Chapter 1: Makoto Takatsuki Returns to Macallan
The largest capital on the western continent—Symphonia—shrank into the distance. Yet, even as far away as it was, the huge castle stood visibly over it all.
“Highland Castle’s actually enormous,” I mused, watching it on the horizon.
“It is an eyesore.” I heard from my side. That was Furiae’s voice. Guess she hated the castle...or maybe it was the country itself. Honestly, if I had to guess, I would say she hated both.
I watched her long hair trailing in the rushing wind. She must’ve realized I was staring because she turned to face me.
“So, my knight—what is this ‘Macallan’ like?”
“Hm, I don’t know what to tell you,” I answered. “It’s just a standard peaceful village out in the countryside...”
I was wondering how to accurately describe it when my thoughts were interrupted by nervous yells from Lucy and Sasa.
“Makoto! Look!”
“Up there, Takatsuki!”
A huge shadow passed over our heads. Was that...a wing?
What? A wyvern?
Just then, someone leaped down to the deck with a thud. The man had shining blond hair, gleaming golden armor, and a sharp look glimmered in his blue eyes.
“Oi, Hero of Roses! What do you think you’re running off for?!”
This could be none other than the Hero of Lightning, Gerald. A grand wyvern was also circling above us.
“Well, my job’s done, so I’m going home,” I explained.
His forehead creased. “So you’re quitting while you’re ahead... I guess we can have our rematch during Great Keith’s tournament then. I’ll win next time!”
Bleh, a rematch? I’d rather not. I’ve gotta get out of it somehow.
After some time spent thinking rather than answering, I spoke. “How about this: we decide who wins based on whoever defeats the most demon lords during the Northern Front Plan.”
“You want to...what?” That was some glare he had. Still, he thought it over for a moment, and his expression soon turned to one of acceptance.
“Fine, then.” After his curt answer, he leaped back to his wyvern.
Phew, Gerald went for it.
“Are you sure you should’ve said that?” Lucy asked.
“Can you even defeat one on your own?” Sasa added worriedly.
“It’s fine...as long as I get out of a rematch.” Gerald’s desire to fight constantly had been enough of a pain already. Besides, I’d rather train with Undyne some more.
Although I hadn’t managed to summon her once since the battle... Maybe I should speak with Noah about it.
“Mister Takatsuki, are you close with the Hero of Lightning now’h?” Nina asked.
“He did chase us down proactively,” commented Chris.
Both of them were looking after Gerald, who’d left as quickly as he’d arrived.
“It seems that he came to see our esteemed Tackie off,” Fujiyan said absentmindedly. He must’ve figured that out using Mind Reading.
I balked. “Really?” So, yeah...I guess Gerald’s a tsundere. Who needs a guy acting like that?
For a while after that, the journey continued peacefully.
“So this is the view from an airship...” Furiae said breathily. Her eyes roamed across the scenery tirelessly as the land passed beneath us.
I walked up to her side. “Is this your first time flying on one?”
“I was born and raised in the ruins of Laphroaig... The first time I left my country was when Highland dragged me away.”
I saw a sorrowful look on the profile of her face. She probably wanted to go back. Laphroaig wasn’t safe in any respect though, so we couldn’t just drop her off.
As I was pondering that, she asked me a question in return. “So, my knight, the place where you were born... What was it like?”
“Me?” Should I describe Tokyo? It would be pretty difficult to explain all of that to someone from this world.
Eventually, I just started. “There were buildings three times taller than Highland castle all over the place. People drove around in massive hunks of metal. There were also carriages that held hundreds of people. Adults used those every day to commute to work, all dead-eyed.”
“That’s quite different from what Ryousuke described,” she commented with an adorable tilt of her head.
“What’d Sakurai say?”
“That there were no monsters, the world was peaceful, and people weren’t killed for their race.”
“Did he?” I asked after a pause.
“Is that wrong? He did call it peaceful.”
Even if there hadn’t been open war, there’d still been conflict in my old world...and even if the segregation here manifested differently, there’d been plenty of racial discrimination on Earth. Also, there was no magic, and you couldn’t go on adventures. Looking back, it honestly seemed pretty boring to me.
“You missed something, Takatsuki!” Sasa interrupted. “Tokyo’s got lots of shops for sweet stuff!”
This world didn’t have enough sweet things for her. Sugar was a luxury good, so there was nothing we could do.
“So are you from that world as well, warrior?” Furiae asked.
“Yup! Nice to meet you, Princess!” Sasa replied with a grin.
“You don’t need to call me that. My guardian knight is the only one I’ve ordered to do so.”
“So that’s how it works?” Sasa seemed puzzled.
This was the first I’d heard of it too. It must be some custom.
“What shall I call you, then? Just Furiae?”
“Everyone!” Fujiyan exclaimed, cutting in without warning. “Wait a moment, if you would. Using Lady Furiae’s name in Macallan will be dangerous. The Priestess of the Moon’s name is famous, so I believe it would be best for her to adopt a nom de guerre.”
That did make sense.
“My name is known so widely?” Furiae wondered with a frown.
“If people hear your name and see what you look like, they’ll almost all connect the dots’h.”
Furiae was beautiful. If she passed ten people on the street, all ten would turn to look. And since her name was known widely across the continent... Yup, she’d be revealed right off.
“Do you have a good one to use?” I asked her.
“Well, that was out of nowhere...” She frowned again, but we were all set to brainstorm a new name. After thinking for a little while, she decided. “I’ll go with Fuuri.” It was only a slight change from her original name, and it made for an easy alias.
“Right, Fuu it is, then,” Sasa declared, immediately disregarding the princess’s chosen name. Was there any point to the alias if Sasa was just going to ignore it like that?
“What’s going on?” Lucy asked as she skipped over. “What’re you all talking about?”
“Lucy, Princess Furiae is Princess Fuuri from now on,” I told her.
“Uh? Why?”
“Also,” I continued, “she’s some noble from another country that I’m protecting.” If I was supposed to be referring to her as “princess,” then that story would work.
We explained the rest of the reasoning after that.
“Hm, got it. Nice to meet you then, Fuuri!”
“Indeed, mage.”
The princess really didn’t call people by name, did she? She even called me “my knight.” Maybe she was putting walls between us.
Welp, I’ll just need to work my way through them, bit by bit.
I glanced out at the scenery. Rolling green spread out in every direction as far as the eye could see. It was a vast, fertile land, so I could understand why Highland was so prosperous. The environment here really was different from the forests and lakes of Roses.
Still...I preferred Roses. I was glad to be heading back.
“There has been a complication...” Fujiyan informed us over dinner. There was a magic communication device in his hand. Chris was standing at his side with a sour look on her face.
“What’s up, Fujiyan?”
“We’ve been anticipating an upcoming conference that will choose who inherits the mantle of Lord Macallan. However, we just found out that this conference is to be held imminently.”
“That came out of nowhere,” I commented. The current lord had three children, all of them women. Christina was the second eldest.
“I believe my siblings conspired to make it happen this way,” Chris said with an annoyed twist to her lips. “They must have thought that my husband being away for so long was a good opportunity.”
“We need to get back there quick’h,” Nina urged, tugging on Chris’s sleeve.
“My esteemed Tackie—I must apologize, but we will be returning to Macallan with all possible haste. We must prepare to take part in this conference. As you are the Hero of Roses, I may wish to ask for your assist—”
“Don’t be so reserved about it, Fujiyan. Just ask and I’ll help.”
“Mister Takatsuki’h...”
“Hero...”
My promise might’ve earned a grateful look from both of the women, but what else could I tell him? I owed Fujiyan. He was on my side, even if I was following a wicked deity, so I had to pay that loyalty back as best I could. Though...I had no idea what was involved in an inheritance dispute for nobility. I just hoped I’d be able to help.
The faster speed meant that we got back to Macallan in about half the time that it had taken us on the journey out.
“This is where we part ways, then,” Fujiyan said as they strode off the airship.
I turned to the other three girls. “We should go say hi at the guild,” I suggested.
“Right! I’ve missed Mary and Emily,” Lucy replied.
“I want some of those skewers,” Sasa said.
Furiae simply replied, “I will accompany you.”
No objections, then. We were back home!
With that, we set off to see our friends again.
◇ Furiae’s Perspective ◇
It’s a beautiful town...
That cliché was my first impression of Macallan once we arrived. The streets were well-maintained and had canals running along them. Brick-built houses lined the roads. There were humans, elves, and all kinds of beastmen going about their business, all giving friendly greetings.
The children running around were all smiling too.
It’s not fair... This is nothing like Laphroaig.
Laphroaig was nothing but a ruined husk of a country. It was lawless, and women and children couldn’t travel alone. The safest place was the underground, and that was where the weak eked out what life they could. For as long as I could remember, I’d lived in that filthy underground. The people that had taken care of me were Naya’s believers. They’d barely scraped by, earning only enough to stay alive.
I didn’t even know my own parents.
There hadn’t been anything enjoyable in my life—I’d just existed.
Compared to that, Macallan was dazzling.
If I’d been born and raised in a place like this...
My path started to weave, and someone suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Watch it,” warned my knight, pulling me to the side.
“Wha?” Apparently, I’d been about to fall into the water.
My knight just looked at me, his eyes asking what I was playing at.
“Thank you...my knight.”
“Be more careful, Princess,” he said, immediately letting go. He carried on ahead and I stared at his back.
He didn’t even hesitate to touch me...
In Laphroaig, I’d been called the cursed priestess and no one had ever dared to get close to me. People had said it was due to awe...but it’d more likely been due to fear. The Highland lot had been the same—they’d been scared of my curses, so no one had ever approached. That’s why I’d used my Charm on them.
But my knight was different.
My Charm had no effect on him.
He didn’t care about the curses I held.
And he wouldn’t hesitate to touch me.
“Makoto! It’s been too long since we were last here!” the mage cheered.
“Let’s go to the hot springs!” the warrior added.
Both of them clung to his sides.
“What?! We’re in public!” His face reddened as he tried to escape their grasp. My Charm might not affect him, but his female friends certainly did...
He was my knight, but he didn’t turn back as he continued onward.
Wait, actually, he stopped.
“Come on, Princess,” he said, turning just his head to face me. “We’re almost at the guild.”
I pushed Charm magic into my eyes, but he didn’t seem to notice as he met my gaze. It was like he just didn’t care.
This is a new feeling... It’s kind of refreshing...
They entered a big building in the middle of town, and the two girls called out to me from inside.
“Come on, Fuu!”
“Hurry up, Fuuri.”
I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before...
Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside.
◇ Makoto Takatsuki’s Perspective ◇
“Makoto?!”
The moment I entered, a blonde beauty grabbed hold of me.
Whoof... Her chest...is pressing into me.
“I’m back, Mary.”
“Welcome home!” she cheered, tightening the hug.
It was pleasant, but the looks I was getting from everyone else were less so. I could hear them clicking their tongues at me. I guess Mary was as popular as ever...
“Who is the woman embracing my knight?” I heard Furiae ask.
“She works for the guild,” Sasa answered. “Her name’s Mary.”
“Lucy! You’re back!”
“Emily! It’s been ages!”
I could hear my other friends meeting up behind us as well.
“Yo, Makoto! I take my eyes off you for a second and you end up a hero?!” This exclamation was accompanied by a slap to my back.
I turned to look and saw one of Macallan’s veterans. “Lucas, it’s been a while.”
“I suppose you are an otherworlder.” He chuckled with an almost regretful look. I’d never seen that expression on his face before.
“I never thought you’d become a hero!” Another hand slapped my back, this time on the other side. “Congrats, you bastard!”
As I looked that way, I saw an adventurer from my generation who was closer to my age. “Jean, good to see you again.” I spied a silver badge shining on his chest. “You made silver rank?”
“Thought I’d finally caught up to you...” he replied with a rueful grin.
“My adventurer rank is still silver,” I told him.
“It’s not the same, Makoto,” Mary explained with a serious look. “Heroes are representatives of the country’s warriors. Adventurers and knights both serve the country and count under that structure.”
“They...are?” Putting it like that made my hero status feel like a heavy burden.
“Come on, Makoto! Tell me about everything,” Mary wheedled as she guided us over to a big table.
“What about your job?” I asked her.
“It’s all good. Welcoming a hero counts as work for the guild,” she said with a grin and a wink. Was she using me as an excuse for some afternoon drinking?
Well, whatever. I hadn’t been here for a while, so there was a lot to talk about.
A hearty “cheers!” sounded from around the whole area. Somehow, pretty much everyone in the building had gathered together. There was a selection of Macallan’s finest on the table. I transferred some to my plate as I listened to the conversations going on.
“Makoto became a hero, then...”
“Man, we should have gotten closer to him.”
“You were the one that said he was unreliable.”
“I mean, he’s an apprentice mage.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Guys...you know I can hear you, right?
My Listen skill picked it all up. After all, I was curious about the rumors.
“Hey, who’s the favorite now that Makoto’s a hero?” I heard Emily ask Lucy and Sasa.
“Me, obviously,” replied Lucy. “Aya’s in second.”
“Nope, it’s me! You got to know him after me!” argued Sasa.
The two of them were staring—or more like glaring—at each other.
“I kissed him first, and I joined his party first as well,” Lucy pointed out.
Sasa exhaled a put-upon sigh. “I’ve been his only friend since junior high.”
“That was in your last life! In this world, I’m first!”
“That doesn’t matter. I met him first.”
The two started to growl out rebuttals at each other.
That was a rather ominous conversation... Yup, not going over there anytime soon.
“Hey, Makoto, you must have eaten all sorts of delicious food in the capital, right? Are you sure you still want horned rabbit skewers?”
“Chef, this is definitely what I want to eat.” I gave a mental cheer at the sight of them before biting into the piping hot, juicy meat.
Junk food... It’s been too long. This is where it’s at.
“What is this?” Furiae asked, pointing curiously at the meat.
“Horned rabbit cooked on a skewer. Give it a try.”
“I-I’ve never eaten rabbit before...” Cautiously, she reached a hand out, grabbed one, and then bit into the meat on the skewer. “Oh, that’s delicious.”
“Right?”
She liked them too.
“Heyyy, Makoto, who’s the beauty?” Mary asked.
“Oh, she’s—” I started to speak, but the aforementioned beauty interrupted.
“It is nice to meet you. My name’s Fuuri and I come from Cameron. Circumstances have led me to ask Hero Makoto to protect me. I am related to nobility, but please pardon me for not giving my family name.” She said all of this with an elegant smile. Turns out, she was a master actress...
“O-Of course. I’m Mary Gold, and I work for the adventurer’s guild here...” Mary seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the role Furiae put on.
By claiming that she was nobility from Cameron—a country far from Roses—but not offering her family name, Furiae would make people assume things. Perhaps they would think that there was an inheritance dispute, or maybe that her noble title was somehow illegitimate.
It should make them wonder. In truth, though, her whole spiel was an utter lie.
“Hm, nobility from Cameron...” It was a good thing that Mary was so easy to convince when she was drunk. She didn’t suspect a thing.
“Hey, Makoto,” Lucas greeted. “Are you going to drink too?” He downed his spirits, ordering the next as he spoke to me. “Normally, a hero would live in the capital.”
“Macallan is a calm place,” I answered. Is he drinking too much? He’s definitely downing more than usual.
Chef laughed at Lucas, then turned to me. “He’s just jealous that you became a hero.”
“Shaddap!” snapped Lucas. “I never could!”
Jean and I stared at each other in shock at the pair’s exchange.
“Lucas here was trying to become a hero,” Chef explained to us. “He even managed to climb all the way to the highest rank of adventurers—mythril.”
“That’s in the past now,” Lucas said after a pause. “Now I’m just a washed-up retiree back down at gold.”
I never knew that.
“Lucas isn’t the only one. All the adventurers of our generation wanted to be heroes,” Chef commented wistfully.
I felt kind of bad that I’d managed it with essentially no experience.
“Well, hold your head high! You saved our capital,” Lucas said, clapping me on the shoulder. “Not just anyone could have done that.”
“It just...happened to go well. Speaking of Roses though, how’s Macallan been recently?” I asked.
“Lately, there have been more monsters coming out of the Forest of Fiends,” Jean told me with a serious expression. “There’ve been requests pretty much daily to clean up the stragglers.”
“The Forest of Fiends...” That was the name of a dungeon within the Great Forest that covered most of Springrogue.
The recommended rank for taking it on was the same as Labyrinthos—iron.
“A group of silver ranks went to investigate, but they haven’t come back,” Lucas told me.
I peered at him in shock. “That’s really bad, isn’t it...?” Silver rank adventurers going missing was no laughing matter.
“Springrogue controls the Forest of Fiends. Guilds from Roses can’t interfere too much or things will get more complicated,” Chef explained. “We’re on the border, so it puts us in a bind.”
Since I’d been away from home, things had gotten much more dangerous. Eir’s prophecy echoed quietly in my head.
No way, something like this couldn’t bring the whole country down...or, at least, it shouldn’t...
“Are the monsters behaving differently because the Great Demon Lord is on the rise...?” I asked.
“Hmm... Well, a demon lord’s grave lies in the heart of the Forest of Fiends, so it might be connected,” mused Chef.
So the resting place of one of the demon lords was somewhere inside the Forest of Fiends. A thousand years ago, Abel the Savior had defeated one of the nine demon lords there—Bifrons, the Undead King. His remains were apparently sealed within.
“That was supposed to be where the legendary archer Johnnie and the Grandsage sealed the Undead King’s body, right? Because it would never decay?” I asked.
“I looked once,” Lucas said, “but I couldn’t find the place.”
“You went into the Forest of Fiends?”
“In the past, yes,” he replied. “That was before the monsters started to get more active. The trees block so much light that it’s pitch-black even at noon. On top of that, it’s just as disorienting as the Wayward Woods. And on top of that, the monsters aren’t consistently dangerous. You’ll see weak ghosts floating around and then stumble across a calamity level zombie dragon.”
Yeah, that sounds like a nasty place.
“Honestly, I found it worse than the lower layer of Labyrinthos,” Lucas admitted.
“Right,” Jean said, turning to me. “By the way, Makoto, how far down in The Great Maze did you go?”
“Nearly died in the middle layer,” I told them. They all gave simultaneous sighs.
The Forest of Fiends was too much for us.
“So...why’d you go there?” I asked Lucas.
“You don’t know? The legend says that one of Abel the Savior’s treasures is in there. Well, the legend also says that it’s unusable because of the Undead King’s curse...so I guess it’s useless. It’d still sell for a fortune, though.”
“Oh, I see...”
A cursed legendary weapon. Our Furiae could probably get rid of the dark magic. I glanced toward the curse pro.
“This food is delicious,” she commented.
“You eat well, little miss,” Chef said as she packed away more skewers.
“I like them,” she answered, licking the sauce from her fingers. Her manners were slightly poor, but the sight of Furiae’s scarlet tongue lapping across her porcelain fingers was rather bewitching. Well, it was hot, anyway.
I heard several gulps around us, and she seemed to have noticed that all the men were staring at her.
“Ungh!” exclaimed one adventurer.
“What a lovely person.”
“Wh-Who is that?”
“She said her name’s Fuuri.”
“Go talk to her.”
“She’s with Makoto.”
“Damn it, aren’t Lucy and Aya enough for him...?”
They all seemed taken in by her eroticism.
The women, though, looked far less happy.
She’s just too charming, even without her skill... I’d need to warn her later.
“Makoto, let’s drink together!” Lucy cheered.
“I’ll pour you a glass!” declared Sasa.
They must have escaped from Emily’s barrage of questions.
“Um, this...is kinda cramped.”
They had squeezed in around me and now I was sandwiched between the two of them. Lucy’s warm skin on one side was contrasted by the chill from Sasa’s on the other... I couldn’t relax.
“Oh, a flower on each arm? Let me join in,” Mary crooned. She reached around to hug me from behind.
Forget it, I’m just going to drink.
And that’s exactly what I did until late into the night.
Dawn broke the next day.
It’s been a while, I thought as I opened my eyes to the shared area of the guild. It was still slightly scruffy. In this room, a bunch of (male) adventurers were all sleeping in a clump, snoring. I folded up my blanket and put it in the corner.
Sasa, Furiae, and Lucy had all shared a room. Furiae wasn’t an adventurer, so she wouldn’t sleep in here.
Hmmm, I wonder if they got along.
I rubbed my eyes, still sleepy, before heading to the well behind the building to wash my face. Then, I used some water magic to clean the rest of my body and my clothes. Once I was done, I took my dagger in both hands and prayed to Noah.
The morning sun gleamed off the water.
I knew that the others would meet up with me at the guild later, so I decided to check the request board while I waited.
“H-Help me! I want to hire the goblin extermination expert of Macallan!”
The early hour meant that the reception area was pretty much deserted, so the yell echoed around the room.
Goblin extermination expert?
Before I knew it, everyone was staring at me. Macallan’s Goblin Cleaner... That’d been my...awful...nickname. I’d almost forgotten...
Regardless, I spoke to the man that had rushed in. “Um... I can hear you out?”
“Oh! You’re the expert?! My daughter! My daughter...”
Eventually, he managed to get the whole story out. The man and his daughter were merchants in the neighboring town. Last night, goblins had attacked her. These goblins apparently had a leader, a goblin king. His daughter had a barrier item, and while it was active, the goblins couldn’t reach her, but it would only last for about half a day. It had about an hour’s worth of power left, and then...
“Ahhh...my daughter will be eaten!” the man wailed.
“You came from the next town? Why didn’t you make the request there?” Mary had arrived partway through the story, and she tried to calm the man.
Phew, guild staff would know how to deal with him. Although, with how much she’d drunk yesterday, I was surprised to see her sober now.
“Well...there were no adventurers that could do so... The guild staff said that Macallan had an expert in goblin extermination, so asking here would be best...”
Mary sighed. “I see, so Makoto.” She nodded in understanding. “He’s a hero, though, so that puts the price at a million...”
“A million?!” the man and I yelled at the same time.
“Uh... So, I’d heard of this expert, but...they’re a hero?”
“Um, that’s only a recent thing...” I told him.
“F-Forgive my impertinence...” he begged, suddenly becoming much more deferent.
“No, don’t worry about it,” I said, waving away the apology. “We need to hurry if your daughter’s being attacked.”
“A hero, though... The price required...is too much for me to pay.” His eyes seemed about to overflow with tears.
He’d come all the way from another town... This was too much.
“Mary, is there anything you can do?”
“Well, nominating silver ranks or above has a fee according to their rank. It’s a system to ensure that requests aren’t solely given to skilled adventurers and that high-ranking adventurers can still get good equipment and lodging...”
“Maryyyy,” I whined.
“Fine, I’ll see what I can do.”
Great! We could let her deal with the adjustments.
“Can you tell me where she was attacked?” I asked the man.
“W-Well...it was a cave to the west of here...” He told me what he could, but the goblins had spooked him pretty badly, so he didn’t have much to go on.
Mary’s expression darkened. “With such vague information—”
I interrupted, though. I knew all of the caves nearby. “Did it have a low ceiling?” I asked. “Or were there two entrances? Or else a big tree nearby?”
“I think...there was one entrance, and it was rather low.”
“Got it.” I knew which one it was.
“M-Makoto, you can deduce the exact cave with such little information?” Mary asked.
“I memorized all the places that looked like they might contain goblins,” I explained.
Though, that cave had no goblins a few months ago... Had they come from the Forest of Fiends?
“I’m heading out,” I declared, marking my destination on a map for Mary. “Can you tell Lucy and Sasa where I am?”
“I will!”
With that, I rushed from the guild.
“My knight, where are you going?” Furiae called out as soon as I left.
I stopped and turned to her. “Princess? Where’re Lucy and Sasa?”
“Still sleeping,” she replied with a cute shrug.
“Right.” I could have gotten help if they were all together.
“Last night was fun. I’ve never spoken about love with girls my age before!” Furiae gushed excitedly.
I had to cut her off though. “Sorry, I’m in a rush.” I started to run in the direction of the cave. “Wait at the guild or go meet up with the others at the inn.”
“What could you possibly mean? You are my guardian knight, are you not? I should be coming with you.”
“What?” What did I mean? What did she mean, more like? “I’m heading into a goblin den—it’s dangerous! I’m helping someone that’s been attacked, so wait here where it’s safe.”
“That’s an adventure... It is, isn’t it?! I’m interested!” she exclaimed. For some reason, she seemed awfully happy. Fine, then, I’d just run off and leave her behind.
“My knight, can you not run quicker?” she asked, easily keeping up with my pace. She could run faster than me?!
Actually, I hadn’t been able to catch her in the graveyard, had I? There was no way I could shake her... I guess she was going to run with me the whole way.
“Fine! Whatever, come with me.”
She yelped as I grabbed her hand and leaped onto the water.
Water Magic: Walk on Water, Flow.
“Oh! That is an interesting spell,” she remarked.
“I’m speeding up! Make sure you don’t bite your tongue,” I warned, accelerating suddenly.
As we skated along the waterway, it widened, transitioning into a river that took us close to the Great Forest. The trees were dense here, and the canopy grew thick enough to shade the area in gloom.
We’d walk from here.
“Princess, can you use Stealth?” I asked.
“Easily. When I was on the run in Highland, I did stay free.”
It was a reassuring answer but not a particularly priestess-y one.
We progressed quickly into the trees, our voices dropping.
“They’re only goblins,” Furiae remarked. “Do we really need to sneak around like this?”
“I’m the careful type.”
She offered only a “hm” in response before changing the subject. “Oh, by the way, I was talking to the mage and warrior yesterday, and...”
I zoned out a bit. She must’ve enjoyed that conversation since she wouldn’t stop talking about it. She has no sense of gravitas...
After a moment, I tuned back in to her monologue.
“They were competing to see who was the better kisser... It was such a pain.”
Hold on, what?
I turned toward her and saw that she was striking a goofy pose. After finishing her pantomime, she seemed slightly chagrined. “Ooops, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”
What?! I really want to know now...
“Would you tell—” I managed to ask half of my question before she interrupted me.
“Eyes up, there’s the cave.”
Damn it, don’t cut me off! I thought.
As we drew closer to the cave, I maxed out Calm Mind. We hid in the shadow of a tree near the entrance and inspected the opening.
“There are four goblins standing guard out front,” I whispered.
“Shall we just take them down?” asked Furiae.
“It’s too dangerous to do that near a nest.”
“It is?”
Back when I’d been flying solo, I’d tried that tactic several times—taking them all out at once seemed more efficient, but the slightest slipup would have a whole horde attacking you. There was also a chance that stronger goblins lurked within the nest. Those issues combined meant that the safest option was sneaking around like an assassin.
“The situation might be different if you’ve got strong long-range magic like Lucy...or if you’re as overpowering as Sasa in close quarters.”
I had neither of those things, so I’d have to take each goblin out one by one. It had to be now, though... The girl was under attack, and her barrier wouldn’t last forever. We couldn’t take too long to finish them off.
Hmm, what to do? I’d rushed out here, but maybe I should have joined up with Lucy and Sasa first...?
Actually...
“Princess, you’re good with curses, right?”
“I am indeed... Why?”
I had a good idea.
“Does this count as adventuring?” Furiae asked after some time.
“It does, and I won’t accept anything less.”
There was currently a deep fog surrounding the area.
Moon Magic: Curse of Slumber.
“This is convenient,” I commented.
I was holding her hand, synchronizing with her. Using water magic, I whipped up a mist, and then I pushed some moon magic out into it—the fog became a vector for the curse.
And now, the guards were all fast asleep.
“They’re not going to wake up out of nowhere, right?” I asked.
“They’ll likely sleep for the rest of the day,” Furiae replied smoothly.
This...just might work.
“Then I’ll go look for the girl. You hide over there,” I instructed, pointing.
“Such a bore.”
She probably didn’t like my roundabout method, but I was only an apprentice mage. I’d lose every time in a head-on fight with a group of goblins.
I slowly stepped inside the cave, making sure my Stealth and Scout skills were active.
The mist had worked inside as well.
I trod forward carefully, making sure not to wake the sleeping goblins. About ten of them were passed out. Not as many as I thought, I mused as I went farther in.
There she is!
A cage was situated in the deepest area of the cave, and a girl was locked inside it. She was surrounded by a faint hemisphere of light.
They must have just brought her here, barrier and all.
I moved closer to check on her. Though her face was blotchy from tears, I couldn’t see any injuries. Swiftly, I sliced through the bars of the cage with my dagger and then stepped toward her. The girl didn’t wake up, even when I knocked against the barrier.
That’s annoying... Furiae’s curse got her as well.
With the barrier surrounding her, I couldn’t carry her out on my own. There also wasn’t any spell I could cast to break it. Really, I didn’t expect it to work...but when I used my dagger to try and cut the barrier, my blade slipped through the magic like a hot knife through butter.
Wow!
Noah’s dagger could cut through magical barriers too!
Of course it can. That shoddy spell is about as strong as paper. My dagger’s got a divine cutting edge, after all.
Pardon me, then. That’s a divine relic for you...no half measures.
I pulled the girl out of the split barrier before tapping her face as quietly as I could, trying to wake her up.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Wh-Wha?” she mumbled. “I passed out and... Wh-Who are you?”
“An adventurer. Your dad sent me to rescue you.”
I asked her for her name—luckily, she was the right girl.
Great, mission complete. I was so relieved I’d managed to find her while the barrier was still up. Girls...didn’t have much of a chance when they were attacked by goblins.
Yet, the girl’s next words sent a chill down my spine.
“U-Um...there are more monsters. The goblin king left and took a group of subordinates. They could come back any time.”
As soon as she finished that statement, Sense Danger started blaring in my mind. Scout started picking things up as well.
There was a mass of goblins outside the cave.
Damn it! I left Furiae outside!
She was unarmed and had no way of defending herself.
I should have brought her along!
I rushed out of the den, keeping hold of the rescued girl. I had to make it to Furiae!
When I breached the mouth of the cave, I was greeted by the goblin king and its subordinates. This was the first time I’d seen a goblin king from such proximity. It was several times taller than a normal goblin. It didn’t just have brawn, though, it had brains as well. As if to underscore that fact, it was wearing armor stolen from adventurers and holding weapons in each hand. Depending on the size of the group, forces led by a goblin king could be classed as calamities.
I saw the dangerous monsters encircling Furiae and—
“You filthy creatures. How dare you try to lay your hands on me!”
—her eyes glowed gold as several goblins dropped to the ground, prostrating themselves. The goblin king’s head rested beneath Furiae’s foot.
Huh? Uhhh...
There were so many monsters here... It’d be certain death to fight them directly.
“Princess...what’s going on?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“Can’t you see?”
“You used Charm on them?” I asked after a moment of stunned pause.
She hummed smugly. “I did.”
For real?! She’s incredible.
“Wow... Miss, please hold me...” Apparently, the captured girl had hearts in her eyes as well. Furiae was captivating them all, woman and monster alike...
“Makoto, are you okay?!”
“Takatsuki, there’s a swarm of gob— Wait, what?”
Lucy and Sasa had suddenly rushed in, only to stare wide-eyed at the sight of Furiae stepping on a goblin king.
“Meteo Rain!” Lucy yelled, and her fire blast destroyed the goblins and their nest in one blow.
Now that the tension had passed, the rescued girl seemed to have passed out, so I got Sasa to carry her. It kinda felt like only the girls had really done anything in our party.
On the way back, I spoke to Furiae.
“Hey, Princess? Could you teach me Charm?”
It was almost like a bonus skill that let her control those goblins... I wanted to learn it. And I had the ability now—the “gift” skill I’d gotten from Naya for becoming her guardian knight was Charm.
Furiae wasn’t entirely receptive, though. “My knight... Are you planning on using Charm to make girls fall for you?”
“I wouldn’t do that!” I protested, but I guess that was what people would assume I wanted...
“Makoto?”
“Takatsuki?”
The other two girls were both looking suspiciously at me.
Seriously, I wouldn’t do that!
“You want every tool you can to fight against monsters, right?” I asked. “Then teach me so I can be of service.”
“Hm.” Furiae pondered. “Well, okay.”
Great! Now I can get her to teach me some moon magic at the same time.
When we returned to the guild, the man thanked me like I was a god.
Since I’d technically been the one commissioned, Mary had dropped the massive price tag as I’d requested. Though, to be honest, I’d barely done anything.
A little while later, Furiae was teaching me how to use Charm. I’d only used Water Magic skills thus far, so I was enjoying learning another skill.
It was pretty difficult, though. My power was weak, and I was testing it out on Sasa and Lucy.
“Feel anything?” I asked.
“Not at all...”
No effect... Seems like it’ll take a lot of training before I can use it on people...
Elementals, elementals, I called out, trying Charm on them, but they didn’t react well. Undyne hadn’t appeared since Highland.
I could almost affect animals—I’d gathered a collection of local cats and dogs around me. It was cute...but was collecting pets useful for combat?
Was this just another miss?
During the time we spent in Macallan, Furiae gained a zest for adventuring, so we often went to hunt monsters with Sasa and Lucy. There were more monsters around as of late, so even the most basic quests were important jobs for us adventurers. We spent most afternoons doing fairly low-difficulty tasks, and in the evenings, we feasted with the other adventurers.
We passed several days like that, and though it wasn’t anything special, Furiae seemed to enjoy it. Fujiyan was busy getting ready for the succession conference, so I hadn’t seen him.
This morning when I woke up, I saw a lot of people milling around the guild’s entrance. Things are bustling, I thought.
“Look over there,” someone said.
“She’s gorgeous...”
“I’ve never seen her from so close-up...”
“The princess carved of ice...”
“Why is she here?”
Apparently, a bigwig was visiting the guild.
Hm, I can’t see through the crowds.
I bobbed over toward the mass of people.
“Hero!” I heard a familiar voice call out. “Are you here?”
That was definitely Sophia’s guardian knight geezer. Which meant...
“Hero Makoto.”
Princess Sophia stood in front of me wearing a refined smile.
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