Chapter 2 - A First Taste of a New World, and a First Fight
The next thing I knew, Mizuki and I were standing in a clearing surrounded by trees. Sunlight streamed in, suggesting it was daytime. A stone-paved path stretched out before and behind us.
"I don’t know which direction the town is,"
I started to say, but then I noticed Mizuki was genuinely crying.
"What’s wrong? Were you happy about the kiss?"
"No! I’m frustrated!"
She dabbed her tears with a handkerchief and glared at me. But for some reason, her look shifted to confusion. I also noticed something off about Mizuki's features. Originally handsome, they now seemed subtly refined, as if further perfected.
"Were you always this beautiful? Were you like, a model or something?"
I blurted out without thinking.
"Wh-what, are you trying to flatter me for another kiss?"
"No! But I’d gladly give you one anytime. More importantly, look at your hair color."
She grabbed a strand of her own hair and gasped. The black it had been in Luxchel now had a bluish tint.
"Is it the light?"
"I don’t think so. I can’t explain it well, but the whole vibe’s changed somehow."
"Right? And your hair’s almost green. When I saw you on the train, I thought you looked like someone I knew, but now… the vibe’s even closer somehow…"
So Mizuki mistook me for a pervert because I looked like someone else?
"Was that someone else a repeat offender?"
"N-no, it’s nothing like that…" She was strangely flustered.
"Then is that someone your boyfriend?"
"No!"
She started to get angry again.
"But you can’t blame me for suspecting you of being a pervert. I can accept that it was your punishment."
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
She should just call it even, but I wanted her to spill what she did to me.
"I don’t wanna say. I already forgot."
"After that, I got slapped as payback. The balance is off!"
I stroked my cheek, which was hot and swelling.
"Ugh, I’ll think of something to apologize for that."
"A kiss will do. Once you’ve done it once, it’s all the same, right?"
"It’s not about the number! It’s physically impossible for me! Please, just forget it!"
She always comes to inflict more trauma.
"Besides…" Mizuki hesitated.
"What, do you have a boyfriend or something?"
"Well, it’s not like that, but there are people who like me. And I have…"
She looked at me as if confirming something. I had no memory of it at all, but had she and I had any connection in the past?
"What, are you living off some sugar daddy?"
"I’m not! Stop with the weird imaginations!"
While we were bickering, I thought I heard shouting from a thicket beside the path.
"Hm? Is someone there?" I strained my ears.
"Help!"
A distant voice cried out. There was also a scream mixed in, and I faintly heard sounds of fighting.
"We gotta go!"
"Hey, wait!"
I grabbed Mizuki’s arm as she tried to rush toward the screams. She shot me a condemning look.
"You’re just going to leave them?"
"It’s not that. This isn’t Japan. We need to be careful."
"Okay, you’re right."
"First, take your sword from storage. Let’s approach cautiously while staying hidden, only revealing ourselves when we can assess the situation."
Mizuki nodded. We had both received short swords from Racshell. She gripped hers tightly, moving toward the sound while hiding behind trees. We had no choice but to push through the bushes, accepting some noise. The sounds were becoming clearer – the thud of blows, grunts and beast-like cries. Someone groaned in pain. I wanted to ignore it and walk away.
We reached a spot where we could observe. A group of small, humanoid creatures, somewhat like monkeys, with bare skin and only loincloths, were attacking two people with clubs. There were about ten of them. A woman was down, and a man was trying to save her, but the creatures were beating him mercilessly with the clubs.
"Goblins? Perhaps Kobolds?"
We couldn’t do anything. We didn't even know our own strength, let alone theirs.
"Let’s go."
"Huh?"
Before I could stop her, Mizuki charged forward. She caught one by surprise and struck it down. The creature burst into light and vanished. Mizuki bravely slashed at a second but was blocked by a club. Multiple enemies closed in on her. I lunged toward one of them, aiming for the gap. The blade pierced smoothly, and the enemy screamed as it vanished. But this didn’t turn the tide of battle; Mizuki was barely defending herself against two monsters. And yet another was about to swing its club at the back of her head.
"Shit!"
I rushed to Mizuki, trying to block the club with my sword, but it was too fast. A dull thud ran through my shoulder, and I found myself sprawled on the ground. I tried to stand, but a sharp pain shot through my shoulder, and I rolled sideways. The situation was dire.
"Mizuki! No good, run!"
"Super Save…?"
Mizuki muttered as she looked down at me. Blue light flickered in her eyes, but more eye-catching was the light blue underwear I could see under her skirt. Her movements after that were incredible. Taking some hits, but evading what looked like fatal blows and landing fatal strikes with her sword. As the number of enemies decreased, the rescued man joined the fight. While I was gawking at Mizuki’s exposed underwear, the battle ended.
"Are you okay?"
Mizuki rushed over.
"You should worry about yourself. You got hit a few times."
"I’m fine. They didn’t land properly."
Enduring the pain, I managed to get up. As I groaned, a group of four appeared, drawn by our voices, just like us.
"My name is Reed. I’m the leader of ‘Wind Blade.’ We’re adventurers affiliated with the Richelle Adventurer’s Guild. Goblin attacks have been frequent, so we were on patrol to handle the situation."
The man in front introduced himself. Young and quite handsome. Wind Blade was the name of their party. A group consisting of an adventurer, a warrior, a mage, and a priest. I wished they had come sooner. Before we had to rush in ourselves. Settle the matter before we arrived.
"Here, a potion. Drink it."
I did as the mage woman asked and drank the liquid. It tasted bitter. The priest woman placed her hand on my shoulder and chanted a spell. The pain disappeared.
"Mizuki too."
"I’m okay. Please, don’t bother,"
Mizuki quickly refused, looking flustered.
"Hmm. But you have taken damage. Allow me to cast a healing spell."
The priestess said, and I noticed she was rather well-endowed.
"Ah, thank you."
The rescued man and woman had been gathering herbs when they were attacked by goblins. Usually, the knights and adventurers patrolled the area around Richelle, keeping weaker monsters in check, and groups like that were rare. The two rescued–a man and a woman were both badly injured. The woman had collapsed when we arrived, and the man who fought alongside had collapsed at the end as well. The man was able to walk on his own thanks to healing magic, but the woman needed further treatment since neither potiorns nor magic was effective enough. It was the assessment of a bearded, short man named Aidan who came after Wind Blade. He was apparently a dwarf. Everyone decided to return to Richelle. We followed as well. The dwarf attempted to carry the woman, but Reed intervened.
"Eidan, I know you’re an A-Rank adventurer. I can’t allow that. My slave will carry her."
"I see,"
Eidan said with a nod.
"Beers, carry her."
The warrior-type man called Beers carried the woman. Eidan assisted. We walked in the opposite direction from where we had been heading.
We walked down the cobblestone road toward the town. Mizuki was already chatting casually with the Wind Blade members. An unsettling sight—normal human-like interactions. Why wasn't she doing that with me? Just then, she approached me.
"The mage’s name is Cecily and the priest is Aira. Both are beauties, aren’t they."
"Yeah,"
I mumbled back. Mizuki giggled, obviously anticipating my reaction.
"Apparently, they’re both dating Reed!"
"No way—!"
I envied Reed for developing Aira’s breasts.
"Apparently, the people in the town are monogamous, but adventurers are free spirits, so it’s different. There’s a Demon Kingdom to the east, and there, polygons are commonplace."
A wonderful system. But when I thought about it, it sounded like handsome guys getting all the beautiful women. Reed had two beautiful women as partners, and even a slave. This was't a system made for me.
"Changing the subject, this…"
She held out a small, marbles-like object. Something white resembling flames flickered in the center.
"It dropped from the monster you defeated, Mash. It’s a magic seed."
It felt more like a jewel than a seed.
"Magic seeds can raise your stats when consumed, or give a magical enchantment to weapons or armor."
"Do you know which stats increase from a goblin’s magic seed?"
"It’s set for other monsters, but goblins are random, apparently."
"I see. Maybe collecting magic seeds is a good way to raise your stats to the limit."
"You don’t usually find them unless you kill about 10,000 of them."
"I see, that’s rough. After killing 10,000, you’d probably be strong enough that you’d no longer need magic seeds."
I laughed. It was a valuable item.
"So, can I have this one? I want to make it into an amulet."
"Huh? Gone for drugs? What a waste. It must be rare and can be sold for a high price. Let’s split it."
"Muuu, of course, since you defeated the enemy, you can sell it if you want. The money is also yours."
Mizuki pouted, puffing out her lips. Apparently, she didn’t plan to secretly sell it later.
"Well, you almost got me killed by rushing out, but I was saved because of you. You can keep it, Mizuki."
I handed the magic seed back to Mizuki.
"That’s a weird way of putting it, but I’ll cherish it. Thank you, Mash."
"So, about that fight earlier, do you remember the Special Skill I obtained?"
"The Large-Scale Retail Store Law, right?"
"I knew you were just saying stupid things to make me laugh."
Mizuki explained that the Super Save skill was the ability to avoid fatal attacks. And Super Kill was the skill that guaranteed a fatal hit on an enemy. If either triggered, Super Expansion activated, increasing the effectiveness of those skills. With each activation of Super Save and Super Kill, Super Expansion endlessly enhanced their abilities. From evading only fatal blows to covering normal attacks, and increasing the chance of a one-hit kill. The skills worked regardless of Mizuki’s basic stats. That skill chain crushed the goblin horde.
"So, you could have wiped out the goblins by yourself, even without me, if Super Save had activated?"
It was too overpowered to not laugh. The ability Racshell gave Mizuki was just too strong of a cheat.
"I think I was in danger if you hadn’t saved me. It looked like Super Save activated when you helped me."
Even if I hadn't saved her, Super Save would have protected her in some other way. But the situation was difficult with constant attacks.
"I see. But you shouldn’t tell anyone else about your skills, or about being transported here."
"But why?"
"It’s hard to explain. Just regret it when something happens."
If Mizuki’s power was the strongest in this world, she should continue to use it. But there was a Demon King. There must be other transferes granted power like us. On top of that, Mizuki’s fearless nature meant she would likely continue to use her power. A larger backlash could occur, and it was obvious.
"I kind of had the same feeling as you, Mash. I’ll be careful."
Honest. This is scary.