kscans

Chapter 276 - Nephi, and the Mythology of the Demon Race

A loud rustling erupted from the bushes. Before I could even shout a warning, Famu and Mizuki had drawn their swords. They moved forward without a moment's hesitation, so Myra and I drew our own weapons and moved to guard the rear.

What burst out was a monster covered in beastly fur, nearly twice the size of a man.

"A brown bear?!"

A roar echoed through the forest as if to shake it to its core. The beast bared its fangs and charged down the mountain path on all fours. Its shoulders and forelegs were like boulders of muscle, and it accelerated with a power that seemed to tear at the earth itself. It closed in on Mizuki with unbelievable speed. Mizuki dropped into a low stance, thrusting her shield forward. She held her sword alongside it, ready to pierce the monster through the gap.

But just as I thought they would collide, the beast changed direction sharply and lunged at Famu.

"Aah!"

Famu twisted her body to react but couldn't dodge completely, and she was sent tumbling into the undergrowth.

"Famu!"

"I'm... I'm all right!" I heard the sound of her struggling to her feet.

"A monster... Myra, you go to Famu. I'll support Mizuki!"

"Understood. According to my information, some brown bear monsters can use magic attacks, so be careful!" Myra shouted as she ran off. As I watched her go from the corner of my eye and prepared to run to Mizuki's position, Nephi reached out and stopped me.

"I'll go. Mash, you guard the rear."

"But you're a mage, aren't you?" She held out a staff that was slightly taller than she was. It had a dull, metallic sheen. She spun it once and planted it on the ground.

"That staff is... a quarterstaff?" At my words, she gave a small smile and charged toward the monster.

"I thought she was a mage."

"...You didn't look at her character sheet?" I muttered while watching Nephi's back. Marmi glanced at me and asked.

"She's so mysterious, I just assumed she wouldn't show me."

While we were having this laid-back conversation, the battle between Mizuki and the monster had already begun. The beast rose onto its hind legs, swinging its log-like arms. At the ends were sharp, black, glistening claws. Mizuki dodged the swings, any one of which looked like it could knock her out, with light steps. She looked for an opening and thrust, but she couldn't land an effective blow against the monster's hard, black fur.

Marmi was waiting for a break in the distance between Mizuki and the monster to launch a spell, but the beast seemed to sense this and kept the pressure on, never letting the gap widen.

Then, Nephi joined the fray. She thrust her staff, aiming for the monster's eyes, and circled around to Mizuki's opposite side. She had successfully drawn its attention. The monster ceased its fierce assault on Mizuki and backed away. Marmi, who had been waiting for that opening, unleashed a fireball. But at the same instant, the monster roared and shot a rock from its mouth.

The two spells collided with a deafening boom, scattering sparks of fire. Using the shockwave as cover, the monster dropped back to all fours and charged at Nephi. She must have anticipated the move, as she sidestepped it with ease.

But the monster immediately turned and charged again, trying to ram its massive body into her. She dodged it as if performing a dance.

The monster tried to turn once more, but its movements had become sluggish. I looked down and saw that the ground around it and Nephi was covered in countless sharp spikes of earth that had shot up from below. The monster's limbs were wounded from stepping on them.

"Earth Magic...?" The monster's bared fangs drowned out my murmur.

"GUAAAAH!"

The monster's roar echoed, and it fired another rock from its mouth. Nephi dodged the blow with a sharp step forward and thrust her staff at the monster again.

"Mizuki!"

"Leave it to me!" Mizuki quickly circled behind the monster and raised her sword. Her eyes glowed with a reddish tint. With a single swing, the monster vanished.

Famu had only suffered a few scrapes from her fall and wasn't seriously injured. As I brushed the leaves and dirt from her clothes, Nephi approached with a Mana Seed.

"What's the loot distribution in Levante?"

"We split it evenly."

"Not all for you, Mash?" My hand, which was patting Famu's clothes, stopped.

"What do you take me for?"

"Well, if that's the case, it's fine." She placed the Mana Seed in my hand.

"More importantly, can I see your character sheet?" She nodded and, without any resistance, opened it for me.

Party Name: Levante. Adventurer Rank: A. Name: Nephi. Class: Freeman. First Job: Mage. First Job Level: 35. Race: Demon. Age: 23.

"A-Rank...?!"

"What's so surprising? With two otherworlders in your party, you all should reach this level soon enough, right?" At her words, I averted my gaze. We had cleared up to the 45th floor of the Crystal Palace, so we should have met the qualifications for B-Rank. But to reach A-Rank, we'd have to conquer the 60th floor. I wasn't about to risk our lives just for a rank, but being asked about it so casually made me feel a little embarrassed.

"I'm rather fond of C..." Only Mizuki gave me an indescribable look. I returned my gaze to Nephi's character sheet as Myra leaned in to look with me.

"Is her second job Staff User?" Myra asked, and Nephi revealed her full status. It seemed she didn't have a special skill, but her second job, 'Martial Artist,' was level 20.

"So it's not Staff User." It's funny how when Myra says 'staff user,' it makes me think of a different kind of staff. As I was thinking that, Famu was staring intently at me, so I cleared my throat to cover it up.

"Are you really planning to join us?"

"Well, no matter how many times I say yes, it seems none of you are going to believe me..." I reached for her chest as she shrugged. She was wrapped in a loose robe, making it hard to see her figure, but during the fight, I had caught a glimpse of her long, slender legs as she ran. When I touched her breast, a meltingly soft sensation traveled up from my palm. She was slightly smaller than Mizuki, and Mizuki's seemed to have more firmness, or perhaps perkiness, but this had what you might call a mature feel—smooth and almost clinging to my hand.

"H-Hey...! Mmph, I said I was prepared, but in a place like this..." She took a small step back, her eyes wide with bewilderment, but she didn't try to escape.

"Nephi, how many men has this chest..." I pulled her in by the waist, about to press closer, when Mizuki smacked me on the back of the head.

"Are you an idiot? What are you trying to do in a place like this?"

"Ah, right. The situation was just too perfect, I lost myself for a moment... I need to grope Mizuki's chest to calm down."

I moved toward Mizuki, but she pushed me away with a hand to my face.

"I really don't know what's going on in your head..." she sighed.

"You're one to talk, Mizuki."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You said you got good grades in school, didn't you?"

"I don't remember saying that myself, but what are you getting at?"

Mizuki frowned, clearly not following.

"You saw how Nephi fights, right? That's what you call smart fighting. You just fight with brute force. So I'm going to grope you to loosen up that muscle brain of yours."

"Hmm... you're right, but in my case, wouldn't punching be faster?" Mizuki grinned, made a fist, and smacked it into her other palm.

We found a spot with a monster-repellent pillar and set up camp. The sun was still high, but we couldn't push Marmi too hard until she got used to the mountain roads. Besides, it wasn't like these pillars would always be conveniently located.

Tonight's dinner would be from our storage. I made a mushroom-broth omelet to get back in Famu's good graces, but she didn't bring out any matsutake. She had a prim look on her face, so she was clearly still upset. I thought we had plenty of time, but by the time dinner was ready, the setting sun was painting the sky.

"About what we were talking about during the day," I said, sipping a food that was somewhere between oatmeal porridge and soup. Mizuki had made it, and she was good at improvising with whatever was on hand, so it was delicious. As I thought that, I noticed Mizuki staring at me.

"What about it?"

"What Nephi said about Okita Soji. Is that monster still in the mountains where Famu used to live?" The legends we'd heard from the people of Miglutt and from Famu herself said that Okita Soji fought and died from his wounds, but the story after that was unclear. Considering that Famu's ancestors, the dog-eared race, settled in those mountains afterward, the monster must have also died or been defeated by someone.

"I think the guardian deity enshrined in Famu's village is that monster. It's probably sealed in some way, right? In exchange for someone falling ill." I glanced at Famu. She had been devouring her omelet for a while now. Her gaze suddenly lifted and met mine. According to Nephi, Okita Soji died in the mountains fighting a monster. But according to Famu, the monster was the God of the End, and Okita Soji died of an illness. Of course, his legend has countless embellishments, like being a hero to the dog-eared race and the founder of Miglutt. It was impossible to know the truth, but his sword, which had been kept in Miglutt's government office, was proof that he had existed. And that sword was the same as the one held by the otherworlder who defeated the Demon Lord, Akitsuki Uta, and the same as the one Laciel gave to Mizuki.

"Master. As I've said before, the guardian deity is not the God of the End that Okita Soji fought. The guardian deity told me the name of the God of the End and commanded me to defeat it." She had once implied that she thought I was the God of the End. She never answered that question, but I wondered if she still thought so.

"So, we don't know if the monster is truly the God of the End, but it means that thing is still alive. And yet, Famu's ancestors started living in the place where the God of the End dwelled." I looked toward Myra. She had been sipping her porridge-like soup with a spoon, but she paused. Then, she looked up at the sky. The area around us was illuminated by the campfire, but beyond it, everything was dim. The sky, however, still held the light of sunset.

"I believe the result of the battle between the Fifty Gods and the five goddesses was that the five goddesses, though defeated, managed to drive the Fifty Gods from this world and weakened the God of the End to the point where it could no longer return to the heavens. The place where Famu lived was, um..."

"The Land of Beginning and End, Terra Principii et Finis, where the final battle took place. That's incorrect. That location is far to the east of the Demon Kingdom's capital. The God of the End is said to still be lurking somewhere on the mortal plane, so it's possible the one Okita Soji fought was truly the God of the End, but..." It seemed Myra also didn't believe the being lurking in the mountains where Famu lived was the God of the End.

"Speaking of which, I heard the demon race worships the God of the End. Do you worship it too, Nephi?" She nodded at my question.

"I do. That's not to say I deny the faith of the Fifty Gods or the five goddesses, though. You can think of my beliefs as being the same as any other demon's." She smiled, staring into the campfire. But she was the first demon I'd ever met. I had no idea what the standard for demons was. As I was thinking this, Myra stopped eating. Before she could say anything, Nephi spoke again.

"In our demon beliefs, the God of the End is thought to have come from another world, just like the otherworlders. Otherworlders bring various concepts to this world. For example, the character sheets you were just looking at."

"Character sheets?" Mizuki asked Nephi before I could.

"That's right. Jobs are the same. They're believed to have been born from the power of Divine Grace."

"So character sheets and jobs didn't exist in the past?"

"So I've heard." Nephi sipped her soup, then licked a drop from her lips with her finger. The tip of her tongue looked strangely sensual.

"Mo, have you ever heard anything like that from Marina or the other elves?" Elves live long lives, so I thought she might know about such changes. But she was holding her soup bowl, her head bobbing as she started to doze off. Her eyes fluttered open slightly.

"...I've heard that character sheets and jobs were concepts that didn't exist in this world before. But I don't know if it was otherworlders who brought them."

"That's right. Character sheets and jobs were granted to us by the Fifty Gods," Myra said, continuing Marmi's thought.

"I know it's not right to ask someone who serves the church, but Myra, how much of the church's teachings do you actually believe?" At my words, Myra stared back at me intently.

"That's what I want to find out by continuing this journey with you, Mash. Everything is just beginning."