Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 17 - Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Hidden Abilities 

After finishing discussing our gear with Romina, we headed straight back toward the castle. The sun was getting pretty low. Still, we’d taken one of the enemy down on the day we arrived, so that was definitely something. 
Now I needed to get on with making some combat accessories. 
“L’Arc, shall we do this?” Therese said. 
“Ready when you are!” came the reply. Therese proceeded to unleash the same magic she had used when we first met, aimed directly at L’Arc’s scythe. 
“That feels good. I think I’ve got quite a bit more than that too!” Therese appeared to have made a full recovery. “Using the power of the accessory that Master Craftsman lent me as a medium, I have increased the range of translation,” she explained to me proudly. She really did seem to have a thing for me. It made me think of Motoyasu for a moment. She seemed even more aware of me than before. “I’m actually quite incredible, being able to do this much.” 
“Is that so,” I said, playing down her achievements. Then Sadeena came up with an earth crystal. 
“Little Naofumi, this mineral is most interesting. I’ve leveled up in no time at all,” she told me. 
“Glad to hear it. Shame it only works on those coming from the other world,” I said. 
 
“Oh my,” Sadeena commented. 
“Are you a high enough level to be able to fight now?” I asked her. 
“My only possible reply to that is . . . I don’t really know,” she replied. She’d never been to this world before, after all, and even I didn’t know that much about it. She could still use her therianthrope form though. If she didn’t take too many risks, I suspected she would be fine. 
“You call these ladies ‘therianthropes,’ correct?” L’Arc said, pointing at Sadeena and Shildina. So accustomed to seeing her transformed, I almost did a double take. 
“Oh, it’s so nice to be referred to as a ‘lady’! I’m so happy!” Sadeena gushed. 
“Looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you, Naofumi,” L’Arc commented, pulling away a bit. Sadeena did come on a bit strong, even for someone like L’Arc. 
“She’s definitely the biggest joker in my party,” I confirmed. I thought her jokey, easygoing attitude was quite similar to L’Arc. She always kept some leeway—a reassurance about her, backed up by everything she’d achieved in the past. 
“I see. She definitely doesn’t leave any openings. I’ll have to keep an eye on her,” he said. 
“Did you hear that, Little Naofumi?” she said. 
“He’s talking about you,” I reminded her. Sadeena really had a way of controlling the conversation. 

“What about you, little Shildina?” Sadeena asked. Shildina said nothing, her stomach rumbling. All that leveling up had made her hungry. 

“Shall we get some food?” I asked. 
“Are you cooking, little Naofumi?” Sadeena asked. 
“No, I don’t have time. Get some of L’Arc’s men to make it,” I told her. 
“I think food little Naofumi makes would be more effective,” she said, displaying her cunning again. 
“Eating nutritious food may be another good way to get stronger,” Ethnobalt proposed. This progression of events was definitely proceeding toward me having to do some cooking. 
“I want Master’s food!” Filo chirped. Raph-chan and Chris spoke up too, all the small animals chattering for a feeding. Seriously . . . it was a pain, but just giving in would be easier than trying to resist it. 
“Okay, okay. Take me to the castle kitchen. Just this once, understand?” I said. 
“Oh, I want a drink too! Let’s try some booze from another world!” Shildina added. 
“That’s a negative. You can’t give booze to a baby,” I replied. 
“Oh my,” Shildina said. 
“I’m going to drink! Booze from another world, bring it on!” Sadeena said. 
“Oh?” That caught L’Arc’s interest. “Can you drink, my lady?” 
“If Sadeena is drinking, I’m drinking too!” Shildina trilled. 
“Killer whale sisters—quiet!” I shouted above the clamor. “L’Arc, these two women drink—if you’ll excuse the phrase—like fish. They have drowned countless men in booze. You will need serious commitment before you take them on.” 
 
“Heh. You don’t know what I can do,” he bragged. Oh, I knew enough. I knew he wasn’t as hardened as he thought he was. I was amazed he was showing this much confidence; he couldn’t even beat Raphtalia. 
“If you can win, Sadeena will surely take a liking to you. She likes men who can hold their liquor. Do your best!” I told him. 
“Oh my. My heart already belongs to you, little Naofumi,” she quipped. 
“Whatever,” I replied. 
“Heh. Kiddo, you’re about to experience the terror of potentially losing a woman you love,” he crowed. I trusted Sadeena, that much was true, but I didn’t recall falling in love with her. The feelings L’Arc had toward Therese and the feelings I had for Sadeena were not the same thing, surely. I guess I’d support him in this. 
“Good luck,” I said, although my delivery was pretty wooden. Maybe this experience of crossing worlds would turn Sadeena into a non-drinker . . . but the hope of that seemed slim. 
“L’Arc, you like that woman now?” Therese asked, having taken her sweet time getting to the question, her head tilted to one side. 
“Therese! No, no I don’t! I’m not serious! I just want the kiddo to experience the same feeling I have . . .” L’Arc stuttered, rushing to dig his own grave. 
“You’re not serious? That’s quite rude of you,” Sadeena said. Motoyasu, in his past life, probably had more luck than this. It was only hearsay, but he’d apparently picked up his fair share of women. When I looked at him now, of course, he was just a pathetic, filolial-obsessed moron. 
 
“Anyway! I’m just going to teach you all that I can handle my drink!” L’Arc raged. “Once I do that, kiddo here can experience the same terror that I’ve been going through!” After that outburst, Therese gave him a gentle, and at the same time pitying, look. 
“L’Arc, everyone has things they can do and things they can’t. It’s still not too late to back down. Okay?” she told him. 
“Why are you trying to get me to stop?” he replied. “I won’t know unless I try!” 
“I’m trying to get you to stop because I already know what will happen. I’m the one who’ll have to pick up the pieces after she drinks you under the table,” Therese said pretty sharply. I mean, it definitely was a pain to take care of a drunk. I had some experience with that myself. 
 
 
They were a noisy bunch though. I’d give them that much. 
“I’m sorry you got asked to cook almost as soon as you got here,” Raphtalia apologized to me, but I just waved it off. No need to worry about that. I cooked pretty much every day back home. It was habit by now. 
So we ended that day with an impromptu outdoor party in the garden at the castle. 
“Everyone! Let’s have lots of fun today!” Filo shouted out. In order to cheer everyone up, she had started singing with some of the other gathered musicians. 
“Raph,” said Raph-chan. She was in command of the visuals, using her illusion magic to set off fireworks. 
“Pen!” Chris was backing her up, waving a mysterious glowing stick like he was at some kind of idol concert. Filo was putting all her training from Melty to good use, and the whole venue was filled with a gentle and relaxed atmosphere. 
“Wow. I wish I could share this scene with everyone working so hard out there for us now,” L’Arc said, looking out across the scene with a smile on his face. Then he started to eat my food. “Kiddo, you’ve really upped your game in the kitchen.” He just made pointless small talk, stuffing his cheeks with my pilaf. I was really getting sick of him calling me “kiddo” too. How hard would it be for him to learn my name, like a civilized person? 

“All sorts of stuff has been going on, boy. I’ve increased my skills in regard to making all sorts of stuff,” I said. 
 
“What? Are you saying you’ve increased your accessory-making skills too?” he accused. 
“Don’t look so horrified,” I said. 
“Right!” L’Arc was getting all excited again, and then he charged over to the wine cellar. “Time to see who can hold their drink! Hey! Bring out the good stuff!” 
“Oh my!” Sadeena and L’Arc were both excitedly awaiting the liquor. I’d finished serving most of the food and started to eat as well. 
The drink arrived soon afterward, and L’Arc and Sadeena started to drink. I was expecting him to at least put up a fight, but it seemed like only moments before he was hiccupping and slurring his words. 
“Oh my? Are we finished already?” Sadeena asked. 
“L’Arc, please just give up. If you don’t, I’m pretty sure you will die,” Therese said. She took the collapsed L’Arc away and put him to bed. Just as I’d expected, he hadn’t stood a chance. Using healing magic to cure the effects and let him keep on drinking had been an option. It might have let L’Arc win. But the moment I tried it, Sadeena probably would have worked it out. 
Realizing this was all a waste of time, I decided discussing our next steps with Glass would be a better idea. I went over to the outside table where Raphtalia, Rishia, and Itsuki were eating with Glass. 
“Glass, can I have a moment?” I asked her. 
“Of course,” she replied. 
“Making preparations is all very well, but what’s the frequency of the waves like in this world? Couldn’t Kizuna escape during a wave?” I asked her. 
 
“Regarding the waves, they have been occurring more frequently due to the deaths of the other three holy heroes,” she explained. “Roughly every two weeks.” That was pretty short, especially if they were occurring in each nation. They must have been using Return Dragon Vein to travel around and keep a lid on things. 
“Isn’t that a bit much?” I asked. 
“We’ve actually made some technological progress of our own. We’ve created a tool that can be registered to a dragon hourglass, just like a hero’s weapon, allowing for teleportation to the location of each wave. We’ve been using those to divide up our forces and handle each wave accordingly,” Glass continued. 
“Interesting,” I commented. That sounded like something we could use. I’d get the details later, including how to make it. 
“Seeing as we hadn’t made all the information public yet, and because the enemy vassal weapon holders also don’t consider the waves a threat, the situation is just . . . continuing, basically,” she went on. Takt hadn’t been worried about the waves either, I recalled. A common characteristic of these lunatics. Even Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki had only really considered the waves events to make them stronger for the future. I felt like I was getting to the heart of things. Now we knew that the waves weren’t a natural phenomenon. That cast suspicions on the knowledge of the heroes. When I followed that line of thought, the summoning of someone like me—someone with no knowledge of a game that played like this world—had allowed for the sharing of power-up methods to go much more smoothly. And yet they continued to summon people with game knowledge. That knowledge had proven a barrier to becoming stronger. 
 
It was as though game knowledge itself was some kind of impediment. 
“In regard to Kizuna’s capture, we don’t know what kind of measures they are using to hold her, but she has been unable to escape due to a wave summons,” Glass concluded. I grunted. 
“Some things haven’t changed then.” When we met, she had been captured because she didn’t fully understand the waves. This felt like it was becoming a bit of a habit with her. “So they haven’t chosen to attack, using Kizuna as a shield?” I asked. 
“They probably didn’t think it was necessary to go that far,” Glass presumed. They had to be pretty confident, then. When we fought Takt, his retinue had been happy to try and use Raphtalia as a hostage. In this case, Glass had struck down their leader before he even had a chance to try such a tactic. But that guy hadn’t had as large of a retinue as Takt either. 
“Now is the time to turn things back in our favor. Once this meal is finished, I plan to set out myself,” Glass said, full of energy. Then I felt eyes on my back. I turned around and Itsuki spoke to me. 
“I like this mood. Upbeat. Is this because you are here?” he asked. 
“Not sure about that,” I replied. 
“Itsuki . . .” said Rishia. The curse should have been almost gone by now, and yet he was still expressionless in aspect and monotone in delivery. 
 
We could only hope Rishia would finally find some peace someday soon. 
“I also want to help everyone feel better,” he continued, right out of left field. 
“Help how? What can you do?” I asked. 
“This looks like the time for . . .” He didn’t finish. He just got up and went over to Filo and the musicians. 
“Itsuki?” Rishia went with him. Then he started talking to the musicians. One of them went over to their spare instruments and proceeded to hand one to Itsuki. It wasn’t a guitar or a violin, or even a ukulele, but something similar, and crystal-tipped. Itsuki plucked a few things, checking the sound they made. 
“Here we go,” he said. Then, insanely, he started to play it. He just joined right in accompaniment to the song Filo was singing. It didn’t sound out of place at all. In fact, he expanded the breadth of the music—while both song and music had previously just been background noise to brighten the mood, now everyone present naturally started to give it their full attention. Filo already had a great singing voice, and the synergy of all of the elements created a scene people were unable to turn away from. 
Filo, too, had looked a bit taken aback by the sudden interloper at first, but soon she started to sing along with a smile on her face. Even I had to admit that he had a pretty good sense of rhythm. The song that Filo had been ad-libbing soon ended. And after only a beat, Itsuki immediately started to play a different piece. 

This one I had heard before somewhere. It was likely a piece of classical music. So Itsuki could play after all. The very first time I saw him, I’d thought he looked like a piano player or something like that.
 
“The bow guy is incredible!” Filo said, offering her informed opinion on Itsuki’s playing now that her singing was finished. Melty could play pretty well herself, and I’d seen her assisting Filo’s singing during the festival. Itsuki was at least as good—no, maybe better than she had been. Even as I pondered his playing, he finished the classical piece and moved onto something a bit more rhythmical. If I had to place it, I would have thought it was the opening to some anime or game. 
A moment later, a strange light started to glow across the venue, creating an illusory scene centered around Itsuki. The other musicians tried to also take up the music, perhaps not wanting to be shown up too much. But their attempts produced nothing but a brief cacophony of noise. As though warning them off, the light turned into little spikes and flicked out close to them. The only one who seemed allowed to harmonize—the only one who could—was Filo. 
I’d listened a lot to Filo’s singing, Melty’s playing, and the playing of other musicians, but when ranking Itsuki’s current performance, it would be much faster to count down from the top. 
“He’s pretty good,” I eventually said. 
“Indeed. Better than some national musicians, I bet.” 
“This is quite something,” Glass murmured, obviously impressed. “He isn’t imbuing any magic in his playing, and yet he is triggering magic.” 
“That light? That’s some kind of magic that exists in this world?” I asked. 
 
“Yes. It’s the same as what Filo uses as a humming fairy,” Glass explained. Right, of course. Coming to this world had allowed Filo to attack using her songs. I remembered her using it when her other magic had been sealed away. And during a concert to cheer me up, she had sung a suspicious song that put Motoyasu and the rest of her fans under a charm spell. “With the level of skill he is displaying here,” Glass continued, “he would only need a little instruction from a specialist in the field to produce results equal to Filo —if not greater,” Glass continued. 
“Sounds like a good idea,” I replied. 
Once Itsuki finished playing, he came back over to us. 
“Itsuki, that was amazing!” Rishia said. Seemingly a bit embarrassed, Itsuki took her praise without saying anything and sat back down. 
“You look like someone who can play something too, Rishia,” I commented. 
“That’s true. I can play a little. But I don’t have the confidence to pick up something I’ve never seen before and just start playing it,” she said. That made sense to me. Just because you could play the piano didn’t mean you could play the guitar. 
Unless you were Itsuki, of course. What was going on there? 
“It looked like Itsuki played that weird crystal thing without any complaints,” I ventured. 

“So many instruments are basically the same, once you get down to it. I bet you could play too, Rishia,” he intoned. 
 
“Fehhh,” said Rishia. I mean, there was something to what Itsuki was saying. But nine times out of ten, they would surely be too different and it wouldn’t work so well. 
“How was it?” Itsuki asked. 
“I think you’ve really improved the atmosphere. Itsuki, everyone is looking at you now,” I told him. Itsuki took a look around, showing hints of embarrassment. 
“There is no need to be polite. This is mainly thanks to Filo,” he replied. 
“I’ve always thought you could probably play, right from when I first met you,” I told him. Itsuki tilted his head to the side, face expressionless. 
“What are you talking about?” he asked. That response . . . I had seen it before somewhere. I needed to think back and compare it to my own memories. 
Raphtalia was looking over at me. 
“Isn’t this like you and your cooking, Mr. Naofumi? You can’t remember Imiya’s full name, but you can remember recipes no matter how long they are,” she said. Yeah, that was a thing too, I conceded. In my case, it was the evaluation of everyone around me that made me “good” at cooking, but it did feel kind of similar. 
I decided to probe the topic further. 
“Itsuki, tell me . . . can you play any piece of music after hearing it just once?” I asked him. 
“Why are you asking such an elementary thing?” he replied. He really did think that was a question too obvious to even answer! I knew I wasn’t capable of such a thing, at least. I might be able to hum something I’d heard a couple of times, but I definitely couldn’t play it note for note. 
 
“Itsuki, you remember when you said I might have the Nullify Sickness ability?” I asked him. 
“Of course. What of it?” he replied. 
“Do you think maybe you also have some talent relating to music?” I suggested. 
“I’ve never been told such a thing . . . but I did used to play as a hobby,” he said. 
“Maybe you have some supernatural power that makes you good at playing music,” I continued, pressing the point. He was using magic much like Filo but without any special training. This could really boost his support abilities if he got some practice in. 
“I don’t think so,” Itsuki said, tilting his head and muttering almost to himself. “A talent for something isn’t a supernatural power. Those with supernatural powers controlling sound can do far more than me, even at lower ranks. For example, those who can control sound waves can use them to paralyze the semicircular canal of an opponent, and they can play music without the assistance of an instrument.” As always, he talked about supernatural powers as though he was discussing making coffee—likely, this was partly because it was something he understood well and partly because of the curse. 
Still, the phrase “without the assistance of an instrument” stuck with me. He made playing a violin sound like it was as easy as taking training wheels off a bicycle. 
 
“Those with supernatural powers are evaluated based on their applicable uses. Even if I have a talent for music, it would not be evaluated highly under such criteria,” Itsuki continued with a gentle smile on his face. Sometimes his attitude just made me want to hit him. I’d never realized before how someone being humble could really make you want to punch their lights out. Maybe I acted in a similar way sometimes. I’d need to be more careful when people were talking about my cooking or not getting drunk. 
I was also struggling to accept this degree of humbleness coming from Itsuki, who had always been so vain before. I almost told him to brag a bit, having found something he could actually be proud of. Sure, that would be annoying too, but probably better than this. 
“I’m not sure, but something about all this rings a bit false,” Glass said, coming out with exactly what I had been thinking. Itsuki looked surprised and tilted his head. 
“Yeah, for me too,” I agreed. “There must be all sorts of ways to use that ability, but I just feel like slapping him on the head.” 
“Fehhh!” Rishia exclaimed. 
“Mr. Naofumi, calm down! I understand your anger, but the Bow Hero doesn’t mean anything by it,” Raphtalia said. 
“I’m not really angry, don’t worry. Just tell me, Itsuki, are you doing that on purpose?” I asked him. 
“What do you mean?” he intoned. It looked like he really didn’t understand why he was rubbing us the wrong way. If he had no self-awareness, then there was no helping it. 
 
“. . . Itsuki, this seems like a good opportunity to learn the magic that activates when performing music, like Filo sometimes does. It might prove useful,” I told him. 
“Very well,” he agreed. With that, following my orders, Itsuki went over to the musicians to start learning the magic. I hadn’t expected to uncover another one of Itsuki’s talents after coming to another world. It just went to show that you could never tell what was going to happen. 
Maybe all four of the holy heroes had this kind of hidden ability. Mine was related to cooking, and Itsuki’s was music . . . so what about Ren and Motoyasu? 
I absolutely had no idea. 
From my first impressions, I’d thought Ren was pretty cool, and Motoyasu looked like a normie with a non-otaku life. Any hints there, then? 
Nope, nothing. 
Motoyasu looked good at picking up women, but at the moment he was obsessed only with bringing in more wild filolials. It would be almost impossible to search for a talent the owner had no idea they possessed. You could ask them anything and everything, and they still wouldn’t know. 
“Huh?” As I sat thinking about Itsuki’s hidden abilities, I noticed that Shildina and S’yne had started playing cards. I decided to go talk to them next. 

“Ofuda? Was there such a convenient weapon in this world?” Shildina was asking. 
 
“It seems so. They can act as the trigger for weapons and magic in this world. Ah, S’yne has won,” said her familiar. 
“I lost, but these cards do seem fun. I want to learn more card games. When I get back to the village, I’ll play them with everyone else,” Shildina said. 
“How’s your hunger?” I asked. “Are you feeling better?” 
“Huh? I’ve still got some space left,” she replied. “Your food is so delicious, Naofumi.” 
“Glad to hear it. Eat lots and grow up big,” I told her. She nodded, a little embarrassed, as I patted her head. She was just so amenable. If Shildina would just stay this size, rather than turning back into Sadeena’s size, she would be so cute . . . 
“Hey, Naofumi. I’ve just been told that cards are a weapon in this world,” she told me. 
“Right. I had Rishia use those. They have all sorts of magic contained in them,” I recalled. When we were here last time, Rishia had used ofuda and provided backup from the rear. When I thought about it now, she’d shown an aptitude for projectile weapons even back then. Not to the same extent as Itsuki, perhaps, but she had provided excellent support from the rear. 
Now, of course, Rishia was the projectile hero. Ofuda, used as a thrown weapon, might actually be effective for her. 
“I want them too! Tell me how to make them!” Shildina just loved card games. She still carried her holder of cards around with her. She’d used them as part of her oracle powers, so maybe she could make use of them with her own unique abilities. 
 
“If you want to learn more, why not see if there’s someone among Glass’s allies who can use this technique?” I said. I turned to look at Glass, just to see her actively put some distance between herself and Shildina. 
“What’s wrong?” I asked. 
“I’m not sure I really understand it myself. Shildina, was it? I just feel something telling me not to get too close to you,” Glass explained. 
“Oh my!” Shildina wasn’t quite sure what to do either, being told that to her face. 
“Don’t worry, sweet Naofumi. I’ve heard far worse than that before. I’m used to it,” she said to me. 
“That’s nothing to be proud of,” Raphtalia told her, not unkindly. 
“Oh my,” Shildina said again, still not really sure how to respond. It might be better to call Sadeena over, I mused. Getting this kind of reaction from people due to being a former executioner was probably something only someone from the same line of work could hope to understand. 
Not to say I didn’t have any experience with persecution myself. However, in the most recent instance when Takt and his women had been laying into me as I beat them down, I had to admit I’d really rather enjoyed it. 
Of course, those feelings had all turned a bit more complex once we started killing them. 
“I’m really sorry,” Glass said. “I know that was a nasty thing to say.” 
“Rare to hear something like that from you, Glass,” I commented. 
“I know,” she replied. “Shildina, do you have some kind of secret or something?” 
 
“A secret? Is that your warrior instincts speaking?” If it was, she had a pretty keen observational eye. From a combat perspective, Shildina had strength to match that of Sadeena. 
“No, I wouldn’t quite say that . . .” Glass replied. 
“Well, she’s the younger sister of that drunkard over there and pretty much just as strong. She’s got good combat abilities, and her magic is basically off in a realm all of its own,” I explained. She was high spec, I had to admit, hearing it all again now. But these events had also revealed just how close in age she was to Raphtalia and that she still required my protection. 
Shildina was practically puffing out her chest at my words. She still hadn’t returned to a normal body size, and in her child-like state, she had the same kind of cuteness as Filo. Maybe better than when she was an adult. 
“She also has abilities as an oracle,” Raphtalia added. 
“An oracle?” Glass asked. 
“Well, to put it simply, she can trace the abilities of the owner of an object from the residual thoughts within it. Then she opens a hole in her soul and puts those thoughts into it,” I explained. Shildina raised her hand toward Glass without saying anything. 
“That’s it. Can you stop doing . . . whatever that is, please? It feels like I’m facing a soul eater, and I just can’t calm down,” Glass said. 
“Sure, okay,” Shildina replied. 

“What did you do?” I asked. It seemed Shildina had worked out why Glass was on guard around her. 
 
“There are people in this world called ‘spirits,’ right? They are similar to the thoughts that I can summon using my oracle powers. Because I can capture such thoughts, these spirits are instinctively afraid of my presence,” Shildina explained. 
“Like you’re their natural enemy?” I asked. 
“A little different. But a spirit may feel it that way,” she replied. An unexpected effect, for sure. But if I recalled correctly, the hole in Shildina’s soul had been blocked, considerably reducing her oracle powers. 
“When it’s as clear as this, I can perform the summons even without having to force open a hole. That would make certain things much easier,” Shildina continued. 
“Certain things? Like what? That sounds a bit unpleasant from where I’m sitting,” I said. I was getting worried about what Shildina might do to Glass. Could she eat her soul, like a soul eater? Sadeena, on the other hand, didn’t have any of these kinds of powers and wasn’t an oracle. 
“Should I experiment a little?” Shildina asked. 
“I would rather you didn’t. Human experiments only cause problems, in my experience,” Glass said. I had to give her that one. Even if we tried it with a spirit other than Glass, we had no idea what it might do to Shildina either. 
“Getting back to the previous topic,” Glass said. “Ethnobalt knows a lot about ofuda.” I’d had a feeling he was knowledgeable on the topic. They had diverged a little now, but he was originally an intellectual type, just like Rishia. 

“Did you call?” Ethnobalt, who had been helping L’Arc and the others, came over. 

“Yes. Shildina would like to know how to make and use ofuda,” Glass explained. 
“I see. You did so much for me in your world, so it would be a pleasure to teach you whatever I can,” he replied. 
“Great!” Shildina exclaimed. 
“First things first, you need to select the material to make your ofuda from. If you don’t start with careful selection of your basic materials, you won’t achieve a good final product. Then you use some ink that’s melted using magic—” Ethnobalt led Shildina aside, keeping her out of the way of the others. I’d ask about how to make them myself later—although we didn’t know if they could be used in our world. 
Still, Ethnobalt was certainly smart. This was a library rabbit in action. 
“Little Naofumi! No one is willing to entertain me,” Sadeena complained. She turned her back on the bunch she had already drunk under the table and wriggled around as she called out to me. She was acting exactly like normal then, even in this world. Everyone was just doing whatever they wanted. 
“Sadeena, don’t cause too much trouble,” Raphtalia said. It was okay to ignore her. Raphtalia had it covered. 
“Oh my. There’s all this rare liquor here but no one to drink it with. That makes me so sad,” she said. She clearly wanted me to drink with her. 

“We’ll be finished eating soon. Then I’ll chat with you, so just wait a little longer,” Raphtalia said. 
 
“Very well, little Raphtalia. I’ll tell you how hard everyone in the village has been working while you’ve been away,” Sadeena said. 
“Yes. I’d like to hear that,” Raphtalia said, placating her. Even though they weren’t related by blood, Sadeena and Raphtalia were like sisters. They started to chat together. 
“Well then, I’m heading out to rescue Kizuna. Watch out for raiders while I’m gone,” Glass announced. The meal and discussion finished. 
“It’s a hassle, but we’ll join you. No idea when enemies could attack,” I said. 
“That would be appreciated,” Glass said. For that night, those who had attained a certain level came along with us. Once Itsuki had raised his level, he and Rishia would come after us, also aiming for the country of the traitors who were holding Kizuna.