Special Story: In the World of Midgar (Part 2)
There was a town named Trade City Ydalir. It was to the east of the country of Laevateinn, and was an independent city that didn't belong to any country. It was perfectly placed, right in the middle of all the most influential countries, and, thanks to that, lots of merchants and travelers gathered within its walls, making it a city where money rained from the skies. Adventurers weren't an exception to this, and, to be honest, this city was where all new characters spawned.
This world was one thousand years after the game I knew, but it seemed that Ydalir never changed, at least in its liveliness. I was just a little relieved that a place I knew still existed.
Yeah, I feel like I can get pretty familiar with this place.
"… Naruko, it is very hard to move."
"Just bear with it. You're famous. You don't want to draw too much attention, right?"
I was wandering around the familiar city with a cloak hiding my entire body in a style that could only be described as that of a suspicious person with the dubiousness factor in full force. I wrapped my wings, which were in the way, around my body and had the cloak worn over that so as to forcefully hide my identity. The idea was proposed by Naruko. On top of that, the cloak that I was wearing—the one that I came back to this world with—was conveniently equipped with a hood.
Yeah, uh, it's true that this hides my identity. But you know, looking like this just makes me seem even more suspicious and draws more attention. And my wings are getting in the way of my body, so I basically can't move my arms at all.
What the hell is this? Some kind of new kink?
"Now then, Big Sis. You said you wanted to earn money for your travels first, but honestly speaking, this is going to be really difficult. After all, your face is too well-known, so it'll be hard to find work. There really aren't any people that would consider hiring the Black Empress."
"… That was one thousand years ago. There should not be that many that still remember our face. This world does not even have photographs."
"That's far too naive, Big Sis! This trade city is a place where many countries and people gather. Among those are elves, with their extremely long life spans. People like that still remember you clearly."
I nodded in understanding in response to Naruko's statement.
Now that she mentions it, there were races like that in this world. Or rather, I myself am like that, a cheater creature with a huge life span, most of which is considered the prime of my life.
In the first place, the flugels are said to be a race derived from angels, who were god's messengers. I don't know if it's because of that, but our lives are long, with the average life span being a ridiculous 15000 years. The fact that I still look the same after one thousand years is because of that.
By the way, in flavor Haruka was 275 years old when she was beaten, so now I'm 1275. In human years, I was 14 when I was sealed, and now I'm 24.
… On the outside, I look like a 15-17 year old girl, though.
"Especially those black wings. Even those who don't know about you know what black wings mean. It's the worst, forbidden color to the flugels, after all."
"Having black wings is still within the realm of normal, no? In fact, they should be considered rather plain."
I'll repeat, the flugels are said to be descendants of angels. Even the race themselves believe this, and because of that they pride themselves on clean, pure-white wings.
It was even said that pure-white wings were proof of being flugel, and among said race attractiveness is actually decided based on the color of a person's wings rather than their face or body. In fact, courting between men and women starts with showing each other their wings.
Speaking honestly, even a complete fatass uggo with acne all over and the fattest lips with smelly breath and wearing an anime girl t-shirt would be considered a hot guy if he had pure-white wings. But on the opposite side, even somebody with a perfect body and face would be considered ugly if their wings weren't white enough.
My pitch-black wings immediately place me out of the question. They completely blow away any consideration of my other features; I'd just be treated as a monster.
In human terms… Let's see. It's like if someone had green skin, no eyebrows, and antennae or feelers coming out of their forehead. Something like that.
It wasn't even a matter of looks anymore; they won't even look at you as a member of the same race. Of course, I knew that already, and made Haruka with black wings with full knowledge.
The reason was simple. "Isn't it cool to have forbidden wings?" That was it.
Of course, there was a mountain of other players who felt the same way, and pitch-black wings weren't uncommon at all in the game. In fact, black wings were actually downright decent compared to some other designs such as pink wings, or a set where each wing was a different color. The worst ones even had each feather a different color. And once you consider all that… well, black wings just weren't that conspicuous anymore.
If I stand out badly, then what if there was one with rainbow-colored wings here? That's what I start thinking.
"It's not normal at all! I'm begging you, realize how special you are already!"
"Ahhh, okay okay. We understand, so don't yell." Naruko got mad, so I shrugged.
Oh man, so I guess, unlike in the game, black wings are really that different, huh? This is probably going to get pretty inconvenient.
"Geez… then, getting back on topic, there is just one job that will hire even you without questions."
"Indeed. That would be adventuring—or in other words, selling your life, right?"
"Yes. That won't require any sort of standing. As long as you have your body, anybody can become one."
Adventurers, people who sold their life for bargain-bin prices. You didn't need anything special to start being one. Neither money nor status mattered, and even villains or slaves could get jobs.
In exchange, there was absolutely no guarantee of safety. If something were to happen, even if you were to lose your arms or legs or even die, neither your employers nor the organization would take any responsibility.
And on top of that, you'd be considered the lowest in social castes. It was a job for homeless people with nowhere to go or jobless people with nothing to do. A job for the weakest in society, for the people who don't even know if they'll be able to eat tomorrow. Those people all started with dreams of making it big in one stroke before meeting their ends instead and dying like dogs.
Adventuring was just that kind of job.
In the game it was easy to do since you'd just revive right afterwards, and such a dark background was just that, background. In fact, almost all players started off making money by being an adventurer, and the number of adventurers easily exceeded tens or even hundreds of thousands.
What about being the lowest caste of society, you say? Well, NPCs will curse you out a little. So what? But this is reality. Dying is the end, and cruel situations that don't occur in the game will probably happen here.
… Will I be fine? This body is Haruka Heartfilia's, so I don't think I'll die, even if I play around a little. But will I be able to stand the sight of blood myself? Will I, who can't even look at a cat or crow that's been run over, be able to fight? To be honest, I'm nothing but worried.
"We're here."
Urged on by Naruko, I entered the building.
It was a slightly dirty bar, and the entire building was made of wood. The first floor was a cafeteria, and there were several tables installed. There were people sitting here and there who I could tell were clearly thugs just from a glance at their ugly mugs.
When we entered, all the men focused their beast-like gazes on Naruko. They were probably wary of the suspicious intruder right next to her (me), so no one approached us, though.
"Hm, this air that is the very definition of a cesspool… how nostalgic."
"Now that you mention it, you were an adventurer before founding Zodiac, weren't you, Big Sis?"
Hm? Didn't I say something weird just now, as if it was natural? Nostalgic… No, well, it's true this is probably nostalgic…
As I said before, most players started off as adventurers. I wasn't an exception, and I fulfilled several quests in my time.
But… right, "I've" never been to this bar. But I still feel like it's nostalgic.
Oh no, as I thought, my memories and Haruka's memories are mixing together a little.
"Welcome. What'll it be? Or do you want a room?"
"We want an adventuring job."
"… You for real, girl?" The owner of the place, an inhospitable-looking bald guy, looked at Naruko in doubt.
Well, the cute girl Naruko was clearly didn't look the least bit suited for violence. It's true that if she said that she'd be an adventurer, the first thing you'd do is doubt her sanity. But Naruko cheerfully laughed in the face of that reaction and said it was fine.
"Don't worry, I'm not the one who will be taking the job, this person will."
"Hmmm, this golden mantle over here? Well, that's probably fine. Then for now, come to the back, why don't you? I want to see how good you are."
Adventurers were people who could die at any moment. Still, if everyone died without completing the job, the one who gave them the job in the first place would have their reputation plummet. Once rumors started going around saying things like, "Don't post any requests you have at that inn there, you won't get anyone good," you'd stop getting any business. That's why the agent tested your ability like this.
… Or, that's what Naruko whispered into my ear.
When I came to the back of the inn like I was told to do, the owner was there with several stone statues. Each of the statues looked the same: a nice guy with a beard.
That's a stone golem made by an Alchemist, right?
Alchemist was a class that allowed you to spend materials to make a lot of different gear and tools, of which golems were one. They were NPCs that could fight on their own and were reliable friends to those who traveled solo. Their strength depended on the materials used and the skill level of the maker, and they'd turn out exactly the same given the same conditions.
There was also no way to recover their HP outside of an Alchemist's "Repair"skill, and once the golem was destroyed, it was over for that golem.
On top of that, there was a problem where the AI picked its targets on its own, so it could end up attacking something you didn't want to attack. They were convenient, but not something to be used frequently until higher levels.
I also made a lot of golems to inflate my armies during that final battle, but I remembered them being torn apart like paper by the other high level players.
"I'll have you fight these golems here. I'll be judging your skills based on how many you beat and how long it takes."
"Hm, that sounds fine," I replied and took a step forward.
On top of it being hard to move because of the cloak, my wings were wrapped over my arms, so I couldn't use them. To be honest, it was quite the handicap, but… well, it's probably fine.
In the worst case, I can just let my level difference speak for me and use Pressure, but most likely, I should be able to get through with just kicks.
"You ready?"
"You may start any time."
"Right. Then I'll turn them on," the owner said, and the golems' eyes lit up.
At the same time, I activated a Ranger skill, "Observing Eye". It was a simple but convenient skill that allowed me to see the opponent's level and remaining HP. And if the level difference was large enough, I could also see their stats.
The golems's stats were revealed, and they were:
[ Stone Golem ]
[Level]: 5
[Race]: Artificial Life Form
[HP]: 68
[STR (Strength)]: 73
[DEX (Dexterity)]: 36
[VIT (Vitality)]: 80
[INT (Intelligence)]: 5
[AGI (Agility)]: 27
[MND (Mind)]: 5
[LUK (Luck)]: 40
Hm, well it's a small fry, just like it looks.
With this level, even adventurers just starting the game can easily beat it after leveling for about thirty minutes. It's not hard to get stronger than it in even just one battle if a high level player is helping you fight a strong monster.
And there's five of them… it does seem like there's no point to these golems other than helping measure one's ability.
In fact, it'd probably be better to quit the game if you lose to these.
… Ahh, I should check my stats too, just in case.
To be honest, the level difference is so high it's hard to tell how far I should hold back.
[ Black Empress Haruka Heartfilia ]
[Level]: 1000
[Race]: Flugel
[Class Levels]
・Warrior: 100
・Swordmaster: 100
・Grappler: 100
・Champion: 100
・Monster Tamer: 100
・Alchemist: 100
・Ranger: 100
・Strider: 100
・Acolyte: 100
・Priest: 50
・Esper: 50
[HP]: 335000
[SP]: 17430
[STR (Strength)]: 9200
[DEX (Dexterity)]: 8750
[VIT (Vitality)]: 10300
[INT (Intelligence)]: 8300
[AGI (Agility)]: 10778
[MND (Mind)]: 9550
[LUK (Luck)]: 9280
[Equipment]:
[Head]: -
[Right arm]: -
[Left arm]: -
[Body]: Bird of Sovereignty's Dress
・Status condition nullification
・HP regeneration
[Legs]: Swift Horse Boots
・Field movement speed up
[Other]: Cloak of Seven Days
・Halve all elemental damage
Yeah, this is just bullying the weak at this point.
By the way, you're not imagining that my stats are weird.
Levels themselves are maxed out at 1000, but stats have no limit. In other words, you can raise your stats as high as you want with doping items. They're all rare items, but outside of a small portion of them, they're not that impossible to get. Especially the HP stat item. Thanks to that one being relatively easy to get, my HP is pretty high.
I digress, but for flugels, without doping items but with the same class levels, at level 1000 they'd be at around 70,000 HP. Now that you know that, you should be able to tell just how far I boosted my HP.
Of course, it's not quite at the level of bosses you'd be expected to fight at max level, but I know it's higher than most bosses you'll find out in the world. Being called "The Wild Last Boss" definitely wasn't for show.
While we're on the subject, I'll explain about "Levels" and "Class Levels" too. "Levels" are just what it says on the tin. They're a stat that's already a given in RPGs, and they're raised by fighting to gain a certain amount of experience. The max level is 1000, and it's impossible to go further than that. Even boss characters adhere to this absolute rule of Xgate.
Next are "Class Levels." These indicate the levels in a class you've acquired, and classes go up to 100. Raising class levels happens at the same time as regular levels. The class you have at the moment you level up is the one that's raised, and it affects the stats you get for leveling up, so it's pretty important.
For example, if you want to play a front line character, but you spend all your time in rear line character classes, before long your stats will be far and away from being suited to being on the front line. That kind of situation is quite possible.
I feel like that part of the game is a lot like a tabletop RPG. You can really tell that the previous game of the line was a TRPG.
And once you reach the maximum level of 100 in a class, you'll get a message saying, "Your class level is 100. Please change classes." And from then on, until you change classes, you won't gain any levels no matter how much you fight.
There's two ways around that.
The first is to do as the message says and change classes. By repeating this, the player will eventually get to level 1000, and with ten classes under their belt, their character will be complete.
Of course, there's no need to follow the same class until level 100. For example, I've only raised my Priest and Esper levels to 50 each, forcing my number of classes to 11.
The other method is to pay for it. By paying real money, you can raise a class's max level to 200 and can keep leveling that class as is. However, in exchange, there'll be basically no new skills to learn. Most skills for a class are learned by level 100, so basically the only merit of continuing in the same class is stat gains.
For example, staying as a Swordmaster or a Grappler for the whole 200 levels will get your attack and HP stats higher than most other front liners, which is the biggest reason to pay. Also, some skills scale with class level, so there are a lot of people that pay to get to 200 because of that.
Other than that, let's see… Some classes will unlock a secret class or skill by getting it to level 200, it seems, but most of them haven't been discovered. People say that, most likely, you won't find that stuff unless you level your character pretty stupidly.
Anyway, that doesn't matter right now. For now, it's time for my first fight since I found myself in this body. I see no reason for this fight to be any trouble, but for now let's try some stuff out.
One of the golems swung its arm at me.
I was at max wariness, wondering what kind of attack would be coming, but I lost a lot of my tension seeing the speed of the attack.
It's slow. No, it's way too slow.
What the hell? Is this like a bald hero's punch from a certain manga that came out a while back? This is exactly what people mean when they say time stops. With how slow things are, I feel like time has stopped, and I can do anything.
What's with these sluggish, unmotivated movements? Am I being underestimated?
"What dull golems."
I couldn't stop myself from voicing my displeasure, and with a light jump I got on top of the golem. Then, with about 10% of my power, I stomped on it.
When it died, the golem was crushed flat like it was made of paper and completely lost its previous form.
… S-So brittle. Way too brittle. A cardboard box is harder than that.
I pulled out my leg, which was buried in the ground up to the knee, and glanced at the owner.
… I don't really care, but isn't this ground too soft?
"Owner. There is no need to hold back. Can you not make these things move even a little more realistically?"
"… Huh? Wha-, huh…? N-No way… the g-golem was squished in an instant? W-What just happened…?"
"… Could it be, you didn't see what happened?"
I thought that the golem was slow and brittle. But from the way the owner reacted, it appears that I'm wrong.
Ahh, I see. I am wrong.
It's not that the golems were too slow or too brittle. It's just that once I start concentrating for battle, I'm too strong and too fast. Our perceptions of time were far too different.
"We see… in other words, that was their all?"
Those golems were level 5. And level 5's were newbie adventurers… or in this world, just strong enough to live on their own.
On the other hand, I'm level 1000. And I'm especially confident in my speed.
In the end, their fastest just looked slow to me, and the difference in perception of time was enough that it was actually hard to try to get hit on purpose. It was the same in the game, where, if the difference in speed was too much, even just standing there like a log will cause attacks to miss.
The fight between me and the golem was just like that. "This won't do at all."
I lightly kicked the second golem apart. It felt like I was kicking tofu. They fell apart so easily it was actually hard to tell if I defeated them or not.
Ahh, this is… this isn't a fight anymore. It's just a match of attrition I'm guaranteed to win. This is just a farce that gives me no sense of accomplishment, like accidentally walking over a bug.
But still, this is a test, so I have to do it.
I had no idea what, if anything, could be measured by me doing this work that just involved wastefully breaking things, but I still kicked apart the remaining three golems.
I only moved leisurely and listlessly, like kicking a stone on the side of the road, but even then the golems didn't even manage to look like they were trying to dodge and broke disappointingly, without any form of resistance.
Before, I was thinking of this as "my first battle in this body," but let me correct that now. I still haven't "fought" in this body at all.
"T-Too quick… too strong… Y-You, just what…" The owner, in shock, shot me a look filled with fear.
Oh no, looks like I made a mistake. It's not good that I garnered this much attention to myself right now… oh well, it's already done. Let's take this as a lesson and be more careful next time.
"Wait a second, Big Sis, that was too much! Unlike one thousand years ago, power levels are a lot lower, so you'll just scare people if you don't hold back more!" Naruko ran over and whispered her complaints into my ear.
Actually, this is the first I'm hearing of levels being a lot lower than one thousand years ago.
Wouldn't that be something you tell me earlier, usually?
"Ahh, sorry about that, Naruko. It really does seem that We have lost some of our instincts in these one thousand years. We made a mistake on how much to hold back."
"Geez, be more careful next time."
I should have used only around 10% of my power, but apparently even that was too much. I guess I should settle it with a flick to the forehead next time for opponents like that. Ah, but I can't move my arms right now, so that won't work.
… I guess I just have to move as slow as I can and kick as lightly as possible.
Still, it's weird.
It's not like I see people moving that slowly normally. But it becomes like that the moment I start thinking of things as a battle. In other words, I'm smoothly transitioning between normal operation and battle mode, but is that really something I can do myself? Could it be… I'm being helped by Haruka's instincts?
"So, how is it, owner? I think her abilities are more than enough."
"Ah, yeah… you're right. You'll be able to take on any job without a problem. Jobs are posted up in the bar so just take what you like."
Now that we'd gotten permission from the owner, Naruko and I went back inside. And we took a look at the jobs that were posted on the wall, but none of them really stood out to me. To put it bluntly, I didn't feel like doing too many of these jobs. I wanted one where I could make a lot of money in a single go.
I wanted to hurry up and get to Svel.
The best one would be an escort request from here to Svel or something similar. That way we could get to Svel while actually earning money.
I could just fly there by myself, but if I did that I'd leave Naruko behind. But with a carriage, even she could be easily carted around.
… Or that's what I thought.
"There's nothing good."
"Nothing."
There were escort jobs on carriages, but they all went to Laevateinn. Far from going to Svel, it was in the opposite direction.
Unfortunately, there weren't any jobs like what I was hoping for.
"Ah, Big Sis. What about this one?"
"Hm?" Naruko was holding a piece of paper, so I looked at it.
[ Request: Finding a cat ]
[Difficulty]: *
[Reward]: 1200 el
[My beloved cat Tora has disappeared. Please find him!]
"It's 1200 el just for finding a cat! It's a steal!"
"Ahh, yeah, it certainly is a good deal…" 1200 el for being decent at finding cat… it was true that that was a good deal.
El was the name of the currency in this world, and, translated to Japanese yen, a single el would be 200 yen. In other words, completing this would net us 240,000 yen.
They must either really love that cat or be nobles with the money to spare. Either way, I'm jealous of how much they have to spend.
In addition, although I said that one el was the equivalent of 200 yen, that was just in-game fluff. In actuality, it was very much the opposite.
This was completely natural, as comparing game money to real money would obviously result in real money winning. Between an item a player paid 10,000 el for and one that cost 500 yen, the latter would always be clearly stronger.
The world is a tough place.
"Let's not. We are not good at searching for things. That is the realm of beastmen."
"Then how about this one?"
[ Request: Orc Slaying ]
[Difficulty]: ***
[Reward]: 1500 el
[An orc nest was built near our village, and they're causing problems, doing as they please. Please help us.]
"Oh? This one is pretty nice. Strange that no one has taken it yet." My voice filled with excitement, seeing the request that Naruko had brought me.
Even if it wasn't a job, I'd want to hunt orcs. After all, these orcs have a high 3% chance of dropping the HP boosting item "orc meat".
Orcs-better known as pork bowls.
In the game, to players, they existed only to be eaten. They were literally pork.
Especially for those of us with maxed out levels, they were a safe and easy way of getting HP-up items, and we'd hunt orcs basically every day. It was just daily routine to destroy whole nests. There would even be people camped out by orc spawn points just waiting patiently for more to respawn.
Because of that, in the game, orcs became a rare monster that was almost never seen in the wild. Any orcs that managed to take even a step out of their respawn points could already be considered heroes to their race.
Of course, there'd be no way they'd ever be able to attack a human village. They weren't even allowed to group up; they'd be slaughtered and eaten as soon as they spawned.
Orcs were a monster that was so worth killing it was actually kind of sad. For orcs to be gathered into a whole herd and attack humans… This request is actually almost moving.
"Well, that's because there's no merit to it."
"What? Orc hunting by itself should be a merit, no?"
"Well, that would be the case for you, but in this age, that's not true. After all, even a single orc is as strong as an average veteran warrior, so having to exterminate a whole nest would be difficult and require an entire knight brigade. And even then, there'd probably be a lot of casualties. And after taking on all that, you only get 1500 el? No one would take it."
"Times really do change, huh? Back then, rather than complaining about 1500 el, there'd be floods of people that would pay 15,000 to even be able to take the job." I sighed in disappointment, exasperated at the difference to the game.
To me, hunting orcs was nothing but merit. Rather than taking money for it, I was even thinking I'd pay to be able to do it. And since I'd be getting paid on top of getting to hunt, it was as if I not only got the right to eat as much amazing steak as I wanted but was told, "If you eat steak, I'll give you 30,000 yen."
The deal was so good I could only assume that something was up.
"So this means… is it all right to completely destroy this orc nest?"
"Of course."
"Right. Let us take this one. There is no way We can let this opportunity go. We can earn both money and food before going on our journey."
"Hm, so it's back to the ice ages for orcs, huh? I probably shouldn't be saying this since I brought you the posting myself, but I feel sorry for the orcs."
I can get paid, get a lot of meat, and even raise my HP. If I let this go, I'm a failure of a max level player.
Without a second thought, I took the paper to the owner and told him I'd be taking the job before leaving the inn.
Hilda village.
It was a small village half a day away from the Trade City Ydalir by foot, and there was nothing special about it. In Naruko's words, "it's a simple village where people live modestly."
After leaving a patch of woods that actually wasn't all that large, there was a small, calm village that had none of the flash of a city. I see. There were several small, wooden houses lined up with fields in front of them.
Yep, I don't hate this atmosphere.
"The house that's indicated in the job form is… Ah, that large one over there." Naruko pointed at a conspicuously large house while looking at the piece of paper in her hand.
Even though I say big, it's not actually that large compared to anything in a city. It's just big for this village.
It was most likely the house of the village chief, and when we got to the house, Naruko knocked lightly on the door.
"Excuse me! We saw your request and accepted it! Is the village chief there?"
Naruko said to leave all the negotiations and planning with the client to her, so, for now, I was just luggage. She said that my manner of speaking really stands out, no matter what.
Yeah, I knew that, too, but for some reason, there was nothing I could do about it. It was as if this was how I'd been talking for many years. That was how naturally it came out.
"Ohh! I've been waiting so long! Here, here, come on in." The one who came to the door was a kind-looking, white-haired old man.
Seeing me, he looked doubtful for a moment, but even so, he must have had his back to the wall, since he didn't say anything about it and invited us in.
The inside was obviously in disrepair in some places, and I could see some traces of hasty repairs and reinforcement. The floor creaked loudly; it was like the state of the floor was a direct representation of how the village was doing as a whole.
"Please, take a seat."
I was shown a seat, so I sat down on a really unreliable wooden chair. I was worried that it would break at any moment, but it was holding up for now, somehow. If I were a beastmen or something it'd be over, though. Definitely.
"Now then, let's get into it quickly. The request is to exterminate a nest of orcs near the village. That's correct?"
"Yes. Even if you don't kill them all, I'll still pay you if you manage to drive them off. At any rate, if things stay like this we'll just get eaten by them and… The young women will be taken, the men will be killed, and even the children'll be killed, half for fun… Almost all of our crops have been stolen. We're at our limit here. Please, punish those damn pigs for us!"
"Of course!"
While listening to Naruko and the village chief talk, I was actually impressed by just how refreshingly awful orcs were.
Orcs were, just like the setting in the game, and everywhere else, a race that did awful things almost instinctively, it seemed. I wanted to tell them all that that was exactly why they weren't included in the seven main races of humanity and were instead treated as monsters. Even vampires were treated as, basically, people, but when it came to those pigs…
Anyway, since my opponent's not nice at all, it's actually going to be much easier to do this, personally. I'm thankful. At the very least, crushing all the orcs won't hurt my conscience any.
"Leave it to us. We'll crush those orcs, nest and all. You'll see! At least, this person will!" Naruko pointed to me with a smug face.
She was saying brave things, but in the end, she's just leaving it all to someone else. Well, actually, fighting is my job, though, so I'll just shut up and nod.
The village chief was making a face like he wanted to ask if I could actually do it, but there should be no complaints as long as I complete the job.
"P-please. Please save our village," the village chief said before bowing deeply.
After being begged like that, there's no way we could refuse. We didn't have any intention to do so in the first place, but now, I'm even more motivated.
After Naruko and I promised to crush the orcs, we left.
"Now what? Should we just go in swinging?"
"That's a fine idea, too, but first, we must prepare. We cannot be sure that orcs will not attack this place while we are gone."
Most likely, crushing the nest won't be a problem. In the end, the difference in our stats is just too much. No matter how much I let my guard down as I fight, there's most likely no way for me to lose.
Still, if the orcs come this way while we're busy getting to the nest, it's still our loss if the village chief gets killed in the meantime. If the employer dies, there's no way for us to get paid.
"So, We are going to make a guardian."
"A guardian?"
"Yes, a simple golem. It won't be very strong, but it should be more than enough to stop orcs," I explained to Naruko before using a random rock I found to create a stone golem with my Alchemist skills.
A golem's strength depended on the creator's class level, the formula being: [character's overall level/2 + class level] with any fractions being ignored.
For example, if a character's overall level was 20 and their class level was 5, then the golem's level would be [20/2 + 5], which comes out as level 15. And if their class level was 20, then the golem's level would be 30 and stronger than the creator.
In other words, low level players could make golems up to 15 times their level. It could be said that golems were an Alchemist's main strength during the early game.
However, even though class levels were limited to 100, overall level could get to 1000. Meaning that the higher leveled you got, the less useful golems became.
In short, if I were to make a golem, it would be, at best, level 600, given the formula: [1000/2 + 100]. On top of that, the materials are also a factor that sets the golem's maximum attainable level. With good materials, I can achieve a level 600 golem, but unfortunately, with just a random rock, I'd be lucky to see level 100… Honestly, it's not something that'd be useful to me.
But still, as a guardian for this village, it'll probably be fine.
"No no, it's more than fine. A level 100 golem is worth I don't know how many millions of el right now, you know?!"
"That price, for something We just made out of a random rock…"
For now, I set it as a guardian. Before leaving, I gave it a simple order, that being to render any orcs that come near the village immobile without question.
We went straight for the orc nest. The aim? Orc meat that raises HP.
We walked to where the orc nest was indicated on the map, trampling wild grass flat beneath our feet.
I understood where they were immediately. It was indicated on the map, but more than anything, they weren't hiding at all.
There were two orcs boldly talking in front of a cave. They seemed to be guards of a sort, but honestly, their wariness level was a straight 0. They were acting boldly, as if they didn't expect to be harmed in any way. Not even a little.
"There they are. Agh, they're so ugly every time I see them… I bet even the Goddess Lunaru regrets these failures."
"You have quite the poisonous tongue, don't you? Apparently, she's a goddess that loves everything equally, according to the clergy, anyway."
"That's just a lie. They're pushing their delusions onto her. There's no doubt, even the Goddess has her favorites."
While listening to Naruko criticizing orcs, I thought about how I was going to kill them all.
1: Go straight in and kick them to death.
Honestly, there's no need to be afraid of them at all. Even if I went straight in without trying to hide, I could probably win easily. But I don't know how many orcs I might let escape if I do things like this.
2: Use my skills as an Alchemist to crush the nest itself.
I think this is the safest route. I can't use any attack magic, but with Alchemist skills, large-scale attacks aren't impossible. But doing it like this destroys the nest, so I don't know how many pieces of orc meat'll get buried in the rubble, never to be found.
3: Use my skills to their limits to assassinate everyone before they even get a chance to scream.
Doing things this way, I won't have to worry about anyone running away, and there's no chance of not being able to get all the orc meat that drops. I'm not sure how this would look, a Black Empress going this far against just orcs, but the meat comes first.
I don't know how many of them are in there, but given the drop rates, if there're at least fifty I should get at least one or two pieces. And if there're about one hundred, I should be able to get three. Orc meat raises HP between 100-300 per piece at random, so at the very least, I'll get 300 HP with three pieces.
… Kinda eh? Not at all. Repeating this several times definitely stacks up.
"Now then, let's get this over with quickly."
"Go for it, Big Sis!"
I started creating some items using my Alchemist skills. The material was the dirt itself, and the end product was shurikens.
For now, I went with a light fifty shurikens, and I used the Esper skill "Psycho Throw" to make them float.
To be honest, I was far better at close combat, and out of my maxed out classes, four of them were specialized for close combat. No, Striders are pretty heavy on close combat, too, so I guess five?
On the other hand, since I couldn't use attack magic, I ended up being not that great at long-distance fights. I didn't even take the Archer class, and I've only gone halfway through the Esper class, with it being level 50.
But still, comboed with the Alchemist class, I could hold my own, somewhat.
The Alchemist's item creation skill, just like it said, was able to make items out of materials that were either on hand or just happened to be around. The range of creatable items was wide, from healing items to equipment, and, depending on how materials are used or combined, you could make an almost infinite number of different kinds of equipment.
This time, I just created normal shurikens, but my class level was 100, so if I wanted to, I couldn't make a legendary weapon, but I could make something close in ability.
And Espers were just what it implied, a psychic powers class. Espers could bind people or move things around without having to get near them. "Psycho Throw" was the biggest example of that, and it allowed me to launch my items at enemies.
I believe there was a nationally famous RPG in the past with skills like "Throw Item" or "Throw Zenny" just think of it as something like that.
This skill worked really well comboed with the Alchemist class, and it allowed you to kind of feel like a last boss yourself when you started shooting countless weapons at your enemies with your arms crossed.
All fifty shurikens flew at the orcs on watch, and they pierced through their heads, chopped through their necks, ran their hearts through, and cut off their arms and legs. They were filled with shurikens in an instant, and the orcs, which now looked like hedgehogs, didn't even twitch.
I walked out of the bushes and extracted the shurikens with my psychokinesis before starting to take the orcs apart.
… Huh? Could it be this isn't a 3% drop chance, but instead something I could just get if I butchered them?
"Ahh… That's no good, Big Sis. You ruined the fillet. The orc's fillet—or the softest part inside it—is the part that increases your vitality, but if you damage it even a little while it's alive, it loses its effect."
"Hm? Really?"
"Of course. Although, orcs already fight a lot, so a lot of times their fillets are already damaged. It's said that the chances of the fillet still being undamaged, as well as leaving it that way when fighting, is about 3%.… Did you forget about all that while you were sealed?" After hearing Naruko's explanation, I was impressed.
I see, that's why it's 3%. So, the drop rates in the game that I didn't really pay any attention to had this sort of reasoning behind them. That's pretty interesting. And now that I know this, that means that if I do well in defeating it I can raise the chances of getting them depending on my skill.
"That's very useful. We shall be more careful from now on."
I did something wasteful just now. Turning them into hedgehogs like this, there was no way there'd be any part of them left to salvage. Of course, the fillet wasn't an exception. Unfortunately, while it seemed these orcs could still be food, they wouldn't be raising my HP.
"Also, orcs are very hardy, so I don't recommend hitting their bodies in the first place. Aim for their neck or head, Big Sis."
"Understood. You're quite knowledgeable, Naruko."
A single orc came out of the cave, saying, "It's time to change watch," so I used a single fuma shuriken to quickly lop off its head.
Naruko clapped lightly in response, saying, "Well done."
I once again butchered the new orc, and this time, I found a nice and pretty undamaged fillet.
"Look, Naruko. This time, We got one."
"As expected! Good job!"
If it was just "me", I definitely wouldn't have been able to look at an R-18 butchering scene directly or even kill another living thing. It's probably not right to just be thankful for my situation when it's convenient like this, but right now, I'm glad I have Haruka's senses.
Now then, there's still a mountain of orcs around. For the job, let's make sure none of them get away.
"Wha-? Who the hell're-… Guaahh!"
"I-Intru-… Grraaaggh!"
"Someone sent from that vi-… Gyaagghh!"
"Heh, good job making it this far! I am the strongest of the orcs' Four Heavenly Kings… Nnwhaaaggh!"
"W-wait! Please, spare m-… Hhgyaaahhhh!"
I suppose it should've been called a massacre. Corpses of orcs trailed behind me everywhere I walked, and orcs that were about to be corpses were arrayed in front of me.
Thinking this would be a good chance to do it, I was going to try out a bunch of skills, but doing it here wouldn't tell me anything. I mean, no matter what skill I used, they all died instantly anyway. Like this, I wouldn't be able to tell just how powerful each skill was.
"Naruko, how is it over there?"
"This one is… no good. It's a miss."
After extracting each orc's fillet and checking it to see if it was good, I was taking any usable fillets and keeping them in my bag. Anything else was being unexpectedly cleaned up by Naruko.
Apparently, she could use teleportation magic, and she was moving all the orcs to the tower, since we couldn't very well carry them.
Naruko said, "Once this is over, I'll go back to the tower for a bit and make them into examp-… I mean, dried meat."
So apparently, that's how it is. Man, I'm so lucky to have an actual, useful little sister.
Anyway, there was a little too much of it, even if it was made into dried meat, so apparently, most of it would be sold in markets after being processed. I'd leave all of that to her.
"This is the deepest part, isn't it?" I kicked open the door and went in.
The orc near the entrance got up, surprised, but I just stabbed him through the head with a kunai I created before moving on, stabbing through the different-colored orc that was panicking and trying to run away further in.
The only ones that dropped orc meat were regular orcs. So that meant I didn't have to care about the different-colored one, the orc lord. Countless kunais stabbed through him, and he died without even being able to scream.
"So, that's all of them, right?"
"Most likely."
After hearing Naruko's reply, I breathed a small sigh of relief. That meant the job was finished…
I killed quite a lot, but as always, I'm not bothered at all. It's as if this is just an extension of my daily life; that's how calm I am. Even if I manage to go back—if I can go back, that is—I don't know how I'll be if I stay like this. Not thinking anything of killing, that's way too scary a thing in modern Japan.
"Uhhh, the girls who were taken… Oh, there they are." Naruko looked around and found a cage.
No, is that really a cage?
It was true that they were in something made so they couldn't run away. That was for certain. But there was furniture, they were properly wearing clothes, and there were even gems and flowers and stuff in the cage.
The women were all sleeping with faces clinched tight in fear, but at the very least, it didn't seem like anything had happened to them yet. Actually, it looked like they were being properly cared for.
And that was to be expected. In truth, orcs weren't violent towards women (and only women); they were a very kind creature in that respect.
People thought that as soon as they kidnapped a woman off the streets, they'd immediately do them, but it was actually different in this world. Orcs would kidnap women. That much was certain and for a very compelling reason—to reproduce. Somehow, they always made males, no matter what they did. It was a sad flaw of their genes, so they had no other recourse but to mate with women of other races.
And for that, they only went for human women. Since, out of all the races of humanity, human women were the only ones they could mate with.
Elves? Orcs wouldn't even give them the time of day.
But it didn't just end with orcs taking women and mating. They were, at their roots, barbaric beings that only knew violence since birth, so they couldn't even raise children properly. That was why they needed the women they took to raise their children properly, and if they forcefully raped or even displeased the women, of course they wouldn't bother with raising children.
For orcs, that was a huge problem.
That was why they always tried to make sure women were happy, no matter what. The women lived better than they did themselves; they were given a lot of food, and they even got offered a veritable mountain of gems and flowers and the like. It's a lot of work, trying to keep women happy.
On top of that, they wouldn't even touch the women if they didn't have consent, and they'd stake their lives on protecting them, too. Their motives were impure, but the pigs here were relatively gentlemanly.
Still, to the people who were taken, that didn't matter one bit. Even if those pig-faces treated them well, all they'd do was live in fear.
It's sad, but in the end, they just weren't compatible with humans.
"Okay, the women are fine. Let us go back to the village."
"I can erase their memories, too. Should I do that?"
"Is that necessary?"
"I do feel that it's better for them not to remember getting kidnapped by pigs."
"Hm. How far can you go with it?"
"If I feel like it, I can implant them with fake memories and personalities."
"… You just casually said something really scary there. Well, there's no reason to go that far. It doesn't seem like anything was done to them, either."
For now, it should be fine to leave the women as they were. It was most likely a scary experience for them, but in the end, they were fine. Still, we checked that nothing was done to them, just in case.
I left checking the women to Naruko, while I started to explore the room. There should be some scant fortune or food to be had, which the orcs stole from the village. I should find as much as I can and return it to the village.
Well, I do feel kind of sorry for the orcs, but I really shouldn't let this one go. I mean, robbery is robbery. I do feel sorry for them, but that doesn't excuse anything.
After leaving the orc nest and making sure Naruko and all the others were out as well, I unleashed one of my Alchemist skills at the nest itself. The cave was blameless in all this, but leaving it alone wasn't a good idea. Other orcs might come, lured by the smell of orcs here, and if that happened, the first thing they'd do is go after the village again.
So that that didn't happen, I had to destroy the cave as cleanly as possible.
"Create: Hrungnir's Right Arm," I declared, and at the same time, a huge arm of rock manifested above the cave.
In size, it was a huge right arm that looked to be larger than 50m in length. Among all the Alchemist's attack skills, this one was the most reliable in terms of physical attack power and range.
It mercilessly struck at the orcs' nest and crushed it flat. It made a huge boom and shook the earth, and even just the aftershocks of the action caused winds to blow.
Even if there were orcs that managed to escape my notice and hide, they should be dead now.
"Nice work, Big Sis. All the girls that were being held in the orc nest are safe."
"Yes, good job."
Naruko, who returned via teleportation magic, stood behind me as I thanked her for her work.
No, really, I can't be thankful enough for her.
I left all the work of dealing with the orcs, preserving their meat, selling them, and even checking up on the women to her. Even though it was a game and there was nothing to be done about it, I wondered just how the "Haruka" before I became her managed to treat Naruko as background. She's so capable it's actually surprising.
"Ahh, right. I tried grilling one of these; would you like to try it? You've moved around a lot, so I think you might be hungry."
"That is…"
Naruko revealed a plate from somewhere and showed it to me. On the plate was a steak that seemed almost grilled to perfection, and the smell alone stirred my appetite.
"It's a steak I made using orc meat. It'll be delicious with rice."
"Indeed, We shall have it." I agreed with no hesitation and sat down on a nearby stump.
Now that I think about it, I still haven't eaten anything ever since I was summoned here. So much has happened, so I almost forgot that it hasn't even been one day since I came to this world.
I snapped and formed a wooden table before having Naruko place the plate in front of me.
"Oh yes, does it keep its effect even if you cook it?"
"That's fine, yes. You must only avoid damaging it while the orc is still alive. It seems that the orc's fillet, or the softest and best part of its flesh, works to gather its vitality, but if it's damaged while the orc is alive, it loses its effect and releases all the stored vitality into the rest of the orc. But, if the orc is dead, all the vitality stays inside the fillet."
"What kind of mystery being are they…?"
While Naruko was talking, I created a wooden fork and knife before cutting into the steak. It was surprising how soft the meat was when I touched it with the knife. It only raised my expectations before I even got to eat it.
Then, after a bite—Saying that the meat melts in your mouth is an old and clichéd expression, but now, I see; it's so soft that's the only way to describe it.
The meat's umami was overwhelming, and I was rendered unable to speak. The salty-sweet sauce on the steak was absolutely irresistible as well. It wonderfully brought out the tastiness of the meat.
Unable to take it anymore, I scooped up the rice with a spoon and put it in my mouth, and it was actually fun how well the rice paired with the meat.
The strong flavor of the meat mixed in with the rice changed the flavor, and they both heightened the other to new levels.
"Is this sauce homemade?"
"Yes. Did it not suit your tastes?"
"No, well done."
I don't think I'll ever get tired of this meat. I prefer beef steaks, but really, you can't just dismiss pork steaks either. Orcs look pretty awful, but if their meat is this good I feel like I can forgive that.
"Naruko, you're not eating?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Hmm…"
Is she being considerate, since I'm here? Or maybe she just really hates orcs? Well, if she says it's fine then I suppose I don't really need to force it out of her. Everybody has one or two things they hate.
I finished up the orc steak, and then checked my stats.
[ Black Empress Haruka Heartfilia ]
[Level]: 1000
[Race]: Flugel
[HP]: 335000 → 335300
[SP]: 44300
[STR (Strength)]: 9200
[DEX (Dexterity)]: 8750
[VIT (Vitality)]: 10300
[INT (Intelligence)]: 8300
[AGI (Agility)]: 10778
[MND (Mind)]: 9550
[LUK (Luck)]: 9280
Great, my HP actually went up.
This time, I managed to get another four fillets by completing the job, so at the very least, my HP would go up by another 400.
My HP was already higher than most players, but I still felt like it could go higher.
Actually, since there's no one else competing for orcs here, I can hunt them as much as I like, so if I'm lucky, I think I might be able to break 1 million HP.
… No, I guess that much is impossible. No matter how good it is, I don't think I'd be able to stand eating that much orc meat. Also, if I actually went that far, even orcs would go extinct, probably. In fact, I'm impressed they haven't done that already in these one thousand years.
"Thank you for the meal. It truly was good, Naruko."
"I'm happy you enjoyed it."
After I finished the meal, Naruko cleaned up the table and utensils before teleporting away. Then, after a few seconds, she came back without any of the luggage. She probably just left it somewhere in the Heart tower.
… I wish I had teleportation magic. I can't use magic at all, so I just get really jealous of that stuff.
"Now, let's go back, Big Sis."
"Let's." Ushered on by Naruko, I started moving.
But going back in silence was just sad. I decided to ask Naruko about that memory manipulation technique she talked about as a conversation starter.
"By the way, about that memory manipulation talk from earlier: will it ever come undone once you apply it?"
"My memory manipulation magic won't stop working as long as nothing too unusual happens. However, once they're formed, memories are really resilient… It's not unusual for memories to come back thanks to some small thing that happens."
"We see. Then, even if you were to erase those women's memories, they might still remember that they were kidnapped by orcs if their memory was jogged by something?" I muttered, after hearing Naruko's explanation.
It seemed that even if it was called memory manipulation, it wasn't perfect. Most likely, it didn't truly erase memories but instead sealed them deep down. That was why, if something caused them to regain their memories, the person could quickly go back to how they were before.
"What a convenient, but hard to use, magic."
"Exactly." Naruko laughed, looking troubled.
Memory manipulation, huh? … Sounds like it'd be good for use in caring for people after traumatic experiences or for removing evidence. There might be a time when I'll have to rely on that, eventually.
While continuing our conversation, we carried the unconscious women back to the village. Well, I say carried, but since I couldn't move my arms at the moment, I was just floating them along with my Esper powers.
"Ohh, you're back! And with the girls, too! So, they were all right!"
When we got back to the village, I spotted the chief running towards us happily. I placed the women down in front of him and took a step back.
As always, I left all the conversation to Naruko.
"Yes. Apparently, the orcs haven't laid a hand on them yet."
"Ohh, that's great to hear. There's nothing that makes me happier than hearing that our girls are safe."
Naruko told him about the condition of the girls before handing them over. During the few days while they were kidnapped, they just ended up being endlessly wooed by the orcs. But their faces were twisted in fear, and it didn't seem like any of the orcs managed to capture their hearts.
In the end, this game is all about faces, you orcs. You all've been given an insurmountable handicap from the moment you were born. No matter how gentlemanly you are or how gallantly you act, you'll never win against some hot guy that's just standing there.
The world is filled with unfairness like that.
"Well then, here is your 1500 el and our thanks."
"Yes, this looks right."
"Also… uhm, what is that golem that's been standing there like it's protecting the village? It somehow looks incredibly powerful, even to these amateurish eyes…"
"That's just my master's kindness. Don't worry about it, and let it protect your village."
While listening to them talk, I started thinking.
With this, we've managed to secure funds and food for a while. I felt like the things I needed to think about myself have increased as well, but that was only natural on someone's first day.
For now, let's just rest for today and set out tomorrow. Today was really long.
Extra: The Blackbird of the Death
If children don't stay good, the Blackbird of Death will come to get you!
She will come visit all the bad children and carry them off somewhere.
It brings along her twelve monsters and will chase you to the ends of the earth.
So, boy, listen well to your papa and your mama, and be a good child.
That was a common tale used to scare children. A simple but loving tale with no twists used to tell children to stay good or else something scary will turn up for all the bad ones.
Such stories existed everywhere on earth, and every region had a similar story, each with its own name and face.
Scotland had its Bogeyman.
Portugal had the Sack Man.
Germany had the Schwarzer Mann.
And Japan had the Namahage.
They were terribly effective at scaring children into doing what they were told.
Children, with no frame of reference or life experience, were incredibly pure and quick to believe. Children started to learn with what their parents told them. That was why, for children with no knowledge of the difference between the realistic and the unrealistic, whatever their parents said became the truth. That was why they believed, feared, and obeyed.
Here, in Midgar, there was no exception, and basically, all areas of the world had the "Blackbird of Death" fulfill that role. That was all it was.
However, the only difference was that the Blackbird of Death really existed.
A little ways away from the Trade City of Ydalir lay a small village. Its name was Bryn village. It was named after a legend that said that in the past, there was a valkyrie by the name of Brynhild who was said to be the agent of the Goddess who descended upon this place, but the truth of the legend was unknown.
Inside that village, a single boy was running energetically. That boy, who laughed uproariously as he ran, held a Bryn fruit, which was being grown in the village.
Said fruit, which was the village's specialty, was said to have been brought by the valkyrie Brynhild, whom the Goddess sent with the fruit after taking pity on the people who were dying of drought. It was sweet, full of nutrients, and grew regardless of the season, even in slightly barren land.
Of course, there was a limit, and it wouldn't grow in a complete wasteland, but the fruit was still easier to grow than most, and it was one of the most popular fruits in Midgar. Wrapped in a pink skin, the fruit stored a lot of moisture, and it was a much more reliable source of hydration than standing water, which could be filled with disease or parasites.
The boy, who'd stolen one of these fruits, ran with an expression like he wasn't feeling guilty at all. Adults ran after him while yelling, but the agile boy quickly escaped from their pursuit.
"D-Dammit! That damn Romeo! Spry brat!"
"Damn that little prankster! He even laid his hands on my goods!"
The villagers shouted hatefully, watching the retreating back of a child.
The fact that children are so energetic is a sign of peace, so energetic children are a village's treasure. However, that doesn't excuse pranks, not to mention stealing fruits that are the village's lifeline.
Luckily, he didn't steal enough to cause the village to starve, but it wasn't as if Romeo understood that; it was just that since he was a child he didn't eat that much.
Bryn fruit was extremely important given the size of the village. It lined the tables of every family at every meal, and the money earned by selling it to merchants from Ydalir went straight into the living expenses of the village.
So the fact that Romeo hadn't been exiled from the village up until now was a testament to the character of the village's people. But even that had a limit.
"Macao, he's your son, right?! You need to discipline that brat!"
"Sorry… I keep lecturing him at home, but the boy just doesn't listen. I even told him the story of the Blackbird of Death to scare him…"
"That only works on the really young ones. At his age, there's no point to it."
The man called Macao bowed his head over and over to try to appease everyone. He might've been the one who'd taken the most damage from Romeo's pranks.
"Geez. We're lowering your family's share, got it?"
"Wh-What? Nooo…!"
"Of course it's happening, idiot! It's your responsibility to pay back everything that brat steals!"
All the men there jeered at Macao before leaving while still venting their frustrations.
The boy, Romeo, was a famous prankster in the village.
He'd already cried wolf about monsters coming more than once or twice, and he'd stolen things, like this time's fruit, before as well. He'd thrown bugs into people's houses or flipped girls's skirts who were the same age as him.
These things were a daily occurrence.
Either he just liked seeing people distressed, or he got some kind of twisted pleasure from causing people trouble… The reason was unknown, but at any rate, the pranks that always went slightly over the line continued daily. Some fairy tale meant to scare children had no effect, and the boy Romeo grew arrogant, saying, "Nothing like that exists."
In truth, no matter how many bad things he'd done up until now, no black bird demon had ever showed up. That was why he'd realized long ago that it was just a lie told by his parents. However, he was still just a child.
He didn't really understand what it meant to cause people trouble. It was just fun to see people panic, so he kept doing it. He never even considered just how much damage his actions were causing and how hard he was making things for his parents.
Even for the fruit, the only thought he had was: There's so many of them, it's fine if I take one, right?
Of course there would be no guilt born from that. In fact, he arbitrarily decided that any adults that didn't let him have it were stingy butts. He didn't yet understand the concept of selling it for profit or the concept of saving money. He only figured that the adults were hoarding all the fruit for themselves to eat.
That was why he never regretted his pranks up until now. He never thought they were bad. And he never expected to regret them, either.
As long as those peaceful days continued, at least.
"Wah?!"
The boy Romeo, who was biting into the fruit as he ran, collided with an adult's leg near the entrance to the village. It happened because he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He never expected to run into something where he did.
The boy looked upwards, while his mind was screaming: Crap! I'll get caught by the adults and get yelled at. I'm done for.
He thought that the only thing left to do was see who'd caught him and hope for leniency, depending on who it was. If it was the kind and soft-spoken Uncle Reedus, then it would be better than nothing. If it was the angry Uncle Wakaba, then he'd get a fist to the head.
Even though he felt no guilt for committing mischief, Romeo was scared of punishment.
With those selfish thoughts in his head, the boy looked up and found not someone from the village but an unfamiliar adult.
It was a man who looked generally drab, with filthy spots here and there.
He had an unkempt beard and wore armor. But that armor wasn't pretty. In the first place, the colors were all over the place. It was a slapdash set that looked like it'd been cobbled together randomly from parts that looked good out of soldiers that belonged to many different countries. For example, his helmet was green, but his pauldrons were red, and his chestplate was blue.
And more than anything, he stank.
Baths and showers and the like weren't common in this world, and it was normal to go several days without washing oneself. However, this man's stench was different. It was like he stank of iron and oil. And that combined with the unwashed stink of a middle-aged man, it became an awful bouquet.
And along with the man in front, there were four others for a total of five unknown, stinky men blocking the boy's way.
"Ho? What an energetic little boy. Is he from this village?"
The deep voice caused the boy to tremble.
Are they travelers? Or soldiers from the capital? No, no way.
The boy was ignorant, but even then, he could somehow tell they weren't travelers or proper soldiers. It was his child's intuition, or something like that. At any rate, the boy instinctively understood that these men were bad for the village.
"You see, all of us are travelers. How about it? Why don't you show us the way to your village?"
"N-No! Don't wanna!"
Romeo turned right around and ran back where he came from.
It wasn't as if the boy realized what those men were. If it were an adult instead of Romeo, they'd be able to tell instantly that they were bandits, but the boy didn't have that knowledge. He didn't even understand that the armor they were wearing was probably scavenged from dead bodies after a battle.
Even so he was sensitive to danger because he was a child. He could at least understand that the men gave off an abnormal air. That was why the boy ran. He ran to find adults from the village.
"E-Everyone! Trouble! There's trouble!"
"Oh? If it isn't Romeo! How dare you steal that fruit! You sure have some guts to come back yourself! I won't forgive you this time; you're getting ten spankings! Prepare yourself!"
"N-Now's not the time for that, Uncle! Some weird people came to the village! They're not normal!"
Even though the boy tried to explain, it was unintelligible, and there was no way for an adult to get anything from it. The only thing Wakaba could get was that someone had come to the village, but… In the end, Romeo was the one telling him, and Romeo had multiple previous offenses. He'd already lied before that travelers had come or that monsters had come. At any rate, the villagers had all been tricked more than once.
That was why Wakaba didn't believe him. He figured that the reason Romeo couldn't explain well was because he couldn't come up with a good lie.
That's what Wakaba thought.
"You won't get out of punishment by lying like that. I got spanked by Grandma in the old days, too, when I caused mischief. Children learn what's right by experiencing pain like this. Now go sit there, Romeo. Be prepared to not be able to sit down for the rest of the day."
Uncle Wakaba blew into his hand to warm it up as he approached Romeo. But before he got there, he stopped, and his eyes opened wide.
Behind Romeo, only a scant 10-odd meters away, were some men approaching who clearly looked like bandits.
Romeo was telling the truth. Something terrible for the village had happened.
Uncle Wakaba picked up a nearby shovel and hoe before grabbing Romeo and throwing the boy behind him.
"Run, Romeo! Go tell everyone what happened!"
"U-Uncle!"
"Hurry up and go! You're in the way!"
Romeo normally thought Uncle Wakaba was scary, but right now, he wasn't.
That was because way scarier men than Uncle Wakaba had come.
Romeo stood up almost like he bounced off the ground and started running again.
Uncle Wakaba should be fine! He's strong, and he can pick up such heavy things!
Unfortunately, Romeo had never seen anything stronger than Uncle Wakaba before. That was why he didn't even understand that Uncle Wakaba, who was just a villager, stood no chance against bandits. He didn't understand that Wakaba sacrificed himself to let him escape.
He would later regret his optimistic and naive thinking, that he simply thought Wakaba would be OK.
"M-Mom! It's terrible!"
Romeo opened the door and flew into the wooden house.
The house was really spacious for a villager's home in this world, and inside there were five small tables arranged around the room, as well as a counter at the opposite end of the door. The second floor was an inn for travelers, but they basically had no customers.
Romeo's mistake was going straight for his home and relying on his mother. Thinking normally, a person should first find some of the men of the village who could actually fight. The best thing that would happen after letting his mother know would be that she would let others know. It would just double the required effort. It was also a clear time loss, given that there was now another step before alerting the men.
However, at the same time, Romeo also made the correct choice in relying on his mother.
"Come now, Romeo. Be quiet. There are travelers present right now."
"Ah, hello. Sorry for intruding."
Romeo's house was the only inn available for travelers in the village.
Normally, there were no customers, but in a rare turn of luck there were two travelers sitting at the counter right now.
One was a beautiful young woman with long, carnelian red hair. And the other was a strange person who covered her whole body in a golden cloak.
Normally, Romeo would be all over the travelers out of curiosity, but right now, he didn't have time for that.
"I-It's terrible, Mom! Some weird guys came to the village!"
"Huh? Are we weird people?"
"… Well, We cannot deny it."
The two travelers responded to Romeo, but he quickly denied what they said. "It's not you guys!"
No, it's true these travelers are strange (especially the person in the golden mantle), but now's not the time for that!
"No, it's those old guys in the dirty armor! Uncle Wakaba told me to go tell everyone…!"
"How many times have I told you to stop it with those lies, Romeo? If you don't shape up already I really will get mad at you."
"It's true, Mom! Believe me!"
Even though Romeo argued as hard as he could, his mother didn't take him seriously at all. It was the result of him lying so much up until now. It all bounced back at him.
It's probably just a lie. He's probably just pranking us, she thought, convinced, and wouldn't give him the time of day at all.
Romeo got what he deserved. All of it was just karma. However, even though Romeo knew that, he had to keep saying it.
"Yes yes, keep going later, okay? I'm busy right now."
"Now wait a second, Miss Enno." Seeing the mother not give Romeo the time of day, the mysterious person in the golden mantle spoke up. "We do not understand your circumstances, but you should not ignore your child so when he is so desperate. Also, if it is true, then this is an emergency. We will accompany you."
"Huh? But, Miss, that's…"
"Not to worry. Even if he is tricking us, we will not be angry. It will simply be a tale to tell over drinks, that we were tricked by a child's prank."
The person in golden mantle slowly got up, and the red haired girl followed suit. Then, the traveler looked down at Romeo and quietly asked:
"So, child. Where are those strange men?"
"Th-This way!"
This was also a mistake on Romeo's part. Just what was he going to try, bringing only two women along with him? Doing what Romeo did would just uselessly increase the number of victims. It could only be called a foolish act.
They're adults, so they'll do something about this!
A thought all children had in their heads, a simple, foolish thought that only existed during childhood.
Prodded into action, he led the two women before a pack of hungry wolves.
By the time Romeo came back, Uncle Wakaba was already at death's door.
On the other hand, the suspicious men sported no wounds whatsoever and were laughing derisively as they kicked and stomped on Uncle Wakaba, playing with him.
"Oh? If it isn't that kid from earlier. So, you came back."
"Nice, hey, look at that! He brought help."
"What help? A pretty girl and her shy friend? What did you think would happen, bringing them here, huh boy?"
"Heheheh, we can just kill the brat later but the redhead… maybe a strip show?"
"Naw, that's too harsh. Let's kindly strip her ourselves."
The men got excited over the appearance of new toys, and they left Uncle Wakaba alone to approach the red haired girl and her mysterious companion
"Th-This is bad, Big Sis! If this keeps up they will kill that boy and I'll become like an ero doujin! You can't let that happen to your cute little sister!" The red haired girl cried out as she hid behind the person in golden mantle.
Romeo started trembling, but the person in golden mantle remained composed for some reason. And somehow, to the boy, the red haired girl also looked composed. Actually, to him it looked like she was joking around.
A seed of doubt may have been implanted in the bandits; they might have wondered just what was going on. However, it was already too late. They were already close to their prey. It took too long to realize they'd waltzed right into a predator's jaws.
"Sit."
Just one word. The person in golden mantle simply uttered one word.
And that settled everything.
The same time she spoke, the surroundings were all inundated with an invisible pressure, as if a giant arm were pushing everyone down into the ground.
It wasn't as if the person in golden mantle even attacked. She didn't use magic, either, nor did she manipulate any wind. It was just a sense of intimidation. A difference in their existences. An absolute wall that they could never surpass.
She just made it really easy to understand, slamming the difference into her opponent's survival instincts. That they mustn't defy her, they mustn't oppose her, they must bow down instead of stand up.
Their instincts, realizing this, ignored her opponent's will and directly moved their bodies, causing them to take a pose of submission. Their brains continually output fear on their own, and they all froze without even being able to understand why.
Before the boy even noticed, the men turned into a simple group of sacrifices who could only tremble and shake.
"Well, it was fine to shut them up, but what do We do with them?"
"Leave that to me, please. I'll just mess with their memories real quick and have them go home."
The red haired girl jogged over to the trembling men and peered into each of their eyes, one by one.
Romeo was keeping an eye on the situation even while lying on the ground, and eventually, the red haired girl must have finished her work, because the invisible pressure that had been holding them down this entire time disappeared.
Feeling the mysterious sensation of his body finally becoming lighter, he looked up at the person in golden mantle. At her feet, there were a couple of black feathers that had fallen onto the ground even though there were no birds nearby.
Moved by curiosity, the boy pulled aside the mantle to take a look.
This was the height of a child's indiscretion. If Romeo were an adult, he'd immediately consider what would happen if he angered someone who could do all that and would stop whatever he was going to do.
As a result, he saw something even more frightening that he should never have laid eyes on.
A pair of black wings hidden underneath the mantle.
"Hihh?!!" He reflexively screamed, before losing power in his legs and falling to the ground.
He thought it was just a fairy tale this whole time. He believed that the Blackbird of Death was just a made-up story. But that was wrong; she existed. Right here, right now.
"Ah, hey… What a mischievous child. We'd appreciate it if you didn't go around telling people what you just saw."
"Ah, y-yeah, sure."
As Romeo sat there trembling, the men all slowly got up. Even though the boy was scared and surprised, he could tell that the men were acting strange.
Their eyes seemed blank, they were drooling, and it was as if they weren't seeing what was right in front of them. Eventually, the men, with their eyes that would not focus, started barking.
"… Bow!!"
"Wan wan!"
"Bark!!"
As if they even forgot that they were human, they moved around on all fours and ran off together while barking. Their tongues lolled out of their mouths, and the sight of the men running like dogs while spreading drool everywhere was incredibly funny as well as scary.
The person in golden mantle, who saw the men off, asked the red haired girl exasperatedly:
"Hey, Naruko, what did you do?"
"I overlaid their memories with those of a dog. Right now, they think they're dogs."
"But like that, would they not notice? Since their forms are so different."
"It's fine. When that happens they'll just assume on their own that they're dogs that became human for some reason."
"That's just nasty."
Romeo saw what happened and thought: They've been taken away. They surely got their hearts as humans stolen away by the fearful demon or something. That's why they became like that. No doubt.
"Well, the whelp here saw our wings, so We cannot stay for long. Let's go, Naruko."
"E-Even though I thought we'd finally be able to sleep on a bed instead of in a carriage… You're too careless, Big Sis!"
"Sorry, sorry. We will transmute something for us to sleep on, so forgive us… Ah, that's no good. We don't have any resources."
The two started talking about something as they started walking away, but suddenly the red haired girl turned her eyes to Uncle Wakaba, and she spread something like particles of light onto him. When she did, the man's wounds healed in an instant, and after that, the two of them actually left the village.
After a while, Romeo's mother came running, but everything was already over. All the woman saw was Uncle Wakaba lying down on the side of the road and her own child, still shocked.
Well, Uncle Wakaba was there so he probably wouldn't be treated like a liar.
"… Mom."
"Romeo! What's wrong? What happened?!"
"The men, they were taken away."
"What?"
"What you said was true, Mom. Those old guys were bad, so the Blackbird of Death took them away… I'm going to be good from now on. I won't play pranks anymore."
Unable to understand what her son just said and not knowing what just happened, Enno could only tilt her head in confusion. She didn't know just how much danger the village had been in. As well as how that danger was avoided.
However, the black feather her son was absentmindedly gripping for dear life left a deep impression.
The children ran through the village. Their faces were plastered with smiles, and they held Bryn fruits that were pilfered from the adults.
In this world, where pastries and confectioneries could only be enjoyed regularly by some nobles and the extremely wealthy, the main form of sweets that children liked were fruits. And Bryn village had an especially large amount of fruit, and it would be the first thing children would say they liked.
Of course, the fruit was the village's lifeline, and stealing it was definitely not a good thing.
However, children wanted what they wanted. And they wanted to eat what they wanted to eat. Being so true to their desires was definitely a defining quality of children.
However, a larger child blocked those children's way, and they were quickly captured.
"Hey! You can't do that! You shouldn't be stealing the Bryn fruits that the uncles all worked so hard to raise!"
"B-but, big bro Romeo, we're hungry…"
"Then you need to properly ask them to give it to you. Stealing is bad."
The one who stopped them was Romeo, who was only up until recently an even bigger problem child than they were.
It was unclear just what happened, but one day he basically changed into a completely different person overnight. He became much more honest and serious and profusely apologized for all the mischief he'd caused up until then. In fact, he even started acting like a big brother, scolding the other children whenever they did something wrong. And though his parents were extremely happy that their son grew up, they still held some doubts at the sudden change.
"Listen up! You all need to be good. If you aren't, the Blackbird of Death will come and take you away somewhere."
Every time Romeo scolded the other children, he'd always show them a single black feather.
The feather he picked up that day was a precious proof to warn him and make sure that he never forgot what happened. It was solid proof that it wasn't a dream or an illusion. So, with one hand, the grown boy stopped the other children who tried to commit the same mistakes he once did.
And he spoke a fearsome tale that was definitely no lie or exaggeration.
If you don't stay a good child, the Blackbird of Death will come get you.
She will come for any bad children, and whisk them off somewhere.
She will brings along her twelve monsters, and will chase bad children to the ends of the earth.
So, boys, listen to your papa and mama, and be good.