Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Three Days to the Nearest Town 

T he next morning, as the three of us were leaving the village, I spotted Rowin standing at his post by the gate. 

“Good morning. Are you on guard duty again?” 

“Yes. I’ll be out here until the hunting party returns.” 

The other men of the village still hadn’t shown up since yesterday. Had Rowin been out here all night, like some NPC guard from an RPG? That always seemed like a pretty simple job…just standing in the same place all day, never moving an inch. Still, was he seriously going to be handling this all alone until the others got back? 

Oh, I guess there’s Elder Rokkus. In a village this small, he probably has to pitch in too. 

“Are you leaving already?” Rowin asked. 

“Yes. We managed to talk things through last night.” 

“Ah. I was hoping to ask you more about my daughter, but…” 

“Ordinarily I’d love to talk, but I’m afraid we need to get on the road soon.” 

“Right…” 

The man was clearly disappointed. The feeling was mutual. I would’ve loved to hear some embarrassing stories from Roxy’s childhood. 

“If I see her again, I’ll make sure to tell her to get in touch with you.” 

“Please do,” Rowin said, bowing his head in gratitude. I’d have to make a mental note about this. “Oh, that reminds me! Wait just a minute.” 

He ran into the village and into one of the houses—presumably Roxy’s childhood home. After several minutes, he emerged with a girl who bore a striking resemblance to my master. At first I wasn’t sure why he hadn’t just used telepathy to call her outside, but then I noticed that he was also carrying some sort of sword. Were they giving us a present? 

“This is my wife.” 

“Nice to meet you. My name is Rokari.” 

Ah. So this was the mom of the family then? “I’m Rudeus Greyrat, ma’am. I have to say, I didn’t expect Roxy’s mother to be so young.” I found myself bowing slightly. I owed these two a great deal, in a sense: they raised Roxy, and without her, I probably wouldn’t have set out into the world the way I did. 

“Oh my, what a flatterer. I’m 102 years old, you know?” 

“Uhm, well…that’s still young in my book.” Apparently, the Migurd reached physical maturity by age ten or so, and didn’t visibly age until they hit 150. “I owe Master Roxy a great deal, ma’am.” 

“Master…? Goodness, it’s hard to imagine that girl teaching anyone much of anything. She must have changed a great deal….” 

“She taught me all sorts of things. I’m very grateful to her.” 

At this, Rokari blushed a bit and murmured, “Goodness.” Seemed like she’d gotten the wrong idea somehow. 

“In any case,” Rowin said, “I’m glad you showed up when I happened to be on duty.” 

“Yes. I’m very glad to have met you both as well. Roxy did so much for me, really… Hmm. Maybe I should call you Dad?” 

“Hahaha… No. Don’t.” 

Ouch. The man didn’t even crack a smile. His poker face reminded me a bit of Roxy’s. Made me a little nostalgic. 

“All jokes aside, I do want you to have this,” Rowin said, holding out the sword. “I know Ruijerd’s with you, but you’ll sleep better if you have a weapon of your own.” 

“I’m not exactly unarmed really,” I said, accepting the sword and drawing it from its sheath. 

The blade was wide, single-edged, and only about sixty centimeters long. It was also slightly curved, like a machete or a cutlass. A few dings suggested that it had been in use for many years, but the cutting edge itself wasn’t chipped at all. It sure looked like they’d taken good care of this thing; it was clean, beautiful even. But there was also something oddly threatening about it. Maybe it was the way the dull grey steel glowed faintly green when it caught the light. 

“We got this from a blacksmith who wandered into the village quite some time ago. It’s a sturdy thing. Even after years of usage, the blade’s still perfect. It’s yours if you want it.” 

“Thank you very much,” I said. “We’ll gladly take it.” This was no time to be modest. Right now, we needed all the help we could get. I could fight just fine as I was, but Eris could certainly use a weapon. She’d trained in the Sword God style after all; it’d probably make her feel less anxious to have a sword, even if she didn’t need to use it. 

“Here’s a bit of cash as well. It’s not much, but it should cover two or three nights in a decent inn at least.” 

Ooh, we got some pocket money! 

I opened the pouch in excitement and found that it contained some coins of rough stone and a few made of dull grey metal. From what I recalled, currency on the Demon Continent consisted of green ore coins, iron coins, scrap iron coins, and stone coins. Their value was lower than the equivalent currencies elsewhere in the world; even the green ore coins, which were the most valuable, were only worth an Asuran large copper or slightly less. The iron coins were pretty close to coppers. 

If we said one stone coin was worth one Japanese yen, the currencies would probably look something like this: 

Asuran gold coins: 100,000yen. 

Asuran silver coins: 10,000yen. 

Asuran large coppers: 1,000yen. 

Asuran coppers: 100yen. 

Green ore coins: 1,000yen. 

Iron coins: 100yen. 

Scrap iron coins: 10 yen. 

Stone coins: 1 yen. 

At a glance, those numbers should make it clear just how powerful and prosperous a kingdom Asura was, especially in comparison to the poverty of the Demon Continent. 

Of course, the Demon Continent had its own economy, so prices weren’t always comparable. It wasn’t like everyone here was starving. 

“…Thank you very much.” 

“I only wish we could have talked about Roxy a little longer,” Rokari murmured, echoing Rowin’s earlier words. 

They certainly seemed to be worried about their daughter. Even if the girl was forty-four by now, in human years that was basically…twenty or so. It was understandable enough. 

“I guess we could stay another day, if you like…” 

Rowin shook his head. “Don’t worry. We know she’s all right now, and that’s what matters. Right, dear?” 

“Yes. She always had a tough time here, I’m afraid. We were rather worried.” 

I could see how it’d be tough living in a little place like this without that telepathic power everyone else seemed to have. In general, you didn’t really hear the sounds of conversation in this village. Everyone was probably communicating silently using their minds. Roxy couldn’t participate in those conversations, or even overhear what others were saying to each other. It was small wonder that she ran away from home. 

“Well, all right then. I hope we meet again someday.” 

“Sure. But if we do, try not to call me Dad, all right?” 

“Hahaha. R-right, sure.” I get the message, man… 

It was hard to know when or if I’d see Roxy again, but at the very least, I’d have to repay them for the money someday. 

*** 

Evidently, the closest town was a three-day journey on foot. 

Not long after we set out, it became clear how crucial an asset Ruijerd really was. The man had been traveling the area on his own for many years now; he knew all the roads, and he knew exactly how to set up a proper camp. Not to mention his biological “radar,” which alerted us to incoming threats well in advance. 

It was ridiculously convenient to have him around. 

“Ruijerd, would you mind teaching us about the things you’re doing?” 

“Why?” 

“So we can make ourselves useful.” Given the long journey ahead, Eris and I were both in need of a crash course in basic camping skills. 

Fortunately, Ruijerd proved a willing enough teacher. “Let’s start with making a fire. Unfortunately, the Demon Continent doesn’t have any wood suitable for the purpose.” 

Hm. Our first meeting had been around a campfire, so there was obviously some other way, but… “Is there something else you use instead?” I asked. 

“Yes. We burn parts of a certain monster.” 

“Ah.” That should have been my first guess honestly. Out here, almost everything you needed to survive seemed to come from hunting monsters. 

“Fortunately, there’s one close nearby. Wait here for a moment, boy.” 

“Wait, Ruijerd!” The man was already turning away, but I managed grab his shoulder before he could run off. 

“What is it?” 

“Were you going to fight it by yourself?” 

“Of course. Hunting is warriors’ work. The children stay behind.” 

Okay. So he was apparently planning to keep doing things this way forever. To be fair, the man had been alive for more than 500 years…we weren’t even old enough to be his great-great-grandchildren. And he was probably more than strong enough to handle all the fighting by himself. 

Still, there was always a chance something could go wrong. If Ruijerd died or somehow ended up unable to fight, Eris and I would be forced to fend for ourselves. And right now, we had no real-world combat experience to speak of. What was going to happen if we lost him while our party was traveling through a deep, dangerous forest…or in the middle of a battle with a fierce group of monsters? 

I didn’t like our odds of surviving in a situation like that. We needed to get some experience now, while we had the chance. 

It’d be nice if I could convince Ruijerd to teach us how to fight, but… 

No. That wasn’t the right way to think about this. This was a give-and-take relationship; we were partners on equal footing, working together to achieve our goals. All three of us needed to figure out how to fight as a party. 

“Okay, but we’re not just children.” 

“Yes you are.” 

“Uh…look, Ruijerd.” I had to be firm and clear about this. The man was still under the impression that he was our guardian; he needed to understand that wasn’t the case. “We’re helping you, and you’re helping us. Our goals are different, but we’re going to fight together… So all three of us are warriors , right?” 

With the sternest expression I could muster, I met Ruijerd’s gaze directly and waited for a reply. 

It only took ten or fifteen seconds for him to make a decision. “…Very well. You’re warriors then.” 

I can’t say the man sounded particularly convinced, but at least he was going to let us tag along from now on. That was the important thing. “Hear that, Eris? You’re going to fight, too, aren’t you?” 

Eris blinked with surprise, but managed to stammer out an “O-of course!” and vigorously nodded her head. Good girl. 

“All right then, Ruijerd,” I said, returning to my usual demeanor. “Can you lead us to this monster, please?” There was no point acting all aggressive anymore. You had to be forceful when you were negotiating, that was all. 

*** 

The first enemy we faced as a group was a monster known as a “Stone Treant.” 

Treant, in general, was a term for tree-like monsters. These were typically ordinary plants that had sucked up too much magical energy and mutated into violent creatures. 

There were a considerable variety of specific monsters that fell into this broad category. First, you had the Lesser Treant, found all over the world. These were mutated saplings that tended to imitate ordinary trees until a target wandered into striking distance. They were weak and slow enough that an average adult with no real training could chop one apart without too much difficulty. 

However, if a Lesser Treant happened to absorb enough nutrients from one of the Fairy Fountains located throughout the Great Forest, it would eventually mature into an Elder Treant. The highly concentrated magical power of the Fountains granted these monsters the ability to use various water spells. 

There were also Old Treants, which were already massive before they mutated, and Zombie Treants, trees that transformed after they withered…among many others. Of course there were distinct differences between all these varieties, but their basic patterns of behavior were very similar. They pretended to be normal trees and attacked anyone who came too close. After some time, they produced seeds that grew into more of their kind. 

The Stone Treant was something of a special case, though. It actually disguised itself as a rock . 

You might be wondering how a tree could pull off that bit of camouflage. The answer was simple actually: Stone Treants had mutated into monsters back when they were still seeds. They could stay in their seed form even as they grew enormous, and were capable of abruptly transforming into tree-monsters whenever someone got too close. 

In their normal form, they were completely inconspicuous. They didn’t have a distinctive shape like a sunflower seed—at a glance, they really did look like lumpy, vaguely potato-shaped boulders. 

“Is there anything we should keep in mind while we’re fighting this thing?” 

“Hm. You’re a magician, yes?” 

“That’s right.” 

“Don’t use any fire spells then.” 

“Oh. Would they not work on it?” 

“We can’t use the thing for firewood if you burn it to a crisp.” 

“Ah, right. Of course.” 

“No water magic, either.” 

“Because we don’t want the wood getting damp?” 

“Exactly.” 

Okay then. As far as Ruijerd was concerned, this thing was clearly less of a threat and more of a living piece of lumber. That meant it posed no real danger to us so long as we were with him. We could fight it without much actual risk. 

“All right then. Let’s try having Eris and me fight for now. Ruijerd, you just step in to help out Eris if she’s in danger, okay?” 

“Is there a point to keeping me in reserve?” 

“I just want to see how well Eris and I can handle ourselves in a real battle. After this one, we’ll watch you in action and see what we can learn.” 

“Very well.” 

With that settled, I put us in a simple battle formation—Eris up in front, and me all the way in the rear. It seemed like the best choice, given her sword fighting skills. 

I was a little hesitant to put my adorable little pupil on the frontlines, of course, but she wasn’t going to be much use held back in the middle of a formation. That sort of position was all about supporting your frontliners, and Eris was terrible at that sort of teamwork. Also, Ruijerd probably wouldn’t need much in the way of backup anyway. We’d be best off letting Eris fight freely, with Ruijerd and myself following up to support her. 

“Okay, Eris. I’m going to soften it up with one good hard shot from a distance. After that, you move in and finish it off. I’ll try to at least call out the names of the spells I’m using, but if things get hectic I might not have the time. Just keep that in mind, okay?” 

Eris nodded energetically, giving her new sword a few experimental swings. “No problem!” The girl was clearly raring to go. 

I lifted my staff and paused to think things over. Fire and water spells were out, and just looking at the thing, wind didn’t seem like it would be too effective. That left me with earth. Earth was fine by me. I’d gotten pretty good with it after all those figures I’d made. 

Still, this was the first time I was fighting an actual monster. Better give this my all. 

Closing my eyes, I drew a single, deep breath, then channeled my magical energy to and through my hands. It was something I’d done tens of thousands of times by now; at this point, I could have cast spells with both my legs cut off. 

“All right…” 

Projectile: Bullet-shaped rock. 

Toughness: As hard as possible. 

Shape: Snub-nosed, with multiple grooves. 

Modifications: High-speed rotation. 

Size: Slightly larger than a man’s fist. 

Velocity: As fast as possible. 

“Stone Cannon!” 

As the words left my mouth, a rock shot from the end of my staff with a ferocious bang. It zipped forward in a nearly perfect horizontal line, and smashed into the camouflaged Stone Treant that lay in wait ahead of us. 

With an ear-splitting sound, the monster blew apart into tiny pieces. I’d killed it extremely dead. 

Eris had already started running forward, but after my attack landed, she stopped in her tracks and turned to glare sulkily in my direction. 

“What happened to softening it up, Rudeus?! Am I supposed to chop up the corpse?!” 

“S-sorry. I’ve never done this before either, you know? I guess I used too much force…” 

“Ugh! Get it together!” 

Eris wasn’t exactly pleased that I’d ruined her first real battle, but I seriously hadn’t expected to kill the poor thing quite that easily. All I’d really done was tweak the standard Stone Cannon spell by making the projectile a bit more like a hollow-point bullet. People back home on Earth sure came up with some nasty stuff… 

At this point, I noticed that Ruijerd was gazing at me as well. Or at my staff, to be more precise. 

“Is that weapon some sort of magical implement?” 

“No, it’s just a staff. A very high-quality one, though.” 

“But you didn’t recite an incantation or use a magic circle…” 

“Right. It isn’t possible to change the shape of the projectile if you use the incantation, so I just skip that part.” 

“…I see.” At this point, Ruijerd fell into a thoughtful silence. The man may have been around for more than 500 years, but it seemed like silent spellcasting wasn’t something he’d seen too many times before. 

“In any case…is that your magic at its most powerful?” 

“Well, no. I could also make that projectile explode when it hit the target.” 

“Hmm. I think it might be best to refrain from using your spells when the enemy’s close to your allies, Rudeus.” 

“Uh, yeah. Good point.” 

This was the first time I’d actually hit something with that spell, but it was definitely…more destructive than I’d expected. Even grazing someone with it might kill them instantly. Ideally I would’ve switched over to some support-type spell, but nothing really came to mind. Up till now, I’d only really thought about fighting on my own. 

How did other magicians approach their role in combat anyway? 

“Ruijerd, if I wanted to support you two with my magic, what sort of things should I be doing?” 

“I don’t know. I’ve never fought alongside a spellcaster before.” 

Well, whatever. We had a seasoned Superd warrior on our side. We didn’t need to imitate the way normal parties did things. I could think about getting us coordinated later; for now it was more important that Eris and I got some real combat experience. 

“Okay… I hate to impose, but would you mind finding us another enemy?” 

“Very well. There’s something we need to do first, however.” 

“Oh? What’s that?” Maybe this was the part where we said a little prayer for the creature we’d slain? 

“We have to gather the wood. You scattered it all over the place.” 

Using wind magic, I proceeded to gather up the shattered pieces of the Treant. 

*** 

Our party kept moving until the sun set, fighting a total of four battles. We faced another Stone Treant, a Great Tortoise, an Acid Wolf, and a group of Pax Coyotes. 

Ruijerd brought down the Great Tortoise with a single attack. He just ran right up to the thing and jabbed his trident up through its skull. His movements were beautifully fluid and efficient. The man had been in the solo monster-hunting business for 500years, and it really showed. I felt a little stupid for having gotten smug over blowing up a single Stone Treant. 

Acid Wolves were large canines that could spit some kind of caustic fluid from their mouths. We only ran into one, so Eris took it down, stepping forward sharply to send its head flying with a single slash. Compared to Ruijerd, it wasn’t exactly elegant, but it was still an instant victory. 

Unfortunately, the wolf’s blood sprayed all over Eris, so she wasn’t in any mood to celebrate. I was concerned that its blood might be dangerous as well, but apparently that wasn’t the case. She’d done well enough, given that it was her first real battle. According to Ruijerd at least. 

On that note, I took out the second Stone Treant in one shot. I was hoping to deal some moderate damage so Eris could get more practice in, but it proved surprisingly tough to make my spell less lethal. Until I got the hang of moderating its power, I’d have to avoid using it on people. Even if I needed to kill someone, there was no need to make it gruesome. 

The Pax Coyotes were our final encounter of the day, and the most challenging. These monsters tended to come by the dozens. They weren’t exactly “pack animals,” though—a single coyote formed its own group by reproducing through division, almost like an amoeba. Thankfully, it wasn’t like new ones would constantly pop out in the middle of battle. They could only reproduce once every few months or so. Even so, any given group would steadily swell in size over time, with all the new coyotes under the complete control of their leader. If that leader happened to fall in battle, a different coyote would instantly assume its position. Their strength was mostly in their sheer numbers, but their perfect coordination and discipline made them genuinely dangerous. 

The group we fought numbered about twenty. They probably could’ve killed any run-of-the-mill adventurer, but Eris faced the challenge cheerfully, swinging her new sword to and fro as Ruijerd offered a steady stream of advice. The girl had never put her life on the line in battle before today, but she didn’t look particularly tense. All that practicing with Ghislaine had clearly imbued her with quite a bit of confidence, and it seemed like the act of killing didn’t bother her much. 

For my part, I just hung back and watched as Eris cut down one coyote after another. I’d been planning to step in and help if necessary, but Ruijerd was playing his supporting role so flawlessly that it might have been counterproductive. Still, doing nothing was pretty boring, and I started to feel a little left out after a while. Coming up with some way for us to fight as a group definitely needed to be my top priority. 

In any case…Eris really was a remarkable fighter. She’d reached the Advanced level in the Water God style just before my birthday, right? At this point, I probably didn’t stand a chance against her unless I was using magic. Heck, even Paul was only an Advanced level swordsman…although he’d reached that rank in both the Water God and the North God styles, and had much more real-life combat experience. Still, Ghislaine said Eris had more raw talent than Paul ever did. She’d probably leave him in the dust in no time. 

Eat it, old man. 

“Rudeus! Over here!” 

At some point, they’d finished off the last of the monsters; Ruijerd was taking out his knives as I approached. “Pax Coyote pelts are valuable. We were fortunate to find such a large group. Help me skin them.” 

But I had something else to attend to first. “Hold on just a second.” 

Walking over to Eris, I found her panting for breath…and wounded in three distinct places. Less than thirty minutes had passed since the battle began, but with Ruijerd devoting himself to his backup role, it had fallen to her to actually kill the vast majority of the monsters. Of course she’d be exhausted. 

Couldn’t hurt to get those injuries dealt with now at least… “Let this divine power be as satisfying nourishment, giving one who has lost their strength the strength to rise again— Healing. ” 

“Thanks.” 

“Are you all right, Eris?” 

“Hah! Of course! I barely even broke a—mgh.” 

That smug grin of hers looked a little gruesome with monster blood all over her face, so I wiped some of it off with my sleeve. The experience hadn’t shaken her in the slightest. That was…pretty impressive. Personally, I was about ready to puke just from the smell. 

“Hmm. No sweat, huh? That was your first real battle ever, you know.” 

“So what? I know how to fight. Ghislaine taught me everything.” 

Right, right. Practice like you play, and play like you practice. Eris always absorbed every word of Ghislaine’s lessons. Maybe it wouldn’t be that surprising if she could apply everything she’d learned in actual battle. 

I mean, if you focused on fighting just like you’d been taught, what difference did it make if your enemies actually bled? 

“Good grief…” With a wry smile, I turned away and headed back over to Ruijerd, who’d been watching us the whole time. 

“Why did you have Eris do all the fighting, Rudeus?” 

“I won’t always be there to protect her. I want to make sure she can fend for herself when things get ugly.” 

“Ah, I see.” 

“On that note…what do you think of her so far?” 

Ruijerd nodded thoughtfully before he spoke. “If she applies herself, she’ll be a master swordswoman some day.” 

“Really?! All right!” Eris literally jumped into the air, her face shining with joy. 

It had to feel pretty good hearing something like that from a legendary warrior. I didn’t mind hearing that either; if Ruijerd recognized Eris’s talents as a warrior, we stood a much better chance of finding some way to work as an actual team. 

“Okay then, Ruijerd. From now on, let’s have Eris fight in the front while I hang back in the rear.” 

“And what should I be doing?” 

“You don’t have a defined position, so move around freely and cover our blind spots. Oh, and if either of us get ourselves in danger, take charge and tell us what to do.” 

“Understood.” 

For the moment, we had our basic combat formation worked out. Hopefully it would allow Eris and myself to get some more combat experience under our belts over the next couple of days. 

*** 

Next up came camping practice. 

For dinner, we had Great Tortoise meat. There was far too much of it to eat in one sitting, so we started off by drying most of it out for later—under Ruijerd’s direction of course. 

To be blunt, the stuff was somewhat vile. Its scent was overpowering and it was painfully tough to boot. Apparently the normal approach was to soften it up in a simmering stew for hours, but Ruijerd opted for the quick and easy route of roasting it over a roaring fire. 

At least the fire itself wasn’t too hard to get going. Stone Treants evidently dried out very quickly after they died, so we didn’t need to leave our wood sitting in the sun or anything. No wonder Ruijerd saw those things as walking lumps of lumber. 

“…Guh.” Honestly, though, this meat is seriously vile. Who said this stuff was “delicious” anyway? 

Wait, that was totally you, Ruijerd. You’re so full of it! I mean…maybe if you covered up the smell with ginger, it might be sort of edible? Maybe? Man, do I ever want some beef right now. And rice… 

A memorable line from a certain manga floated through my mind: “Grilled meat is glorious. And it’s glorious because it’s tasty.” Truer words were never spoken. Meat that isn’t tasty isn’t glorious in the slightest. 

In retrospect, I’d eaten very well in the Kingdom of Asura. Bread may have been the staple food back there, but they usually complemented it with meat, fish, vegetables, and some sort of dessert, with all the variety of some three-star restaurant. And I’d spent most of my time there way out in the sticks; wasn’t a spoiled little princess like Eris going to have an even harder time adjusting? 

When I looked over, though, I found her gnawing away contentedly at her own chunk of meat. 

“Hey, this isn’t half bad.” 

Wait, seriously?! 

Well…maybe it made sense. When you give a kid who’s only eaten healthy stuff their first taste of junk food, they always go crazy for it, right? 

“What?” Eris said as I stared at her. 

“Uh, it’s nothing. You enjoying that?” 

“Yeah! I always…mngh…wanted to try something like this!” 

I knew Eris loved listening to Ghislaine’s stories of life as an adventurer. Maybe that had translated into fantasizing about eating tough, nasty meat around a campfire? Kind of a weird fantasy, but okay. 

“It’s even edible raw, you know,” Ruijerd commented. 

Eris’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, and a little chill ran down my spine. Fortunately, I managed to speak before she could open her mouth. “The answer’s no. Don’t even think about it.” 

For crying out loud. Do you want worms? Because that’s how you get worms. 

*** 

Ruijerd was giving Eris a lesson on basic weapon upkeep before we turned in for the night. For lack of anything better to do, I listened in. 

Ruijerd’s spear wasn’t made of metal, and Eris’s sword was forged from special materials in a very specific way. Apparently neither of them needed to worry about ordinary rusting. But that didn’t mean they could skip their daily maintenance. Leaving dried blood on a sword or spear would gradually dull their edges and attract other monsters. From Ruijerd’s perspective, it was also your fundamental responsibility as a warrior to take good care of your weapon. 

“Come to think of it, what’s that spear made of anyway?” I asked, suddenly curious. Judging from the one Ruijerd carried, the Superd tridents were pure white, totally unornamented, and on the short side for a spear. From the looks of it, the whole thing was made of a single substance; I couldn’t see any seam between the shaft and head. 

“It’s made of me.” 

“…Say what?” 

“The spear of a Superd is made out of their soul.” 

Damn. I hadn’t been expecting such a…philosophical answer. 

Okay, sure. Right. So your spear is, uh, your soul. And your soul is your way of life, right? Your way of life is whatever lies in your heart…and your heart is just what you love. So basically, you love your spear passionately…or something? 

Luckily, Ruijerd elaborated before I could get myself too tied up in knots. “Every one of us is born with their own spear, you see.” 

The Superd were born with a three-pointed tail. It grew with them until they reached a certain age, at which point it would stiffen up and fall off. Yet even when separated, it was still somehow part of their body; the more they used it, the sharper and more deadly it would grow. With enough time and effort, these tridents could become peerless weapons, virtually unbreakable and capable of piercing through pretty much anything. 

“…And that’s why we mustn’t cast aside our spears until the day we die.” Ruijerd’s face was full of bitter regret at the mistake he’d made four centuries ago. 

By this point, his spear was probably harder and sharper than any other Superd’s in the world. I was definitely glad we had him on our side. 

Still, his outlook on the world…worried me sometimes. The man was as rigid as his weapon. If you can’t bend a little sometimes, you’ll never learn to accept other people as they are. And that means they’ll never accept you either. There’s such a thing as being too principled, you know? 

In any case…after three days of fighting monsters and camping under the stars, our little party managed to reach the nearest town.