

    .....

    As we walked through what seemed to be a wide open wastnd my hopes of finding Bardun alive diminished. There¡¯s no good reason why he hasn¡¯t returned yet, unless he¡¯s dead of course.

    Goblins were efficient hunters, mostly because they never cared to butcher creatures since they couldn¡¯t feed on them before they learned how to cook and barely took whatever they thought could be helpful in the short run. This also meant they would go, kill the beast, and return to their vige as soon as they could.

    There¡¯s only one thing that makes me think that he may still be alive, most goblins don¡¯t have any weapons on them. Beasts never loot their prey, they eat them whole, why would there be so many goblin corpses and so few weaponsying around?

    It can only mean that either the survivors picked them up or they were looted by enemies, most probably humans.

    ¡°Famine, you can feed on any beast corpse you find, but don¡¯t dare eat the goblins, understood?¡±

    Famine wagged his tail as drool started dripping from his open maw and he ran all over the ce looking for something to feast on. This time I only brought Famine and the wurm hatchling with me, Mochi and Mia are both useless inbat and the wurm seems too attached to me to leave it behind.

    ¡°Hey Ryu, there¡¯s something over there¡±

    Luke pointed out north, towards the grassy grounds. I couldn¡¯t see anything special and neither sense presence or mana sense alerted me of anything, but we headed over there anyway.

    Much to my surprise, what Luke was signalling wasn¡¯t a living being, but a human corpse. He waspletely naked so we couldn¡¯t really tell if he was from the empire or the kingdom, what we did notice was that he must have definitely been someone strong. He was covered in small wounds and there were several knives still jabbed into his body, after closer inspection we noticed the blood trail that came from a different direction from which we came from.

    ¡°Do you think goblins did this?¡±

    Bob, who used to feel sick after seeing a human corpse, asked with a now stern face.

    ¡°I know they did, look at that small wounds. I¡¯ve seen stuff like this many times, since goblins are so weak they need tond multiple hits to defeat a single opponent. Though there is something weird...¡±

    Risa said crouching in front of the corpse as if trying to figure something out.

    ¡°The boots,¡± I say in a muffled voice. ¡°Goblins have no use for human¡¯s boots. They can tear apart a scale mail or even a breastte and use it as armor themselves, they also take weapons with them even if they¡¯re too big for them to wield, but boots and gloves have no use to them. Besides, there¡¯s no reason for goblins to attack humans this far from their camp.¡±

    ¡°My gut is telling me this guy is from the sacred empire.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say that Luke?¡±

    Risa was intrigued.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just say it was my gut!¡±

    As they engaged in their typical bickering, I noticed something. If, as I suspect, he was looted by humans, it would make sense why there aren¡¯t any goblin corpses near this human. He must have been badly wounded and attempted to reunite with hisrades, only to fall due to blood loss. The long trail of blood suggest this might be the correct answer.

    After signalling everyone to remain silent I take the lead and we walk north until all my suspicions became a reality. But just as always, things weren¡¯t so simple as I initially thought them to be.

    There was a human camp and, three carts on its outskirts, each one pulled by a couple of pseudo dragons. There were cages in the carts and within the camp, but as far as I could tell they were all empty.

    ¡°These people seem to be one of those beast hunters Helena told us about earlier.¡±

 Chapter 224 - 224 Find the goblin, please! part 4

    224 Find the goblin, please! part ¡°There¡¯s no ce to hide, as soon as we get near them we will be noticed instantly. How many people do you think they have?¡±

    Luke said in a whisper as we all lied t on the ground. I closed my eyes and focused my sense presence skill on that particr direction. I could feel too many different presences, but there was no way of telling them apart because we were still too far away. Sense presence works best in enclosed spaces, where you don¡¯t have a visual but the enemies are close.

    I couldn¡¯t tell much about the camp but one thing I knew for sure, our numbers were sufficient to raid the ce.

    ¡°There¡¯s too many of them, I don¡¯t know how many are enemies and how many are allies, but since their goal is to capture different people and creatures there¡¯s no telling how strong they are.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Ryu is probably right. That¡¯s a regr sized camp, it could be as few as a dozen people and as many as fifty guarding the ce, but there¡¯s no way they¡¯re fewer than us. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, I don¡¯t think an average adventurer can pull enough resources for something like that. My best guess is they have at least one or two A rank adventurers.¡±

    Risa boasted her vast experience as an adventurer as she to lied t on the ground, but given her womanly figure she was a bit above our level.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the n leader?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, even if we went in there during the night, we would have to let time pass and that means we¡¯ll be even hungrier and if we¡¯re going to fight we¡¯ll need to be in top shape. To be honest, I¡¯m not confident in being able to win.¡±

    I do have a few aces up my sleeve, but I can¡¯t really count with Famine right now. Despite being an obedient pet, he¡¯s prone to losing control after seeing food in front of himself. We could rely on Bob to make a distraction using his wand, but we don¡¯t know how long will its chargest or even if it¡¯s powerful enough to kill a man in a single blow.

    .....

    ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the forest, I think our priority for now will be to gather enough food to eat properly. I¡¯ll ask the goblins to keep an eye on this camp without being noticed, so we should be able to know if they make any sudden movement.¡±

    I really hope it¡¯s not my hunger driving me to make an awful decision. Bardun¡¯s life could be in danger, but there¡¯s really nothing we can do for him.

    Famine was waiting in the rim of the forest and as soon as we got close to him he started wagging his tail joyfully.

    ¡°Good boy! Looks like you have a full belly now! Hey, do you think you could find something for us to hunt? something like a trapjaw boar would be fine.¡±

    I say as I pat Famine on his thick fur.

    ¡°Do you really believe he understands what you¡¯re saying?¡±

    Luke scratched his head awkwardly.

    ¡°At first I had my doubts too, especially since my first pet was Mochi. It took me a while to find out that he did, in fact, always understood what I said and simply ignored mymands. Famine is a lot different, he had always been obedient, except when there¡¯s food in between...¡±

    I sent a scolding nce towards the amarok who lowered his gaze and tugged his tail in between his hind legs.

    ¡°He¡¯s so cute, don¡¯t you guys think so?¡±

    I looked back only to realize they¡¯ve been keeping distance from Famine all this time.

    ¡°Listen Ryu, at first I thought he looked stupid, but now, how to put it, he looks really dangerous. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s the same dog that used to follow you around all the time.¡±

    We spent the following hours tracking down different animals south of the goblin¡¯s camp. If the beasts are behaving in a strange way up north, we may have better chances of finding edible beasts in the south.

    Finding trapjaw boars was easy enough and hunting them down wasn¡¯t much of a challenge either. It seemed like Famine was really good at finding prey, but it wasn¡¯t really like that. I was able to notice something that would have passed above my head if not for the many wounds on the boars Famine took us to. These were the same boars we fought before!

    This meant that Famine wasn¡¯t necessarily relying on his smell to find prey and it could actually be rted to magic. He must have somehow marked them making it easy for him to return to hunt them downter.

    That also exins how Famine was able to take me towards Anne when she was fighting to save Sera, despite the huge distance that separated us.

    I asked Bob to keep himself from using magic too much and use it as ast resource since I couldn¡¯t afford spending mana I wasn¡¯t able to replenish by myself, but despite my warnings Bob would sometimes shoot fire bolts at the boars. Thanks to Famine¡¯s ability to find prey we caught all the trapjaw boars that ran awayst time and I noticed by his behavior that he was expecting to get a share of the game, but we were in desperate need for food right now and there was nothing to spare.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a glutton like Mochi, you already ate so many magical beast corpses, don¡¯t you think we deserve a little food too?¡±

    Famine let out a muffled wail as heid t on the ground covering his eyes with his paws.

    ¡°He¡¯s acting like a total drama queen now!¡±

    Luke pointed out, but the huge beast didn¡¯t take it as a joke and growled at the young thief who took a few steps back cowering in fear.

    Bringing them back was a challenge and it wasn¡¯t until we were already near the goblin camp that they came to haul them inside.

    ¡°If only Mia had packed at least a couple weeks worth of provisions it would have made things a lot easier.¡±

    Iined right before the entrance of the goblin camp.

    ¡°Why are you always pouting for this and that? we¡¯re all alive and kicking, you¡¯re starting to sound just like mister eunuch here.¡±

    Risa joked.

    ¡°Who are you calling eunuch? I¡¯m not the one missing body parts.¡±

    Just like that, a new fuzz was started. I can¡¯t believe how cruel can Luke be towards Risa. Despite not showing anything on her face, I bet she¡¯s really scared to be crippled like that forever.

    I went ahead and ignored them as I started butchering our game in front of the goblins, teaching them the proper technique again. They tried to put their hands to work and were desperate to do something, but since I was their leader none of them dared to go against mymand and watched in silence.

    After hanging the boars and dripping their blood I realized something. The reason why this process is necessary is so that the blood doesn¡¯t spoil the meat, it would be nice if something simr could be done with the magical beasts. Perhaps there is a way of draining the mana out of the corpses, but I can¡¯t try it out because the corpses the goblins had gathered had been dead for a day at least.

    It would exin why magical beasts can feed on other magical beasts, but regr beasts can¡¯t, thinking about this I set my next goal.

    I¡¯m going to hunt a magical beast.

 Chapter 225 - 225 Find the goblin, please! part 5

    225 Find the goblin, please! part The next day we woke uppletely refreshed after being able to eat to our heart¡¯s content.

    It could be said It was a poor decision on my side to distribute everything yesterday and leave only enough tost us until today¡¯s breakfast, but it¡¯s not the case. What good is it having provisions that wouldst us a little more than a day if we were to find an untimely death because of being too weak to defend ourselves? We also needed the goblins to recover as much strength as possible in case we needed some reinforcements.

    We set off from the camp again, but this time we moved faster and our mood had improved by leaps and bounds. Just as I thought, food is so important for morale that even if we could survive without food, it would probably drive us crazy.

    It still amazes me how most people and adventurers alike don¡¯t see the importance on proper eating.

    Nutrients turn into energy, and energy bes mana, stamina and health. It doesn¡¯t matter how strong someone is, if they don¡¯t eat, they won¡¯t replenish their energy and they would be left in a tough spot. That¡¯s precisely our case right now, even Bob and Luke who have stats that surpass that of regr humans, if they don¡¯t eat properly they¡¯re not able to draw their full potential.

    Our party is basically the same as yesterday, with the sole difference that I asked the amarok to wait for us back at the goblin camp. Not only was it poorly defended and open to attacks, but also keeping the amarok under control would only bring me more stress than I could handle, and to make things worse, there is a beast hunting camp nearby. They might not try to kill Famine, but if they deem him to be too valuable they could attempt to steal it from me, risking our lives unnecessarily.

    Just walking side by side with Luke and Risa fighting all the time was stressful enough for me, I didn¡¯t need to add any more worries to this mission.

    ¡°How are we going to find any magic beast? do you have a n or something?¡±

    Luke asked in an umon good mood. His voicecked the usual sarcastic tone I was already used to, it must be the joy of having a full belly after being forced to eat nothing but scraps for a long time.

    .....

    ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to be the ones finding them, on the contrary. All we need to do is keep walking and chatting like we¡¯re doing right now and we will eventually be found by something that see us as food.¡±

    ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t work? do you have another n?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, what do you take me for? I¡¯m just an F ranker adventurer!¡±

    Risa giggled at my remark as if I had said something funny when in fact I just pointed out the truth. Of course I¡¯m a lot stronger than what I used to be, but after losing my cursed sword I don¡¯t think my stats alone can be a match for anyone in this group and the only reason I was able to beat someone like Lorenzo was thanks to him being really tired, hungry and the fact that he didn¡¯t know I was able to cast magic.

    The wastnd caused by the constant battles north of the forest soon bes grassy fields that seem to be a part from paradise. Thendscape is truly beautiful, but itcks the variety of my beloved southern woods.

    This is just grass and the asional herb. Without even taking the time to identify them, I pick them up by force of habit, although none of them seem familiar to me.

    ¡°Hang on! There¡¯s something moving slowly over there.¡±

    Bob ced his heavy hand on my chest, stopping me in my ce and also hurting me a little to he warn us of the danger ahead. There¡¯s a strange creature in front of us, it looks like a beetle with a sword-like horn on top of its head. If it wasn¡¯t for that particr part of its body it would look almost like a rock in the distance.

    As we got closer to them Bob pleaded to be the one initiating the fight. He made a point by stating that he was the only one who could attack from afar and it would allow us to asses the level of threat and be able to run away if the beetle was either too fast or too strong.

    We actually had little choice in the matter, especially after taking into ount that the beast was too far from us to use consider on it so we have no idea what¡¯s its name or power level. It could be a measly F rank beast or an overpowered A rank magical beast, we had no way of knowing.

    After agreeing on a basic strategy in case the beast turned out to be too much for us to handle, Bob waved his wand in the air in the mostical disy I ever seen him make as he shouted the magic words.

    ¡°Ice bolt!¡±

    ¡°Hey that¡¯s not how it works...¡±

    I manage to mutter before the air condensed on the tip of the wand forming something simr to a pointed stick made entirely of ice and it flew directly towards the beetle stabbing it right on the hard shell.

    The beetle attempted to take flight, but only one of his wings was avable as the other one was jammed thanks to Bob¡¯s ice bolt. it looked as if the beetle waspletely defenseless, but we weren¡¯t as naive as to think that just because it was hurt the beast was done. It was actually when beasts were hurt that they fought harder.

    Bob looked to me as if asking for permission, but I actually had no idea of what was he going to do. How was it possible for him to cast ice magic? I¡¯ve tried to do so for a long time just to be able to preserve my food, but I¡¯ve had no sess. I can only cast fire and earth magic, and now he simply goes and casts ice magic like it¡¯s nothing.

    ¡°Zap!¡±

    The beetle was shocked in its ce and fell limp to the ground.

    >Samson beetle (paralyzed) (?)

    Thanks to mana sense I knew there was still some mana flow inside it, but I let Bob perform thest hit since it was he who did all the job. And that¡¯s when things became really weird.

    As soon as the beast died a part of its mana flowed towards Bob¡¯s wand. I took my staff and poked at the carcass.

    The same thing happened, it wasn¡¯t nearly enough to fill it, but it was a nice discovery nheless, not just because it would help recharge our magical weapons but also because it was a way of draining the mana from corpses to make the meat edible.

    I shared my discovery with the rest of the group but none of them seemed to be excited about it. Not even Bob, who was the one who benefited the most out of it.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t see the appeal on eating insects. I would do it if I was starving, but only as ast resort¡±

    Risa said apologetically after looking at the dead beast.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be dumb guys! I don¡¯t mean we should eat this thing, but we could hunt something different and repeat the process!¡±

    ¡°Oh! that would be so nice, I really hope we find some magical sheep or goats.¡±

    Luke said tapping on his belly.

    I must say, going on adventure with this guys takes me back to the time we were all inexperienced and would make all sorts of mistakes, but instead of nostalgia I think I¡¯m getting gastritis.

 Chapter 226 - 226 Find the goblin, please! part 6

    226 Find the goblin, please! part We decided to haul the corpse back to the camp and craft something with it, anything that could be of any help. But it turned out to be pointless because as soon as Bob grabbed it, it disintegrated into a pile of dust.

    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this Bob? what did you do?¡±

    Luke jumped to the conclusion that it must have been Bob the one who did something wrong, but I was paying close attention and he did nothing.

    ¡°Calm down Luke, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s his fault. It looks like after the corpse was drained of its mana it¡¯s stability was so low it simply disintegrated and there¡¯s nothing Bob could have done to avoid it.¡±

    Bob was still shaken up by the strange phenomenon and held on to the tiniest part of the beetle¡¯s paw that was left in his hand.

    ¡°So, now we don¡¯t have a corpse what should we do? should we keep hunting for something to eat?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that would be efficient, now we know that we most likely won¡¯t be able to eat magical beasts even after draining their mana and we¡¯re at our best right now, even Bob¡¯s wand is recharged, so I think it¡¯d be better if we went to the human camp. Not going now feels like a wasted opportunity.¡±

    This idea is as good as any and I don¡¯t see how letting time pass would make our task any easier. Luke and Bob couldn¡¯t hide their excitement, none of us knew what to expect but they were brimming with energy and eager to prove their worth.

    We set off to the same location we visited the day before, this time being cautious to avoid getting caught mid way. This time, our approach is a little different thanst time.

    .....

    After chatting with the goblin scout that remained in ce taking note of the human¡¯s behavior we found out our first guess had been correct.

    They belonged to the sacred empire and were hunting for demi-humans and beasts. The goblin informed us that despiteing and going constantly to and from their camp, they don¡¯t seem to be too sessful and most of their trips ended up in failure.

    This could be the reason why they resorted to hunting goblins, because it¡¯s apparent that they have a low value at the beast market, it¡¯s a good thing because we might be able to avoid violence altogether.

    Since Luke is the sneakiest of us all and the fastest too, he¡¯s going to remain hidden outside the camp while I the rest of us go into the camp. Bob and Risa will try to pass as my bodyguards, while I pretend to be a young master with a lot of money.

    One by one we pile together all our funds, thankfully I still have the two mithril coins I got at Quarrydew. Since the rest of the group also got a mithril coin, we ended up putting together a decent amount of money, but Luke refused to give away his coin iming he had misced it.

    Just as I was about to grab the purse, a short snake like creature slithered out from my sleeve and gobbled up a mithril coin before I could even react. The wurm simply bit on it and swallowed it whole, leaving us in awe.

    After its misdeed, the wurm hatchling slitheredpletely out from my sleeve and, right then and there, before our dazzled eyes, it grewrger at a speed visible to the naked eye. It wasn¡¯t so much that it didn¡¯t fit in my sleeve anymore, but it was way longer than it used to be.

    >Wurm (healthy)

    ¡°Your freaking snake just ate a mithril coin! keep your pets under control Ryu!¡±

    Lukeined in a loud voice, earning him a re from all of us.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know it would do something like that, I¡¯m just as surprised as the rest of you. Besides, you didn¡¯t even contribute so stopining and get a hold of yourself, if it wasn¡¯t for my pets we wouldn¡¯t even be here right now.¡±

    My words had the desired effect and Luke fell silent soon afterwards.

    I would have preferred if Luke was the one pretending to be the young master, he¡¯s always acting proud and entitled, he also looks the part and I too can remain hidden. I bet he would do a better job than me, but apparently Risa got too excited to be my bodyguard and there was no changing her mind.

    Two hours before sunset I stepped out of my cover and walked along with my two bodyguards towards the human camp. Just as Luke had predicted, they noticed our presence immediately but didn¡¯t seem to be rmed in the slightest.

    A hundred meters or so before we reached their territory, two armed men came out to greet us.

    One was clearly from the sacred empire, while the other seemed to be from the kingdom. I couldn¡¯t use my consider skill without it triggering some random effects that might not go unnoticed, so I relied on what I was able to see to gather information.

    The man from the sacred empire had a spiked mace and a dagger on his sash, the other had a short spear and a bronze looking sword. Their weapons weren¡¯t concealed but they didn¡¯t draw them.

    ¡°Bless you on this beautiful day travelers, my name is Liu and this is my business partner, Maximus.¡±

    ¡°Good evening to you, My name is Ryu and these are my... bodyguards, Bob and Risa. We¡¯ve been traveling for a while now.¡±

    ¡°I can see that, you do look weary. Feel free to enter our guest¡¯s tent and rest for a while, you are also wee to browse our wares.¡±

    Maximus led us to a cozy tent that lookedpletely different from what I expected. There were several carpets in the ground, covering the ce entirely, the ce was also modestly furnished. He took his shoes before entering and, of course, we did the same. We didn¡¯t want to offend our hosts, but it seemed like it was a wrong move on my part.

    When Liu watched me take off my shoes he snickered and left the ce with a disappointed expression on his face. I¡¯m so stupid sometimes, of course a wealthy young master wouldn¡¯t have the courtesy of taking off his shoes before entering a dusty tent in the middle of nowhere.

    Thinking on a way to redeem myself I hurriedly turn towards Risa.

    ¡°You, don¡¯t ck off and do your job already, I¡¯m tired and my feet could use a good washing.¡±

    I said looking at her before realizing a critical mistake, she doesn¡¯t have hands. I went from stupid to idiotic.

    What¡¯s happening to me?

    Far from getting offended, Risa put on a smirk on her face and looked at Bob.

    ¡°I apologize master, but I can¡¯t serve you properly right now, why don¡¯t you let Bob do it this time?¡±

    Bob and I exchanged an awkward gaze, but after a couple seconds he simply shrugged and crouched down in front of me. I cringed at the feeling of his huge rough hands on my feet, but after a few seconds to adjust to the feeling I must admit it felt really good.

    Despite his rough appearance and huge frame, his touch was actually soft and gentle. When shivers started running through my back I snapped, this is probably enough.

    I felt like I needed to thank Bob for the massage, he took his pretend job seriously and was very considerate, but being the young master I¡¯m supposed to be I simply shook him off and stood up.

    There was a small table with a jar of wine on top, I poured a cup for me and then passed it to Risa who received it merrily and took a long sip, leaving nothing but a drop for the thirsty Bob.

    He looked at her with a pitiful expression, but Risa made a shrug and then winked at him.

    After resting for a while in silence, I realized I didn¡¯t feel any hostilitying from Maximus who was still inside the tent. It was strange not feeling threatened considering how well equipped he was and the possibility of being ambushed at any moment.

    Despite my distrust, sense presence showed that even the people outside the tent behaved normally. They would go look for water, wash clothes, eat or just perform chores.

    After making sure this wasn¡¯t a trap or something of the sorts I stood up.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready now, take me to the merchandise.¡±

 Chapter 227 - 227 Donéˆ¥æª› waste time, please! part 1

    227 Don¡¯t waste time, please! part ¡°This way please.¡±

    Just like that, he took me to another tent where they had a lot of cages, most of which were covered with nkets. The stenching out of them was almost unbearable, that must be the reason why they¡¯re burning incense inside the tent. There were a few uncovered cages containing mostly beasts, but there were a few people wearing thin iron cors too.

    Not a minute had passed when I heard an anguished scream. It wasn¡¯t a word, but it carried the same meaning as if the person screaming was begging for help in the most desperate way.

    A loud pping sound was heard right afterwards and the shout became muffled until it disappeared into the vast cloth tent.

    To say hearing that scream was unsettling would be an understatement, but nothing could prepare me for what came after that, when I found the source of the call for help.

    Right in between two cages, in a ce where the light of themps barely reached, I saw a man with his pants down clutching on to the head of a crouching younger female amidst gurgling noises. Her wide open eyes and dted pupils were just like a leaking faucet shedding an incredible amount of tears, presenting the most horrible sight.

    For just a fraction of a second I could have sworn that she looked straight into my eye, as if looking for hope in whatever form it could take, only to be disappointed and helpless again.

    She struggled as best as she could, pping her arms in the air, but she didn¡¯t attempt to fight back or harm her attacker in any way. All she could do was try to growl intermittently in between breaths.

    ¡°You! stop right there!¡±

    .....

    I yell without even thinking about the consequences, but Maximus limits himself to tap me on the shoulder.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, It¡¯spletely safe, she¡¯s wearing a ve cor and there¡¯s no way she can possibly harm anyone.¡±

    He then exins, probably thinking that I was worried for the man. The young soldier looked back exuding anger, but after recognizing Maximus he quickly lifted his pants and apologized.

    The young a young female was finally able to breathe normally and tried to regainposure, she seemed to be apletely normal human being, there was nothing off with her except for her very distinctive eyes. Her pupils were vertical.

    I try to remain as calm as possible, to avoid getting into a disadvantageous situation, but it is so hard when they make it hating them so easy.

    I get close to the poor girl, only to stop in my tracks when she cowered back into her cage. She seemed to be in terror, and I can¡¯t really me her, not after what she went through just now. I wish there was a way tofort her, but right now I need to find Bardun.

    And, just when I was thinking on how could I possibly find him among all these cages, I look at the cage next to the beast kin woman. There was a huge goblin standing up proud with a wide grin on his face. He was hurt and probably barely conscious because he didn¡¯t seem to notice my presence, but he was still standing.

    Bardun really looked fearsome, not just that, he was taller than thest time I saw him. I bet he became stronger after fighting all this time.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t this goblin look odd?¡±

    I ask trying not to appear too interested.

    ¡°Oh, yes! this is the first time we encounter a goblin so strong. I bet someone of your position surely know that goblins fight in numbers, well, this one came to me all by himself after I challenged him to singlebat, and he fought fair if you can believe it!¡±

    Maximus exims amusingly. Of course he did, goblins are proud warriors after all.

    ¡°Did you fight alone?¡±

    ¡°I tried, but one of mypanions shoot him from behind.¡±

    Just when I was about to burst in anger I noticed how troubled he looked after he said those words. It looked like his own pride was hurt too.

    ¡°I take it¡±

    ¡°Just like that? no bargain? I thought you came from the south where people love their haggle skill. And here I was getting ready to waste an hour or even more negotiating.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    I say trying to prompt him to answer quickly.

    ¡°I actually don¡¯t really know the price. This goblin is highly unusual ... I don¡¯t know. We¡¯re actually new to this line of business, let me discuss it with my partner.¡±

    Maximus went out the tent, but as soon as I heard him set foot outside I heard a cheer of joy. I would haveughed if I wasn¡¯t in high alert because of the possible danger that could befall to us at any moment.

    After a few minutes Maximus came back with Liu, they both held their best poker faces but it was toote, I already knew how to negotiate this deal.

    Money itself means nothing, it¡¯s just a concept of wealth that has no actual value. What good was having money for the people in Ironwoods when food became scarce? what good is money when you don¡¯t spend it?

    Those were my thoughts when I handed them a mithril coin. I didn¡¯t even wait for them to ask for a price, I simply handed them the money. The stare of both my party members and the beast traders looked simr, but while theter were in awe at the prospect of earning a lot of money, the former were thinking I offered too much.

    ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry, mister, no sir client, but- but we don¡¯t have any money to give you change.¡±

    Not ustomed to handling that kind of money Maximus started bbering non stop, Liu was a lot moreposed but you could see it in his eyes that he was just as ecstatic as his partner.

    ¡°Then, how about this, instead of giving me change you give me the beast woman too and anything else until it reaches my money¡¯s worth.¡±

    Liu seemed to ponder what to answer for a few seconds and then he sighed.

    ¡°Actually, you can take the beast kin woman, she killed one of our men and it¡¯s our tradition that she should atone for her sins first and then get tortured to death.¡±

    Thinking on what would Luke say made my stomach churn, but it may as well be the only way of freeing her.

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m ying games? I want that woman, if my money is not good here I can always go check another shop. I could even head to the sacred empire.¡±

    I sneered in the most annoying tone of voice I could muster.

 Chapter 228 - 228 Donéˆ¥æª› waste time, please! part 2

    228 Don¡¯t waste time, please! part ¡°You could do that, mister client, but I assure you our prices will be a lot cheaper. Take this goblin for example, something like this is hard to capture, but even harder to keep in check. It was impossible for us to perform the ve cor ritual on it and we¡¯re currently starving it to make it weaker. It¡¯s highly possible that it doesn¡¯t survive the whole process, so it¡¯s better for us to simply sell it to you at a discounted price. In here, your mithril will buy you most of our wares, but once we get to the sacred empire I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t even be able to buy more than a couple beast kin.¡±

    It means that a beast kin¡¯s price is considered to be something around fifty gold coins, I remember back at Ironwoods they sold people for silver coins. I wonder if it¡¯s the ve cor what drives the price so high.

    ¡°Fine, then I¡¯m just leaving.¡±

    ¡°No, no, please! you don¡¯t understand. By buying beasts from us you would be helping the sacred empire too! There was an outburst of magical beasts and we were drafted by the sacred empire to keep them under control. Apparently, someone attacked the ve market on Bet-el and the beasts are running rampant. ¡±

    Liu hurried up and stopped me on my way towards the exit.

    ¡°Then I¡¯m taking this woman with me too.¡±

    ¡°Please, take no offense, but why are you interested in that filthy thing? it¡¯s been used so much it¡¯s almost broken. To you, she¡¯s nothing but another ve, but to us she¡¯s the only thing keeping our morale high enough to not be disbanded. She killed one of our dearest members and...¡±

    ¡°Are you telling me, money is not enough to raise your morale?¡±

    I cut him short as I showed him the mithril coin in my hand, making him gulp. I could see the greed on his eyes and it was more than obvious that the only thing that kept him from extending his hand and attempting to take it from me was Bob¡¯s presence.

    .....

    ¡°You¡¯ll need to wait about an hour until we get them ready to go.¡±

    ¡°Uh? there¡¯s really no need for that, just hand me the key and I¡¯ll manage.¡±

    ¡°But mister, I don¡¯t think you get it. This isn¡¯t your regr goblin, he¡¯s a lot stronger! You may be in danger if you let it outside just like that.¡±

    Maximus tried to stop me, but Liu had already handed me the key with a grin. Of course he expects either me or the goblin to drop dead in front of him. I took a few steps forward and opened the cage letting Bardun out. He seems to be different from thest time I saw him, it¡¯s not just his size, but he looks a lot tougher now. He seemed to have trouble walking, but he wasn¡¯t restrained in any way. For a second I thought of helping him walk outside, but it would have been awkward.

    After being let out of his cage, Bardun stopped a moment and moved just enough to make his joints creak, then he rubbed his neck.

    ¡°Wow, mister, are you a beast tamer by chance?¡±

    Maximus muttered in a gasp after noticing that Bardun wasn¡¯t attacking me, or anyone for that matter.

    ¡°Something of the sorts. Is the other one aggressive?¡±

    ¡°Not really, especially not whenpared to that thing.¡±

    Being called a thing, Bardun¡¯s joyous mood shifted into anger. He was very sensitive about insults towards his race, but I ced a hand over his shoulder calming him down immediately.

    ¡°Wow! you can keep it under control with nothing but a touch! amazing! would you consider working with us?¡±

    Maximus was further impressed and asked tantly, but Liu shook his head.

    ¡°Do you really think that someone like him, who can pay in mithril without so much as a second thought would need to work? I bet he¡¯s someone important in the kingdom.¡±

    We went through a lot just to avoid fighting, I even spent a mithril coin which is supposedly as valuable as a hundred gold coins if not more and I would hate to see all that wasted in a pointless fight.

    But after seeing Bardun¡¯s state and how did they treat the beast girl, I was tempted to punch them in the face right then and there.

    It came the time to open the other cage, the young woman cowered in the corner as I got closer to it. She was mostly quiet, but a few pitiful moans escaped her mouth and even after the door was opened she remained on her corner.

    She looked just like a human, except for her vertical pupils and another physical trait I failed to notice before. She had a short tail the same color as her hair and a hint of white at the end. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that she was indeed an attractive woman, perhaps a bit older than me, not that it matters.

    ¡°Come here, I¡¯m not going to hurt you. That¡¯s it,e closer.¡±

    I said after a few minutes passed without her even attempting to escape. I extended my hand and she seemed curious, but she was still distrustful, at least until Risa lost her patience.

    ¡°Get out of there already! or do you want me to go in and kick your butt?¡±

    Risa¡¯s loud instructor tone of voice apanied by her powerful vocal cords managed to startle all of us, especially the poor girl who was still cuddling up to her legs.

    As hostile as it seemed, it worked a lot better than my approach. The beast kin girl stood outside the cage and followed us outside. Before leaving the camp though I was able to overheard the joy of the many people that gathered outside the tent, it seemed like they weren¡¯t doing good at all because of the many magical beast attacks they suffered and after the lost of too many people they were even thinking on quitting. At least until we came in, proving that money was indeed enough to raise their morale once again.ries!¡±

 Chapter 229 - 229 Donéˆ¥æª› waste time, please! part 3

    229 Don¡¯t waste time, please! part Bardun behaved quite nicely the whole time and didn¡¯t say a word until we were far enough from the human camp.

    ¡°Brother, I told you not toe. I¡¯m so ashamed you saw me like that.¡±

    Bardun said in his usual growling voice and lowered his gaze, the beast girl was startled and for just a second she opened her eyes wide. It seems that beast kin don¡¯t know that goblins can speak humannguage.

    ¡°Warrior help warrior.¡±

    I repeated to him the same words he told me back when he saved me, patting him on the back. It was meant to be a friendly gesture, like what Bob does to everyone, but I think it actually hurt him a little. I hadpletely forgotten that he was shot in the back. Bardun made aplicated expression, but didn¡¯tin because he understood I didn¡¯t mean to hurt him.

    It made me feel so guilty, is this how Bob feels whenever he does this and ends up lowering my hit points by mistake? I¡¯ll try to reassure him next time he does it. It might hurt a bit, but he¡¯s just being affectionate and I really don¡¯t dislike him being friendly.

    For whatever reason, the beast kin girl seemed to be really attached to Risa and followed her closely, keeping her distance from Bob and me. Risa kept walking straight, seeming to bepletely oblivious of this. Bardun gazed at them with intrigued eyes, but he didn¡¯t ask any questions. Knowing him like I do, he must believe she¡¯s my wife.

    ¡°Hey brother, these are my friends Bob and Risa.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the name of the one following us?¡±

    .....

    Risa seemed surprised that Bardun was able to notice Luke¡¯s presence, but to me it was kind of obvious since goblins were the true masters of stealth.

    ¡°His name is Luke, don¡¯t get angry at him if he says something impolite, it¡¯s just the way he is.¡±

    I shrugged.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry brother, I know most humans are don¡¯t have manners, but if these are your friends they¡¯re my friends too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s riching from someone who doesn¡¯t even knock on doors before entering.¡±

    We headed back to the goblin camp in between jokes andughter, It took Luke a while to catch up to us because he was still concealing his presence. Skills like stealth or conceal were useful to remain hidden, but they lowered movement speed by quite a lot.

    Bardun really needed to rest, just as we all did. It didn¡¯t matter that we didn¡¯t do much fighting, it was a tense day and we all deserved some peace of mind. The only one who was still on high alert was the beast girl, looking over her shoulder at every chance she got and keeping her distance from any male human or goblin alike.

    At first Risa was amused at the girl¡¯s behavior, she kept following her everywhere like a puppy, but after a while she was starting to feel really annoyed by her presence. Risa was used to having her privacy, but this girl wouldn¡¯t leave her for a second.

    I must say I was a bit thankful, because when Risa tried to sneak up to my sleeping spot on the ground in the middle of the night, her presence was betrayed by the girl¡¯s clumsy steps in the darkness. In a sense, she saved me from a certain type of ¡®attack¡¯ which was nice. Mia, who was sleeping soundly by my side and didn¡¯t notice a thing.

    After having her wless n frustrated by the beast girl, Risa walked back to her sleeping spot and fell asleep within seconds.

    And just like that I fell into a peaceful slumber apanied by Bob¡¯s snoring and the quiet of the night.

    ¡°Come on Ryu, please get this thing off of me! I¡¯ll even suck you off!¡±

    Risa¡¯s indecent words woke me up from my well deserved rest.

    ¡°Why should I? can¡¯t you just send her away or something?¡±

    I rubbed my eyes expecting that, somehow, she would just disappear. Much to my dismay she was still there in front of me.

    ¡°I can¡¯t even take a dump by myself now!¡±

    ¡°Wow, too much information! Anyway, why don¡¯t you teach her stuff to help you or something?¡±

    Looking at the poor girl shivering in fear behind Risa I felt pity for her. I don¡¯t know what kind of hell she went through but I think helping her goes beyond my area of expertise. Maybe if Helena was here she might be able to do something.

    No, no way. Now that I think about it, she openly dered that she was against the beast kin. She didn¡¯t even help Risa who is a human, there¡¯s no way she would help a beast kin.

    The door was mmed open as I was pondering such matters, it was Bardun making his usual entrance. The loud bang of the door was enough to startle everyone, Luke, the heroic thief even went as far as getting up in a swift manner and grabbed whatever he could use as a weapon with his eyes still closed.

    It would have looked cool if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that what he picked to defend himself was his boot.

    ¡°Don¡¯t point that thing at me, I¡¯d rather be stabbed than being forced to smell that thing up close.¡±

    Bardun sneered.

    ¡°Then why am I being forced to see your ugly face?¡±

    They both grinned at each other andughed like idiots.

    ¡°Wow, they¡¯re really simr, don¡¯t you think Ryu?¡±

    Bob said without any malicious intent, but both Bardun and Luke were enraged by his remark.

    Bardun wanted to speak to me about his experience after getting caught, at first he seemed reluctant on speaking in front of the others, but as he saidter, his findings on the matter of magical beasts were something that concerned everyone.

    The magical beast outburst wasn¡¯t a natural urrence and, despite not knowing the cause behind it, he was certain it had something to do with the strange lights in the sky.

    I asked him what did he meant by that, and he told me that sometimes and for really short periods, the lights in the sky that would appear yearly, appeared on random asions.

    He said they looked just like a thunder in the sky and, although I never noticed something like that, I couldn¡¯t distrust him.

    The results of his investigation were disheartening. It wasn¡¯t that beasts were simply acting in a strange manner, these were magical beasts that weren¡¯t supposed to bemon in thisnd and they invaded every ce. It was a sudden outburst of powerful beasts thatsted for a few hours, but caused great damage to the forest ecosystem.

    To make matters worse, they were feeding on literally everything. He even witnessed a creature ¡®taller than a mountain¡¯ that fed on whole trees.

    Although the reason behind the beast¡¯s strange behavior might be rted to the lights in the sky, it¡¯s the human¡¯s fault for keeping so many different strong magical beasts locked up for their own benefit.

    As Bardun¡¯s recount became more interesting, everyone gathered around to listen to him.

    Lea, who was born and raised in the sacred empire, seemed to have an idea of what was happening but she didn¡¯t say a thing. At least until Bardun mentioned that the lights in the sky seemed toe off from the obelisk.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! The obelisk is a sacred ce, there¡¯s no way the gods are involved in something like this. It sounds like the beast kin finally made their move, we¡¯ve been warned for centuries!¡±

    Lea then proceeded to exin her own theory, born from both what was taught to her and her own suspicions.

 Chapter 230 - 230 Donéˆ¥æª› waste time, please! part 4

    230 Don¡¯t waste time, please! part Helena walked back to their camp, fuming in anger.

    First, they ignored hermand to not harm her friends causing that none of her friends sided up with her, second, she saw Ryu with yet another beautiful woman by his side who turned out to be a subus no less, and as if that wasn¡¯t enough, he looked even more handsome thanst time she saw him, making her second guess her choice of remaining in the sacred empire.

    Although she couldn¡¯t actually see him, she could perceive his well built body thanks to her newly acquired mana sense. Because of her previous naughty behavior at the Ironwoods tavern when Ryu was unconscious, she already knew every nook and cranny of Ryu¡¯s past constitution, and just by thinking on his new muscr build her body trembled.

    If only she had already finished her apprenticeship as high priestess, she might have considered going back with them. She missed herpanions dearly and couldn¡¯t wait to be reunited with them, but especially with Ryu and Anne who were the closest to her.

    ¡°Miss Helena, are you absolutely sure it is fine to just let them go back to the heathen kingdom like that? if the arch priestess finds out she won¡¯t take it lightly.¡±

    Stefan asked politely.

    ¡°Of course it is fine, the arch priestess and I are good friends. I, myself, am on the path of bing an arch priestess and I hope you engrave that into your little head, because next time you disobey me I¡¯ll have your head on a pike.¡±

    Helena¡¯s soft character and gentle demeanor was nowhere to be found as she threatened the pdin next to her. There wasn¡¯t a trace of the old naive girl that would cower in fear beforebat, what little time she spent on the sacred empire had turned her into an iron willed servant of the gods.

    The path towards Bet-el was clear and, even though they were still far from the city, she wasn¡¯t nning on giving a respite to the members on her new party. If these hot headed enforcers had the guts to hurt her friends, they deserved whatever punishment she saw fit for them, starting with a non stop march to the closest city.

    .....

    Enforcers were among the top rank soldiers in the sacred empire, one step above pdins, but they were also different in the sense that ¡®enforcer¡¯ wasn¡¯t a god given ss but an assigned rank. The enforcer corps wasprised of every ss not rted directly to the gods and the only requirement to join them is to be an elite.

    Thief, assassin, warrior or any ss really, all would be epted into the enforcer corps as long as they had proven their loyalty and prowess to the church.

    By the time they reached Bet-el gates the enforcers werepletely exhausted, but they couldn¡¯t evenin because, on paper, it was their duty to follow Helena¡¯s everymand. In truth, though, their duty was to assess the danger the heroes posed towards the sacred empire.

    Contrary to the kingdom that had been inplete chaos ever since they lost the war, the sacred empire possessed more information and they were able to realize that Helena¡¯s stats werepletely out of the charts as soon as she touched the oracle.

    Not just that, but it was also suspicious for her toe from the far south where there weren¡¯t any active oracles, and yet she already possessed a ss.

    The small party that found both Anne and Helena lost in the western forest near the sacred empire¡¯s borders just thought of them as potential recruits for the empire, and they left them in the hands of the church, where they took notice of Helena¡¯s talent for the divine arts. But, by the time they realized she was different and that there was a possibility that herpanion, Anne, could have been special too, it was already toote.

    With the intent of keeping Helena under control, they segregated Anne little by little, forcing her into self exile.

    They could have easily disposed of her, but since even a high priest was able to find the truth behind people¡¯s words, it would have been impossible for them to keep it a secret for too long which is why they decided to simply drive her away.

    In wasn¡¯t until Stefan reported his encounter with Anne while he was on the sacred mission of securing a mage to serve the sacred empire, that the higher ups within the church realized that Helena¡¯s high stats were unusual but not unique.

    ¡°Your holiness, we failed in bringing the others with us, she didn¡¯t allow us to proceed with violence and we were left with no choice but toe back empty handed.¡±

    A man crouching in front of a crystal mirror said as sweat ran down his face. It wasn¡¯t fear what had left him in that state, but the incredibly long sprint he had to endure on his way back to the city of Bet-el trying to keep up with Helena and the enforcers.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry father Stefan, you did a good job. We didn¡¯t really expect to bring them all at once, as long as the present was handed to them they will eventuallye on their own volition. You must not antagonize her in any form, if she attempts to desert the sacred empire we will have no choice but to kill her to prevent her from switching sides, and that would leave us no chance at finding out the cause of their unusually high stats.¡±

    A woman dressed in something like a nun attire, but filled with golden embroideries, said with the kindest sweetest smile a man had everid eyes on. Her expression shifted into one ofpassion at the mention of the possibility of killing Helena, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

    The arch priestess Vika Denario, head of the golden sun cult of the sacred empire, dismissed the pdin with a small courtesy. After making sure that the signal had been lost and there wasn¡¯t an ounce of mana in the magic mirror, she stomped her feet in frustration biting her lip angrily until a drop of blood fell on her abundant cleavage.

 Chapter 231 - 231 Donéˆ¥æª› waste time, please! part 5

    231 Don¡¯t waste time, please! part The city of Bet-el was greatly damaged, its gates were nothing but wooden nks and there were traces of destruction all over. Streets covered in debris, some houses were even razed to the ground and there were traces of blood everywhere.

    The church, though, being the sturdiest, most secure location in the whole city was almost unscathed, allowing the grieving citizens to take refuge there. Most of the poption would go to church for the weekly mass, but after such chaos and destruction caused by the rampant beasts, most of them would go on a daily basis to either pray or just to feel safe.

    Ever since its foundation, the city of Bet-el had served the purpose of restocking travelers and adventurer parties that seek to profit in the woods. Its main source of ie had traditionally been pelts, but after the holy crusade for the obelisk in the north it shifted towards a different direction.

    The sacred empire not only allowed very, it also encouraged the capture and training of wild beasts, magical beasts and demi human races. Creatures like pseudo dragons were bred almost everywhere, but others like lynxes whose purpose was only to provide pelts and couldn¡¯t be trained were too expensive and dangerous to breed making hunting them a profitable business too.

    Although the sacred empire was indeed a theocracy, beliefs among their citizens varied ording to the god they served. The mostmon deities were Utu, the god of sun, Nanna goddess of the moon, Ishtar goddess of love and Enlil god of air, but those were only the most known ones.

    Cults were as wide as they were different, having a different set of rules and benefits for the followers of each, but they all agreed on one thing.

    Humans were the pinnacle of existence, born to rule over all the living creatures, and the other races had to either submit or perish.

    Being a human herself, Helena was quite content with this arrangement. Especially when they presented her a dozen demi human ves, all of them handsome and obedient.

    During her period of training, Helena often dreamed of the day where she would finally be free from the shackles of the strict rule that prohibited members of the clergy to engage in any sexual activity, but after spending almost a year inside the sacred empire her desires had been mostly under control.

    .....

    It wasn¡¯t long after she initiated her arch priestess apprenticeship that her personal friend and fellow arch priestess, Vika Denario, had asked her to help the city of Bet-el. Helena herself wasn¡¯t sure that she would be able to be of any help, but her friend reassured her that she could make a huge difference.

    Vika was more than helpful towards Helena, even when she had yet to be a high priest. After Anne left for the kingdom of Loudeac, Helena foundfort in her new friend which made it even more difficult for her to refuse.

    Stefan was assigned to her as her escort and he let slip about his previous encounter with Anne, Ryu and the rest of her friends, pretending not to know she knew them from before. This only got Helena¡¯s hopes high and she came to the city in hopes of bringing her friends along with her to the sacred empire where their skills would be greatly appreciated, just like hers.

    Now Helena looked at the already devastated city from her balcony with a sour expression on her face. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong and it was ultimately her own fault.

    She had been too weak to prevent the beast outbreak that urred in the city, almost every captured beast managed to escape, even demi humans. The city guards fought to either kill or recapture them, at the cost of many lives, but it was to no avail. The worst part for Helena wasn¡¯t only that she failed to help in such task, but she also failed when it came to healing the injured. The improvised hospital was filled with people that needed healing, but she just didn¡¯t have the mental strength to even set foot inside.

    It wasn¡¯t that she was scared of the side effects that healing could have, even when she used heal for the first time on Bob when he was hurt by a wild board, before they even met Ryu, she barely felt a thing thanks to her high wisdom stat. What she feared was the gory part, being able to see the suffering in the faces of people made it impossible for her to focus on her mana properly, making her fail repeatedly.

    The same people that cried in joy when they found out that an arch priestess wasing towards their city to help, now turned their back on her, and Helena knew it wasn¡¯t without reason.

    ¡°What good is it being third ss and having so many different skills, if I¡¯m unable to use them when they¡¯re needed the most?¡±

    She sighed as she leaned on the marbled fence that prevented her from falling from three stories high. Being alone, she wasn¡¯t really expecting an answer, but she got one anyways.

    Having her eyespletely blindfolded, she got lost in her memories. All the times the weakest native she had ever met saved her and her friends, but particrly the time when Ayumi lost her confidence after failing many times when attempting to mold the stone.

    He had said something in the lines of ¡®it¡¯s not power, it¡¯s your will¡¯. The will to survive, the will to help the others. She had seen him do that many times over, always falling due to his own weakness, but neverining.

    It was her will indeed what prevented her to even use the most basic healing skill when needed. The first time she tried to heal someone in Bet-el she was really confident in her powerful healing skills, yet she was unable to heal them. It was only when she met her own friends in the woods that her healing skill triggered normally.

    She felt lonely.

    These people were strangers for her, that¡¯s why her skill would be inefficient. Shecked the extensive training most people in the clergy had, and being taught like them with discipline instead of honest care didn¡¯t nurture her skills properly.

    Just as she was about to shed a restrained tear through her blindfold, the most curious creature appeared within her mana sense range.

    It climbed the wall with difficulty and after reaching the top, had trouble pulling its own weight.

    Mochi, the cat, used his hind legs kicking the wall repeatedly as he clung to the border with its front paws. Seeing him struggle so much, Helena picked him up out of pity, only to notice that the reason why the cat couldn¡¯t climb up had little to do with its weight and more with it¡¯s big round belly.

    ¡°Just what are they feeding you? you¡¯re so chubby.¡±

    Helena giggled, but the cat didn¡¯t like being embarrassed by her words and wiggled until the priestess let him go on the floor.

    Being a cat, Mochi had little care for whatever important mission Ryu had sent him. Nothing in the world could ever be as important as the enormous, luxurious and beautiful soft bed in the middle of the room. With shimmering eyes, Mochi jumped on top of the bed and started purring as he circled around trying to soften up a little nest for himself in the middle of the bed.

    It didn¡¯t matter if Mochi wasn¡¯t human, he was the next best thing. They always had a connection that went beyond what Ryu could have ever achieved. Something like that couldn¡¯t be exined by the system, nor it could be put into words. It was an odd rtionship in which both enjoyed each other¡¯spany, but also they didn¡¯t care much for the other.

    Or at least that was what they thought. Helena never liked pets much, she never had one back on her previous life and Mochi held little love for humans, except for those who feed him. But if Helena had asked any of her friends, they would immediately say how simr they both were. Helena loved to sleepte and she found every possible excuse to remain in bed as much time as she could, just like Mochi did.

    Helena enjoyed the touch of Mochi¡¯s fur, the warmth he exuded and his soothing purr, while Mochi enjoyed Helena¡¯s caresses, the tenderness on her chest and her usually cool temperature. They were simplyfortable with each other.

    Helena followed the cat and sat next to him in the bed, his fur was fluffier and softer than ever, bringing a joyful smile on her face. Much to her surprise, Mochi was still wearing the samece she made for him to keep his twin tails together to prevent people from thinking it was a strange creature.

    It was so dirty the blue color had almost disappeared, but that was nothing she couldn¡¯t fix, she could even make a new one. After taking it out she was taken aback, Mochi didn¡¯t have two tails anymore but three and there was something stuck in there.

    Helena took the small paper that was rolled and tied with the help of a thin thread and proceeded to read it in silence, her mouth agape and her eyes wide.

    She had to escape.

 Chapter 232 - 232 Donéˆ¥æª› waste time, please! part 6

    232 Don¡¯t waste time, please! part After receiving Ryu¡¯s message Helena darted towards the chapel, leaving Mochi sleeping in her bed.

    Ryu¡¯s letter was short because he had but a single piece of paper on him, but it was enough to warn her of the danger ahead.

    ¡®The beasts aren¡¯t being aggressive, they¡¯re running away. Look up for the lights in the sky.¡±

    Those words brought her one step closer towards despair. She knew people in Bet-el held no love for her and her credibility was low, she also couldn¡¯t exin how did she know about what was going on without mentioning Ryu, but she had to try anyway.

    ¡°Father Stefan!¡±

    She yelled as soon as she entered without caring for who might be in there. Her words resonated across the huge hall, causing many of the wooden benches to creak as the people gathered for the mass turned to see her.

    Helena hadpletely forgotten the decorum her position as an arch priestess apprentice demanded and a glimpse of her past self erupted in her beet red face.

    ¡°This better be important, child.¡±

    Stefan said in a stern voice. He was already sick and tired of Helena¡¯s disregard for tradition and religious studies, but part of his new mission was to keep Helena under the control of the sacred empire.

    .....

    ¡°We are in big trouble, the mana season ising early this year!¡±

    Several gasps could be heard and everyone around her started muttering in low voices, yet she was able to catch some of what they were saying. The least offensive sayings were on the lines of ¡°It happened, it finally happened, the new arch priestess finally snapped!¡±, ¡°She¡¯s deranged, she needs a big scolding.¡±, some even went as far as calling her a lunatic bitch.

    Yet Helena wouldn¡¯t let any of that impede her from saving these people. She knew Ryu, it was impossible for someone like him to y around with something like that. Besides, it made sense, back on her world it wasmon for animals to run away before natural disasters.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be foolish child, it¡¯spletely impossible. It¡¯s not the time yet, the gods in their infinite wisdom only allow the mana season to happen once a year.¡±

    Despite father Stephan reassuring words, people still got worried. While Bet-el was considered a paradise to restock supplies for travelers and adventurers alike, it was also victim of one of the worst mana season effects in the whole sacred empire.

    Once every year, people from Bet-el had to go underground to seek cover from heavy lightning storms thatsted for two weeks straight. Anything and everything above ground would be struck by lightning, but at least it wasn¡¯t immediate.

    The first signs of the mana season had always been heavy rain followed by a couple days of thunderstorms without any lightning.

    They had no reason to believe anything she had to say, but if it was true, they weren¡¯t prepared in the slightest. Before seeking shelter underground, they had to make preparations on their homes and shops, they also needed to gather enough supplies tost them the whole lockdown.

    ¡°Please, Stefan, listen to me, I¡¯m an arch priestess and...¡±

    Stefan, the pdin who was still more worried about the donations he would get after the mass rather than people¡¯s safety, was outraged by Helena¡¯s behavior.

    ¡°By the time being you¡¯re still an apprentice, you¡¯re not even a full fledged third ss yet and you defy me in front of my congregation. If you want to lock yourself up underground be my guest, but the faithful people of Bet-el will pay no mind to your delusions.¡±

    Helena was in utter despair as not even her rank was enough to convince people to evacuate, she feltpletely helpless, but she wasn¡¯t the only one suffering.

    After securing the message on Mochi¡¯s tail and asking him to go find Helena, Ryu found himself in a troublesome situation. They needed to evacuate and go as far south as possible before the weather became unbearable, but they also needed to wait for Helena¡¯s response.

    Ryu hoped that if the situation became dangerous, Helena would go back and join them, but he had new responsibilities to uphold and couldn¡¯t afford to wait for her idly.

    He had to help Bardun return to the goblin vige safely, take the beastkin girl back to her home wherever that might be and help Risa get her hands back. If what Helena said was true, it¡¯s possible for them to find a second or third ss priest that would be able to regrow her hands provided they had enough money to pay for it.

    But what worried him the most was that both Sera and Anne were in the goblin vige and didn¡¯t know anything about the current situation.

    After much deliberation, Ryu came to the conclusion that just as he asked Mochi to seek for Helena and stay with her until he makes sure she¡¯s safe, he would do the same for Bob and Luke.

    Much to Mia¡¯s dismay, Ryu asked her to stay by Luke¡¯s side and he asked Bob to take care of the wurm for him. There wasn¡¯t much that the wurm could do yet, but for whatever reason he seemed to feelfortable rolling up on Bob¡¯s arms so he figured it could be a smart move to get them together. Besides, even though Heimar told him it would be a dragon, the only one who actually believed that was Bob, especially after he saw the wurm eat a mithril coin.

    Luke couldn¡¯t believe his Luck when Ryu told him that he entrusted Mia to him, more than once he had ogled her with lecherous eyes and everyone knew his defiled character, so he didn¡¯t understand the reasoning behind this.

    ¡°This is like letting Mochi taking watch of the food supply!¡±

    Bob joked making everyone but Luke burst inughter.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them get killed Mia, if they¡¯re in danger you know what to do.¡±

    Ryu said afterposing himself. Mia, who had been mostly useless in battle for a long time and only recently had started practicing her skills, was eager to prove her worth to her master and nodded with a determined look on her face.

    Meanwhile, in the inhospitable region in the far south, in a town called ironwoods for their proximity to both the mines and the forest, a petite woman gazed up on the sky through the ss on her window, stopping her hand abruptly just when she was about to pour a cyan liquid into a vial with an orange liquid.

    A curious smile on her face quickly shifted into one of horror, as the lights in the sky rushed violently through the sky so suddenly she lost the grip on both vials which shattered loudly after falling to the floor.

 Chapter 233 - 233 Donéˆ¥æª› waste time, please! part 7

    233 Don¡¯t waste time, please! part ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Ryu said coldly to the beastkin girl, after watching Risa order her around he finally understood that to get her to obey him he needed to act tough. He didn¡¯t know if this was because of the abuse she suffered or if it was a racial trait, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that he had to appear strong in front of her.

    The beastkin girl followed him meekly until they were right in front of Famine, Ryu then proceeded to tie her hands to the amarok¡¯s saddle to prevent her from falling. After being restrained, the beastkin girl struggled just a little emitting some pitiful moans, that is until Risa too climbed on top of the amarok and had her own legs tied to the saddle in the same manner as the beastkin, bringing her some relief.

    Of course the beastkin didn¡¯t understand the meaning of his actions and Ryu had no time to spare in useless exnations that would fall into deaf ears anyway, but since Risa was maimed, she had no means of grasping Famine¡¯s reins leaving them no choice but to tie her too.

    ¡°I would ask you to tie my hands too but...¡±

    Risa chuckled, but Ryu didn¡¯t find her joke funny in the slightest.

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it Risa, how can you be so careless? If I were in your shoes I would lose my mind.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly Ryu, I¡¯ve watched people die since I was eight, this is nothing to me. Besides, adventurers have this saying: as long as there¡¯s life there¡¯s a way. I don¡¯t care if I get my hands back today, tomorrow or next year, just knowing that it¡¯s feasible gives me the strength to keep going.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s pretty deep, I didn¡¯t expect thating from you.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Hey, I resent that. I might not be in top shape but I¡¯m still a rank C instructor and as soon as I get my hands back I won¡¯t ck off anymore and train as much archery as i can to be dual ss.¡±

    Her eyes looked resolute, but Ryu could feel a hint of hesitation on her voice.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯m sorry miss Risa. Now listen, don¡¯t cut the ropes if you¡¯re not in immediate danger, let Famine do all the fighting. I need you to keep the girl calm until we get to the goblin vige. You¡¯re in the front position so it will be up to you to cut branches and leaves to prevent them from hitting you on the face. Famine moves pretty quickly.¡±

    Risa nodded in response and showed her sharp katars to Ryu.

    When Bardun noticed that Ryu was done with the preparations, he signaled his soldiers to start marching south. He knew the way towards their vige would be long and filled with dangers, but there was nothing he could do to avoid it. If only he wasn¡¯t captured, he would have been able to gather enough information about the phenomenon and go back on his own.

    But reality was rarely how he wanted it to be. Just like most young goblins, Bardun had always dreamed on bing the vige leader and obtaining many wives. He dreamed of the honor and glory he would get after a long and uneventful period.

    As a youngling, his dream always ended with him meeting his end against a bear or something of the sorts, having a warrior¡¯s death.

    But things got reallyplicated after he met Ryu.

    He had already outlived his life expectancy by half a year, his body had be almost as big as a human but a lot stronger even than regr adventurers. This filled him with hope and fear in equal measure, because he wanted to lead the goblins to surpass their past glories as the strongest race in the.

    Bob and Luke stood still watching as their friend headed south with an army of goblins by his side, even now they found it hard to believe that a human would be able to be an integral part of the goblin society. It was something that seemed to be taken straight from one of the adventure novels they so much enjoyed, but they were too proud of their friend to be envious.

    Mia was still greatly affected. She knew what Ryu had asked her to do, but she wasn¡¯t sure she would be able to do so.

    Luke¡¯s stench was disgusting, but so strong it was more than enough to keep her filled with energy without the need for bodily fluids. The energy he emanated reeked of lust and desire beyond what she had ever felt before, but the taste didn¡¯t fit her picky pte.

    It was necessary though, because if what Lea told them was the truth, just staying near Ryu she was weakening him. She told them how the priest ss was the most sacred because it was the only ss that not only used mana or stamina in their skills, but energy and that was the reason why priests needed to be celibate. When people have intercourse, their bodies expel life energy in preparation to produce new life, it wasn¡¯t just an exchange of fluids but also energy.

    After hearing this, it wasn¡¯t so difficult to understand why Ryu was getting weaker by the day.

    Although Ryu hadn¡¯t experienced much action in that sense, Mia kept draining him of his energy. As long as she remained by his side, he simply wouldn¡¯t be any stronger and the only way for him to avoid reverting back to his old weak self that couldn¡¯t even sustain his passive skills was to be celibate.

    The first signs of the mana season were starting to appear in the skyline as Ryu disappeared on the deep forest along with the army of goblins. The beastkin girl riding on top of the horse sized wolf like creature was thest to disappear from sight.

    And just like that, Bob and Luke remained in the tform expecting Helena to migrate south just like the beasts had been doing, not knowing that she was too busy trying to save the people from Bet-el and it wasn¡¯t on her ns to do so.

    After just a couple minutes of staring into the distance, Luke finally realized that they were on top of a wooden tform in the treetops, without much food and no water source.

    ¡°Hey Bob, I think we should get ready. If the mana season is anything like it was on Ironwoods we might be in a tough spot.¡±

    Luke said with worry in his face, yet Bob didn¡¯t stop smiling.

    ¡°So, do you want us to go hunting or something?¡±

    They spent a good amount of time in the middle of the forest and they knew how to survive, what they didn¡¯t know though was if it was even possible for them to withstand any harsh climate inside that building.

    The ¡®freeze¡¯ that urred in Ironwoods once a year, was nothing but a sudden cold snap announced by the lights in the sky. But if everything they heard from Lea was the truth, they could expect anything from heavy lightning to even earthquakes.

    The only preparation they knew for sure they needed to make, was grab as much water and food as they could before locking themselves up.

    Thanks to Ryu¡¯s guidance and the goblin¡¯s diligent work, the refuge on top of the trees was huge and well built, giving them at least some amount of security.

    ¡°Uh, Luke, Do you know how to operate the lift?¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°The elevator thing.¡±

    Bob pointed at the elevator near the tform.

    ¡°I know what a damn elevator is, it¡¯s just that only now I noticed that we won¡¯t be able to go hunting together. If we both go down, who will pull us up then?¡±

    Discouraged by their finding, they sat on the rim of the tform with their feet hanging. The lights in the sky became more intense as time passed by and they were yet to find a solution to their problem.

    ¡°I think you should go hunting, you¡¯re fast on your feet and you should be able to catch something.¡±

    Bob suggested.

    ¡°Me!? but you¡¯re way stronger! you should be able to deal even with magical beasts. If I find anything stronger than a red cobra I¡¯ll have my ass handed to me, not to mention I don¡¯t even have a proper weapon!¡±

    After some infighting, they finally resorted to y rock, paper, scissors to decide who was going hunting and who remained in the tform. Letting time pass like that was less than efficient, but it was better than fighting in between them.

    ¡°This takes me back to the time before we met Ryu.¡±

    Luke sighed, making a fist with his hand a bit embarrassed by his past behavior.

    ¡°A-ha! I win!¡±

    Said Bob after cing his open palm on top of Luke¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Hey! that¡¯s cheating!¡±

    Lukeined trying to release himself from Bob¡¯s grip, but to no avail.

 Chapter 234 - 234 Survive the mana season, please! part 1

    234 Survive the mana season, please! part It didn¡¯t take long for the army of goblins to find some prey, despite being so many, they moved silently through the forest and not a single creature was able to catch on to their presence until it was already toote.

    Some they hunted, some they avoided, but whatever they were able to get their hands on they made sure to pack it up for carrying as soon as they could, not wasting a minute of their time butchering them. They couldn¡¯t afford to stop mid way unless it was to take a proper rest.

    The mana season started already, but there wasn¡¯t a noticeable effect yet, all they could perceive was the lights in the sky and an eerie silence in the woods.

    Even Bardun, the wisest among the goblins, only knew about the mana seasons from what he heard from the older goblins back at their vige. They knew it was cold to the south and rainy in the north, but they were aware that weather could change drastically in as little as a couple kilometers so they weren¡¯t sure of what could befall on to them on the way to the vige.

    Just when they were about to finish setting camp to rest right in the middle of a clearing in the woods, the mana season started to manifest. Clouds gathered up on the sky and the wind roared through the forest. It wasn¡¯t as bad as to not being able to stand up, but it was certainly bothersome. It was stronger than a regr windy day, but certainly not as bad as a storm.

    Their biggest issue was the difficulty of lighting up a fire, but Ryu solved the issue by using his mana to create a mud furnace that provided enough cover for the fire, as well as enough space to cook a decent amount of meat at a time. Ryu was already aware of how useful fire magic was, but he didn¡¯t expect earth magic to be so handy.

    The cold wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as they could have expected and the only obstacle they found during the night, was the constant noise and the asional leaf that would brush past them from time to time.

    The beastkin cowered behind Risa the whole time and even though she was ¡®annoying as fuck¡¯ ording to Risa¡¯s own words, the young instructor did her best to provide cover for her and calm her down.

    After coordinating the night watch, Bardun picked a spot inside a dead tree trunk to rest. Goblins had little knowledge of natural phenomena, if it wasn¡¯t directly harmful towards them it didn¡¯t matter. But being more curious than the average goblin, he gazed his surroundings finally understanding the reason why it wasn¡¯t so rare to find dead trees in this part of the forest.

    .....

    Knowing how picky the humans were about their amodations, the goblins set up some tents by tying up pelts to the strongest trees they could find. They were simple angled tents that provided cover from a single angle, but it was enough to keep them protected from the bothersome wind. Thanks to his status in the goblinmunity, Ryu was exempted from the night watch allowing him to have a good night rest inside one of those tents. Despite not being tired, he was more than eager to sleep because he needed to have a talk with the so called goddess.

    He clearly remembered that she told him she would warn him when the mana season was prompt to ur, yet even now that the sky was lit up with glimmering streams of mana she had failed to contact him.

    Just as he expected, as soon as he fell asleep he woke up inside the nk space. This time he could feel the presence of the ¡®goddess¡¯ but he couldn¡¯t hear her voice yet and because of this, he wasn¡¯t sure if he was just dreaming.

    He tried to pinch his own arm in an attempt to feel some pain, but he couldn¡¯t feel a thing. Then, he started focusing his mana, he couldn¡¯t feel any of it so he simply kept expelling vast amounts of mana from his body, thinking that maybe it wasn¡¯t working.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing? stop right now!¡±

    The goddess scolded him.

    ¡°What? since you didn¡¯t speak I didn¡¯t know if this was a dream or not.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t do stupid things like that in here and don¡¯t ever, ever, try to cast magic. What you call a ¡®nk space¡¯ is your mana body. It¡¯s the corporeal manifestation of your identity in a different ne of existence.¡±

    ¡°So, is it my soul?¡±

    ¡°well, yes...¡±

    ¡°Why did you feel the need to use such big words?¡±

    ¡°Nevermind that, I need to know, how did you find me?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? you told me you would warn me before something like this happened, but it took us by surprise.¡±

    ¡°Did the mana season start already!?¡±

    ¡°What? you don¡¯t know? some goddess you are¡±

    ¡°Listen well, mortal, I¡¯m goddess Aruru, my power is limitless and my life eternal, but... What part of me being imprisoned did you not get!? I¡¯ve been trapped in here for millennia waiting for someone to set me free and the first candidate turns out to be an ungrateful bastard.¡±

    ¡®This goddess sure likes to brag about her power, but she couldn¡¯t even keep to her word about warning me.¡¯ Ryu thought.

    ¡°Are you a moron? did you already forget I can hear your thoughts?¡±

    ¡®and she too likes to insult people she relies on. I guess she¡¯s not that smart.¡¯ Ryu thought even louder.

    ¡°Fine, whatever, so you just called me to berate me for not giving you a heads up.¡±

    ¡°Not really, I need some guidance and...¡±

    ¡°So now you need me? why should I help you?¡±

    ¡°If my so called patron goddess doesn¡¯t want to help me, then what good is she?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ll help you. Let me see... oh! there you are! uh, this is weird, your energy signature looks a lot stronger than it didst time we spoke.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s almost enough for me tomunicate with you through the system, but not yet. If I attempted something like that now you would probably explode, burn spontaneously or get blinded.¡±

    ¡°Is that what happened to my friend Helena? She said she had an encounter with a god and she lost her sight for the time being.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible, yes, but listen well, you must avoid the other gods. If you ever meet one run away as far as you can.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t gods supposed to be... I don¡¯t know... good?¡±

    ¡°They should be, I thought they were until one of them trapped me in here. Some of them are good, but even if they are I wouldn¡¯t rmend you getting near them. In fact, you shouldn¡¯t even let any priest near you, unless they¡¯ve been emunicated like that girl next to you¡±

    ¡°What do you mean next to me? I¡¯m sleeping alone.¡±

    ¡°Uhhh, no you¡¯re not.¡±

    Aruru¡¯s words were enough to wake him up and because of how suddenly it happened, it took him a few seconds topletely regain his consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the soaring pain in his left arm, right where he intended to pinch himself. It seemed like during his stance inside the nk space he¡¯s still able to control at least some aspects of the outside world.

    Then he noticed something warm cuddling up to him, it was Lea the priestess.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°What? am I not your wife?¡±

    Lea replied as if stating the obvious.

    ¡°My wife? Of course not!¡±

    ¡°But you asked me to be your wife! you clearly said that if I didn¡¯t want to remain being the goblin¡¯s property I needed to marry you. I have nowhere to go, I don¡¯t know no one in the kingdom and...¡±

    Ryu embraced her trying to keep her from crying, he hated seeing women cry, but her words brought an idea to him.

    ¡°I only said that because I needed you to understand your position, but I can¡¯t take a wife. You yourself exined to us the importance of being celibate to preserve one¡¯s energy.¡±

    ¡°Uh? as far as I know that only applies to priests.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll take you to the kingdom, but then you¡¯ll be on your own. Don¡¯t worry though, there¡¯s not many priests around and I bet you¡¯ll make a killing selling holy water.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean selling holy water?¡±

    ¡°That thing, what was it called... aqua benedicta!¡±

    Ryu said after trying hard to remember the name of the liquid that Luke provided to him back on Crent.

    ¡°That¡¯s not something a priest can make, only a god can make it. Don¡¯t tell me you have some!?¡±

    ¡°Are you joking? a god? I consumed it months ago, pouring it on my cursed de to keep it from killing me.¡±

 Chapter 235 - 235 Survive the mana season, please! part 2

    235 Survive the mana season, please! part ¡°Something¡¯s wrong father Stefan!¡±

    Most of the townsmen were cowering in fear inside the chapel as the lights in the sky turned brighter and brighter. Stefan was in a tough spot as Helena¡¯s warnings turned out to be true and people started to look at him with distrust in their eyes. He couldn¡¯t believe how stupid he had been, It wasn¡¯t for nothing that arch priestess were the highest ranked among the third ss in the sacred empire. Although he too was considered a third ss adventurer, pdins were reallymon while arch priestess were among the rarest sses.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry child, everything will be fine. Let¡¯s pray for the gods¡¯ protection, they wouldn¡¯t abandon us in this time of need. Everyone remain silent and close your eyes in silent prayer while I go pray in my chambers. This must be a test of our faith the gods sent to us, but fear not, as soon as I finish my prayers everything will go back to normal.¡±

    The pdin replied to one of the townsmen that had been rude towards Helena previously.

    There was no chance Stefan was going to remain in this crappy town for two whole weeks, as a pdin he wasn¡¯t scared of a few thunders in the distance and the eventual lightning that may or may not fall.

    There was still some time for him to leave the town and find shelter in the city up north. as long as he managed to find a beast to ride there would be no trouble and how could he not find one in one of the most prolific beast hunting towns.

    He went outsidepletely certain that no one among the whole congregation would dare lift their eyes until he came back from his alleged prayer. There was no wind, no cold, no rain, no sign of an iing thunderstorm at all, in fact, it was almost too calm forfort.

    ¡°What a bunch of cowards.¡± He said after spitting the ground.

    Streets and homes werepletely deserted which he took as his chance to steal a pseudo dragon, a horse, or any beast that could get him out of town. Unfortunately for him, after the beast outbreak the stables were empty, he expected something like that, but much to his dismay there weren¡¯t any beasts in the parking posts either. What he didn¡¯t know was the beast hunting camp didn¡¯t fare too well in recapturing them.

    .....

    Without any direction in mind, Stefan roamed the streets of Bet-el hoping to stumble onto an abandoned beast he could steal, until an idea came to his mind. What if he broke into the wealthiest houses and took his ¡®donations¡¯ directly from their chests instead of their pockets? he could always me bandits and there was no way he could ever get caught for this.

    With enough money, he was more than certain the beast hunters would dly hand him a couple tamed pseudo dragons, and perhaps one or two ves to keep himpany along his trip back to the capital. They wouldn¡¯t even ask him where did he get his money from because, technically, beast hunters didn¡¯t belong to the sacred empire or the kingdom, they were more like frencer mercenaries.

    Taking full advantage of his position, the righteous pdin Stefan broke into three shops and before long he had already collected his weight in gold. Took him less than two hours, which was a reasonable time for people to keep praying fervently.

    Just as he exited a building with a suspicious chest on his hands, he crossed paths with Helena who was carrying a wounded kid towards the church. A few steps behind her, a crowd was following her carrying either wounded people or provisions.

    She looked at him with reproachful eyes, but didn¡¯t spare a second to scold him or use him of anything. There was no time to lose, the hospital was filled with people who couldn¡¯t move by themselves and the weather was slowly but surely bing more hostile.

    As people passed by the pdin, he felt several stares on him, but the wounded townsmen were too hurt and tired to care about his wrongdoings. Still, if he let them live they would tell all the other townsmen and he couldn¡¯t afford to be charged as a criminal.

    ¡°Arch priestess Helena, I finished the task you asked of me. What should I do now?¡±

    Stefan actingcked conviction, but he was ustomed to faking innocence in front of his congregation. Any third ss rted to the clergy had the right to perform mass anywhere and everywhere, keeping donations for himself. For most, it was nothing but spare change enough to cover their travel expenses, but Stefan actually enjoyed controlling people through the ¡®holy word¡¯ of the gods.

    He didn¡¯t just get gold, he also took advantage of several women and used his high position to extort money ornds from his congregation.

    ¡°I gave you no such orders Stefan, if you really want to help, stop ransacking people¡¯s houses and help some of the injured. Aren¡¯t you capable of casting heal too?¡±

    Helena¡¯s quick reply didn¡¯t go unnoticed, it made everyone notice Stefan¡¯s attempt to hide his felony. What she didn¡¯t know was how Stefan had already made up his mind that if he couldn¡¯t convince everyone that she was the one who ordered him to rob the citizens, he would simply kill everyone present.

    More than eighty people, all of them wounded some of them lightly while others were unable to walk by themselves and had to be carried, were following her. Of course Stefan was outnumbered, but he was in top shape, armed and he was abat oriented third ss.

    His attack damage was not impressive in the slightest, but his high health and defensive skills gave him the confidence to kill regr people by the hundreds.

    Stefan did as he wasmanded and dropped the chest on the ground, revealing its content. He slowly walked towards the group pretending that his intentions were to carry one of the wounded soldiers and, just when he was about to unsheathe his sword, Helena detected his killing intent.

    ¡°Stay back!¡± She yelled.

    Stefan didn¡¯t have a reason to hide his intent anymore and kicked the ground, quickly reducing the distance between him and the arch priestess. He knew that even though she was blindfolded she was still able to ¡®sense¡¯ her surroundings, but he also knew that arch priestess were worthless in hand to handbat.

    A quick movement of his hand and his sword shed at Helena, then a nging sound betrayed his failure. He was fast, but she was faster, he was strong but Helena was stronger.

    If it was only about technique, Helena¡¯s sloppy training couldn¡¯t bepared to all the years of swordsmanship he had along his career. Perhaps if it was the old Helena she would have been helpless, but not after spending so long lost in the forest with only Anne by her side and especially, not now that she was already determined to save as many people as she could.

    The wounded soldiers that were still able to fight, attempted to surround Stefan to arrest him, but it was pointless, he was too fast for them. Helena did her best to keep him at bay, but both of them were focused mainly on defense, making it a battle of endurance that neither could afford.

    The pdin attempted many different tactics and feints, but Helena proved to be way stronger than he believed.

    ¡°I can¡¯t waste my time with you, take your gold and get lost, just let me save this people.¡± Helena begged.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible, not after what you¡¯ve seen. I nned to me it on the bandits, but if word gets to the church that I stole people¡¯s properties I¡¯m as good as emunicated.¡± Stefan Shrugged.

    ¡°Then why did you do it? People offer you donations, there¡¯s no need to steal from them.¡± Helena tried to buy as much time as she could to let the refugees head to the church. Even if the pdin was stronger than them and, in theory, was able to kill them, it didn¡¯t matter as long as Helena stood her ground.

    ¡°Why do you even care? most third ss kill entire viges just to cover their traces, there¡¯s nothing wrong with it. It¡¯s a god given right.¡± Stefan shed at Helena, this time instead of shing against her scepter it was as if the sword had been stopped mid air. Stefan knew well what had happened but he had no clue on how did Helena managed to raise a barrier so strong.

    ¡°Are you for real!? and the sacred empire does nothing!?¡± Helena¡¯s hair was lifted in the air,pletely straight looking like a crown of sorts.

    ¡°They can¡¯t do anything if there¡¯s no witnesses, so...¡±

    Then, somethingpletely unexpected happened right in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. Stefan¡¯s words were cut short by a lightning bold that fell from the sky.

    What Stefan mistook as the use of mana, was actually static building up.

    The mana season had started.

 Chapter 236 - 236 Survive the mana season, please! part 3

    236 Survive the mana season, please! part Town of Ironwoods, right after Ayumi noticed the early arrival of the mana season.

    ¡°Sophie!¡± Ayumi yelled to the top of her lungs, it was so powerful it resounded in the entire manor.

    ¡°Yes, master Ayumi?¡± Sophie replied with a stern voice as soon as she peeked through the door of theboratory. She wasn¡¯t allowed to get inside, not because of her status, but because she wasn¡¯t wearing ab coat.

    ¡°There¡¯s the lights in the sky! Is it that time of the year already?¡± Ayumi knitted her brows.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible, the freeze happens the same day of the year every year, no exceptions.¡± She adjusted her sses, keeping one hand bellow her bosom pressing it up slightly.

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you look at them yourself?¡± Ayumi faked a cough when she noticed Sophie¡¯s intention to get inside without wearing a coat, forcing her to retrace her steps, put on the cottonb coat and then step back in theb.

    Even after almost a year of knowing Ayumi, she still didn¡¯t understand why she was so neurotic about it.

    ¡°By the gods! What should we do!? do we even have enough food? Master Ayumi, what are your orders?¡± Sophie¡¯s hands trembled in fear, being a smart woman that put reason above everything else, the only thing that scared her were the things she couldn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Calm down, we need to figure this out first.¡± Ayumi¡¯s words would usually be enough for Sophie to calm down, but this was an unheard event in the history of mankind.

    .....

    ¡°But the people of Ironwoods! we need to contact everyone and warn them, we need to ask mister Ironside for help!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that, I bet they know it already. The only thing we can do is try to understand the phenomenon so we take the best course of action. As a friend once told me, we need information, technique and the proper tools to survive. Everything starts with the information, so, it¡¯s time to gather data.¡± She was thinking of Ryu, of course, but at that point Sophie didn¡¯t even remember him.

    ¡°There¡¯s two choices,¡± Ayumi continued ¡°we either lock ourselves down as if this was your regr cold snap or evacuate the city and look for a safer ce.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? Of course we should lock ourselves in our home, we¡¯ll be fine if it¡¯s just two weeks like always.¡±

    ¡°Sure, but what if it¡¯s not just two weeks? what if, by the time we find out this is going tost for a month or even more, we run out of supplies? there¡¯s too many questions, but luckily I can find the answers. All I need is for the girls to ce fire essence vials in equidistant spots today and pick them up tomorrow. That way I can see if my theory is correct.¡±

    ¡°What theory?¡±

    ¡°I think the freeze, as you like to call it, is nothing but mana running wild. It gets soaked into thend, nts and creatures. Have you ever wondered how can there be elemental stones just lying around? Why can¡¯t we cultivate nts with magical properties or where do magical beastse from?¡± Ayumi asked excitedly, but she didn¡¯t wait for an answer and handed a box with vials filled to the brim with a pale red liquid.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do as you say, but there¡¯s one thing I don¡¯t understand, how is this going to help you prove your theory?¡±

    ¡°Those vials contain fire essence that has been stripped of its mana essence, If what I think is true, the fire essence wille back to life. There¡¯s no material so they shouldn¡¯t turn into stone, they might react so be careful not to ce them near buildings, only on the outskirts of the city and don¡¯t forget they must be at the exact same distance from each other. Also, ce them following the road to mountainside if possible.

    ¡°Thanks to my mana sense skill I¡¯ll be able to notice the small fluctuations of mana in the vials you ced it. If the ones closer to Ironwoods are more affected than the ones going up north, then we¡¯ll probably have no other chance at survival than taking refuge into the mines.¡±

    Ayumi said with a frown over her face the whole time. She already knew the implications of going through the mines, she had also heard about the hardships of the travel to mountainside but there had been something bothering her for a while now.

    She experienced the cold weather in the cabins they made south of Ironwoods, it was a lot colder than it was on Ironwoods even before the mana season started. She also knew that, albeit for a short while, Bob, Luke and Karl had survived ¡®the freeze¡¯ for a short period of time, right before they were able to enter the mines.

    This meant that south is colder than north. This could not seem like much, but Ayumi was a woman of science. She was a college professor back on her world and physics phenomena weren¡¯t a mystery for her, she hypothesized that they should be closer to the south pole of the leading her to believe that they could be in trouble.

    The only problem was that Ironwoods was a fairly new town, it didn¡¯t have a long history that she couldpare, and she was also surprised by how much weather could change in such close distances. All things considered, she couldn¡¯t raise an rm for nothing, but thanks to her being the only mage in town she could simply say some magical mumble jumble and convince everyone they were in danger.

    Ayumi was so lost in thought that when she snapped out of it Sophie had been gone for half an hour.

    Since master Ayumi asked her such an important task, Sophie asked the girls for help. They used to be Hiraku¡¯s tradingpany only ¡¯employees¡¯, but even now that one fifth of the Ironwoods poption worked for thepany, Sophie only entrusted such important tasks to ves.

    Being a ve herself, Sophie knew how vulnerable they were, but after serving the heroes, and particrly Ayumi, for so long she had be blindly loyal to them.

    Sophie had always a curious mind and a quick brain, she was always on the look for something to keep her mind busy, even when she was a prostitute. It was only thanks to her ingenuity she had managed to live as a prostitute for so long without providing any sort of sexual service. She was actually proud of this feat.

    When she was bought by Hiraku, she thought she could still get away with it, but after meeting master Ayumi, it was Sophie herself who seduced them.

    She was a resourceful woman, maniptive and scheming like no one, and she was used to always getting things her way, she had also a charming face and an alluring figure. She was confident she would be able to seduce the married couple and gain more influence in their household.

    All she wanted was to be a part of thepany that was effectively changing the world. Every other week they came up with something new. Sometimes it was small stuff like a means of disposing of food waste and creating more fertilend at the same time, but other times they offered machines and gadgets that were like magic, but better.

    Homes were now well lighted, there was enough medicine and fooding and going. And ever since they had some trading outposts built midway between Ironwoods, the mine and mountainside, transporting resources had never been so easy.

    The city was clean, people were well fed, healthy and happy. Despite the town¡¯s poption being so low after the hill massacre and the riots that followed thanks to Bianca¡¯s scheme, the town grew at an impressive rate because people were leaving the barracks and getting their own houses built. And Sophie had been an important part of the city¡¯s development.

    Although she was a ve, she was right where she wanted.

    Of course things didn¡¯t go exactly as she nned, there were a few ups and downs, but all in all she had experienced some things a lowly ve like her shouldn¡¯t even be able to dream of.

    The groupprised only of female ves headed north of the manor, they were well armed and fully geared. Spears were their main weapons but some of them carried spare knives, others a bow and Sophie only carried the box filled with the fire essence vials.

    The lights in the sky were a beautiful death omen that shined its eerie light upon the snow that covered the sides of the road.

    Sophie lifted an arm signalling the group to stop and the girls quickly made a square formation that had no blind spots. If they were to be attacked, they would notice immediately, there was also no chance for the attacker to reach Sophie without being forced to break through their formation.

    Sophie carefully opened the chest filled with the magical vials, but before she could even ce one in the ground as Ayumi had instructed her, a strange light converged on the chest. The air around them became increasingly hot and Sophie didn¡¯t know what to do. Her orders were to ce a vial in the ground but it was red hot, bubbling, then sizzling, then...

    The sound reached the manor, Ayumi opened her eyes wide as the wooden walls trembled.

    The experiment had been a sess.

 Chapter 237 - 237 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part 1

    237 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part After a full day under the harsh weather, Ryu was starting to fear things weren¡¯t as simple as he initially thought.

    When the weather became windy, he thought nothing of it. It was simply a mild storm, there was nothing to worry about. Except there was, it was a non stop whistling that left everyone deaf within the first few hours, their eyes were so dry they couldn¡¯t afford to keep them open and, as if that wasn¡¯t enough, they were starting to take constant damage.

    It wasn¡¯t as bad as a tree falling directly on top of them, just small pebbles that would find their way to their eyes or the soft spots in their skin by luck. It was nothing to worry about, as long as itsted only a few hours.

    But the winds were raging nonstop and there wasn¡¯t any sign of them decreasing in power, if anything, it only seemed to be stronger and stronger.

    ¡°We need to get going!¡± Ryu shouted to the top of his lungs, but the strong winds made it impossible for Bardun to hear him. Besides, the chief goblin was already too busy helping his brethren since most goblins were so small they were having trouble to remain standing.

    When Risa noticed Ryu was trying to speak, she quickly ran towards him, tapping him on the shoulder to catch his attention. It was impossible to speak, but even if it wasn¡¯t, the ringing on their ears would have made it impossible for them to understand a word they were saying.

    Fortunately, Risa had already experienced something simr.

    She was summoned to a city near Crent, it was only a few days of travel, but it was the farthest she had ever been from her hometown. She was acting as a ranger at the time, her duty was to keep the roads safe for travel and to check the woods on a daily basis. Rangers were like adventurers, but they were under the kingdom¡¯s orders so she couldn¡¯t refuse the kind ¡®invitation¡¯ she received.

    The task at hand was nothing out of the ordinary, all they had to do was y a wyvern that was wrecking havoc in the city of Belore. Although it wasmon for wyverns to attack that city from time to time, this one was determined to razing it to the ground.

    .....

    Risa had just been promoted to C rank and her main task was supposed to be support and rear guard, but as soon as the wyvern appeared most adventurers and rangers broke ranks forcing her to take active part on the subjugation.

    Wyverns are strong, cunning and powerful creatures, they can fly, spit poison and they can also fight innd making them versatile killing machines. But that¡¯s not everything, their winds carry an enormous air pressure that produced an effect simr to what they were experiencing now. Risa¡¯smander had taken preemptive measures and ordered everyone to tie themselves to apanion, thus reducing the chance of being sent to fly and it also helped themmunicate.

    Risa grabbed the end of a rope with her mouth and encircled Ryu who quickly understood what her intention was. He finished tying the rope to his waist and then tied it around Risa¡¯s waist leaving about three meters in between them.

    Then Risa tried to teach him how tomunicate with it, but having no hands made it impossible to exin using hand signs. She waved her stumps in the air making no sense at all, forcing Ryu to interrupt her.

    He tugged the rope one time and pointed towards his eyes, then two times and so on.

    In the end it was something simr to what her previousmander had devised.

    One tug meant ¡®attention¡¯, two tugs meant ¡®are you ok?¡¯ or ¡®I¡¯m ok¡¯ if used to reply. One strong tug meant ¡®danger ahead¡¯. They also made some other ¡®phrases¡¯ tomunicate, but it was nothing they couldn¡¯t express with their body, like saying no or yes and only agreed on those signs just in case their visibility was affected too.

    The beastkin girl watched everything they did with her mouth agape, despite the strong winds, and she imitated Risa bringing Ryu a piece of rope to be tied to him too. Being her first attempt ofmunication with Ryu, he happilyplied and now he was tied to both Risa and the beastkin girl.

    After a while it was clear that she didn¡¯t understand a thing about the code they just came up with and tugged randomly on the rope with a smile on her face.

    Both Risa and Ryu were surprised about her odd behavior, but they were d for her nheless. It was weird, but at least she didn¡¯t mind being tied up likest time.

    It took some time to teach the goblins about their code, but being tied together not only solved theirmunication issues, it also helped goblins to stay earthbound, allowing them to resume their travel.

    Ryu then noticed the absence of Famine, he was nowhere to be seen and they were already on the move. He attempted to activate mana sense, but it proved to be a huge mistake, making Ryu realize the reason why Famine was lost.

    The air itself was filled with mana, so dense it was like staring at directly to the sun, something like that was extremely painful for a beast that relied heavily on his mana sense to track prey and guide himself. For Ryu, though, the shock was so sudden that he almost fell limp on the ground right then and there. Fortunately for Ryu, mana sense didn¡¯t use a specific organ, it wasn¡¯t like he could have been blinded, but he did feel awful and his head ached even more than before.

    After a couple minutes to recover, he started to move towards what he believed to be the south. There was no way for him to know for certain that he was moving in the right direction, but it¡¯s not like they had a choice. Visibility had became scarce and they couldn¡¯t even fully open their eyes without getting hurt.

    They moved slowly through the forest, being Ryu the one leading the group, taking turns with Risa as soon as he got tired. Every few minutes they had to stop to wait for someone, some goblins were having trouble keeping their feet in the ground and they were flying like kites.

    The winds roared stronger by the minute, everyone¡¯s health was decreasing at a slow yet steady pace and Ryu was starting to regret asking everyone toe with him. Each step became increasingly more difficult, walking against the powerful air current also drained their stamina so fast they were starting to feel hungry, even though they had enough to eat before setting off.

    Impatient to reach a safe spot, Ryu remained on the lead position a few minutes longer than he should have, he tugged on the rope once to catch Risa¡¯s attention and she took the lead position again giving him a much needed respite.

    Thanks the the wind current flowing directly in front of them, they were able to reduce the damage taken and the fatigue by walking in a straight line. Things seemed to be going well, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that each turn was shorter and shorter.

    Both Risa and Ryu were already tired and they were the only ones capable of withstanding the brute force of the nature.

    After a while, the moment Ryu had been fearing for a while now became a reality. When he tugged on the rope, instead of getting a reply, the rope was loose. Risa fell face first to the ground, causing her a nosebleed.

    The poor beastkin girl wailed and cried, she poked at Risa¡¯s cheeks, but she wasn¡¯t responding and her wails were lost in the wind.

    Ryu attempted to pick up Risa, but he was already fatigued and he was unable to lift her from the ground. Calming down the beastkin girl was also impossible as he couldn¡¯t speak to her because of the deafening noise.

    He was left with no choice but to tap her on the shoulder, but he feared that she might attack him if he touched her. When Ryu bought her and Bardun, he asked them to be delivered without their ve cors, but now he was scared of what she might do to him.

    He was fatigued, low on health points and there was no one else strong or big enough to cover the strong winds with their bodies. All Ryu could do was ce his hands on the ground, activate his earth magic and create some cover.

    The natural mana was abundant which should have made things easy for him to alter the dirt, but if the winds on top were strong, the mana flow underground was unstoppable. As soon as Ryu expelled his own mana he noticed that his range had been decreased.

    It didn¡¯t mater how much mana he mustered, he couldn¡¯t control it as easily as before.

 Chapter 238 - 238 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part 2

    238 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part It took Ryu a lot of focus just to mold dirt, making it impossible for him to create a tall cover like a wall. Instead, he made something simr to a trench, splitting dirt to the sides was a lot easier than lifting a wall that needed support. It was also a lot safer, because instead of fighting the powerful winds, it was as if the wholendscape acted as a cover.

    Ryu¡¯s health points and mana pool were dangerously low, but at least he had enough food to restore his energy. Lea, who was tethered to Bardun, had also spent part of her mana healing goblins.

    It was something incredibly rare for a priest to heal a demi human, especially because their beliefs didn¡¯t allow it. One of their most important precepts was that a priest¡¯s mana is considered sacred and couldn¡¯t be wasted lightly. It was something so sphemous that even if a priest healed a beastkin ve, he or she would be emunicated immediately. But on Lea¡¯s case there was something ying in her favor, although she was already a priest, she had yet to be picked by a god to serve.

    She had no patron god, which meant that on one hand she had no effective way of earning the favor of the gods, making it impossible for her to acquire a new ss or ask for miracles, but on the other, she could do whatever she wanted and no god would be offended.

    Earning a god¡¯s favor could be achieved in different ways but most gods had their own set of rules and demanded certain rites to be performed, as long as the follower didn¡¯t make any big mistakes they could still be awarded some points of favor. There were some gods that provided easy points of favor allowing their followers to easily stock up on points, but those were usually the weakest gods.

    Strongest ones provided few points by performing rites and a lot more by either spreading the word about them or following theirmands. It was more difficult to earn their favor, but they could perform all kinds of miracles, even transporting people from one side of the world to the other in a matter of seconds.

    But Lea had given up on such hopes, leaving her no choice but to use her sacred mana to heal her captors. It didn¡¯t matter if gods were almighty, they were nowhere to be seen while goblins had taken care of her. More than capturing her, it was a rescue.

    They found her injured in the middle of the forest, took her in, fed her, got her back to health.

    Between living as a ve to goblins or bing Ryu¡¯s wife, she would of course take thetter, but he showed no interest on her. Besides, she was still scared of what Ryu was capable of, she had been traumatized after being forced by him to heal someone on the verge of dying.

    .....

    The winds roared the whole night and when morning came, although they had been able to rest, no one felt any better.

    Their walking speed was so low that it would take them a week to get to the goblin vige and because of the effects of the storm,municating was a lot more difficult.

    Ryu had to force himself to climb out of the trench, he was exhausted, tired and above all, disheartened.

    After witnessing the sort of treatment the poor beastkin girl received at the hands of the beast hunters from the sacred empire he was worried sick about his friends.

    Anne and Sera were supposedly safe in the goblin vige, but Bob, Luke and Mia remained up north trying to rescue Helena from that horrible ce.

    Ryu had not been to the sacred empire yet, but from the things he heard he wasn¡¯t really interested in setting foot there ever in his life. All he wanted now was for his friends to be reunited again, go back to their old cottages and live a peaceful life there.

    He didn¡¯t want to see any more heinous acts performed by humans, killing, robbing, raping, all those things disgusted him.

    After all this time trying to find out what was the threat that menaced humanity, he finally knew it was likely rted to the obelisk, but why should he bother with it. He didn¡¯t care about what happened to the human race, they could all go extinct for what he cared.

    As long as he was able to live a long, peaceful life in the middle of nowhere, he didn¡¯t care about anything else.

    Those thoughts kept him up during the night. He couldn¡¯t believe how stupid he was to allow their friends to get separated.

    As days went by, Ryu¡¯s determination to save humanity lessened giving way to a new objective, getting everyone back together.

    As they closed in to the goblin vige, the wind became weaker giving way to a rainy weather. Goblins rejoiced because it meant they were on the right way, but their happiness was short lived.

    Walking on mud was certainly a lot more difficult than on soft terrain and, although it wasn¡¯t as hard as fighting the strong air current they had to endure for almost a week, it wasn¡¯t an easy feat.

    They were still deaf and exhausted, their provisions had be scarce and they already lost a few goblin soldiers on the way.

    One fell from exhaustion, thus healing waspletely useless. The only way of saving him would have been giving him a tonic, but Ryu had none on him and even if he did, there was no way for Bardun to exin him the situation.

    The others were dragged by the wind and carried away. It was a small group of five goblins, all tethered together. At first they had no issue because they were carrying a lot of provisions, but as days went by and provisions diminished, so did the weight that kept them earthbound.

    Risa advanced through the muddy ground with difficulty, but for the beastkin girl it was almost like a stroll in the park. It took Risa a while to figure out that she, as an archer, had a skill called pathfinding that allowed her to walk in obstructed terrain. If they were able tomunicate, Ryu would have told her beforehand, after all he too had the same skill and she knew archers could acquire it because Anne too had developed it.

    But at least the long trip served as a learning experience and they were about to reach their destination.

    Or so they thought. A veiled threat no one was aware of lurked bellow the muddy terrain.

    The first one to fall was a goblin that walked in the rear, he simply disappeared without people noticing. It took about twenty seconds for the goblin in front of him to be dragged along thanks to being tied to the one who fell first.

    It was so fast he couldn¡¯t even scream, but even if he did there was no certainty someone would have heard them. By the time thest one from their group of five was dragged, Ryu noticed something was off.

    His mana sense was turned off, but not his sense presence skill. They didn¡¯t find any threat during their time under the wind storm, but Ryu felt helpless with all his detection skills turned off so he left sense presence on.

    Although he wasn¡¯t able to sense the enemy, he did notice the disappearing of his own allies. He tugged on Risa the rope alerting Risa just in time. A huge scaly snake, simr to an anaconda, wrapped around both her legs and just before it was able to constrict her, Risa waved her Katar with such surgical precision, beheading the snake in a single motion.

    The entire group was able to witness the attack and they immediately became wary of their opponent¡¯s presence. They were surrounded by snakes of all sizes, they were everywhere but most of them remained hidden thanks to the thickyer of mud.

    Soon enough everyone was fighting, Ryucked a proper weapon except for his obsidian dagger, but he still managed to kill a few snakes. Risa was proficient in killing beasts because of her vast experience as an adventurer, and she had no trouble at all.

    The beastkin girl, though, waspletely helpless. She didn¡¯t have any weapon and she appeared to be scared out of her wits. Her first reaction when a snake came close to her was to run away and climb to a tree.

    Her powerful legs allowed her to move swiftly across the muddy field and she climbed a tree with ease. Despite her slim appearance, she was actually really strong and had no trouble at all climbing the tall tree even with the rope still tied to her, leaving both Ryu and Risa hanging free in the air.

    To say they were dumbfounded would be an understatement. They didn¡¯t understand what was happening, Risa even thought the beastkin girl was eaten and they were being dragged by a snake. When she finally realized that they were dragged along with the beastkin girl, she understood how deeply they had underestimated her.

    But no matter how strong the beastkin girl was, she was still crying and cowering in fear on top of a branch. She was covering her eyes with her palms, sniffling from time to time.

 Chapter 239 - 239 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part 3

    239 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part From Ryu¡¯s point of view, all he was able to see was the beastkin girlher parts. It wasn¡¯t his fault though, there was nothing he could do to avoid it because of the way he was hanging. Risa didn¡¯t miss this, but instead of making her usual dirty joke, she took a few seconds to analyze the situation.

    There was little Ryu could do to help because he didn¡¯t have any weapon suitable for the situation. She, instead, was wearing her katars and she was already ustomed to fighting snakes. Of course she would have preferred to have her huge knife like sword, but it was lost along with Famine and even if she had it, without hands there wasn¡¯t much she would have been able to do with it.

    Risa swiftly cut off the rope that kept her tethered to both Ryu and the beastkin girl, falling on the muddy ground elegantly. Goblins were being targeted from all directions, making it hard to pick an enemy. She needed to prioritize the stronger snakes since goblins were extremely vulnerable to stealth attacks. They weren¡¯t ustomed to being caught by surprise, but there was little they could do to change the situation.

    It took some effort, but with Risa¡¯s help they made quick work of most enemies, counting their casualties with one hand making the instructor heave a sigh of relief.

    ¡°This is just the beginning!¡± Bardun desperately shouted, but it fell literally on deaf ears because of the time they spent under the influence of the powerful winds.

    While goblins didn¡¯t know much about the mana season, they were aware that snakes would procreate during heavy rains, Bardun knew that the snakes that were attacking them in a desperate frenzy were nothing but hatchlings and the true enemies were bound to be nearby.

    The trees in the vicinity shook from side to side, evidencing the presence of a strong creature too big to be able to conceal itself under the mud, but being mostly deaf not everyone noticed its presence on time.

    It was a red cobra, the same creature that Luke defeated in a single blow now threatened everyone¡¯s lives. Red cobras were among the most poisonous snakes known to man, they relied on their speed to hunt prey because they needed but a single bite to end the fight. Usually they would only hunt bigger prey, but after the mating season they were in desperate need for food.

    It was a well known fact that snakes would eat other snakes, even from their same species, but once a snake reached a certain size its cognitive capabilities were also enhanced along with its intelligence stat, meaning they also became more cunning and less inclined to eating their own.

    .....

    Because of this, they fed on anything that had a strong mana signature, especially lone adventurers, but a starved cobra would eat anything and everything on its way.

    Ryu watched in disbelief the size of the snake right bellow him, and he couldn¡¯t think of an effective way of killing it without sacrificing at least a few members of their group.

    Bardun was already panting when the cobra appeared in front of him, although he was deemed as the goblin¡¯s biggest hero, he was actually wiser than strong and he wasn¡¯t excited about facing the new enemy.

    The only silver lining was that most snakes retreated in the presence of an apex predator, they were simple creatures that obeyed their basic instinct. Once fear overshadowed their hunger they would simply turn tail.

    Being the tallest of the goblins, almost as tall as a human teenager, Bardun held the grip of his sword tightly and jumped forward in an attempt to at least graze the snake to cause it some pain, but the cobra retreated.

    It was aware of the strange weapons adventurers had at their disposal and it had devised a way to probe their strength without risking its life. A quick swoop of its tail sent Bardun to fly, but instead of shing clumsily on a tree he used his legs to plunge forward in a seemingly impossible movement.

    Risa didn¡¯t lose her time either and attempted to cut through the cobra¡¯s skin, thinking that the snake was stuck in between trees and had failed on its attempt to slither away. Risa struck with all her might on repeated asions causing a numerous amount of light wounds on the snake¡¯s tail, she moved her arms tirelessly but that was all she could do.

    She was a warrior that had only recently unlocked the archer¡¯s skilltree leaving her at a huge disadvantage with the weapons she was currently using. Power strike and sh were her more powerful skills, but they could only be performed with one or two handed weapons, oddly enough katars were considered dual wielding weapons and were more suitable for a thief than a warrior.

    Most goblins retreated, trying to keep the small snakes from bothering the duo, because they knew their weapons weren¡¯t able to pierce through the thick skin of the wild beast.

    As the fight advanced, Ryu noticed something was off.

    When Luke told them about his fight with a cobra, he mentioned how fast they were, yet this one left its tail exposed without even trying to dodge or run away. He scanned the area, quickly realizing the grave mistake his friends had made.

    The cobra didn¡¯t attempt to retreat, it was simply surrounding them to attack from a different angle. In despair, Ryu bnced his weight on the rope, counting on the superhuman strength of the beastkin girl and cut the rope with his obsidian dagger with perfect timing to beunched forward at an incredible speed.

    He fell right on top of the cobra¡¯s hood, and he slid down incapable of standing on top of its head. Ryu poked at the snake with its dagger, slowing down his descent just enough to avoid receiving any damage from the fall.

    The snake writhed in pain and the vibrations in the air became so loud that both Risa and Bardun were able to feel them in their bodies.

    When they turned around, they saw a gruesome scene.

    The red cobra¡¯s skin was open wide revealing much of its flesh and muscle. Blood had gushed out from the horrid wound dying the mud in red and Ryu was impaled by one of its enormous fangs.

    In ast effort, the red cobra had turned around quickly enough to catch Ryu before he was able to run away.

    Blood was dripping from his body and he was shivering and trembling, his eyes were white and foam wasing out of his mouth.

    Not only he had been pierced by a huge fang, he had been poisoned.

    The death of the cobra marked the end of the battle, everyone gathered around Ryu in silence thinking that he was already dead, but before anyone could shed the first tear he started vomiting profusely.

    Risa ran as fast as she could and attempted to lift Ryu from his awkward position, although he showed life signs he didn¡¯t respond in any way, not to the pain nor to Risa¡¯s reckless behavior.

    Ryu, who was still conscious, made his best effort to shout trying to keep Risa from moving him. He knew that as soon as they removed the fang he would bleed out within minutes if not seconds.

    ¡°Let me go, you idiot!¡± Ryu thought inwardly. He couldn¡¯t believe an actual instructor would so something as stupid as moving an injured person.

    No matter how much he tried to kick and scream, he was helpless as now even Bardun joined Risa on her effort to move him out, even Lea rushed forward to help and Ryu was about to fall in shock just because of their ineptitude.

    Or that was what he thought at first. Things changed as soon as he felt the venom coursing through his body.

    It didn¡¯t matter that he possessed a poison resistance skill, it was too much for his body to bear, everything ached, from his muscles to his skin. He started swelling up so fast it was as if he was a balloon being inted.

    Lea quickly ced her hands over his chest and she chanted a prayer that couldn¡¯t be heard by anyone, but the effects were swift.

    Although Ryu¡¯s pain didn¡¯t diminish in the slightest, Lea was able to heal his internal organs keeping him from dying on the spot.

    Words were unnecessary as everyone understood that they needed to get Ryu to the goblin vige as soon as possible. They knew Ryu had equipment they could use to craft an antidote, but his condition was so dire he wouldn¡¯t be able to make it himself, but that was his only hope.

    Risa hadpletely forgotten about the beastkin girl and left her behind without a second thought, everyone moved swiftly on the muddy surface without caring if they were tired or hurt.

    It was a race to save theirpanion and friend.

 Chapter 240 - 240 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part 4

    240 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part The gates leading to the goblin city creaked when the soldiers on the side spun the gears to open them. Heavy rain was pouring down and dark clouds obstructed the sky and not even sunlight was able to pass through.

    Two tall figures rushed to the entrance, trying to cover their eyes from the rain with a hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s them! they¡¯re back! hurry up and help them!¡± Anne shouted with a huge smile on her face.

    She didn¡¯t like the idea of being left behind, but she had actually enjoyed her stay at the goblin city more than she allowed herself to admit. Goblins were smart creatures and, despite theirck of manners, they were considerate hosts.

    Sera¡¯s mood contrasted heavily with the woman next to her. She stood idly with a twisted smile that didn¡¯t bode well with her beautiful face. All sorts of feelings flooded her heart in rapid session, rendering her calm mind skill useless. Normally, the skill would have given her enough time to think things through, but time passed and all she could think of were her memories of being left behind by the man who not long ago had swore to her he would never do something like that.

    Last time she saw Ryu was when he left the cave in a hurry, just after the most beautiful moment of her life, when they merged their bodies and shared their most intimate desires. Of course Ryu¡¯s perspective was a lot different, being tied and ¡®tortured¡¯ wasn¡¯t necessarily on his bucket list. Unfortunately for them, Sera had misunderstood Anne¡¯s advice and led her to believe that certain practices weremon when sharing intimacy and she let her inner most desires run free without even caring for how Ryu would feel about it.

    After Ryu left, she had spent most of her time daydreaming of how their next encounter would develop. She was enraged, irate, mad, but more than anything, she was experiencing emotional pain beyond what she ever experienced before.

    All the sweet memories, all the selfless acts that both her and Ryu performed for the other, stoked the fire of her anger instead of bringing herfort.

    She thought of so many different scenarios. In some she would walk up to him silently and burn him to a crisp. In others he woulde back begging for forgiveness, it was particrly in those kind of scenarios that he let her imagination run free again, seeking for some pleasure inside her mind, but it was all ruined once she remembered their short encounter in the cave.

    .....

    She had given her all to Ryu and in return, she received soft kisses, delicate strokes that resembled that of a painter waving a brush, warm embraces.

    ¡®How did thingse up to this point? why did he have to run away from me without so much as an exnation?¡¯ she wondered, but deep inside her mind she knew the answer already.

    Dark desires that crawled from the bottom of her soul would more than often take control of her own actions, leaving her like a passenger inside her body. Worse of all, she knew it was her own fault, her own weakness.

    A tear ran down her cheek, disguised by the rain pouring down her face. She did her best to remain with her back straight, her chest puffed out and her chin lifted to emphasize her beauty and noble appearance, but she crumbled down like a sand castle the second she gazed upon Ryu.

    He was being carried on hand by six goblins because they didn¡¯t have a stretcher ready. The shaking movements made blood gush out from Ryu¡¯s wounds that not even Lea was able to treat.

    ¡°No, no, no, nooooo! This isn¡¯t how I pictured our reunion! Mister Ryu!¡± Sera shrieked uncontrobly stomping the ground. Two goblin soldiers held her arms trying to calm her down, but she was able to advance despite their best efforts.

    Anne¡¯s only reaction was to ce her hand covering her gaping mouth, her eyes wide open uncaring of the rain.

    As soon as they got Ryu into the goblin medical hut six soldiers stood on the entrance preventing anyone from entering.

    To them, medicine was considered the most sacred activity and not without reason.

    Goblins were short lived creatures, but their short lifespan wasn¡¯t because of old age, most goblins found an untimely death by the hands of adventurers or the maw of creatures. It was an important part of goblin¡¯s culture to protect the young and live by honor, the older a goblin the more inclined they were to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the younger ones, making it impossible for a goblin to even reach four years of age.

    But to even reach such age was something really difficult. First, they had to survive on the battlefield, then they had to be treated on time and finally, they had to survive the long period of recovery. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, even after recovery they would eagerly jump on the battlefield to, again, protect the younger ones.

    Their slim knowledge of medicinal herbs and theirck of skills meant nothing because they mostly relied on surgeries and stitches, procedures that were of a physical nature and they were mostly cheap.

    Ryu had already been treated by goblins once, when he fell after his battle to the death against the ouws that lured them deep into the forest to capture them. But now things were entirely different.

    Thanks to Ryu¡¯s guidance, the medical hut was fully stocked with medicinal herbs of all sorts, different tools,fortable beds and everything was clean.

    Bardun was left bbergasted when he pushed past the soldiers and entered the medical hut. As their leader he was the only person, besides medical personel, allowed to enter.

    Ryu had made several changes during his stay. Now goblins had assigned jobs allowing them to excel at a single task instead of being jacks of all trades, this alone caused a huge spike in their skill levels pushing the goblin civilization one step further in less than a week.

    After all the time that passed since he took control and then left the vige looking for Bardun, though, the poption also increased greatly. It was an unintended side effect of having better conditions and skills on the medical hut. This forced the goblins to expand their vige, giving way to a densely popted city but none of this would have been possible if it wasn¡¯t for their newly acquired knowledge about agriculture and cattle.

    Now Ryu wasn¡¯t being tended by unskilled and unprepared regr goblins, but by the best goblin doctors avable in the whole city.

    ¡°Make way!¡± someone yelled from outside the medical hut and the soldiers split immediately, allowing Saba, the greatest goblin doctor, to get inside the hut.

    ¡°What¡¯s the diagnose?¡± He asked with a low grunt.

    ¡°He¡¯s been poisoned, judging by the symptoms this happened about an hour ago and he¡¯s already received some treatment. His body seems fine but his health points are nearly depleted.¡± One of the goblins exined the situation to Saba.

    Although Saba¡¯s appearance wasn¡¯t remarkable in any way, he wasn¡¯t taller nor shorter than the regr goblin, his wrinkly face and deep eyes made evident that he was wise beyond his age.

    He quickly took a scalpel from the tray next to him and made a deep cut on Ryu¡¯s artery, draining the blood and letting it fall on a bucket. Bardun almost jumped on top of the medical doctor, but even the goblin leader was nothing but a guest inside that hut.

    ¡°What are you doing to my brother!?¡± he yelled in outrage.

    ¡°What am I doing? what you should have done, you need to let him bleed or the poison will corrode him from the inside.¡± Saba replied grumpily.

    If Anne was present she would have stabbed the goblin without hesitation. Back in her world she was an experienced traveler, she had been to a continent where venomous snakes and spiders were somon people saw them on a daily basis, and she learned that bleeding out a venom was impossible.

    But that only applied in a world without magic. If Ryu had received an opportune treatment a simple antidote would have sufficed, but now the only way of saving his life was impossible without draining the leftover venom from his bloodstream.

    Each pump of Ryu¡¯s heart kept him alive, but at the same time drew him closer to dying.

    The goblins drained Ryu¡¯s blood mercilessly, he looked almost like a carcass and his body heat was so low it was impossible now to tell if he was alive or undead. Then, when thest drop of blood dripped on the bucket Saba closed the wound he previously inflicted with a sticky paste.

    ¡°Administer the blood herb.¡± Hemanded. Two of his assistants took a y bowl that contained a red herb that had been previously ground, and they squeezed it directly on Ryu¡¯s mouth.

 Chapter 241 - 241 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part 5

    241 Survive the mana season, I beg you! part As soon as the first drop of the reddish liquid touched his tongue, it disappeared. Ryu¡¯s body absorbed it as if by magic.

    The blood herb allowed the patient to recover an incredible amount of blood, but it didn¡¯t restore their health points and it did nothing to close the wounds either.

    Ryu¡¯s life was still in danger and Saba was well aware of the situation. They needed to perform a surgery to close his wounds, but doing so would reduce Ryu¡¯s health points even more and force him to spend energy he didn¡¯t have.

    Anne, Sera and Ath waited outside the medical hut crossing their fingers in hopes for positive news, but time passed and no one came outside. At first they were worried, then impatient and after a while they fell asleep despite the heavy rain pouring down on them.

    The wooden tform above wasn¡¯t made with the intention of covering the rain, on the contrary, it was built with the idea of letting natural light in.

    Lea and Risa, the only other humans from Ryu¡¯s party, were also being tended on the medical hut. They were moderately wounded, sick and above all, they were extenuated after the long trip under the inclement weather.

    The first one to recover was Risa, but as soon as she woke up they took her outside the medical hut so there wasn¡¯t much she could tell the girls about their friend¡¯s condition. Instead, she told them everything she could about their travel, from the moment Ryu found them.

    Sera couldn¡¯t believe the incredible adventure they had been on. At first she was mad at Ryu for leaving her behind, but after a while she pondered if she would have been able to survive that long. She was a powerful magician and her physical stats were nothing to scoff at, butpared to Risa and Ryu she was really weak.

    Goblins were able to survive on their way back thanks to the help of Lea and the others, but also because they were able to rest beforeing back. Ryu, instead, wasn¡¯t able to rest nearly enough since he spend a long time traveling from the vige and then back.

    .....

    If she had gone with him she would have been nothing but a nuisance and a burden for the group.

    Anne, instead, sobbed uncontrobly and didn¡¯t say a word.

    While that happened, Ryu had long lost his consciousness. His mind was was drifting away on the nk pace. Despite being shapeless, Ryu was lost in the feeling of being afloat, he couldn¡¯t tell the passing of time, all he could notice was how sluggish everything felt.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± Those words muttered by Aruru brought him back to the time he was badly hurt in Ironwoods and he could have sworn he heard the same words. Although he had no memories of what happened inside his mind at that time, he could tell it was something simr because of the oddly familiar feeling he was experiencing.

    ¡°Am I still alive? Last thing I remember those idiots were trying to move me while I was...¡± Ryu couldn¡¯t get to finish that sentence.

    ¡°It¡¯s all my fault... you weren¡¯t ready and I¡¯ve put you through so much.¡± Aruru¡¯s voice became faint, she sounded really sad.

    Ryu couldn¡¯t feel his body, but he knew something was wrong the minute he attempted to wake up and was unable to do so. But even though he was in a strange situation, his mind didn¡¯t crumble and he didn¡¯t fall prey to fear. He only wanted to get answers, but Aruru remained silent no matter how many times he attempted tomunicate.

    The nk space couldn¡¯t be seen or felt with the usual senses, he knew it was way different than the physical world, but he also knew that whatever he did in there could have repercussions on his body. This meant that, as ethereal as it could be, there was a connection between the two nes of existence.

    Ryu focused on whatever he could sense and he was d to discover that sense presence, or something simr, was still working. At first, separating his own existence to that of the others was a difficult task, but after a long period of concentrating on that he acquired a new skill called sense of self.

    There wasn¡¯t a message or a voice inside his mind, there was neither any visual indicator that he acquired said skill, but somehow he knew it was avable for him now. The skill seemed useless, but it provided Ryu some much needed information.

    He felt himself as a small, wounded creature, hurt beyond recognition. He couldn¡¯t see himself, he simply became aware of his own existence inside that nk space.

    He dedicated himself to practice his new skill, without rest or sleep, there was nothing stopping him from doing so and in the end he was able to finally feel the presence of the woman who spoke directly to his mind, the one that imed to be a goddess.

    And she was a goddess indeed. If Ryu saw himself as a small creature it was only because of perspective. The woman was of huge dimensions, so enormous it almost smothered his own presence. Suddenly, Ryu finally experienced something, a warm feeling that surrounded him entirely. The more Ryu was conscious of her existence, the more that feeling spread around him. It was pleasurable, but also scary beyond what words could describe.

    ¡°Give up already, Aruru, your champion has fallen and there¡¯s nothing you can do about it. You won¡¯t be getting out any time soon.¡±

    A voice resounded in the abyss.

    ¡°Did youe here just to gloat? or could it be you missed me too much? how long has it been?¡±

    ¡°Miss you? don¡¯t make meugh.¡± The male voice replied.

    Hearing the conversation was like trying to listen to a tune hidden within the sound of a thunder. Ryu¡¯s mind was unable to focus anymore and he fell into a deep slumber.

    Days went by, then weeks, then months.

    By the time thest human left the goblin city, Ryu was still inside the medical hut and no one knew about his condition.

    Ath went back to Crent, Sera went with her in hopes of finding a way to help Ryu, Anne headed north to look for Bob and Luke and Lea was eventually freed thanks to the major contributions she made to goblin society.

    At that point the lights had already disappeared from the sky, giving an end to the strange mana season, but the world would never be the same as before.

    Mana spread wildly and the most affected regions were those that usually had thinner mana density, such as the sacred empire. Mana seasons started happening at irregr times on different ces, making it impossible to predict them or prepare beforehand. Inexplicable phenomena hit different cities, some of which werepletely erased from the maps.

    Thendscape changed all over the world and new creatures spawned. Magical beasts roamed thend wrecking havoc wherever they went.

    Yet Ryu was unaware of the changes that urred while he was still recovering from his injuries.

    Ryu woke up in a white room, it was so neat at first Ryu confused it with the nk space, but as soon as he put his hand in front of his face he knew it was the physical world.

    He attempted to stand up, but his body felt encumbered and even breathing was difficult. It took him all his effort just to set his feet on the ground, he felt dizzy and tired already, but his survival instincts kicked in.

    Waking up in a strange ce like that gave him the chills, he didn¡¯t know what kind of ce it was, for all he knew he could have been made prisoner or even worse.

    He patted himself trying to reach his soulbound card, if he was in a friendly ce the least they could do was to leave it at hands reach. He gasped in surprise when he noticed he was actuallypletely naked and none of his belongings were nearby.

    ¡°Just my luck¡± he sighed in disappointment.

    Suddenly, an image appeared in front of him. It looked like a progress bar and it had a message above.

    >System reboot 1%

    He blinked twice, thinking that maybe he was hallucinating, but the image didn¡¯t disappear, not even after he rubbed his eyes. It wasn¡¯t bothersome, but it was a strange sensation.

    Heid on the bed pretending to be asleep as he regained his energy. He didn¡¯t know if there were enemies nearby, but he knew that he was in no condition to fight even the weakest beast.

    >system reboot 6%

    The progress bar advanced slowly and it came to a stop after reaching the 10% mark. There was a strange icon on the top right corner, and Ryu curiously focused on it.

    >Main Quest: Survive the mana season pleted)

 Chapter 242 - 242 Make the most of the system, please! part 1

    242 Make the most of the system, please! part Ryu stepped out of the white room, but not before using stealth, conceal and camouge to remain hidden. He didn¡¯t know where he was or how much time had passed since he fell unconscious, but the ce was too different from anywhere he¡¯d ever been to making him suspect that he wasn¡¯t a patient but a prisoner.

    Just as he expected, there were guards patrolling outside in the hallway, making it impossible for him to make a run for it and since the building was built in some sort of concrete, breaking a wall would have been pointless.

    For the looks of it, the building had to be some sort of dome, but that held little to no importance.

    Without knowing anything about his current situation, Ryu walked in a random direction making the most of his stealth skills. His intention was to find a big enough crowd to mix in, but first he needed to find some clothes. A naked man would stand out in any crowd.

    After taking a right turn he noticed the presence of a tall man. He had blond hair and a wide frame but a slim figure. He looked nothing like any person he had ever seen before. Curiosity got the best of Ryu and he used his consider skill.

    Information about that person was disyed above the man¡¯s head.

    >Beastkin (Healthy)

    That was enough to give Ryu the chills. He had never fought against a beastkin, but even the shy weak looking beastkin girl he rescued was strong enough to pull him and Risa up without breaking a sweat making him realize he didn¡¯t stand a chance against a man as tall as the one in front of him.

    Ryu decided to take another way. The ce was really clean, but there were no decorations. The source of light was powerful enough to light up everything, but Ryu didn¡¯t know that model of elemental stone poweredmp.

    .....

    As soon as he found an empty room he got inside without hesitation. It was a small empty room without a light source of its own, making him realize it had to be a storage room. Ryu then took a minute to think about his situation, trying to understand the severity of it.

    There was a beastkin, strange artifacts he¡¯s never seen before and the building architecture was nothing simr to any ce he¡¯d ever been at. All those clues made him believe he was in the sacred empire.

    The only person who ever told him about how the sacred empire looked like was Anne. She told him they used beastkin ves and their technology was more advanced than that of the kingdom of Loudeac, besides, who else would have been able to heal him.

    ¡®It must have been Lea, I bet she betrayed us.¡¯ Ryu thought inwardly as he clicked his tongue.

    ¡°Hey! did you hear that?¡± A male voice resounded through the hallway.

    ¡°Yeah, but it was probably nothing, just keep patrolling while I check that out.¡± A woman replied.

    He had to be in a secure location, the only answer to Ryu¡¯s questions was that he was indeed in a prison.

    Ryu¡¯s heart raced, and so did his feet as he rushed through the hallways. Thanks to his quick movements and his skills he avoided getting found out in the nick of time, but in his rush he found himself in the outside surrounded by people.

    All of them were beastkin.

    People wasing and going their way across the street, all of them looked busy enough carrying baskets, rucksacks or piles of resources. Yet they all stopped at the same time to sniff the air.

    ¡°A human!¡± A woman shrieked pointing her finger at Ryu¡¯s location.

    ¡°Hurry up and seize him!¡± A huge man wearing leather studded armormanded a group of soldiers. They hurried up towards Ryu, not giving him any chance to run.

    They pointed their weapons at his throat leaving so little space that even the slightest movement could have ended his life right then and there.

    Then, a woman jumped out of the building Ryu had gone out from.

    ¡°Halt! By pointing your weapons at our guest you¡¯re breaking the oath of hospitality.¡± She said coldly.

    The woman was was only a little smaller than Ryu, her hair was ck and she had a short pony tail, but what caught Ryu¡¯s eye was the long pointy ears like those of a cat that protruded from the top of her head.

    The soldiers quickly sheathed their weapons and the woman turned around.

    ¡°Please excuse their behavior, we¡¯re on high alert after thest attack we received. Are you feeling ok?¡± She spoke to Ryu, but he didn¡¯t give a reply. He was in a daze after the sudden turn of events.

    The sudden realization that he was neither in the kingdom nor in the sacred empire had left him speechless.

    ¡°Can you understand me? Geez! They said you were able to speak, maybe our information was wrong.¡±

    ¡°No, hang on, I¡¯m just trying to understand all of this. I was hurt and... poisoned.¡± Ryu stuttered, trying to wrap his head around everything.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the goblins took good care of you. Now you¡¯re our guest, you¡¯re safe here.¡± She tried to reassure him.

    ¡°As long as we¡¯re safe.¡± Another cat like man said from behind herpanion.

    ¡°Don¡¯t scare him Saser, you¡¯re his doctor, why can¡¯t you have a little empathy?¡±

    As the two beastkin chatted, it finally came down to Ryu that he was still naked and there was an entire crowd watching him. He covered hisher region and tried to look for a ce to hide, but the woman stopped him by cing a hand over his shoulder as she kept chatting with her friend.

    ¡°See? you made him scared again, are you going to take responsibility if he copses again?¡± The catlike woman kept nagging at Saser while Ryu became more and more embarrassed. His breath became heavy, his face turned beet red and he couldn¡¯t get free from the woman¡¯s grip.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s you who¡¯s scaring him. Can¡¯t you see he¡¯s embarrassed?¡± Saser replied.

    ¡°You¡¯re speaking nonsense, why should he be embarrassed?¡± She turned back to look at Ryu who was pondering if he would have actually preferred to be attacked rather than humiliated like that.

    She took a few seconds to examine his constitution and then it was her turn to get flushed. As soon as she let Ryu go he rushed towards the same building he had recently escaped from.

    They took him to a storage room, simr to the one he¡¯d been to before, but this one wasn¡¯t empty. It was filled to the brim with clothes of different quality and they allowed him to pick whatever he wanted to choose.

    Most of the clothes were really simr to the ones the people from that ce was wearing, the color varied from green, brown and some yellow, but there was also a lot of clothes that looked exactly the same as the ones people from the sacred empire wore.

    Knowing that people from the sacred empire and the beastkin were not in good terms, Ryu rummaged through the clothes trying to find something that fitted him.

    It was clear that most of the clothes they had used to belong to people who fell inbat. There were stains of blood they didn¡¯t bother to clean, holes the size of a dagger and shes everywhere.

    Finding something he was actually able to wear and that fitted him proved to be a challenge because the clothes that were simr to those of the beastkin were clearly not designed to be worn by humans.

    ¡°This is highly interesting... Do you think all humans take so long in getting dressed?¡± the catlike woman said to Saser, both of them were looking at Ryu like he was a specimen rather a person, yet their gaze upon his body made him feel awkward nheless.

    ¡°You can just ask him.¡± Saser shrugged.

    As soon as Ryu finished getting dressed, he was taken to another dome-like building. If there was a crowd before, now even more people gathered curiously and they were all looking at Ryu. They followed his steps until he disappeared inside the other building.

    This one was clearly bigger than the other one, not just that, its roof was taller and the doors were sturdier. There were several guards waiting on the sides of each door.

    They entered a richly decorated open hall, that also had three long tables inside.

    ¡°Your majesty, the human has awoken.¡± Both catlike beastkin knelt down and lowered their gaze in front of a woman that looked like a human except for her vertical pupils.

    There was something familiar on that woman, but Ryu couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on it. At least until she walked down from the tform she was on and took his hand.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± The woman in front of Ryu had waited for so long just to be able to say those words to Ryu.

 Chapter 243 - 243 Make the most of the system, please! part 2

    243 Make the most of the system, please! part ¡°You are the beastkin girl!¡± Ryu eximed in surprise. ¡°Yes, I am. My name is Samoat. I¡¯m currently the queen of the beastkin ns. You saved my life and for that you have my eternal gratitude.¡±

    Her words were loud enough for everyone to hear, but Ryu caught a glimpse of shyness in her manner of speech. Although she was supposedly a queen, there wasn¡¯t a hint of nobility in her manners, evenpared to a minor noble like Ath shecked in both manners and gracefulness.

    ¡°I just did what anyone in my position would have done.¡± He replied, but Samoat shook her head. ¡°Not really, most humans will attack us on sight, and if we¡¯re prisoners they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to turn us into ves. I suffered through that on my own flesh.¡± At herst remark, several beastkin emitted a low growl and Ryu was even able to sense the killing intent in the room. It was so dense, yet it wasn¡¯t directed towards him.

    ¡°Why am I here? are we in the goblin vige?¡± Ryu asked, still confused about his current situation.

    ¡°That¡¯s a long story, but first we need to celebrate this asion. Let¡¯s have a feast in honor to our guest! Ask the cooks to prepare the best human course they know.¡± She turned towards a soldier looking woman right next to her.

    The hall and everything about it was both rustic and luxurious, Ryu didn¡¯t attempt to mingle with the crowd and simply sat on the spot they led him to, which was right next to Samoat.

    Although she was a queen, beastkin didn¡¯t have the same rigid etiquette the kingdom of Loudeac had, but even if it didn¡¯t have the first clue on how to deal with nobles, let alone with the royalty. He spoke with the queen with the same familiarity he did back when he saved her from the beast hunters, and people nearby didn¡¯t like that one bit.

    Not because it was a breach of etiquette, but because they were envious of their apparent close rtionship.

    ¡°After you were hurt and poisoned, the goblins treated you to their best efforts. They sent their best goblin doctor, but even after the poison was out of your body and your injuries fully healed, you showed no signs of waking up. Your body waspletely healed, but you remained unconscious. After a few months I asked Bardun to let me take care of you, he had a lot on his te and they had run out of options for a while, so he agreed with the condition that we take good care of you and that we inform him the minute you regain your consciousness. How could I disagree when it was only because of me that you ended up almost dying.¡± Samoat smiled as she recounted the past events that led her to take him to the beastkin kingdom.

    .....

    He remembered the way in which he met the girl, but he also remembered how she behaved when they were attacked. If it wasn¡¯t for her climbing a tree and pulling him above the red cobra, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to defeat it but at the same time, it was because of her that he ended up being poisoned.

    ¡°Please, don¡¯t worry about it. If it wasn¡¯t for you I would have probably lost my friends.¡±

    ¡°About that... This is difficult to say but, things are not the same as they were when you fell unconscious. I don¡¯t know much myself, but I think it would be wise for you to remain in the beast kingdom until we contact Bardun.¡± Samoat said as she ced a hand on top of Ryu¡¯s making him feel ufortable.

    ¡°I have a question, were you able to speak all along? if so, why didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯splicated. I wasn¡¯t myself when you found me, if it wasn¡¯t for miss Risa who brought me to the goblin city when the mana season ended, I would still be living in the wilderness.¡±

    ¡°Miss Risa!? is she here?¡± Ryu asked excitedly, only to be disappointed by Samoat answer.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know her whereabouts, after bringing you here she went back to the kingdom of Loudeac to find a cure for her hands.¡±

    ¡°To the kingdom? why didn¡¯t she go to the sacred empire? A friend of mine told me they can cure almost anything, they can even regrow lost limbs.¡± Ryu said thinking back on Helena¡¯s words.

    ¡°That¡¯s mostly true. They can regrow limbs, but the cost is too high. Only third ss priests and above can do it and they also need expensive crystals. By the way, I know you¡¯re somehow rted or acquainted with an arch priestess from the empire, but I really don¡¯t rmend you heading over there. After the chaotic mana season we experienced things have been dire for everyone.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡± Ryu¡¯s curiosity was piqued. He knew about the strange phenomenon that urred where the lights in the sky showed up early, but he needed to catch up with any news he could get.

    ¡°The reason why that happened remains a mystery, but we do know a few things. First, mana seasons may ur at any ce and any time now. They canst for as little as a couple hours and as long as months, it¡¯s happening all over the continent and many settlements have been destroyed. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, the effects of the mana season have varied greatly. The beast kingdom used to experience elevated temperatures and a drought that affected the soil, turning most of ournd into wastnd, but right now the effects can vary from ce to ce. Last time, this ce was hit by heavy hail that caused many deaths in our ranks because we weren¡¯t prepared for something like that.

    Second, most beasts evolved into magical beasts, fighting against them is difficult enough, but it also lead to a scarcity of food and resources. There¡¯s also so many new species that we can¡¯t keep up anymore. To add insult to injury, humans dered war on us because they deem us guilty of everything.¡± Queen Samoat then proceeded to exin in detail some of the events that transcurred in the beast kingdom, but Ryu¡¯s mind was busy thinking about his friends.

    If what she told him is true, even the people that were supposedly safe in Ironwoods could be in danger. Despite being unconscious for a long time, he remembered his resolve of getting back together with all of his friends but those news changed his ns.

    Although he still considered humans to be worthless and the world itself could sink into chaos for all he cared, he had to admit that whatever was happening could affect everyone he knew and even himself.

    He pondered for a few minutes if he should really dedicate himself to the task of finding out the truth about the chaotic mana season, but he was interrupted by the pleasant smell of food that invaded his nose.

    Four young women dressed as maids carried out tes towards them. Ryu was ready to grab a bite of whatever they ced in front of him, but something on the dish in front of him intrigued him.

    The meat looked nothing like anything he knew. As a cook himself his knowledge on food ingredients was outstanding. It looked like regr meat, but there was something off, so he used his analyze skill on the te.

    >Human meat beef (normal)

    ¡°This is human meat!!!¡± Ryu had a hard time not falling from his chair as he backed down.

    ¡°Who is responsible for this? bring the cook immediately!¡± The queen demanded, soon after they brought a beastkin man. He was part human and part wolf.

    ¡°Is there any problem with the course, your majesty?¡± he asked with a stern face, much more wolfish than human.

    ¡°How dare you cook human meat for a meal we¡¯re going to share with a human!? are you stupid or what?¡±

    ¡°But, I was told I had to cook a human meal, I didn¡¯t know we had a human guest.¡± He seemed innocent enough, but it only made things more difficult for the queen.

    On one hand, she had extended her hospitality towards Ryu and feeding him flesh from his own race was a terrible offense. Although beastkin had no qualms eating human flesh, the same cannot be said about eating beastkin meat, cannibalism was taboo even in their society so she couldn¡¯t feign ignorance. On the other hand, by beastkin traditions, no matter what the situation was, if the guest didn¡¯t eat their food it was the same as rejecting said hospitality and she would be forced to kick him out of the settlement.

    Ryu was oblivious to all this, but it didn¡¯t matter how hungry he was, he wouldn¡¯t dare eating human flesh.

    Queen Samoat fell silent for a minute, trying to find a solution. She racked up her brain, but no matter her title of queen, even she had to respect the ancient traditions of her people.

    ¡°Saser, escort him out of the settlement. Make sure no one harms him or follows him, at least until he reaches th

 Chapter 244 - 244 Make the most of the system, please! part 3

    244 Make the most of the system, please! part ¡°What? what did I do?¡± Ryu said as he was being escorted out of the building by the same people who had invited him in.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, there¡¯s nothing I can do to help you now. Although it may seem like a rude thing to do, queen Samoat actually saved your life.¡± Saser exined once they were outside the city.

    ¡°But, I don¡¯t get it, what happened?¡± Ryu had never been so confused in his life, the beastkin people had taken care of him while he was unconscious. The minute he wakes up he gets invited to a celebratory feast in his honor, next thing he knew he was served a dish that contained human meat and then was kicked out of the settlement.

    ¡°It may sound odd to you, but we eat humans.¡± Saser sighed, ¡°I¡¯d like to tell you that we take no pleasure in doing so, but it¡¯s actually a delicacy. From the dawn of history, we¡¯ve always preyed on humans, it¡¯s just the way it is.¡±

    Ryu, who all this time had seen the beastkin as victims because he knew they were being enved and treated unfairly by humans, was now thinking twice about it.

    ¡°Then, why go through all the bother of taking care of me? wasn¡¯t it a lot easier to just kill me?¡± Ryu¡¯s mind was dizzy already after waking up in an unknown location after an undetermined amount of time, but now he couldn¡¯t make sense of anything.

    ¡°Ourws are considered sacred, we can¡¯t disobey it, even our queen has to obey thew or she¡¯ll end up paying the consequences. You saved our queen¡¯s life and, ording to our customs, that means our whole race is indebted to you. As a means to repay you for your kindness she offered her hospitality, but by rejecting the food they offered you, you also turned down the offer. It¡¯s actually a bit difficult to exin and there¡¯s not much time. All I can tell you is that you¡¯re not safe in our country anymore.¡± Saser said as they advanced through the wastnd.

    Ryu took the time to use analyze on whatever he could see, but there was nothing but scorched earth, small rocks and very few weeds.

    ¡°What am I supposed to do, then? I can¡¯t go back to human civilization if I don¡¯t have the first clue on where I am.¡± but Ryu¡¯s words faded in the solitude of the wastnd, Saser was nowhere to be found.

    .....

    ¡®Why would they do something like this to me? I would have been better waking up in the goblin vige. I don¡¯t have food, water, tools, this is almost the same asst time.¡± Ryu thought to himself as an intense anger grew inside of him.

    The feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him. He crouched in despair covering his ears as his eyes wept.

    Ryu remained like that for a couple minutes, then he came to the realization that throwing a tantrum would do nothing for him. Night wasing and he was in an unsafe ce.

    He kept walking in the same direction he had been walking before, hoping to reach civilization or at least finding something useful for his survival on his way.

    He attempted to cast magic and, although there was no disruption of mana, his mana pool waspletely depleted, as it was confirmed by a message on his disy.

    >insufficient mana

    He concentrated on his disy, mostly because he had nothing else to do, and then a small screen appeared in front of him giving him the information he needed.

    Thanks to that, he was able to confirm that not only his mana pool was depleted, but also his energy level was so low it wasn¡¯t even enough to replenish his mana, health or even stamina.

    The formerly familiar list of skills was almostpletely greyed out. He had been able to use conceal, stealth and camouge as soon as he woke up, but now he regretted it because he was getting tired already and no matter how much he rested, if he didn¡¯t find anything to eat he would end up unconscious again.

    Fainting in the safety of his house would have been one thing, but in the wilderness it was almost the same as dying,

    He pped his hands trying to dispel all the pessimist thoughts that wanted to invade his mind.

    He looked at his surroundings for a long while, trying to look for anything that could be useful again, but there was nothing in his field of view.

    There weren¡¯t evenndmarks such as mountains or water bodies, it was a barrennd, dry and hostile.

    He kept walking for hours until sunset, by that time he had already spent all his stamina points and couldn¡¯t take another step.

    He woke up next morning, but long after dawn. It was rare for Ryu, who always woke up early, to miss on a sunrise but at least he was feeling a lot better than the past day.

    A quick nce at his disy gave Ryu the first piece of good news he had received so far, he had regained a little bit of mana, it was less than a hundred points but if was more than he expected. He kept looking at his status in hopes of finding anything useful.

    Ryu (healthy)(thirsty)(hungry)

    Strength: above average

    Dexterity: above average

    Constitution: below average

    Intelligence: above average

    Wisdom: legendary

    Charisma: poor

    Pets: Mochi, Famine, Mia, Drake, fairy.

    Patron: Aruru

    Quest: craft a shovel (pending)

    There were many surprises on his status, especially the part where his wisdom had risen to the legendary level but his charisma lowered to the poor level. Even though he didn¡¯t understand the meaning of that change, he was almost certain that it had something to do with his physical appearance, he could sense that something was off in his body, but there wasn¡¯t enough time for him to worry about those matters.

    Next, there was another piece of good news, and it was about his new pet. Ryu knew only two fairies, but he had mostly interacted with a female, the one that the goblins handed to him to locate Bardun. Ryu didn¡¯t know if she ended up getting caught or if she ran away, but if she appeared on his status it meant she was still alive.

    Andstly, Ryu was d to see that he had received a new quest.

    He didn¡¯t have the first clue on how to craft a shovel with what he had at hand, which was nothing besides his clothes, but with at least now he was able to cast magic.

    His first attempt was to mold the wastnd dirt into the form of a shovel, then cast fire on it and see if it was possible to refine it. As usual, it didn¡¯t work, but at least Ryu was used to things not going his way.

    Next thing he grabbed the biggest stone he could find, which was about the size of his fist, and molded it into the shape of a shovel with his magic.

    The form was perfect, for a decoration, but it wouldn¡¯t be useful even to y in the beach sand.

    He checked on his disy, and the quest had yet to bepleted. Since he had nothing else to do, and he still had enough mana for a few more tries he experimented while sitting in the hard ground.

    ¡®Where did the beastkin get their building material? it looked like a rock, but it was clearly more resistant.¡¯ Ryu tried to wrap his head around it, but for them to be able to construct buildings so if they must have been living near a quarry.

    ¡®Unless, they didn¡¯t gather the material, but rather made it themselves¡¯.

    Molding a stone required a steady stream of mana, but now he wanted to pulverize the rock, which meant he needed a burst of mana. Ryu let out mana as he focused to not let it fade away, and then he closed his fist while staring at the rock focusing on crushing it.

    The result was it crumbling into a pile of fine dust. He then mixed it with some dirt in different portions and, after a little experimentation, he made an uniform dust.

    Since he had no other liquid at his disposal, he had no other choice but to urinate on it, creating a paste. Thanks to his ability to mold dirt and stone, he didn¡¯t have the need to use his hands to mix it.

    Ryu molded it into a long stick with a t tip, it looked almost like a spear, but even though it didn¡¯t look much like a shovel it could be used as one.

    >Quest: craft a shovel pleted)

    >rewards: water attribute +1

    Ryu ced his hand in front of him and concentrated on creating a small amount of water, and the result couldn¡¯t have been better. A small ball of water floated on top of his hand, giving him enough time to drink a good gulp out of it before falling to the ground.

 Chapter 245 - 245 Make the most of the system, please! part 4

    245 Make the most of the system, please! part Ryu took the chance to clean himself with the fresh water he was now able to conjure. He noticed that whenever he let out mana, he was able to change its properties into any of the elements he was able to control. But, while fire and water would appear out of thin air, he was only able to mold the stone, not to create it.

    Now Ryu was clean and refreshed, but his problems were far from over. He was still hungry and didn¡¯t have a shelter of any sorts. That¡¯s why he turned to the system again.

    >Quest: dig a hole (pending)

    And so, with nothing left to do Ryu started to dig with his newly crafted shovel. Although it could be considered a bit too short, it was sturdy enough and got the job done. The only thing that kept bothering Ryu was one of the materials he used to craft it, his own urine.

    ¡®Now I¡¯m forced to use this pee shovel, I just hope the reward is worth the humiliation¡¯ He thought inwardly as he kept digging mindlessly. It was a difficultbor and not knowing the reason why he was digging didn¡¯t help his morale at all, but at least he was able to keep himself busy and the promise of a reward had him excited.

    >Quest: dig a hole pleted)

    >Rewards: water attribute +1

    >Quest: Fill the hole with water (pending)

    ¡°What the f... Useless quest, why would I fill a hole with water!? do I even need that much water!?¡± Ryu shouted, losing hisst trace of hope.

    .....

    He cuddled up inside the hole, it wasn¡¯t so deep and only half of his body fitted inside, but he somehow felt a bit safer inside.

    The howling wind of the wastnd wasn¡¯t nearly as friendly as the one on his forest. The dry weather and barrennd made him miss his first cabin, making it seem like a small piece of heaven in his mid.

    He felt alone, helpless and abandoned. Not only by his friends, even his pets had forgotten about him. Just when he was about to fall into self pity, he remembered how helpless the summoned heroes were when he found him.

    They too were tired, hungry and they had nothing but a few tents. Everything they crafted was shabby and, although he woke up alone in the same forest his living conditions were a lot better.

    What would his friends think of him if they saw him now? What if they were actually looking for him but they were taking his time, or maybe they were too far away.

    He knew for sure that at least the amarok would be able to find him, but his new pet, the fairy, should too. Famine relied on his mana sense to find mana signatures that were familiar to him, while the fairy was somehow able to locate her partner no matter the distance.

    Ryu shook his head to clear his mind, then he came to the realization that the beastkin queen had said that she was going to tell Bardun he had woken up. It was only a matter of time that they found him.

    Ryu now had two choices, he could try to walk towards the first human settlement he could find, risking to get enved for being too poor or even killed for the fun of it, maybe he could even run into one of his dered enemies from the sacred empire. Or he could stay in this ce and survive for as long as he could, maybe even be stronger, until someone came to find him.

    There was one problem, though, even if he wanted to go to the nearest human city, he had no clue on where to go. It was the first time, ever since he woke up without memory in the middle of the southern forest, that he wasn¡¯t able to see the obelisk in the distance. That could only mean that he was too far away.

    It wasn¡¯t difficult for him to figure out that he was in the far east, because everyone knew the west forest extended for as far as it had been explored. No one knew where or if it ended at some point. Ironwoods was to the south, and the climate was too cold in there, even in summer. To the north there was the sacred empire and the beastkin were supposed to live in the east.

    If he was to walk to the west, he would eventually find humans, but will they be friendly? He couldn¡¯t answer that question. If he was to stay, instead, as long as he was able to secure a steady source of food he would be set.

    He was now able to conjure water spending a minimum amount of mana, he had a shovel that could help him to create an underground shelter and, as long as he was able to find any animals, he would be able to craft weapons and even armor.

    He stood up and wiped his teary eyes, resolved to leave his own weakness in the past and truly be one with nature.

    The young adventurer ced his hands in front of him and conjured water inside the hole he had previously dug. It absorbed so quickly it was just like pouring water into sand. No matter how much water he conjured, the whole wouldn¡¯t fill.

    Obfuscated, but not ready to surrender yet, Ryu thought in different ways to fill the hole. He knew his mana was limited and he was unsure about how much water he would need to fill the whole with water. It could be as little as just a few more minutes or it could be an impossible task.

    Since his remaining mana was not only his only means of lighting a fire, but also of defending from enemies, he decided to find a different approach.

    He gathered as many rocks and stones as he was able to, making sure to mark the ways. using his shovel, he drew a perimeter around his settlement marking the cardinal directions. If someone was able to look at it from above, it would look like apass or a clock.

    One by one, he took pebbles and rocks and made a pile. He then ced his hands on top of them, feeling the flow of mana inside of them and turning them to dust. He then mixed it with conjured water and the wastnd soil to make the same paste as before, only its color was of a clear gray, it looked almost like the same building material he saw in the beastkin settlement.

    After covering the inside of the whole with the improvised concrete he proceeded to fill it with water. Once it was filled to the brim, he checked on his quest log.

    >Quest: fill the whole with water (failed)

    ¡°SHIT! SHITTY SHIT!¡± His scream faded in the nothingness of the barrennds as thest rays of sunlight were starting to disappear. ¡®Not everything is lost¡¯ he then thought with a grin in his face.

    Maybe what I did is considered cheating and I need to follow the instructions precisely, but I can take my creation out and use it as a cooking pot.

    Although his new idea raised his morale to the heavens, lifting it from the ground proved to be an impossible feat. When he noticed that he would end up hurting himself before managing to lift the entire thing filled with water, he gave up and threw himself to the ground only to fall asleep a few minutester.

    Next day he woke up at noon, shivering in cold and covered in sweat, it ufortable but bearable. First thing he did was checking up his quest log, only to find a new quest.

    >Quest: hunt a magical beast (pending)

    He had water and a cooking pot, he was more inclined to seek for a regr animal rather than a magical beast that would most likely be inedible, but he learned his lesson the day before and set out to look for something, anything.

    He spent a couple hours walking around, but he found no traces or foot tracks of any sort. It wasn¡¯t apletely wasted trip, since he did find a bunch of red herbs with mild medicinal properties. He wasn¡¯t hurt, but having some spare medicine gave him a much needed sense of security.

    As he came close to his settlement, he noticed the presence of three different creatures, smaller than Mochi, that scattered as soon as he came into view distance. Because of that he was unable to identify them, but when he inspected the water he finally understood the reason why the quest asked him to fill a hole with water, instead of covering it with cement and then fill it.

    He wasn¡¯t building a water deposit, but a trap.

    Small animals would fall inside the hole trying to get some water to drink, but would be unable to climb out if the wall was muddy. By using cement, he not only prevented water from being absorbed, but he was also giving them means to climb out of it.

    With this in mind, he used his hands to take out as much water as he could from his new ¡®cooking pot¡¯ and proceeded to unearth it as soon as it was light enough. Ryu¡¯s next step was spending all his mana in filling the hole with water, it was difficult, but not impossible and as soon as he finished he left the ce to give the creatures enough time to fall into the watery pit.

 Chapter 246 - 246 Make the most of the system, please! part 5

    246 Make the most of the system, please! part Since Ryu had nothing to do but wait, he walked towards the west, where he was certain there¡¯ll be human presence. Using his pathfinding skill he didn¡¯t leave any foot tracks and he was also able to walk faster, but it was stamina expensive. Since Ryu had no food to recover his energy, he knew that sooner thanter he would end up fainting due to exhaustion, so he didn¡¯t go too far.

    His intention wasn¡¯t to walk far, but cover his movements. The markings he left in the ground wouldn¡¯t look man made at all, making it impossible for someone to track him down, but any of his friends would notice those markings and be able to understand their meaning.

    Ryu was lost in these thoughts when he stumbled upon a weird nt with thorny leaves and bright red flowers.

    >Fiery Dandelion: Any and all parts of this nt are edible at any growth stage

    ¡°This really doesn¡¯t look edible but...¡± Ryu said as he picked up a leaf from the weed looking nt. He chewed on it with a little distrust, its vor wasn¡¯t bad at all, but the texture was weird and thorny. It was so bad, he ended up losing two health points by consuming a single leaf. Fortunately, the nt was big enough to even be spotted from afar which also meant he would be able to gather enough of it to have a full meal.

    Using his shovel, Ryu unearthed the whole nt, making his best effort not to kill it. His intention wasn¡¯t to get enough food just for that day, but nting it near his water pit.

    ¡®If this nt is still alive despite being sorge, it can only mean that it either grows really fast or animals don¡¯t like its vor.¡¯ Ryu though.

    He took the nt with himself, making sure to cover the hole to the best of his abilities. Now he also knew why he needed a shovel, making a hole with earth magic was mana expensive but not impossible, but unearthing a nt without killing it required fine control he didn¡¯t possess. With a shovel, instead, he was able to safely remove it even if it took him a while.

    Big was Ryu¡¯s surprise when he came close to his water pit and there were two crabs fighting to climb outside. One of them had lost a leg inside the water pit, probably fighting the other crab, making Ryu pity the small crustacean. They were small indeed, about half the size of his fist, but they would provide some much needed nourishment.

    .....

    Ryu used consider on them, just to make sure they were regr beasts instead of the magical variation, only to be let down.

    >Ruby crab (Magical beast)(Healthy)(Maimed)(exhausted)

    That was a lot more information than he expected, but at the same time, it wasn¡¯t what he had hoped for.

    Ryu attempted to pick it up before killing it, but the crab was burning hot, honoring its name. Excited for the first decent meal after what seemed like months, he hit it with the tip of his pee shovel causing his glowing shell to be of a dull color. He did the same to the other one, obtaining the exact same result. Only after checking that the water temperature was safe for him, he picked them.

    ¡°Now how can I eat this thing? If it¡¯s capable of heating itself to the point I got burnt, cooking it will probably be impossible¡± he sighed.

    Ryu¡¯s hunger level was driving him crazy, his stomach didn¡¯t grumble so much as it roared, and he was feeling more and more tired. He knew he was close to starvation.

    Without any sort of fuel, his only possibility to cook the crabs was to either cast fire magic directly on them or to cook them by heating the water, with magic to. Either way, he would need to spend a great deal of mana, something he really wanted to avoid.

    He remembered how the summoned heroes were so tired when they first met, mostly because they spent more energy to get food than they were able to consume.

    Still, eating them raw could be dangerous and he preferred to y it safe.

    Ryu cracked the shell of both crabs,pletely removing the top shell, to see if that would help them cook faster, only to find a small gemstone inside of each of them.

    >Small mana crystal: small stones found inside magical beasts. It taints the meat making them inedible.

    ¡°That¡¯s it! So magical beasts can be eaten after all!¡± Ryu¡¯s joy was beyond measure.

    After cing some red dandelion leaves inside the cooking pot, he removed the crystals and ced the crabs and heated the water inside right before it started boiling.

    His mana was limited, but his hunger and the promise of a tasty meal gave him the motivation to push himself to the limit. After a few minutes and just before running out of manapletely, Ryu stopped casting fire magic and waited until the liquid cooled down enough to be able to drink.

    Much to Ryu¡¯s surprise, the result wasn¡¯t half bad. The cooking process made made the leaves tender enough to be pleasant to eat, the inside of the crab was cooked to perfection and the broth was actually tasty.

    The only problem was that breaking the shell was a difficult task and he ended up spilling a great deal of valuable food, but the meal was a lot better than he expected.

    ¡°Hey, Aruru, Can you hear me?¡± He said in between slurps at a crab pincer. ¡°Are you there? I could use somepany...¡± But there was no reply.

    Ryu couldn¡¯t tell why exactly, but somehow he knew she was nowhere near. The first time he met her, Ryu didn¡¯t think she was an actual goddess. It took a few encounters and messages for Ryu to even consider the possibility that gods were a thing, but after his longma he was a believer.

    He believed as much in the existence of gods as he knew they were assholes. Aruru warned him that he was, under no circumstances, to contact any of them and avoid them like the gue. Even though Ryu didn¡¯t think much of Aruru and she didn¡¯t give him a good impression, he still felt inclined to believe her.

    If gods existed and were hidden among the people, it was only obvious they were assholes. If they weren¡¯t, they would surely do something to help the starving people, the sick ones, the poor, or maybe simply stop needless wars.

    So far, all the people from the sacred empire he had met had behaved like criminals and Ryu thought they must have been a reflection on the gods they worshiped.

    Aruru¡¯s situation was different, She was made prisoner by other gods, which means they didn¡¯t like her. But after thinking long about it, Ryu realized that Aruru had helped him in several asions.

    He had heard her voice when he was hurt and more than once he felt her presence through the cursed sword.

    Feeling nostalgic and lonely, Ryu thought that if Aruru asked him for help now he might, maybe, try to help her. But she didn¡¯t reply, no matter how many times he called for her, there were no messages in the disy.

    Ryu¡¯s meal was enough to raise his morale, but it was nowhere near enough to get him back to health. He needed to hunt bigger prey, but so far he was unable to find any traces of animals and he didn¡¯t have a clue as to where did the crabs even came from.

    His next move was to nt the red dandelion near the water source. After digging a hole, he ced its root inside and covered it with soft ground.

    >Dandelion (withering)

    ¡®It seems this soil isn¡¯t appropriate for it to grow in here. I¡¯m not nning to stay in here forever and since I couldn¡¯t find a steady source of food I¡¯ll have to look for better grounds. I remember hearing they were attacked by humans at some point in the settlement so I can¡¯t be that far away.¡¯ With a full belly, Ryu¡¯s thoughts had be a lot clearer than before, allowing him to see the faults in his previous n of waiting for help to arrive.

    Even if they notified Bardun, there was no guarantee that he would even be able to get to the beast settlement and even if he did, Ryu couldn¡¯t possibly know how long it would take him. Anne was the only one who would be able to find him, thanks to the amarok, but despite the fact that she would be able to ride the amarok all the way, if she hadn¡¯te when he was in ama, why would shee for him now?

    Ryu was careful enough to bury his thrash, everything except for the top half of the crabs shells and the small mana crystals.

 Chapter 247 - 247 Make the most of the system, please! part 6

    247 Make the most of the system, please! part It took Ryu several failed attempts at sneaking up on magical beasts to realize that since there weren¡¯t any trees orrge rocks, he would be spotted from afar, but once he took notice he immediately shifted his approach.

    The morning breeze hit him on the face as he ran across the wastnd, his now shoulder length hair waving in the air like a maneplimenting a vicious look like that of a predator. Thanks to his pathfinding skill he was now able to not leave any footprints behind and move faster, uncaring of being noticed by his prey.

    >Zoan (Healthy)(magical beast)

    The creature now in front of him looked like a red slender goat, with two horns above and another pair of horns under its chin. Its skin was of a brownish color and it didn¡¯t have any hair. It had a slender appearance and a sickly look, but Ryu was desperate to replenish his energy and he was willing to hunt and eat anything that moved.

    ¡°Single strike!¡± Ryu yelled as he lunged forward with his pee shovel, yet the skill failed to activate giving the goat the first strike. A quick tackle left Ryu panting, but thanks to stone skin he didn¡¯t receive much damage.

    ¡°Dammit, I don¡¯t get it, why didn¡¯t it activate!?¡± Ryu grunted. As if the system was replying directly to him, a message appeared in front of him.

    >Failed to activate skill: Wrong weapon type.

    ¡°This is new! I didn¡¯t know I could ask questions to the system!¡± Ryu said with a grin, excited to have unlocked a new system function, as he braced himself for the zoan next move.

    When the goat charged forward, Ryu dodged skillfully and hit the goat like beast in the side, causing it little to no damage. Without a skill, the damage inflicted depended mostly in the weapon quality plus the wearer¡¯s strength and the zoan had a thick skin. The feeling the hit produced gave Ryu the same feeling he got when he practiced blunt weapons against trees.

    .....

    It was a hard hit that transmitted a heavy pressure onto his wrist and to his weapon.

    ¡®What was Bob¡¯s skill? The one he used tounch a powerful hit. So far, I¡¯ve only used Luke¡¯s single strike because its faster and caused almost the same amount of damage that Bob did when using his warrior skill. System, what are Bob¡¯s skills?¡¯ Ryu thought, receiving a system message in response.

    >List of Bob¡¯s known skills:

    Strength boost: increases strength temporarily

    Iron strike: Single blow that increases damage ording to strength

    Overload: unknown

    Taunt: unknown

    Stone skin: iing physical damage is spread evenly in a wider area. Gives additional defense against blunt and sharp weapons.

    ¡°This is amazing! Now I can now what skills I can possibly learn and...¡± Another tackle snapped Ryu out of his reverie. The zoan didn¡¯t understand what was he doing nor did it care, this battle meant the difference between life and death for it while for Ryu it was nothing but a meal.

    Food was in the top of Ryu¡¯s priorities, but a breakthrough that big with the system could help him hunt more efficiently granting him ess to a steady source of food.

    The zoan took distance, ready to charge again towards Ryu, but this time he was ready.

    ¡°Strength boost! Ironstrike!¡± He yelled activating both skills. He didn¡¯t know if it was necessary for him to actually shout the names of the skills, but after seeing Bob do it so many times he did it without even thinking.

    Contrary to Luke¡¯s skill, his weapon didn¡¯t emit any light. Instead of mana umting on the weapon, he could feel it flowing towards his arms. It wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing, especially considering the poor quality of Ryu¡¯s weapon, but he was a bit disappointed because it meant it was nothing but a type of body strengthening.

    While single strike would actively aim towards the closest enemy, Ironstrike was simply a powerful attack that spent part of his mana.

    He couldn¡¯t argue with the results, though, as his enemy was now lying in a pile of blood. The zoan was dead and Ryu stood victorious.

    Without anything even remotely simr to a knife, Ryu was forced to remove the zoan¡¯s horns to try and craft something simr to a shiv with them. Thanks to the strength boost provided by the skill he had previously activated, he was able to crack them with his pee shovel.

    The two horns in the top of the zoan¡¯s head were bigger and of a better quality, while those bellow looked like they had been overused and their tips were dull.

    Because of theck of firewood, Ryu didn¡¯t have the need to drag the corpse to his camp and he simply sat down next to the corpse to craft the shivs. Filing the horns against each other seemed to work for a little while, but they were a lot harder on the inside than they were in the outside.

    It took him a while to figure out that the reason the lower horns were dull was because the creature used them to dig food from the ground and they were a lot harder and rougher than the bigger ones. Instead of filing the bigger horns against each other, he used the lower ones like a grindstone making his task a lot easier.

    The result were two small shivs that his analyze skill confirmed to be too weak to use in battle, but at least they were sharp enough to cut through the zoan¡¯s skin allowing him to get his hands on some low quality meat.

    >Lamb leg (tainted) raw piece of contaminated meat.

    ¡®How could I forget to remove the mana crystal first!? I¡¯m such an idiot!¡¯ Ryu cursed inwardly.

    Thankfully, he had only taken a single leg from the carcass, which meant that after finding and removing the mana crystal he would still be able to get three zoan legs.

    Ryu took his time in searching for the crystal, using his shiv he performed a series of cuts where he thought it would be possible to find the crystal, but even after making aplete mess and dirtying his clothes with blood he was unable to find it.

    Having food so close to him, yet being unable to eat it was more than Ryu¡¯s mental state could endure. Although he had a nice meal the day before, it was merely enough to keep him going, it didn¡¯t even replenish as much mana as he had spent making the water pit.

    Ryu took a couple minutes to shout all the swear words he picked up from Luke¡¯s vocabry and only after venting he was able to calm down again.

    Apparently, mana solidifies inside of magical beasts which means that their blood and meat and, once it reaches a certain limit, it umtes enough to create a crystal. By removing the crystal, all the remaining mana will be absorbed into it, making the meat edible.

    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Ryu used his mana sense allowing him to spot the mana crystal immediately. It was located in the zoan¡¯s throat, it was as small as the crystals he took from the crabs but since its body was a lot bigger it would have been impossible to find it with the naked eye but thanks to his mana sense he was able to spot a shiny spot hidden inside the creature.

    When he removed it, he was able to see how the mana flow of the dead creature converged into the crystal increasing its shine and, apparently, its size too. It was a change so minimal that Ryu could have missed it if he hadn¡¯t been so focused on it.

    When he finished butchering the creature Ryu ended up with the zoan¡¯s untanned skin, it was a lot stronger than wolf fur but it couldn¡¯t even bepared to megnia leather, but thanks to his high skill in leatherworking and butchering, the skin was removed with such precision that not a single inch was wasted. The amount of meat Ryu was able to gather from the creature wasn¡¯t much, it was a small and slim magical beast after all.

    That night Ryu found himself in front of the cooking pot, spending so much mana to heat it that he doubted he would be able to regain as much mana by consuming the meat than he spent cooking. But his disappointment didn¡¯tst for long.

    Although his hunger made him believe that he would be able to eat everything in one go, a single piece of meat was enough satisfy his hunger and a second one left him full and unable to move anymore.

    He felt like his belly was about to burst and couldn¡¯t keep himself from bursting every few minutes, he was also so sluggish that he thought he could fall asleep in any moment. Fearing that he might have been poisoned, he turned to the system to find an exnation.

    Much to his surprise, the reason he was feeling weird had nothing to do with poison, but with the amount of food he had eaten and the speed at which he consumed it.

    >Ryu (Healthy)(indigestion)

 Chapter 248 - 248 Donéˆ¥æª› overeat, please! part 1

    248 Don¡¯t overeat, please! part Ryu felt so sluggish he had no choice but to take a nap, he lied t on the ground trying to find afortable position, but all he got instead was the feeling of nausa.

    Not wanting to waste the food he had so much trouble acquiring, he stood up as quickly as he could, walking around slowly while cing his hands over his mouth to keep himself from vomiting.

    He felt so bloated that every step was painful to take, sweat ran down his forehead and, to make matters even worse, his energy wasn¡¯t increasing.

    He went from being in the verge of starvation to the pr opposite.

    Being close to Famine for so long, the amarok, he was used to always feeling hungry, but the bottomless pit his stomach had been was now the same as a regr human. Unbeknownst to Ryu, bonding with beasts and magical beasts wasn¡¯t just the act of sharing his food and bing friends.

    Taming a creature required both parts to agree in forming a bond, the sole difference in who would be the master and who will be the petid in who activated the skill. If, by chance, the beastkin had tried to enve him, all they needed to do was to activate the taming passive skill anytime they fed him and by eating the food he would be indirectly agreeing to it.

    It wasn¡¯t a quick process, the more intelligent a creature is, the more they would be able to resist. The amount of mana a creature possess also makes a big difference.

    Ryu was able to tame Mochi because it was young, weak and it felt grateful towards Ryu for saving him from the jackal.

    The amarok¡¯s case was entirely different, though. Amaroks were considered mythical creatures and their might was onlyparable to their hunger. They were so strong that even when Famine was a pup, he was able to break through stone walls. Be it luck or coincidence, the amarok was grateful towards Ryu for feeding him and, being so young he was also scared of being alone in the dark also, despite Ryu trying to deny it, Famine wasn¡¯t the brightest. It was but a simple creature that enjoyed chasing his tail and biting it as hard as he could, causing himself a great deal of pain, only to forget about it the next day and continue chasing after it.

    .....

    At the same time, far away from Ryu, Famine was able to sense his master¡¯s distress thanks to the mystical bond they shared. Not because of the impending danger his condition meant for him, but because Ryu was experiencing something an amarok would never be able to, the feeling of overeating.

    Famine howled deeply, quickly rming his caretaker, who after running outside and realizing his anxiousness ced a hand on top of the magical beast¡¯s head.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? are you hungry again?¡± The voice of a woman resounded in the stable. For a quick second, Famine felt tempted to nod and get a second dinner, but the strong bond between a beast and its master was too strong. It was an unbreakable bond that didn¡¯t know distance, for as long as the amarok drew breath he would forever be linked to Ryu.

    Which is why Famine nodded and got a second dinner anyway.

    After eating enough meat to drive a small business to ruin, he lied down in the soft straw ced for him in his very own and luxurious stable. As he closed his eyes, with his hunger mildly satisfied, sudden images ran across his mind.

    He remembered when Ryu used to apologize to Rina in his stead, because his wailing would keep her away at night. The times when Ryu shared his meal with him, despite having just enough for himself. Then, after shutting his eyes, he remembered the time when he ran away from him, that time when he bit him in the shoulder causing Ryu to bleed profusely. He could still remember the taste of Ryu¡¯s blood, it was the first time he didn¡¯t think of blood as nourishment but as a powerful reminder of the pain he caused to his master.

    He darted through the wooden door and bit his caretaker on the sleeve refusing to let go until she mounted him. He wasn¡¯t the same dumb pup he was when he chased his tail pointlessly only to end up hurting himself. He still did it, but he wasn¡¯t as dumb anymore.

    Now he was smart enough to, at least, know that if he was to run around wildly inside the city without a rider, people would think he became feral and they would try to attack him.

    The next morning Ryu woke up in cold shivers, he had medicine, but no means of preparing it. He expected to being able to walk at least, but as the night progressed his condition worsened.

    His stamina was depleted and he couldn¡¯t lift a finger without panting.

    Then, a tall, slender figure was casting a shadow on Ryu¡¯s face.

    ¡°You¡¯re not waiting for me to kiss you to wake up, are you?¡± Anne¡¯s voice got Ryu to open his eyes immediately. His first thought was that he had finally lost his mind, but a warm hand ced on his forehead brought him back to reality.

    ¡°You¡¯re sweating so much Ryu, are you ok?¡± Anne¡¯s voice carried all of her worries. ¡°Anne, medicine, please give me some medicine.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ryu, I didn¡¯t bring anything with me, not even money. Famine brought me on his own.¡± She shrugged.

    Ryu mustered all his strength to point towards the red herb he had stocked in a pile next to what was left of the red dandelion nt.

    ¡°Grind it, then... no, wait, I don¡¯t have a mortar and pestle, I don¡¯t even have bowls.¡± Ryu managed to say before Anne cut him short.

    ¡°I¡¯ve always known you don¡¯t have balls, tell me something I don¡¯t know¡± Sheughed at her own joke, but when Ryu passed out he wasn¡¯tughing anymore.

    Scared and not knowing what was wrong with her friend, a friend she had long thought dead, she did the only thing she could think of. She cut a small piece of Ryu¡¯s shirt and put the herbs inside, then she squeezed it as hard as she could, letting a small red liquid fall into his mouth.

    The result was as fast as it was powerful. Ryu stopped shivering and sweating cold immediately, he remained with his eyes closed but he was now sound asleep and resting properly.

    Without much else to do, Anne helped herself to the piece of cooked meat that was left inside the cooking pot, expecting one of Ryu¡¯s delicacies. However, reality begged to differ, zoan meat was bitter, tasted like dirt and it was so chewy Anne thought she might as well be eating a truck tire.

    She forced herself to shallow by sheer will, even in the middle of the wastnd she was still ady and considered spitting food to be bad manners. She also thought in how difficult Ryu must have worked to get it, because she knew how difficult it was for people to find food in the wastnds.

    If it was something easy, the beastkin would have no need to invade and raid humans on a daily basis.

    Looking at Ryu, Anne suddenly realized the reason why the meat tasted wrong. Her pupils dted and she covered her mouth trying to keep her cool, but it became apparent that he had eaten tainted meat.

    His ck mane was dusty, his face was dirty with food and his clothes were stained with blood. Yet, what led her to think that Ryu was suffering from mana poisoning caused by the meat was his face. Both the color and texture of his face was distorted, his soft features were still there, but it was as if he had suffered from a bad case of e.

    Ryu himself had failed to notice it since he had fallen ill and the system only informed him about his indigestion and didn¡¯t mention the mana poisoning. There was no longer any trace of his past beauty and that was the reason his charisma stat was so low.

    Unbeknownst to them, Ryu had been poisoned with mana long before eating the zoan. Goblins treated him using their own blood for both medicine and transfusions, following the principles in both shamanic and scientific medicine, causing the feared condition called mana poisoning which was one of the biggest threats humanity was currently facing.

    Anne looked at her friend with saddened eyes as Famine cuddled up to him. It looked like a cute gesture, making Anne sigh inpassion and sweetness, but all Famine wanted was to enhance the bond they had to experience the same as his master.

    When the bond was re established, Famine was finally able to experience a life without hunger. His mind was now clear and he wasn¡¯t thinking on when will he get his next meal. By focusing on his master, Famine was able to experience the same thing as his master, the feeling of overeating.

    Meanwhile the amarok was enjoying himself in the intoxicating feeling, Ryu¡¯s features started to change. His face shifted and his features became sharp, like those of a wold. If Anne didn¡¯t know any better she might have even thought that Ryu was a beastkin himself.

    Just like what happened when Ryu was fighting against Stefan, the sacred empire pdin, Ryu¡¯s body became just a bit more simr to that of his pet. This time, no horns or ws appeared on him because he was only affected by the amarok¡¯s presence, but he looked inhumane nheless.

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