Sousetsuka

385 Entry Check

Naturally they took us for an inspection at the gate. We were brought to a spacious interrogation room.
The ladies were taken to another room, probably exclusive for women? If they blurt something out and get themselves arrested, that's that then I'm cutting my ties.
The underling got searched too. By a super scary looking old man guard, every nook and cranny of his body. At least it didn't turn into the classic development of that old man being into men or something.

"Don't you have to search me too? I don't have anything to do but wait here."

"We have received a directive regarding you directly from His Majesty the King..."

This angered me a bit. Don't tell me they've got an arrest warrant on me. Did that princess break her promise, that thought swirled for a moment.
But when I pressed on the detail, the gatekeeper said the directive was about how they are absolutely barred from prying on me which confused him too.
This must be the handiwork of that prime minister for them to find out that I've come back here in short order. I suppose the speed of which this got carried out reflects how effective my threat back then?

The ladies came back in the meantime. Underling was done too.

"If all four of you wish to enter the kingdom, each one has to pay one silver coin. It's free of charge if you have a pass or ID. But seeing as all of you refuse to divulge your identity, we have to take this precaution. On the other hand, we are willing to let you pass as you have not done anything wrong. As such, we have to charge you extra as a safety measure. You may pay if you find this term acceptable."

I thought that was well done. Didn't know they had proper regulations for this.
Was also surprised the ladies managed to keep to themselves.
Also, this gatekeeper is probably only this polite thanks to my Second Class Pass.

"So hey, I'll be these ladies' guarantor, can't you lower that fee? I won't ask you to make it free, just the normal amount is fine. Also, this man is that lady's slave. He's safe, can't you lower the fee for him as well?"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
I pointed at the underling's collar to show him being Linda's slave.
They must have found out about it anyway during the search. But not the owner.

"...I have to confirm it first. Do you mind waiting a bit?"

The gatekeeper hesitated for a moment before replying. I nodded.
He then left the interrogation room.
Silence passed as we waited. Nobody said anything.

"...Um? I won't ask about your identity, but can you at least tell me how come you get this kind of treatment?"

Linda sounded perplexed at the unusual treatment given to us.
She must have connected it being due to me. She couldn't contain her curiosity and asked.

"There's a lot of things in this world better left unsaid. Think of this as one such things."

I grinned suggestively. I was just pulling her leg but Linda took it differently it seemed.
Her face gradually went pale before lapsing into silence. It might have finally sunk in with her the kind of mess she's been dragged into.

As Linda quieted down, the door quietly opened followed by the gatekeeper coming in.

"You are exempt from entry fee. You may now pass... Well then, ahem. Welcome to the kingdom."

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Won't Overwork (Never Said Won't Be Rash)

"...Are you trying to overwork yourselves as well because you don't want to look bad making only that girl do?"


The substitute receptionist sounded galled as she glared and appraised us.
Don't make that scary face. We've got enough of scary face with Scarymast cough cough.


"That's not what we're..."

"Then what is up with this Kill Log. 17 Mad Wolf High Runners, 1 Bloody Fang, 3 Jet Boars, 22 Tri Horn Rabbits, and 5 Twin Horn Rabbits... Culling so many in a single day, what are you going to do if you collapse in exhaustion along the way?"


Twin Horn and Tri Horn Rabbits are rabbits with two and three horns respectively, the upgraded version of Reina's usual prey.
Those rabbits get more horn as they evolve, their meat also gets tastier and their horns are used in many tools and decorations.


"Oh not at all, we've still got plenty of energy left."

"Yet your knees are about to give out. You look completely worn out although I don't see any injury."


Anybody would end up like this after that manual labor. Not gonna mention it though.
We could have gone for tens more beasts even, but well it's our first day leveling, no need to overdo it.


"You even found time to gather herbs. Don't you know our Appraiser Naima is still in bed because you brought in too many the last time?"

"I'm not gonna bring in that many herbs again of course."

"...Yet there were 32 pieces of them. Appraising so many was quite tiring for me."


Receptionist lady muttered in a bad mood while massaging her eyelids.
...Come to think of it, how many herbs do people usually bring in anyway.


<<Those with Appraisal Skill brings around 10-20 pieces on average depending on their stamina. Those without bring back around 5-10 Hiruka Herbs and 1-2 Cuara Herbs as they have no definite way to reliably distinguish between those herbs and weed. Gathering at random with weed mixed in will depreciate their assessment therefore it's not recommended.>>

Fumu fumu, I see... Eh, then all those herbs I brought with Menu's help is considered a huge amount?

<<It is an abnormally huge amount for someone without Appraisal Skill indeed.>>

Well I mean, bringing 200 pieces was a bit much sure, but you're blowing this out of proportion.

<<This is regarding the 30-40 herbs case.>>

O-oh really... Menu-san are you mad? Is it just me?


"The total for magc beast culling comes to 125000 en and for the herbs, 16000 en... If the two of you can earn this much, is there even a need to make that little girl fight magic beasts?"


Bufuo!? This is more profitable than I thought! We finally crossed six digits in a day!
Wonder where the guild even gets the money from. One of many mysteries about this organization.


"Cash is important of course, but our goal is more the leveling itself. Things have been getting dangerous as of late. Would be best if she learned how to defend herself."

"I have heard about demons becoming more active invading and destroying human inhabitants after the birth of demon king yes, but you're clearly rushing too much. That blond girl in particular, she's just come of age hasn't she? What if she got hurt badly because you pushed her."

"...You're exactly right. We should keep her leveling in moderation from now on."

"Of course you should. I know it's not my place to, but that applies to you two, okay."


She reprimanded us with a slightly harsh tone. Yet I don't feel mad about it, weirdly.
Probably because I know this person is mad for Reina's as well as our sake.
Even Alma isn't pouting like the time with Naima.
Whoops, I almost wished this lady is our handler instead, sorry about that Naima-san. As an apology, I'll bring less herbs (etc).


Once we were done with the report and delivering the herbs, we made our way to our inn and saw Reina standing outside.
...She shouldn't have.
She trotted in our direction when she saw us. This girl's too cute.


"Welcome back~!"

"O-ou, here we are."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

I'm happy for the lively welcome, but the high tension is a bit too much when I'm this dead tired.


"We're back, Reina."

"You two look super tired. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Naw, we're just tired, no injury. It's not even as bad as you yesterday."

"What about you Reina, still tired?"

"I'm okay now after sleeping till noon, eating Kajikawa-san's handmade lunch and sleeping again until just now."


That's excessive. Sure you can sleep tonight?


"Sorry, but mind settling with premade ones for today's dinner? Don't think I have the energy left to cook..."

"That's fine by me, but what kind of beasts were you two fighting anyway? ...Or maybe you were bothered by me collapsing yesterday so you too..."

"Nope. It's cause we agreed to help another party carrying their luggage."

"O-oh okay..."


She looked apologetic for a moment but once she heard the real reason her expression turned into a mix of relief and a bit of dissatisfaction. Err, uh, sorry.


"That party was simply incredible, let's talk it over meal."

"Un, it would be nice if we could reach their level."

"Ooh, what kind of people are they to get Kajikawa-san and Alma-san praise them so much."


That hot uncle's party... What was the name again... Right, 'Bridge of Dream', almost forgot.
They're nothing like that Dasomething guy, keep it together me.
Story about that party should serve well as a souvenir in today's dinner. Wish Reina was there to see them.


I talked about our future plan over dinner inside the inn.
Which is to keep leveling the whole day every time but to stop short of getting too fatigued.
No keeping fighting until total exhaustion. Muster up the courage when it's getting tough for you... Well, okay maybe not that exaggerated.
Second day is a rest day. This was always the plan, I just reconfirmed it.
I can't decide on my own just because I'm the leader, I've got to hear their opinions as well... Pretty simple stuff.
Well what do you expect from two people who have just come of age and a dumdum like me...


The following day. It's Reina's leveling day.
She's clearly moving much better than the first day.
Thanks to her Attributes and Skills increasing, but I believe it's also because she's getting used to handling magic beasts.


"Hnn, I feel like the hunt's gotten much easier than ever. So this is the benefit of leveling up~."

"Power leveling by killing weakened magic beasts wouldn't have given you this result. True strength is obtained by actually taking part in combat."

"Sure is~ I can easily deal with magic beasts around these parts now. Fufun."

"Oh do you now, guess I'm gonna bring two or more magic beasts from now on."

"O-oh no! Should have kept my mouth shut!"


Well, going up against multiple enemies should be doable to Reina now.
Might be too much if she only relied on her raw Stats, but she's got Energy Control as her trump card after all.
By the way, she's been slowly getting the knack of Mana Control. She can emit a bit of mana now.
Unlike Alma who emitted too much mana at first and lacked precise control, Reina is having a hard time emitting much instead. Guess there are differences between people in this stuff too.
Makes it harder for her to dry up her mana though, so it's not all bad.


"Found me some unusual chicken-looking beasts, so I brought you several~."

『『『『Gokee!!』』』』


Ooh, they're nicely energetic. Looks fit as sparring partners.


"Niyaaaaa!? There's way too many of 'em!! I never dealt with these beasts before too!!"

"OK, first get used to taking on multiple magic beasts at once! Try out stuff like taking some distance and kiting them, shadow diving and ambushing, and subduing them one by one."

"B-but these chickens move so quick I can't get away! They're almost as fast as me!"

"Then Shadow Dive it is! Make use of the environment and jump into their shadows with Energy Control!"


I said that but can she even jump into those chickens' small shadows? Oh she could. Safe safe.
She let out only her arms out of the shadows and reaped the bewildered chickens' heads one by one. So scary.
She keeps most of her body inside shadow so she can unilaterally attack without fearing retaliation. She's gotten pretty good with Ninjutsu, I see.


"Ka-ji-ka-wa-san!! What were you saying about overworking again!!"

"I mean, wasn't it a piece of cake to you anyway. A little advice and you took care of them easily."

"By chance! They'd have ganged up on me if I made one wrong move!"

"Ah, yup, my bad. I'll bring just two from now on."

"No, please keep it to one!"


That's not efficient, and just one won't make for a good practice.
Well, I won't overwork her though, let's take it down a notch.
At this rate, she'll get her Job Change in half a month time. What a high pace, really.

Alma and Reina got Job Changes, marking a huge step forward for them, while I'm stuck with no real improvement.
I'll probably get another Menu update at Level 30 but that's Menu growing up, not me.
Best I could do right now is look around tool stores in the town and come up with something.
Oh, found me more chickens. Wonder if the type of magic beasts that spawn differ by day or something in this prairie.

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384 Guarantee

We're in front of the gate that leads into the kingdom. At the open space just ahead of it.
I asked Chimera to let us off there.

"Oh, that was quick. Thanks a bunch. Okay get us down now."

Chimera used its snake tail to carefully coil and put us down one by one. Underling, the ladies and then me.
Once all of us had our feet firmly planted on the ground, Chimera transformed back into Cat mode and meowed once 'Meow'. The next thing I knew it had disappeared using optical camouflage (?).
I could hear some shrubs moving nearby, it must have gone back into the forest.

I turned around while thinking that and saw four people lying lifelessly.
I'm the only one still full of energy. I'm the only one standing. The four of them don't look like they're gonna perk up anytime soon.

"Oy, we've gotta find an inn in the kingdom today, tomorrow we depart for commercial city. You guys look spent."

Linda lodged a complaint with nearly dead eyes.

"Y-you... How are you so calm? Rather, what in the world is that thing? No, calling that a 'thing' does not cut it..."

Man she's rude. She's supposed to listen to me in this journey that has her safety as a goal.
I'm a bit displeased by her complaining the means we're using to that end. She should have been prepared for any means necessary as the one who needs help.
But it's not like I don't get her sentiment. If I were in her shoes, I'd have a word, no more than a few words out myself.

"Get on your feet once you've got enough rest. Or else we'll be stuck camping out again if we miss our entry. Ah, right, you ladies don't have your IDs... or do you?"

Of course not. They were abruptly kidnapped, then saved and then brought here.
They shook their heads signifying that. It's out of their hands.

(Think my Second Class Pass gonna work for this? It's probably fine.)

Considering how it helped with the 'Numbers' kids, I wasn't really worried about it.
But a completely new kind of problem crops up here. An understandable problem.

"You lot! Do not resist! We cannot guarantee your safety if you don't comply! First, raise both your hands and kneel down!"

Several guards yelled with their spears pointed at us.
Yep, this place is right in front of the gate. Naturally they saw Chimera.
And with Chimera's gone, we're the only people they can interrogate. The reason why they didn't get to us right away is probably because they were calling for reinforcements.
Seven guards have surrounded us. I caught sight of a familiar face among them.

"Ah, uh, you over there. Don't you remember me? The guy who took some kids into the forest. Won't you check my pass? We won't resist. Look."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
I raised my arms as I looked at the guard. He seemed surprised.

"Y-you, what were you doing? What was that magic beast? And these girl, and this man... who are these people?"

He must have a lot of questions. I'd like to answer all of them but now's not the right time. I've gotta clear things up before other guards descend into chaos from fear and suspicion.

"Forget about those, I'm gonna pull out my pass. mind clearing these people?"

Everybody turned their gazes at the guard I was talking to. He hesitated a bit before nodding once. All the guards finally lowered their spears.
Being careful not to provoke them, I slowly took Second Class Pass from my Magic Bag and slowly handed it over to the guards.
The guard who took it looked surprised for an instant before the other guards came to check.
Once they were done, they handed my pass back.

"Pardon us! We beg your forgiveness as this is part of our duty to uphold peace. But would you be willing to share the detail? As that would be... a great help for us..."

The power of Second Class Pass burst at the seams even here. The guards had a complete change of attitude.
The way they speak, I'm sure they won't pursue the matter even if I refuse. Had the Pass been of a lower class, they'd definitely detain us to the interrogation room.

"We have our own circumstances we can't divulge. Sorry."

Thus I concisely denied them. I might inadvertently reveal more than necessary if I try to put up an appearance so I made it short.
Nevertheless, it seems they have to confirm on one thing at least and press on.

"Does that magic beast not pose a danger? It's fine if we believe it doesn't, isn't it? That beast is safe, right?"

I smiled at this to reassure them.

"You may relax. It's harmless as long as you don't needlessly attack it... Surely."

Chimera is a living creature, it'll go on a rampage if someone tried to injure it. That's just how defense mechanisms work for organisms.
However, I said the 'surely' part in a whisper. I mean, I have no clue what kind things will put Chimera in a bad mood enough to rampage. I can't guarantee that.

The guards accepted my answer and went scattering back to the kingdom. They're gonna report to the 'higher ups' for sure. Meaning, there's a high chance this will drag me into another mess. I should get out of this country and not spend a night here.

"But these ladies are in this state. Guess we hafta stay a night at least..."

Getting those spears pointed at them right after Chimera finally broke their spirits, they all looked dead in the eye.
I don't care about Underling. I don't have enough mental capacity.

(Now then, time to look for an inn. But man, just how did it come to this?)

As the ladies wouldn't get off their rear no matter how long I waited, I grabbed their hands and pulled them up one by one.
Then I pushed their backs as they made their way to the gate while staggering.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Rumor and Reality

I-It's finally the town...!
Dunno how many kilograms this lizard is, but the journey was truly backbreaking. Might cross several tons even...


"F-finally here."

"Wheeze, wheeze, not sure how, but we made it..."

"It's all thanks to your help. We're truly grateful, thank you."

"O-oh please don't, mention, it..."

"Hikaru, you should catch your breath first..."


O-ou. That's right. Deep breath, deep breath... No wait, this isn't time for Lamaze method.
I thought my Strength went up with my Level, but these laborious work are still hard on the body all the same...


"The way you fought together against that magic beast attacking us on the way here was inspirational. I wish I could replicate it but I'm not sure we could... It makes me feel ashamed to call myself a party leader."

"It would have been a bit tough if that beast managed to ambush us. It was only thanks to you noticing it preemptively that we could come up with a plan and dealt with it painlessly."

"Crisis perception is an indispensable quality of a leader. To that end, you're more than qualified as one."

"You even perceived that beast ahead of me."

"Oh no, I'm just."


Well, anybody with Mana and Life Detection would notice a magic beast that huge.
I think how he immediately inferred what kind of magic beast it was from the sound of flapping wing, aka by experience, is more amazing.


"Now then, someone can go fetch our Item Bag to put this thing away from here."

"So about your reward, what do you like to have?"

"Err..."


What do, I don't know the market price.
How much en is acceptable to ask here? Argh, might as well just make it reward-less and avoid trouble...


"Oh yeah, how about you take some parts of this lizard here as your reward. That's if you don't mind of course."

"Eh...!? Oh no, that's too much!"

"No need to be modest. Oh but if you really don't want to, we'll pay with cash, no problem."

"W-well, it's not that we don't want..."


We'd like nothing more than to get our hands on materials from a Rank A magic beast.
But that's not something they should give out just because we helped them carry some baggage, they're too generous. Hmm, but you know.


"No need to think too much 'bout it y'know? Look at the size of this thing, sharing a few ain't gonna hurt us in the least."

"Hikaru, wasting their goodwill in this situation would be discourteous instead. We should accept their offer."


Mu, mwu, I guess she's right.
...Then I'll gratefully accept.


"We're gonna deliver the mats once we're done dismantling this big lizard, hang on tight. We'll leave a message to you at the guild once it's ready."

"Understood, thank you for the trouble."

"That's our line, we owe you guys."


Afterward, Blond-san left for their inn. Guess she went to fetch the Item Bag.
...We should go too.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

"Well, we should make our way to the guild now."

"Nn, Reina is waiting, let's."

"Reina?"

"Ah, she's a member of our party, has just come of age... She may look younger due to her dainty figure though."

"We had her rest at the inn because we made her fight too much for her leveling yesterday. Also, we can't bring her to that area yet with her level."

"...It's my gaffe as a leader for making her overwork herself."


I do think I'm the lowest as well when I saw her falling backward after that last magic beast she defeated.
We're quite tired too now but nowhere near Reina that day. I'm sorry~.


"Yup, I cannot commend that. But I believe you have grasped how much is fine now, haven't you?"

"Yes, I'm decreasing the amount of magic beasts she'll fight and let her rest every other day."

"If you can realize which points to improve, then you're already on the right track. You learn from failures to further the future... Ah, sorry, it's my bad habit giving sermons out of the blue."

"Please don't worry, your word carries weight... We really should excuse ourselves here."

"Ou, I know you're tired hearing this, but thanks a lot. You two are lifesavers."

"Thank you for your service."

"See you again."


We parted ways with the three who were waiting for the blond beauty to come back.
I kinda feel lonely even though we've only been together for a short while.
...And fatigue. Ugogo, my body's heavy...



~~~~~Hot Uncle Leader's Perspective~~~~



"What's your verdict, Leader?"


Daina asked with a straight face.


"Oh, what is this about?"

"You know what I'm talking about, those two."

"...Do you mean whether the truth lies on the rumor or what the guildmaster told us?"

"Hmm, suppose the answer's obvious, but out of curiosity."


There's a rumor about a pair of black haired adventurers who arrived at this town several days ago. Or more like, infamy.
The man is in his 20s, while the woman is a year or two over coming of age.
We heard stories about how they dragged along a young blond kid and forced her to fight magic beasts while they took the reward money.
We were thinking of taking that kid from the two somehow if that was true.

We tried asking guildmaster if she knew about those two and she told us this instead, 'Refrain from a needless probing. Just know that they are definitely not evil.'
Her oppressive tone felt like it was a warning rather than a caution... No well, she's always had this oppressive aura around her all the time, overwhelming even to someone older like me.
The thought of those two holding guildmaster's weakness to blackmail her crossed my mind, but I just can't imagine this person being troubled by that.
She's the type that's harder on herself than anybody else, even during that time with Stampede, she ran around tirelessly while allowing the staff members took a break.
Had she made a mistake, she'd definitely gather everybody around and announce it proudly herself. I believe the chance of anyone blackmailing her is extremely slim.
In the end, we decided that we have to see for ourselves before drawing a conclusion and find time to talk with the two.


A day after we asked guildmaster, we finally found and killed 'Mad Lizard Crimson Scale' we had been looking for one week in the Monster Prairie.
The subduing process itself went exceedingly smooth, until a problem arose. Raina had left the Item Bag intended to put the body away in our inn.
If we were to head back and fetch the Item Bag, other magic beasts would definitely scavenge the lizard's body, yet we couldn't send someone to do it alone either considering the risk that posed.
We were left with no choice but to carry the body ourselves.
And naturally it was a tough work with how big the thing. On my waist and shoulder in particular... I'm really young no more haha...

As I was hit by a wave of sorrow over that realization, we came across two black haired pair standing around in the yellow grass area of the prairie.
A man in his 20s, and a woman a year or two over coming of age. Those two must be the adventurer pair in question.
...Who could have imagined we would get this chance so soon.

And the conclusion is that they're not as bad as the rumor make them out to be, though I can't be 100% sure.
They readily agreed our request for help and despite looking tired, none of them showed a hint of reluctance.
I could tell the man was gathering herbs in the area from the bag he was carrying. Checking with my Gift Appraisal Skill, all of them were genuine quality herbs, not a single weed mixed in.
So many good quality herbs should afford him a lot of cash, he's not helpless in term of self-sustenance.
I believe the blond girl only looks young outwardly, and she actually has come of age, therefore them making her fight magic beasts is for the sake of leveling, not money.
They might just be faking their niceties out, however, the impression I got from them is that they're no leeches who force someone to make money for them.


"...I'm sure mine pretty much mirrors yours."

"I agree, they're nothing like the rumors."

"We really ought to not judge people from rumors alone."

"Yep, and besides..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Well, those two make for quite a nice pair despite their age difference."

"...Leader, when was the last time you joked around again."


...Also, despite feeling bad about it, I had checked their Status and acquired an understanding as to why guildmaster told us not to probe.
Their Status are far from normal. The girl, Almatina has an unusual Job of High Paladin with unusually high Attributes and Level at 25. The variety and levels of her Skills are quite something as well.
Well, hers is not that out of ordinary aside from her Job... I mean, it is unusual.
But the man, Kajikawa Hikaru, is something else. Job Unidentifiable, Skill Unobtainable, I have never seen anything like that. How is he even surviving in this Monster Prairie...?
It can't be that he fights without a single Skill. I didn't see a particularly strong gear or weapon on him.
Perhaps the answer lies on the reason why he was chosen as the party leader.
...What a peculiar bunch. Which surely brings them no end of trouble. I hope they never relent and keep pressing on.
Oh, Raina is back. Dear me, we can finally enter the town.

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383 Width of World

Chimera dexterously coiled Underling with its tail and put him on his back.
The guy shrieked 'Hiiyii!' at the snake tail but he was too frozen up to even struggle.
Next up were the ladies. Linda went first. Followed by the two ladies.

"Hieeeee!" "Nooooooo!" "...Ha, ha, ha, ha."

The last one sounded like a broken doll, but I shouldn't concern myself.

"Ah, figured it'd develop into this. Not like I didn't expect it, guess I'm gonna have to rely on you Chimera as our means of transportation."

Conveniently obtaining a transport when you're at your wits' end is a rather cliched development.
And that is being Chimera's back this time around.

"Well, Chimera, it's all yours now. I mean, you really understand what I'm saying huh. Clever fella you are."

Chimera must have done this because it heard me talking to myself earlier.
I came close to its leg and petted its fur. Chimera Lion Mode is huge, its back has more than enough room to easily accommodate five people.
The snake tail coiled and put me on the back.

"Alrighty, can you get us to the Kingdom, Chimera? You know the way right? Time to depart."

I didn't really think it through at this point of time. Not about how having such a gigantic beast coming close to the kingdom will obviously causes a huge uproar.
My mind was full of trying to get away from this place, even neglecting the ladies behind me. Who cares about underling.

"Guoooooooooo", Chimera roared grandly.

"Oy oy, are you kidding me? We're gonna fly just like that? Eh? ...Ah, so it's more magical than law of nature-like."

Chimera floated up just above the forest trees. It was done without its bat wings even flapping once.
It must be magically performed. I mean, Chimera even started running in the air without any footholds. Literally running with its legs kicking.

I warned the ladies behind to hang onto the fur so they don't get blown away.
Chimera's back is spacious. Roomy. But you can still get flung off if you flail around.

"Hang on tight! We're not going too fast but any rapid change in movement might get you to fall off."

To me it's not going that fast. It's really nothing much.
However, in reality the speed far surpasses even Grudos's, frightening the other four besides me here. Apparently, the populace of this world aren't used to this level of speed.
At the current civilization level, flying especially on the back of a magic beast is probably the first ever. In all kinds of ways.

All this resulted in Linda blanking out.
As I turned around while enjoying the scenery, I saw her looking dead in the face.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
(We really overdid it huh. But I don't regret this. Heck, regretting over every little stuff is suffocating.)

I've been sticking my neck in so many mess so far, but that's almost never because I want to. Most of them was in the form of me getting dragged in.
I do worry about others, but only to an extent. I value myself above all else.
I don't have the capacity to look out for someone else down to the minute details. I'm already nearing my maximum capacity myself.

"All because everything is done haphazardly. I hold no power over those."

If I were a protagonist of a story, I would have done things more smartly.
Planning ahead, cooperating with friends, resolving problems or gathering evidences to hand down punishments upon evils.

But I'm no 'protagonist'. I'm just your extremely average peasant.
I may have a 'power' but I don't plan to thoughtlessly wield it. Don't expect me to resolve anything.
I can't plan out ahead or calmly think up something, in fact, there's nothing that obliges me to be the one stuck having to resolve mess.
As someone below commoner who just stumbles his way out of these random events, even this flying on Chimera's back happening is actually stressing me out.
I may look calm outwardly, but that's only because my understanding starts and stops at 'this stuff happens'. In short, I'm just familiar with all these templates.
The ladies were short-circuiting. I just look calm in a direct comparison with them. I'm screaming internally.

('Guess this stuff happens~?' yeah right! Try actually living it, there's simply no word!)

Thus our quiet air trip came to a close as the kingdom drew near.

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Hot People Party's Strength

"I'm Kajikawa Hikaru. Leader of party, 'Tomorrow of Hope'... We're rank D beginners that's just started out two months ago though. I wasn't even a party leader until a few days ago hahaha."

"...Member of Hikaru's party, Almatina. Nice to meet you."


We introduced ourselves as well following theirs.
Man's it's nerve wracking doing so to a party that's so far above yours.


"Rank D? I believe yellow grass areas are mainly inhabited by Rank C magic beasts, are you guys doing okay?"

"Well, it's not easy I admit, but it's nothing we can't handle as long as we're careful we don't surrounded by a pack of them."

"Yeah, but higher ranked magic beasts occasionally find their way in lower level areas, so you should veer on the safe side. Magic beasts over Rank B would be tough with just two of you."

"You're absolutely right. We'll be careful."


...That boss wolf was probably around Rank B. I mean its status was on par with High Cave Bears.
It was also leading a pack though that wasn't an issue thanks to Alma's Spirit Magic.
Well there's no need to needlessly expose our strength, I'm just gonna say yes here.


"This giant lizard looks really strong. I shudder at the thought of getting chased by this thing."

"Well, even our party would have a hard time if we had to face it head-on. First we crafted an elaborate plan, then we made sure to lead the lizard somewhere that gave us the advantages."

"Yep yep. So the plan worked cause the thing was cold-blooded y'see. First we slowed it down by barraging it with ice magic, then we toppled it over with earth magic scrolls to lay its belly bare and then we finished it off. Preparing allll the tools to make that happen was an ordeal in itself I tell you."


Umu, I see.
You don't just rely on levels and stats, you pay attention to tools, environments, magic beasts' traits and use them to your advantages.
I also used things like Spark Wolf's horns or Fire Frog oil when I was low leveled.
I've been relying so much on mana and energy controls lately, I've forgotten about that.
Raising your level, developing new moves to expand your tactics, all that is important of course, but I do think there's room for improvement.
I've gotta use anything at my disposal, might want to take a peek at the tool stores in the port town later.


"Got stuck doing this manual labor thanks to a dumbass who forgot the key Item Bag cause her mind was stuck on those tools."

"Oh shaddup you, be a man and quit dragging out the past!"

"Leader, this girl's absolutely unrepentant. Let's get her pull the entire thing."

"Ah hey, what are you on about now!?"

"Indeed, I can feel my back and waist aching from all that hard work. I suppose we can let her handle the rest."

"Fighto, Raina."

"I-I'm sorry! Forgive me, anything but that!"


...I've gotta take care not to make this kinda mistake. Learn by example and all that stuff.
Watching this exchange really drives home that even veteran adventurer parties are humans too.


"Seeing as you guys had it planned out beforehand, did you take a commission to kill this thing?"

"No well, we did take a culling commission in magic beast areas, but not for this one in particular. It was about time for Daina and Raina to renew their equipment and we figured using high quality mats from a magic beast we felled ourselves would be cheaper."

"This thing's scales are stupidly tough your average weapons just ain't gonna cut it but that also what makes them ideal as protector's mats."

"The rest of the mats fetch for really good prices too, we're easily in the black even after deducting all the expenses... It took us a whole week just to find this lizard."

"In fact, all the materials we procured from the magic beasts we culled during our search might have been more profitable."


Figured magic beasts dwelling in the depths are highly valued for their mats.
But they're way out of our league, gotta hold myself back.

...Hm?


"...? Hikaru, what's wrong?"

"Uh, it feels like something is coming our way from above..."

"Eh? I don't see or hear anything tho'?"

"...No, there is indeed a flapping sound."


The blond beauty didn't seem to notice, but the hot uncle activated 'Fair Wind Ear' and sensed it.
...It's moving pretty fast. And this reading, it must be a magic beast that comes from the 'depths' of this prairie.
In other word, it's at least a rank B or more.


"...A bird-type magic beast, quite huge at that. I think it's a 'Cyclone Wing'."

"Uwaa, here comes another pain in the rear. Is it aiming for this giant lizard's meat?"

"Cyclone... What?"

"Cyclone Wing. Not only can they wield powerful wind magic, those bird magic beasts stay in the sky as they assault their prey, only ranged attacks can reach them. They're tricky beasts to fight due to that."

"Average magic beasts don't really pose an issue even if they're flying but these things have pretty high stats to support them, they might be more troublesome than this big lizard."


A bird beast that manipulates wind magic huh, wonder if it's an evolved form of Blade Wing.
I might be able to knock it down with Mana Flight like I did Blade Wing, but I can't do that in front of these people, what to do.


"But it's nothing to worry about with our leader here."

"Yep."

"For sure."


Mwu, is this hot uncle that strong?
Well okay, I'll bear witness to the strength of a Lv51.


"Guys c'mon, taking that on by myself is too much to ask, give me a hand."

"Okay okay, we got your back... It's here."


The silhouette of this bird magic beast gradually grew bigger as it got closer.
...It's gigantic. Its whole body is as big as this giant lizard. How'd it even manage to fly.

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >


Magic Beast: Cyclone Wing

Level 46

State: Hungry

​[Attributes]
HP (Health): 796/796
MP (Magic): 778/778
SP (Stamina): 138/550

STR (Strength): 676
ATK (Attack): 676
DEF (Defense): 397
AGI (Agility): 512
INT (Intelligence): 724
DEX (Dexterity): 398
PER (Perception): 442
RES (Resistance): 254
LUK (Luck): 102

​[Skills]
Magic Beast Level 5
Martial Arts Level 5
Claw Arts Level 5
Offensive Magic Level 10
High Offensive Magic Level 1
Support Magic Level 6

​[Master Skills]
Magi Mitigation

This thing's strong...! The strongest magic beast I've ever seen yet excluding that sealed Gluttony Slime.
Its Attributes are pretty even and its Skills are all high levels. It's even got an unfamiliar 'High Offensive Magic' Skill, what's that?


<<'High Offensive Magic' an advanced Skill obtainable after reaching Offensive Magic Lv10. Consumes much more MP than Offensive Magic, however it has the firepower to match.>>


Fumu fumu, Alma's Offensive Magic Skill is at Lv8, she's gonna get it soon.
...This cheeky thing's even got a Master Skill, what's its effects?


<<Master Skill [Magi Mitigation] one of Master Skills obtainable after reaching Offensive Skill Lv10. An always active Passive Skill that reduces Offensive Skill MP consumption by half.>>


Uwaah, that sounds so handy. It may look simple at first, but getting way more gas mileage is some real good stuff.
Enemies with this kind of Skill are gonna be a pain to deal. All the more with one so strong like this.


<<For your information, learnable Master Skills can vary by individuals. There exist Master Skills that raise offensive power instead.>>


Heeh, can't wait to see what kinds of Skills Alma's gonna get.

Wait this isn't the time for that! The bird's gotten close enough to have us within its range!


"Sisti, Flash! Raina, follow up with magic! I'll knock it down once it connects. Daina you deliver the finishing blow! You two, stay close and hide behind the lizard's body, use it as a shield!"


The hot uncle gave his commands.
He even spared the time to look out for us. Guy's super cool.


"Flash Bang!"


The silver-haired sister, Sisti-san cast her magic.
An intense flash of light got emitted from her wand, it wasn't as strong as Spark Wolf but it was enough to blind Cyclone Wing for a moment.


"Flame Rifle!"


The blond slapdash beauty, Raina-san shot an offensive spell meanwhile.
High speed flaming bullets. The bullets never slowed down despite the range as they landed one after another on the bird's body.


『GYOOOUAAAAAAAAAAAA!!』


But the enemy refused to eat all those attacks standing down either.
Cyclone Wing... Too long, let's just call it Weird Bird. It unleashed several tornadoes around us you'd think there was a small cataclysm going down.
Wait, wait wait, what in the hell, birdie! You think you're fighting a giant kaijuu or something!? This stupidly powerful magic ain't something you used on some puny humans dangit!


<<High Offensive Magic Skill Lv1 'Quadruple Cyclone'. An advanced wind magic that produces four tornadoes using mana to mince up and blow away all foes in the vicinity.>>


Hiie, it's simple yet nasty.
Alma and I clung on the giant lizard for our dear lives while these veteran adventurers stood around like it was a breeze.
These people are way amazing. They look so unfazed as if getting hit by this kind of magic is an everyday thing to them.

Huh what? Where'd the hot uncle leader go? ...Did he get blown away!?


『GYOOAAAAAAAAAAA!!?』


I turned my eyes at the direction of the scream in the sky and saw the hot uncle leader chopping up one of the weird bird's wing.
...Hwat? Eh, how'd he get that high up? Wait, is he floating? Could it be Mana Flight... Can't be.


<<He is using Ultimate Martial Arts Skill Lv5 'Sky Step' to run in the air and attack.>>


So that's the famed Sky Step! What grace... No wait, looking closer, he keeps kicking the air to stay afloat. How surreal.
Looking is one thing, actually doing that looks like hard work...


"You're dead meat!!"


The brown haired young man, Daina swung down his club real hard at the fallen weird bird's head.
As a result... The weird bird's head got splattered in three directions. Grotesque.
Well its DEF was rather low after all, guess the issue was hitting it. Getting to that point is an ordeal though.


"Phew, looks like you're all safe and sound. And I'm glad to see you two unharmed."

"...That was amazing."


Alma muttered with a dumbfounded look.
Well, I get her, there's no way to explain what's amazing. Every single thing was.
...Wonder how long till we reached their level.
It really drives home just how inexperienced we are, just how long the road ahead is.


"By the way leader, what should we do about this bird. Leaving it here is such a waste..."

"We cannot possibly carry it back with us, it will be our present to the magic beasts here. Shame as it may be."

"Uu~... If only I remembered that Item Bag~."

"And now you're regretting!?"


We have no choice but to leave these high class materials behind if there's no way to carry them.
I'd have loved to put them away in Item Screen, but I don't want to divulge the existence of Menu to other people... What a waste.
I could pretend some random bag I have as an Item Bag but then they'd question why I didn't mention that with the lizard.
...They'd suspect me of trying to swindle them of these mats.
So now we're stuck with this muscle training death march. How far away is the town...

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382 What is This Development?

Now then, I'm not sure what to do. The ladies and their legs are at their limit.
They've been lying on the bare earth since a while ago, no signs of standing up. Linda did once when she saw Chimera but she's back on the ground now.
Underling's fatigue seems to caught up to him after Chimera's surprise as well, he's leaning on a tree now.
The only lively ones here are me and Chimera.

"Hmm, what should we do? Keep marching on to the kingdom... doesn't look feasible. But there's no way to pick apart people who've been bought out like Irdis at the federation. That place is definitely more dangerous."

I suspect the federation is nearly under Kanedor's complete control. Meaning not even Linda and her noble house would be safe. Can't just ask them to shelter us when it likely has been compromised.
Correction. I can get them back. Easily. With my 'power'. But it's what comes after. If I did that and then heard about their death later on, I'd definitely regret it.
I want to absolutely avoid ending up with those unpleasant feelings.

From what Linda told me, the federation adopts a parliamentary system.
There is a king. However he's more symbolic and the 'parliament' holds the actual executive power.
Pretty much Japan-like. However, the system here is not as mature, considering the existence of shady politicians such as Kanedor.

"Kanedor's underlings won't find us if we seek refuge at the commercial city, actually he should be in the dark about our present situation. Meaning, we'd better get out of this place asap."

As I kept ruminating my thought, Chimera suddenly jumped off my arms.
It looked at me and 'meow'-ed once like usual. It really sounded like the same meow like Chimera usually does, but a moment later, I took three step back.

Why you ask? That's because Chimera grew bigger.
Chimera has transformed itself into its Lion Mode.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Oy, what's wrong Chimera? Sizing yourself up all of a sudden. Hmm? ...No way, do you mean to?"

I wasn't particularly alarmed by Chimera's Lion Mode. But the same can't be said to the others here.
Of course not when such a small being suddenly turned into a completely different beast.
Not to mention its gigantic size. All the trees around Chimera got mowed down during the transformation process. We're inside the forest. Naturally the sound loudly reverberated far and wide, causing all manners of small animals and birds nearby to scatter in terror.
Contrasting to the loud chaotic scream-like sounds those animals produced, the ladies didn't make a sound as they fainted where they were.
Underling is still hanging on but with his mouth is gaping open like his soul has escaped with a pale white face.

"What will... become of us? I just don't know anymore..."

Linda gazes at Chimera like she's given up on everything.

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