summerpeanut

Chapter 142 - Drenched Celebration

TL:SummerPeanut

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A certain day in November 2030.

Why am I called to the royal court...? Lately I have accomplished no credit. And why are these two even...is there some kind of scheme going on...?

I was given a royal decree to grace the king's presence. It was a very unexpected edict, but one that I could not accept. No matter how much I asked for it to be rescinded, the reply was the same. The alternative was 100 white gold coins.

If asked why this had happened, it had to be said that it’s because that the third prince, Doaho, had, of all things, injured Clarice at the Lister Imperial School.

Clarice's parents Grey and Erna, who were with her right now, were very upset. I shouldn’t have asked them at this point of time...

Still, I didn't expect Syrians to follow up with Regan. ...as expected, it might be because Ellie was involved? The threats from alliance of Regan, Syrians, and Fresvald are not something that our country can resolve alone. I must at least take our country's top adventurers and knights to Rimurgarde...

I… No, for the sake of our future children, I must make sure that only my plan succeed...

☆☆☆

10 November 2030, 15:00.

Finally, the Lister Festival is over. A lot has happened since the Doaho incident. There were two memorable events.

The first was Alice's great luck.

Every day she won the lottery for the maid café. Sofia and Alice must be the only ones who won the maid cafe lottery more than once.

And secondly, there was someone who were passed the fighting tournament against 5 people.

The fifth person to enter the competition was Garl, and Garl completely lost his confidence. Ike has been helping out at the maid cafe for a long time so he doesn't know how good his opponent really is.

Duval was also absent at the time, apparently. What we do know is that the one who beat the five people was ten years old and was the second prince of the Kingdom of Balkus. Unlike the prince of the Zarkham Kingdom, this one seemed to be skilled which is something fortunate.

“Good job everyone. I think we did well for the first time. Next year, I hope we can prepare earlier and do it with other classes and grades. Thank you too to my brother and sister-in-law for their help. You were very helpful."

When I thanked everyone for their hard work, Ike said.

“Good work. Apparently we've got some breaking news. This year's Miss Lister is Clarice. Edean also did well, coming in second, but I guess that's to be expected."

Huh? I thought they were supposed to decide the winner of this kind of thing? Then Clarice seemed to have the same question.

“But I shouldn’t have entered the Miss Contest...? Isn't there some kind of mistake?"

Clarice asked, puzzled.

“The Lister Festival's Miss Contest is voted for by individual. And they're voting for the men, too. By the way, the winner of the Miss Contest will have a lot of things imposed on them by the school so you should be prepared for that."

Wow, men are voted for too... But still, Clarice is in a tough spot. Maybe it's not so good to be a beautiful woman... Then Clarice said.

“Am I able to decline this? I'm not good at public appearances like this."

She's got a cute troubled face, too. When I'm grinning…

“Why are you acting like it’s none of your business? Mars, you are this year's Mr Lister Imperial School."

“What? Isn't that supposed to be brother Ike?”

I was surprised by the words of the senior glasses. No matter how you look at it, Ike is the face of Lister Imperial School.

“I heard that this year it was already almost decided in the second day. They said most of the girls who got in line to shake hands fell for Mars. For the girls, I heard the votes were a bit split but still over half of them went for Clarice."

I haven't seen any voting booths or ballot boxes or anything like that for the past week though...

“So good luck to Mars and Clarice. Mars has stopped me winning four times in a row, and Clarice has also stopped Ede winning her fourth times so make sure you do well."

Ike told me without any hint of regret. I'm sure he's happy inside that he no longer has to deal with the hassle. When I'm holding my head in my hands, Clarice whispered in my ear.

“Let's work hard together.”

She whispered to me cutely. I'm not good at this kind of thing, but if I'm with Clarice, I might be able to do my best... Clarice seems a little relieved to hear that she's with me.

“Speaking of which, how is senior Garl doing? I heard he's quite depressed...?"

Baron asked Ike, and Ike looked at him with a sullen expression.

“Oh...he’s not so good right now... Originally Garl came here undefeated among the same generation dwarves, apparently. He was very disappointed when he lost to me and it took him a while to recover. If he doesn't get over this on his own, there will probably be many more times like it in the future."

“Do you know what kind of fighting style the other second prince has?”

Karen asked Ike in a respectful tone.

“I heard he's a magic swordsman type like Mars and Baron…but then there's many different types of magic swordsman. The other 4 before Garl were defeated easily so there’s not much information to be gained.

The only one who knows is Garl but he's so depressed that he can't even talk. Also, it seems that the prince's purpose was to meet Mars.

It seems that the Balkus Kingdom got wind of his victory over Brad at the Freshman Combat Tournament, and the second prince, who was called a prodigy, said he wanted to fight Mars and came all the way here in spite of the little time he had.

Unlike some third prince who has a lot of free time on his hands, I heard he has a pretty good reputation. I heard that wherever the king goes, the second prince is taken around with him."

So he came to meet me... It's a good thing we didn't meet. I'm sure there will be some trouble if I meet him. I've had enough of royalty.

We went to town to celebrate the wrapping of the Lister Festival. The members were members of the 1st year S class and Red Lotus. Naturally, we forcibly invited Garl too. It was also a consolation or rather a pep party.

Until a little while ago, I had been partying so much that I thought I'd had enough of parties, but after all, it's really fun to have a party for the first time in a while.

Garl has been drinking a lot, but he's not quite his usual jovial self. That doesn't mean he doesn't get involved… It's kind of lonely...

In contrast, the girls were drinking a lot and letting off stress. After all, they all seemed to be quite stressed out about the Doaho incident.

Karen, who normally doesn't get drunk much, seemed to be very drunk and was breathing hard, saying she would turn them to dust the next time she saw them. At this point, I didn't expect to only see her again in a few months' time.

Clarice and Ellie were also drinking next to each other, snacking on Doaho stories. Misha is already donating to the toilet after drinking too vigorously. She was firmly fulfilling her two names as a runaway elf. Admirable behavior I guess...?

Baron and Minerva were having a nice talk together. I quietly eavesdropped on them....

“I learned how to tie you up in a way that suits Baron so let's stay together this coming holiday.”

“Oh. I'm looking forward to it.”

Baron seems to have been tamed? Apparently, Ike also heard this conversation and was surprised. Ike was also drinking next to senior glasses. I approached them and asked.

“What are you planning for this holiday, brother Ike?”

I asked, and Ike said.

“I think I'm going home this year. It's been a while since I've been back and I'm a bit nervous. ...I'm going to talk to him about Ede and get his approval. Things have been a bit awkward with father but..."

Come to think of it, Zeke didn't seem to trust Ike very much. And Ike had also changed the way he referred to Zeke from esteemed father to father*1. Well, he's almost an adult now so that's normal I guess...

“Did something happen with father...? Please tell me if you don't mind."

Hearing that, Ike hesitated a bit but gave in.

“Actually... I turned down the marriage proposal father brought to me... What I wanted to do, which was to become a A-rank adventurer, and I was already thinking of marrying Ede.

Then father got very angry... I wanted to have a good discussion but I didn't have much time on my side... and I'm sure you will understand when you officially become the Mr Lister Imperial School.

Every December we have to entertain the parents of the children of the nobility who come to take the exams, and in January we have to entertain the nobility who attend the entrance ceremony of their children, and it's a lot of work, you know? Well, I said all that, but I was with Ede and so it was fun..."

He ended his explanation with a solid PDA. Nevertheless, I was surprised about the marriage proposal for Ike. I think Zeke's style was basically to tell me to get married or whatever...even though he didn't talk about it at all when I was in Almeria...

Ike didn't come back to Almeria so I guess Zeke came over here. The senior glasses next to him looks like she's about to cry.

That's what happens when the parents of the person you love are against your marriage. ...I don't want to see this kind of face from my senior either.

“Brother Ike! I'm going home with you! Let's convince Dad!"

Ike looked happy for a moment when I said that.

“Mars, I'm very happy with your feelings. I'd appreciate it if you did. But as I said before, Mars and Clarice probably won't be able to go home. There's an event at the Lister Imperial School...”

Oh, I forgot what was just said.

“Nah, I'll make it happen somehow. Clarice... can we go back to the Zarkham Kingdom after this is all sorted out?"

I asked Clarice.

“Of course. I don’t have the rights to say anything but I'll always treat Senior Ede as my sister-in-law in front of Zeke. Ellie, too, please.”

Ellie tapped her chest when the conversation went her way.

“...sister-in-law...”

The senior glasses was full of tears unknown whether it was because she’s happy with our words or because she’s happy that Ellie had called her sister-in-law.

“If I marry Ike, I'll have two sisters-in-law instantly...”

Then Karen.

“No, you’ll have four. I hope you haven't forgotten about me and Misha. Sister-in-law."

Karen, who usually calls her Ede, is now calling her sister-in-law. ...and aren't you all forgetting about Leena? I didn't dare to say anything as it would have ruined the good mood.

And so our eventful Lister Festival was over.

====================================

Author’s note:

Baron has finally...

The next one is the end of the Lister Festival arc.

It's not from Mars's point of view, but please read it if you don’t mind.

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TL’s note:

1. I usually don’t differentiate the very respectful honorific for father unless it’s like king and prince. Ike used to use -sama honorific toward Zeke but not now. Btw, Mars still use the very respectful honorific when conversing. But usually just call Zeke’s name directly in monologue. Clarice calls Zeke with a -san honorific which is to show respect but not as extreme as -sama.

Chapter 141 - The Fox's Plot

TL:SummerPeanut

Thanks for the peanuts n supports patrons and Jared Parrish.

====================================

“I sincerely apologize.”

Surprisingly, Doaho apologized to us easily. He was basically almost like he was on his knees. Well, it seems that he is quite scared of the Duke of Syrians, and more than anything else, he must have given up because I defeated Origo and his men so one-sidedly.

I can't say that I won't forgive him after being apologized to by the prince of a country. But forgive and not forgive are not words I should say. I looked towards Clarice and Ellie, and Clarice nodded while Ellie stepped back behind Clarice.

I am sure that Ellie wanted to say that she will leave everything to Clarice. Well, I was sure Clarice would forgive him...

“This matter will not be forgiven so easily, and you must be prepared for this, a prince of one country doing such a thing in another. I will ask for adequate reparations, and I intend to keep my words."

Eh...? Clarice? Since when did you start sounding so dignified? I looked towards Clarice in surprise, but Clarice was surprised too. Then Clarice looked at Duke Regan who was standing next to Clarice.

Apparently, the words she just said were those of Duke Regan. I wonder how much compensation is adequate for this... It was later discovered that she was making outrageous demands.

Huh... I'm tired today. After the battle with Origo and the others, I immediately returned to the maid cafe to serve customers, and at lunchtime, Duke Regan and Duke Syrians summoned me to the headmaster's office to have a meal together, and then I returned to serve customers again...

When I dined with Duke Regan and Duke Syrians, I ate very expensive food, but I was too nervous to taste anything. I wasn't nervous when I visited the Duke of Regan's mansion. ...it still seems impossible for me to dine with two dukes by myself.

And now it's finally 3pm and the maid cafe has closed, but I've been summoned to the headmaster's office again alone. ...... After knocking on the door and saying my name, I was told to go in, so I went in and found that there were other guests ahead of me. What a surprise, it's Sofia and Alice.

“Excuse me. Is there anything I can be of assistance?”

I asked Duke Regan, and she said.

“First of all, I would like to thank you for your hard work today. Thanks to your action, I’m sure the Duchy of Regan will have a moment of stability. And as a reward, I will give you something you desire."

Moment of stability? Not the Confederation of Lister, but the Duchy of Regan? Does this mean that she achieved a cooperative relationship with the Duke of Syrians?

“Then I’ll withhold my reservations… I want equipment the most. I would like to have Misha's or Dominic's equipment as my top priority.”

Then Duke Regan laughed and said.

“I said I would give it to you, remember? Are you sure you want Misha and Dominic's equipment?”

Hmm? Could it be the pattern that I won't get anything?

“Yes. I'd prefer to have their equipment if possible, but if not, I would like the equipment to be for myself...”

“That’s not the case. It's just that you are always too selfless. ...Misha's equipment can be found quickly. Dominic's equipment will have to wait a bit. I'll find something for him..."

That’s great...I asked one question that was on my mind.

“Can I ask you a question here? What happened to Origo? Did Lillian treat her?"

Then Duke Regan said.

“Origo's body is completely healed now. But his heart is completely broken. He won't be able to return as an adventurer for a while. ...Oh, by the way, I confiscated Origo's sword so would you like that instead? I think it's quite a piece, don't you think so too?"

Alright! I've got the conversation going to a good direction. I'll let Dominic use the Sonic Boom for now.

“Thank you very much. We will freely use it.”

As I said this, Duke Regan tightened her expression before opening her mouth.

“Now, for your information, I would like to get Mars's opinion on one thing, but first of all, you know these two, don't you Mars?”

Duke Regan said as he looked at Sofia and Alice, both of whom seemed quite nervous.

“Yes, I'm told they are both Dominic's childhood friends.”

“What do you think about welcoming these girls to the Lister Imperial School?”

Huh? Why are you asking me that?

“I think it would be a good thing…and Dominic would be happy to have his childhood friends here...”

I'm not quite sure what the question is about.

“So, which class do you think it would be best to put the girls in? By the way, consider Sofia as a first year student too."

“I don't know anything other than that she's Dominic's childhood friend so…”

I refrained from answering because if I answered badly, I might dig a grave. By the way, I think Alice should go to S class and Sofia is either A or an S class.

“I understand. One last thing. After the graduation ceremony in November, you first-year S class students should go on holiday until the end of January next year.

If you are returning home, you must hire an escort. Be especially careful with yourself, Clarice, Ellie, and Dominic, as you are students from foreign countries. Also, let me know when Clarice is going home.

Definitely make sure she comes back in January in good health. You have already become an indispensable part of the Lister Imperial School...the Lister Confederacy. That's all I have to say. Thank you."

When Duke Regan said this, she turned away from me and looked at the two of them. Does this mean I've already finished my business and should get out of here?

“Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me...”

No doubt, Duke Regan has appraised Sofia and Alice...and she seems to have noticed Alice's special ability. And Sofia seems to have some interesting special abilities too...

“I'm home!”

When I went back to the S-class classroom, Ike and the senior glasses were there too, for some reason. Well, maybe it was a hassle to go back to the fourth year class after the maid cafe.

“Welcome back. What did Duke Regan say?”

Clarice asked me with a worried look on her face.

“She said she's going to give me a reward. Well, I was hoping to get some equipment. I think I'll get the Sonic Boom that Origo had. If I get it, I want Dominic to equip it.”

Clarice was relieved at my words. Dominic was doing gut-pose happily. Karen then said to everyone.

“See, I told you. You're all worrying too much. What Mars did is absolutely not wrong. He didn't do anything wrong, so why worry?”

“I'm sorry. I seem to have a habit of thinking in the wrong direction...and after all, no matter how much he defended me and Ellie, the other party is a prince of a country......."

Misha heard Karen and Clarice's words.

“But it’s fortunate that nothing happened. Even though Karen say like that, I know she’s secretly worried. I'm really glad..."

Misha's voice, which had been trying to sound cheerful, became more and more tearful, and by the end it was almost inaudible. I knew they were all worried about me, even though they didn't show it on their faces. Ellie came to her usual fixed...position, i.e. entangled in my left arm, without saying a word.

“I'm sorry for making you all worried about me. It's okay if I myself met unreasonable incidents but Clarice and Ellie were victimized and I just couldn't let it go... and of course I think I would have acted the same way if someone else had been in the same situation.”

When I said this, Minerva and senior glasses said.

“Mars, you were very cool. I was even a little jealous of Clarice and Ellie. To fight with the prince of a country for oneself is...wonderful."

“Yes, Mars was cool. Maybe this sister-in-law should give you a reward, don’t you think so?”

The other female members of the group seemed to be impressed with me too...... although Brother Ike and Baron's stares were a little painful.......

“Oh, Dominic! Sofia and Alice might be coming to Lister Imperial School. I saw them in the headmaster's office earlier, and Duke Regan said she'd welcome them."

My words made Dominic very happy.

“Also, after the graduation ceremony in November, she said we can take the rest of the year off until the end of January. But when we go back home, we'll definitely have to hire an escort and come back at the end of January in good spirits.”

Then, to Ike's surprise.

“Did Duke Regan really say that? If so, does that mean that Mars and the others won't be allowed to join the student council? After the graduation ceremony, we'll choose the student council members. ...And next year, we will be fifth years and won't be doing it either..."

“Maybe she’s thinking of doing that for next year's third and fourth years? Next year's juniors and seniors will be told they are incompetent and won't get a job otherwise?”

Or so said the senior glasses. That's certainly true. Duke Regan has to think about all the students.

We went back to the dormitories, talking about what we were going to do for the holidays.

====================================

Author’s note:

If you feel the series is even a bit interesting and are curious about the story’s continuation, please consider giving ★★★★★ and bookmark as it will really help with my motivation. m(__)m

I am also on Twitter.

I would be delighted if you would follow me on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/qdUYSDZf8XzNaUq

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Chapter 140 - A Man's Fight and A Girl's Determination

TL:SummerPeanut

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When I left the maid cafe and headed for the arena, I met a couple of people I didn't really want to meet. They are Duke Syrians and Brad.

“Hey! You, wait a minute! You're Mars, right?”

Brad spotted me and started talking to me.

“Ah, ah... long time no see. I'm in a bit of a rush... Do you mind?"

After I said that, the Duke of Syrians...

“In a hurry? Where are you going?"

Damn… That's the last question I want to answer. ...

“Oh, I beg your pardon, Duke of Syrians. It has been a long time. I am now on my way to the arena..."

When I said that much, Duke Syrians interrupted me and said, "Take us with you!". The number of troublesome things has increased... It's not the Dukes of Syrians that I'm fighting this time.

I went to the arena's staffs' room with the Duke of Syrians and his son. There, Ike had brought Duke Regan with him and was waiting for me.

“Mars, Ike told me what happened. You have done well. That's why you're the first ranked in the S class of the Lister Imperial School. The students are the school's treasure, and if anything should happen to them while they are at school, we will do our best to deal with it. Originally, I would have hoped that you would have told me immediately, but for all intents and purposes, it seems that you didn't have time to report to me. It would have been fine if you had relied on Ryner but I cannot allow you to do so without an apology. Please make sure you win!"

You're saying good things...aren't you? I feel like it's a pretty cerebral way of thinking... So my actions were affirmed in the end... If this is in Japan, there's definitely going to be a huge argument, divided between the yay and nay camps… Afterward, I was still blasted by the Duke of Syrians and the Duke of Regan.

Apparently, Duke Syrians is furious about Ellie getting hurt...

I was also surprised that Duke Syrians was so supportive of Duke Regan. I thought it would be more bitter anger... As the son of a nobleman of the Balkus Kingdom, have I done something wrong again? Maybe I shouldn't have brought Duke Syrians here after all.

I spoke to Origo before the battle started but he seemed to have forgotten about me. Waltz, the sleep magician, was no longer in Moonlit Darknight. Origo was the only B-level adventurer class in that party, and the rest were four C-rank adventurers but one member of Abyss was a C-rank adventurer, and the others were all D-rank adventurers...

If Clarice, Ellie and Ike fight seriously, even if it's not me, they're opponents they could beat one to ten.

It took quite a while until the signal to start the match. In the meantime, I was going to appraise the Duke of Syrians but the signal to start the match was suddenly given... Read the air a bit please...

I had my target from the start. It was only Origo. I wish you had stopped the prince back then.

Partly out of self-imposed recrimination towards him, but also because I thought that overpowering the strongest in these two parties would demoralize the others.

Origo pulled out an expensive-looking sword and slashed at me. I can't believe he hasn't grown at all and only his equipment is better...

Name: Sonic Boom

Attack: 18

Special: Agility +2

Value: B

When you enchant a sword with Wind magic, a Wind Cutter comes out from the tip of the sword.

I'd like to equip this for either Clarice or Dominic... Clarice has Defender but Defender lacks attack power. Dominic is poorly equipped in the first place. By the way, I think the Sylph Sword that Gysahl had would be a better match than this. In my case, Wind Cutter can be used without chanting.

Origo and the others first came to surround me. Well, it's a good thing they are acting cautiously. Normally, I should be moving around to avoid being surrounded but I allowed them to surround me easily.

The other two are shooting me with magic from a distance... When the siege was completed, they attacked from all directions immediately after a voice saying "Fire" resounded from the rear. The only thing they've got going for them is their leadership... They're still a B-rank party even if rotten...but they're a little too hasty...

It would have been more annoying if they had attacked me after closing the siege further, but they were all about 10 metres away from me, so I could have created as many one-on-one situations as I wanted. Maybe the magicians in the rear were scared and shot early.

My target was only Origo. I avoided the Fire and then charged head-on to Origo who was rushing towards me. I was using Sylphid just in case and headed towards Origo, but he could not react to my movement at all.

He swung his sword at me, but I avoided his sword, chopped his right hand with all my might, and dropped his Sonic Boom from Origo's hand. I kicked the fallen Sonic Boom and sent it flying to the edge of the hall.

Origo can basically do nothing without a sword... and the members attacking me while surrounding me are C-rank adventurers... even if they are strong, they are only at the level of a newly formed C-rank adventurer.

There’s no need to resist any magic, and after a little bit of dodging, the magician's MP was already about to be depleted. After all, the MP of magicians from Zarkham Kingdom is low. This is...too weak...

I just kept on dodging the attacks of the C-rank adventurers and I slapped at Origo. Really just a slap... Origo was furious at being completely underestimated.

“Y-youooooo!!!

No matter how terrifying he was, he was not scary at all... When I slapped Origo’s unguarded waist hard enough, Origo's waist was shattered. Seeing this, the other adventurers started to get scared.

I grabbed Origo's chest with my left hand and lifted him up, and continued to strike him on the cheek with my right hand. The sound of slaps kept echoing through the hall, *slap*, *slap*, *slap*. Incidentally, the slaps were not very forceful. It would be to the extent that his cheeks would swell up a little.

And Origo tried hard to remove my left hand but it is useless. The guys surrounding me tried to attack me but when I use Origo as a shield, they can't do anything.

I can see that the morale of those surrounded me is dropping more and more. They realized that Origo could no longer break out of this situation without them doing something about it.

He used his remaining MP and hit me with Fire from a distance but I used Origo as a shield and the Fire hit Origo directly in the back.

“Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

Origo burned with a great scream. I swung Oligo around to extinguish the fire that had ignited him, and he fainted. I continued slapping him again and Origo regained consciousness.

The other adventurers have already completely lost their will to fight. I didn't have to deal with all of them if I overwhelmed Origo as I had expected before the fight.

I said nothing and just slapped Origo flat. I will not encourage them to surrender. And I wasn't going to make it easy for him to surrender. I was going to keep doing it until he completely broke down.

That's how guilty I felt for letting them hurt Clarice and Ellie. They deserve a thousand deaths! is not something I would say but they'll pay for it in their own way.

After two or three minutes of slapping, Origo was about to say "Sur...", so I slapped him hard and crushed his words.

I could see that Origo's face had deformed a lot, no matter how much I tried to moderate my strength. And his eyes were filled with tears.

Then, when he tried to convey his intention to give up several times, but each time I hit harder, Origo finally started to cry. It's about time... I threw Origo down and he couldn't even take stance to receive the fall. And not a single person from Moonlit Darknight or Abyss ran up to Origo.

The hall was quiet and still. And normally the ring announcer would say the match is over, but this ring announcer knows, it will probably still continue.

I got to where Origo was down, and Origo's heart was completely broken. Well, a B-rank  adventurer losing completely to a 10-year-old kid in this huge crowd. And it would be unprecedented, loss from one-against-ten.

I just stared down at Origo lying there from above. And then Origo was like.

“I-I'm sorry...I give up.”

I just turned around and left the venue, and the ring announcer shouted my name.

“Winner! Mars Bryant!"

The crowd, who had forgotten to speak, shouted in unison and the place shook like an earthquake with cheers.

☆☆☆

An unbelievable sight took place before my eyes: one against ten, Mars dominating... and that too without drawing his sword...but Mars's face looks so sad...

“Tsk… He overwhelmed so one-sidedly against a B-rank adventurer... Indeed, I think I am stronger than that B-class, but would the result be the same if I took his place?”

The beastman named Brad said in frustration, and Sir Ike answered him.

“Brad, sometimes you lose yourself if you aim too high. You should start with the target closest to you, which is me. After you beat me, go on to Ellie, then Clarice, and finally Mars.”

What...? Ellie is...that blonde, nice-bodied beauty! She's stronger than Sir Ike with that figure! And the S-ranked goddess Clarice is even stronger...? What's going on in this school...?

In the end, Mars won a convincing victory without breaking a sweat. I still can't believe it... and Mars came back with a sad look on his face. Then the Duke of Syrians.

“You! Why did you hold back! Go and put and end to them!"

Wow... I’m appalled...

“Ha ha... I think I did the best I could in my own terms. I don't want to fight against anyone for a while longer..."

H-he’s too humble...eh...? Wait...? Blonde, super handsome, extremely strong and humble? Is there any reason not to fall in love with him somewhere? And then Sir Ike gave Mars a fistbump.

“Nice fight! That was pretty drastic for Mars. It looks like you've completely broken his heart, and I don't think he'll make it as an adventurer anymore.”

“Yes. This time Clarice and Ellie were hurt and I was pretty mad too. Now all that's left is for the prince to apologize.”

After such a terrific victory, Mars' face was not so bright. Finally, Edean.

“Alright! It's all over so I'm going back ahead of you. I'm sure everyone is wondering what's going on. Also, Clarice told the guests earlier that we're having lunch together on the last day so don’t forget."

Mars said, “Okay”, bowed his head and looked over at Edean. Alice, who had been looking at Mars the whole time and had lost her voice, suddenly said

“Sis... I...like Sir Mars... I'll definitely come to this school next year!”

Alice's face as she said this to me was not the face of the sister I always see, but that of a woman.

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Author’s note:

You deserve a thousand death!

I didn't just want to use the line...you know?

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Chapter 139 : Disturbing Lister Festival 2

TL:SummerPeanut

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Suddenly, Mars stood up and said what he was going to do, which was to pick a fight against the prince of the Kingdom of Zarkham.

Is this guy an idiot…? The man who looks like an adventurer next to Doaho has a very bad guy look on his face. ...he's a guy you should never get involved with.

When I was listening to the conversation between Mars and Doaho, Doaho's idiot said something outrageous like five to one.

There's no way a blonde super handsome guy with nothing to offer but his face can win ...what if he gets a scratch on that beautiful face!

Speaking of scars on a beautiful face, that S-ranked Clarice had injuries on her face. Such a waste when she had such a goddess-like face...but even her scarred face is pretty... even if it's scarred, she's still an S-rank...

And for some reason, Mars started saying he's going to fight one-on-ten as if to provoke him... Huh? Are you going to die? Maybe you want to show off your cool side in front of everyone or something? Do you think you're going to make me fall in love with you by doing that? I don't care how good you look...as long as your face...rather I would take initiative to fall...

It seemed that Sir Ike went to the arena at the behest of Mars. And the handsome uncle who first pointed his sword at the fool went out with the fool and the guy with bad guy face next to him... Mars...is he really going to fight?

Then Mars went into the backyard with a very beautiful woman called Clarice and another A+ blonde beastie beauty.

Wait...what are the three of you doing in there alone... Maybe... Soon Mars came out to change his clothes. Then he started apologizing to the customers and us. It's not his fault... and the male guests praised him while picking up the shards of glass.

As soon as Mars left the room, Clarice and the beastie child came out from the backyard, both of them wearing wound dressings and bandages. And they had tear marks. Clarice, with her wound patch and tear marks, turned to us.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize. We would like to make ourselves available again to our guests this time. If you would like, would it be possible for you to have dinner with us on the last day between 12:00 and 13:00 lunchtime? We will charge you an entrance fee to the Lister Imperial School but we will pay for the food and drinks there. What do you think?"

Naturally, all the male guests were delighted. Of course, we both had no objections ...

The maid cafe then resumed its business as if nothing had happened. It was an event that lasted a little over five minutes in time... I felt very uncomfortable.

How could the S class students remain so calm? Mars might be killed right now… Perhaps they are assuming that he won't be killed in the arena where the public is watching… Even then, I think it's too cold of a response for them...

Is Mars hated by his S class peers because he has that face and does whatever he wants?

“Dominic… Can I ask you something ?"

Having resolved myself, I moved next to Alice to talk to Dominic and he nodded in reply.

“Are you all going to leave Mars to die?”

Alice's face twitched at these words. Alice may have been thinking the same thing. Then Dominic smiled a little and said.

“Do you think Mars is going to lose? He’s the strongest man in the S class...no Lister Imperial School, you know? There's no way he can lose in any way. He probably won't even get to go serious..."

Hearing Dominic’s words, Baron, too, added.

“Sofia and Alice. If you're interested, would you like to go and see? I'm sure they can get us into the staffs' room, just nice Senior Edean is still here. Dominic and myself can't go with you though.”

“...what? Are you refering to the last year's Miss Lister, Edean...?"

When I said that, Baron nodded. His eyes turned to the beautiful woman with the red glasses. She's pretty… A bespectacled beauty who looks good in her cute red-rimmed glasses when Alice said, "I'd love to see!".

Baron went to Clarice and Edean and explained the situation, and Edean changed into her uniform and came to us. The uniform was white with red embroidery, the same color as Sir Ike's.

“You must be Sofia and Alice. I am Edean Alistar. Nice to meet you.”

Edean smiled and held out her beautiful hand.

“I-I'm Sofia Carroll. Pleased to meet you.”

I took Edean’s hand and so did Alice.

“I'm Alice Carroll. Nice to meet you.”

Alice bowed with me. We both followed Edean into the arena. When we got to the arena, Edean took us to the staffs' room, which was full of people.

The fool and bad guy from earlier were not here. They must be waiting in another room. And Mars was being questioned by two adults.

One was a beautiful blue-haired elf woman who was next to him shaking his hand. And the other was a very gangly beastman. This beastman, to say the least, is much scarier than the bad guy face. I wondered what kind of conversation they were having...and stood up with my ears a little.

“So...? You better have dealt with the dispute settlement, right?"

The scary beastman was questioning Mars. Why is Mars being accused?

“No... it's just starting. But my aim is to get His Highness Doaho to apologize, so I actually don't have anything against the two parties Moonlit Darknight and Abyss.”

“Hey! If you're being that weak, the Kingdom of Zarkham will take advantage of you! You know what I'm talking about! If you won't do it, then I will!”

Then the blue-haired elf next to him.

“Duke Syrians...calm down a little. Mars. You will definitely win. If you want, I can cover you with Wind magic from outside?"

What? Is that scary beastman one of the 12 dukes, the Duke of Syrians...?

“Duke of Syrians, Duke Regan. Don't worry. This is an opponent I have already fought when I were six years old. The other side has changed its members considerably, and the party itself seems to be weaker than it used to be. It's so hard to understand why Abyss is a B-rank party. Besides, their leader hasn't grown stronger either, so there are no variables that would cause me to lose."

Eeeee!!! The blue-haired elf is Duke Regan... how many great people is Mars talking to... and there are no variables that would make him lose?

As I was eavesdropping, Sir Ike came over to me.

“Have you come to support Mars by any chance? You can look forward to it, I'm sure you'll see something interesting.”

He said oh so carefreely. Your brother is going to fight one against ten now, isn't he? You should be more like...worried or something... then one of the beastmen spoke to Ike.

“Hey. After Mars fights the guys from the Kingdom of Zarkham, will you let me fight with him? I'll make him draw his sword this time.”

He's already talking on the premise that Mars’s going to win. ...and that he's going to make Mars pull out his sword this time. ...Mars is a sword saint, isn't he? How can he defeat you without using a sword? As I was thinking things over, I heard the ring announcer's voice from outside.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Please be calm! We will now have an exhibition match! And this fight will be conducted under special rules! By the wishes of both sides, it will be a one-on-ten fight!”

"First of all, I'd like to introduce you to the idiot...excuse me…Doaho who cowardly wants to beat one man with ten! The escort party for the third prince of the Kingdom of Zarkham, Doaho Zarkham! The ten from Moonlit Darknight and Abyss!”

Eh...? What's this announcement… It’s against the third prince of the Zarkham Kingdom, you know? I know I'm calling him an idiot in my mind but how nice of the students of this school to be so direct!

When the ten adventurers and the idiot entered, they were greeted with loud boos. The Duke of Syrians and the beastman called Brad shouted, "I'm going to kill you!" or “We're going to invade the Kingdom of Zarkham so wash your necks and wait for us!” and other outrageous things.

The idiot and adventurers who saw the Duke of Syrians were completely freaked out.

“Now, let me continue...introducing the player who will defeat these ten fools! They call him the Sword Saint but no one has ever seen him draw his sword...and as the Harem King, he reigns as the shadow mastermind of the Lister Imperial School! You know who he is! Marsssss Bryantttttt!"

The crowd cheered wildly as Mars entered the hall. The ground shook and made me feel sick...

But the announcer said one thing that bothered me...harem king...? Then Alice asked me.

“What's a harem king?”

She asked while tilting her head. When I tried to answer, Sir Ike said.

“Mars is so cool, isn't he? All the girls like him. The one who gets lots of girls to like him is called a Harem King.”

Alice seems satisfied with this answer. ...the ring announcer continued to speak.

“Well, we've got the details of the ten a-holes. Apparently they operate in the Kingdom of Zarkham… Eh...? B-rank party...? ... eh? Are you kidding me...?"

The whole hall buzzed at these words. They said that, as expected, they couldn't beat a B-rank party in a one-on-ten match, or that they wouldn't be able to win even in a one-on-one match, or that perhaps they dared to organize a reckless match because they knew they couldn't win from the start...

It seems that the parties themselves are also talking about something. I listened to the conversation with my proud hell-like ears.

“Long time no see. Mr Origo. Do you remember me?"

Mars asked the man with evil face. Then the man called Origo replied.

“Huh!? I don't know you. I'm going to beat you and get this over with! I don't want to get into a fight with the Duke of Syrians or anyone else."

“Well, just be prepared...although the fact is that you may not be directly at fault but I think you're the only one who could have stopped the prince.”

The signal to begin was not given easily.

Apparently, the ring announcer did not expect Mars' opponent to be a B-rank party. However, when Duke Regan gave the sign to start quickly, the ring announcer signalled for the start.

And then the unbelievable happened.

====================================

Author’s note:

If you feel the series is even a bit interesting and are curious about the story’s continuation, please consider giving ★★★★★ and bookmark as it will really help with my motivation. m(__)m

I am also on Twitter.

I would be delighted if you would follow me on Twitter.

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Chapter 138 : Disturbing Lister Festival

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

6 November 2030.

I had a bad day yesterday... incontinence in a haunted house... I fainted and woke up in the infirmary... Luckily, Alice seemed to have experienced the same too and I'm glad she didn't find out about my big faux pas but I can't go near that haunted house anymore.

Besides, the fighting tournament I was supposed to watch yesterday was apparently the most exciting ever. I heard that the real fight between Ike, the ace of the Lister Imperial School, and Brad, the Duke of Syrians' legitimate son, was an emotional battle that made everyone's hands sweat...

“Big sis! Today's the first year S class maid cafe day! I'm looking forward to meeting Sir Mars. I wonder if he remembers me?"

Alice is still the same as ever... She was scurrying around the school all day yesterday, looking for Mars. What's so good about a guy with just a face like that? No, just his face is superb. I can stare at him all the time... I'd rather he look at me all the time... No, I shouldn't... I need to protect Alice from his poisonous fangs. Ah, for Alice's sake, I'd rather I'd be the first one to go into his poisonous fangs... or rather I’d want him to sink it in me.

"Are you okay, sister? Your face is bright red?"

Alice's voice brought me back to myself.

“I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm just a bit disappointed that I didn't get to see the fighting competition yesterday. I heard that Ike is apparently a pretty good-looking guy too. I'll definitely need to see the Reimei girls who are rumored to be at the maid cafe. I heard that all the members of the Shield of the Saintess pretty much got their bones melted during the handshake so it's pretty promising. Then we'll go to the arena afterwards and see Ike. Also, I heard that last year's Miss Lister, Edean, is also a member of Red Lotus like Ike so I definitely have to see her. Gosh, I'm so busy today!"

Since the five boys from Shield of the Saintess went to shake hands on the second day, they all seem to like a girl called Clarice.

Before they came, these five were so crazy about the two of us that they were willing to die as shields for us so they formed a group called Shield of the Saintess. What kind of girl could make all five of them fall in love…?

“Big sis, after all, you like good-looking men but you also love beautiful women, don't you?”

Well, it's not wrong. I mean, it's very accurate. I want to see a lot of things from now on, further improve my aesthetic sense, and in the future I want to be a merchant or a designer or something in that field.

I'm going to be an adventurer for a little while after I finish school, and then I'm going to pursue my dream in earnest.

“We're in the 8.30am section so we should be leaving soon.”

This maid cafe is so popular that it has become the most popular offering with a lottery drawn the day before and only those who win are allowed in.

The odds are multiplied by the thousands and the winning ticket is sold for about five gold coins. Alice found the lottery on her way home yesterday, drew it, and splendidly won.

6 November 2030, 8:00 am.

Today we paid another high entrance fee to set foot inside the Lister Imperial School, and for one week's entrance fee alone we sisters paid 14 silver coins, 49 silver coins if you include members of the Shield of Saintess… It's expensive indeed...

When we arrived in front of the building that houses the maid cafe, there was apparently a lot of noise in front of the building. When I asked about it, I found a man who was threatening others to buy the ticket for 10 gold coins per ticket...

He is apparently a prince of the Kingdom of Zarkham. He seemed to be fishing for tickets with an adventurer who seems to be his aide. How is it possible that such an arrogant man is a prince.

When the two of us tried to pass next to the prince of the Zarkham Kingdom, the prince said to us sisters.

“Hey, I'll make you my concubine. Be grateful."

He spoke to us in a high-handed manner but we pretended not to hear him and quickly made our way to the front of the classroom. The classroom where the maid cafe was operating seemed to have a magic mirror so it was impossible to see what was going on inside.

As the time drew near, more and more ticket-holders arrived, and worst of all, a man who looked like the prince of Zarkham and his entourage of adventurers from earlier included. 8.30am came and more and more of the guests in the classrooms came out.

Then a goddess we had never seen before said to us.

“Guests at 8:30. Thank you very much for your patience. Please come in."

A S-ranked beauty... Who is this silver-haired goddess... She has the cutest voice... And this maid outfit... the skirt is quite short but the white high socks that are raised above the knee to erased any lustfull thoughts. ...no, it's making it more intriguing instead… As I drooled and stared in shock, other customers kept coming in.

“Big sis! Let's go in quickly! They'll take our good seats!”

Alice called me back to our world. I rushed inside the classroom and found a spectacular view. No, this place is already a paradise...paradise of world...

The man in the butler's uniform and the woman in the maid's uniform, they were all A-rank beauties and above. And to my surprise... it was just the two of us that are females at this timing...which means four men escorting the two of us...

“Whoa, isn't this Sofia! Even Alice!"

Dominic then approached me and spoke to me. Dominic is also a good-looking man, and although he's changed a lot since I last saw him, he's the only person I can talk to without being nervous.

“I'm here because Alice drew the lottery and she coincidentally won it. Can I come enter?"

I emphasized that it was a coincidence. Well, it really is a coincidence.

“Yeah. You're welcome! Come on over. There's only two girls right now, apparently."

The two of us were led by Dominic to a corner of the room, where a handsome man was already standing and standing at a table for six. ... Mars, Baron...who is this handsome man with red hair...?

The other guests have already sat down and started chatting with the army of beautiful women. We sat down too and each handsome man sat on either side of me and Alice. On either side of me were Dominic and Baron. And next to Alice, Mars, and the red-haired hottie.

The red-haired hottie and Mars were signalling to Dominic. Then Dominic opened his mouth.

“Let's start with everyone’s introduction, shall we. From us the men. In order of rank, from highest to lowest, okay?"

Dominic said to the red-haired hottie and the hottie nodded. I guess it was a lie after all that Mars was ranked first in the S class for the first year. It's crazy no matter how you look at it. ...If such a blonde super handsome guy was so strong, there wouldn't be a woman who wouldn't fall in love with him...

“Nice to meet you. I'm Ike Bryant, 4th year Lister Imperial School, class S, ranked 1st. I hope you enjoy your time here today, even if it's only for a little while."

Huh...? Eh...? What did you just say? I don't think there would be any fourth-years here. ...?

Then Alice, who was sitting next to Sir Ike, said.

“Sir Ike, are you that Sir Glenn?”

Gathering up her courage and asked above, Ike-sama nodded in embarrassment.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, today's mission is almost complete!

Now I have nothing left to regret after I see the beautiful woman called Edean. But is there anyone who is this strong and so cool... Dominic is cool, but ... Master Ike is something else again ... and now...A blonde, extremely handsome man opened his mouth.

“I'm Mars Bryant, 1st year Lister Imperial School, Class S, ranked first. I'm Ike's younger brother as I'm sure you already know. Once again, nice to meet you.”

What...? Brothers...? This red-haired handsome guy and this blonde super handsome guy...? A and S-rank beauties collaboration... and my sister Alice is between the two of them... No woman would be happier than this... Wow, I'm sandwiched between them too... Alice seems surprised and looks at Mars and Ike-sama's faces alternately.

“Hm? You didn’t know? We still have to work hard and sell our names and faces, don't we?”

When Ike-sama said this, Mars smiled bitterly. Could it be that Mars is really strong...? But the banner saying about registering as an adventurer at the age of three at the handshake is definitely a lie... Then Alice asked Mars a question at just the right moment.

“Is it true that you were able to register as an adventurer at the age of three, Sir Mars? And is it true that you are a B-rank adventurer? It's so out of standard it’s hard to believe them...”

Alice asked. The answer was not from Mars but Dominic.

“Alice, I don't know about him being a registered adventurer at the age of three but B-rank adventurer talk is true. I think he could have been one earlier if he ever wanted to be one. I can vouch for Mars's skill. If anyone doubts it, I'll deal with them."

Dominic is serious in his answer... Alice didn't ask with any other intention. Dominic probably knew that.

The air was a little tense, but for the next ten minutes, Dominic took the lead and the party got very excited. I'd pay any amount of money for this. ...and then, in a moment of high spirits, it happened. ...

“Gashaan!”

☆☆☆

“Screw you! I paid 20 gold coins to be here! Bring all the maids to me!"

We were talking to two of Dominic's childhood friends when suddenly we heard the sound of glasses breaking with angry voices. One of the customers suddenly smashed his glass on the ground.

A shard of glass scratched Clarice's cheek and blood flowed from Clarice's cheek, and a shard also scraped Ellie's leg and a little blood flowed from Ellie's leg as well.

The shards of glass also stabbed the other male customers. Misha and Minerva quickly treated the injured guests.

The customers being treated looked ecstatic, perhaps thinking that these male customers were lucky to get a shard stuck in them.

But I was struggling to contain myself.

How dare you to my fiancées... my precious Clarice and Ellie... Clarice just seemed to be holding on desperately... a little of Ellie’s bloodlust turned to him. She’s not really mad, though.

Ike looked at me and nodded. Hinting that he’ll let me get the situation under control. This doesn't mean Ike threw it to me because he couldn't handle it. He seemed to think it would definitely be better for the future cases if I handled it.

And while Karen is about to pop up now, she looked at me and seemed to have weighed herself. ...Perhaps this is how it might have looked to Karen. That I'll take care of it so she should stay out of it.

A fierce anger tried to course through my whole body but the other me struggled to restrain it. However, I couldn't control my anger. Instead, I actively tried to get rid of the other me.

As I got up from my seat, Ryner who was guarding the maid cafe pointed his sword at the man who had slammed the glass down.

“Get out now! Or I will cut you down!”

Ryner was also quite angry. The man who smashed the glass then shouted at Ryner, his hands and voice trembling.

“I am Doaho Zarkham*1, third prince of the Kingdom of Zarkham! If you point your sword at me, you mean to start a war with my country! Does a teacher like you understand that!”

The man who broke the glass is a prince of the Kingdom of Zarkham...? But Ryner did not hesitate.

“I'll say it one more time! Get the fuck out of here! I am Ryner Orgo, B-rank adventurer, the Sword Hunter!'”

Ryner was even more enraged than before and brought his sword to Doaho's cheek.

Then a man who looked like an adventurer next to Doaho said to him. Hmm? This guy looks familiar...

“Your Highness... it’s is impossible to win against this guy... when it comes to Sword Hunter, our Zarkham Kingdom had the fair share of loses... and no matter how you look at it, I can't handle him by myself. I am no match for him alone..."

When the man said this, Doaho, with a hint of regret... tried to leave the room as if nothing had happened. Originally... if it hadn't been my fiancée who was wounded... I might have been able to continue to act as if nothing had happened...

It's true that it's a good thing that Ryner acted before me. Otherwise, I could have acted in anger...but there was another thing I regretted...why I didn't confront him first… If something happened to my fiancée, I'd definitely have to be the first one to run in!

“Wait a minute! You hurt someone and you're leaving without an apology!?”

I shouted, letting my...emotions get the better of me. Everyone was surprised by my statement but Clarice and Ellie seemed a little happy.

“Huhh?! Do you not know that I'm a royalty!? Don't get carried away!?”

“That’s in the Kingdom of Zarkham, no? This is the Lister Confederacy!”

I insisted.

“In the Kingdom of Zarkham, power is everything. If you want me to apologise, you'll have to show me some...or even overwhelming force. You're a chicken-shit who can only speak behind the back of that Ryner over there, aren't you?"

“Okay...what do you want me to do?"

“What? You’re alright with that? Do what...? You mean you're going to fight? Let’s see…I have two B-rank parties under myself. The party is called Moonlit Darknight and Abyss. This Origo here is the leader of Moonlit Darknight. I'll apologise to you if you can defeat Moonlit Darknight on your own!"

Ah...I thought I've seen him somewhere before but he’s the guy from the slave auction?  Meaning that includes that sleeping magic user too?

“I understand. Then I alone will take on Moonlit Darknight and Abyss two parties at the same time. And if I win, you'll have to apologise to us. Is that clear?"

My words startled everyone except Daybreak. Some of the male guests were shaking. ...Let's move out of here quickly.

“Brother Ike. Could you lend me the arena? I'll make it up to Sofia and Alice...when this is over, okay?"

As soon as Ike nodded, I went to the backyard, changed and headed for the arena. Sofia and Alice are surprised at what I said.

I decided to leave Bram here and have Ryner take Doaho and the others to the arena first, while I took Clarice and Ellie to the backyard for treatment. If we don't heal their injuries quickly, they might end up with a scar...

When the three of us went to the backyard, the two of them immediately hugged me.

“Mars. Thank you."

“...”

Soon I healed Clarice's cheek with my Heal. And Ellie's leg was bleeding too so I squatted down and used Heal on hers.

“Both of you, are there somewhere else..."

I looked up from below and of course they were both in mini-skirts, so I could see...a bright pink and yellow flower garden...but they squatted down and hugged me again.

“Really, thank you. I’m really happy."

After Clarice said so, Ellie also said.

“Thank you...for taking such good care of me...”

It's a problem that I made things worse but it seems that for both of them, my actions were the right thing to do... However, I'm sure that no matter how many times the same situation comes up, I would do the same thing.

I put an emergency wound dressing on Clarice's cheek, which had healed, and Ellie's leg was wrapped in a bandage.

It would be strange to come back from the backyard and find that there was no wound. I'd need to hurry up and get into my uniform too.

“Well, I'm off then, you two stay on and serve the customers. Clarice. Take care of the rest."

When I returned to the maid cafe, a male customer had taken the initiative to clean up the broken glass.

“My apology, everyone. Clarice and Ellie will be back now so I hope you enjoy yourselves for a little while longer."

I said to the audience, and they said.

"That was cool!" "That was refreshing as hell!" "Good luck!" “Get a hundred people around and gank 'em up!"

They're all cheering me on. They're good customers. I took advantage of their kindness and hurried to the arena.

====================================

Author’s note:

This chapter was long…

TLN: T_T, ofc, I know.

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TL’s note:

1. Doaho…a play with japanese words. Meaning ‘the moron’.

Chapter 137 : Fierce battle! Lister Festival

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

“Perhaps this one fight could be the main attraction of this year's fighting tournament. The strongest man of our Lister Empire School is the fourth man to come out. His fighting style is truly that of an asura*1! This is the man who has buried numerous powerful enemies with his spear! Ikeeee Bryanttt!"

With that introduction, a great cheer resounded. The hall shook from the cheers. And following the cheers, Ike appeared, dressed in a white uniform with red embroidery. The audience is already in a frenzy and festive mood. Ike is undoubtedly the face of the Lister Imperial School.

“And the man who is standing up against this strongest man is...the man who lost to the Sword Saint without being able to pull out his sword, half a year after the finals of the... Freshman Combat Tournament! When he's beaten, he fights back! Even if he doesn't get hit, he fights back! Even if you don't know him, he’ll fight you! If you see eye to eye with him, he’ll fight you! And if he thinks he can't beat Sword Saint, he'll fight against his brother! If he can't beat Glenn today, who will he hit tomorrow? The man who takes it out on you no matter what! What's yours is his! And he is the very personification of the the word ‘arrogant’! Braddd Leoooooooo!"

...This ring announcer is good at stirring things up. The blue streaks are clearly visible on Brad's face.

But still, it’s really daring of him to come here…knowing that it’ll be a definite away game… Is that how confident he is...? I don't agree with the beastly supremacy policy, but I admire his spirit.

Name: Brad Leo

Title: -

Status: Beastman (Lion race), heir to the Duke of Syrians

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 30

HP: 95/95

MP: 24/24

Strength: 51

Agility: 43

Magic: 12

Dexterity: 6

Endurance: 60

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Axe Technique (Lv4/D)

Special Ability: Body Art (Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv1/G)

Equipment: Beast Axe

Equipment: Earth Armor

Equipment: Ogre Shield

Isn't he getting unusually strong somehow... His stats is almost the same as the 5th year Duval's...and his equipment is quite luxurious......well, Ike will definitely win but it's not going to be an easy win......

Before the fight, the two men have a conversation about something.

“I never thought you’d be the fourth person to fight. I have a bit of respect for you. I'm fortunate to be able to beat the youngest B-rank adventurer. From today onwards, I'm the youngest B-rank adventurer!"

“Brad, you got pretty strong, didn’t you? I have one correction for you. I'm not the youngest B-rank adventurer. The youngest B-rank adventurer today is my brother you couldn't get to draw his sword six months ago.”

Brad wasn't the only one surprised...

“Oh my god! The shocking revelation that Glenn's brother, Mars, is already a B-rank adventurer! I really can't hide my surprise! I'm going to go and interview him today or tomorrow! But even here, my unicellular brain was disappointed! Unfortunately, defeating a B-rank adventurer does not make you a B-rank adventurer! And while Glenn and Mars are already adventurers, he is not! Shame, sorry, see you in the next life!"

The entire audience laughed at the ring announcer's incitement. No, no, as expected, I think Brad understood what he was saying, didn't he? It's still scary how home advantage can create an atmosphere where you wrestle a story and the side that wrestled the story seriously wins...

“I've been in rehab and training with my dad for the last six months! I'm confident I can beat you and Mars now! I'm sure he's in Regan right now praying for my victory!"

Is the Duke of Syrians here too…? Ike questioned Brad.

“What if you lose to me or Mars again?”

“No way! I never lose! But if I lose, we'll just start all over again!”

“Well...you're in safe hands. Even if I beat you completely here, don't give up yet!"

Somehow...they’re getting hot-headed...Ellie is watching the two of them with a worried look on her face. I silently pat Ellie's head and she leaned in closer to me.

Ike and Brad took up position at a distance.

“Begin!”

The two closed the gap in unison and attacked fiercely. Spear versus axe is still a better match for the axe. However, Ike's spear technique does not give any such impression of being at a disadvantage.

Even when Brad hit Ike's spear hard, Ike dexterously moved on to the next attack. Thanks to this, Brad's turn to attack does not come easily. If Brad could repel all of Ike's thrusts with his axe, he would have an overwhelming advantage but Ike's agility value is much higher than his.

Gradually, Brad's ogre shield becomes unable to catch Ike's spears. Ike seemed to be deliberately aiming for Brad's ogre shield. Brad swung his beast axe at Ike but Ike evaded. Ike stabbed the ogre shield everytime he evaded an attack and Brad's ogre shield finally cracked.

The Salamander Lance is enchanted with Fire magic, predictably. Brad was surprised that his ogre shield had cracked. But now Brad seemed to think he had no choice but to attack now.

Brad closed in on Ike at the fastest pace since the start of the match and swung his Beast Axe down. Ike backstepped as usual and tried to use the opportunity to destroy the ogre shield but Brad threw the cracked ogre shield at Ike.

Ike speared away the ogre shield, and in that gap, Brad attacked Ike with his left hand which had previously been equipped with the ogre shield. Ike quickly retreated again to avoid the attack but he was too late and his right arm was sliced open by Brad’s sharp claws, causing fresh blood to dance in the air.

If Ike had not been equipped with the Ifrit’s Mail, he would have been in a lot of trouble. Just before Ike was attacked, he enchanted the Ifrit’s Mail with Fire magic to reduce the damage.

Ike's spur-of-the-moment defense meant that Brad was unable to inflict a fatal wound, even though he was attacking precisely the part of the body where the armor was not covering. Well, it was still a deep wound...

There were screams from the audience due to the previous series of attacks. Then Brad attacked again. He swung his Beast Axe down from above again. This is an action that is absolutely designed to be avoided.

Ike again back-stepped and evaded Brad's downward attack but from this point on it was different. Earlier he had aimed at the ogre shield but this time it was the Beast Axe that he aimed at.

When Brad swung down on the Beast Axe, he struck it from above with the
Salamander Lance. The Beast Axe was then buried in the ground and Brad's balance,
who was holding the Beast Axe in his right hand, was also greatly disoriented.

Ike did not let this opportunity pass him by. Ike immediately kicked Brad. Brad had already let go of his Beast Axe and was trying his hardest to get back into his stance but he could not attack with enough force (to create that opening) since his stance was inadequate. In no time at all, Ike had him cornered and Ike's Salamander Lance stopped on Brad's cheek. The Salamander Lance seemed to be scorching hot and Brad's cheek was burned.

“That's enough! Winner Ike Bryant!"

A loud cheer filled the hall. It was even more awesome than the earlier entrance. Immediately, Lillian ran over to Ike and used Heal on him. And when Lillian tried to heal Brad's burns, Brad refused. Apparently, he wanted to use it as proof of his defeat. He stood up and said that if he beat Ike one day, he would remove the burn marks.

Ike gave a victor's interview amidst the loud cheers.

“Firstly, thank you all for your support. I was able to win thanks to the power of your cheering. I want to ask you all something. How was Brad who fought against me? I think his fighting style is fair and respectable. If we fought again tomorrow, the result might be different. For now, please give him the utmost praise, respect, and applause. Because without him, we wouldn't have had such a good fight."

Ike said and watched Brad's back as he left the arena. The large crowd also
applauded loudly for Brad as he left, struck by Ike's words.

Ike…is too cool…and Brad too...

I couldn't speak because the match was so awesome. I can tell that I'm still excited.  My hands are all sweaty.

“That was an awesome match... I've never seen such a great match before…”

Misha, too, looked excited as Karen said, her eyes moist with emotion.

"It looks like...they're going to be rivals from now on..."

Ike didn't use his Fire magic this time so Ike would still win if they fought in a real battle. However, considering the difference in stats up to this point and also of the home&away advantage, it is fair to say that Brad really put up a great fight this time. Ellie was also relieved that nothing happened.

When Ike came back to the staffs' room after the winner's interview, he was surprised to see us. He didn't expect us to be there.

“Congratulations. Brother Ike. That was a great match. As Karen said just now, it was a great match never seen before!”

After giving a fist bump to Ike, Ike also did the same with the Red Lotus and Reimei members and everyone else involved in the tournament.

“Brad is strong... Mars beat that with just his bare hands without a sword so Mars is still amazing. I had a lot of fun fighting Brad. Brad and Duval, I think I can have a good rivalry with these two.”

It's true, you definitely want someone you can fight with all your might. The feeling of not wanting to lose so one would train more.

“And Mars. I'm going to start working as a staff at your maid cafe tomorrow. I've been casted with Heal but I don't feel like fighting against other people for the time being. Is that OK?"

Of course, it's a big OK. With Ike around, the guys will have more time to rest. We left the venue, still excited, and went back to the maid cafe.

====================================

Author’s note:

Ike is always cool.

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TL’s note:

1. Literal translation is demon god or oni god.

Chapter 136 : Scary Lister Festival

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

What the hell is this place...I came here because everyone said it was fun and that I should definitely go…but I almost traveled to the other side of the world on the Wind Travel (the jet coaster was what Mars called it)... I can't believe that's one of the main attractions of the Lister Imperial School… That's just too scary.

I won't ride it again. ...I'll go to a milder place next...

“That was fun, sis! I heard the water thing over there is fun too! Let's ride that one too!"

I-is this girl stupid?

“A-Alice? Alice, you know, it's not nice for a girl to cackle and ooh and aah. Alice was terrible just now."

I didn't have time to pay attention to Alice next to me, and I didn't look at her for even a second, but I didn't have time to choose my means.

"I knew you were watching. As expected of my big sis. It was scary but it was fun and I couldn't help but scream. I was so occupied with myself that I couldn't see what was around me."

Scary but fun...? I was so scared that I wet myself! That's why kids are so troublesome... By the way, Alice is very scared. Maybe even more so than I am. But she's even more curious than her fear, which makes it worse. And it's annoying that she's not much different from me, even though she's a child.

“Look, let's go to that one.”

I pointed to something I saw at random, and it said school graveyard.

"Eh, a haunted house won’t even deceive children...it's boring."

Alice was complaining but I needed some time to calm down right now. There is no way that a haunted house that is put on by the school will be scary. The haunted house I went to at Diadora Saint School, was really not scary. Or rather, the quality was so low that the guests laughed at it.

"Let’s just go. Haunted houses are a staple in my school so I'd like to see how scary the Lister Imperial School’s is like."

I forced Alice to get in line, and after about five minutes, it's our turn. The description of this haunted house is written on the website. Let see...

This is probably the scariest haunted house in the Lister Confederacy. Please do not come if you have a weakness for fear. There is a history of several couples breaking up. Men should never leave a woman behind.

Hmph! If it's as simple as writing, our school can do it! Don't make fun of me for only a haunted house! For some reason, I was filled with anger. Maybe it was the anger from spilling a little at the Wind Travel earlier.

"Welcome to the...school graveyard...how many are you...?"

Hm? There’s a voice from somewhere... did someone use Wind magic to put the voice on? As usual, it’s pretty elaborate...

“Where are you? There are two of us.”

"Thank you. Please, pay me with your hand and move forward."

A woman's severed head fell from above and said. Well, someone leaked again... Even though I just finished watering the flower before entering the haunted house... I pretended to be calm as if nothing had happened and tried to move forward with Alice, but the woman's severed head got in the way. If I avoid it, Alice will find out that I am scared.

“Alice, if that head is scaring you, you don't deserve to go in there. If you don’t dare touch it, let's go back..."

I looked away from the head and turned to Alice and said above.

"Kyaaa! It's so real! It's so scary! I can't wait to get in there!"

She’s already very scared? She is making a lot of noise by touching the real head. ...
What's with that tension even though she’s scared? Eh? Are you really scared...?

The first thing that strikes me when we enter the haunted house hand in hand with
Alice is how pitch black it is. It’s so dark that it seemed impossible to even be scared of the ghosts. After a short walk, my eyes gradually became accustomed to the darkness and I was able to see a little.

The pitch black darkness is scary but being able to see only a little is also scary. ... I walked slowly, holding Alice's hand and holding on to the wall with my other hand. There were relatively few gimmicks in the first floor.

“I knew it was going to be like this. It's a piece of cake.”

I said in a loud voice to cheer myself up.

“I'm not afraid because big sis is here.”

She trusts me completely. As we sisters walk around, a little on guard, we saw a pure white woman who keeps hammering nails into a straw doll just before we go upstairs.

Naturally, this ghost was a woman with a gaping mouth. If it were only this much, it would be more or less the same as Diadora Saint school, but the haunted house here was different...

The face of the straw doll changes every time a nail is hit. The face endures intense pain, the face is stained with despair, and every time a nail is hit, a scream is heard from the straw doll.

For some reason, the faces of the straw dolls were made to give the impression of a woman's face. Oh, no... this is so creepy that I'm going to dream about it... I'll sleep in the bed with Alice today for a variety of reasons.

When I went upstairs, I found a small box that said, "Open this”. Hmm. Who would listen to you people! Then Alice broke her hand from mine and opened the box without hesitation. How dare you, you little brat! I thought for a moment but then I saw a white mask in the box. The mask resembled the face of a straw doll and had a look of fear on its face.

“What should I do... Sis I'm scared...”

You opened it, you handle it. ...was what almost came out of my mouth but…

“Alice. You can ignore these things, let's go on."

I suggested we leave the place immediately. Alice trailed silently, following my lead.

Speaking of which, I realized that I wasn't holding hands with Alice so I immediately held out my hand behind my back, and Alice held it back firmly. After all, Alice must be somewhat scared too...

After a short walk, I saw a sign that said “Never look back”. This time I decided to tell Alice firmly before she acted strangely.

“Alice. You don't have to follow these things.”

I said to Alice, who is following behind me, but she didn’t reply. She was too scared to speak up. ...let's be a big sister and encourage her here.

“Don't worry. Even if you're scared, I'll sleep in bed with you today.”

When I said this, her grip on my hand became a little tighter. This is a big score in terms of big sister points. I also promised to sleep with her in the confusion so I killed two birds with one stone. I kept my eyes on the front all the time, leaving the back to Alice.

I walked around touching the wall with the hand that was not holding Alice's hand.

After a short walk, I noticed that the hand that was touching the wall was damp. I looked at my hand to see what it was and found red blood on my hand.

“Huh. It's a common one. Alice, take a handkerchief. I touched the wall and got blood all over it.”

I called out behind me but Alice didn’t respond at all.

“Alice, hurry up… Hey, are you listening?”

I ran out of patience from Alice's lack of response and turned around... and there stood someone in a mask of reminiscent of the straw doll from earlier... and I was holding hands with that masked someone. I tried to...scream but that someone did something unexpected.

The masked someone is trying to take off the mask. What the, it was Alice after all... When my thought reached such conclusion as I calmed my beating chest, I saw under the mask the face of a woman with the same expression of despair as when the straw doll had been staked. This was as far as I could remember ...

☆☆☆

“Hey! We've got another fainter! Two girls! No men please! Girls, please!"

As I was leaving the haunted house, loud voices could be heard coming from the haunted house. It must be pretty scary… If I come with Clarice... and why can't men go there...?

With these questions in mind, we went to the fighting tournament Ike and his friends were holding this time.

Entry fee: 3 iron coins

Participation fee: 1 silver coin

10 gold coins reward…for winning against everyone (limited to the first person)

Both the entrance fee and the entry fee seemed reasonable.

But still, 10 gold coins reward, huh... in other words you get 10 gold coins if you beat everyone until Ike.

I thought if an A-rank adventurer come the show wouldn’t go on but it was strictly stated that the age of the participants should be under 15 years old. Putting aside A-rank adventurers under 15 years old, even normal adventurers (of that age) are rare. The rarity is at the level where only those with special exception like us can fulfill.

After paying the entrance fee, we entered the large gymnasium or hall where the tournament was being held. The number of people was so large that we couldn't watch the games at all... Just as we were having trouble, senior glasses walked by and ushered us all into a room reserved for the officials.

“You've come just in time! Ike is about to fight for the first time!”

“What, did Senior Garl lose?”

I asked the glasses senior.

“Garl got a little sore in another match... and now three of us have been pulled out and Ike is on the fourth... so if Ike loses, you'll have to go out, Mars. I'll give you lots of service."

Said the glasses senior, making fun of me as usual. Only the glasses senior could say this in front of the Reimei girls...

“Who is brother Ike's opponent?”

“Sometime ago, the ring announcer lightly said in the waiting room earlier that in a way it’s a fated opponent...”

I couldn't hide my surprise at the name that was given out by the glasses senior.

====================================

Author’s note:

Some people might knit their eyebrow regarding how Sofia only leaked a little when Karen and Misha are at the level of spoiling themselves in the reception area for the first time but that was when Karen and Misha were much younger.

Sofia, on the other hand...

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Chapter 135 : Fun Lister Festival

TL:SummerPeanut

Thanks for the support, Skoll and patrons.

====================================

5 November 2030, 7.45am.

“Eririn! You can't wear those!"

Misha said as she pointed to Ellie's shorts. The S-class members were already all gathered in the classroom, the men in butler uniforms and the women in maid uniforms.

The skirts of the maids' uniforms are shorter than the skirts of the school uniforms, about the same size as the mini-skirts of the school uniforms of the coolest JKs in Japan. However, Ellie is the only one wearing shorts under her skirt, as usual.

“You know what Clarice always says! Absolute territory is important!”*1

What do you mean always... What exactly are they talking about between
themselves... I glanced towards Clarice and our eyes met, and Clarice quickly took her eyes off me.

Oh yeah, there’s no such word for maid cafe in this world, right? Only Clarice and I know the word maid cafe right. …naturally, I have never used the word maid cafe in this world. And yet the fact that Misha knows what a maid cafe is...Just what kind of conversation are the Reimei girls having in the their room?

“...too short...Mine is only for Mars...I don't show it to others...”

When Ellie said that, Misha too added.

“I can understand that, you know. It's good to make it look like you can see it, but you can't. ...hey Mars? Don't you think so?”

Oi! What a topic of conversation! No matter what I say, I'll just be labelled as a pervert...

"Err...well... I don't know... it's more like how do I say this..."

When I tried to mince words, Misha said.

“What? More? Even I'm embarrassed if you want to see more. ...look, Eririn! Mars says so too, take it off!"

Misha forcefully took off Ellie's shorts. Even if she is wearing shorts, taking off the things inside the skirt is...e…ero-…I should control myself.

The venue for the maid cafe will be the same as yesterday in the S-class classroom. Learning from the lessons(?) of yesterday, Duke Regan made a proposal: Let's have a raffle for all the tickets for the maid café in Year 1 S class. The lottery is free, and we don't charge for seats. ...it's now a very normal maid cafe.

Duke Regan said that the handshakes were school-led, but he would let the maid cafés be student-led.

However, this lottery ticket system was a bit of a failure... There are resellers everywhere in the world...and the people who can buy tickets at abnormally inflated prices are a very limited number of people...

At 8 o'clock, the maid cafe opens. The first 30 customers came in. Eight of us started serving them.

What is different from Japanese maid cafés is that we don't say "Welcome home. Master" and don't act like a maid. The concept is to have a fun, dream-like time with beautiful girls dressed in maid outfits.

And maybe it's not really a maid cafe because we the men also entertain female customers...

At first, I was firmly trying to push for maid role-plays but apparently Ellie and Karen weren't very good at it so I gave up. According to Ellie, there's only one master for her while according to Karen...

The guests will be very happy even without the maid role acting. Well, I suppose that's true. To have a very beautiful girl sitting nearby. How can there be any complaints...

The price for a cup of beans and a glass of juice is set at one iron coin, or 1,000 Japanese yen which I think is a very reasonable price. Well, it might be expensive compared to Japanese cultural festivals.

The area where Clarice, Misha and Minerva sat was very lively all three were apparently good at getting men on board. I believed Misha and Minerva were somewhat good at customer service but I’m surprised that Clarice was also good at it.

When I told Clarice later of my opinion later, I was told, "Don't underestimate a convenience store clerk." Ellie and Karen seemed to be doing well but I guess the customers were grateful just to be sitting next to them.

The nearby customers were happy, and Misha and Minerva were nearby to Ellie and Karen, who were not very talkative, and followed up with them properly.

Since the female customers seemed satisfied, Baron is apparently good at talking to women.

“Where are you from?” “How long are you staying in Regan?” “What do you usually do?” ...is he picking up girls? Dominic and I followed Baron's lead and try our best to talk to the girls.

After an hour, Ike and senior glasses arrived as employees, and the customers are excited by the unexpected surprise. It goes without saying that Ike is popular but I didn't realize that senior glasses is popular too...

It was 10.00am and time for a break. Only for today we have a three-hour break from 10:00 to 13:00.

Because yesterday and the day before I had been shaking hands all the time and hadn't been able to enjoy the Lister Festival at all so I wanted to take this opportunity to take a break at once.

Incidentally, from tomorrow onwards, one of us will take a break separately but I'll take a break when Ike arrives and Clarice will take a break when the senior glasses arrives.

We all changed our clothes and walked around the school. Incidentally, we all changed into our uniforms. Unsurprisingly, they don't want to wander around in maid's uniforms. We men followed suit and wore uniforms. Ike and the senior glasses went back to their own presentations.

We headed for the fifth-year’s wing.

When I was near the building, I heard "Kyaa!” and "Waa!" screams. ...I wondered if this might be...

I rushed up to the building and found it to be a jet coaster. Of course there were no rails or anything like that... but it was powered by Wind magic! Apparently, all the 4th and 5th year students Wind magicians were running the jet coaster.

"A-Amazing... So it’s possible to do this with Wind magic..."

While I was taken aback, Karen commented.

“Eh? You didn't know about that? It's a specialty of the Lister Festival. And there's also a rapids*2 made possible with Water magic that let you go up and down, you know?”

I-I'd love to try... but right now my priority is to see the various different places. Only Clarice and I had a gleam in our eyes toward the jet coaster. Everyone else knew about it...I'll ride this one when I come alone.

When I entered the wing where the fifth year’s classrooms were located, it was basically a different world... and when a warm breeze blew, a live head spoke to me.

"Welcome... to the school graveyard.... How many of you are there....?"

My hips were shattered in a spectacular way when suddenly a lifeless head spoke to me. I was the only boy who was... incidentally, the only girl who was also sitting down, Clarice.

"Is this also a staple activity...?"

I asked Karen.

“Yes, it is. But don't worry. Everyone will be bowled over by this one. When I first came here, I too was...a bit of a soiling..."

Karen said shyly, and Misha too.

“What!? Karen, you too? I peed my pants too and my mom got mad at me.”

she said with a laugh. To laugh loudly while talking about leaking…what a girl. The haunted house was also held jointly by 4th and 5th year students.

The fourth and fifth year students on the haunted side all seemed to be having fun. In the end, I didn't enter the haunted house because it would have taken a long time to visit a haunted house that takes up an entire building. This is, too, something that I’ll want to visit alone later...

In this way, the performances are not organized by class or by grade. I found out that they cooperated with other classes and grades to make the Lister Festival more exciting in order to make it better for everyone.

This year, I was unable to prepare for the festival because I was in the territory of

Margrave Isaac but next year I will work with other classes and students of different grades to make the festival more exciting and put on a better show. It will be a good memory if we participate in this kind of event.

We left the haunted house and headed to our next destination. I still didn't know about Sofia and Alice who were carried out of the haunted house after fainting...soon after we left the haunted house.

====================================

Author’s note:

Even as an adult, I'm still afraid of haunted houses.

TLN: Isn’t that fine? What’s scary is scary and what’s painful is painful. It’s more worrying if a human loses his/her senses. I’m not justifying myself nor the author.

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TL’s note:

1. Zettai Ryouiki
2. The water rafting sports.

Chapter 134 : The Saintess Corps and Second Names

TL:SummerPeanut

Second name, nicknames, (unofficial/not listed in stats) titles refer to the same thing. But I will standardize with second name since nickname doesn’t really fit all. Clarice’s second name is nut crusher.

====================================

4 November 2030.

I came to Lister Imperial School for the first time yesterday and it's no wonder that it’s famed as the number one school on the continent. ...I wonder if I went to the wrong school. ...I'm already a 4th year student next year but Alice is starting next year. ...Alice might be better off coming here than to a school in the Diadora Holy Kingdom.

“Big sis! There's a huge line today too!”

“Yes, I can see. I wonder what the line is for?”

When I said that, a staff member near the end of the queue shouted loudly.

“The handshake session for the first-year S class is about to close! Each handshake will last 10 seconds and cost one silver coin!"

What...? They're taking a silver coin to shake hands? I’m the one who's supposed to be taking the money if anything. ...okay! I, the famous flower of the Holy Kingdom of Diadora, am going to find out the truth! I got in line with my little sister Alice in the girls' queue, and the official from earlier stood behind Alice and said.

“The handshaking session for the S class is now closed!”

Just how amazing is a handshake session that closes at 13:00? ...on the opposite side queue for the boys are the five members of the ‘Shield of the Saintess’, which is affiliated under the umbrella of our sister group, lined up in the who were queuing on the opposite side. The queue is also closed.

By the way, I'm known as Sofia, the Beautiful Flower, and my sister is known as Alice, the Flash, and we call ourselves the Saintess Corps. The fact that we are self-proclaimed means that we are not yet 15 years old so we can't make a party. Of course, the five members of the ‘Shield of Saintess’ only proclaimed themselves as that too. While we are waiting in line, a group of three rather cute girls in front of us are having this conversation.

“After all, Sir Mars is too cool. Yesterday I only got to shake his hand once but with today, this will be the second time… I wonder if he'll remember me...”

Since she's this cute, well, she must have caught his eye...even with my Magic Eyes (Aesthetic Eyes), she's a B class looker. She is definitely the prettiest in her class.

“He probably won't remember you. Because he had shaken hundreds, no, thousands of hands, you know? You saw the girl in front of us yesterday, right? She was letting him touch her chest! If you want him to remember you, you have to do that at least! I was going to do it today too but I couldn't because Duke Regan is already standing next to Sir Mars, eyeing us all the time..."

What a rip-off! I can't let Alice hear this conversation. But we sisters have our ears dumbfounded by the conversation of the three girls in front of us. Then the third girl said,

“And you know what? Have you seen the faces of the females in Reimei? I mean, that's just outright foul play right? I've been told I'm pretty cute since I was a kid so I was confident but when I saw the female in Reimei I realized it’s impossible...”

That's not true! These three are B class beauties or above, they are beautiful girls! They are qualified enough to join my ‘Saintess Corps’. ...I'm interested in this guy Mars but I'm also interested in the female members of Reimei. If they're really cute, I'll try to recruit them to the ‘Saintess Corps’.

Finally it was our turn to shake hands. It's 14:50 and we've been in line for nearly two hours… The first person to shake hands with us is the Sword Saint of the Holy Kingdom of Diadora from the hanging a banner from the desk… I only know one man who is called so… I stood in front of him and shook his offered hand, then looked at his face....

“Dominic! It's been a long time!”

The man shaking my hand was Dominic with whom I used to play a lot. For a long time, Dominic was always running around with a sword in his hand.

Dominic's impression of me had changed a little since the old days. He used to be thin and slender but now Dominic looks robust. And you can clearly feel that his hand is a hand that holds a sword.

“It's Sofia! You came?!”

My first love remembered me. Well, I don't think any man would forget me.

“Indeed. I didn't expect Dominic to be here.”

After only saying this much, a never seen beautiful person said to me.

“It's time. Please move on."

She said to me in a clerical manner. What a woman...A-class beauty that I've never seen before ...So far I’ve only seen A- class which is myself and Alice… I answered 'yes' without effort and Dominic added.

“Teacher Sasha. Can I talk to Sofia when she finishes shaking hands with Mars? We haven't seen each other in ages, we're childhood friends."

Eh! This beautiful person is a teacher?!

“Well...these girls are the last and all...I’ll allow them.”

After shaking hands with Dominic, I went to the next person. As expected, there is a banner hanging on the next person's desk too. The hero of the North...I heard of him before. I think he was a promising young man from the Lister Confederacy.

“Dominic's childhood friend? I'm Baron. Nice to meet you."

He must have heard about me and Dominic. The refreshing, handsome man holds out his hand to me. Regardless of Dominic or Baron, you’re the best in this class. As I was admiring him, the teacher from earlier said, "It's time" again.

The next person is the last. ...probably Mars. ...the banner on Mars's desk has a lot of things written on it.

Sword Saint, Martial Saint, Younger Brother of the Strongest Ike, Ranked 1st in the first-year S class, youngest ever registered adventurer at 3 years old, youngest ever B-class adventurer...

How can this all be true...adventurer at the age of 3? I'm sure he's just a snot-nosed, wooden stick wielding, B-class adventurer who probably got there by money or some other force. ...I kind of wilted before I even saw his face. Too suspicious...

I lifted my gaze as I thought so and...something completely shot through my heart...My Aesthetic Eyes revealed an S-class beauty… I can't breathe…!

“So you know Dominic. I'm Mars. Nice to meet you."

Saying this, the handsome blonde shook my hand. My first thought is that he has no sword calluses...and he has such a beautiful hand. This proves that the Sword Saint and Martial saint mentioned earlier is a lie. I don't know what to think but Dominic's and Baron's hands are more rugged.

Maybe he manages to do everything with this face. ...No, I'm sure he does! He's so cool, I’m sure the guild officials were drooling over him, and he's even managed to entangle the teachers and become the first year S class!

After my thoughts reached here, I'm ashamed of myself for being so shocked that I couldn't breathe earlier. A man is not about his face...no, it's always better to have a good face...no, face is important...but I feel like this man is the only one I shouldn't admit defeat to.

I said nothing and released my handshake with Mars, and it is Alice's turn to shake hands with him. When Alice shook hands with Mars, Alice's eyes were completely in love shape.

Drool is dripping from Alice's beautiful face. I've never seen my sister like this before. T-this is not good...man's face is important but what's inside is important too! It's absolutely wrong for Alice to fall in love with a man who's been coated in lies like this!

As soon as Alice finished shaking her hand, I pulled her hand and left the venue. I really wanted to talk to Dominic but for Alice's sake…

☆☆☆

Finally, the handshaking was over. The last two people I saw seemed to be acquaintances of Dominic but they left in a hurry. Did they remember something they needed to do?

“Dominic, what's your relationship with those two?”

I ask Dominic.

“The first one to shake my hand is my first love. Her name is Sofia. She was quite pretty, wasn't she? And the last one you shook hands with is her sister, who's nine now and starting school next year if I’m not mistaken?"

Then Misha said.

“That's nine? I thought she was older than me."

"Yes. The sisters have always been famous for their beauty. The older sister is known as Sofia the Beautiful Flower and the younger sister as Alice the Flash.”

Dominic replied happily. But Misha.

“A flash and a beautiful flower...that's cool...I wish I had second name too....”

I never told her that she has an amazing second name of the Runaway/Berserk Elf.

“And that Sofia…even though I told her I wanted to talk in a little bit…”

As Dominic was mumbling and muttering, Karen, who had been listening to the
conversation, said

“Mars, you're not thinking that you're going to get not just the fifth person, but the sixth as well, are you?”

There's no way you can GET them as casually as a Pokémon like that.

“It's not like that… Just...”

When Clarice and Ellie heard my word ‘just’, they looked at me coldly. I stopped saying it because anything more I said would only make things worse.

“Hey Mars, give me a cool second name.”

Misha asked so we all decided to come up with a second name for everyone. When it came time to think of second names ourselves, it was hard to decide. It's strange that we had to think of them ourselves in the first place...

I immediately uttered 'runaway elf' and for some reason Misha seemed to be too happy about it. ...what? Is there supposed to be an element of praise anywhere?

In the end, after a lot of discussion.

Mars, Sword Saint.

Baron, Hero of the North

Dominic, Black Knight (Temp)

Clarice, Goddess of Dawn

Ellie, Imperial Guard

Karen, (Lady) Crimson Queen

Misha, Runaway Elf

Minerva, Sunflower

I’m Sword Saint as per before.

It’s not like there’s a need to advertise to the people around me that I can use magic so we go the other direction purposely. The girls gave me two terrible second names but it's not something I can tell everyone so I'll leave it out here.

Baron is the same hero from the north as before.

This has already been established so there's nothing we can do about it.

Dominic’s second name is Black Knight (temporary).

It's pretty cool but in the end it became (temporary) because the one he's equipped with now is from the Black Iron series and he plans to change it to a better one.

Clarice is Goddess of Dawn.*1

I was actually going to choose the Goddess of Reimei for her but this one just seemed to fit better. She was known as saintess a few years ago but I never thought that she would really take the title of saintess...and Goddess of Dawn would fit better, wouldn't it? As for these second names, please don't pry too much into them...

Clarice herself seems uncomfortable with the term goddess but Karen and Misha forcefully decided that it is more annoying to be compared to Clarice as a person any more.

Ellie is an Imperial Guard.

This was decided because she's always around me and she doesn't seem to be interested in anyone but me. However, Ellie actually cares about Clarice a lot, and although people may not realize it, she also adores Clarice a lot. Also, during battle, she is always looking for signs of her surroundings to ensure our safety. Well, I won’t say this because Ellie would have no problem as long as I understood her.

Karen is the (Lady) Crimson Queen.*2

It's up to the individual to call her with Lady or not. I think others should definitely address her with it. ...Karen seemed to like it a lot.

Misha is a runaway elf.

As I said earlier, she likes it for some reason....Is she still showing a disappointing trait?*3

And finally, Minerva is a sunflower.

To be honest, Minerva was the one I had the most trouble with. Minerva was also the one that got the most nominations. Bondage lady, mischievous lady, tortoise shell girl, and the likes, mascot of energy, bullet girl, reckless rusher, or high spirited person. I think Minerva is a girl who is not depressed and is single-minded and hard-working. I thought she’s similar to a sunflower so I chose sunflower for her second nickname and everyone agreed.

Well, it's no use deciding on our own… Thus, new second names have been decided? We started preparing for the maid cafe tomorrow.

====================================

Author’s note:

Sofia's Aesthetic Eyes cannot see any stats or other information.

It only sees the beauty of people and things.

C is normal and there is no lower than C.

It is an ability to recognise only beautiful things.

Please note that it is not an ability to put someone down.

Only for certain things will you get a G but that's for another time.

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TL’s note:

1. Clarice's actual second name is Goddess of Daybreak which is the same kanji as the clan name. Mars wanted to give the second name, Goddess of Reimei(Dawn), based on the kanji word. I decided to leave it as Goddess of Dawn because it sounds better and daybreak/dawn in english is basically interchangeable.
2. The (Lady) doesn’t get translated well here but there's an implication of Karen being the S character.
3. Disappointing trait here as in appearance-wise is good but the personality-wise is not. One good example is konosuba’s aqua and her voice actress. Cute tho.

Chapter 133 : Shake Hands

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

November 3, 2030.

"Best regards."

"Best regards."

"Best regards."

What I'm doing right now is shaking hands. Because we are holding a handshake session. We, the first-year S class, are going to have a maid café for the Lister Festival.

Duke Regan gave us permission but we have to do a handshake session for the first two days.

According to Duke Regan…

She didn’t think I would allow others to touch the girls initially. So she asked what about a handshake session? There is definitely a demand for it. Security will be provided by the entire Lister Imperial School. And to my surprise, she said each person would be charged one silver coin (10,000 Japanese yen) to shake hands with us.

I thought there was absolutely no way anyone would pay 10,000 yen to shake hands
with us so I readily agreed and here we are.

It’s not like I don’t understand the feeling of being able to shake the hand of one’s
idol by just paying 10,000 yen…but we are not idols and of the same gender… I'm not comfortable shaking the hand of a man I don't know.....so I thought the guys would be the same way...but the reality was different.

There’s a long line of people waiting to shake hands with us members of S class. The last row looked to be quite far away.

Each handshake lasts 10 seconds, and there is an entrance and exit to the S class classroom, and at the entrance, Ryner and Bram are checking for any suspicious people, and they make sure the people in the line wash their hands before shaking hands with us.

Sasha and Lorenz are guarding near us, and Duke Regan is near the exit.

The handshake lineup is in descending order of rank from the entrance.

Minerva, Dominique, Baron, Misha,

Karen, Ellie, Clarice, and myself.

As I expected, Clarice is the most popular. She is beautiful and sociable among the many beautiful girls in the S class. But the other members are also popular.

Ellie seems to be popular among the beastmen... or rather deified, and many of

them got down on one knee before shaking her hand.

Karen is greeted by nobles of both genders when shaking hands, and Misha is also popular because she is a rare elf. Minerva is also popular for her natural cheerfulness and charm.

And as for us boys... Dominic is popular too but Baron's popularity is greater than expected. Must be his fame as the hero of the north.

But more than that, for my part it’s incredible...Dominic and Baron didn't have many females shaking hands with them until the time limit, but in my case, there were many girls who were still holding my hand even after Duke Regan told them it was over.

I thought to myself that I'm such a popular guy.

Some of them were looking me up and down (which is natural since Mars is tall), 

holding my hand with both of theirs, and even putting my hand on their chest. They would also whisper to me that they would be waiting for me where and when tonight.

I tried my best to make a face of being troubled but I couldn't help but relax my cheeks... Whenever I did this, a blue vein would run across the face of Clarice who was standing next to me.

Finally, at 12 noon, when it's time for a break, Clarice told Duke Regan.

“Can't you do something about the girls shaking hands with Mars? I think it's a bit much to allow the touch to their brea-...chest!"

Ellie protested.

“...there’s such people!? ...won’t forgive! If she comes again...tell me...her chest...I'll cut it off!"

She said boldly with a killing spirit unleashed. Ellie was absolutely serious. Duke Regan saw this and turned to the two of them.

"Okay, okay...the two of you calm down... I'll be watching next to him at noon...okay?"

She tried her best to calm them down.

After that, we continued to complain to each other over lunch. I could only see Clarice next to me but Clarice had also suffered a lot. The boys who came to shake her hand kneaded Clarice's hand as if they were licking it more than necessary.

And, of course, these guys would grab my hand as hard as they could, trying to crush it. It doesn't hurt to be squeezed by someone whose strength value is in the single digits but it doesn't make me feel good. They stared at me with all their might. I'm sure they're wondering why I’m standing next to Clarice.

When I mentioned this to Dominic and Baron, both of them had the same problem, and Clarice also said that when she shakes hands with a woman, she gets clawed.I guess same-gender handshakes are problematic after all.

In the end, we decided to have separate handshaking sessions for men and women 

in the afternoon. The boys would shake hands only with Clarice and the girls would
shake hands only with us. And the price remained the same...

We had other staffs at the entrances and exits. Duke Regan and Sasha were to watch us boys shake hands, while Ryner and Bram were to watch Clarice and the girls.

As a result, we sold a little over 1,400 silver coins in four hours in the morning and 1,400 silver coins in two hours in the afternoon. ...In total, we shook hands for six hours and sold 28 million Japanese yen. ...Duke Regan was also happy about this.

The admission fee to the Lister Imperial School was also one silver coin, which is not
too expensive since it is a place where even senior nobles usually do not come. If you think of it as a theme park...oh it’s still expensive…

Duke Regan is going to aim for 4000 silver coins tomorrow from only one year of S class. Duke Regan's eyes were already dollar marks... I felt relieved after she told me that the day after tomorrow she would turn it into a maid cafe.

The handshake session was to end at 3:00 p.m. but even at that time, there was still a long line of people waiting in line. Our working hours were kept, and the hundreds of people who were waiting in line were told to come back tomorrow. I say "tomorrow" casually but the admission fee alone is another silver coin...and I truly think it's a complete rip-off...

The public is supposed to leave the grounds of the Lister Imperial School by 4:00
p.m.

Students at Lister Imperial School are not allowed to leave their classrooms or designated areas until the public leaves. And during the Lister Festival, we had been told to stay away from outside as much as possible. We, the 1st year S class students, were especially strictly told not to go outside.

I had to stay in the classroom until 4:00 p.m. so I was chatting with the S class members.

“In the end, Mars is really popular huh. For some reason, that made me happy, too.”

Misha said with a smile, and Minerva added

“I know right. I was surprised at how well-known Mars and Clarice are in the Lister Confederacy. Really. Perhaps they have surpassed Baron's fame.”

Yes, after all, Baron was very well known.

After all, he had been famous as a hero of the north since he was a child and many people came to the show to see him. It was not only girls but also boys.

“I have no doubt that Mars will be more famous than me in less than a month. Even today, all the girls who came to see me are already crazy about him.”

“Having both titles of sword saint and the hero of the north...something about Baron
smells like protagonist...”

Hearing my words, Dominic said.

“The reason I was called sword saint was that there was no Mars in the Holy Kingdom of Diadora. The Holy Kingdom of Diadora has a lot of exaggerated titles. Sword saints, saints, young scions...and even some not-so-appreciated nicknames such as devils and stallions.”

“The stallions were called the stallion because there’s no Mars in the Holy Kingdom of Diadora. If there had been a Mars, wouldn't those guys have stopped being a pervert?"

Karen's strong words hit me hard... Karen also seems to be angry about what happened at the handshake today... And my partner hasn't been used in 30 years including my previous life let alone being a stallion... I'm shrugging my shoulders, and Clarice followed up for me.

"Well, that was initiated from the girls...and it's hard to say no to a lot of things when we’re getting paid for them..."

With this one word, the flow of the conversation changed.

“Hmm... That may indeed be true because the number of student candidates will be affected by how well they do at the...Lister Festival, so from Duke Regan's point of view, I'd say that's something to pay attention to..."

Karen seemed to have changed her mind a little. She is the sub-leader of Reimei, after all.

“But Mars no longer has the image of a sword saint in our minds, no? No matter how you twist about it, he's a magician, and...well, there’s no image of a stallion in this world, do we? Well, I do think in years to come he’ll have the nickname, ‘Stallion of Reimei’."

The runaway elf had taken the flow to the wrong side again. And what's with the Stallion of Reimei, I'm not going to go and accept a commission if it there’s with XYZ!*1

At 4:00p.m. we headed for the school canteen. Normally it's only open for lunch but during the Lister Festival it's open until night.

We could have eaten in the dormitory canteen but we decided to eat in the school canteen because we were going to eat with all the S class students.

When we were eating in the cafeteria, the members of Red Lotus also came.

“Mars, I heard you had a great handshake session. I just met with Duke Regan and she said it was the most profitable one ever.”

The Lister Festival is different from Japanese cultural festivals, and it seems to be a very commercial-like event.

“When I think I'll be free from the handshake tomorrow... I don't want to do it again next year... By the way, how did Brother Ike and the rest go?”

“Yeah. They were quite fruitful here too. The Balkus Kingdom and the Zarkham Kingdom also seem to have more and more five-year schools, and it was quite fun to watch the fight with students of the same grade from other schools.”

Huh? Ike isn't fighting?

“Brother Ike didn’t fight?”

I asked, and Garl answered.

“There’s no way they can fight the last boss directly, can they? Only those who fought us and the fifth years and win first can fight Ike. Well, there aren't many students like that..."

Yeah. That's more than a bit humbling. Then Clarice said.

“Sister-in-law, would you have some time during the Lister Festival? We're going to have a maid cafe the day after tomorrow, would you like to join us and be a maid? I don't think five of us would be enough..."

When I suggested it, the senior glasses said.

“Sure. I'd like to play with Clarice and the others, it would be fun. When I'm not fighting, I'll be your personal maid over there."

She made fun of me with a smug look. Clarice is used to it by now and said, "Well then, I'm looking forward to working with you" and easily let the senior glasses’ words slide.

But Clarice's suggestion was nice. I think you have to have one maid with glasses in the team. I'm looking forward to the day after tomorrow.

====================================

Author’s note:

Please shake hands with me at Korakuen Stadium.

<<Prev

Next>>

TL’s note:

1. If you forgot, Reimei means Dawn.

Chapter 132 : Lister’s Festival

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

October 21, 2030, 14:00 hours.

“Duke Regan, we have returned.”

We are now in the principal's office of the Lister Imperial School. All of Daybreak except Ryner and Bram are here.

"Welcome back. We have already received a report from Margrave Isaac. He said that you have fundamentally solved the magic beast attack in the fortified city of Isaac. We have also received a detailed report from the margrave. He detailed that even a B-ranked party would find it hard to accomplish the same difficult tasks such as defeating Hercules Ant and destroying the nests of killer ants...

For now, we are going to promote all Reimei members to C-rank adventurers and all
Genesis members to D-rank adventurers but Mars has received a letter of recommendation as a B-rank adventurer jointly signed by the Margrave Isaac and Recca the Knight Commander of Arcane Fire. What will you do about this recommendation from two people who are also incredibly well-known for their bravery in the Lister Confederacy? I, for one, am very pleased to see the birth of a B-rank adventurer from the Imperial School of Lister and I would very much like you to accept this offer though..."

Perhaps it's because she hasn't seen me in a while, but Duke Regan is speaking very politely. She also seemed to be nervous.

“I understand. I respectfully accept.”

I've gained a lot of confidence now so I guess I can rank up to B-rank adventurer now.

When I replied so, Duke Regan looked relieved and said…

“Thank you, may I ask you one question? Mars, you seem to have grown up suddenly but did something happen? Also, Clarice seems to have changed a lot in the past month?"

"No...nothing in particular...Did you forget that we are in our period of growth?"

Hearing my words, Clarice followed up below.

“There’s nothing special on my side too...but I've been in a lot of battles and my level has gone up a lot.”

“I see...S class will be on break until the 25th, and on the 3rd of November we will have the Lister Festival and S class will be invited to participate in it.”

I wonder what is Lister Festival...and it is even on the 3rd of November, perhaps it is similar to a cultural festival? I asked Duke Regan what I was wondering about.

“What happened to the Warrior Gods Festival?"

Duke Regan smiled when I asked above.

“It was a great battle. Especially the final match between Ike and Duval was an amazing match. Ike was exhausted from continuous fighting against the top 5th graders ever since the qualifying rounds but he won the tournament in the end. It’s amazing that a 4th grader could destroy the 5th grader. I have seen him as a freshman defeating 4th graders but defeating 5th graders from A class is its own spectacular accomplishment. Well, I expected that much from Ike..."

I couldn't help but gulp. I had one more question I wanted to ask but I couldn't talk about it in front of everyone so I asked the other members to go back to the classroom first.

“I'm not sure what happened to Lillian. Did she join the Red Lotus?"

I asked about Lillian, the Holy magician.

“Oh? You knew it was Lillian? Lillian is going to another A-rank party. Lillian herself wanted to join Red Lotus or Reimei but Ike officially turned her down. ...do you brothers realize how valuable a Holy magician is? They are still very valuable despite their character defects, you know? Why are the two of you like this?"

Conversely, Duke Regan returned to me with a question.

“I don't know why Red Lotus turned down Lillian but I like the current Reimei very much. I refused because I believe that if Lillian entered Reimei, there would definitely be problems. I have no intention of letting her join Daybreak either."

When I said it clearly, Duke Regan replied.

“So...I'm sure Red Lotus is with you too...”

I left the principal's office and hurried back to year 1 S class where everyone was in middle of chatting.

“Karen, is Lister Festival like a cultural festival?”

“I suppose so. The other schools call it a cultural festival but only the Lister Imperial School calls it the Lister Festival. Well, this is the center of the Lister Confederacy's cultural festival. The Lister Festival lasts for a week so it is pretty tiring. So what do we do?"

It goes on for a week huh... Well, if we're going to do anything with this group of people, it's going to be fun. Then Baron suggested.

“There might be a lot of people coming here who aren't sure which school to go to. I came to the Lister Festival last year and it was awesome. At that time Red Lotus was already famous, especially Ike, so I wanted to catch a glimpse of him but he was too popular for me to even catch his shadow.”

Then Karen said.

“But I think we're getting a lot more attention this year. After all, it's known to the world that we won against the Royal School of Syrians in the martial arts division at the Freshman Combat Tournament and won the overall tournament, and most importantly, Ike’s last year reputation can’t even compare to Mars’s. It seems that Papa and Marquis San Marina are promoting him and the world knows that even the race-discriminatory Duke of Syrians approves of Mars. In addition, I heard that Clarice's good looks are spreading quite a bit too. Along with her nickname as Nut Crusher..."

Oh...we've completely forgotten about it but the world still remembers it... So when did my fame rise too...and I thought I was keeping a low profile...

“Hmmm...what shall we do…?"

Misha interjected after seeing I’m in lost.

“Mars, what are you wondering about? You've already decided on a maid cafe, haven't you?"

What? I’ve already decided? Then Baron, Dominic, and Minerva expressed their agreement at the sound of a maid café.

“Okay. Then let's make it a maid café. We're off tomorrow so we'll decide on the services and prices while we're on holiday.”

The conversation was settled, so everyone except me and Clarice returned to the dormitories. Clarice and I decided to go to the student council room.

“Excuse me.”

After knocking on the door and entering the student council room, everyone was surprised to see me and Clarice.

“Oh, it's been a long time. Mars...you have grown up a lot or rather...matured, haven't you? Aren't you taller than me already...? And Clarice, too... I can't even look directly at you...what can I say now?"

Ike slurred his words, and the senior glasses said.

“Aah, how awful of you to fall for another woman right in front of your fiancée. And I can't believe that the other person is my brother's fiancée. But really, Clarice has become so cute...It's like the crystallization of beauty. ...the big winner this year is Clarice I guess...Mars is quite something, too...you’re cooler than ever..."

As she said this, she looked into my face and the glasses senior's face got redder and redder.

“Ede, you’re the one with the hots for Mars...and you two really do surprise me with your many things.”

Apparently, the two of us have grown up a lot. I've certainly grown a lot taller and firmer. I'm probably well over 170 cm tall.

Well, Clarice's height hasn't changed but her appearance is so outstanding that even from the top of her school uniform you can tell that she has completely grown into an adult figure. Not only her chest but also her body lines are completely maturish. Clarice was embarrassed as she replied with a “Thank you”.

“Brother Ike. Congratulations on winning the Warrior Gods Festival. I met Senior Duval in the fortress city Isaac and he seemed quite strong. And to be honest, the axe-user-looking brother Ike, who is actually a spear-user, didn't seem to be a good match for him but it seems that you have won with flying colors.”

When I said this, Ike looked happy.

“Thank you. This year was my last chance. Next year, Mars will be here so I definitely wanted to win the Warrior Gods Festival this year."

By the way, Ike's stats is as per below.

Name: Ike Bryant

Title: -.

Status: Human race, Count Bryant's heir apparent

Condition: Good

Age: 13 years old

Level: 28

HP: 82/82

MP: 1102/1102

Strength: 63

Agility: 54

Magic: 35

Dexterity: 36

Endurance: 58

Luck: 10

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv8/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Wind magic (Lv2/G)

Equipment: Salamander Lance.

Equipment: Ifrit’s Mail.

Equipment: Flame Bracelet

Equipment: Ring of Protection

I think his stats is quite high for a level 28.

Well, Reimei and Genesis members can expect our stats to increase further with age so we can't exactly compare them fairly... But with this stats, Clarice and Ellie are already stronger. Misha may possibly be the stronger one too.

Whether he knows it or not, Garl the Dwarf added his five cents.

“No one can beat Ike now as a student ‘ya know. No doubt Ike will become an A-rank adventurer...

And we're pretty strong too. I might become an A-rank adventurer before too long."

At Garl's words, Ike said.

“Garl...there is no doubt I'm weaker than Mars. That's all you need to know. And I’m probably weaker than Clarice... Clarice, I'm sorry but can you take off your bracelet?"

To take off the bracelet of disguise huh. ...Speaking of which, Ike was not equipped with a bracelet of disguise at any point. I nodded silently as Clarice looked at me for confirmation. I don't know how much the glasses senior's Binding Eyes can appraise but I'm going to trust Ike here.

It will probably allow the senior glasses to appraise it. When Clarice took off her bracelet, Ike asked her to have senior glasses appraise Clarice. Naturally, the senior glasses is surprised to see Clarice’s specs...

“What...? This is a lie right...? All her stats are higher than Ike's... Isn’t Clarice a rear
guard? How can she have that kind of status...?"

As soon as Clarice was appraised by senior glasses, she immediately equipped herself with the bracelet of disguise. Hearing those words, Garl and other Red Lotus members were surprised.

“You get it? Garl? This is the reality. Sure, I think we are strong but there are always students stronger than us. It's not just Mars and Clarice here. Perhaps Ellie is stronger than me. But we still have to become strong.

We must not be servile just because we are weaker than Mars and Clarice. We have to work harder than ever before, and at times, we have to study harder too. We must not become arrogant and the result of our efforts will be just like Mars and Clarice.

There is a difference in talent, of course, but I have seen Mars and Clarice's unparalleled efforts since I was a child. Let's become stronger without being conceited. We the Red Lotus party will only get stronger from now on!”

All the members of Red Lotus who were present nodded their heads at Ike's words. I think Ike is really admirable. I am really glad that Ike is my brother.

“By the way, what are brother Ike's 4th grader class S doing for the Lister Festival?”

I asked him.

“After what you just said, I'm thinking of doing ... kumite*1 because it's rare for a fourth-year student to be the winner of the Lister Imperial School's Warrior Gods Festival. I want to show those who are not sure if they want to take the test this year that they can be this strong as a 4th grader if they stay here. Also, the 5th graders will be joining us. By the way, what are you and the other S class freshmen doing?”

“We're going to have a maid café, and since we have the 25th off, we'll decide on the details before then.”

I said to Ike.

"That's a great idea! I'm sure there will be a constant line. You'd better think about how you're going to control the crowds. Also, you should definitely talk to Duke Regan. And to the other teachers too."

After talking with everyone in Red Lotus, Clarice and I left the student council room and decided to go on a date in the Regan academy city, just the two of us for the first time in a while.

====================================

Author’s note:

The muddy situation of an older brother and his wife falling in love with the younger brother and his wife...I don't even want to imagine that.

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TL’s note:

1. Try googling japanese Kumite (組み手).

Chapter 131 : Overwhelming victory

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

15 October 2030.

It has been a month since we came to this fortress by the Forest of Death.

We ran out of food several times and had to go back to the camp behind us and Isaac but we have been able to fight almost continuously on this frontline and have become much stronger than before we came to the Margrave Isaac territory.

I am still fearful of the deep area in the Forest of Death so we kept fighting enemies on the outer perimeter. Sometimes magic beasts from forest depths appeared on the outer perimeter as well but we were able to defeat them without difficulty. The results of the past month were as below.

Name: Mars Bryant

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

Status: Human race, second son of Count Bryant

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 37

HP: 90/90

MP: 7948/7948

Strength: 86

Agility: 87

Magic: 106

Dexterity: 84

Durability: 78

Luck: 30

Unique Ability: Innate Talent (LvMax)

Unique Ability: Sky Eyes (Lv10)

Unique Ability: Lightning Magic (Lv8/S)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv9/A)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv4/E).

Special Ability: Water magic (Lv5/D).

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv5/D)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv9/A)

Special Ability: Holy magic (Lv7/B)

Equipment: Thunder Sword

Equipment: Salamander Sword

Equipment: Bracelet of Disguise

I think I should be completely at the top of the B-rank adventurers even if I say so myself. First of all, my magic power exceeded the target of 100.

And because I had been using Blizzard all the time, my talent in Water magic became D and my level went up by 5. My Fire magic is now level 4, and my Sky Eyes has risen to level 10. Many things were enhanced when Sky Eyes reached level 10.

The Vision can see about one second ahead and the appraisal of the stats of magic beasts has become more detailed. ...Well, it means that the performance of a cheat skill has been polished further.

Name: Clarice Lampard

Title: Bow King / Saintess

Status: Human race, eldest daughter of Viscount Lampard

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 41

HP: 81/81

MP: 1521/1521

Strength: 60

Agility: 60

Magic: 72

Dexterity: 72

Durability: 57

Luck: 20

Unique Ability: Barrier Magic (Lv4/A)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Archery (Lv8/B)

Special Ability: Water magic (Lv6/D)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv4/F)

Special Ability: Holy Magic (Lv7/A)

Equipment: Defender

Equipment: Magic Arrow

Equipment: Saint’s Robe

Equipment: Mysterious Anklet

Equipment: Bracelet of Disguise

Clarice has completely settled in the middle of B-ranks.

Since late September, she had been fighting mainly with Swordsmanship and Water magic so those two levels had improved. And her beauty was further improved. Could it be that Clarice becomes prettier as her level increases? I don't think I need her to be any more beautiful…

Name: Ellie Leo

Title: -

Status: Lion Race, head of the Leo Baronetess Household

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 37

HP: 100/100

MP: 100/100

Strength: 74

Agility: 91

Magic: 22

Dexterity: 26

Durability: 60

Luck: 10

Unique Ability: Sound Magic (Lv1/C)

Special Ability: Martial Arts(Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Knifemanship (Lv7/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv3/G)

Equipment: Mithril Silver Dagger

Equipment: Sylph Dagger

Equipment: Valkyrie Armour

Equipment: Cloak of Wind

Equipment: Boots of Wind

Her HP is the only one in Daybreak to exceed 100. However, her growth direction is worrying. Her stats is outstanding but she struggles when she is one against many. Also, her skill level doesn't go up as much.

However, she herself doesn't care about any of that and kept sticking with me. Well, in terms of one-on-one she is incomparably strong.

Name: Karen Lionel

Title: -

Status: Human race, second daughter of the Duke of Fresvald

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 37

HP: 45/45

MP: 480/480

Strength: 31

Agility: 32

Magic: 70

Dexterity 35

Durability 24

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Magic Eyes (LvMax)

Special Ability: Whip Technique (Lv5/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv8/B)

Equipment: Salamander Rod

Equipment: Whip of Fire

Equipment: Salamander Robe

Equipment: Flame bracelet

In the Forest of Death, I couldn't use Fire magic as often so the level hasn't risen that much but my strength, agility, and dexterity values have increased considerably so I can watch the rest’s battle with more peace of mind than before.

Name: Misha Febrandt

Title: -

Status: Elf race, eldest daughter of Baroness Febrandt

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 39

HP: 65/65

MP: 215/215

Strength: 56

Agility: 71

Magic: 60

Dexterity: 62

Durability: 35

Luck: 5

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv5/D)

Equipment: Sylph’s Lance

Equipment: Robe of Illusion

Misha is probably the one who has the biggest growth in Reimei. She is also the second highest level in the party with a level of 39. The way Clarice and Misha, who were chanting Blizzard together with me, improved their levels was amazing.

Until now, I had only used Water magic as a blinding spell but before I knew it, it had become my main attack. Clarice and Misha became the two main Water magic users in Reimei.

Name: Baron Reinhardt

Title: -

Status: Human race, Count Reinhardt's apparent heir

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 30

HP: 62/62

MP: 287/287

Strength: 42

Agility: 39

Magic: 42

Dexterity: 43

Durability: 38

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv3/D)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/D)

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Wind magic (Lv3/D)

Equipment: Gnome Sword

Equipment: Gnome Armour

Baron was Minerva's chaperone all the time so he only had the opportunity to defeat killer ants and sometimes mother ants.

It seems that he went up to level 30 with just killer ants but after that his level didn't go up even if he defeated considerably more killer ants. I also had one challenge for Baron.

I told him to only use swords and Earth magic. This is a strategy to develop his strengths due to his low dexterity.

I still don't know if that succeeded or not but Baron seemed to be convinced and his swordsmanship level and Earth magic level went up by one.

Name: Dominic August

Title: -

Status: Human race, head of the Baronet August Household

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 30

HP: 70/70

MP: 60/60

Strength: 46

Agility: 44

Magic: 23

Dexterity: 28

Durability: 46

Luck: 5

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv7/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv3/E)

Equipment: Sword of Black Iron.

Equipment: Shield of Black Iron

Equipment: Heavy Armour of Black Iron.

Dominic is without doubt the one who had changed most in Daybreak.

First of all, his fighting style has changed drastically. In the past, his combat style was to dodge first and finish off the enemy but now he is completely playing the role of a tank.

And his equipment has also changed drastically. The cloak of evasion he had been equipped with had been completely melted away by the killer ant's acid attacks.

So when I went back to the fortres city of Isaac to replenish the supplies, I bought a new set. He didn't even have to change his sword of gale but he wanted them all to be the same color.

The Black Swordsman... I think I heard somewhere that a Black Swordsman is also known as Harem Master...Starburst something... Well, their fighting styles are completely different though...

Name: Minerva Xevious

Title: -

Status: Human race, eldest daughter of Viscount Xevious

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 30

HP: 36/36

MP: 235/235

Strength: 22

Agility: 24

Magic: 43

Dexterity: 40

Durability: 19

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv3/E)

Special Ability: Chains Technique (Lv3/C)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv5/D)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv4/D)

Equipment: Silver sword

Equipment: Staff of the Water Spirit

Equipment: Silver Chains

Equipment: Vestments of Magic

Equipment: Magical Boots

The much waited our Minerva’s stats showcase.

All of us were cheering for Minerva who was working single mindedly to raise her level. And her fighting style has been established to a large extent.

Although she still has low strength value so her chains attacks are not her main weapon, she has developed a style of distracting her opponents with chain attacks and stopping them with Water magic such as the Ice Lance.

If the chains is able to block the enemy's movement, she still has the style of using a sword to quickly end the enemy.

Name: Ryner Orgo

Title: King of Swords

Status: Human, commoner

Condition: Good

Age: 33.

Level: 35

HP: 80/80

MP: 85/85

Strength: 43

Agility: 49

Magic: 24

Dexterity: 59

Durability: 30

Luck: 0

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv10/A)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/E)

Equipment: Blade of Ice

Finally, Ryner. Some might question "What about Bram?" but Bram can no longer be leveled up by the level of enemies here so I'll leave him out.

His stats is low for his level, but that's only because it looks that way compared to the members of Reimei.

“Lady Recca. Thank you very much for the past month. Thanks to you we have become much stronger. I am going back to Lister Imperial School a little earlier than planned. I will probably come back again so I look forward to meeting you again."

Currently, I'm at the fort saying goodbye to Recca. I've decided to go back to the Lister Imperial School because many people were saying that they’ve become strong enough and they would like to go back. I'm a lot stronger than the goal I set so I need to let off some steam. I don't want Clarice to cook for me all the time too.

“Of course. You guys have been endless surprises for me. I have a favor to ask of you. Can you do me a favor and spar with me?”

Recca asked. Come to think of it, one of the purposes of my coming here was to meet up with Recca who is said to be closest to an A-level adventurer...

“Understood. What are the rules?"

I asked and to my surprise, Recca replied, "Anything goes". Karen objected at one point but in the end, it turned out to be a serious match.

Recca is clearly the more experienced fighter of us. But I have overwhelming higher stats. I knew the outcome before we started.

Karen signaled, "Start," and Rekka's Salamander three section staff extended. The heat conduction is very fast...as you would expect from someone who is used to using it.

But I soon realized my weakness. I made a stone sword again with Earth magic, and held it up in the same way, waiting for Recca's Salamander three section staff to attack.

Then the three-section staff extended in the same way as before but this time I bounced it with my stone sword with a backwind (a slash from the bottom up), and the staff fell away from Recca's hand.

The strength values are overwhelmingly different and the agility values are also different. Recca cannot receive the slash at this speed. Recca had a surprised expression on her face but she immediately attacked with a magic attack.

“Flare Bomb!”

The magic is about to be manifested with her voice "Flare Bomb!" but I block it with my Wind magic. The firepower of the attack was much lower and I was able to easily offset it with Ice Lance.

Recca blurted out, "Impossible" as she prepared for the next Flare Bomb but this is where I came in to end the battle. I deployed Sylphid at full strength and went behind Recca, placing my stone sword on her neck.

“That’s it!”

Karen's voice was heard a couple of seconds after I had propped the sword. Karen also seemed to have lost sight of me for a moment.

“What a ridiculous...I was serious from the start...I expected that salamander three section staff wouldn't work but I didn't think my Fire magic to be completely ineffective as well. ...This is my first time being blocked when manifesting magic...is that Wind magic? Is invisible magic possibly the most powerful after all..."

She asked as she hung her head.

“Yes. That is Wind magic. As expected I can't receive a direct hit from the magic that looks so dangerous. What kind of magic is Flare Bomb? May you show it to me?"

When I answered and then requested to see the Flare Bomb, Recca said.

"Okay. This is a magic that explodes when a Flare hits something directly. It is possible to make it explode without a direct hit but the power is weaker. You have to be at a very high level to handle it.”

The moment the Flare hit the rock, it exploded and shattered the large rock. I can't believe he was aiming this kind of magic at me. ...I was pale but Recca laughed at me.

“I didn't think it would hit you anyway. I thought the Wind magic would throw it off course. Well, I used it because I believed in you, Mars. I apologize if I offended you."

“No... thank you for trusting me.”

I answered so even as my face turned blue.

“Even so, a first-year student who is stronger than a Knight Commander, albeit the no.2 of the Duke Fresvald household... Sir Fresvald really has a good eye for people, doesn't he? Mars, please take care of Lady Karen from now on!"

Recca bowed to me.

“Lady Recca! Please raise your head. I will take good care of Karen."

After that, we packed up and left the fort with the entire Daybreak team. Thus ended our training in the Margrave Isaac territory.

====================================

Author’s note:

This is the end of Chapter 7.

Volume 7 was about leveling chapter.

Volume 8 is back to school life.

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Next>>

Chapter 130 : Blizzard

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

“I'm going to use a spell called Blizzard now. I've never used it before so I don't know if I can activate it properly. I'm good at Wind magic but not so at Water magic. That's why I want the two of you to help me with Water magic.

I think that Firestorm is a magic that can be activated by several people because Lady Recca said something about myself using Firestorm with only one person.

I think this is a Water magic version of that so I believe it can be manifested by more than one person too. Even if it fails, Tornado should definitely be able to bury the killer bees. The reason why I wanted to defeat it with Blizzard is to counter the hellsnakes. This is my own thinking but perhaps a hellsnake is vulnerable to cold. If I manage to use Blizzard now, I think I can broaden my strategy in the future. So both of you please lend me your strength."

I said all at once, and they nodded.

“Alright! Let's go! Blizzard!"

I use Water magic to lower the temperature inside the Tornado while I activated Tornado. Clarice and Misha's Water magic lowered the temperature inside the Tornado instantly.

The moisture from the surrounding fog becomes a sharp blade of ice and the inside of Blizzard becomes a hellscape. Countless blades of ice sliced through the killer bees which were stuck in the cold. The killer bees were wiped out in less than 10 minutes. The higher species in the nest also seemed to have died before long.

The hellsnakes near the nest were also slowed by the cold, and six of them were swallowed by Blizzard and died. And unlike when we killed Trent with fire, no magic beasts came near the area where we released Blizzard. This would be quite powerful magic in the Forest of Death.

The remaining four rushed towards us. I was about to intercept them when I heard a thud next to me. I looked in the direction of the sound and to my surprise, Misha had fallen!

“Misha! What's wrong?"

I repeatedly cast Heal and Cure on Misha but she did not wake up. When I appraised Misha, I found that her MP had been reduced to zero. Blizzard had emptied her MP. I can't believe she kept consuming MP all the way until she collapsed. ...a runaway elf, so scary.

Well considering a normal person's MP, it's only enough to fire one shot... and if you can keep that up for less than 10 minutes, regardless of the burden being split by three people activating the spell, your MP will soon run out...

“Clarice! We're retreating to Ellie and the others! I'll take the leader role later so it might be tough but you'll have to carry Misha on your back. I'll use Wind magic to assist you so I don't think you'll feel that much weight!”

I handed Misha, who had fallen asleep, over to Clarice without waiting for her reply in a piggyback ride and she quickly ran to Ellie and the rest. To be honest, I think I could easily defeat four of the hellsnakes right now. But it's no good if I'm the only one who gets stronger. I can't always be around everyone.

I hurried back to Ellie and the others, who were already ready for battle.

“Clarice, Ellie, Karen, Ryner! I want you to finish off the hellsnakes one by one! I'll keep watch for the surroundings! I'll help you as soon as you’re in danger! Karen! You can use your Fire magic here so use it to your fullest!"

I received Misha who was sleeping due to MP depletion from Clarice.

My guess is that Ellie and Karen would be the ones who would take them down the fastest while Clarice and Ryner would struggle a lot. Clarice's stats is the second highest after mine but everything is average. She's somewhere between me and Baron so although I didn't think she'd lose but I knew she'd lack the decisive attack and would take a long time to take down a hellsnake.

I don’t think Ellie would be in any hard time because she has overwhelming advantage in terms of strength and agility and Karen could easily take a hellsnake down with a few Flares.

I estimated Ryner would take the longest but least worrying. Ryner's defensive capabilities cannot be broken by a hellsnake.

However, my expectations were greatly betrayed. It was Clarice who first defeated her hellsnake. She used Water magic to lower the temperature around the hellsnake, slowing its movements, and hitting its temple all the way with her Magic Arrow every attack. It is said that many snakes are weak to cold and the hellsnakes were no exception.

The next one to finish is Karen. It was defeated without any difficulty by a simple repetitive labor of just hitting it with Flares.

Surprisingly, it was Ellie who took a much longer time. It was difficult to reach the hellsnake’s vital points with a dagger and she had trouble piercing its scales. Even so, Clarice, Ellie, and Karen were definitely amongst B-rank adventurers as they were able to defeat a hellsnake with only a little damage on their side.

Ryner was the last one to finish his fight and he had the hardest time. The hellsnake’s physical attacks were easy to handle but when it sprayed a large amount of dissolving fluid, Ryner's agility was not enough to avoid it and there were holes all over his clothes. If this was a girl in a dress... I used Heal on Ryner repeatedly and he managed to defeat the hellsnake.

Once we finished defeating the hellsnakes, we decided to retreat to the fort. It would indeed be dangerous for Misha to stay like this. When we were retreating, 20 or 30 killer bees attacked us but Clarice shot them all down with her magic bow. Clarice spoke to me excitedly.

“I can now attack with my bow while using magic like Mars! I tried it out with the hellsnake and it went surprisingly well. I've been a bit frustrated with my lack of growth lately but now I have a wider range of fighting styles. I'll continue to get stronger step by step so I can be of help to Mars."

I had noticed the hints of Clarice's motivation for fighting had been dropping recently but I didn't realize that was the case. ...I want to apologize for not realizing that. But there are things I could do now that I know.

This time, the three of us destroyed the killer bees' nest instantly and killed some hellsnakes so my level went up by one, Clarice's level went up by one and Misha's level went up by two. And only Clarice had achieved notable growth. First of all, I'll give you a quick summary of my and Misha's stats.

Name: Mars Bryant

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

Status: Human race, second son of Count Bryant

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 33

HP: 82/82

MP: 7095/7899

Strength: 78

Agility: 79

Magic: 98

Dexterity: 78

Endurance: 71

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 (Lv5/D).

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv9/A)

Special Ability: Holy Magic (Lv7/B)

Equipment: Thunder Sword

Equipment: Salamander Sword

Equipment: Bracelet of Disguise

All of them(stats) exceeded 70. I think my magic will reach 100 with one more level.

Name: Misha Febrandt

Title: -

Status: Elf race, eldest daughter of Baroness Febrandt

Status: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 32

HP: 54/54

MP: 0/176

Strength: 46

Agility: 57

Magic: 46

Dexterity: 49

Endurance: 27

Luck: 5

Special Ability: Spear Art (Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv4/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv5/D)

Equipment: Sylph Lance

Equipment: Robe of Illusion

Her level of Water magic had increased. It's about time Misha entered the ranks of B-rank adventurer. ...I swore it the other day but I purposely choose to not say it to her...

Name: Clarice Lampard

Title: Bow King / Saintess

Status: Human race, eldest daughter of Viscount Lampard

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 36

HP: 73/73

MP: 349/1471

Strength: 53

Agility: 53

Magic: 63

Dexterity: 63

Endurance: 51

Luck: 20

Unique Ability: Barrier Magic (Lv4/A)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv5/C)

Special Ability: Archery (Lv8/B)

Special ability: Water Magic (Lv4/F)

Special ability: Wind Magic (Lv3/F)

Special Ability: Holy Magic (Lv7/A)

Equipment: Defender

Equipment: Magic Arrow

Equipment: Saint’s Robe

Equipment: Mysterious Anklet

Equipment: Bracelet of Disguise

To my surprise, she got the title ‘Bow King’ even though her archery level remained the same. When I told her…

“Really!? But I do feel the change. When I defeated killer bee earlier, I wondered when I became able to shoot such a small target so accurately and fast from far away.”

She spoke excitedly.

“When you defeated killer bee earlier, that was really amazing. We might land ourselves in a situation where magic can't be used in the Forest of Death so when that happens we’ll rely on Clarice to defeat killer bees.”

Clarice nodded happily at my words as she answered with an “of course”. S,so cute...

When we reached the fort safely, I put Misha to bed and we took a bath and ate a light meal.

“This isn't enough for me after such a delicious meal in the morning. Clarice, can you cook again? Clarice's cooking has a flavor that you don't get in the Lister Confederacy and I've become a fan of the taste.”

When Karen said so, I also added.

“Certainly...the seasoning is gentle but it's not like it’s light. It's the best food I've ever had."

“...now...Clarice's...meat dish...please!..."

Ellie liked it too. And even Ryner.

“If you and Mars ever get married, you'll have to cook for us once in a while. I really like how the seasoning was done in that dish too."

They all praised Clarice. Clarice got embarrassed.

“I-I understand. Then I'll make a meat dish for the evening."

Clarice said resignedly and everyone was very excited. Clarice immediately started preparing the evening meal. Even though I just had a late lunch...I feel sorry for her... Ellie and Karen will help(I hope) Clarice later...although for all intents and purposes it looks like Ellie is just trying to test-taste the food.

Ryner and I decided to head over to the Baron’s place and watch Minerva progress. Minerva's handling of the chains had improved considerably and she deftly hooked the chains onto the killer ant's leg, rolled it over, and killed it with her sword.

“Minerva, you have improved a lot.”

When I spoke to Minerva, she looked happy.

“Yes! But really, what I wanted to do was stab it with the tip of the chain but even if I did it, I still can't defeat it and I lose to the killer ant in the pulling strength. I heard that you don't really use the chains in this way but I'll try to use them in my own way once my strength value increases.

I'm going to go to the shops and look for chains equipment. I heard that there are chains that extend when enchanted with magic power. The margrave said that I should choose such chains because I have a lot of MP. Also, I heard that chains equipment is very cheap because there aren't many chains users."

Both Baron and Dominic are working very hard to support Minerva. I'm very happy with the way things are moving in a very positive direction. That’s despite everything that's happened.

====================================

Author’s note:

I didn't actually intend to make Minerva to be this nice character…

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Next>> 

Chapter 129 : Three-way battle

TL:SummerPeanut

Bonus chapters for this week!! Thank you for the support.

====================================

17 September 2030, 6:00 am.

I woke up with a nice smell that I have smelled somewhere before filling my nostrils. It's a homely smell, different from the nice smell of Ellie at the side. I mean, come on, it’s about time to wake up Ellie. ...she’s been sleeping for 30 hours now.

“Ellie, let's get up already. We're going to the Forest of Death today."

I shook Ellie's shoulder but she doesn't wake up. Is this the pattern that she'll wake up if I kiss her again? I pretended like I have no choice (I'm actually happy) and kissed Ellie, and she woke up and hugged me happily.

“...Mars...good morning...”

“Good morning. Ellie has been asleep for a long time so let's get up and eat a lot of food. And it smells kind of good.”

The good smell when I woke up was, for all intents and purposes, the smell of someone cooking. The members of Daybreak clan can’t cook. At least I've never seen anyone do it.

Ellie and I were drawn by the smell and when we reached the place where the good smell was generated, we found Clarice wearing a light pink apron over her Lister Imperial School uniform and her silver hair tied up in a bun.

“Good morning, Clarice. Do you by any chance know how to cook?”

I asked, and Clarice said.

“Good morning. There’s nothing by chance, I can cook. I used to do it in the otherside, and I did it in Grantham. It's just that it's been a while and I'm worried if I'm doing it right. ...I've just had a little taste but would you like a taste too?"

Saying that, she put some of the soup on the small plate that she had just brought to her mouth and handed it to me. I've always wanted to try indirect kiss cliche. I consciously put myself closer than usual to Clarice and enjoyed the indirect kiss.

The personal space is around 15cm hmm…I’m nervous. So nervous I can't really taste anything. The only thing is I taste in my heart is the feeling of happiness.

“Yes! Delicious!"

Clarice looked very happy at my words. Then Clarice started to narrow the personal space. I asked Ellie to taste the food as well and Ellie nodded in satisfaction.

It's going to take another half hour or so for the food to be ready so we decide to take a morning bath first. Separately, of course.

When we got out of the bath, everyone was already awake and for the first time in a long time all members of Daybreak decided to have a meal together. Baron and Minerva are already sitting next to each other on good terms like they used to, and things seem to be going well here too.

Clarice's cooking was very good. It was probably the most delicious food I've tasted since I came to this world. Well, I can't say for sure because there are various biases in the calculation...

After everyone cleaned up, four of Genesis and Bram headed off to exterminate the ants. The rest of us left the fort in yesterday's formation.

We started by finding the killer ants heading towards the Forest of Death. The ant nests to the north and west of the fort were mostly annihilated so we went to the east and found a long line of killer ants marching into the Forest of Death. ...there were more than 100 of them, and even some mother ants mixed in.

We followed the killer ants from quite a distance so that they wouldn't notice us.

As we approached the Forest of Death, the fog became thicker and the ground was muddy underfoot. I use Wind to clear the fog in front of killer ants. A hundred metres ahead of killer ants was already the Forest of Death with many trees in full growth.

And a battle between magic beasts was taking place on the periphery of that forest. Surprisingly, the ants have not joined the fight yet. It was bees, snakes, and spiders that were fighting.

There were about 100 killer bees. The snakes group consist of 10 hellsnakes which were also in the Devil's Forest. And for the spiders group, there were two kinds of spiders.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Spantua*1

Threat: C

Condition: Good

Age: 0 years old

Level: 1

HP: 38/38

MP: 1/1

Strength: 24

Agility: 22

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 32

Endurance: 12

Luck: 1

This spider called spantua was about the same size as a killer bee and there were about 20 of them. They constantly emit threads from their mouths disgustingly.

Some of the killer bees were trapped and unable to move. And the killer bees that were bitten by the spantua gradually slowed down and then died... The killer bees' condition was poisoned so the spantua's fangs must have been poisonous. And the other spider is the problem.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Ark Spantua

Threat: B

Condition: Good

Age: 4 years old

Level: 12

HP: 158/158

MP: 74/94

Strength: 48

Agility: 50

Magic: 52

Dexterity: 61

Endurance: 42

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Summon Magic Beasts(Lv 3/F).

It’s a spider with eight eyes and four mouths, one on each side. It is 3m long and is seriously disgusting...spitting threads in all directions and summoning spantua all over the place.

By the way, this is what the hellsnakes look like.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Hellsnake

Threat: B-

Condition: Good

Age: 1 year old

Level: 5

HP: 96/96

MP: 3/3

Strength: 37

Agility: 48

Magic:1

Dexterity: 40

Endurance: 60

Luck: 1

It seemed to be newly born and had slightly lower status than the hellsnakes of the Devil’s Forest.

The killer ants tried to join the battle between these three types of demons but it was not a four-way fight. The ark spantua spat a large number of blue threads in front of the killer ants, making it impossible for them to join the fight.

It was as if to say that they had no right to participate if they could not break through these blue threads.

Killer ants boldly tried to enter the battle by walking on the blue threads but they were completely entangled in the blue threads and unable to move. Moreover, to its surprise, the parts entangled in the blue threads have begun to melt. Does this mean that the blue threads emitted by ark spantua must never be touched?

The three-way battle was terrific. Killer bees seemed to be very incompatible with spantuas, and they were slowly but surely absorbed by the multi-layered threads and died from their bites.

However, spantua's threads were no threat at all with the size of one hellsnake. It broke the blistering threads and wrapped itself around spantua and bit it, taking it down with ease.

Spantua's bite on the hellsnake seems to be unable to penetrate its scales so the venom damage does not pass through.

Killer bees are also unable to attack the hellsnakes very effectively.

It may be that the scales are too hard for the needle to penetrate, but unlike the killer ants, the dissolved fluid from its mouth has a long range, and if it hits the wings, the victim would not be able to fly and will drop. Bees that cannot fly are not a threat at all so the hellsnakes kills them rapidly.

This might seem like a one-man victory for the hellsnakes but actually it is not. The blue threads of the ark spantua gradually dissolved the hellsnakes' scales. And just as the scales are dissolving, killer bee reinforcements arrive from somewhere and inflicted damage...

“It looks like a Great Magic Beast War. It's kind of horrifying."

Hearing Clarice’s words, Karen too added her opinion.

“I’m really not keen to enter a place like this...and it feels revolting that all the magic beasts here are poisonous... I would never go into a place like this if it wasn't for the Holy magicians. But a normal Holy magician would definitely be waiting in a safer place so I definitely wouldn't even want to go near unless Mars is here."

Ellie and Ryner watched the battle between the magic beasts as they devoured each other. The battle, which seemed to go on endlessly as long as the killer bee reinforcements continued, gradually began to change.

First, the level of the hellsnakes began to gradually increase, and spantuas and killer bees were no longer able to inflict enough damage. Only ark spantua could deal decent damage but the hellsnakes avoided damage from ark spantua's blue threads by shedding.

And ark spantua is not actively trying to attack the hellsnakes. Everytime a spantua gets knocked down by the hellsnakes, ark spantua summons more spantua.

Apparently, the killer bee that I thought was so nasty yesterday is the lowest of the hierarchy around the perimeter of the Forest of Death. ...I guess it's even more horrendous inside the Forest of Death...

After watching them fight for about an hour straight, ark spantua started retreating first. Did he retreat because its MP gotten low? If so, that means it has that much wisdom. Then the hellsnakes marched in the direction of the killer bees’ nest to hunt them.

The hellsnakes advanced and found a tree with an entire beehive. Such a huge beehive is unusual. And more and more killer bees were coming out of the ground under the tree. Of course, more killer bees were also coming out of the tree where the whole tree had turned into a beehive.

The hellsnakes were spitting their dissolving fluid all over the ground and the killer bees were falling off in an interesting way, and soon the entrance and exit of the ground hive was filled with dead killer bees and no more killer bees were coming out of the ground.

“Hey...don't you think it would be quite an experience harvest to annihilate that nest? It would be even better if we could kill the entire hellsnakes..."

No one agreed with me when I say that... Well, it's certainly dangerous. Furthermore, Misha added.

“Those hellsnakes are trauma triggering for me...because when I see it, it reminds me of what happened four years ago ...”

Speaking of which, I and Clarice saved her...and then Clarice said.

“If we're going to attack that nest, we'll want to do it from further away. If we attack here and something goes wrong, there's a chance we won't be able to flee away...”

“Ok! Ellie, Karen, and Ryner stand back! Once we've lured the hellsnakes, we'll use Karen's Flare to take it down! Don’t release it anywhere near the Forest of Death! Ellie and Ryner, stay alert to the surroundings! Killer bees and hellsnakes might not be the only enemies out there."

Clarice and Misha will try to annihilate that bees’ hive with me. I'd like to try a few things with the two of them. I set my sights on the hive of killer bees and tried some haphazard magic.

====================================

Author’s note:

The author hates spiders.

When I killed a big spider at school a long time ago, an awful lot of little spiders appeared from the carcass...

Decades later, I still can't get that scene out of my head.

TLN: I had the same experience! Be warned that when you kill a spider, they might have small little baby spiders. The sight of them running wild to all over the place was scary.

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TL’s note:

1. I’m not good with spider’s science/species name. Do correct me if I’m wrong. Couldn’t find it in the internet.

Chapter 128 : Warrior's Rest

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Death Treant

Threat: B-

Condition: Good

Age: 3 years old

Level: 10

HP: 142/142

MP: 42/52

Strength: 51

Agility: 20

Magic: 42

Dexterity:  10

Endurance: 25

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv 3/F)

I appraised the tree that trampled the killer ants. I wonder if this tree is a magic beast… Looking closely, it has eyes and a mouth... It looks disgusting...

I felt like it stopped the ants in their tracks somehow and since its MP decreased so I assume it might have to do something with Earth magic. I decided to fight the death treant to see what it was like for a bit.

When I danced out in front of the death trent, its mouth moved. Then the muddy soil under my feet hardened and my feet were pinned. So this was what restrained the killer ants...

Against me who was unable to move, the death trent tried to trample me down as it did with the killer ants. I pulled out Thunder Sword and Salamander Sword and stabbed them into the soles of death trent's feet(?).

The sword was beautifully stuck in the center of the sole, and I enchanted Salamander Sword with Fire magic and ignited it inside-out the tree, it easily spread and I was able to defeat the death trent.

I hurriedly retreated from the spot and searched for signs of surrounding magic beasts with Search, and found that nearly 100 magic beasts had gathered near the death trent.

There was a very loud "vuun-vuun" sound...which sounded like the rubbing of wings... and it might have been bees...

When I stared closely at it from a distance, as expected it was a bee. There were about 100 bees less than a meter tall flying around. I've always hated bees. One flew towards me so I appraised it.

Name:

Title: -

Race: Killer Bee

Threat: C-

Condition: Good

Age: 1-year-old

Level: 3

HP: 30/30

MP: 3/3

Strength: 15

Agility: 44

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 15

Endurance: 18

Luck: 1

Its stats is quite low but has a threat level of C-. It is probably poisonous then. And the fact that it is flying is also troublesome. Its agility value is also reasonably high so it seems difficult to land a hit. ...If this is a threat level C-...the orc general with the same threat level, would be a much easier win.

After watching for a while, I felt another group of killer ants heading toward the Forest of Death. As I approached, I saw the killer ants and that there were at least 50 of them. When that pack of killer ants passed by the trent I had just defeated, the killer bees attacked the killer ants en masse.

Stung unilaterally from the air, the killer ants were killed almost without resistance. It seems that the killer ant's acid attack can't even be thrown upwards...

I left the place slowly after the killer ants were annihilated so that killer bees would not notice me and returned to the fort. I wonder how should handle the killer bees... Although I feel that Tornado is the best way to go...

On the way back to the fort, I saw another group of killer ants heading toward the Forest of Death. I guess they will now be killed by killer bees again. Killer ants are the ones who get killed wherever they go. ...and on top of that I'm going to destroy their nests too, I'm starting to feel sorry for them.

I thought I had walked quite far but it only took me about 20 minutes to return to the fort. And the fort is piled with a lot of dead killer ant carcasses. RIP…

I got back to the group without killing a single killer ant heading for the fort. My return to the extended fort was just in time for everyone to wake up. The only ones who didn't wake up were Minerva, who must have slept late, and Ellie, as per usual.

I quickly took a bath and cleaned myself up before talking to the members who were still awake.

“Just now, I went near the Forest of Death. In the forest, I saw bees and tree magic beasts but the bee monsters looked quite tough and there were many of them. If the tree magic beasts are dealt with incorrectly, they could cause a terrible situation. Firstly, I would like to narrow down the members of the team.

Bram, Baron, and Dominic, could you stay here and guard Minerva? Minerva has been learning the chains technique earnestly from Margrave Isaac. You might misunderstand me when I say this, but Minerva is a good, hard-working girl. She can be a bit extreme in her way of thinking at times but...can I ask the three of you to do that?"

I asked Baron and he nodded silently, and likewise Bram and Dominic too.

“The rest of you will go with me to the Forest of Death but I'm going to change the formation. I'll take the lead, then Clarice, Karen behind Clarice, with Ellie and Misha on both sides of Karen, and Ryner in the rear.

This time we'll be really careful. We start by looking for a herd of killer ants heading to the Forest of Death. I'll have the killer ants to be our sacrifice. Also, we must definitely be back by nightfall as I'm not planning to go into the forest yet."

Apparently, they got the message that it’s dangerous there since I'm being overly cautious. For now, we decided to depart at four o'clock and return at seven o'clock and each of us was free to spend the time until then.

Everyone except Clarice has decided to go out and hunt killer ants. I don't want to fight with ants for the time being so I'm standing by. I feel like it's been a while since I've had any time alone with Clarice...and I'm a little nervous. ...then Clarice asked me.

“Mars, what are you going to do?”

“Well, actually I haven't decided on anything... I just don’t feel like killing the ants right now. Is there anything you want to do Clarice? If there's anything I can help you with, I'll help you?”

“I'd like to slow down and rest for a bit...since I've been fighting a lot lately...”

It's true that we've been fighting all the time...I'll try to relax as much as possible in November. ...as I was thinking so, Clarice sat down next to the couch I was sitting on from the seat across from her.

I think it's been a while since I've seen Clarice awake in a close-up. She smells as good as ever. And I'm getting kind of nervous...and sweaty and thirsty...I've never been like this before even though we've been together all this time and I've fallen to her...I want to make eye contact but I'm scared because I don't know how to react when our eyes meet. Clarice noticed something was wrong with me and grabbed my hand.

“Hey...are you okay? Your face is kind of red, do you have a fever?"

She looked into my face and put her hand on my forehead. Yes, I have a fever. I'm completely hot for you.

When Clarice looked into my face, our eyes met. I was embarrassed but I felt a little bit of a knot in my chest was lifted and I was happy just to see her eye to eye. But Clarice didn't know what I was thinking.

“You've got a fever after all! ...your hands too...are you okay? You've been working a bit too hard lately, haven't you? Let's take today off from going into the Forest of Death. It seems like a dangerous place if we’re not in perfect physical condition.”

Clarice began to touch my back in concern. She is probably checking to see how much I am sweating. As expected, I can't get Clarice's hands dirty anymore.

“Thank you. I'm going to have a quick bath then. If I still have a fever after the bath, I'll take the rest of the day off."

I decided to take a bath straight away. I thought I would be fine because I would calm down if I kept a little distance from her. However, Clarice, worried about me, was waiting for me after I get out of the bath so… In the end, Clarice forced me to take the day off.

Clarice used Heal on me a few times, but I know that Holy magic can't cure me. Clarice was upset that the magic, which normally has a certain level of effectiveness, didn't work at all this time.

“Thank you, Clarice. But I know the cause so you don't need to worry.”

“If you know the cause... It means you're not feeling well after all...”

Since she said it so worriedly, I nervously and honestly told her.

“I think I'm probably in love with...Clarice. I don't know, you seem to be somewhat different from how you’ve been...lately."

I said shyly, and Clarice answered me with a happy and embarrassed...also somewhat angry or maybe regretful expression on her face.

“T-thank you...but it seems I was quicker to fall in love with you...”

“I didn't see any pretense of that though...?”

Clarice replied below when I said above.

“Of course... because it happened when Mars was sleeping for 15 hours. ...I was watching you sleeping all the time and I got nervous too..."

I think that might due to some part of her being nervous from worrying about me? In a sense, it may be the suspension bridge effect...but it also explains why Clarice has recently improved her looks so much.

“Oh, oh, I’m sorry about that I guess? And thank you... how did you fix the anxiety?"

“Eh...? I,It's a secret...I can't tell you that...”

Hm? Her white face is turning red, you know? Could it be...this is...

“Yes, well... I understand. But it's going to be a problem if I don't fix mine so I'd appreciate it if you'd stay close by today."

I ended up spending almost the entire evening with Clarice. The pounding didn't go away but I got used to it. Halfway through the day, Minerva woke up and joined Baron and the others for an ant-hunting date.

Apparently, Baron and Minerva are back together again. We had dinner and decided to go to bed, and go to the Forest of Death tomorrow morning.

I took a bath too, and when I tried to go to bed, the person who had been sleeping all time was still sleeping in my bed...

====================================

Author’s note:

If you feel the series is even a bit interesting and are curious about the story’s continuation, please consider giving ★★★★★ and bookmark as it will really help with my motivation. m(__)m

I am also on Twitter.

I would be delighted if you would follow me on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/qdUYSDZf8XzNaUq

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Chapter 127 : Entrance?

TL:SummerPeanut

Changing X butcherer title -> X slaughterer title

====================================

When I brought the carcass of the hercules ant to the fort, I was surrounded by Knights of the Isaac.

“What on earth is...that?”

“It's a hercules ant, a sort of king of the ants. I brought the carcass back because I'm going to present it to my father later. I remembered that this antler was on display in the main house of the Fresvald family.”

When Karen replied to the knight's words, the knights looked at hercules ant with interest.

I wanted to put off reporting to Margrave Isaac to tell him that we had destroyed the den and to offer him the magic stone, but if I didn't report it here and now, the Knights of Isaac would go back to their camp. After taking a bath, I went alone to report to the margrave of Isaac.

Margrave Isaac was not inside the fort but rather outside of the eastern fort, leading the fight against the ants.

“Margrave Isaac. I have returned. I have destroyed the ants' nest in the west and recovered the magic stones. I have already entrusted the magic stones to a member of the Knights. I also killed a higher species hercules ant, and I would like to dedicate it to Duke Fresvald but may I request for you to take it back when you return to the camp?"

Then Isaac replied.

“My God! A hercules ant! I've been defeating Ant's for decades and I've never seen one before. ...Of course, bring it back! Lord Fresvald will be delighted! But still, to think you defeated a hercules ant..."

Good. Now I don't have to carry it as part of my luggage.

“How is the situation with Minerva?"

I asked and Margrave Isaac pointed towards the ants.

“She's fighting the killer ants over there. Don't worry, she’s fighting with the escorting knights. I would never let a girl of that age get hurt.”

So that's why Margrave Isaac went out of his way to come here...

“Thank you very much. Please tell Minerva to return to this side of the fort when the Knights of Isaac return. We are very exhausted so I think we should rest a little. I seek your understanding."

I bowed and left Isaac. On my way back, I saw the appearance of Minerva fighting hard with her chains. Isn't she a good girl…? Who said she was just an SM character...

Back at the fort, everyone was already asleep.

Outside our fort was the carcass of a hercules ant, and the Knights were looking at it curiously.

After giving only a side look at the knights, I went inside the extended fort, checked everyone's stats, and decided to go to bed.

Name: Mars Bryant

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

Status: Human race, second son of Count Bryant

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 32

HP: 80/80

MP 10/7895

Strength: 77

Agility: 77

Magic: 96

Dexterity 76

Durability: 69

Luck: 30

Unique Ability: Innate Talent (LvMax)

Unique Ability: Heavenly 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 (Lv5/D)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv9/A)

Special Ability: Holy Magic (Lv7/B)

Equipment: Thunder Sword

Equipment: Salamander Sword

Equipment: Bracelet of Disguise

My level has caught up with everyone else, probably because I've been defeating a lot of high-level magic beasts. While I'm here, I'll aim to reach 100 magic stats.

To get same title of Ant Slaughterer that Margrave Isaac had would probably still a long way off. He has been hunting Ant for decades so there is no way I can catch up in a month or so.

Name: Clarice Lampard

Title: Saintess

Status: Human race, eldest daughter of Viscount Lampard

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 35

HP: 71/71

MP: 855/1468

Strength: 52

Agility: 52

Magic: 61

Dexterity: 61

Durability: 50

Luck: 20

Unique Ability: Barrier Magic (Lv4/A)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv5/C)

Special Ability: Archery (Lv8/B)

Special Ability: Water magic (Lv4/F)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv3/F).

Special Ability: Holy Magic (Lv7/A)

Equipment: Defender

Equipment: Magic Arrow

Equipment: Saint’s Robe

Equipment: Mysterious Anklet

Equipment: Bracelet of Disguise

Her versatility has been refined and her status has all exceeded 50. She is perfectly capable as a sub-leader. Recently, she also began to attack with Water magic and her level of Water magic has also increased.

And her beauty had been further refined. If I look at her sleeping face any longer, I'll have to be under the care of Wand of Sage (Fake) again so let's stop here.

Name: Ellie Leo

Title: -

Status: Beastmen race(Lion race), head of the Leo Baronetess Household

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 32

HP: 88/88

MP: 0/78

Strength: 65

Agility: 80

Magic: 18

Dexterity: 20

Durability: 53

Luck: 10

Unique Ability: Sound Magic (Lv1/C)

Special Ability: Martial Arts (Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Knifemanship (Lv7/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv2/G)

Equipment: Mithril Silver Dagger

Equipment: Sylph Dagger

Equipment: Valkyrie Armor

Equipment: Cloak of Wind

Equipment: Boots of Wind

Ellie could have been stronger than Clarice if it’s just short-decisive battle. In practice, however, she can't do anything in front of the chantless Barrier magic but she has grown tremendously that she gives others the impression of her as another sub-ace in the party.

In contrast, her physical growth seems to have almost stopped. Thank goodness...I would have been unable to hold it if she had grown any further.

Name: Karen Lionel

Title: -

Status: Human race, second daughter of the duke of Fresvald

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 33

HP: 39/39

MP: 0/430

Strength: 25

Agility: 26

Magic:  62

Dexterity: 28

Durability: 18

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Magic Eyes (LvMax)

Special Ability: Whip Technique (Lv4/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv8/B)

Equipment: Salamander Rod

Equipment: Whip of Fire

Equipment: Salamander Robe

Equipment: Flame bracelet

Her level of whip technique had steadily increased and the level of Fire magic had also risen to 8 during this time’s massacre. Her strength and agility values have also improved and I am looking forward to her future growth.

Name: Misha Febrandt

Title: -

Status: Fairy race (Elf race), eldest daughter of Baroness Febrandt

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 30

HP: 51/51

MP: 0/170

Strength: 43

Agility: 53

Magic: 42

Dexterity: 45

Durability: 25

Luck: 5

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv5/D)

Equipment: Sylph Lance

Equipment: Robe of Illusion

Equipment: Small Shield of Illusion

Misha has also reached level 30 and her strength is probably at the level of upper C-rank adventurer. She might even possibly enter the ranks of B-rank adventurer but I'm not going to spoil it for her because she’s likely to get ahead of herself and go berserk on her own if she knows.

Name: Baron Reinhardt

Title: -

Status: Human race, heir to Count Reinhardt.

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 26

HP: 56/56

MP: 0/257

Strength: 36

Agility: 33

Magic: 35

Dexterity: 36

Durability: 30

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Swordsmanship(Lv6/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv3/D)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv2/D)

Special Ability: Earth Magic(Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Wind magic (Lv3/D)

Equipment: Gnome Sword

Equipment: Gnome Shield

Equipment: Gnome Armor

Baron is a balanced type but his equipment is a full set of earth spirit equipment so I think he wants to specialize in Earth magic somehow. I have a feeling that he’s going to lack decisive power as I did in the past. I want to let him know while it’s still early.

Name: Dominic August

Title: -

Status: Human race, head of the Augustus baronet family

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 25

HP: 58/58

MP: 0/45

Strength: 36

Agility: 36

Magic: 18

Dexterity: 22

Durability: 32

Luck: 5

Special Ability: Swordsmanship(Lv7/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv3/E)

Equipment: Sword of the Gale

Equipment: Mantle of Evasion

His HP and durability have increased considerably, probably due to the spartan training. I hope he will grow as a tank. First of all, I have to do something about his equipment though...

Name: Ryner Orgo

Title: Sword King

Status: Human, commoner

Condition: Good

Age: 33

Level: 30

HP: 71/71

MP: 73/73

Strength: 35

Agility:  42

Magic: 20

Dexterity: 54

Durability: 21

Luck: 0

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv10/A)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv2/E)

Equipment: Blade of Ice

Finally, there's Ryner. Bram's level has not changed so I omitted him. His stats are still low but his level 10 swordsmanship and his title Sword King give him outstanding stability. There are probably not many people who can break his defense Ryner when he is on the receiving end.

September 16, 2030, 1:00 a.m.

I woke up to find Misha on my right and Ellie on my left. Huh? These two should be sleeping with MP depleted, right? How could they be next to me?

I took my snack and quickly walked out with my doubts. As usual, the security at the fort on the side of the extension is tight. And the number of killer ants attacking us has obviously decreased. They might have been reduced to about half.

I headed for the Forest of Death alone where the Knights are fighting the killer ants. I wanted to know in advance how dangerous it would be. It is a gentleman's manners to know in advance the course of a date with beautiful women, isn't it?

It was midnight and quite cold. And as I was walking along while being very wary of my footing... I saw a group of about 10 killer ants heading toward the forest. I followed the herd of 10 or so killer ants toward the forest, trying not to be noticed.

I wondered how far I had walked... as the fog gradually thickened and visibility became worse. Thanks to Sky Eyes I have night vision but I can't see very far ahead. If I come here at night with beautiful girls, I will surely be misunderstood... I will definitely only come here between morning to noon.

The killer ants are going on and on without flinching at all in this thick fog. What a reliable bunch…should I tame a few of them as scouts? I followed them and finally, I could see an outline of a tree.

In that very next moment, the killer ants got crushed by the tree.

====================================

Author’s note:

The more the number of clan members, the more times we review their stats...

TL: Glad you know, I even have to start writing a note for the latest characters’ stats/equipment now so the tl doesn’t get too random like ice blade in chapter 1 and blade of ice in chapter 6 even tho they r the same thing…

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Chapter 126 : Ant King

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

Clarice and Karen came back while Ellie was hugging me and they were followed by Margrave Isaac and Minerva.

I used Heal on Dominic covertly so that Margrave Isaac wouldn't notice and told him not to run into the killer ant while the margrave is here. Dominic turned to me and nodded, surprised that Ellie was holding on to me.

"You really go into heat as soon as I take my eyes off of you… both of you separate away please."

Clarice said to me and Ellie, and Ellie pulled away from me.

“I've obtained permission from Margrave Isaac to take down the queen ants. The only condition is that we collect the magic stones as you did in the morning.”

Hearing Karen’s words, Minerva was excited.

"Listen to me, Mars! I was so impressed when I saw the way Margrave Isaac used his chains... I'm going to work on my chains technique again!"

That's really good...Now there will be no more Minerva victims...and then the Margrave of Isaac said

“I never thought I would meet someone with a talent for chains. After all without dexterity, no amount of talent in chains technique will be sufficient to use it. Miss Minerva has motivation, talent, dexterity, and MP so I am looking forward to her future. I will teach her well while I'm here so please look forward to it. Mars, is that agreeable to you too? May I borrow Miss Minerva?"

Margrave Isaac asked happily.

“Yes. I will inform Baron, her party leader, later. Please take care of Minerva. Minerva, when you learned to use the chains technique properly, please teach it to me too. That’s why please do your best."

Minerva happily replied "Yes" to my words. As Margrave Isaac and Minerva returned to the fort, I asked Dominic again to charge toward the killer ant herd.

"Ellie, why don't you and Misha find out where these ants are springing from?"

The two nodded and immediately went in search of the ant's burrows. After a while, Dominic was getting very exhausted. Even though he was recovering with Heals, he soon began to experience shortness of breath.

“Dominic, is it getting hard for you? Want to take a break?"

I asked Dominic.

“No, I'll continue. I'm supposedly the weakest in Daybreak so I'm going to have to train harder than anyone else to catch up with everyone else. I definitely will to return this favor to you Mars! I will never forget what you did for my right arm at the Freshman Combat Tournament!"

With that, he plunged further into the center of the killer ant herd. Dominic is a good guy...but it's not good if you go in that far...and just as I'm thinking about that, Baron joined the fray.

“Dominic! I'll fight together with you! We've got to show them that Genesis is strong too!"

Yeah. The feeling of youth is good. Baron woke up and joined us, which means that all the Daybreak members except Minerva are here. Just when I was hoping that Ellie and Misha would find a nest, they both returned at the right time.

“Mars, I found it. About a kilometer to the west from here. The nest there is much bigger. Are we going?"

I was impressed that Ellie and Misha had even found a den.

"Ah! Let's quickly defeat the ants and go to the vicinity of the Forest of Death!”

As we approached the den both of them had found for us, the mother ants, perhaps sensing something wrong, swarmed in and attacked us. In front of the den, the killer ants were all over the place, trying to keep the Fire magic from being put into the den...even though it was useless...

Karen and Baron unleashed Fire on the swarm of killer ants and I use Wind magic to throw the burning killer ants into the den. These guys don't seem to understand that they themselves are igniters.

I left the mother ants to Clarice, Ellie, Misha, and Ryner, and I continued to use Wind magic to send air into the den so that the fire in the den would not die out. The ants broke through the ground and came out of the den, still burning. But they were already dying when they came out so Dominic and Baron earnestly continued to put an end to them.

Apparently, it was hell underground. The ants were jumping out from the ground to the ground. Even the higher species ants were no exception.

Seven queen ants came out at once. And all of them are level 40!

As expected, only myself, Clarice, Ellie, and Karen were able to defeat these queen ants.

Karen would also not be able to defeat the queen ants if their HP are at MAX state but the queen ants took a long time to surface to the ground because of their large size. Which also translated to the long time they were burned so they can be somehow defeated by her.

Clarice also seems to take a long time to defeat a queen ant if the HP is at MAX. However, Clarice's equipment is first class so she will not lose. While I was defeating four of them, the other three seemed to be able to defeat the rest one by one.

When I thought I had finished defeating most of them, I saw a big ant that was much bigger than the queen ant. It was different from the queen ant in appearance, and even though it was an ant, it had big magnificent horns. The length of its horns was almost the same as its body length.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Hercules Ant

Threat: B

Condition: Good

Age: 38 years old

Level: 50

HP: 288/312

MP: 6/6

Strength: 78

Agility: 67

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 38

Durability: 95

Luck:  1

What is this ant... First of all, it has higher HP, strength, dexterity, and durability than the chimera, but its MP and magic power are lower. I guess it stops at a threat level of B because it has no special abilities at all...

But there was something more that struck me.

The name, the style, and the form...it’s basically a work of art! I'd love to have this as a stuffed animal! But still, is this even an ant? What's the definition of an ant...? Well, it doesn't matter.

“I-I'll take this guy down! Everyone be careful...please don't help me. I want to take him down with its state remaining as right now as much as possible!"

When I say this excitedly, the girls of Reimei rolled their eyes at me. ...I can feel their stares shouting how can I get so excited about this disgusting creature. But I can't lose here!

“Alright! I'll have this stuffed and made into an heirloom for my family-”

When I say this, Clarice interjected.

“Never!"

She shut me down. Well, I can't lose!

“I'll have this beautiful form of a stuffed hercules ant..."

After saying this much, and now Ellie whispered.

"...burned..."

...there are still only 2 against…so there's still a chance to win!

"I'll take this ant king that’s definitely not a bug king..."

After saying this much, Karen and Misha put their hands on my shoulders.

“Mars. Give it up. Is it more important than Clarice and Ellie?"

Misha followed after Karen.

“If we had this creepy thing in the house, no one would come in, okay? Are you going to live by yourself forever?"

I…have to give up a man's romance twice...but it certainly can't be more important than fiancées...

“I-, I understand...”

When I replied weakly, Karen added.

“I don't know if this is the right time to say this but...try to take it down so as not to damage the outer shell as much as possible. I just remembered that somewhere in the Fresvald's main residence there is a display like this so maybe your father will be pleased with it. That is, if you are willing to yield it..."

Ooo! Someone who understands!

“I get it! I'll take him down with as little harm as possible!"

Right when I'm getting enthusiastic, Misha…

"But these big male ants(?) are terrible, aren't they. They only had the females work and come out after everyone else has been killed."

Clarice nodded at Misha's words.

“I know right? It's unbelievable for a harem master not to work.”

They agreed on a point. Huh? This trend feels kind of bad. Why do I feel like the hercules ant is shrinking? Not good... I have something in common with these ants... but this is a battlefield. I have nothing against you but I will defeat you.

I raised the Thunder Sword to the sky and slowly the hercules ant touched the Thunder Sword with its horns. What's with this ant...do you think you've got a glove touch*1? When you reincarnate, be a human... then we can have a drink together and a good long talk.

After the glove touch, hercules ant also swung his horns with pride when I held up the Thunder Sword.

S-so cool...but it’s not I can just stare at it forever.

When it swung its horns up from below, I further pushed the horns from below with a Wind Impulse and the hercules ant flipped over. The flipped hercules ant is flailing about.

If it continues like this, the outer shell will be damaged so I stabbed with an enchanted Thunder Sword repeatedly into the hercules ant's belly and easily defeated it. I-it's weak... the stats itself is high but it was not able to make use of its outer shell and horns at all...

In the end, the hercules ant shriveled up as if a dying spider but its outer shell and magnificent horns remained intact.

After defeating the hercules ant, I burnt the ants in the burrow, then collected the magic stones and brought the carcass of the hercules ant back to the fort with Wind magic. Naturally, I had leveled up.

====================================

Author’s note:

I've never experienced harems but it looks tough.

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TL’s note:

Chapter 125 : Inhuman

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

I never thought that only seven of them would really try to defeat the ants alone. ...It was certainly a feat to defeat 100 ants but there could be dozens, maybe even a hundred times that many ants in these parts.

There should be a limit to such things as cockiness. Baros has always been one but Mars is even more so.

Perhaps Lady Karen likes those with high confidence? And do Mars's fiancées also...do women like confident people...?

I've got the knights at the ready in case of an emergency but I don't think the queen ant will be out there... After all, the queen ant appearance rate is at once a year or none at all...

Hm? Mars stabbed his sword into the ground, huh? What is he going to do?

I look around for Mars with binoculars from the fort's watchtower and see that the ground a little ahead of him is moving. Could it be that the ants are coming out?

The moment that such a thought crossed my mind. A huge ant appeared in front of Mars and countless killer ants began to spring up from the ground!

“Hey! We're going to save Lady Karen and the others! If we leave this be, Lady Karen will become food for these ants!"

I jumped down from the watchtower and rushed to Lady Karen's. It would take me about 10 minutes to get from the watchtower to Lady Karen's place. Lady Karen is no fool and she will surely come running this way.

Even after five minutes of running, I still couldn't group up with Lady Karen. And none of the other knights were following her. Damn! What are they doing...

In the end, I arrived at Lady Karen's place more than 10 minutes later.

“H, are you...alright-?”

I was stunned by the sight before me. There were five dead queen ants, and they were about to be burned to take out the magic stone.

“My? We will give the magic stones to the Knights of Arcane Fire so cease your worry. We are not after the magic stones or the money.”

Lady Karen said with her whip flailing and a slightly scary smile as she played with the killer ants while the beautiful elf girl is slaughtering the ants with a crazy smile.

The pretty Golden Lion girl is silently finishing off the mother ant and the absolute beauty is shooting her ridiculously powerful arrows in an annoyed manner.

The other girl was just jerking her chains, and only Baron was fighting desperately against the killer ants. And then there was the beautiful blonde...boy, no, the beautiful young man.

“Excuse me, Lady Recca. It seems that the killer ants are so much weaker than I thought and I killed thousands of them in their nest... and I think all the magic stones are in the nest... but it seems that there are still some surviving ants inside. Can you wait a little longer for us to destroy the nest here? Also, there are still queen ants, right? The experience from the high-level queen ants is a much-sought addition."

He asked me apologetically. Am I dreaming...? That a group of 10-year-olds can be this strong... these seven alone may be stronger than us, the Knights of the Arcane Fire...

“O, oh. But still, how did you beat those ants in the ground? Normally, I would think that the fire would go out immediately in there.”

“I used Wind magic to circulate the air and make the fire stronger, and before I knew it, the ants were dead. The queen ant was dying when it came out on the ground so it was easy to defeat it. More importantly, there are more queen ants out there, aren't they?"

I guess this beautiful young man sees the queen ants as nothing more than an experience farm.

“Well, yes...there are still some...but today I want you to collect the magic stones and even out this ground to a level surface. It's going to be tough to get to the Forest of death on this ground.”

I felt it took my everything to just say this.

☆☆☆

Queen ants' experience was very tasty. Was it because the queen ants here are at a high level? Or was it thanks to the huge amount of experience from Upial back then? I leveled up when I defeated the first queen ant.

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: 30

HP: 76/76

MP: 5284/7891

Strength: 73

Agility: 73

Magic: 92

Dexterity: 72

Durability: 65

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(Lv5/D)

Special Ability: Wind Magic(Lv9/A)

Special Ability: Holy Magic (Lv7/B)

Equipment: Thunder Sword

Equipment: Salamander Sword

Equipment: Bracelet of Disguise

My stats had also increased and my Earth magic had risen to level 5. With this, houses and bathtubs would be able to be made more solid and with less MP consumption.

Minerva had also increased her level by 3 in one go. The eradication of the nests must have been a big factor.

Name: Minerva Xevious

Title: -

Status: Human race, eldest daughter of Viscount Xevious

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 23

HP: 25/25

MP: 54/187

Strength: 10

Agility: 12

Magic: 34

Dexterity: 25

Durability: 10

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv2/E)

Special Ability: Chains Technique(Lv1/C)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv5/D)

Special Ability: Water Magic(Lv3/D)

Equipment: Staff of the Water Spirit

Equipment: Silver Chain

Equipment: Vestments of Magic

Equipment: Magical Boots

Hmmm...even though she went up 3 levels ...her stats hasn't changed much...only her magic power went up 6 but other than that, her growth is scant… I guess that means power leveling alone is not enough...

I removed the sand with Wind magic to get the magic stones in the nest for now and took out the large amount of magic stones in the nest with Wind magic as well. Well, I may have missed about 100 or 200 of them but let me off the hook for that.

The leveling of the ground after the collecting of magic stones was a disaster. In the end, I used all the remaining MP to level the land, took a bath, and went to bed.

September 15, 2030, 1:00 p.m.

When I woke up, Ellie and Misha were sleeping next to me as usual. Clarice had been next to me the previous time I slept for 15 hours, which Ellie and Misha said it wasn't fair so they took her share of the night off for the time being.

Misha woke up at the same time as me but Ellie was still sleeping with a cute sleeping face as usual. It's fine to let her sleep in today so I'll just do so.

Clarice and Karen are also sleeping in another bed, and as for Baron, he is sleeping due to the arranged MP depletion with me. He won't wake up for another 3 hours.

I don't see Ryner, Bram, or Dominic, who were already awake, nor Minerva. I was a little concerned so I went with Misha to the watchtower at the fort, and found that Ryner, Bram, and Dominic were already fighting with the killer ants.

If killer ants are here, it means that a queen ant might be too. And it was the Knights of Isaac, not the Knights of the Arcane Fire, that are fighting alongside Ryner and the others. Was it time for the shift change already…?

I and Misha went down from the watchtower to Ryner’s group.

“Good morning. I can't find Minerva, do you know where she went?"

Ryner answered my question.

“Morning. Minerva went to Margrave Isaac to learn the chains technique. It seems like Minerva really wants to learn the chains technique… Somehow seeing her working so hard, I can't forgive myself for having a weird misunderstanding...I hope for Baron to realize that, too..."

Even if it is the result of hard work, Baron's emotional wounds will not heal so easily. Actually, I really want to go to Margrave Isaac to learn the chains technique, but for now, I'll cover for Ryner and the rest. I also want to help Dominic improve his level.

I repeatedly asked Dominic to run into the killer ant swarms even when I thought it was a bit too much for him and heal him up if he took any damage.

Taking damage increases your endurance value, and more importantly, it will definitely make you stronger than power leveling. It was super spartan training.

Mother ants sometimes attacked us but we decided to leave that to Ryner. Bram is no longer able to raise his level with this level of opponents so he is just letting them go at it.

Misha and Dominic are hunting killer ants, but unlike Dominic, Misha’s hunting has the feeling of stability. Misha has been getting stronger lately so there is not so much of the berserk or runaway behavior.

After about two hours, Clarice and Karen came out of the fort.

“Good morning, Mars. I was planning to sleep lightly without depleting my MP, but I was unexpectedly tired and slept deeply. You have taken out five queen ants but the number of ants hasn't decreased at all... What are you planning to do now?"

Clarice asked me.

“Morning. Clarice and Karen. When Baron wakes up, I'll get Ellie up and we'll go back to exterminating queen ants. Karen will go to greet Margrave Isaac and get permission to defeat the queen ants. Clarice, I need you to escort Karen. I'm training Dominic so I can't leave this place."

Clarice and Karen nodded and headed for the fort where Margrave Isaac was.

I used Heal on Dominic while burning the ever-increasing killer ants' corpses with Fire, leaving only the magic stones behind.

I looked at the Knights of Isaac and saw that they were taking the trouble to remove the magic stones from the dead ants so it was taking quite a while to get one magic stone out of the corpse. It seems that the new members of the Knights of Isaac are in charge of taking out the magic stone.

Am I the only one who thinks it would be easier to dig a hole somewhere, dump the killer ant carcasses in it, and burn them with Fire? When I say a fire, It’s not like they have to use Fire magic and animal oil would be more than sufficient and such oil are readily obtainable from here...

While I was thinking about this, Ellie came out of the fort and came to me as soon as she found me.

“Ellie. Morning. Did you sleep well?"

I asked her.

"...I can easily go another 10 hours..."

She said with a face that looked like she had just woken up. I wonder how long can she sleep... And after those words, Ellie hugged me and wouldn't let go. Even though Dominic is desperately fighting the killer ants on the other side...

====================================

Author’s note:

Don't flirt next to next to people who are fighting so hard!

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Chapter 124 : Ants in the Forest of Death

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

“What kind of magic beasts are found in the Forest of Death?”

Right now we are marching toward the Forest of Death.

We were supposed to head for the Forest of Death right after we left Recca's tent. There are about 200 members of the Knights of the Arcane Fire. It seems that they are leaving about 20 of them behind to head for the Forest of Death. About half of the 20 are Knights resting from damage, and the remaining 10 are to be left behind as messengers. Recca answered my earlier question.

“We only deal with bugs-type magic beasts. If they enter the forest, they may be wiped out. The most common types are the ant and bee types, and I often fight snakes and the like.”

“By ant, do you mean killer ant, mother ant, queen ant, and so on?”

I asked.

“You know them well, don't you? Have you fought any of them?”

I should never have brought this up…

"Yes, I have. A little bit....”

And then Ellie said.

“Queen Ant... Named... Papa and Mars beat it."

Ellie said with a sad look on her face. I had been trying my best not to talk about the Ant family but it ended up exposing it...

“Ellie. I'm sorry..."

I said, and Ellie replied.

"I'm here now thanks to...Mars... it's not that bad...Mars....”

When Recca heard that.

"You beat a Named Queen Ant? No way... but if you're Lord Syrians... maybe there’s a chance to fight the Queen Ant. After all, those guys aren't in the Forest of Death."

“Why aren't they in the forest?”

"Oh. These ant types are not even at the bottom of the hierarchy in the forest. So they are trying to get into the forest by building nests on the ground outside the forest but the Forest of Death is not easy enough for ant-type magic beasts to get in. Even bee-type magic beasts can barely survive on the perimeter of the Forest of Death.”

Are the magic beasts fighting each other for territory…?

“I have one more thing to warn you about. There is a great fog in the Forest of Death but you should not make it dissipate too much with Wind magic. If you can see from inside, it means the magic beasts can too.”

If I don't think before using Wind magic, I'll end up in trouble huh.... I’ll just use Wind Cutter from Wind magic and try to defeat them in close combat as much as possible.

After walking for about an hour, I saw a fort-like building in front of me. If there is such a magnificent building, why don't they just fight in the fort instead of setting up a rear line...

I thought so, but when I got closer, I realized why they had set up a camp in the rear. The fort was under attack. By the killer ants I mentioned earlier. If they’re attacked this much, they wouldn't normally feel at ease so they don't fall back...

“Lady Recca! It seems the fort is under attack! Let us come quickly to their aid!"

Recca, laughing as she replied…

“It's always the same. If they're in any kind of trouble, they'll shoot magic into the sky so that means we're still in good shape. But still, how can you tell in this darkness... when I can't even see the fort yet from here?"

I wouldn't feel comfortable if this situation were to continue forever...

“May I build a few more forts? And to do so, I would like to destroy the surrounding magic beasts, is that alright?"

I asked, and Recca laughed again.

“Aah. Yes, that's fine. I would like to see the level of the first year S class of the Lister Imperial School.”

When you put it that way, I can't just let Genesis do the work...

“Clarice, Ellie, Misha! Let's go annihilate those killer ants!”

“You're not planning to rush into that swarm with just the four of you, are you?”

Recca asked with a slightly surprised look on her face, to which Karen replied.

“Exactly. Clarice and Ellie are also as strong as B-rank adventurers, and Misha is good at masking her presence anyway so she'll be absolutely fine.”

Nodding to my words, Clarice, Ellie, and Misha followed behind me.

“Try to not focus on defeating them and that you lure them all to one place. I don't think the killer ants would be enough to raise our level so we'll gather them all together later and have Minerva burn them to death.”

I gathered about 100 killer ants in one place in about 10 minutes and had Minerva burn them all to death.

When Recca saw me fighting, she said.

“Mars, weren't you a magician? You are acting as a vanguard now no matter how you look at it...?"

“Normally, I'm a rearguard but I can also do a bit of swordplay, thanks to the teachings of my teachers Ryner and others. Then I will build an extension to the fort. I will make a room for us Daybreak. Baron, help me. Baron is probably better at Earth magic."

I left Recca in disbelief and started building an extension to the fort. Originally, I was going to build a house made of encampment but I decided that it would be safer to assimilate it with the fort.

The fort was three stories high so it was necessary to build a three-story building here too. If the ends of the buildings were only single-story, they would be attacked intensively. It is not possible to build a three-story building with one round of MP. It's even more so because sturdiness is required.

Baron and I completed a three-story addition to the fort but the second and third floors are almost like paper-mâché. It was almost midnight and the girls, myself, and Baron decided to go to bed first.

We decided to sleep on the ground floor today as we had built the first floor strong enough. Ryner, Bram, and Dominic would try their best to stay awake until 6am. It helps to have men around at times like this. I can't exactly tell a woman to stay up late.

I really wanted to give my greetings to Margrave Isaac but I don't think I can do it now and so I'll say hello to him again at noon. I depleted my MP and went to sleep too.

15 September 2030, 3:00 am.

When I woke up, there was already a battle going on outside.

I had told Recca in advance that I was going to sleep so Recca herself is defending our upholstered fortress. The place that the Knights of the Arcane Fire should be defending is here because Karen is here and it's the safest place in this fortress.

Well, and we also have Ryner and Bram so there's no way we're going to fall behind from the killer ants. However, Dominic had received quite the damage and was exhausted. I still have to train Dominic and Minerva with top priority…

After healing Dominic, I made the fort extension more solid, with roof access from the third floor so the roof can be guarded. A bedroom on the third floor, a living/dining room and six tubs on the second floor, and a large reception room on the first floor for when someone comes to the house. The wall stone is compacted with Earth magic to a great extent, and the walls are one meter thick so they probably won't be destroyed by the slightest skirmishes.

I was already on the verge of depleting my MP but I joined in a bit of fighting outside and after eradicating them, I depleted my MP and went to bed.

15 September 2030, 7:00 am.

When I woke up, Ryner, Bram, and Dominic were already asleep, and the girls and Baron were eating dinner. I feel that Baron and Minerva are far away from each other in a non-physical distance sense. I guess they are still dragging that thing out...

“Good morning. Are the magic beasts gone?"

I asked, and everyone replied with "Good morning."

“According to the report from Teacher Ryner, the magic beasts have been attacking us all through the night. So we woke up and joined in right away, and it had calmed down just now. Karen and I got the bath ready and all three of us fell asleep straight away after we took a bath.”

“When you say there are so many of them, do you mean there's a stampede happening?”

I asked Karen.

“This is not a stampede of magic beasts. I think there are dozens of queen ants nesting somewhere. Probably in the ground between here and the Forest of Death...."

“Then let's just go and take out the ant enemies first, shall we? I've got a few ideas so after we eat, we'll go hunting for ants.”

I hurriedly ate my meal and got myself ready too. First, I went to Recca's place and asked her to guard the fort that I had extended. It would be pointless if I went hunting for ants and my base was destroyed in the meantime. Recca gladly accepted. Or rather, she said it was a matter of course.

The only thing she asked me to do was to make sure to collect the magic stone. Apparently, the Duke of Fresvald uses the Forest of Death as a major source of income. That's why they try not to kill too many queen ants.

But they won’t mind if I kill them. It is said that the queen ants can be revived as much as they want after a certain amount of time. How can they be revived in a place that is not a labyrinth I wonder...

The ant eradication was authorized so we walked a little from the fort towards the Forest of Death, killing the killer ants until we reached the point where killer ants were appearing.

“What are we going to do with them? I feel like no matter how many we kill, it's useless if we don't defeat the queen ants?"

Clarice was asking while slaughtering the killer ants.

“I know. So I have a few ideas. I have a plan to get the ants hiding underground to come out to the surface.”

I said and thrust my thunder sword into the ground.

“Everyone step back a little bit. I'm going to use lightning magic on the ground now. But I can't control it that well even after lowering the power so just in case of what might happen. Be careful."

After confirming that everyone backed up, I gradually enchanted the Lightning magic on the thunder sword, and the lightning transmitted slowly from the thunder sword to the ground became visible.

Then I saw the ground bobbing about 10 meters away. And along with a large number of killer ants, queen ants also came out of the ground. What was that? Was the Queen Ant this big again...?

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Queen Ant

Threat: B-

Condition: Electrocution (Slight)

Age: 20 years old

Level: 40

HP: 178/180

MP: 3/3

Strength: 55

Agility: 50

Magic:1

Dexterity: 12

Durability: 70

Luck: 1

A healthy and kicking 20-year-old ant! It is even level 40! Well, even at 40, it’s still an ant so the stats are low...

“Karen! Baron! Minerva! Keep firing fire magic at the hole they came out of! We'll turn the den into a huge firestorm and destroy them all at once!"

It was the start of the ant slaughter show.

====================================

Author’s note:

If you feel the series is even a bit interesting and are curious about the story’s continuation, please consider giving ★★★★★ and bookmark as it will really help with my motivation. m(__)m

I am also on Twitter.

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Chapter 123 : Into the Forest of Death

TL:SummerPeanut

Thanks for the support, Hadidja and other patrons too.

====================================

14 September 2030, 9.00 am.

“I really wish I could have gone together...”

I said that in the carriage, and while all the Reimei girls except Clarice looked disgusted, Clarice was the only one who didn’t.

“I didn't think it was a gay bar... I assumed it was a brothel... I'm interested in gay bars too so let's go together next time.”

The other female members of the group looked surprised at Clarice's words.

“Clarice... don't you hate it when Mars has a hobby like that?”

Hearing Karen’s words, Clarice replied.

“There's no way Mars would like a guy. I would bet my everything on it. He may be a womanizer beyond help but he's definitely not into the other side. Besides, I've heard that gay bars are fun for us girls to go to so I'd like to go there at least once."

She followed up(I think?) with a laugh. What do you mean beyond help... I’m just normal...

“Well, if that's what... Clarice says, then maybe I should go too...”

Karen said so and we all ended up going next time apparently. I wonder what the people in the gay bar will think when they see four immensely beautiful girls...

Right now we're on our way to the Forest of Death with 20 wagons. We're also guarding a large number of supplies (mainly water).

This time, the guarding is a lot easier because it's all of us Daybreak are moving together. As long as Ellie and I are on guard, we won't be taken from behind. And even if we are approached, Clarice and Ryner will be there. We left Isaac in the morning and arrived in the evening at the place where the Knights of Isaac and the Knights of Arcane Fire were camped.

Recca should still be sleeping so I decided to build a larger house behind the two Knights Orders.

Unfortunately for the knights, I decided to go with a house with more security instead of a tent this time as there were more female members. I tried not to build small rooms and built a living and dining room, two large rooms, four toilets, and six bathtubs.

This house is built with all intents and purposes for a front line. As long as we can prepare food, we can secure water for 10 people from myself and Clarice who have a lot of MP. Anyway, I aim to gain experience in the Forest of Death and improve our overall level. In particular, it is urgent to raise the level of Genesis members. By the way, the status of the three of them is as follows.

Name: Baron Reinhardt

Title: -

Status: Human, Count Reinhardt's apparent heir

Condition: Good.

Age: 10 years old

Level: 24

HP: 53/53

MP: 254/254

Strength: 34

Agility: 32

Magic: 34

Dexterity: 35

Durability: 27

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv6/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv3/D)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv2/D)

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv5/C)

Special ability: Wind magic (Lv3/D)

Equipment: Gnome Sword

Equipment: Gnome Armor

Name: Dominic August

Title: -

Status: Human race, head of the August Baronet Household

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 22

HP: 50/50

MP: 40/40

Strength: 30

Agility: 32

Magic: 14

Dexterity: 16

Durability: 23

Luck: 5

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv3/E)

Equipment: Sword of Gale

Equipment: Mantle of Evasion

Name: Minerva Xevious

Title: -

Status: Human race, eldest daughter of Viscount Xevious

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 20

HP: 22/22

MP: 182/182

Strength: 9

Agility: 10

Magic: 30

Dexterity: 22

Durability: 8

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv2/E)

Special Ability: Chains Technique (Lv1/C)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv4/D).

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/D)

Equipment: Staff of Water Spirit

Equipment: Silver Chains

Equipment: Vestments of Magic

Equipment: Magical Boots

Anyway, the problem is that Minerva's means of attack are limited. If she doesn't get Margrave Isaac to teach her how to really use the chains as soon as possible, Minerva will really become just an SM personnel...

However, she is also someone from the Lister Confederacy and her maximum MP is high. Unlike the Balkus Kingdom and the Zarkham Kingdom, the Lister Confederacy often allows children with magical talent revealed during the appraisal ceremony to use their MP to the limit.

However, whether or not the maximum MP goes up just because they use it to the limit depends on the individual. Some, like me, increase every time, while others only get it once every ten times.

Baron is a C-rank adventurer, while Dominic is between C to D-rank. I'm also concerned about Dominic's weak equipment...

Ryner and Bram have not leveled up at all. Ryner has been hunting all over the place for magic beasts with a threat level of D or lower but the reason his level hasn't risen is that he doesn't get experience from threat level D magic beasts, or even if he does, it's very little. Bram's level is already over 50 so there's no way it will go up that much.

I finished building the house and met up with Karen who had already visited the patrolling knights' place. Thinking that we can't just go out and build a house in the middle of nowhere, I asked Karen to obtain permission.

As long as Karen said one word, we would be allowed to do anything is part of the calculation when sending her to request permission. I heard that the Knights of Isaac members are now in the Forest of Death and the Knights of Arcane Fire are resting.

I told her that I would go and give my greetings to Recca later and I went back to my newly built house to deplete my MP before going to bed.

Before I went to bed I told Clarice, Ellie, Misha, and Minerva not to go outside. I can imagine myself wondering how I should react to the girls being frustrated because of how difficult it would be for them to return.

When I woke up three hours later, Misha was sleeping on my right with Ellie on my left. I tried to wake up Ellie and Misha since I wanted all of us to go to Recca's place but Ellie does not wake up easily. At that moment, Misha suddenly says.

“Eririn doesn't wake up at all. She's always like this so should we leave her here?"

“We can't do that... We have to show our face properly at least for the first time.”

When I said so, Misha replied.

“Then the prince's kiss is the answer in this situation.”

Is it a standard cliche in every world for a prince to wake up a beautiful girl with a kiss? I pretended that I had no choice (I was actually happy) and then kissed Ellie.

My kiss woke Ellie up but she clenched her fists and shook them as hard as she could in her sleep. Oh no... Ellie is pissed.

“Sorry! Ellie! Because you didn't wake up no matter what!”

I said hurriedly to Ellie, and when she opened her eyes and recognized me, she opened her fists, put them behind my neck, and hugged me.

“...just now...Mars...?”

“Y,yeah. Good morning Ellie. Misha said it would have to be a prince's kiss to wake up the beautiful girl who wouldn't so I kissed you while acting the prince role. Sorry."

“I'm... glad...do it every day...it's from Mars...so... Clarice won't get angry. I think..."

When Ellie said that, from the door of the room.

“Of course, I'm going to be angry! Just when I thought I suddenly heard a loud voice from the room... don't keep being in heat forever, get dressed and come over here."

Clarice, who was here before I knew it, got angry with me. When she said that, Ellie unties her hand from my neck without any effort. But there is one thing I learned this time. I've learned that if a man attacks Ellie in her sleep, he should be prepared to die. I'll be wary when I wake her up the way I just did...

Since Recca should be awake by now, all members of Daybreak went to Recca's tent. Predictably, all the members of the Knights of Arcane Fire were looking at the Reimei’s girls when going to Recca's tent. After we get to the front of Recca's tent, Karen urges me to greet her.

“Lady Recca. I am Mars from the Lister Imperial School. I have come today with my clan members to go to the Forest of Death with you. There are about ten of us, including myself, may we have your permission to come in?”

The voice “Enter”, came from inside the tent, and when we entered the tent, Recca was surprised to see Karen.

“Lady Karen. Thank you for coming to this place again.”

First, Recca greeted Karen, and next to me.

“Mars, thank you for coming. But what are those beautiful ladies behind you? I can't have a drink with a non-combatant in the room even if Lady Karen requested it."

She asked me to straighten myself. Karen then explained in my stead me.

“These four are all S class first-year. We'll protect ourselves so don't worry.”

Baron followed Karen's words.

“Long time no see. It's been a while, Lady Recca. It is as Karen said, they are strong. Can you understand if I tell you that I'm sixth in the S class’s ranking?"

Recca didn't seem to notice that Baron was there. She had been watching the women the whole time.

“I-isn't this Baron... the hero of the north and undoubtedly with the potential of an A-rank adventurer actually being ranked sixth?”

Recca was surprised. Here, as usual, they introduced themselves one by one.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Clarice Lampard, ranked second. I am Mars's fiancée. I look forward to working with you.”

“Ranked third. I am Ellie Leo of the Golden Lion. I am also Mars's fiancée. Pleased to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Misha Febrandt, ranked fifth. I am waiting for my turn to be Mars's fiancée. I am an elf."

Misha saying that you are waiting for your turn is... finally Karen opened her mouth.

“Surprising, isn't it? All members of this party of Reimei consist of Mars’s fiancées. The first wife is the ranked second’s Clarice. And I'm not an exception, Mars’s arranged fiancée, you know? To borrow Misha’s words, I am waiting for my turn. I'm ranked fourth. And I believe you know that the ranked third Ellie is the daughter of the former Duke of Syrians, Lord Barnes."

“The Golden Lion is ranked t-third...The level of the first years is really high this time...And Lady Karen is ranked fourth which is something for us to be proud of.....and even more so that all of these beauties are engaged to Mars...Seems like many have high expectations of Mars, isn’t it?... It's extravagant to have Lady Karen as his mistress. What a..."

Well, that's the usual reaction. I'm used to it. This time it's not just Reimei.

“Nice to meet you, Recca-sama. My name is Dominic, ranked seventh. I belong to the same party as Baron, Genesis. I look forward to working with you.”

After Dominic, Minerva followed.

“It's nice to meet you. I am Minerva Xevious, ranked eighth. I am also a member Genesis. I look forward to working with you."

Finally, Ryner added.

“I'm Ryner, S class Martial Arts Instructor at the Lister Imperial School.”

Bram who has been in the same position of down on one knee and lowered head too said his introduction.

“I'm Bram, also in charge of the S class. We have formed a party called Fortitude and have joined the Daybreak clan, of which Lord Mars is the clan master. We look forward to working with you."

These words startled everyone who did not know what was going on. Bram used Lord as my honorific title.

“Ryner... I think I've heard of you somewhere...”

Recca muttered, and Ryner.

“I was notorious as a ‘Sword Hunter’ for more than ten years. But Lord Mars saved me and thus both Bram and I decided to become Lord Mars's swords."

When Ryner also added ‘Lord’ when addressing me, those who didn't know what was going on were surprised again.

“Oh, yes! That ‘Sword hunting’! Rumour has it that you were cursed but were you able to break the curse?”

Towards Recca’s words, Ryner replied “Yes”.

“Hm. This means you are all quite the force to be reckoned with... it looks quite promising. I'm looking forward to working with you from now on."

It seems that a lot of time has passed since then talking about various things, and it was time for the Knights of the Arcane Fire to depart.

====================================

Author’s note:

In fact, this is the first time Minerva's status has been made public.

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Chapter 122 : Romance

TL:SummerPeanut

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Name: Man's Romance

Defense: 1

Special: -

Value: -

Description: Equipment for men only. When magical power is put into it, the equipped person can become invisible. All stats are reduced by half while being invisible. Consumes 10 MP per second to become invisible.

What a surprise! This shopkeeper has bought an extraordinary item! I want him to be my personal shopkeeper! No wonder the name is Man's Romance. Karen appraised it with interest.

“A man's romance? What's that?"

Hearing Karen’s words, Clarice seemed to have sensed it.

“Is the item's name Man's Romance? Then don't buy it because it's never going to be something good. And Mars, too, okay? Just be patient for a little longer...”

When Clarice said this, they all seemed to realize what it was about. But since they don't seem to know exactly the effect...

“What's your romance, shopkeeper? For example, what effect would you like this cloak to have?"

When Misha asked, the shopkeeper answered.

“Hmmm. The best effect would be that beautiful women like you would fall in love with me if I equip this. Also, my money will increase on its own, or beautiful women will come to me or I won't get sick or beautiful women will come to me..."

“So Mars doesn't need this then?”

Misha said while looking at me.

“Also, it's standard wish to want to be transparent and enter the women's bath.”

Ahh, he said one thing too many. I didn't miss the look on her face the moment Ellie heard those words.

“...it's...transparent effect... definitely...”

Ellie read the subtle change in my expression. I can't lie to Ellie because of this…

“Sigh... It is as Ellie said. But it's limited to who can equip it and unless you have a ridiculous amount of MP you can't abuse it, don't worry.”

Misha heard what I said.

“Isn't this the kind of thing you can't give to Mars no matter what? I don't want my fiancée to become a criminal..."

“Shall we buy it and burn it? I don't want to marry Mars in prison either, alright?"

When Clarice said that, even Ellie...

“...agree...”

She approved in one word. When it comes to Karen...

“Even if you get caught and become a criminal slave, the Fresvald will manage one way or another to take you in... Cheer up.”

It's terrible indeed... Then Clarice said.

“It’s just a joke. A joke. But Mars, you'll have to put up with this.”

In the end, I was unable to obtain the Man's Romance. I thought it was just something I wanted as a joke but I felt frustrated for some reason when the fact of being unable to really get it sunk in… A man's romance is not something that can be given up on easily I guess... I held the wand of sage (fake) tightly and regained my sense of normalcy. In the end, I'm glad I bought this wand...

After leaving the shop, I decided to go to Irina's place. To inform her that I would be leaving for the Forest of Death tomorrow.

When I went to the residence of Margrave Isaac and told Irina that I would be leaving the next day, Irina gave me the reward for killing the magic beasts this time.

Incidentally, Karen did not tell Irina that I had defeated a vampire. I haven't told anyone except the members of Daybreak, let alone Irina. If I told them, our Reimei members' adventurer and party ranks might go up but I was more afraid of being the target of revenge.

So I only informed them that the magic beasts would not be attacking anymore for the time being. While I was sleeping at the inn, the remaining Knights and the trainees in Isaac went to check the east and reported that there really are no magic beasts.

After handing over the bounty to me, Irina kept looking at Clarice. In fact, today was the first time the two of them met. The negotiations with Irina were basically conducted by Karen or Ryner, and Clarice had been avoiding contact with the people of Isaac as much as possible since her first time meeting with the Knights about the shift as Ryner had advised her.

“Y,yes, Lady Irina. Do you have a word for myself?"

Clarice asked Irina. She must have noticed Irina's gaze.

“What do you usually eat, Clarice? How do you take care of your skin? What makes you smell so good? Do you have any secrets to beauty, any personal take?"

Irina pressed Clarice.

“I eat out a lot, like everyone else. For skincare, I just try to keep my skin from being dry as much as possible. I don't really know how I smell...myself but I'm very glad you said I smell nice... I think the secret to beauty is to stay close to the person you love all the time. I don't want the person I love to see me looking strange and disillusioned after all..."

Clarice replied in a troubled manner while Irina stared at Clarice and me.

“Well, that's evident...”

Karen said as she sighed.

“Irina. Stop comparing yourself to Clarice every single time. You'll only get depressed because there's nothing to win in any of part..."

For the first time, she talked in a gentle tone to Irina.

We decided to leave Margrave Isaac’s mansion and had a very late lunch.

As usual, we are almost always shown our seats outside of the restaurant when we enter a restaurant. Perhaps the restaurant is trying to attract more customers with four beautiful women.

A little while after we sat down, the restaurant, which had been empty in the early afternoon, gradually became noisy. This is good for the money, isn't it?

Then a couple of guys, who were assigned to the seats next to us, appeared. They are Ryner and Bram.

“Are you two having dinner now? It's quite late if we do say so ourselves, isn't it?”

Clarice asked and Ryner replied.

“Indeed. We wanted to go sightseeing in the whole of Isaac. Mars, could you give myself and Bram permission to split up tonight? Maybe we'll take Baron with us too depending on the circumstances.”

“Yeah. I understand. Where are you going?"

“Just a little... visit?"

Bram answered my question. I immediately know it's a brothel. Come to think of it, there are quite a few brothels here in Isaac. Maybe it's to keep the Knights’ members mentally stable.

“Men-only outing huh? Sounds good once in a while... then I too.”

Clarice hearing my words…

“If it's where Mars is going, I'm interested too so I'll follow you.”

She said to me cutely. But she seemed to know where they were going. Plus Ellie, Karen, and Misha.

“...me too...together…in the shop too...together......"

“Then I'll go too. I'm interested to see where men would go at night."

“I'll go with you too. I'll keep an eye on Mars to make sure he doesn't become a criminal."

Ryner's reaction to this response.

“Well, Mars you are that...right? You're still not in top physical condition, are you? You should have a good rest at the inn. Clarice and the rest should nurse him as you always do. We're just going to go and cheer Baron up a bit...alright?"

Ryner betrayed me. But I don't want anything to do in the brothel either. I promised Clarice my first time, including in my previous life and now. I only have a bit of interest in it…I think.

Afterward, we walked around the town, eating, shopping, and chatting. The night went by quickly.

When I returned to the inn after dinner, Ryner and Bram had yet to return. In the living room, Minerva and Dominic were chatting and laughing. Apparently, Baron had been taken away by them.

We had several rooms besides the big room so each of us took a bath in our own room and then returned to the living room.

Minerva and Dominique were still chatting in a good mood. When Minerva saw me, she spoke to me.

“Hey Mars. I've learned a new way of tying up again. I'll show you next time, you can look forward to it.”

She said with enthusiasm. Who will be the victim this time? Well, it will be Dominic if we go in order... I wonder if they will form a Minerva victims' association soon...

I went straight to my bedroom and tried to go to sleep while practicing my magic but Ellie came into my bedroom and suddenly crawled into my bed.

“...together... Mars... massage... until ready...mars ingredients...absorption..."

Because of Ellie's recent boom, she had been aiming for my left neck and breathed in as hard as she could. This tickled at first but now I could feel the top of my head go numb with a jingly sensation. T,that feels good...

“E-, Ellie, can you bring me the cane I bought today?”

My partner woke up and I couldn't help saying so to Ellie, and Ellie replied.

“...until everyone comes in…exclusive…okay?”

She said while holding my left arm. How could I say no to this?

“O-oh. Then bring it to me when someone else comes.”

I held on for ten minutes until Misha’s entrance.

“Mars. Did I make you wait?”

When Misha came into the bedroom and saw Ellie twirling around me.

“Eririn, not fair! Me too!”

Misha tried to get into bed too.

“Misha. Get me my cane first. I can't relax without it. Please."

“Can I come in after I get it?”

I said, "Of course", and Misha immediately brought the wand of sage(fake) and got into bed. I put the wand of sage(fake) under the pillow and my partner went back to normal.

After a while, Clarice and Karen came into the bedroom with me and started massaging me. The massage by the four beautiful women was stimulating but very pleasant. This time I didn't step on any land mines like last time and the massage ended successfully. The Reimei girls went back to their respective rooms and went to sleep.

I was a bit excited so I went to the living room and tried to calm down. Minerva and Dominic, who had been in the living room earlier, seemed to have gone back to their room. Then Ryner, Bram, and Baron came back.

Ryner and Bram seemed to have already had a bath and went straight back to their room to sleep. Baron approached me.

“I'm going to have a bath now, can you wait a bit?”

He said that and went into the bath. Baron soon came out of the bath and said to me

“I couldn't go inside... after all. I was outside the whole time. Just what am I doing after coming all the way here…?"

I listened to Baron in silence.

“When I'm about to go in and I saw Clarice, Minerva, and Karen's faces in my head,... and the other me says, "I'm not supposed to go cross here... Am I a coward?"

“No, you're not. I'm no better. I'm interested. I want to go there one day. But I've already chosen my first partner."

Baron stared at me in disbelief as I said this.

"The first partner... one day Mars will be... that means Mars is above Teacher Ryner and Teacher Bram..."

What? Ryner and Bram both came back without doing anything? I guess they're both cowards too...and then Baron gave me a piece of his mind.

“I'll keep what happened today to myself... but understand that I don't have the intention for it... so don't get me wrong. Good night."

Yeah? Did I say something funny?

"O-oh, yeah, good night. By the way, where did you go?"

Then Baron gave me something that looked like a business card. It said.

“Gay Bar, bearded proprietress.”

====================================

Author’s note:

Baron is pure.

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Chapter 121 : The Tragedy of B

TL:SummerPeanut

Start of new year but my laptop’s resolution is still the same. Trying new peanut snacks tho. Thanks for the support Theo.

====================================

“Baron, Minerva, I need to talk to you. May I come in?"

I knock on the door and then Baron answered.

“Hey, wait a minute, Mars! This is not a good time!"

He said hurriedly. But Minerva responded differently.

“Come in, Mars! I want you to see it!"

She replied excitedly.

“You can't show people this!”

Toward Baron’s words, Minerva said...

“I want only Mars to see it! Especially in the position you're in now!"

Neither seemed willing to budge but in the end, Baron was pushed aside by Minerva and reluctantly allowed me to enter.

What are you doing...? I opened the door with that in mind and saw...an extraordinary sight.

Minerva had a proud expression on her face and Baron had a look of despair on his face. I looked at Baron and when our eyes met, I slowly closed the door and let go for a while. The others noticed I didn't return for a while and they all came over here.

“Mars, why don't you call the two of them?”

When Clarice said that, I said.

“Oh, both of them seem to be busy with something...”

When I trailed off, Karen said.

“What are you talking about!? We have something important to talk about! Baron! Minerva! I'm coming in!"

Karen said and opened the door and all the...members froze when they saw the room.

Clarice covered her face with her hands and tried not to look... although there was a gap between her fingers and I think she was looking at them for all kinds of intent and purpose...

Inside the room, Baron was floating mid-air. No, he was suspended mid-air.

The ropes are intricately entangled around Baron's body. This is artistic tortoise-shell bondage...and Baron's figure...he’s only wearing trousers...and the marks of the rope were clearly visible on his body.

“Wait... eh...? Baron and Minerva already have such relationship? And...what's with that hobby?”

Karen said as she backed away. Baron is Karen's former fiancée after all.

Both of them had suffered considerable psychological damage. Ryner and Bram, who should have been warned or reprimanded for seeing this kind of thing, could only stare with their mouths open.

And then Ellie's one word put the last straw on the camel’s back.

“...More pervert... than...Mars.”

I could hear Baron's heart breaking when he heard the words of him being more perverted than me. I mean, everyone misunderstands me, I'm normal!

Minerva, completely oblivious to everyone's words and mood, said.

“Look guys! I could do this in five minutes! I'm using a rope right now but if I do this with chains, my chains technique level should go up in no time! Mars! Would you like to try being tied this time?”

“Eh!? Could you be practicing chains technique?"

I asked Minerva.

“What other reason is there to do this? I'm aiming to be able to tie up people in less than a minute!”

She replied with high tension. Then Clarice responded.

“Even if supposing you are practicing the chains technique... why is Baron only wearing a pair of trousers?”

She asked Minerva what everyone was thinking.

“I really wanted to do it with chains but he might get hurt if I did it badly right? But I won’t know how much it will hurt if I use a rope over clothes, will you? That's why I asked Baron to wear only his underpants."

Huh? I thought Minerva was quite a moralist... Maybe the action of giving her the chains hit a forbidden switch in her...

“How is it? Baron. Tell everyone how much it hurts?"

Minerva's further pursuit hit Baron. Someone stop her already...Baron looked as if he's about to start crying.

“And anyway, Minerva, can you untie Baron's rope right now and come to the living room? I have something to tell everyone. Baron... come when your wounds have healed. If it doesn't look like it's going to work, I'll talk to you separately later...”

Baron's mental scar will last for life if this is not handled well... and it won't heal that easily...

When I said that, everyone went back to the living room to escape from this hellish atmosphere of the room.

I slowly closed the door to my room too and hurried towards the place where everyone had fled.

“Hey... is that possibly our fault?”

Misha asked Clarice, Ellie, and Karen.

“Well, I don't... think so.”

Clarice denied it but Ellie and Karen remain silent.

“What do you mean?”

I asked as I enter the room, and Misha let out, “Oh no” and shut her mouth. Hmm? Is it something I'm not supposed to hear? Then Clarice answered.

“I'll properly explain to you next time... Now I'm a bit haunted by that scene...”

Well, I had responsibility for causing the misunderstanding too. If I'd acted like nothing had happened from the start and returned back to the room in the first place, none of this would have happened... Sorry Baron...I'll make sure to pick up your bones...

Minerva came a little later but Baron didn't come as expected. Since it’s the expected result, I told everyone about the Lightning magic.

• The Lightning magic is too strong and I can't control it perfectly yet.
• The MP consumption is too big to be used casually.
• Only Clarice is resistant to it.

“The color gold is the color of lightning? I thought lightning is pale white but Mars's Lightning magic is gold.”

When Karen nodded and said so, Ryner added.

“You didn't use it when you fought us right? Is it really that great?"

I was asked so.

“It's probably unavoidable magic. And its damage is great but even if I can't do enough damage because the gap with the opponent's magic power and durability is higher than my own magic power, like Upial's this time, I can still render the opponent immobile with an anomaly called electrocution.”

“It's already too late to deploy spatial magic after seeing Mars light up. Predictably, it's impossible to activate magic faster than light..."

Bram's words made everyone realize how dangerous my Lightning magic is.

“I don't think I'll use this Lightning magic unnecessarily. But if there comes a time when I have to get serious, everyone but Clarice should step back. It worked this time but you never know where Lightning magic will fly."

Everyone nodded with serious looks on their faces.

“Also, we are going to take the whole day off today and depart for the Forest of Death tomorrow so keep that in mind. It's free time for now. Feel free to spend your free time as you wish."

After I said that, Ryner and Bram went to town while Dominic and Minerva probably went to Baron's. Dominic...please take care of Baron! And all the Reimei girls stayed with me.

“It's your first free time in a long time so you're free to spend it however you want, okay?”

When I told the girls that, Ellie replied.

“...with Mars all the time...”

All the girls nodded at Ellie's words. The girls can't go out if I don't go out... It's a pity if they didn’t do any sightseeing when they've come all the way to another city.

“Then let's all go outside and do some shopping for the first time in a while.”

When I said that, everyone except Ellie seemed happy and excited.

We decided to go out and pick out clothes for the girls. But come to think of it, we always wear uniforms. When do we wear plain clothes…?

But the women are assigning each other clothes and saying which ones look good on each other. Ellie is more or less also hooked up in the end. When all said is done, they had been choosing clothes for an hour but no one bought anything.

“Are you not buying anything? I'll pay for it?"

Karen asked the others.

“I already have so many clothes I could throw some away. But it's fun to do this sort of thing.”

“We're in uniform most of the time anyway. We have plenty of loungewear too..."

Clarice seemed to agree with Karen.

When we went to look at the equipment this time, the expressions on everyone's faces were serious, a complete change from earlier.

I would have loved to buy a good robe but unfortunately, I couldn't find a suitable one.

Karen then asked the shopkeeper who had been eyeing Clarice for some time.

“Do you have anything better? I don't care what the price is.”

“Hmm? Lil missy, are you looking for something to equip yourself with?”

The shopkeeper, still eyeing Clarice, asked Karen.

“Try calling me a missy again. I will punish you for disrespecting the member of Duke Fresvald Household."

Startled by Karen's words, the shopkeeper turned to her and said.

“Might you have ties with the Fresvard Household? I am very sorry. We have some items that are not on the shelves here but... regardless of whether it’s for sale or not, we will bring them to you. Please wait a moment."

With that, the owner withdrew to the back of the shop. I see that not everything in the shop is for sale... I'll ask him next time.

After a while, the shopkeeper brought out a fine cane and a white, transparent mantle.

“These are the best items we have. I believed both items would have gone to the possession of Margrave Isaac...”

Then Karen saw the cane.

“Such a battered wand... this ‘Wand of Sage (Fake)’...isn't it just a fake!”

She shouted a little louder and looked clearly dissatisfied. Then the shopkeeper panicked.

“Oh no...but it looks like a very fine wand...I can't believe...that this is a fake..."

Karen followed up by saying in a rather despondent voice.

“I am Karen Lionel, second daughter of the Duke of Fresvald. And I possess Magic Eyes. I'm afraid it's definitely a fake.”

The shopkeeper's face is completely drained of life. I also think it looks admirable from my eyes but what Karen said is true. I was only looking at the name just now and didn't see the effect so I tried checking it with a thorough appraisal.

Name: Wand of Sage (Fake)

Special: -

Value: -

Details: It can remove certain troubles.

Able to keep the man’s sage's time longer (adjustable).

Looks like a piece of junk to women and a fine wand to men.

Oh, my God! This is exactly what I've been looking for!

“Owner! I'll buy it!"

When I said that excitedly, Karen...

"Wai! You can appraise it too right, Mars!? You’re making it like I'm lying!"

She's a little pissed off.

“I fell in love with this form at first sight. Certainly, this is the ‘Wand of Sage (Fake)’. Shopkeeper, you can take it to an appraiser if you have any doubts.”

Karen reluctantly backed down after I said above. Karen is a candid person, and her pride would not allow her to tolerate a situation where her potential fiancée bought a fake.

“If it's a fake...I shall let it go for no cost. But please don't tell anyone about this. If this is exposed, my eye as a merchant will be questioned..."

He said without any energy... What a pitiful guy...

“Shopkeeper... how much did you buy this for?”

I asked, and the shopkeeper said.

“I was told it was a bargain...and I bought it for two gold coins...”

If it were a real Wand of Sage, there's no way I would sell it for two gold coins...which is roughly 200,000 Japanese yen...

“Okay, I understand. Then I will pay you two gold coins. I will not say anything else. Please don't lose heart...”

When I placed the two gold coins on the counter, the shopkeeper tearfully said, "Thank you very much" and accepted the gold coins.

And for the other white, transparent mantle...

====================================

Author’s note:

Karen's Magic Eyes can only tell her the name and value of the item.

So she doesn't know why Mars wants it.

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Chapter 120 : Common Sense and the Weight of Life

TL:SummerPeanut

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“Upial's response... disappeared? Hey! You, immediately get Upiil, Upiul, Upiel Upiol to here ASAP!”*1

I ordered my subordinates who were nearby and immediately went to summon the four of them.

I don't think Upial, the leader of the five counts under my command, will be beaten so easily...even if he can't win against A-rank adventurers, he should be able to force it into a fight he can't lose... As I recall, Upial was sent to the Lister Confederacy... Perhaps the S-rank adventurer Sword God has made a move? No... he should be on his way to the Sky Continent right now... but if it was the Sword God that moved, we wouldn’t get off scot-free. There is a possibility that all vampires, including myself, will be eradicated...

“Lady Carmilla! We have hurriedly returned."

The four brothers - Upiil, Upiul, Upiel, and Upiol - are kneeling on one knee in front of me and hanging their heads.

“You guys! Upial might have lost his life in the Lister Confederacy! Assuming Upial was defeated, the other party could be quite the big name. An A-rank adventurer or possibly even an S-rank adventurer! You're not allowed to mess with the Lister Confederacy temporarily! Understood?”

“Wha! There's a chance that elder brother's been killed?! ...I'd like to avenge him if I could…but I certainly can't find any reason for us to be able to win against someone who can beat elder brother... Yes, we understand..."

Upiil said, and the other three nodded. We can't stumble in a place like this... we have to make sure those guys don't find out about Upial's death...

Above is the Carmilla’s POV.

☆☆☆

Although Ellie had said that when Mars's fight seriously he’ll glow…the stats of that vampire Upial was ridiculously high... And yet Mars was able to defeat him alone...

The attack power of that glowing magic was ridiculously high. I've never seen it before so I can’t be sure if that was lightning or Holy magic... Mars is only 10 years old...an age that would normally signify that he would grow stronger... And yet he's already a B-rank adventurer...or at the very least he is stronger than Recca.

Because Recca can't defeat that vampire by any stretch of my imagination. Perhaps the nearest one to an A-rank adventurer is Mars? I also received recognition because of my rare type of Magic Eyes and exceptional magic power in addition to being the second daughter of the Fresvald Household but I'm far behind Mars... I'm really glad I met Mars. If I hadn't met Mars, I would still be a frog in a well...

Above is assumed to be Karen’s POV.

☆☆☆

Upial was strong. Without Lightning magic, I would have definitely lost. As expected, I should hone this Lightning magic more... my level had gone up after killing him. Does the level go up even if you took a person’s life...

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: 29

HP: 74/74

MP: 3241/7887

Strength: 71

Agility: 71

Magic: 90

Dexterity: 70

Durability: 64

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

Everything except durability has exceeded 70. I've learned a lot of things from this battle but I can't think about anything else right now.

“Mars!”

Clarice hugged me as she called out for me. Clarice is crying. And she seems to be shaking too...

“Clarice, it's all right now... I managed to beat him.”

“Mars...you’re quivering... I'm sorry...”

Clarice wiped my eyes and held my hand. Apparently, I was crying. And I thought Clarice was the one shaking but it seems that I was the one shaking. Maybe I was very affected mentally by killing people. I was looking at my shaking hands.

“Ha ha... no matter how much my level rises, I still can't cure my cowardice apparently...”

“That's not true... Mars helped me in Japan and in Grantham. And even now, without Mars, there’s no doubt we would have been wiped out... Thank you so much. And I'm sorry I let you shoulder all the burden."

Clarice hugged me tighter as she cried.

“Let's go back to Isaac... I'm really tired and I want to rest now.”

Clarice pulled away from me after I said that but this time Ellie hugged me. I could see tears welling up in Ellie's eyes too...After Ellie, Karen and Misha jumped in. They were all worried about me...

We didn't encounter any more magic beasts on our way back to Isaac.

After all, the magic beasts must have come from that wall made by Upial... I really wanted to ask Upial more about the wall… Because it was very similar to the one we saw when I went from the Irgusia labyrinth to Grantham.

Maybe that wall is the Gate magic... It wasn't a Unique Ability so there must be others besides Upial who can use it. If I ever meet those other people, I'll ask them about the Gate magic.

We arrived in Isaac and I immediately returned to the inn. Karen took the initiative to report to Irina. I really just want to rest right now so I took a bath and dove straight into bed and fell asleep like a log without depleting my magic power.

How many hours had I slept? When was the last time I slept like this? I slept a lot and my body felt heavy... When I slowly woke up, Clarice was right in front of me. Clarice was looking at me the whole time as I slept with her.

“Mars? You woke up? Are you alright?"

Tears were building up in Clarice's eyes more and more and she sounded tearful.

“Yeah... My body feels a bit heavy... but I'm fine...”

Before I could finish, Clarice pulled my face into her chest. My face was sandwiched between two soft hills of Clarice's, albeit over clothes. T-this is...every man’s dreamed puff-puff*1! Soft... and smells good... But Clarice who is unaware of what I'm even thinking…

“I'm really glad...I thought the psychological damage was too much and Mars wouldn't wake up again...other people would say it's okay because it's an everyday occurrence but we're from Japan. The experience, or rather the common sense, of killing people is..."

She was already crying towards the end and I couldn’t make out what she was saying but I understood what she was trying to say. The weight of life and common sense is completely different from Japan and... Earth.

“Clarice. Thank you."

As I said this, I put my hands around Clarice's waist and absorbed the Clarice component as much as I could. Then Clarice said.

“I-it looks like you're feeling better now so I'll go and tell everyone.”

Clarice got out of bed quickly, her face flushing red. The reason being my unruly child knocked Clarice's knees repeatedly. I could have enjoyed the best of times even more if you had restrained yourself a little more... Please, buddy...

Clarice left the room and after a while, the Daybreak members came to me, except Baron and Minerva.

I can't get out of the futon and I can't even lie on my back with my unruly child standing up. Seeing me like that, the members other than Clarice are worried. Ellie, Karen, and Misha's eyes are moist. T-this, I feel waves of guiltiness...

“I'm sorry for worrying you guys. I'm feeling a bit heavy at the moment because I had too much sleep. I'll leave the room in a little while, can you wait for me? What time is it anyway? Seems like I had been sleeping quite a lot...."

When I asked that, Clarice said.

“It's 7 o'clock on the 13th. You have slept for about 15 hours. I was worried that you, a short sleeper, had slept more than 10 hours...”

Fift-, 15 hours huh... it felt like I had been sleeping for days...but Clarice signaled to everyone and left the bedroom, and the others followed. Phew...I have to discharge my private electricity quickly...

After about an hour I went into the bath in a way that no one could detect me. Especially because if Ellie finds me, she might know that I discharged my own generated electric power from the smell.

As soon as I entered the large room similar to a living room where everyone was after taking a bath, Ellie hugged me. She buried her face in my neck and breathed in as much as she could. T-that tickles...

“...Are you...okay already...?”

Ellie whispered in my ear and I nodded silently.

Karen and Misha saw this and hugged me from either side, burying their faces in my neck and sucking me in as hard as they could, just like Ellie.

“I bet every guy in the world would have the same opinion that Mars is the enemy if they saw this... I really envy you, I wish I could experience it...even if it’s just once.”

Dominic said while looking at me, and Ryner too added his 5 cents.

“I wish we had this kind of youth. Right, Bram?"

“I know. Despite the vast world, there is only one person who could be surrounded by this many beautiful women.”

Well, I certainly agree...but if this continues, my unruly child is about to wake up again...

"Hey, you three, can I have a word? I'm going to go get Baron and Minerva. I want to let you guys know about my powers later."

When I said this, the three beauties seemed to understand and backed away from me. It's a bit disappointing but it can't be helped.

Then I went to the door of the room where Baron and Minerva were.

At this point, I had no way of knowing what was going on behind the door...

====================================

Author’s note:

If you feel the series is even a bit interesting and are curious about the story’s continuation, please consider giving ★★★★★ and bookmark as it will really help with my motivation. m(__)m

I am also on Twitter.

I would be delighted if you would follow me on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/qdUYSDZf8XzNaUq

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TL’s note:

1. Lmao
2. Dragon quest’s puff-puff

Chapter 119 - The Luminous Mars

TL:SummerPeanut

This is the once-in-a-while good fight chapter to actually imagine during TL. So cool.

====================================

I managed to survive Upial's onslaught and sheathed my Salamander Sword after finding the chance to rebuild my stance. On my right hand is Thunder Sword and I have nothing equipped in my left hand.

Upial saw this and fired two Flares.

When I repelled the two Flares with Wind Impulse, Upial rushed from behind the Flares.

This is something that my stats won’t allow me to evade regardless of my future sight from Vision. I immediately break away with Kamui but Upial seemed to have read that and was chasing me even more.

I wondered for a moment whether I should apply High Heal or cut of his chase with Kamui but I managed to avoid Upial's attack while hitting myself with Wind like what Misha did yet Upial did not slow down his attack as if he had read even that.

This time, however, I had the time to apply a High Heal on myself as I get pushed back from the Wind.

When I managed to recover from the Kamui’s damage with High Heal...

“Lightning Cloak!”

It's been a long time since I've used Lightning Cloak. The level of Lightning magic has risen considerably since last time so the power should be perfect.

The golden lightning was released against Upial's right arm, and the force from the direct hit of the Lightning Cloak was enough to blow Upial away.

Upial's HP shows less than 200 now and Upial's state is also electrocuted (small). Upial’s magic power and durability are higher than my magic power so it did not cause electrocution (large) state and settled only for electrocution (small).

Even so, I can't let this chance pass. When I slashed at Upial with the Thunder Sword, Upial turned into countless bats and tried to make an emergency evasion but it seems that Upial's right upper body could not turn into a bat because of the electrocution (small).

I slashed that part with my Thunder Sword and was able to cut off Upial's right arm.

The countless bats had turned back into Upial vampire form with his right arm cut off.

“Damn... you... what have you done! Why can’t...I regenerate?"

So he could regenerate if not because of the electrocution state... This is probably not from the effect of accelerated HP recovery but an inherent ability of the vampire race.

Upial's HP was below 120, half of what it should have been. I can't afford to miss my chance from having a leisurely conversation here. If I don't put a stop to him now, I might lose next time.

I rushed hard against Upial who had lost his right arm. Upial, again, became countless bats and made an emergency evasion but I made sure to finish off all of them one by one. Then Upial gave up on running away as bats and reverted back to vampire form.

It seems that each of those countless bats was Upial seeing him with less than 100 HP remaining now. If I don't settle this quickly, his HP will be restored by the accelerated HP recovery.

Upial did not try to approach me. He probably thought that if he approached me, he would fall prey to the Lightning Cloak. Conversely, he may think that he can manage somehow as long as I don't get too close.

This time, he released a Flare at me while fleeing in vampire form. Upial might be trying to retreat completely. The agility value of Upial is overwhelmingly higher and there is nothing I can do if he seriously tries to run away.

I am trying to block the activation of Upial's Flare with Wind magic but I could only weaken the power of the Flare because the opponent's magic power is higher. It seems that even if I can repel his Flare with Wind Impulse, I can't obstruct its activation.

But just weakening the power was enough. I put on Kamui and cut the Flare with the Thunder Sword while approaching Upial to the shortest possible distance.

Then, I put a High Heal on myself before...

“Lightning!"

My body glowed gold and the light pierced Upial. The moment my body glowed gold, Upial's face was dyed with an expression of despair. His face had been red until now but it turned pale. I think that's the original complexion of the vampire I envisioned...

Lightning has a different level of power compared to the previous Lightning Cloak. The amount of MP consumed for it is no joke. The golden light enveloped Upial, and finally, Upial's HP dropped to the single digit and his state had become electrocution (extreme).

Lightning magic is terrifying... If it can be controlled firmly, it can reverse the situation with a single shot no matter how superior the opponent may be.

The freedom of Upial's body, which had been hit by Lightning, had been taken away.

I thrusted Thunder Sword at the fallen Upial's neck before asking.

“What were you doing here? Why were you summoning magic beasts?"

Upial said nothing. However, I can see that Upial's face is covered with despair and fear.

“For the last time. I will ask you one more time, what were you doing here?"

When I asked him again, I can see in his eyes that he was pleading for something but he didn’t say anything. Oh...it was the electrocution (extreme)... He couldn’t say anything and there was no way he can react in any form...

I said toward members of Reimei and genesis.

“Everyone! Come this way while being on the lookout! I used Search on the surroundings and I don't detect anything but I need you to be on maximum alert!"

I didn't look away from Upial. I was going to put an end to him if he went from electrocution (extreme) to electrocution (major).

Demon race is people too. This year, two people from the demon race were scheduled to join the Lister Imperial School's S class... Even then I still had the intention of putting an end to him.

I believe that I'll definitely regret it later if I let this guy live.

The members of Reimei and Genesis came to me, carefully and vigilantly.

I then asked Karen.

“If I kill this guy, will I be charged with any crime? This man seems to be the head of a demon race’s count household. Wouldn't that be a problem between countries?”

“No. It's clear that he's done a disservice to the Lister Confederacy. You will only be commended but never condemned! And there’s no way Lister Confederacy will sit back and let this sort of thing happen! If there is a problem, it's this guy's fault and not Mars’s!"

That’s the first barrier of reason breached.

“I'm thinking of ending him. Right now he's paralyzed but he'll get over it soon. And his stats are higher than anyone else here including mine.

If I were stronger than this guy, I would have wanted to capture him. I'm strong enough to defeat him the first time but if he took countermeasures I don't know if I can beat him as I did this time.

If anyone disagrees, raise your hand. I won’t blame anyone who raises their hand. It's possible that I'm in a frenzied state right now and I'm not making the right decisions. That's why I want to ask everyone.

I ask again. Raise your hand if you are against me killing this guy.”

None of the members of Reimei and Genesis raised their hands.

“That vampire should definitely be ended. In the Holy Kingdom of Diadora, the damage caused by vampires is particularly high. I never thought these guys were summoning magic beasts...”

Dominic said in a strong tone, and so did Baron.

“Amongst the demon race, vampires are unfriendly towards humans. Not only are they unfriendly, but they also took a hostile stance toward us. I don't think there has ever been a friendly one. I support Mars."

“We must put a stop to this for the sake of the Lister Confederacy and for the... people.”

Karen said as much. Clarice said nothing... looking very somber. Perhaps she is aware of my state of mind...

“All right. Thank you, guys. Can the girls step back, please? I don't want to be seen killing him... Baron and Dominic, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to see through it. There might be cases where the vampire is thought to be dead but actually not."

The girls backed off, Baron and Dominic stayed where they were and I ended Upial.

And my level went up…*1

====================================

Author’s note:

This is Mars who could not punch a girl but could end a vampire.

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TL’s note:

1. I remember a novel. The enemy is not dead until they give you the exp. lol.

Chapter 118 : Vampires

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

11 September 2030, 8:30pm.

I and Ryner went to the east gate one step ahead of Ellie and Misha. The two girls will be coming after taking a bath.

After swapping with Clarice and the others at the east gate, we immediately started defeating the magic beasts. Do these magic beasts really stop appearing at midnight? The magic beasts are coming towards us in lines from beyond the horizon.

After a little while, Ellie and Misha arrived and I started to build something with Earth magic outside the eastern gate.

I used Earth magic to build a stone house. It's a one-story house with a bathroom complete with a toilet and, as usual, beds. And this time the bed is probably more than a king size.

The reason why it is so big is that I had Irina prepare a bedding*1 for me beforehand, and both the mattress and quilt she prepared were of a size that would be used by nobles.

The reason why I made these now is because I wanted to proceed east tomorrow in perfect condition. After building the house to some extent, we went back to everyone and started defeating the magic beasts.

Around 23:00, the number of magic beasts decreased considerably, and by midnight, only a few magic beasts had appeared.

“Listen everyone. I'm going to rest for three hours now. And after three hours, this time you all need to take a rest. Depending on everyone's MP condition, I would wake you around 8am. I'll tell you the detailed plan tomorrow when everyone is here. OK?"

I asked Ellie, Misha, and Ryner and they all nodded.

I took a bath as usual then depleted my MP and went to bed.

12 September 2030, 8:00 am.

In the end, only about 10 magic beasts came after I woke up and switched to the night watch with the three of them. And now everyone from Daybreak clan is all gathered at the east gate. And everyone looks refreshed and in perfect physical condition.

“Alright, we will now march east. I'll have two of the Fortitude to stay behind in case of an emergency. I intend to find out where these magic beasts are coming from by the end of the day.”

Since I had informed Ryner in advance, he and Bram nodded. The magic beasts are now coming towards us from far away in lines.

These magic beasts are really well-behaved... They don't come at night and they attack in the morning adjusting to our lifestyle.

We are marching east with two parties of Reimei and Genesis. The main three people who fight the magic beasts are Misha, Baron, and Dominic who are at a lower level. Well, Misha's level is already higher than mine even though I said her level is low.

Minerva has the lowest level but since her only means of attack is magic, I decided not to let her participate in the attack in order to conserve MP. Instead, Minerva is working hard with the chains I gave her yesterday.

She seems to be studying various things with a book in her hand...The title of the book was ‘Introduction to Bondage’...I glanced at the contents but women were being tied in various ways inside...Minerva... just what are you trying to achieve...? Furthermore, Karen is looking at it with interest. I think Karen is the only one who should never learn anything from this... There’re whips and ropes, and the next one will be the wax... I definitely do not want to have someone in my party who is a wax technique user regardless of how strong they are. That will definitely put the nail into my coffin.

The journey to the east is going well. The magic beasts kept coming out with a threat level of D so although both Baron and Dominic were taking some damage, it felt like they were able to triumph with room to spare.

After about two hours of walking around killing enemies, we found something in the distance. As we gradually get closer, the other members of the team notice it too.

“What exactly...? Is that...?"

Baron muttered, and everyone looked ahead and saw a large wall about 100 meters away.

The wall was slightly suspended in mid-air and looked somewhat familiar, and the magic beasts seemed to be springing from it.

“Everyone be careful! Make sure you don't ever touch that wall!”

As we got closer to the wall, kicking away the magic beasts that were coming from the wall, we saw something like the wall of a labyrinth floating in the air. And one bat is flying above that wall.

Gradually, as the distance between the wall and us grew narrowed, the bat suddenly changed shape. Its face was a little red, it had fangs and there were no shadows...

“Could it be a vampire...?”

Clarice was thinking the same thing as me. A vampire has the image of a pale white face but the rest of its physical features are exactly like vampires. There is no doubt that it is summoning(?) magic beasts.

But don't vampires turn to ash when exposed to sunlight? I knew that it is definitely an enemy so I appraised it without hesitation.

Name: Upial Burton

Title: -

Status: Magic beast (vampire), head of the Burton Count Household

Condition: Good

Age: 174

Level: 51

HP: 252/252

MP: 504/620

Strength: 100

Agility: 88

Magic: 88

Dexterity: 44

Durability: 88

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Magic Eyes (LvMax)

Special Ability: Martial Arts (Lv8/C)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv7/D)

Special Ability: Gate Magic (Lv3/F)

Special Ability: Accelerated HP recovery  (Lv7/C)

My guess’s on the money, he’s a vampire... I have an image of vampires as having overwhelming physical strength but its strength was not as high as I thought. Regardless, his strength crossed over 3 digits… also what is Gate Magic? This is the first time I saw one... Depending on the Gate Magic, it might not be impossible to win despite his high stats.

When I took my stance after taking out Thunder Sword and Salamander Sword, Reimei members heightened their guard.

“What are you doing here?!”

I asked Upial, and little by little Upial walked toward us. When Upial moved away from the wall, the wall disappeared from the air.

Then he glared at me and closed the distance instantly before attacking me with his sharp fangs and claws. I activated Sylphid to its fullest, put magic power into my Thunder Sword, and cut down Upial's claws.

“My Magic Eyes doesn't work...? It is inconceivable that a student has more magic power than me... perhaps a special constitution...?"

As Upial said this, the claw that should have been cut was already regenerating.

“Everyone retreat! I'll defeat this guy!"

After saying so, the members of Reimei and Genesis retreated with their guards up.

“You want to defeat me? You, a mere student?”

Upial casted Flare and released it at me as he said the above. Then Upial himself attacked me at the same time.

I blasted the Flare away with Wind Impulse and intercepted Upial.

This time, I also activated Vision while fighting.

Upial seemed to be very experienced in combat and attacked me in many unexpected ways.

When I tried to repel a claw attack with my sword, the claw shrank and when it passed through the sword, it extended again and scratched my cheek. Also when I thought I had definitely got him in the bag, he turned into countless bats at that moment and evaded my attack... However, turning into a bat seemed to be an emergency evasion, so he does not use it that much. Perhaps turning into bats limits his means of attack.

But no matter how you look at it, I'm the one disadvantaged now.

In terms of agility, Upial is higher than me so I had to use Kamui as emergency evasion when I am unable to evade his attacks with just a fully deployed Sylphid. Kamui gives me explosive speed but it damages my body each time I use it. Every time I used Kamui, I had to use a High Heal on myself.

After numerous attacks from Upial, I learned something from the clashes. My Wind Cutter did not do as much damage as I expected.

Many times my chantless Wind Cutter would hit Upial but I couldn't slice off his arm.

And the accelerated HP recovery causes his HP to be restored during the battle...

"That swordsmanship, that chantless Wind magic... it’s too much power for a student... but you're no match for me! As long as I watch out for your sword, you basically do no damage to me. If you come under my command right now, I will forgive you. And I can give a good report to Lady Carmilla."

Lady Carmilla? She’s his superior huh... And what Upial said is right. It seems that just Wind magic is not enough to do effective damage to him.

Upial's attacks are getting intense and bolder. He seems to think he can completely ignore my Wind magic now.

Even if I do 10-20 damage with Wind Cutter, Upial's HP is full as we continue to the sword claw fight... This is not going to get us anywhere...I realized that I couldn’t win unless I fight him with Lightning magic with all my might.

“Clarice! Retreat backward and barrier!"

I said to Clarice and she seemed to know what I was going to do. After everyone moved further back behind Clarice, she used her Barrier magic.

The battle between me and Upial is getting to the climax.

====================================

Author’s note:

If you feel the series is even a bit interesting and are curious about the story’s continuation, please consider giving ★★★★★ and bookmark as it will really help with my motivation. m(__)m

I am also on Twitter.

I would be delighted if you would follow me on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/qdUYSDZf8XzNaUq

<<Prev 

Next>> 

TL’s note:

1. Japanese bedding. Futon.

Chapter 117 : To Isaac Again

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

“Hey, this magic is... unbelievable, is this Firestorm something that can be activated by a single individual?”

I was told by Recca to show my power so I used the most obvious Firestorm.

“The Wind magic is by far the strongest but your Fire magic is no less powerful?... I didn't expect there will be a Water magician who could use so much magic..."

Oh, he still thinks that I'm a Water magician...

“Sir Recca, I am a Wind magician. But I can also use a little of the other three attributes."

When I said honestly to Recca, he...

“No way! Then what about the amount of water...?"

Recca turned toward Karen in distress, and Karen ended him.

"What he just said is true. I'll tell you since Mars doesn't intend to hide it anymore but he has the title of Wind King at his age. Duke Regan, who is also another Wind King, has recognized it so there's no doubt about it."

“Will this be sufficient for me to accompany you now?”

“Okay. Understood. Hurry up and exterminate the magic beasts attacking the Isaac Fortress City. I welcome you as a force to be accounted to. The supply wagons will arrive tomorrow. Come back as soon as possible."

I unintentionally made eye contact with Karen and struck a gut pose.

The group was very excited when Karen appeared in front of the members of the Arcane Fire Knights.

They had never expected the daughter of the Fresvald family to grace her appearance on the front line like this. And next to Karen is a large cask of wine.

How could such a large group of drinkers, like the Knights of Isaac and the Knights of Arcane Fire, have gathered together like this? Well, it's no wonder they don't have any breathing space...

The moral of the Knights exploded as everyone drank a glass of alcohol in one gulp. With this momentum, the members of the Arcane Fire greeted Karen one by one and saw her off as she left. It was decided to have Karen and Bram go to bed first to prepare for tomorrow.

The Isaac Knights returned about 30 minutes after the departure of the Arcane Fire Knights. They were thrilled to hear that Margrave Isaac would send a water supply tomorrow. We also gave them the remaining 20 bottles of wine and told them that we would return to the fortress city of Isaac tomorrow morning probably when they are still sleeping.

Margrave Isaac seemed more worried about the fortress city than about this place here, and said ‘Thank you’. Incidentally, I had already given the 20 bottles to Recca.

I used my last MP to fill the water tank for equipment cleaning. The Knights of Isaac consume far more water than the Knights of Arcane Fire. Maybe it’s due to the Knights of Arcane Fire fighting mainly with magic so their equipment doesn't get dirty?

While thinking about this, I depleted my MP and prepared for the morning.

11 September 2030.

When I woke up, Karen and Bram were already awake and eating breakfast. I quickly brushed my teeth too and then ate breakfast.

It's the day to go home so I don't have to think about MP too much. Karen wants to take a bath so I fill the bathtub with hot water separated by partitions I made last time. I also made one each for me and Bram, and we all take a bath before leaving the camp.

I had already told Isaac that I would rent a carriage for the return journey and thus I rented the smallest wagon carriage I could find. This time we did not have a driver. I Heal’ed the horses all the way back at full speed, planning to arrive in Isaac in the early afternoon.

As soon as I arrived safely in Isaac, I went to Irina and reported the completion of my quest.

“Lord Irina, I am pleased to report that the quest has been successfully completed. I also asked Margrave Isaac to kindly write this letter. Please have a look at it."

I handed Irina the letter that Isaac had written, and she said.

“I understand. I will bring it right away, please wait for me.”

Irina went to another room and returned immediately. In Irina's hands were two long, thick chains.

“Please, this way please.”

Irina handed me the two chains. Yup. I asked Isaac to give me any extra chains he had.

With these, I can practice the chains technique with Minerva. I see infinite possibilities in these chains. You would want to shout 'Nebula Chain' or 'Judgment Chain', wouldn’t you? We've all done something similar in the past, the kind of thing you do with a jump rope.

I immediately went to the east gate of the fortress city of Isaac where the members of the Reimei were slaughtering the magic beasts.

The formation placed Ryner in the middle of the spearhead as he chopped up the attacking magic beasts. Baron, Dominic, and Minerva are taking down the ones he missed. The members of the Genesis are already looking helter-skelter...

Misha and Ellie seemed to be taking down the surrounding enemies individually. And Clarice is standing by the side, watching everyone. Although I said she is watching everyone, she seemed to be mainly focusing on Genesis though.

“I'm back.”

I went next to Clarice and talked to her.

“Welcome home.”

Clarice rejoiced at my return with a relieved expression on her face. I can't wait to be fifteen when I think of the conversations we'll have like this every day after we get married.

When everyone noticed us, they all gathered around me at once. Ellie was already rubbing her face against my chest. I stroked Ellie's head and talked to everyone.

“Anything unusual?”

I asked, and Ryner answered.

“The magic beasts are getting a bit stronger... the threat level is still D but there are some pretty dangerous situations. Clarice is preventing it from happening now but... I'm glad you are here."

When he commented so, Clarice too added her opinion.

“We can't stop the magic beasts anymore with just the knights and the knight trainees here so we have to help them at night too... Teacher Ryner, Ellie, and Misha have been fighting all the time so let them rest a little.”

Hm? How long have these three been fighting for? And then Misha said.

“Three of us take little naps so it’s not like we're fighting all the time. Besides, the magic beasts don't come as many during the night therefore we all spread out and kill the magic beasts around Isaac."

That's a wise decision. It's another solution to sleep without depleting your MP. But still, so it seems that there aren't as many magic beasts at night...But the knights and their trainees here can't handle those magic beasts... Well, it's an emergency this time so it can't be helped... ...as I'm thinking about that, Ellie said.

“...here...rest... good night...”

She tried to sleep standing up, leaning against my chest. As expected, she wouldn’t be able to relieve her fatigue in this position.

“For now we're going to split up into groups. Ellie, Misha, and Ryner go back to the inn now and sleep until 21:00. I'll be back at 17:00 too and get up at 21:00 to work with you three. Everyone else, keep up the good work until 21:00! And tomorrow morning we'll start pushing the front line further to the east! Make sure you're all in good shape!"

Everyone except one responded by exclaiming, ‘Ooh!’. Ellie was already asleep... Eventually, I decided to princess carry Ellie in my arms and return to the inn with her.

“Eririn is really enviable, I want a piggyback then!”

Misha said and jumped on my back. It was usually fine because it was early in the morning at school but now it was mid-afternoon in the territorial capital. The eyes of the inhabitants of Isaac stung painfully but I decided not to care. I returned to the inn, left Ellie in Misha's care, and went back to the eastern gate by myself.

When I returned to the east gate, Clarice had taken the lead role that Ryner had held earlier, and the formation was such that the other members were taking down the magic beasts that Clarice had failed to kill.

“Clarice, have you noticed anything particular about these magic beasts?”

I asked while standing beside Clarice and supporting her.

“First of all, it doesn't look like a stampede. I believe a stampede would be more like all the magic beasts coming at once but these magic beasts are controlled... maybe rather than saying that they're being controlled... they are well-behaved or something. I don't think this is...normal."

I had the same impression.

“It's like they're being fascinated or brainwashed... but there's no status abnormality in the stats...so I guess we have to find out where it's coming from after all..."

Clarice nodded at my words. After talking with Clarice, I Heal’ed everyone and I went to the south gate, defeating the leftover magic beasts.

I decided to pave the road leading straight south from the south gate. If I'm going to deplete my MP anyway, I'm going to do it effectively.

When paving the road, I tried to be a little playful. I put lightning patterns or emblems at equal intervals. The symbols appear when you convert the word ‘thunder’.

After using up some MP, I finally returned to Clarice and told her I was going back to the inn. The first thing I did was to take the chains that Irina had given to Minerva who was nearby.

“Minerva, I want you to gradually put this to use. Margrave Isaac used to use chains so when things settle down here, ask him to teach you how to use it.”

When I said so, Minerva showed a mysterious look.

“...Mars... you're serious huh...I understand. I'll try my best to master the chains!"

Minerva understood. But at this time I still had no way of knowing. The future tragedy that would happen when I gave Minerva the chains...

====================================

Author’s note:

Minerva's victim is not Mars... I wonder who it’ll be?

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Chapter 116 : Recca

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

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.

====================================

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.

Chapter 115 : Water is Precious

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

9 September 2030, around 15:00 clock time.

The three of us headed in six wagons to the Forest of Death, where the Knights are.

To be precise, the knights are not in the Forest of Death but are encamped in the meadow in front of the Forest of Death.

We are to deliver preserves for about 400 people in total for the two combined Knights Orders. I don't know how many days' worth of food this is though…

And they say it takes about a day to get from Isaac to the Knights, and by a day, they meant from the departure at 8 am and reaching at around 5 pm.

Maybe if I keep healing the horses, we could get there afternoon today.

But there are some points of concern. It's a night march after all. Horses are not bothered by night trails. That is because they can see at night. I can also see at night thanks to the effect of the Sky Eyes.

But it would be hard for the drivers even if Karen and Bram were not considered. Well if we don’t reach the Knights fast enough and they ended up retreating, Isaac will be in danger so there’s no other choice for them but to endure.

The sun was going down and it was getting dark. If this place was in Regan, the street lights would be lit by magic stones but there are no such lights here.

I used Search to the maximum range and floated multiple Fires ahead of me.

When I explained the situation to the surprised drivers, they were relieved after. When I detect any magic beasts with Search, I defeat them with Wind Cutter without a single word. When a horse is about to drop out from fatigue, I ask the driver to switch over the driving for a bit and Heal the horse in a way that it does not get exposed. All of these consumed more MP than I thought they would... Well, it's still within my calculation that half of MP will still be available by the time we get there so all’s good...

Karen also started using Fire herself to light up the surroundings. In Karen's case, it was probably also to practice her control over Fire.

As introduced previously, Karen's current style is to first let Fire manifest around her and then attack with the whip. When an enemy evades or catches her whip and lunges at Karen, the style is to hit the enemy with the Fire that is floating around Karen beforehand.

This requires a great deal of dexterity. It also requires dexterity and nerve as prerequisites to keep the Fire in place. In fact, Karen is trying something quite difficult amongst Reimei members as she also has to wield the whip in that state.

After marching while defeating magic beasts, we finally arrived at the meadows where the knights are encamped.

They seem to have a fairly large camp and, like us, they are lit by fire.

Well, it is quite bright and I feel that this is a hard amount of light to sleep with, but if you deplete your MP, it will be as if there is no problem.

And a lot of tents were put up. I'm sure everyone sleeps in the tents.

“Karen, can I leave this to you? I don't think there will be any unnecessary problems or confusion if Karen goes from the start."

When I requested her of this, Karen replied ‘Okay’ and went to speak to the Knights.

“Good work. I'm Karen Lionel. I'm here to deliver the supplies. Is the Commander of the Knights of Arcane Fire or Margrave Isaac around?”

The Order members seemed to be surprised when Karen spoke to them.

“Ya, yes! I will call Margrave Isaac immediately.”

And went to the largest tent and immediately brought a man in black armor.

As soon as the tanned man came in front of Karen, he got down on one knee and said

“Long time no see. Lady Karen. Thank you very much for coming all the way here.”

The man then looked up into Karen's face. I appraised the man now that I think he wouldn't be offended at this moment.

Name: Geese Weiss

Title: Chains King, Ant Slaughterer

Status: Human race, head of the Margrave Isaac Household.

Condition: Good

Age: 39 years old

Level: 58

HP: 185/185

MP: 55/55

Strength: 69

Agility: 60

Magic: 5

Dexterity: 75

Durability: 70

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv7/C)

Special Ability: Chains Technique (Lv8/C)

Equipment: Sword of Adamantite

Equipment: Chains of Guidance

Equipment: Adamantite armor

Equipment: Adamantite footplate

Equipment: Ring of Protection

He is quite strong. This is the first time I have seen such a strong person in the Lister Confederacy who cannot use magic. The equipment is also from the Adamantite series.

I haven't seen anyone this strong among the knight commanders I've seen so far. As expected from the person who has been monitoring the Forest of Death for so long.

The Adamantite series is the opposite of mithril silver and is impervious to magic. For Margrave Isaac who does not use magic, the adamantite series, which makes it difficult for the opponent's magic to penetrate, would be a good match.

After Karen kneeled on one knee, she said to Margrave Isaac.

“Long time no see. Lord Isaac. Let's skip the formal greetings and begin with the supplies. What would you like first?"

Karen used a rare honorific when talking. Well, it's more of a polite gesture than a respectful one...

“Thank you very much. So, first of all, we'll need a supply of alcohol... No, we'll need a supply of water. We are already running out of drinking water and we are already unable to keep our equipment clean. Top priority is alco-...water."

What a man...just as Duke Regan said. I can't believe he's saying both what he really means and what he's trying to do... Then Karen, unable to hold back her laughter, clutched her stomach.

“Fufufu... As usual, you really... I've also brought alcohol. But don't get your hopes up since we prepared it on short notice. Water will be prepared by our party leader and clan master, Mars here, using Water magic."

Karen looked at me and casually stepped back behind me. Seeing this, Margrave Isaac looked very surprised.

“Nice to meet you, Margrave Isaac. I am Mars Bryant, 1st year Lister Imperial School, ranked first in S class. I would like to prepare the water with Water magic but where should I place them? If not, I will prepare the container myself if you don’t mind?"

Then Margrave Isaac said.

“Ooh. I have heard of the rumors. You are the Sword Saint titled warrior who defeated the eldest son of the Duke of Syrians. You said you would prepare water for 400 people so I need at least...4 tonnes of water... Is that alright? There are eight water tanks there that can hold one tonne each so I would like you to fill up four of them. In addition to that, I also want you to fill up the water tanks that are currently being used for drinking water and for cleaning equipment if possible..."

Margrave Isaac asked me with a kindly but somewhat resigned expression on his face.

My Water magic consumes 5 MP to produce 1 liter of water. Maybe my low talent in the magic makes me less fuel-efficient.

Preparing 4 tonnes of water means I need 4,000 liters... or 20,000 in terms of MP...which can be made possible with three times of magic depletion. I might be able to manage in two days.

“Yes! I'll do my best! Where would you like me to start stocking the water from?"

I was led to a place that held drinking water and water for cleaning equipment so I started to fill up from there. The drinking water tank was already near the bottom, and the huge tank for cleaning equipment was already empty.

I poured 400 liters of my remaining MP into the drinking water and equipment tanks, leaving only 100 in reserve.

Meanwhile, Karen was serving alcohol and preserved food to the Knights. All the members of the Knights of Isaac were overjoyed, despite in the middle of the night, to be served in person by the second daughter of the Duke of Fresvald. Karen also approached each of them one by one and politely offered them a drink. It was an unthinkable appearance from the usual Karen.

Incidentally, alcohol was not on the carriage prepared by Irina so she bought all the alcohol she could in Isaac and packed it into the carriage we rode in.

And the reason why I brought Bram here is that Bram's spatial magic stored about 50 bottles of fine wine given to him by Duke Regan.

Bram gave 10 bottles of wine to Margrave Isaac, saying they were from Duke Regan, and Margrave Isaac was very pleased.

When I had 100 MP left, I just told Karen that I was going to sleep first because my MP was already depleted and I went to sleep right after supplying the last batch of water.

We still need more water but I like to think we’ve made it through the emergency.

10 September 2030.

When I woke up, it was already starting to get bright.

I’d say it’s around dawn right now…I was already lying on the bed before I knew it. And Karen is sleeping in the same bed. Most likely thanks to her invoking her authority.

I really want to have a morning bath and a morning shampoo but there is a shortage of water at the moment. If I did that here, I'd get Karen's face smeared.

I went to the water tanks for drinking water and equipment cleaning and found that the drinking water was still there but the tanks for equipment cleaning had run out. I filled up 600 liters of drinking water and fully topped up the equipment washing tank and went back to sleep but it took a long time to fill up this much water.

When I woke up again, everyone was already active. I feel bad that I'm the only one who overslept.

I found Karen nearby and called her.

“Karen, good morning. Would you like to have a bath?”

“Good morning, Mars. Of course, I want to have a bath. But if I say that now, you'll make everyone else uncomfortable.”

Unsurprisingly Karen is being considerate to the situation too.

“That is why I think I'll go ahead and prepare the Knights' baths. I'm not going make it so that they can’t hold anger towards us. For that, I need Karen's help.”

I'd already made sure the water tanks for drinking and equipment cleaning weren't too low. The Knights of the Isaac, who are here now, don't use it much anymore.

120020040

Now all I wanted was to be able to cleanse myself but a bath for one person uses 200 liters of water so with 200 people we'd need 40 tonnes of water.

Hence, I decided to make it rain.

Because it would consume extra MP to warm up the water, I would need to rely on Karen for that. Karen took up my suggestion so I immediately went to Margrave Isaac. Then, Margrave Isaac said to me as soon as he opened his mouth

“Thank you! Mars! I never thought it was possible to produce so much water in such a short time! And the wine is great. And thank you so much, Lady Karen, for all your hard work with the soldiers.”

He was very pleased. I, too, added my comment.

“Good morning. Margrave Isaac. I would like to try a few things now, could you please come to the big baths, 100 people at a time? I'm thinking of bringing down some warm rain so I'm hoping we can have a bit of a dip in the water... only I don't know if the results will be satisfactory as this is the first time I've done this..."

When I said this, Margrave Isaac looked surprised.

“You still have MP? I think you have probably put out close to two tonnes of water, haven't you? If you can do it, we would be very grateful for that suggestion of course..."

At any rate, we decided to give it a try, whether we could or not, and 100 members of the Knights came naked to the big baths. The so-called big baths are very large bathtubs made with crude Earth magic in an open field.

I was a little distance away from the baths, my hands pointing toward the sky, and my hands tilted at an angle toward the baths. Karen, on the other hand, had her back to the bath and was looking only at my hands.

I emitted water into the sky at maximum power and Karen adjusted the water to a slightly hotter temperature.

I calculated that Karen would probably deplete all her MP quickly, but for the soldiers, the thought that the duke's daughter had gone this far would surely boost their morale.

Naturally, the operation was a great success. And the Knights were splendid too.

No one wanted to stay there for long, even though it had been a long time since they had bathed, and as soon as their bodies were refreshed, they went outside the baths and quickly replaced with the knights who had not yet bathed.

Thanks to this, I was also able to use my MP efficiently, and even if Karen fell asleep due to MP depletion, I was still able to make everyone clear of their sweat with just my MP.

I also converted all my remaining MP into water and went to sleep due to MP depletion for the third time today.

====================================

Author’s note:

Making rain happen just to allow Karen to enter the bath but in the end, she ended up going to bed due to MP deficiency...

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Chapter 114 : Supplies

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

(Damn that vixen! She's forcing the strongest class to retreat for the sake of the so-called Warrior Gods Festival! And then she sends some teachers and first-year students? What is she thinking by sending first-year students who can't even make it to the Warrior Gods Festival? She must have sent them as disposable pawns but they're students of the Lister Imperial School, so I'll meet them just once. Having some die in battle with honor and shedding some tears should appease the students.)

Four of them were shown into my room, one of them is the brilliant Duval and another is a middle-aged swordsman with refreshing looks. Then there's a beautiful little girl with red hair and a face I've seen somewhere before, and a super handsome blonde swordsman I've never seen before.

I've made up my mind. I'll keep this extremely handsome swordsman in my place. I'll treat him as a slave. No, it would be a shame if that's all he is... This man is also valuable as an accessory... For what reason shall I make him my man...

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Ryner from the Lister Imperial School. I am sure you have already received word from Duke Regan that we will be having the fifth-year students return to Regan for the Warrior Gods Festival. In their stead, there will be two teachers and eight first-year S class students. I will be leading them but they will be represented by a first-year student. Mars, please introduce yourself."

That middle-aged man with refreshing looks uttered so and I nodded to appear gracious. First impressions are important in these kinds of thing. But still, the S class came huh... I haven't seen the letter from Duke Regan in person so I don't know the details but she didn't send a disposable pawn it seems...

On the contrary, she delivered someone who will be responsible for the future of the Lister Confederacy. If that's the case, then this very handsome man is also an S class student. With this face, he is the hope of the Lister Confederacy. I certainly want him in my hands no matter what!

“Nice to meet you. I'm Mars Bryant, first-year S class, ranked first in Lister Imperial School. I will be taking over from Senior Duval and the other seniors. I'm only a freshman so I may cause you trouble but I look forward to working with you."

Yeah! Very good! I love how prompt he is. But still, a first-year student with this height... I don't think there's much difference between him and his father anymore... This is definitely going to make him popular. I'll have him charged with a fait accompli. Men are... simple, especially boys this age so if I let them touch one of my breasts in the back room, he'll fall in love with me.

“I am Viscount Irina Weiss, eldest daughter of the Margrave Isaac. Thank you all for your long journey. Duval, please go to Ryner to take care of the takeover procedure. Mars, have a little chat with me in the back."

It was when I was about to pull Mars by the hand and go to the back room.

“*SNAP*!!!!!!!”

A dry sound echoed through the room.

☆☆☆

“I-ri-na. I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?”

Karen slapped her whip on the ground and said towards Irina, Irina pulled a face and answered Karen.

“Oh, is that so? Well then, lit-tle la-dy...can you...introduce yourself?”

Irina was completely unaware of Karen... Karen introduced herself as she slapped her whip on the ground.

“Lister Imperial School, 1st year, S class, ranked fourth. I'm Karen Lionel, second daughter of the Dukes of Fresvald. Am I the only one who thinks that a member of the Margrave Isaac Household is actually frolicking oh so high-handedly in front of a member of the Duke of Fresvald?”