kscans

Chapter 47 - Famu's Sword and Myra's Melancholy

We were on the third day of our journey. I was at morning practice again. I thought Avea might have banned me, but when she saw me, she just gave me a sly grin. Had she awakened to the joys of exhibitionism? The members were the same as yesterday. Aira was here again today in case someone got hurt. I'd only asked her for yesterday, but it seemed she was going to continue watching over our training.

"Today, Mash will face Famu, and Mizuki will face Beers,"

Avea announced.

"Master, the day has come to settle my daily grudges,"

Famu said to me. To have even Famu say that was a rather shocking accusation.

"You had a grudge against me too...? What kind of person is your master?"

"I was just imitating Mizuki. I do have a small grudge, so I'll be settling it."

"..."

For the sake of Famu's education, it might be best to keep her away from Mizuki from now on.

"I'm joking. I just want you to see the results of my daily training."

"Starting today, you'll wear these."

Avea handed me an iron helmet and gauntlets. I had only worn leather armor until now, so this was my first time with iron. The helmet wasn't a full-face type. It looked like the hard hats construction workers wore in my world. When I put it on, it was so heavy my neck felt unstable. The gauntlets also restricted my wrist movement, making it feel clumsy. But with this, neither of us would get injured whether we hit or got hit. I wish she'd given them to us yesterday. Then I would have been able to beat Mizuki.

"It doesn't suit you, Master,"

Famu commented.

"It doesn't suit you either."

She looked about the same. She was wobbly, and it made me chuckle a little. It was like watching a helmet walk around.

"Hmph, you laughed."

She readied her wooden stick. It was a seigan stance. It seemed she intended to fight in the same style as me.

"Alright, today I'm settling my daily grudges, too."

I also took a seigan stance.

"Huh? You have a grudge against me?"

"Hehehe, that's a secret."

I closed the distance at once, bringing us into the one-step, one-sword range. Famu tried to halt my advance, using the tip of her weapon to press down on mine. I ignored it and closed the distance even further, increasing the pressure on her. Famu, flustered by this, began her striking motion. I moved the tip of my blade in a counter-clockwise motion, twisting her weapon out of her hands. The timing was perfect, and the wooden stick left her grasp and clattered to the ground.

"Huh?"

I gave her dazed, defenseless head a light tap. The match was over.

"I don't really understand what just happened,"

Famu murmured.

"That was 'striking after the initiative.' You were forced to strike by me. I aimed for that opening and used the tip of my blade to disarm you."

I demonstrated the move for her again.

"You're like a master swordsman. You're so cool."

Famu was excited. I was happy to be praised, too.

"If we're fighting in the same style with armor on, I might be stronger than you for now."

Her sword style was too honest. There was no mix of truth and deception. She'd figure it out eventually and surpass me in no time.

"I know plenty of cheap tricks."

"I want you to teach me."

"Well, I don't know if they'd be useful in a real fight."

As Famu and I were talking, Avea approached us.

"You seem used to this kind of fighting,"

Avea said.

"Yeah, well. I've done it countless times. But I don't think it's suited for actual combat."

"Alright, then you'll face me again today. I'll drill you until you can use it in a real fight."

Avea started swinging her wooden stick around, testing its feel.

"Wait, I just had a match."

"It's fine. You didn't even swing your weapon once today, either."

Avea grinned.

"Come to think of it, I never asked what your class is, Avea."

"Warrior. Level 52."

"..."

There was no way I could win. Was there a goblin in existence that could make her say, "Kuh, kill me!"? After that, I sparred with her and was beaten to a pulp. I relentlessly aimed for the weak point of her bikini armor, but I couldn't even touch it once. I had a feeling she had it out for me.

The caravan continued through the forest. The wagon was as rocky as ever. Nothing was happening. It was boring. So boring that I was starting to feel like we should just attack the caravan ourselves. Myra and I were sitting at the rear of the wagon on lookout duty. I looked up at the sky. It was cloudy today. It might start raining soon. I spread my arms to the sky. Come, storm! But if one really came, we'd be in trouble, so I was just kidding.

"...What are you doing?"

Myra asked. Her reaction felt somewhat cold.

"Does it ever rain in this world?"

"Of course it does."

I could feel the coldness in her words.

"...Are you angry about something?"

"I'm furious."

"..."

"I was supposed to be your lover after Famu. But before I knew it, you made moves on Mizuki, Cecily, and Aira, and you even kissed Claire. I just want to cry."

"I'm sorry."

There was no excuse, so I apologized honestly. Since Mizuki wasn't here, I felt like it might be okay to grope her breasts. I scooted closer to where Myra was sitting. Noticing this, Myra scooted closer to me as well. We were pressed together from shoulder to hip. Her body heat felt nice.

"Please pay more attention to me,"

Myra whispered. I was thinking of poking her chest with my index finger when Cecily, riding one of the spare horses, came down to the rear of the procession.

"Hmph,"

the terrible timing made the sound escape my lips.

"'Hmph'? What was that for?"

Cecily's sharp ears caught it, and she protested.

"No, just wondering if your motion sickness is better?"

"Yes, thanks to you. Avea said it might rain, so be careful. I came to tell you."

"I see. Got it."

Was it my fault for saying it wouldn't rain? Or maybe because of my earlier pose? I looked up. The sky was covered in clouds, but it was bright, and it didn't feel like it would start raining just yet. Still, it felt darker than before. Cecily kept a little distance, following at the very back.

"But it was strange. I'd heard that men like Mash, who make moves on one woman after another, are only in it for the sex and lose interest once they've done it, so I thought my turn would come eventually,"

Myra murmured.

"Hey! Are you okay with a guy like that?"

I was starting to worry about Myra's future.

"But you're so considerate to the ones you've had sex with."

Was this a case of not feeding the fish you've caught? On the contrary, I wanted to keep as many as I could. The thought of letting any of them go was outrageous. No, it was impossible.

"...It's because I don't want them to hate me. Cecily and Aira have no choice but to follow me, but I'm actually not sure why Famu and Mizuki are still here."

The day they got fed up with me might come, and that scared me. Hearing this, Myra let out a deep sigh. Come to think of it, Myra might be the only one with a clear reason for following me.

"I want to be cherished as much as Famu and Mizuki are."

"No, if anything, I cherish you the most."

I haven't even made a move on her yet.

"...That's a factor unrelated to romance, isn't it?"

Myra gave me a suspicious look.

"Then how about we go on a date sometime?"

"R-Really?!"

"Do you have any requests for what kind of date?"

"Let's see... a place where there are no distractions... no, a place without Famu, Mizuki, Aira, or Cecily. Maybe we should dive into a dungeon, somewhere only I can go with my current level..."

A disturbing atmosphere began to form. What happened to the kind older sister from the church in Richel?

"...Hey. We are not going to such a terrifying place. The city. The city will be fine. Frucht is a port town, there must be something there."

"You're right. I heard they have two-person rowboats. Let's take a little cruise. It's a promise."

"Yeah. I'm looking forward to it."

It would be embarrassing if it was one of those swan boats, but Myra's mood seemed to be improving, so I kept my mouth shut.

"You can eat river fish in Frucht. I'd love to have some grilled fish on a skewer with a mug of ale."

"Can you drink, Myra?"

"I can drink more than Aira, but not that much."

"..."

I recalled the dwarf man. Was this the result of Aidan's teachings? At the same time, I remembered how Aira had been drinking alcohol like water on our last day in Richel. I hoped she was the happy drunk type.

"Right. There's something I need to tell you, Myra."

"What is it?"

"In the next village or town, wherever we can stay at an inn, I'm going to summon Laciel."

"F-Finally, I get to meet Laciel-sama?"

Myra was so excited she almost stood up and fell out of the wagon. I grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. The fact that she was more excited about this than our promise of a date made me feel a little sad.

"I-I'm sorry. Is this really, truly happening? May I be present as well?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

"No, it's nothing to thank me for."

I was summoning a good-for-nothing. The image of a goddess she held in her mind might crumble. It was really nothing to be thanked for.

"There are things I have to ask Laciel."

"I see. What is the Demon Lord? Why must he be defeated? Is there a time limit? What happens after he's defeated? Why must otherworlders fight each other... are those the kinds of things you want to ask, Mash?"

"Yeah. I'm counting on you."

"Why am I the one being counted on?"

"You can resist Laciel's charm, right?"

"...That's right."

There was a slight pause before Myra nodded. It seemed she sensed something unsettling.

"If possible, I'd like you to ask her for the Demon Lord's location, his weaknesses, how to input an invincibility command, or some kind of cheap trick or exploit to beat him easily."

"...I don't understand some of what you're saying, but are you trying to use me as your personal gofer?"

She saw through me.

"If there's anything you want to ask, you can ask it."

"You're right. I'd like to ask about the battle in the myths. And why summon heroes from another world in the first place?"

She had a point. They could just give special skills to the residents of this world and give them the mission.

"Also, after the summoning, I'll be asleep until midday the next day, so I'll need you to support Famu."

"You're not going to use a mana recovery potion?"

It might just be a sensory thing, but the feeling of being depleted and the feeling of recovering at the same time is unpleasant. Also, similar to the super-recovery of muscles, natural recovery feels like it increases my total mana pool.

"I'll rely on it in an emergency. But after a summoning, I can't re-summon for a while anyway. I'll be useless, so it's fine to just leave me alone."

"Is that so? How long do you need between summons?"

Myra asked.

"My mana, or rather, my spiritual energy, doesn't feel like it fully returns for several days. But this is something I should probably test..."

It would be a pain for Laciel, but I'd give it a try.

As I was talking with Myra, the wagon came to a stop.

"Looks like the front of the line has stopped,"

said Cecily, who had been following us.

"I'll go check it out."

She spurred her horse and rode off to see what was happening at the front. Myra and I got off the wagon as well. If it were an emergency, a whistle would have been blown. It didn't seem to be that kind of situation. I couldn't see what was going on from here. It started to rain.

"Let's go take a look, too."

Myra nodded.

"I'll let Famu and the others in the wagon know."

She ran off toward the lead wagon. Avea and Beers were standing there. Cecily was on horseback, looking down at something with hatred in her eyes. Trees had fallen, blocking the road. The surrounding area was ravaged, with marks that looked like they had been gouged out by some giant creature.

A black panther-woman was lying there.