Chapter 116 : Recca

TL:SummerPeanut

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10 September 2030, noon.

When I woke up, the Knights of Isaac were already gone and the Knights which I thought to be the Knights of the Arcane Fire, were there instead.

Apparently, the Knights of the Arcane Fire and the Knights of the Isaac are divided into left and right sides with the water tank in the center.

There was no one on the side where we were sleeping, and those who appeared to be members of the Knights of the Arcane Fire were sitting on the other side of the tank.

Unlike the Knights of Isaac, they are quite lightly dressed. It's more like a Magicians Order than a Knights Order.

Karen is still sleeping due to MP deficiency. I wanted to take a bath... or even just a dip so I used magic like a light shower on the Isaac Knights' side to cleanse myself.

The output of the water is a little stronger than previously... and I checked my status to see if it might be the case...

Name: Mars Bryant

Title: Thunder God / Wind King / Saint / Goblin Butcherer

Status: Human race, second son of Count Bryant

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 27

HP: 70/70

MP: 7240/7881

Strength: 67

Agility: 67

Magic: 86

Dexterity: 66

Endurance: 59

Luck: 30

Unique Ability: Innate Talent (LvMAX)

Unique Ability: Sky Eyes (Lv9)

Unique Ability: Lightning Magic (Lv8/S)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv9/A)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv3/E).

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/E).

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv4/D).

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv9/A)

Special Ability: Holy magic (Lv7/B)

Equipment: Thunder Sword

Equipment: Salamander Sword

Equipment: Bracelet of Disguise

My talent in Water magic had increased and at level 3 now. If I use Water magic this much, of course, it should go up... And the reason why my MP is reduced so much is that I bathed myself but also because I made a bath and partition like the one I made in the labyrinth to let Karen take a bath in peace.

After refreshing myself to some extent, I hurried to the place where the Knights of the Arcane Fire were resting but Bram was already serving drinks there.

“Sorry, Bram. I just woke up. I'd like to say hello to the head of the Arcane Fire Knights Order. I was wondering if you could show me around?"

To be honest, I think it's time to start speaking to Bram in a respectful manner. I suppose it’s about time. Well, I'm sure my tone will change again when I turn 15...

“Good morning, Sir Mars. I understand, I will escort you immediately."

Bram told the knights who were serving drinks about the situation and told them he was going to leave for a while, and then he led me to the place where the biggest red tent was set up.

Incidentally, the color of the tent of the Knights of Isaac is black and the color of the tent of the Knights of Arcane Fire is red.

“This is the tent occupied by the head of Arcane Fire, Sir Recca. I will be excusing myself back to my previous station. Please call me again if you need anything else.”

I greeted him loudly from outside the tent.

"Excuse me. Knight Commander Recca. I am here to deliver supplies from the Lister Imperial School. May I please come in?"

After asking so, I heard ‘Come in’ from inside the tent. When I entered, I saw a small man sitting in the tent. So this is Recca the man known to be almost A-rank adventurer...

“Nice to meet you. My name is Mars Bryant, the first rank in the S class at the Lister Imperial School. As I mentioned earlier, I have come to deliver the supplies. Is there anything you need?"

I said while bending at my waist, and the petite man replied.

“Thank you for your hard work. I am the knight commander of Arcane Fire, Recca Ring. I have heard about you from Margrave Isaac. I heard that you are a very skilled Water magician. The first priority is to secure drinking water but if possible I would also want to let the soldiers rest. Margrave Isaac said that you made it rain warm water but can you still do it? We have plenty of Fire magicians so don't worry about temperature control."

Ah, I'm being recognized as a Water magician... Well, considering how much water was being poured out, they’d normally assume so...

“I understand. Then please use Fire magic to adjust the temperature. I'm going to the baths now, and I would like you all to cooperate with me as was with the Knights of Isaac did if that is all right."

I told Recca that the Knights of Isaac had done this voluntarily, and she gladly accepted.

I did the same thing I did to the Knights of Isaac in the large bathhouse, and the members of the Order of the Blazing Fire were very pleased.

I think the amount of water produced respective to the consumption of 5MP has increased slightly due to my increased level and talent in water magic...

"You must have an incredible amount of MP huh... no matter how good you are at Water magic, this amount of water is...”

"No... I'm already feeling dizzy because I'm about to run out of MP.”

"Indeed. Thank you for your hard labor. I still have a lot to talk about but I'll see you in six hours.”

I was going to say I'd be fine in three hours, but then I thought, well, these people are going to bed too so I just backed off.

I poured all my MP into the drinking water tank, which was almost near the bottom, and I walked over to the bed where Karen was and decided to sleep on the floor. I couldn't bring myself to take the initiative to sleep in the same bed with her.

When I woke up in the evening, Karen was already awake.

"Karen, good morning? Wanna take a bath?"

I spoke to Karen who was eating a portable meal.

"Good morning, Mars. I really need to take a bath. Can you do me the favor?"

She responded happily to my words.

“Take your time. I don't think there is anyone on this side where the Knights of Isaac are so I don't think you have to worry about prying eyes. I'm going to get some water.”

When I said this to Karen, she replied

“There are no such people in the Knights of the Isaac and Arcane Fire."

She replied with a laugh. I went back to the drinking water tank and filled it up.

The tanks for equipment cleaning were not too low so I was finally able to fill up the spare tanks. Once I had filled up the four tanks, my quest was complete.

I went back to bed with about 500 MP left. I wanted to take a bath first.

I called out to Karen from outside the tent, and she said she was already out of the tub and had changed her clothes so I went inside the tent and took a bath.

Nothing beats a good bath! After enjoying a bath for the first time in a while, I noticed something. Bram had neither bathed nor showered.

I hurriedly called Bram and asked him to take a bath. By the way, the bath water was changed to the new one after I got out.

I used the last of my MP to dry Karen's hair, and for the first time today, I felt a lack of MP.

When I woke up, I felt a pleasant sensation that I had never felt before. I don't know what this is... this pillow, feels... nice and smooth and smells very nice... like the smell of a rose.

I was tired from too many repeated MP depletion, and apparently, my head wasn't working very well.

The first thing I noticed was that I was sleeping on Karen's lap and that was after about five minutes. Oh shit... I rubbed my cheek against hers over and over again because the texture felt so good. And it smelled so good that I sniffed it over and over again...

I pretended that I had only just woken up and said ‘Good morning.’ to Karen and she stared at me with a look on her face that said, "Have you really been asleep all along?". I'm really sorry... I won’t repeat it again...

It's about 5:00 p.m. now, and it will be about two hours before the Knights of the Arcane Fire wake up...I ate a light meal and filled up three water tanks: one for drinking water, one for cleaning equipment, and one for spare.

It was not yet time for the knight members of the Arcane Fire to get up so I returned to Karen's place and chatted with her for a while and a fast horse came from the south.

Karen received a letter from Irina in the fortress city of Isaac and opened it.

The content is about the sending of 10 wagons here tomorrow because the goal of replenishing the water has been accomplished.

This concludes our first quest... Duke Regan had told us that we were to help thin out the Forest of Death but I guess it's inevitable that we would be asked for something completely different on the field itself. I had really wanted to spar with Recca but that was not an option.

It was right after 7:00 p.m. so I headed to Recca's place with Karen. By the way, Bram is still sleeping.

I called out to Recca's tent and was again told to come in so I did. Recca was sipping her drink gracefully, but as soon as she saw Karen, she got down on one knee and opened her mouth.

“I'm terribly sorry. Lady Karen. I didn't expect Lady Karen to be in a place like this, and I apologize for my shameful behavior.”

“It’s fine. Recca. Please sit. I don't want you to be tired here.”

When Karen said this, Recca followed her lead and sat down in a chair, while we sat down in the chairs that had been prepared for us.

“May I know your purpose for being here, Lady Karen?”

“The party leader and clan master, Mars, sent me here obviously. But I'm glad I came. I'm glad to be her. Although it is only a smart part, I understand how rough it is here. I'd love to pour you a drink but I'm on the Forest of Death guard duty now so I'll pour you a drink next time I get the chance.”

Karen seemed to have backed me up. And she showed appreciation to the Knights. And then Recca answered in response.

“If I can receive the honor of having Lady Karen pour myself a drink, no one would mind as long as it’s just a little. Could you please do the honor before you leave?"

Yeah. He’s one understanding knight commander.

“All right. We’ll do just that after Mars finished the reporting. Mars please.”

Karen looked at me and I handed Recca the letter given from the fast horse’s messenger.

“That was opened by me on my own initiative so don't worry about it.”

After Karen said the above, Recca nodded and read the letter.

“To be honest, we would have retreated today if Mars hadn't come yesterday. When we depart on the expedition, we had at least ten Water and ten Earth magicians with us but we can't maintain the front line if the supply is interrupted. The water supply contributed greatly. Is there anything we can do? Well, we're on the front line so we can't provide anything currently even if you named the price but maybe we can return the favor in time."

“No, no, we're just here because we received the quest... may I ask you just one thing? May I appraise you, Sir Recca ?"

Recca answered that it was not a problem so I appraised her.

Name: Recca Bistam

Title: -

Status: Human race, head of the Bistam Barony

Condition: Good

Age: 26

Level: 52

HP: 122/122

MP: 284/284

Strength: 48

Agility: 49

Magic: 98

Dexterity: 60

Endurance: 45

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Pole Technique (Lv6/D)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv7/C)

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv5/D)

Equipment: Salamander three-section staff

Equipment: Vestments of Fire

Equipment: Bracelet of Fire

Are these the stats of a man who is known to be close to A-rank…? He is certainly strong but not as strong as Guster. Perhaps even I can be an A-rank?

I also saw a pole technique skill for the first time. Three-section staff? I think it's the one that the guy with the bandana wrapped around his head is twirling around... Well, it seems to go well with Fire...

“How's my stats?”

Recca asked me.

“It was exactly as Duke Regan had told me. Now I see why they call you a near A-rank adventurer.”

When I replied like that, Recca laughed.

“Yes, I may be close to an A-rank adventurer. But just because I’m close to A-rank doesn't mean I’m as good as one. I know that better than anyone else."

Hm? What does he mean by that? He continued after reading my expression.

“If you want to become an A-rank adventurer, you have to defeat one of the A-rank adventurers because the number of A-rank adventurers is limited to 100. Even those in the lower ranks of the A-rank adventurers right now are as strong as monsters. So I can't become an A-rank adventurer until someone there dies, and even if I do, there's a good chance I'll be nominated for a match with a B-rank adventurer and get dropped to B-rank. As long as I'm being called someone close to an A-rank adventurer, I suppose no one will ever become an A-rank adventurer."

Is there that much of a difference between him and the lower-ranked A-rank adventurers... I guess I’m still far from A-rank too...

“Thank you for telling me. We will be returning to the fortress city of Isaac and investigating the magic beasts that are currently attacking from the east. When we are done with that and have some time to spare, we would like to go to the Forest of Death once if that is alright with you?"

When I made one more request, Recca looked at me sternly.

“I really appreciate your help with the Water. But only those who are capable can go to the Forest of Death. Mars, do you have the ability?"

If I withdraw here, we won't be able to go to the Forest of Death. It's okay if we don't go but I want to see how Recca and Isaac fight.

“Then can you observe one magic of mine?”

When I said that, Recca nodded. Then Karen said.

“Recca, Mars is really strong. There is no need for such tests...”

“Karen, it's okay. I want Sir Recca to watch me.”

Karen nodded reluctantly when I interrupted her. The three of us left the tent and followed Recca to an open area.

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Author’s note:

I am not sure how many of you reading this know Billy.*1

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TL’s note:

1. The author is making reference to KOF’s Billy Kane I think. No guarantees.