summerpeanut

TL’s note:

This is my interpretation because it makes no sense how the 2 sentences connect. In a sense that you don’t need to force yourself to attack high-difficulty dungeon until the end. If u get damaged, return to heal up first so there will no emergency situation where healing is required.

2022-12-22 05:11:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 111 : The Girls’ War

TL:SummerPeanut

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2 September 2030.

Starting today, Clarice and Minerva will be joining me on my morning run. Ellie said she got up once but went back to sleep again.

Minerva was the first to drop out today and she didn't even last five minutes.

Well, the pace I'm running is no different from that of a first-class runner on Earth.

And next Karen dropped out off in about 10 minutes, similar to yesterday, and then Clarice talked to me while being out of breath.

“Mars. Do you always train like this? How long do you run?”

“Ever since the end of the Freshman Combat Tournament, I guess. I've got used to it so I'm not sure if I should pick up the pace or run longer next time. Well, time is limited, so I think I'll pick up the pace..."

"..."

Clarice did not reply as her breathing was getting tighter.

After half an hour's run, Misha started using Wind magic again and she managed to hang on. But she was running out of energy and wanted to go home the same way she did yesterday.

“Clarice. I'm going to go back via the path we came from but do you want to give Misha a piggyback ride?"

“No...I can't...it's pretty hard for me too right now… I should be able to manage with this pace until we got back...but I can't carry someone on my back."

Clarice is sweating a little and does not look too tired but she is probably quite tired in actuality. She usually doesn’t sweat as much due to her constitution after all.

I carried Misha on my back like I did yesterday, princess carried Karen and returned to the girls' dormitory. Minerva was already sitting in front of the girls' dormitory.

Well, she had only been running for five minutes so it won't take her too long to get back. When Minerva saw me being sandwiched by Misha and Karen, she said.

“Mars, you're really the enemy of men... or is the enemy of women more accurate?”

Yes, I'm a little aware of that... Karen and Misha got off me and kiss me on the cheek like they did yesterday and went back to their room, Minerva returned, following them.

“See you later."

Clarice's lips lightly touch mine and she disappeared into the girls' dormitory too. The best morning ever! May it continue every day.

As soon as I got to school I was called into the headmaster's office.

“Good morning. Mars.”

Since when I wonder? When did Duke Regan start speaking informally with me?*1 Does this mean she trusts me as much?

“Good morning. Duke Regan.”

“I'll get right into the main topic, may I start by talking about your clan? This is not a rule but it is customary. Only B-rank parties and above could create a clan at the moment. It was quite a long time ago that paper adventurers created a large clan consisting of just paper but there’s a tendency where people seem to overrate themselves when they have the numbers, and they went into the ‘Forest of Death’ in the north of the Lister Confederacy and were wiped out. Since then, I've been rejecting clan applications from low-rank parties but this time I'm giving you special permission to create a clan. I will inform the Adventurer's Guild in Regan so please tell me your clan name."

She is indeed not a duke just in name. She doesn't care about the customs of the Adventurer's Guild.

“I'm thinking of naming the clan ‘Daybreak’.”

“I understand. Then please go to the Adventurer's Guild after school today. Next regarding the nomination quest, we have a request from Margrave Isaac, who governs the northernmost part of the Lister Confederacy. I'm going to ask you to take over the quest that ten fifth-year A class students from the Lister Imperial School have been undertaking.”

“Take over?”

“Yes. They will return because it is the last Warrior Gods Festival for them. Daybreak will be swapping places with them. It’s the last Warrior Gods Festival for fifth-year students so please let them return.”

So she’s having us replace the fifth-year students...

“By the way, what kind of quest is it?”

“The fortress city of Isaac is the bulwark of the Lister Confederacy against the magic beasts from the Forest of Death. The Death Forest is guarded by the Knights of Isaac and Duke Fresvald’s 2nd Knight Order but it seems that the number of magic beasts in Forest of Death’s outskirts is increasing. We are asking you to thwart them and investigate the cause."

“The 2nd Knight Order?”

“Yes. Duke Fresvald has six Knight Orders. Four other of them guard the north, south, east and west sides of the Fresvald Duchy. And the strongest of the six orders and also the strongest Knight Order in this Lister Confederacy guards the Fresvald territory while the second strongest order guards the Forest of Death. The second order... the Order of Arcane Fire, are all C-rank adventurers above in terms of strength. I believe the Knight Commander is already at a level where he could reach an A-rank adventurer."

The fact that the Knight Commander of the second order, the Order of Arcane Fire, can reach A-level means that... The Knight Commander of the strongest order is A-rank... I'd like to have spar with the Knight Commander of the Arcane Fire to see how far I stand.

“Okay, I understand. Then I will be ready to leave in a few days.”

When I bowed and was about to leave the room.

“Wait a minute. I have one more thing to tell you."

Duke Regan stopped me.

“Mars, just to inform you but there is a first-year student who learned Holy magic. Personally, I would like that student to join either Red Lotus or Reimei but I would like to know your opinion first.”

My answer had already been decided.

“Then please ask that student to join Red Lotus. But are you sure you can so easily divulge the existence of someone who can use Holy magic like this?"

“The only people who know now are me, Mars, Sasha, and that student. Sasha will be located in the same room to protect her thoroughly. However, she also has the freedom to choose so she might not join Red Lotus and I hope you can understand. But still, you do not seem surprised by the appearance of a Holy magic user, do you? Is there already a Holy magic user in Reimei?"

Oh, shit... normally I should be surprised right...

“I just saw a Holy magic user called Russe the other day so I just felt they are not as unusual. I'm pretty surprised and I'm proud to be the same student as that Holy magic user in Lister Imperial School."

I tried to smooth it one way or another...but it doesn’t seem like it worked. Duke Regan seems to be doubting me.

“Well then, I shall excuse myself this time. Oh...by the way, is it alright if we proceed with self-study this afternoon?"

“Yes...self-study is fine. Is there anything you would like to do by asking that?”

“Yes. I would like to go around to some of the other classes. I'd like to see each class’s strengths and what kind of education is being implemented.”

“Okay... I will inform the homeroom teachers of each class.”

The morning's classroom lectures were over and lunch was served, with everyone in S class talking over their food.

That the clan can be created
That the nominated quest is located at the fortress city of Isaac
That it’ll be self-study for a while in the afternoon classes and we could attend other classes

I told these three things but did not mention the Holy magic user.

“Have you decided on a name for the clan?”

Baron said to me.

“Yeah. I've chosen Daybreak.”

“Daybreak huh… Cool name!”

When Dominic said that, it was well received by everyone.

In the afternoon and during my self-study, Clarice and I headed to the A class classroom but the other S class members were going to practice on their own.

When the two of us went to observe the A class, we were welcomed by everyone.

Well, there are a lot of contacts with A class students one way or another so I know everyone's face.

We often eat lunch in close proximity to other first-year students and talk to each other.

I was watching the class while appraising everyone. I wonder why. But several of them have higher stats than Minerva. And yet Minerva was the one promoted to the S class... Looking closely, everyone with a higher status than Minerva is a commoner. Perhaps because they were commoners of the Lister Confederacy…

If they were commoners in the Zarkham Kingdom, they could have been in S class like Joseph and Johan but if they were a commoner in the Lister Confederacy, Minerva's family might not be convinced...

There is no Holy magic user in A class. Well, if there was one, Sasha would surely be there so I thought that student wasn't here the moment I walked into the classroom. Instead, there were a few guys with interesting skills. Alchemy and dancing swordsmanship... and even blacksmithing...

Alchemy is a very interesting thing. Let's ask the teachers next time.

We were going to just observe but the A class students wanted to have hand-to-hand combat so we decided to have a mock fight.

Because all of the boys came forward together, I ended the fight by challenging their forte like how I did with Gysahl, which made the girls who were watching cheer at us, and that felt good.

Then I fought the girls next, and from the results, I lost? This kind of vague result.

One of the girls, a magician, came running towards me with her training sword for some reason.

I flicked the sword away just like the boys but the female student ran at me with a hooray pose.

Eh? What should I do with this? As expected, I can't exactly punch a female student and I'm likely to be called a pervert if I touch her randomly...

In the end, I decided to just do nothing to catch her and was pushed down.

“I-I give up. So please move away...”

When I said that, the girls were overjoyed and went back into their circle. I looked up and there was heaven. Clarice was right where I was pushed down. Clarice sighed and said.

“Mars really has a weakness for girls... and how long are you going to keep looking?”

I stayed where I was.

“Suppose I am to participate in Warrior Gods Festival, I don't know how I'd fight a girl... what should I do?”

“It's true that hitting a girl without any hesitation is a little… Hmm…why don't you stand up for now?”

It's time to end the fever time. It's about time my unruly stick started listening to me...

Clarice held out her hand and I took it to stand up.

“I wonder what brother-in-law would do when he’s fighting a girl...”

I recalled a scene, and it seems Clarice recalled the same scene.

“I can just copy what he did to Karen!”

“Yes! That way... but doing it in public... would not be a good idea because if the girl could no longer be a bride, Mars would have to take her in...”

Yes... If I’m the one that leaked in front of everyone... Now that I think of it, Karen's mentality is as strong as steel huh. Then I went to the A class girls' group.

“May I spar with another person? I'd like to try a few things..."

When I said so, all the girls raised their hands.

I could hear them talking about me hugging them, or taking the chance in chaos to kiss... more amazingly, I could hear them talking about making it a done deal.

Clarice naturally heard the talk too. In fact, they might be saying purposely in a way that Clarice can hear it. Just as before, the girl rushed forward with her sword at the ready. ‘Alright!’ I thought, and when I tried to send a killing intent...

I was pushed down again in the same way.

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Author’s note:

Mars is a kind-hearted boy.

TL’s note:

The literal translation would be “When did Duke Regan start calling my name without honorific?“. But I only use English honorifics e.g. Sir or Lord for some Japanese honorifics hence I tweaked it a little. Calling someone’s name without an honorific or given name can be seen as either rude if they are newly acquainted or close if otherwise.

2022-12-22 05:07:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 110 : Clan　

TL: Wish you a early merry christmas and happy new year! This will be last batch of chapters for this year! Thank you for all the support from readers and patrons for reading this series .

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“Hey. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Baron spoke to me after he'd finished his lunch.

“Yeah, sure. Just the two of us?"

“Please. Hang out with me for a bit."

Baron took me to the gym, away from the others.

“Mars. The strength of Reimei is extraordinary. And we all agree that you are the strongest. Can you show me your real strength? I feel like I'll never know our actual gap if you don't....please!"

Baron bowed his head and asked me.

“Yeah. I don't really mind. But I won’t use my all. I really want to show you but I don't want to kill my best friend. I can only use my full strength when I'm alone or with Clarice together. But I think you will be convinced if you see my true style."

Baron wasn't too convinced but when he saw the serious look on my face, he nodded.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“I want you to slowly increase the level of your attacks.”

Yeah...this is difficult...

“All right, I'm going to do the fastest move I can do right now without putting too much strain on my body so try to follow it with your eyes.”

I deployed my Sylphid at full power and ran around Baron. I showed up right in front of Baron's eyes and then immediately behind him, and... Baron didn't seem to be able to follow me right away.

“Hey, is this... this wind... Wind magic?! Didn't you specialize in Fire magic?"

I deactivated Sylphid and stood in front of Baron.

“Actually, I'm also a four-major magic user. My specialty is Wind magic. And moreover, I'm a rearguard magician. Well, I can do swordsmanship so I can also contribute as a vanguard but what I'm good at is magic. And to top it off, I have the title of Wind King."

Baron's mouth was like a goldfish.

“Ke, you're even called a Sword Saint but you're a magician?...”

“It is what it is. I've let you know half of my real strength. Let’s go back now since the magic class is about to start.”

When I said so, Baron replied.

“It may be very selfish of me but... would you let us Genesis join Reimei’s clan, we want to become A-rank adventurers... Dominic and Minerva are both in favor to do so. In fact, they both requested this. It's just that my vain pride has delayed me approaching you..."

Baron said while biting his lip.

“Of course it's fine. I'd have liked to join up with you if I could. But I don't really know what a clan is. Tell me next time how it's different from a party.”

Good! Thanks to Misha, I was able to get the Baron’s group to become comrades. I'll ask Ryner and Bram to follow up with Genesis.

In the afternoon, I thought it was going to be a magic class but Ryner and Bram are with us.

It seems that martial arts and magic classes will be held together from now on in order to make the classes more practical.

The teachers wanted to see how much the S class members had grown so Ellie and Misha decided to have a match first.

Of course, they moved the place to a rather large gymnasium-like place.

The three teachers and the Genesis members, i.e. Baron, Dominique, and Minerva, were surprised to see the runaway elf, who normally would never be able to catch up with Ellie, was actually able to chase after her by hitting herself with Wind.

Even so, Ellie's dominance did not shake. She easily avoided the ice lance attacks and her gaze did not wander away from Misha. Misha finally gave up and the match is over, as she is still not strong enough to defeat Ellie head-on.

“I can't beat Eririn after all. But don't you think I got a bit closer to you?"

Misha asked Ellie.

“...Misha...got so much stronger...”

Ellie admitted honestly. Misha is very excited by that comment.

Even when the air in the room froze, it was decided that Karen and I would have a match this time. Karen picked me.

“I wanted to whip Mars once, didn't I?”

Karen said something scary with a smile on her face as she flexed her flaming whip. Then Sasha interjected.

“Karen... this is a school, okay? That kind of play can be done later or...after you grow up alright?"

I knew they would interpret it that way. The boys were all staring at Karen, swallowing their bated breath.

“N-no! I got this whip from Mars to fight properly! Because Mars said I have a talent with the whip!”

Karen raised her voice as she slammed the whip into the ground. Is it just me or does she look like an angry queen?

“O-okay. Let the match between Karen and Mars begin.”

As soon as Ryner said that, Karen immediately swung her whip at me. I tried to duck just in time and get out of range of the whip but...

“Ouch!"

For some reason, Karen's whip just barely reached me. Everyone thinks she can't hit me so they thought that I'm letting her hit on purpose. I felt Clarice's cold stare...

This is, if I don't take this seriously, my credibility will be at stake. I use Vision to predict Karen's whip attack. Then, the result of Vision is a longer reach than the trajectory I had predicted... I wonder why... When I look at Karen with that question, the position of the whip handle had changed.

Karen was holding the whip shorter before attacking and holding it longer during the attack, thereby deceiving my prediction of her attack.

The biggest weakness of Karen's whip is right after it is swung. Even though she can't attack from a distance, Karen's whip itself is quite long. So if I managed to evade even once, it would take time for the next attack to come.

Normally, the Fireballs flying around Karen would fill that gap but my Mana Eyes and Wind block the manifestation of Karen's Fireballs. I took advantage of the gap to get close to Karen and held Karen's hand holding whip.

“Sigh. As expected, I still lost but I think I did decently well. After all, mastering this whip is probably the fastest route to becoming strong.”

Karen said this with a very sunny expression. Sasha, who was paying attention to Karen earlier, was also surprised by Karen's whip handling.

After that, Baron and Dominic fought and made the teachers groan. Clarice and Minerva were out of action this time. Minerva also has good talent but it's a shame that she hasn't realized it yet. I'll tell her properly next time.

While I was thinking and looking at Minerva, Ellie, who was standing next to me, said

“...next...Minerva?..."

She asked me with an anxious expression on her face. In a way, it's Minerva next, but she definitely meant something different.

“It’s not that... Only how Minerva hasn't developed her talent yet. Like Karen's whip technique, Minerva has something she's good at so I thought I'd tell her next time. And we're going to be in a clan together from now on.”

Clarice asked after hearing my words.

“Together in a clan? What do you mean?"

“Baron wanted to see me in action so I told him that I'm a magician and that I can use all four of the major magics and that my specialty is Wind. Then he asked me to form a clan with him."

When I replied to Clarice, she looked happy and said

“Yes! Then Minerva will be one of us! Minerva is the only girl who isn't a member of Reimei so I was concerned."

Thank goodness they didn't say...5th person or anything like that...

“They've all improved tremendously in the past month. Especially Reimei, some of them may have already surpassed me. Ryner, can you believe this? Despite all this I'm still in the middle of the B-rank, remember?"

Ryner added to Sasha’s words.

“Because I and Bram lost to Mars despite the two-man effort before. But even then, Ellie's moves are amazing as usual. It’s hard to believe she’s only ranked third. She moves faster than the old Barnes."

Ellie hearing Ryner’s words, she asked more.

“Tell me more about... Papa...”

Ryner told her that he and Barnes graduated from this school together, that Barnes was ranked one in the ranking and Ryner was number two. Plus, he told Ellie about the old Barnes’s saga.

Eventually, the teachers left to think about future teaching methods, and the afternoon was spent in self-study.

I decided to do some sword training with Baron and Dominic. The two-on-one combat is a great way to train for dual sword style.

Some of the other students were training too, but just as the self-study period was coming to an end, the three teachers and Duke Regan entered the room. Duke Regan looked at our self-practice for a bit and then said.

“I have something to say to you all. Please rest your hands and listen."

When Duke Regan said this, everyone stopped and turned to Duke Regan.

“You are all quite capable for first-year students. There are several among you that Ryner, Bram, and Sasha can no longer teach.

Therefore, although it is unusual, I would like to ask you to start doing nomination quests including Reimei in the next few days. As for the Warrior Gods Festival, I am very sorry but you will not participate this year. From next year onwards, we will adjust your schedule so that you can attend the Warrior Gods Festival."

That’s unfortunate, I would have liked to see what the fifth-year students are capable of...

“Although it’s a bit rushed, I would like Reimei to take the nomination quest of the Count of the Isaac Frontier now.”

When Duke Regan said that, Baron interjected.

“Duke Regan! We, Genesis, request you to let us join them! We Genesis will be joining the clan created by Reimei! If things continue at this rate, the three of us will be left behind in the S class!"

Desperately, Baron begged Duke Regan. Duke Regan looked at the teachers and then at me. I nodded silently.

“Understood. Then Baron and the members of Genesis will be allowed to accompany them. However, there is a condition for Genesis to participate. That is, Ryner and Bram must also accompany you. Is that clear?"

Oh! A good idea came from an unexpected source. Duke Regan must have realized that Genesis alone is not enough.

“Yes! Thank you.”

Baron said as he bowed neatly.

“If only Gysahl was like you... Karen, we will take care of Gysahl. You go on without any worries. Mars, come to the headmaster's office tomorrow."

Duke Regan said with a smile and left the gymnasium with the teachers. When Minerva confirmed the teachers left the gymnasium…

“Are you sure we can join the Reimei clan?”

I see, Baron hasn't told Dominique and Minerva yet.

“Yeah. We're going to form a clan. So both you and Dominic will be the same clan members from now on. Everyone, looking forward to working with you.”

After the afternoon classes, we decided to go to Regan city for a banquet.

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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.

2022-12-22 05:04:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 109 : Rank Battle

TL:SummerPeanut

Author’s note:

The name of the volume changes again in the middle of the story.*1

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1 Sept 2030.

S class lessons start today.

Yesterday I was busy with a lot of things regarding Count Mesalius and Gysahl.

Gysahl will be educated by Dames until the slave educator from Fresvald Household arrives. Well, putting that aside, it's the first time I've been to school in a while.

When I woke up at three o'clock as usual to start my run, Karen and Misha were waiting for me outside.

“W-what's going on? It's still early in the morning...”

I said to them both.

“We want to start morning training with Mars today too so we can catch up a bit quicker. I don't think we'll ever be able to catch up but is this ok with you?”

Misha said cutely. Setting aside Misha, I don't think Karen’s the type to do something like this.

“I'll be protected by Mars, Clarice, and Ellie for the rest of my life if I don't do something. I want to be able to protect myself so let me do it with you. I'm actually quite tired from just wielding the whip so naturally, I felt my current situation is bad."

Let her do it with me... Oh no... my head will start spinning out of control from the morning.

“Yes, of course. Let’s do the training together. As expected, I can't do muscle training with you but let's start with running."

I ran at my usual pace.

Karen worked very hard but dropped out after the first ten minutes. She must have worked extremely hard. She was covered in sweat all over her body but because she didn't have any energy, she started walking. It is also important to walk and not stop here. Karen's determination can’t be more evident.

Misha was about to drop out after about 30 minutes but used Wind magic to force herself after. But that didn't last long.

I tried to give Misha a piggyback ride.

“I'm drenched with sweat, you know? It's disgusting, no?"

Misha said a little concerned, so I said.

“I'm soaking wet too. If you don't mind, I'll give you a piggyback ride to Karen's and we can walk together after."

When I said that, Misha got on top of me. Misha was certainly drenched in sweat but how many men would say they don't like the sweat of such a beautiful girl?

I carried Misha to Karen’s place and Karen was also at her limit. I used Water magic to get some water out and let her drink.

“Karen. If you don't mind, I’ll princess carry you to the girls' dormitory but I'm soaked in sweat so if you think it's uncomfortable, just say no.”

When I said that, Karen surrendered herself to me without hesitation.

“There’s no way I mind. My clothes are soaking wet too but I'm happy to oblige.”

I'm now sandwiched between two beautiful girls, Karen in front and Misha behind me.

They are all covered in sweat and their clothes are so tight around their bodies that I can feel the exact lines of their bodies, both of them have grown a lot in the last six months.

Misha is snugly attached to me from behind so Misha's mounds are directly attached to my back.

Six months ago I thought they were a chopping block, but now I can clearly feel the bulge. And Karen, when I look at her, I can see that she has grown a lot too.

“Mars...your eyes are a little perverse.”

Karen said as she stared into my eyes, Misha too added her words.

“I can also see where Mars is looking now too. Mars is as naughty as ever.”

Sorry, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to... do that.

“S-sorry about that. We're at the girls' dormitory now so I'll drop you off.”

I tried to drop them off but they wouldn't go down. Then they kissed me on both cheeks at the same time as if they were sandwiching me between them.

““Thank you. See you tomorrow.””

They got off my arms and back. So this is being a normie! I felt a sharp glare from the entrance of the girls' dormitory when I was feeling joyful.

“Mars. You look really happy. May I join you tomorrow?”

Clarice said with her usual smile plastered on her face. Karen and Misha slinked past Clarice.

“O-of course, you can. I'm glad that I and Clarice get to do morning training together.”

Clarice's cheeks puffed up as I tried to gloss over with her.

“Geez. Karen and Misha are fine since I and Ellie approve of the two of them but you have to pick your fifth carefully. Otherwise, who knows how many we'll have by the time we graduate..."

Clarice and Ellie may approve of the two of them but Zeke doesn't... And I can't believe she's talking to me on the assumption that we'll have a fifth... After the usual routine, I went to school for the first time in a while.

After showing my face to the student council and giving a quick hello, I returned to the S class classroom to find that Baron and Dominic had already arrived.

“Mars. It's been a while. I heard about your exploits.”

When Baron said that to me, Dominic too opened his mouth.

“I heard you accomplished a great achievement, didn't you? I heard you're already a D-rank adventurer now? We've got to catch up with Reimei soon.”

Yup. All of us in Reimei have risen to D-rank adventurers. I was told that we could be raised to C-rank adventurers but I didn't want this particular party suddenly be promoted up so I kept us as a D-rank party of D-rank adventurers.

It seems that Baron and the other senior students had been meeting with the nobles from the eastern side of the Lister Confederacy.

Baron and his party apparently fought a bit with the people from Zarkham Kingdom. It seems that not only the Balkus Kingdom but also the Zarkham Kingdom is meddling with the Lister Confederacy.

As we were talking, all the girls from S class came to school together. It's quite unusual for Ellie to come at the same time as them. Karen and Misha are already exhausted. They probably only recovered to the extent of feeling better but I’ll cast some Heal for them later. While we were all chatting, Lorenz came into the classroom.

“Well, we're starting the homeroom. Thank you all for your expedition quests. Today we start not only the school again but also the qualifying rounds for the God Warriors Festival. And thus I will reconfirm the S class’s ranking. The challenger is given the right to challenge two ranks above him in the current ranking. The challenger starts from the bottom and even if the higher ranked switches place with the lower ranked, the said ranker is allowed to challenge the same opponent when it is their turn.*2

Without further ado, I'll start with Minerva. Who do you want to challenge?"

TLN:I don’t like to add TLN in middle of the chapter but Lorenz explanation is shit if it is even one. Please check below for the proper rules based on the ranking battle below itself.

“I don't think I can beat Misha or Dominic so I won't.”

When Minerva said this, Lorenz replied.

“There’s nothing to lose in challenging them but oh well. Misha is next. Do you want to challenge Karen or Dominic?"

And Misha didn't hesitate.

“Dominic, please!”

Misha said cheerfully, and Dominic looked happy too.

“It's been a while since I've fought Misha. She’s a worthy opponent."

We decided to move places and start the ranking battle. While we were moving, I used Heal on Misha and Karen. Misha and Dominic's match didn't take long. Misha won hands down, not even needing to use the effects of the Robe of Illusion and Shield of Illusion.

Dominic had a look on his face that said the result was ridiculous. Dominic is not the only one. Baron and Minerva were also surprised.

“Okay, Misha, do you want to challenge next?”

When Lorenz asked Misha, she replied.

“Can I stop here for now?”

Lorenz acknowledged Misha's statement.

“Okay, Dominic is next. Who would you challenge?”

After being one-sidedly beaten by Misha, Dominic apparently no longer wants to challenge Misha. But he also seems reluctant to challenge Karen, a magician.

“No, I'll do my best as the ranked 7th!”

he replied gracefully. Dominic, you're a man. To be honest though, he wouldn’t be able to beat Karen with her Charm Eyes even if he challenged her...

“Okay, next Karen! You could challenge Baron or Ellie but what do you think?"

“Then... Baron.”

When Karen said above, Baron easily conceded defeat.

“Because I can't compete with Karen's Charm Eyes.”

With that, Baron temporarily dropped to fifth place in the ranking.

“Karen! You can challenge Ellie or Clarice. Which would you choose”

“No... I won't challenge them because I can't beat them yet.”

Karen also finished as the ranked 4th in the ranking. Baron then nominated Ellie to fight but it was less of a fight compared to the previous match between them. Then, as if to follow up, Misha said.

“I would love to fight Baron. But I think Baron is already tired today, so we can do it tomorrow."

When Misha said this, Baron responded with the below.

“I'm not tired at all because I lost too easily. Let's do it now."

With that, the fight between Baron and Misha began.

As for the content of the battle…

Baron dexterously used his four major magics to block Misha's thrusts. Misha gradually approached Baron while distracting him with her ice lance. Baron is a defensive magic swordsman who specializes in Earth magic. In contrast, Misha originally should probably be using Water magic to fight defensively like Baron, but being the runaway elf she is, she opted to rush at him as if the word defense doesn’t exist within her head.

When Baron was approached by Misha, he deployed his Earth Fortress but this was a bad idea. As soon as Misha saw Baron's Earth Fortress, she immediately removed her presence. Baron soon realized something was wrong but he could no longer catch sight of Misha.

He was easily taken from behind and check-mated.

This still surprised only three people... or four, including Lorenz.

“How strong did you become in such a short time...?”

Baron hung his head as he said this. I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for Baron and Dominic. Next time when I have the chance, let's dive into the labyrinth together and level up...

In the end, Clarice and Ellie did not use their challenge rights.

The final ranking went like this.

Ranked No.1, Mars Bryant

Ranked No.2, Clarice Lampard

Ranked No.3, Ellie Leo

Ranked No.4, Karen Lionel

Ranked No.5, Misha Febrandt

Ranked No.6, Baron Reinhardt

Ranked No.7, Dominic August

Ranked No.8, Minerva Xevious

The top five are Reimei.

The bottom three are Genesis.

Genesis is the party led by Baron with the same meaning as Reimei. I'm sure the name represents their will to work together but the female members of Reimei felt that it was a disservice to them… Baron, forgive me...

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

Author’s note:

I am also on Twitter.

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

TL’s note:

In general, TL readers don’t need to worry about this.
Trust me. I have no idea what the fuk author/homeroom guy explaining without translating the ranking battle directly below. Basically what Lorenz said is one of the cases instead of the rules. I summarized the rule here for easier understanding.

The first challenger is the lowest ranked. The second challenger is 2nd lowest ranked, the 3 third challenger is the 3rd lowest ranked, and so on.
The challenger can only challenge up to 2 direct and existing ranks above him. Ranked 10th can challenge ranked 9th and 7th if ranked 8th is on medical leave or MIA.
The Xth challenger is based on live ranking. E.g. if the first challenger(person A) in the 10th rank challenged the 9th rank challenger(person B) and won, the second challenger will still be person A(the new 9th rank).
Apparently, person A(new 9th rank) is allowed to stop and not be the second challenger. Then the second challenger will be person B(new 10th rank). If person B refuses to be the second challenger, the second challenger position will be given to person C who is directly above person A(new 9th rank).
You can check the previous rankings in chapter 75 minus the 2 MIAs.

2022-12-17 17:37:30 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 108 : Mastermind

TL:SummerPeanut

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

“...”

“Karen? What's wrong? Are you thinking about Gysahl?”

I asked Karen who had been silent since we returned to the inn.

“Yes. I was thinking about what I could do regarding Gysahl. I don't care what happens to that lousy guy... But you don't seem be of the same opinion so that’s why I've been thinking seriously about it too...”

“I'm sorry I got you involved in something weird. But I'm happy that you would give so much thought."

“I've found one sure-fire solution... but I don't know if people are going to buy into this highly political approach...”

Political? What is she talking about?

“Count Mesalius said that you are the only person he can rely on now so if there's any way out of this, it might be better for you to suggest. If you don't mind, could you tell me what sort of solution that is?”

“Yes. You might be a little surprised... I'll make Gysahl my slave... It doesn't have to be me but... anyway, he will be a slave to Duke Fresvald’s household. Being a slave to the House of Fresvald is actually quite a status. Well, it's still a slave in the end but it's far more difficult to become a slave of Fresvald Household than it is to be a commoner."

“To make him a slave… But what's the point of enslaving him?”

“Remember the Marquis of San Marina? Despite the massive problem with San Marina, he didn’t seek other nobles’ help right? What do you think would have happened if he had sought help to solve the issue?"

“Wouldn't he have to give out a lot of money or item?”

“That's part of it, but the most important thing is that the nobles who helped him would send their representatives. Then obviously, the representatives would be able to see the finances of the territory and, most importantly, they will interfere in the governance of the territory. No matter his seniority in the nobility’s society, he can no longer make any decisions on his own anymore."

So that's why the Marquis of San Marina didn't ask for help from other nobles… Sacrificing the lives of commoners over the right to rule...

“I think Count Mesalius is prepared to do that...As he said before, he said he could only rely on Karen now... But if that was the case, is there still a need for enslavement? Why not just be honest and say something like, he is now under the umbrella of the Fresvald Household?"

“Ultimately, the next Count of Mesalius is Gysahl, right? So that would definitely result in Fresvald Household swallowing them…and that is one of the better scenarios…what will happen will be much worse if they are swallowed by Duke of Syrian.

If we are thinking about the Mesalius Household, Gysahl has to change. If that's the case, I thought he could become a slave of the strict Fresvald Household and be re-educated... Of course, I'll cancel my slave contract when I inherit the Count's title."

Seems like she has been thinking quite a bit about it... But there's another question.

“Where are you going to re-educate him? If he is to be your slave, he needs to be nearby.”

“I'll call the slave educator from my household for that. And as Mars said earlier, I'll have Dames help me with that. As expected, if this doesn't cure Gysahl, I'll leave the Count of Mesalius to Ike or the Fresvald will devour them.”

It's starting to sound like a pretty good idea... but there's a problem.

The question is whether Gysahl will go along with this…I guess.

Karen and I finished our discussion, I depleted my MP and then went to bed.

19 August 2030.

When I told Count Mesalius what I discussed with Karen last night, to my surprise he readily accepted. Gysahl was still resisting but Count Mesalius forcefully went with the arrangement.

First, Gysahl's viscount title was returned and he made a commoner, and then Count Mesalius is to go with us to the Academy City of Regan. Of course, Gysahl would also go with us.

Karen's idea was her own and had not been approved by Duke Fresvald so we need the duke’s approval before we would make a contract to make Gysahl Karen's slave.

Without further ado, we decided to head back towards the Academic City of Regan. This time, we couldn't rush the horses by applying Heals with the large group we have so we had to hurry or we wouldn't make it in time.

On the way back to Regan, magic beasts started to appear after we exited Mesalius territory but we, mainly Misha, defeated them. The members of the Red Lotus did not expect Misha to be so strong and they widened their eyes as they watched Misha's battle.

29 August 2030.

We managed to reach the Academy City of Regan. It was a pretty tough military march but not impossible.

We immediately entered the Lister Imperial School, but Count Mesalius, Gysahl, and Dames couldn't get through the gates. That's great security. Even the senior nobles were not allowed to enter the school.

We went to Duke Regan and explained the situation, and Duke Regan came with us to the gate guard.

When Duke Regan walked up to Count Mesalius, Count Mesalius got down on one knee and said.

“Long time no see. Duke Regan. I'm sorry to drag you into all this..."

Count Mesalius's words were interrupted by Duke Regan.

“I heard about the situation from Mars. I will hear the details in the headmaster's office. I’m sure there are some things you don't want to talk about here.”

Saying so, Duke Regan let the three outsiders into the school.

“So, you are fine to have Gysahl as Karen's slave after all?”

Duke Regan, who had been briefed in detail, asked Count Mesalius.

“Yes. I hope to do so. But I haven't informed Duke Fresvald anything yet..."

When Count Mesalius said that much, Duke Regan replied.

“It's all right. I assure you. Karen's proposal will be approved by Duke Fresvald, so sign the slave contract. I will see to it and report back to Duke Fresvald."

Everyone looked at each other with a scowling faces. Is it really acceptable to make such a decision so easily?

This made me suspect that it was Duke Fresvard and Duke Regan who hired Phantom...

“Then I will bring the slavers tomorrow...”

“I have already called them. Come in."

Duke Regan interrupted Count Mesalius again, saying. You knew in advance, didn't you... Did Dames fly with a fast horse?

When Gysahl was brought before Duke Regan.

“Help me, please. Duke Regan! I have done nothing wrong! Listen to me! He's the one who's...that brat!”

Gysahl looked at me and cried out to Duke Regan.

“Is that so... you still don't see what a fool you are? Mars has no motive to set you up. I hoped you would change a bit after graduating from this school... It's also the fault of our education. I am sorry. Gysahl."

At first, the words were strong but they gradually became that of someone pitying the other, and then Duke Regan looked at Gysahl. She used her Charm Eyes.

“Come, Karen. Please come here. Gysahl cannot resist. Sign a slave contract while you still can.”

Karen enslaved Gysahl through a slaver.

Apparently, Karen also realized Duke Regan's intentions along the way.

“Well, I guess this settles the matter, doesn't it? We will now have a return party for Red Lotus and Reimei. I know everyone is tired but please hang in there a little longer. We'll also accept your quest completion reports then."

It seems that Count Mesalius, Dames, and Gysahl are unable to participate. Duke Regan called Sasha to lead the three of them elsewhere. When Dames found Sasha, his face was completely changed.

We followed Duke Regan to the first place we set our foot in the Lister Imperial School.

It was Duke Regan's mansion, although we had always seen it from a distance.

The Duke of Regan's mansion is inside the Imperial School of Lister, and from a distance, I thought the security would be lax.

But that was not the case.

It is true that there are few guards but when I entered the grounds of Duke Regan's mansion, I felt a sense of discomfort.

Is this barrier magic? I looked around with my Mana Eyes and didn't see anything out of the ordinary... I fell into my own thoughts...

“I knew Mars would notice.”

Apparently, Duke Regan had been observing me the whole time. The others didn't seem to understand what he was saying.

“No... I just felt something strange...”

“It's enough to be able to feel there’s something."

She answered with a smile. She did not tell me what it was in the end.

For some reason, I felt at ease when I entered Duke Regan's mansion. Perhaps it was because, unlike other aristocratic residences, there were no ornate decorations, antiques, or other luxury items.

When I was led into the living room and dining room, dishes and drinks were served one after another, but they were homier than the dishes served at the residence of the Marquis of San Marina and the residence of the Count of Mesalius.

But in case you're wondering, even though this is Duke Regan's mansion, it's still inside the school... I feel like drinking alcohol inside the school is kind of bad...

“Well then, cheers to the return of Red Lotus and Reimei and to the completion of their quest!”

Since I have already had many banquets with the members of Red Lotus many times, I have gotten to know all the members quite well not counting Ike and glasses senior. While we were having a good time, Karen was called by Duke Regan first.

Karen is talking to Duke Regan in a nice atmosphere, though sometimes a difficult look showed up on her face.

After she finished talking with Karen, she called me and Ike next.

“You guys did a really good job. Red Lotus has thinned out the labyrinth, and the Reimei has saved San Marina from a tight spot. We received an amazing donation from the Marquis of San Marina."

Ike said when Duke Regan said that.

“We, Red Lotus, only dived into the labyrinth for half a day. It was Mars and the others of Reimei who destroyed the dungeon core. We were beaten up by a party called Phantom but Mars and the others Reimei came and saved our lives."

Ike intentionally named the party Phantom...

“Eh? You guys were attacked by Phantom? Why?"

“I think it was to disrupt logistics and human flow in the Mesalius territory, but does Duke Regan have any idea what for? Incidentally, it wasn't just us Red Lotus that was attacked but also Mars and the others of Reimei..."

Ike said as he looked at me and I too chipped in.

“I was stabbed in the stomach. It was by a man called Guster. I would have possibly died at that moment but when the names of Fresvald and Regan Households were mentioned, he called a Holy magic user called Russe who then for unknown reason healed my wounds."

Duke Regan looked incredulous the whole time.

“I am sorry... I know who sent the quest to the Phantom. I believe that person did not intend to harm you at all."

“Who sent the quest to the Phantom? Will Gysahl's enslavement to Karen stop the interference in Count Mesalius's territory?"

My question was answered by Duke Regan.

“I cannot tell you who sent the quest to Phantom but you will know that it was someone who is on my and Duke Fresvald’s side. Our interference in Count Mesalius' territory is now at an end. Depending on Gysahl, Phantom will have more work to do, though."

Well, the masterminds are almost certainly Duke Regan and Duke Fresvald. Especially since Duke Regan doesn't seem to have any intention of hiding it.

“By the way, the report I received is a little different and I would like to confirm, was the thinning of the labyrinth really done by Reimei and not Red Lotus? Ike said that you broke the dungeon core, didn't he?”

“Yes. We of Reimei destroyed the dungeon core. I brought the chimera and the orc king magic stones as proof.”

When I handed the chimera and the orc king magic stones to Duke Regan, she said.

“It looks real... Was this one defeated by just Reimei?”

“Yes. It was quite a struggle but I managed to defeat it.”

Then Duke Regan began to stare at the bag from which I had taken out the magic stone.

Ah... she’s appraising the magic stones bag...

“...So... a struggle, is it? Am I correct in assuming that you got several of them out at once?"

She counted the number of magic stones...

“No, no... We've been having a lot of fun defeating them a few times, as well as training.”

“Well, that's alright. You can be praised for what you've done but not blamed."

Duke Regan let me off with that.

After the conversation between me and Ike, Duke Regan went to everyone's place and congratulated us.

“Thank you all for your hard work on this expedition quest. It's not all good in the end but I am really satisfied with the results. I feel very sorry for Edean but this is for the sake of the Lister Confederacy, and by extension, for the Count of Mesalius. Let's talk slowly next time. There are things I can only talk to you about."

To think that she boldly revealed that she’s the mastermind. I’m not sure whether to call her graceful or arrogant... The atmosphere in the room became a little suspicious but...

“Thank you for your consideration. As long as I am in the Mesalius Household, I will do my best for the household."

The air in the place became a little lighter when the glasses senior bowed her head.

“Even so, Reimei is capable enough of destroying the dungeon core... I'm looking forward to this year's Warrior Gods Festival.”

The dwarf Garl said while touching his beard.

“The Warrior Gods Festival?”

I let out my voice unconsciously.

“The 'Warrior Gods Festival' is an all-school competition that takes place in October. It's a tournament to determine the strongest of the Lister Imperial School, with martial arts, magic, and everything.”

Ike explained it properly. What kind of scale is an all-schools tournament with...2500 students?

“Is that all in a day's work?”

I asked Ike, and Duke Regan answered my question.

“We start the qualifying rounds in September. Only the best eight will appear on the day of the Warrior Gods Festival. It is no exaggeration to say that the winner of the Warrior Gods Festival is the strongest of this generation. Dozens or hundreds of the winners of the Warrior Gods Festival in the past have become A-rank adventurers. And those who reached the top ranks, even if they did not win first place, are still A-rank adventurers. Mars. You may think it’ll be an easy win but it would be best if you don't underestimate it. Ike has been competing since the first year and still hasn't won anything."

Eh? Is there anyone in this school other than Reimei who is stronger than Ike? Then Ike smiled bitterly and said

“Mars, have you ever seen anyone from the fifth years A class at this school?”

He asked me that, and I was honest.

“... no... no, I haven't.”

“When you're in the fifth year, you're basically flying all over the Lister Confederation to do quests. Especially for S and A classes. And the quests that are given to the S and A classes are not errand quests. They're through and through magic beasts slaying and labyrinth-thinning quests. Try doing that until October, and the difference in level between them and the fourth years is obvious. The top fifth-year students will easily exceed level 30 again this year. Some of the great seniors are over 40. So you can't let your guard down. Mars, you should prepare well too."

The members of Red Lotus nodded as Ike said with force.

“How are the pairings decided? I don't want to fight with Reimei members and my sister-in-law more than the fifth years.”

The one who reacted sensitively to my words was Duke Regan.

“Mars! What do you mean, sister-in-law!?”

Huh? Hasn't it been reported? Come to think of it, she didn't even know we entered the labyrinth. If that's the case, did the spies return to Duke Regan at an early stage?

“I and Ede are comrades who have pledged our future to each other. When Phantom attacked this time and Ede was seriously injured, that time I had the opportunity to think about what is important to me..."

Ike said while holding the hand of the glasses senior, and senior also nodded with a blush on her cheeks.

“I-I see...I'm glad you were able to contribute a little...congratulations to both of you.”

Duke Regan said in a surprised or somewhat disappointed tone.

Hm? Duke Regan to Ike... though it's not that there’s no hint...

“My target is the top eight!”

The runaway elf suddenly shouted. The next thing, you know, everyone started shouting about their goals, like the best 16 or the best 4. After that, the party continued happily until midnight. Tomorrow we'll take it easy and start school the day after tomorrow.

This is how our long summer holiday(?) ended.

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

Author’s note:

It's kind of a tight ending but it's the end of vol 6.

Sorry for the long hiatus this time.

I am also on Twitter.

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

2022-12-17 17:34:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 107 : Dealing With Aftermath

TL:SummerPeanut

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

“Well done, you lot. If Red Lotus hadn't come along, we would have been pushed back in and a fifth of Mesalius territory would have been cut off. Especially Ike. It seems they weren't lying when they said you are the best in the history of the Lister Imperial School. It was worth the trouble to bring you all the way back from the labyrinth.”

I praised Red Lotus for coming to my rescue with open arms. I could see that Gysahl didn't look too good but that didn't matter.

“I'll give you guys some kind of reward. You'll have to think of something by the time we get back to Mesalius.”

When we returned to Mesalius and were having a banquet, Ike announced a piece of shocking news. He asked me to give him Edean, that is, to marry him. As for me, it's all the better. And of course, that is the case even for the House of Alistar. Year after year, the Mesalius territory is being pushed into a corner but with Ike, there's no problem.

But here, as expected, Gysahl intervened. He said he would allow the marriage but only if Gysahl married first. Gysahl is as prideful as ever. Well, I forgive him because he excels in his own way, but compared to Ike, he's...

I ignored Gysahl's words and accepted the marriage. But Gysahl was persistent in telling Ike and Edean when to get married. How dare you marry before the eldest son who is older than you! He was so insistent that Ike and Edean gradually became speechless.

“Even so, Ike is really strong. As expected of the strongest in the Lister Empire's School. As a member of the Lister Confederacy, I am proud too.”

“No... I am not the strongest, the number one is my brother who entered this year. And second place is also doubtful, though I should be in the top 5... This year's freshmen are too incredible. I also left the labyrinth for my brother's party Reimei. Perhaps they will destroy the dungeon core, you know?"

I didn't think it was possible, but Edean said.

“What you just said is probably true... We, the Red Lotus, have fought them before, but we lost because we couldn't force the little brother, Mars, to move a single step. At that time, it seemed like Mars was at a terrible disadvantage though."

Edean has a real eye for people. That's why Edean used to look down on Gysahl. Not only Gysahl. I think he looked down on the very existence of men.

But Edean has changed since she went to the Lister Imperial School. Her sharp edges of the past is gone. I thought that Edean must have finally found a man she approves of, and perhaps that man is Ike.

“Reimei huh... I'll remember that.”

When I said that, Edean interjected.

“I'm sure they’ll eventually become someone you want to forget but can't, you know?”

“All right. Tomorrow, I'd like you guys to head back to the labyrinth. It should be better for them too to have more firepower. I'll arrange a separate reward as well.”

“No, there’s no point for us to go. If you insist, we'll go but if there’s a magic beast that my brother can't defeat, we won’t be able to defeat it too.”

So the brother who could make Ike claim such is this incredible... Something about his reputation being so high makes me think it is suspicious on the contrary but... well, Ike says so, so we'll see how it goes this time.

“Father! We should go too! Do you not feel chagrined being made fun of by strangers?"

I knew Gysahl would get involved...

“What about this then? If Reimei doesn't come back by tomorrow, we'll go too. It's just my prediction but I believe Reimei will come back today or tomorrow."

While I was hesitating, a voice came from an unexpected place.

“Ike's judgment is correct. Lord Mesalius. You must educate your son well. He'll end up like me.”

Hey, who's this guy... He’s posing very high and mightily... I stared at the man suspiciously, and Edean…

“This man is Sir Dames. This man is the reason Reimei came here from San Marina."

In the end, as Ike and Dames said, Reimei returned that evening.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Currently in front of me, Count Mesalius and Gysahl are on one knee on the ground, hanging their heads. As for Gysahl, he is being forced to his knees by Count Mesalius.

“Sir Mars, please save Mesalius... and the Alistar Household!”

The point is that he wants to get on the good side of Karen’s father, the Duke of Fresvald, and get rid of the threat of Phantom through her. There's no way I can take a normal position with two people like that. I was in front of them, sitting on my knees.

Normally I would have liked to get down on one knee too, but I knew Karen would not allow that. So I sat like this.

Of course, everyone except the Reimei girls do not know what exactly it meant. But I had my head lower than both of them. Somehow I think the people around me are aware of my intentions.

“First of all, please don't appear like that toward me. If I force my sister-in-law's father to such a position, my character will be questioned.”

I desperately kept my head down and pleaded Count Mesalius. I’m sure the side galleries are wondering what on earth am I doing though.

Then Count Mesalius sat just like me. I had no choice so I decided to keep talking.

Incidentally, Gysahl seemed to be displeased but was forced to sit on his knees by glasses senior. The glasses senior was expressing anger towards the two of them but tears were welling up from her eyes.

“About the Count Mesalius Household...even I would like to keep things amicable. But even if Karen says something to Duke Fresvald today and gets through the current situation, I believe the same thing will happen again. When does Count Mesalius intend for the title to be passed on to Sir Gysahl?"

“I was thinking of letting him inherit it next year when Gysahl turns 20...”

“When did you decide on that? And did you inform the other noble families?”

“I only decided it this year. I informed the 12 Dukes that it is from this year too. Gysahl went round the 12 dukes with me.”

“Were there any dukes who were not welcoming of the idea?”

“...basically it felt like it wasn’t welcomed by all the dukes...”

Then Gysahl said loudly.

“That was because the other nobles were jealous of my talent and looks, of course!”

When Gysahl, with his bald head, said that, it was so surreal that I couldn't help but laugh. Clarisse was laughing out loud.

“Bastard! I'll have you disposed of for lese-majesty right now!"

Gysahl was furious and stood up but was immediately seized by Count Mesalius and glasses senior. Just now was my fault no matter what though...

“What do you mean, 'disposed of!' For god’s sake, lord brother! Think about the current situation a little! How did we even reach such a situation? I've been warning you for ages, haven't I? You wielded your authority and got into A class at the Lister Imperial School, or became a Knight Commander that didn't match your ability. Maybe it's your fault it turned out like this!"

When the glasses senior said above, Count Mesalius too added his two cents.

“Gysahl... you can take the rest of the day off... but I can't just return you back to a normal room. It pains me to say this but you'll have to think about it in the prison for the night..."

With these words, Count Mesalius called his guards and butler to take Gysahl to the prison.

Gysahl resisted with all his might and shouted but he seemed to have given up after being restrained by the Earth magic and Binding Eyes of the senior glasses.

“Hah... I'm hungry...”

Misha is amazing to be able to say such a thing in this kind of situation. Or maybe precisely because she reads the situation that she says that?

“Oh, I apologize. I'll have it prepared right now, just wait a bit.”

Count Mesalius said and tried to prepare a meal. I honestly wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, so I was hoping he wouldn't. Karen interjected him.

“That is fine. We still have things to do so we'll be taking our leave today. Right, Mars?"

Nice! Karen!

“Yes, I'm sorry, I really wanted to talk to you some more but I just got back from the labyrinth today and I wanted to clean up and finish the report to the school... Can I come back here tomorrow?"

“If that's the way it is, I won’t blame you. I'll see you tomorrow."

Count Mesalius bowed his head in reply. This person is kind of pitiful... I want to do something for him since he's going to be Ike's father-in-law.

When we left Count Mesalius's mansion, the members of the Red Lotus and Dames followed with us. I’m sure no one wanted to stay there.

“Ol us were in the middle of a feast too and are still hungry. Let's grab some bite outside together."

The members of Red Lotus nodded as Garl the dwarf said so. Ike and glasses senior also went along. And Dames too. Just when I wanted to talk to Dames too so I was glad.

First of all, right when we entered a place that looked like a fashionable restaurant, I said senior glasses.

“Sister-in-law. I apologize. For behaving like that towards Count Mesalius and Gysahl.”

“It's okay. It's their fault, no matter how you look at it. Besides, I've been telling my father and brother for a long time. My father is indecisive and in the end he only does what my brother says. I wish my mother had been here... But more than that, I was shocked that Phantom was commissioned by the twelve dukes."

Then Dames.

“I don't know which of the 12 dukes commissioned it. Is it the will of all the dukes, or is it the will of a few dukes? It could also be a quest from an external party unrelated to the 12 dukes."

“Karen, can I ask you something? Is it always like this forced when the 12 dukes abolish a senior nobility? No matter how you cut it, hiring an A-rank party out of the blue is a little... I think a warning should come first…”

“Well... I don't know much about it either... but as far as I know, there have been several cases in the past but I believe it was always because the party in question is suspected of betrayal. This time the request to Phantom was to control logistics and human flow, right? It's not assassination hence I don't think it's due to treachery...

But I can't imagine any reason to do so without a single warning. Maybe that person has a grudge against Count Mesalius or Gysahl. And we all know that Edean is no longer in the line of succession."

Karen's words made everyone ponder. Thinking about what else we could talk about... there were two things we had forgotten.

“Speaking of which, I have a present for my brother and my sister-in-law.”

I handed them the Salamander Lance and an earth jewel necklace. When they each received one, the glasses senior asked.

“Are you sure you want to give something that looks so expensive?”

“Yes. Our party doesn’t have an Earth magic user after all. It's very early but it's a wedding present...”

Then, the glasses senior laughed and said, ‘Thank you’.

“That's a great spear. I'll take good care of it. Thank you. Mars."

We played around a bit and had a pleasant meal as if the bad atmosphere we had just been in was a lie.

“Sir Dames. May I have a word? I don't mean to be rude like this, but you've made quite an impression on me compared to the old days.”

When I said this, Clarice also got involved in the conversation, looking interested.

“Indeed, he really changed. He doesn't look like someone who tried to kill me.”

Clarice's words startled those who did not know what was going on.

“If you're saying I've changed, it's all thanks to Sasha and Misha. I guess that means I've found my true master.”

Hmm. It sounds like there's more to it than that, but that's okay. Misha looked at Dames while smiling.

“Did you find out about the two people who were following us that I talked about before?”

When I asked Dames, the Reimei girls were startled.

“Sorry. I had no clue. Were there really two of them?'

Well, it is indeed impossible for Dames who is not skilled at detection...

“Perhaps I was mistaken. And one more thing? Would you not like to be Gysahl's trainer?"

When I said this, Dames looked very uncomfortable and said.

“I get angry when I look at Gysahl. It's like looking at my old self. If you want me to do something, tell Sasha. I can't and won't go against Sasha's word."

In the end, it’s decided to bring Gysahl to Regan.

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

Author’s note:

Dames changed too much...

2022-12-11 03:39:10 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 106 : Gysahl

TL:SummerPeanut

Thank you for the peanuts Vohnjin~

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

18 Aug 2030.

We spent three hours on foot back to Count Mesalius's territory. The kobolds had not appeared at all, probably because we had destroyed the labyrinth.

We returned to the inn as soon as we returned to Mesalius and immediately decided to take a bath. After three hours of walking, everyone wanted to flush out the sweat.

No matter how well I manage the temperature with Wind magic and Water magic, after three hours of walking under the blazing sun in midsummer, everyone definitely still wants to take a bath or play with water.

As soon as I got back to the room, I filled the bath with hot water.

I put the water on via my own magic because I wanted to get in right away, and when I got back to the room, everyone had taken off their clothes and was dressed only in bath towels.

“I’m sorry for the embarrassing appearance, Mars. But I wanted to take a bath right away...”

When Clarice said this, they all looked at me and said sorry.

“No, it's fine... I know how you feel...so I've already put the hot water on so you can all go. Don't worry about me, just take your time.”

I said while bending forward as it was impossible for me to stand upright, and the girls nodded and walked past me, and got into the bath.

It looked like Clarice and Ellie, Misha and Karen will split up and take two baths.

I quickly let out my in-house electricity and entered sage mode.

Ellie came out of the bath first and a little later Misha followed her out.

I dried their hair with Wind and Fire magic until Karen came out. What I used is similar to a hair dryer.

Ellie and Misha seemed to feel good when I use the hair dryer on them, and finally, they closed their eyes and even started falling asleep as is. They must be very tired. I’ll let them sleep for a little while.

After about half an hour, Karen came out and I took my bath. In the end, I didn't get out of the bath until an hour after we got back to the inn. And it was about the same time that Clarice and I left the bath. As usual, Clarice likes to take a long bath...

All in all, it was 17:00 when we arrived at Count Mesalius's mansion, and just like last time, the people guarding the mansion bowed down to us and simply said 'Please come this way.' and let us into the mansion.

Murano, the butler, showed us around the house.

“Dear guests, you have all changed in these few days. You seem to have grown more robu-...mature than before.”

He probably wanted to say robust but reword it to mature, perhaps he thought the word was inappropriate for females. Murano is apparently good at winning people’s hearts. The girls seemed not as annoyed and nodded their heads in satisfaction.

This time we were shown into the living room. In the living room, there were members of the Red Lotus and three men, one of whom is probably Count Mesalius. The other one is likely the eldest son of Count Mesalius? And the last one is Dames.

Count Mesalius, probably over 40, turned to us.

“What is this? Are you guys? Are you from the Lister Imperial School?..."

He asked, but when he caught Karen in his sight.

“Pardon me. If Lady Karen is here, that means you are Reimei members."

When he saw Karen, his attitude suddenly changed. She is indeed the daughter of the First Duke Fresvald. Count Mesalius stood up from his chair and bowed.

Seeing this, the man who seemed to be his son also did the same gesture.

“I am honored to meet you all. I am Viscount Gysahl Alistar, the eldest son of Count Mesalius. I am very excited to meet you all, as this is the first time I have seen such beautiful ladies all at once. If possible, pray to tell me your names."

I felt like I was completely ignored. Clarice and the others also seemed to intend not to greet him if I did not. Ike, sensing the atmosphere, turned to me and said

“Mars, you should greet them first.”

He said. Gysahl glared a little at Ike with a mouse-like expression.

“I understand. I am Mars Bryant, the second son of the Count Bryant of the Balkus Kingdom. I am the younger brother of Ike as well as the first ranked in the S class of the Lister Imperial School, and I am the party leader of this Reimei. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

When I greeted him, Gysahl didn't look at me but instead his gaze was on Clarice the whole time.

“I am Clarice Lampard, eldest daughter of the Viscount Lampard of the Zarkham Kingdom. I am the fiancée of Mars, ranked second in the S-class of the Lister Imperial School, and the sub-leader in Reimei. Pleased to meet you."

When Clarice finished her introduction, Gysahl glared at me. Then he turned his eyes to Ellie, and Ellie said.

“Papa is Barnes Leo. I am Baronetess Ellie Leo of the Balkus Kingdom. I'm also Mars's fiancée. I'm third in the S-class. Please to meet you..."

Ellie did her best to make an unusually long sentence for her. But after that introduction, Gysahl became extra grumpy.

Karen would normally have been the next to greet her, but she gave Misha a look and encouraged her to introduce herself first. Misha noticed this and thus took action.

“I am Misha Febrandt, eldest daughter of Baroness Febrandt. As you can see, I am of the elf race. I am a first year student at Lister Imperial School, S class, ranked 7th. Pleased to meet you."

Gysahl's face relaxed as Misha introduced herself cutely. This was probably because she had not said the word ‘fiancée’. Finally, Karen introduced herself. She looked very displeased, if not a bit coldhearted.

“I am Karen Lionel, second daughter of the Duke of Fresvald. Fifth in the rank. May I have a word with you, Gysahl? I don't like the way you've been looking at Mars and treating him. Is there something wrong with our party leader?"

Gysahl replied to Karen's words without fear.

“I am sorry, Miss Karen. But when two of the four peerless beauties are engaged to another, as a man I feel envious. After all, I couldn’t help but think why someone like him when there is the exceptional myself. Even if there are outstanding personnel in the Lister Imperial School, I would have been in the S class as well. And of course, I will be of a higher rank. I feel so frustrated thinking that if I had been born in the same year as Mars today, you would have understood me."

All the girls who heard this made blatantly disgusted faces. As for Ellie, she directed a powerful killing intent at Gysahl, and Ellie's killing intent frightened everyone except Ike.

Gysahl seemed to want to say something with his mouth agape but he was too scared to speak. The only thing coming out of Gysahl was ammonia-smelling liquid. Karen saw this and said to Gysahl.

“I had...a little flashback...Gysahl. Currently, you have been directed with a girl’s killing intent and leaked yourself. Can you say the same thing in that state? Ellie, you should stop too. You're making it impossible for us to have a conversation."

Then Gysahl.

“T-this had to be some kind of a mistake. How can I be beaten by someone who hides behind a woman? Fight me!"

I don't want to spur on an incontinent person.

I'd like to keep everything civilized somehow but... I'm not in that mood anymore...

“I understand. I don't know why it turned out this way. I just want to report one thing first."

I decided to do the only thing I had to do first.

“Count Mesalius. I destroyed the dungeon core of the labyrinth yesterday. Now there will be no labyrinth overflow. Here are the labyrinth's bosses, the chimera and the orc kings,’ magic stones. As proof, I offer these to Count Mesalius."

When I handed the magic stones to Count Mesalius, he looked surprised.

“You defeated the chimera!? By yourselves!?"

Karen said.

“Only Mars defeated the chimera. If we were to join, we would have only slowed him down.”

“Well, that's all I have to report. Where would you like to duel? I'm hungry and would like to get this over with as soon as possible?”

Count Mesalius answered my query.

“I am truly sorry that Gysahl has been so rude about this. I hope you will forgive him for this incident for my sake. Even like this, he is the rightful heir of Mesalius.”

“Father! Do you think I would be defeated by such a pretentious man?”

Gysahl apparently still determined to fight. I would like to avoid troublesome things but…someone unexpected interjected with his comment.

“Sir Mesalius. You should let him understand now. I, too, was taught a lesson by him when I was a baron. Sir Gysahl has been an adult for less than five years. It's still within what you could say as a youthful indiscretion to wrap the issue. If you don't let him duel now, he might become overconfident in his own abilities and confront a more powerful opponent. The Fresvald Household, for example."

The former baron, now a slave, said as he elegantly sipped his drink. In the end, it was this comment by Dames that led to the duel.

When Gysahl started to say that they would have a duel after he had a change, Karen opened her mouth.

“How about letting the spectators in? To watch the next candidate of the Count of Mesalius, who is foolish enough to stand up against the Sword Saint.”

“What do you mean by 'candidate'!?”

Gysahl asked Karen.

“As one of the members of the twelve dukes of the Lister Confederacy's Round Table, let me say this: we don't want incompetent fools among the senior nobility of the Lister Confederacy, do we? For example, if someone’s sister married a very talented man, I would strongly push the father to promote him to a count. You two know, of course, that the dukes have the right to dictate the succession of senior nobles, don't you?"

Karen provoked Count Mesalius and Gysahl, and Gysahl…

“That I am not fit to be a count. Are you calling me incompetent?!"

He raged.

“It's not only power that makes one a member of senior nobility. You can be one even without power. But having an idiot act as one is a troublesome thing, don’t you agree? What else do you call the person other than a fool when he can’t see the difference between his own strength and his opponent's strength? But you see, this doesn't only apply to Gysahl. I myself am still inexperienced. So, Gysahl, you too, take today's result seriously and devote yourself toward tomorrow and onwards."

Karen said it as if the result of the match had already been decided. And then Ike.

“Well, it looks like we won't be able to settle this through discussion anymore, so let's get on with it.”

The duel between me and Gysahl took place in the middle of the city of Mesalius. Karen absolutely refused to forgive Gysahl. Furthermore, it was not only Karen but the rest of the Reimei members also shared her stance. Certainly, I'd be absolutely furious too if someone I liked was insulted so I guess it can't be helped...

“Lord Gysahl! Please live up to the name of Mesalius!”

“Good luck, Lord Gysahl!”

Voices of support for Gysahl were raised one after another from the people of the mansion and the population’s...female members but no support from the male members apparently. But the men in the crowd don't seem to be cheering for me either. That's probably due to the girls around me... Well, they are simply jealous. So it's not funny for them if either of us wins, and they feel only ‘serve you right’ if either of us loses.

“Mars. As you can see, I'm angry too so make sure to give him one.”

When Misha said that, Clarice too chipped in.

“Yes. It was completely Gysahl's fault. Please break his heart. If you want, I can end his life...”

“Yeah. I'll do my best.”

I feel sorry for Gysahl if Clarice's special skill is triggered... Just what do Count Mesalius and glasses senior think about this incident? The fact that the glasses senior did not speak at all in the mansion is also a point of concern...

The rules of the duel are the same as the Freshman Combat Tournament. By the way, Gysahl's status is like this.

Name: Gysahl Alistar

Title: -

Status: Human race, head of the Viscount Alistar Household

Status: Good

Age: 19 years old

Level: 22

HP: 48/48

MP: 28/28

Strength: 24

Agility: 20

Magic: 20

Dexterity: 19

Endurance: 22

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv3/E)

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv2/E)

Equipment: Sylph Sword

Equipment: Mithril Silver Light Armour

Equipment: Gnome Shield

Equipment: Mithril Silver Greaves

Hm? He is a former A class of the Lister Imperial School with this stats? The former A class people I met at the Adventurer's Guild in Regan last time had higher stats and skills... They might even be able to become the leader of some knight order elsewhere. And being the heir to a count household, his equipment is really lavish. The Sylph Sword is one of the swords I've always wanted.

At the same time as Count Mesalius's ‘Begin!’, Gysahl was about to shout and come running. Yup. There are a lot of gaps... What did the martial arts staff at the Lister Imperial School teach him…?

I slashed a nearby tree branch with my Wind Cutter and held it up in place of my sword.

“Don't underestimate me!”

Saying that, Gysahl charged at me but I strengthened the tree branch by applying the Sylphid, and I reaped the center of Gysahl's Sylph Sword Sword and blasted his Sylph Sword away.

“Heh?”

Gysahl doesn't seem to understand what happened. Why was his sword blown away by a tree branch? I tried cutting Gysahl's Mithril Silver Greaves with a tree branch reinforced with Sylphid.

I tried to cut the silver mithril with a wooden branch but the wooden branch broke after failing to do so. Well, no matter how much I strengthened it with Sylphid, there is no way a tree branch can cut mithril silver I guess...

Gysahl used the opportunity to retrieve his Sylph Sword.

“You bastard! What have you done!?"

Shouting bastards at others is a little... and I have no obligation to tell him in the middle of battle. Gysahl is also not waiting for me to reply and slashes at me again.

I aimed at Gysahl's head with Wind Cutter while avoiding his attacks. Wind Cutter is the magic I use the most and is highly accurate. And just as I intended, my Wind Cutter snatched Gysahl's head.

Gysahl swung his sword as hard as he could. Every time he does this, hair falls from Gysahl's head. Yes, I aimed only at the top of Gysahl's head, and now Gysahl's head looks like that of a kappa’s.*1

The audience around him is laughing hysterically at this sight. The person in question doesn't realize that he is being laughed at but rather seems to think that everyone is laughing in relief because he has the upper hand.

I also took another branch from a tree to hit away Gysahl's Sylph Sword and decided to call it a day. Bullying the weak is just not in my nature...I think.

I released Tornado so as not to involve the spectators and sent Gysahl flying dozens of meters into the air. I flicked off the Sylph Sword in order to prevent the sword from piercing Gysahl in mid-air.

“Count Mesalius. Should I continue?”

I asked Count Mesalius but the nearby Dames...

“Sir Sword Saint. It would be better to do it more thoroughly. If it’s you, you would be able to cut off all four limbs with a tree branch, no? You should let them see for themselves who protected the Mesalius territory this time. If Phantom had continued to stay in the area of Mesalius, everyone here would be dead."

Dames is exaggerating things on purpose... But who told Dames about Phantom? Count Mesalius after hearing Dames’s words.

"Phantom... I’ve felt like I heard of them...or maybe I’m mistaken..."

“Phantom is that A-rank party that assassinates incompetent senior nobilities. Basically, they serve the 12 dukes of the Lister Confederacy. You can already tell by now, even as a Lord, that this very Phantom was interfering with the Mesalius territory, can't you?"

A slave is hurling such words toward a count... Count Mesalius's face paled at once.

“This is Gysahl’s defeat. And I would like to set up a meeting to discuss a matter from now onwards... Lady Karen, may I? It seems that I have no one else to turn to but you.”

“Let us accept Gysahl's defeat. Ask Mars, the leader of the Reimei, about the discussion. I will only follow the leader's opinion."

Suddenly, Karen calmed down. I deactivated Tornado and caught Gysahl falling from the sky with Wind.

Gysahl was covered in a large amount of brown solid and ammonia scent liquid.

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

Author’s note:

Splitting it into two chapters would have slowed down the pace like vol.3 so I put them together despite the length.

I’m sorry if it was hard to read.

TLN: I cry.

TL’s note:

Japanese/Chinese myth monster. Try googling it. Usually depicted as a bald green humanoid monster in the water.

2022-12-11 03:36:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 105 : Results

TL:SummerPeanut

Author’s note:

Part 2 of Status Time

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

14 August 2030.

I woke up earlier than everyone else and went hunting in the spring room as usual.

Today I'm attacking the fourth floor, so I'm saving my MP and fighting with just the Thunder Sword and the Salamander Sword. Recently, I've been trying to see if I can use two swords.

I'm going to ask Ryner to teach me when I return to Lister Imperial School.

As usual, I return before everyone's wake-up time to take a bath and prepare breakfast.

“Good morning Mars.”

Clarice woke up first.

“I'll brush my teeth and then help you with breakfast so wait for me.”

Clarice helped me with breakfast after I finish brushing my teeth.

I don't think housework, laundry, and cooking are women's work. Of course, I don't think it's a man's job either.

I think whoever notices should be the one to do it.

Well, then it becomes my job since I get up early...

But even hard housework is fun when you do it with someone you like.

“Mars, try tasting this.”

Tasting the soup Clarice made.

This is the spoon that Clarice was using to taste earlier.

I-indirect kiss... um, it’s delicious.

No, no, no, return to sanity me...

“Yes! It's delicious!"

Clarice looked satisfied after I commented above.

Then Karen woke up, and Ellie and Misha woke up long afterward.

It’s apparent that Ellie and Misha's weakness in the mornings has not been cured.

After a late breakfast, we prepared for our departure to the fourth floor.

The only luggage we carried was portable food.

“All right! We’re ready! Today is the fourth floor! Don't let your guard down!"

When I said that, everyone nodded their heads and tightened their faces.

Incidentally, I made a slight change to the formation.

Ellie, Misha, Karen, Clarice. I've changed the order.

To be more precise, Ellie was in the left vanguard, and Misha was in the right vanguard a little after her. Karen and Clarice were placed in the middle, with me at the rear.

Karen's whip can't reach them at too long of range so I put her a bit in front.

And when Karen is in danger, Clarice's Barrier magic is used to respond immediately.

Karen herself does not yet know that Clarice can use Barrier magic, or rather, I don't think she knows about Barrier magic itself.

After passing through the orc general and kobold king spring rooms respectively, we descended to the fourth floor.

When we descended to the fourth floor, a large door suddenly stood in front of us.

“This is the boss room... right?”

Clarice said, and Ellie said.

“... Maybe we should...try?...”

Ellie looked at me and I said.

“Yeah. I'll open the door."

And I opened the door to the boss's room.

The room was very large, about 300 meters square.

In the center of the room was what looked like an altar.

And inside the room, there was one magical beast and two orcs.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Orc King

Threat: B-

Condition: Good

Age: 1 year old

Level: 5

HP: 108/108

MP: 15/15

Strength: 42

Agility: 12

Magic: 5

Dexterity: 6

Endurance: 55

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv3/D)

Special Ability: Accelerated HP recovery (Lv3/F)

Special Ability: Summon Magic Beasts(Lv1/G)

Summon magic beasts probably summons lower-level orcs.

Based on previous trends, it is likely to be an orc lord or something similar.

The orc kings themselves seem to pose no problems at all.

Even if it is the same B- threat, the hellsnake would definitely give more trouble.

I mean, this is kind of B- rank threat level... Maybe the orc species is the weakest and the best experience farm.

But the other magic beast is a big problem.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Chimera

Threat: B+

Condition: Good

Age: 1 year old

Level: 5

HP: 154/154

MP: 88/88

Strength: 70

Agility: 72

Magic: 48

Dexterity: 20

Endurance: 38

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv7/C)

Special Ability: Summon Magic Beasts (Lv 3/F)

It had the look of the chimera I imagined of.

It has the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a poisonous snake.

“Oh no... there’s no way we can win this...”

Karen started shaking as she said above.

Misha, too, showed the same fearful appearance against it.

The other two, Clarice and Ellie, are looking at me.

I gave them both a look that says it was okay.

“Clarice, Ellie, Karen, and Misha, handle the orc kings! They'll probably summon lower orcs but I don't think you’ll struggle that much because of their low agility values. Fight as far away from the chimera as possible! I'll take down the chimera! The chimera's status is higher than mine but there's no reason for me to lose!"

To be honest, if you ask me if we are guaranteed a win, I can't say yes.

But to reassure Karen and Misha, I boldly said this.

And we didn't have time to have a leisurely conversation.

The chimera came running towards us.

Behind the chimera were two magical beasts that had been summoned before we knew it.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Dire Wolf

Threat: C+

Condition: Good

Age: 1 year old

Level: 5

HP: 45/45

MP: 15/15

Strength: 30

Agility: 45

Magic: 12

Dexterity: 5

Endurance: 32

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv 2/G)

This is bad... it's plain strong normally... if they are at this level, I feel that even the orc king is weaker than them.

But I can't say that.

I headed towards the corner of the room far from everyone else while attracting the chimera.

Obviously, I had already deployed Sylphid.

First, two dire wolves charge at me.

The chimera seemed to be looking for an opening.

I enchant my Thunder Sword with Lightning magic and slashed at the dire wolves, and they were cut like butter.

Eh?! What on earth is this... Swordsmanship level 9, Sylphid, Strength 63, Thunder Sword, Lightning magic enchant. Even though their HP and durability values are low, is it alright for a C+ threat dire wolf to be defeated in a single blow…? Lightning magic enchant doesn't even use much MP, to be honest. Perhaps this is the right way to use Lightning magic?

I hunted down the dire wolves that were summoned one after another.

The dire wolves had already turned into mere experience points.

The chimera also seemed to be summoning dire wolves continuously, either because of its low intelligence or cowardice.

In no time at all, the chimera's MP ran out.

I had already removed Sylphid and Lightning enchant and was fighting with only the Thunder Sword and Salamander Sword.

I decided to use the chimera to train.

Even though there is a considerable difference in status, a high level of swordsmanship skill can make up for the difference in status. That's what I learned from Ryner.

Of course, I wouldn't have done this if Clarice and the others were in a pinch.

Clarice and the others were relieved when they saw that I was cutting up dire wolves as easily as butter.

“As expected of Mars. I'm sure that demonic beast isn't weak either...”

“It's not at the level of being weak! It has the same status value as Misha!”

Karen said loudly, while Misha...

“I'd be like that if Mars fought me with all he had...”

At these words Ellie said.

“I'm not at my... best yet, I might get serious…but when I give it my best... I'll glow...."

Karen and Misha were crestfallen at Ellie's words.

“Now, don't just watch Mars, we're going to do it too! We can't be too careful, even if they are only orcs! They will summon more and more of them so everyone be careful!”

The orc kings had also summoned orc lords.

However, orc lords do not have the Special Ability to summon magic beasts.

This means that you only have to continuously deal with two orc kings and four orc lords at the same time.

One after another, the orc lords got summoned but each time they were summoned, they were killed by Clarice and Karen's medium and long-range attacks, and then by Ellie and Misha's attacks.

Clarice and the rests were also able to defeat the orcs without any danger at all.

Karen was the most surprised by this.

Karen could see the status of the magic beasts so she thought there was no way she could defeat them so easily.

She was reminded once again that Clarice and Ellie were also extraordinarily strong.

“You guys are in the monster class enough... although I thought I was getting pretty strong too...”

In the end, Clarice and her team also defeated the orc kings without any danger.

I'll go along with them and try to kill the chimera.

However, I didn't use Sylphid and Lightning magic but instead started using Vision.

When I started using Vision, it became easier to outwit the chimera's attacks and I was able to fight much more easily. After all, being able to see a little bit of the future is strong.

In the end, I overwhelmed and defeated the chimera from start to finish.

“Is everyone alright?"

I asked the girls, and they all nodded. Karen opened her mouth.

“I've seen how strong Mars, Clarice, and Ellie are over the past week to the point of I don’t want to. Especially in this boss room. I'm going to work just as hard as Misha and devote myself to be able to fight alongside everyone!”

“Yes! We’ll do our best!"

Misha happily ministered to Karen.

“Well, now that we apparently have our reward, let's see.”

Two treasure chests had appeared on the altar in the middle of the room.

Until now there had been value 3 treasure chests, but this time one value 4 treasure chest appeared.

From the treasure chest of value 4, the Saint's Robe valued at A which Clarice is equipped with had appeared previously so I can have super high hopes for it.

First, I opened the usual value 3 treasure chest.

Name: Flame Bracelet

Special: Magic +2

Value: C

Details: A bracelet that contains Fire magic. Reduces MP consumption by 1 when chanting Fire magic, and slightly shortens the activation time.

Ah, this is the one I gave to Ike.

Naturally, when I gave it to Karen, she happily said thank you and kissed me on the cheek.

A kiss from a beautiful girl is always nice.

Then I open the main dish the value 4 treasure chest.

If possible, I'd like to get either myself, Ellie, or Misha's armor.

Praying so, I opened the treasure chest and...

Name: War Maiden Light Armour(Valkyrie Armour)

Defense: 24

Special: Strength+1 Agility+2 Magic+2

Value: A

Details: Automatic recovery of the equipped person's HP. State Abnormality Resistance UP Fire Magic Resistance UP.

Isn't this a super jackpot? I told Ellie the effect of the equipment and gave it to her.

Then Ellie was overjoyed and hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.

At the same time, I feel two soft touches on my arms.

Hmm? If this is equipped, will the future rewards feel halved from now on?*1

“Alright, let's focus on the boss room for the remaining three days and try to level up one last time!”

And four days later...we destroyed the dungeon core and walked out of the dungeon with a large amount of loot in our hands.

The dungeon core is a small core in the boss room, and when it is destroyed, the labyrinth ceases to function and magic beasts no longer appear.

I was surprised when I learned about this at the Lister Imperial School.

I wanted to keep this labyrinth but I heard from my sister-in-law that Count Mesalius wanted to destroy it if possible so I had no choice but to destroy it.

The main reason is probably that it is located far away from the territory of Mesalius, making it difficult to manage.

It would take a good number of people to build a new labyrinth city.

The fact that they are now being attacked by the Balkus Kingdom is probably another reason why they can't be bothered with the labyrinths.

“Even so, it was a good decision to come to Count Mesalius's territory! Everyone has become so much stronger than before!”

When Misha said that, Karen responded.

"Yes, I suppose so. Misha and I are now a little closer to Mars and the others, aren't we? There's still a gap between us but it was splendid enough to realize just how much of a gap there is between us. And personally, for me, I've obtained a new strength."

I took another look at the results of everyone's hard work.

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: 7848/7848

Strength: 67

Agility: 67

Magic: 85

Dexterity: 65

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 (Lv2/G)

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: Disguise Bracelet

The best profit from entering this labyrinth is that my level has risen drastically.

My skill levels have also risen and I've gained the title ‘Saint’.

It was a fulfilling two weeks.

Name: Clarice Lampard

Title: Saintess

Status: Human race, eldest daughter of Viscount Lampard

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 34

HP: 69/69

MP: 1435/1435

Strength: 51

Agility: 50

Magic: 59

Dexterity: 59

Endurance: 47

Luck: 20

Special Ability: Barrier Magic (Lv4/A)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv5/C)

Special Ability: Archery (Lv8/B)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/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: Disguise Bracelet

Clarice has officially become the sub-leader of Reimei.

With just a little bit more, all of her stats will exceed 50.

Incidentally, I and Clarice are the only one whose equipment didn't change during this labyrinth search.

As for Clarice, I think she only needs an accessory type of equipment now...

Name: Ellie Leo

Title: -

Status: Beastman (lion race), head of the Baronetess Leo household

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 30

HP: 81/81

MP: 61/61

Strength: 60

Agility: 74

Magic: 17

Dexterity: 18

Endurance: 50

Luck: 10

Unique Ability: Sound Magic (Lv1/C)

Special Ability: Martial Arts (Lv6/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

Without a doubt, the highlight for Ellie is her Valkyrie Armor.

With this, I can entrust her with the vanguard role with peace of mind.

If there are any other good weapons later, I want Ellie to equip them.

Name: Karen Lionel

Title: -

Status: Human race, second daughter of the Duke Fresvald

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 32

HP: 37/37

MP: 400/400

Strength: 23

Agility: 24

Magic: 60

Dexterity: 26

Endurance: 17

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Magic Eyes (LvMax)

Special Ability: Whip Technique (Lv3/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv7/B)

Equipment: Salamander Rod

Equipment: Whip of Fire

Equipment: Salamander Robe.

Equipment: Fire bracelet Flame bracelet

Karen has grown as much as Misha. You can even say that she is above Misha. Her figure holding the whip is truly like that of a queen.

Name: Misha Febrandt

Title: -

Status: Elf race, eldest daughter of Baroness Febrandt

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 27

HP: 45/45

MP: 143/143

Strength: 39

Agility: 48

Magic: 39

Dexterity: 40

Endurance: 22

Luck: 5

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv7/B)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv5/D)

Equipment: Sylph Lance

Equipment: Small Shield of Illusion

Equipment: Robe of Illusion

Misha has the highest increase in level and is now stronger than ever.

She is probably stronger than Baron now.

I got the small shield of illusion in the boss room and decided to have Misha equip it.

I don't have to tell you, but she thanked me on my cheek.

Name: Small Shield of Illusion

Defense: 8

Special: Agility +2

Value: B-

Details: Makes it difficult to detect the presence of the equipped person.

The fact that it is difficult to detect the presence of Misha, who is already small and thin, may be troublesome for the enemy.

It will be increasingly difficult to detect if the illusory shoes that Guster had become available for her to use.

Thus, we returned to Mesalius in high spirits.

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

Author’s note:

I am also on Twitter.

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

TL’s note:

( ͡ ͜ ͡)

2022-12-04 06:06:34 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 104 : Level Up

TL:SummerPeanut

Author’s note:

Part 1 of Status Time

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

6 Aug 2030.

I woke up early so I decided to go back a bit the way I came yesterday and take down the kobold king and the orc general.

As I expected, the orc general's HP and durability are high. Even though I didn't struggle at all, I couldn’t beat them right away.

And finally, my level went up to 21.

Name: Mars Bryant

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

Status: Human, second son of Count Bryant

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 21

HP: 58/58

MP: 7800/7821

Strength: 55

Agility: 55

Magic: 73

Dexterity: 54

Durability: 51

Luck: 30

Unique Ability: Innate Talent (LvMax)

Unique Ability: Sky Eyes (Lv9)

Unique Ability: Lightning Magic (Lv7/S)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv9/A)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv3/E).

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv2/G)

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv3/E).

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv9/A)

Special Ability: Holy Magic (Lv7/B)

Equipment: Thunder Sword

Equipment: Salamander Sword

Equipment: Disguise Bracelet

Holy magic had been raised to level 7 and I obtained the title ‘Saint’.

‘Saint’ Holy magic effect UP. A slight reduction in MP consumption of Holy magic.

Clarice's ‘Saintess’ is clearly superior… but it seems that my ‘Saint’ is effective in all aspects of Holy magic. I can't say which one is better because ‘Saintess’ only affects recovery magic...

I've also gotten my long-desired Swordsmanship level to 9. I wanted the title of ‘Sword King’ but it seems that I still can't get it. Well, there are a lot of swordsmen in this world so it can't be helped.

And there was another treasure chest in front of me.

Even I was surprised because I'd never seen so many treasure chests in the spring room either.

Name: Whip of Fire

Attack: 12

Value: C

Details: The whip can be enchanted with Fire magic.

I wanted a weapon of this type the most. Eh? Did you think I want Karen to hit me with the whip? Certainly, I'm planning to have Karen equip it but unfortunately for you, I don't have that kind of taste.

Magicians lose their means of attack when they conserve MP. Moreover, Karen uses her Magic Eyes when the situation calls for it so she is more careful about MP management than anyone else. That's why I wanted equipment for her so that she could attack normally. Karen is still at level 0 in the whip technique and her strength stat is still quite low but we are still young. If she uses it now, it will definitely be useful in the future.

When I returned to the safe zone, everyone was still sleeping. I guess it will take another two hours for them to wake up.

I filled the passage I just came from with Earth magic and headed deeper to have a little look around.

And black magic pools are swirling in 30 places. It's a spring room! And the enemies coming out are orc generals! This is the best place to make money! There will probably never be other such weak threat levels C-s in the world.

I was so happy that I hunted orc generals all over the place.

Since it takes a while to defeat them, the phenomenon of orc generals keep spawning as I defeat them felt endless. But this room's spring room didn't produce any treasure chests even if I defeated all of them quickly by myself.

After defeating the orc generals to some extent, I returned to the safety zone. I decided to have a morning bath before everyone woke up. If everyone wakes up and I'm the only one who smells like magic beasts, they might think badly of me.

Everyone woke up just as I finished my morning bath.

After a light breakfast of portable food, I presented Karen with the fire whip.

“Karen. Use this."

I handed it to Karen and she said.

“Mars...to think you have such a hobby… understood. I don't hate it either, so let's heat it up together!"

The other three stared at us with white eyes.

“...Mars... pervert...but I like... I use the whip too..."

When Ellie said that, Clarice…

“I prefer something more normal... or if anything I like to be on the...receiving side.”

Misha didn’t seem to understand much of what she meant and just nodded her head.

Thanks for the expected template reactions guys.

“Karen, that's not what I meant. I'm a good judge of people's talents. Karen has a talent for the whip. Karen is a magician and has to manage her MP so she can only use magic in the most critical moments. Hence, during non-critical times, you can use this whip to do damage to the magic beasts. I won't tell you to adapt to it right now but I'm sure it will be useful for Karen."

"...I see what you mean. ...since it’s about Mars...I just assumed."

Because I’m the one saying it you say... What have I ever done... And I think it's been mentioned in the appraisal ceremony that she has a talent for whip technique...maybe it's an acquired talent?

“There's a spring room with 30 orc generals just up ahead. I'd like to level up there for a while. We might not get another opportunity like this, so let's all hunt hard!"

“”Ohhhhh!!!””

By the way, the current status of everyone is.

Name: Clarice Lampard

Title: Saintess

Status: Human, eldest daughter of Viscount Lampard

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 26

HP: 54/54

MP: 1410/1410

Strength: 41

Agility: 40

Magic: 46

Dexterity: 45

Durability: 39

Luck: 20

Special Ability: Barrier Magic (Lv4/A)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv5/C)

Special Ability: Archery (Lv8/B)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/F).

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv2/G).

Special Ability: Holy Magic (Lv7/A)

Equipment: Defender

Equipment: Magic Arrow

Equipment: Saint’s Robe

Equipment: Mysterious Anklet.

Equipment: Disguise Bracelet

Name: Ellie Leo

Title: -

Status: Beastman (Lion), head of the Leo Baronetess Household

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 21

HP: 66/66

MP: 48/48.

Strength: 45

Agility: 56

Magic: 12

Dexterity: 12

Durability: 37

Luck: 10

Unique Ability: Sound Magic (Lv1/C)

Special Ability: Martial Arts (Lv6/B)

Special Ability: Knifemanship (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv1/G)

Equipment: Mithril Silver Dagger

Equipment: Sylph Dagger

Equipment: Cloak of Wind

Equipment: Boots of Wind

Name: Karen Lionel

Title: -

Status: Second daughter of the Duke Fresvald

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 26

HP: 30/30

MP: 378/378

Strength: 13

Agility: 18

Magic: 50

Dexterity: 18

Durability: 12

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Magic Eyes (LvMax)

Special Ability: Whip Technique (Lv0/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv7/B)

Equipment: Salamander Rod

Equipment: Whip of Fire

Equipment: Salamander Robe

Name: Misha Febrandt

Title: -

Status: Elf, eldest daughter of Baroness Febrandt

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 16

HP: 27/27

MP: 122/122

Strength: 25

Agility: 30

Magic: 26

Dexterity: 25

Durability: 15

Luck: 5

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv6/B)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv4/D)

Equipment: Sylph Lance

Equipment: Robe of Illusion

I want to keep grinding until Ellie and Misha's levels are above 25…but I also have to take into account the time to return to the Lister Imperial School.

Naturally, we also need time to return to the Mesalius territory and report back... we can only stay here for 10 days at most...

When we arrived at the spring room, we hunted the orc generals a lot.

As expected, when it’s against five people, no matter how high the HP and durability value of the orc general is, it is quickly defeated.

“I didn't think a whip could feel this good!”

Eh? Feels good? As I thought, Karen seems to have some other talent.

“But it seems inefficient for five people to fight here. Mars, why don't you check the room a little further ahead? I'll do my best and take responsibility here.”

Clarice also seemed to have the same opinion as me.

“Ah. I was thinking the same thing as you. Then I'll leave this to you. I'll go a little further.”

The third floor was the same as the second, with a straight path all the way through.

The only enemies that appeared were orc generals and kobold kings, and the percentage of kobold kings increased as I went further in.

When I reached the room leading to the fourth level, I found a kobold king spring room.

There are about 20 kobold kings and 20 magic pools.

This is really tasty.

Firstly, I went back to Clarice and the others and went with them to the kobold king spring room and told them I will be hunting here for the time being.

After all, it would cause other people to be nervous if they do not know who, where and what are the other members doing.

So that's how I stayed in the kobold king spring room and the other girls stayed in the orc general spring room for a week of hunting.

As a result, our levels blew up.

Name: Mars Bryant

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

Status: Human, second son of Count Bryant

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 25

HP: 66/66

MP: 7840/7840

Strength: 63

Agility: 63

Magic: 81

Dexterity: 61

Durability: 56

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 (Lv2/G).

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: Disguise Bracelet

I fought mainly with Lightning magic, which I usually can't use very much.

I did not use it as often as other magic because the MP consumption is too high but because my talent for it is S, the level went up to 8.

And the talent of Earth magic rose to D and the level was also at 4 now.

I seem to be able to increase my talent rank after all.

Name: Clarice Lampard

Title: Saintess

Status: Human, eldest daughter of Viscount Lampard

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 31

HP: 64/64

MP: 1427/1427

Strength: 47

Agility: 46

Magic: 54

Dexterity: 53

Durability: 44

Luck: 20

Special Ability: Barrier Magic (Lv4/A)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv5/C)

Special Ability: Archery (Lv8/B)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/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: Disguise Bracelet

Clarice is as versatile as ever.

And she has the highest level in Reimei.

Her level of Wind magic had increased and not to mention the power and accuracy of her magic bow had also risen.

Name: Ellie Leo

Title: -

Status: Beastman (Lion race), head of the Leo Baronetess Household

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 27

HP: 75/75

MP: 58/58

Strength: 55

Agility: 68

Magic: 15

Dexterity: 16

Durability: 45

Luck: 10

Unique Ability: Sound Magic (Lv1/C)

Special Ability: Martial Arts (Lv6/B)

Special Ability: Knifemanship (Lv7/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv2/G)

Equipment: Mithril Silver Dagger

Equipment: Sylph Dagger

Equipment: Cloak of Wind

Equipment: Boots of Wind

Ellie, who specializes in attacks using the highest agility value in Dawn, also serves as Dawn's scout and evasive shield.

Her dagger skills and wind magic have improved, and her wind boots attract both friends and foes alike as she rides through the skies.

Name: Karen Lionel

Title: -

Status: Human, second daughter of the Duke Fresvald

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 29

HP: 33/33

MP: 392/392

Strength: 18

Agility: 21

Magic: 55

Dexterity: 22

Durability: 15

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Demon's Eyes (LvMax)

Special Ability: Whip Technique (Lv2/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv7/B)

Equipment: Salamander Rod

Equipment: Whip of Fire

Equipment: Salamander Robe

In a sense, the most unusual person this time is Karen. The way she wields the whip with a mad smile strikes fear into the hearts of both friend and foe alike. I may have given her a gift of something terrible. It's as if the fire spirit staff salamander rod doesn't exist anymore.

I just don't have a very high muscle value, so I haven't been able to defeat my enemies. That's why Karen was the one whose level didn't go up the most this time. She doesn't care about that at all...

Name: Misha Febrandt

Title: -

Status: Elf race, eldest daughter of Baroness Febrandt

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 24

HP: 40/40

MP: 138/138

Strength: 34

Agility: 42

Magic: 35

Dexterity: 36

Durability: 20

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

Without a doubt, Misha is the one who had the largest growth.

Perhaps the ranking order of the first-year students of the Lister Imperial School will change significantly.

Unlike Ellie, Misha's fighting style is to fight while not attracting any of the enemy’s attention. It is very similar to the style of Guster from Phantom.

“Alright! Everyone worked hard this past week. Tomorrow we will head for the fourth floor. We only have a few days left to stay in the labyrinth. Let's work a little harder!”

That night we spent it together for the first time in a long while, nibbling on grilled orc general meats.

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

Author’s note:

I am also on Twitter.

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

2022-12-04 05:59:33 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 103 : A Bountiful Harvest

TL:SummerPeanut

Bonus chapter this week.

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

5 Aug 2030.

“Our goal today is to reach the second floor. Reach the safe zone if possible but do note that it is not always on the second floor. Sometimes, for example in Almeria, it can be on the third floor instead so let's not get discouraged if we don't find it!"

““““Ooooo!!!””””

This exchange took place at around seven in the morning.

An hour had passed since Clarice and Ellie woke up and had breakfast, and we were about to leave when I issued the notice.

And half an hour later we were descending the stairs to the second floor... There was a large room leading to the second floor just beyond the passageway where we had camped yesterday.

A few high orcs and kobold lords came out together but they can't even pose a problem now that Clarice has joined the fight.

Of course, I've made sure that Misha has priority in the battle contribution.

I'm a bit embarrassed about the proclamation I just made...

When we went down to the second floor, it was a room the size that I had never seen before.

It must be around 100m square.

There were about 50 high orcs all riding kobold lords, with only one orc of a different color.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Orc general

Threat: C-

Condition: Good

Age: 1

Level: 5

HP: 67/67

MP: 1/1

Strength: 28

Agility: 10

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 5

Durability: 35

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv 2/G).

Orc Generals are honestly quite weak for a C-.

They are just a target with high durability.

And the combination of high orcs and kobold lords, at first glance you might think they work well together but they have a fatal weakness.

That is that the high orcs are too heavy, which ruins the characteristics of the kobolds, who are supposed to disrupt their target with speed. Honestly, it would be more troublesome if they were not ridden. They must be magic beasts with a considerable lack of intelligence...

“There are so many of them...”

Karen backed away as she muttered so.

Even Misha doesn't go on a runaway suicide mission as usual.

“Then I'll do it since I've only been a baggage handler all this time.”

I say, and I activated Firestorm without chanting.

The orcs and kobolds were startled and attempted to run away from confusion but I force them into the Firestorm with Wind or Wind Impulse.

The inside of the Firestorm is noisy.

Karen who saw this scene.

“I've never seen Fire and Wind combined magic... before, and using a different magic while one is being activated.”

It feels like Karen had only been surprised since yesterday and today.

I thought I had beaten them all but the Orc General had just barely survived.

“Misha, please end him!”

I said, and Misha did just that.

Then Karen commented.

“You did it, Misha! You've raised your level!”

When everyone was congratulating her and saying ‘Congratulations’, I noticed something else.

“It seems the reward wasn't just her level. Look, there's a treasure chest!”

I pointed in the direction of the treasure chest. By the way, this time I opened it.

Of course, I've already checked it beforehand and confirmed that there are no traps.

Name: Wind Spirit’s Spear (Sylph Lance)

Attack: 28

Special: Agility +2

Value: B

Detail: A magic spear made of mithril silver. Enchanting the spear with wind magic increases its attack power

It is a weapon completely dedicated to Misha.

“This is Misha's equipment. Use it.”

When I handed Misha the Wind Spirit Spear (Sylph Lance), Misha asked back.

“Eh? Are you sure? I think this is very expensive, isn’t it?”

"It's fine. Most of the equipment we have are from labyrinths. We think about who can best use the equipment we find and have that person equip it. That's why most of those luxurious pieces of equipment on Clarice's came out of the labyrinth, you know?"

In fact, all of Clarice's equipment, except for the Defender and the Disguise Bracelet, came from the treasure chests in the labyrinth.

“Thank you. Mars. Everyone. I'll take good care of it.”

I had one thing on my mind so I asked Karen.

“Karen. How accurate are you with people's statuses?”

“Umm? I think I have a pretty accurate grasp of it but....”

“Then can I ask you to appraise Clarice?”

“Yes. I've looked at it a few times and... it's definitely a strange number. It's impossible to beat Baron easily with this status.”

The status values that Karen told me were the status values that Clarice had disguised with the Disguise Bracelet.

I have the Sky Eyes, which is a superior version of the Magic Eyes so I can't be appraised by the Magic Eyes.

In the case where someone managed to appraise me, does that mean I can camouflage myself with Disguise Bracelet?

“Can you appraise the traps in the treasure chest?”

“Traps? Are there traps in treasure chests? I don't know, I've never done it before. Or rather I've never even seen a treasure chest before, and I don't think it’s possible to appraise it... for some reason.”

“Okay... got it. Thanks for the answer."

The second floor has many large rooms and wide corridors.

The second floor has many large rooms and wide corridors, and it's a straight road all the way through, so we made good progress.

“I'm completely used to the high orc and kobold lords now. Obviously, I'm not going to let my guard down but I don't feel like I’ll get any hits in from them at all. And I'm getting used to the usage of this illusory robe.”

Yes, in fact, Misha is equipped with the same illusory robe that Guster had since she entered Lister Imperial School.

Come to think of it, I haven't appraised it yet...

Name: Robe of Illusion

Defense: 10

Special: Agility +2

Value: B-

Details: Makes it difficult to detect the presence of the equipped user.

Misha mentioned its usage so just equipping it might not make it harder for others to detect the user’s presence.

It might be difficult to detect with just Search so the next time I’ll fight Guster, I’ll do it while focusing on his presence with Sky Eye.

After that, we proceeded smoothly, and to our surprise, we found the stairs to the third floor.

By the way, I left all the magic stones from the defeated magic beasts as we advanced.

If I told Zeke about this, he might get angry but what we need now is not money.

“I really wonder about the meaning of all the troubles I've experienced after joining this party. I wish I could tell everyone about the hardships I had to go through when I was power leveling before I came to this school like... how much money it costed.”

Karen said with a sigh and so did Misha.

“I used to travel with my mum too but I've never dealt the magic beasts this easily. We were a lot more careful.”

“Well, we had a tough time in the Almeria Labyrinth too so we can't let our guard down. In the Almeria Labyrinth, the enemies of the third floor were so strong that we were afraid to go on.”

The difference in strength between threat level C and threat level B is off the charts which is why one simply can't let his guard down.

When I descended to the third floor, there was one kobold and ten orc generals.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Kobold King

Threat: C

Condition: Good

Age: 1

Level: 3

HP: 38/38

MP: 1/1

Strength: 24

Agility: 36

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 8

Durability: 14

Luck: 1

For something that’s crowned as King, it seems quite weak.

The goblin king had more nasty special abilities but there's nothing special about this one.

It's faster than mother ant yet more fragile...

“That kobold is faster than our previous enemies. Its agility value is higher than Misha's! Watch out!"

“Mars, let me take on that kobold!”

Misha said so and we decided to take out the orc generals first.

Orc generals are just durable targets and experience farms.

It took us a while to beat them but we had time to spare.

Then Misha and kobold king fought one-on-one.

Misha is struggling against a monster with a higher agility value than herself.

However, there is no impatience on Misha's face.

“Ice Lance!”

She fired Ice Lance at the kobold king and the moment the kobold king evaded her attack, she poked it with her Sylph Lance. And as for the kobold king's attacks, she only avoided the bite attack, which is the fatal one, and for attacks that cannot be avoided, such as body blows, she reactively sent herself flying with Wind to reduce the damage.

Incidentally, Misha's Wind can only slightly dampen kobold king attacks so she instead used it to reduce the damage by sending her own body flying.

If she takes any damage, I heal her with my heal.

Repeating this several times, she defeated the kobold king.

“Yay! But next time I'll show you that I can finish it off by myself!”

Misha said joyfully and found a treasure chest in the corner of the room.

“We are having a bountiful harvest today! Maybe the newly built labyrinths are more likely to produce treasure chests after all!”

I said and opened the treasure chest, appraising it as I did so.

I was so happy that the treasure chest appeared that I forgot to ask Karen to appraise it.

Name: Fire Spirit’s Spear (Salamander Lance)

Attack: 28

Special: Magic +2

Value: B

Details: A magical spear made from mithril silver. Enchanting the spear with fire magic increases its attack power

This is a weapon completely for Ike.

I will give this to him. A spear as a wedding gift...maybe not...

“Since we've made a lot of progress, we'll camp when we get to the next room today.”

We proceeded to the next room and the entrance to the next room was glowing white.

“Safety area(Safety zone)! Now we can finally unload our stuff!”

“We did it! Now we have a base and can concentrate on the hunt!”

Karen said and the other three nodded.

I immediately set to work on the bathtubs and beds.

Now I made five bathtubs.

Then I made partitions with clay magic to give them some privacy.

“It's like a room. I could stay here for days.”

Misha said happily.

“Yes, I agree. If I had explored the labyrinth with Mars from the beginning, I might not have disliked the mention of it so much. I really want to wash off the sweat and magic beast blood after.”

I assumed that no other adventurers would be coming for the time being so I customized whatever I wanted.

“If there's anything else you want, just let me know. I'll make what I can.”

I said, and Misha said.

“Delicious food!”

So she said. I feel like that's the worst thing to say in the labyrinth... and then Clarice answered.

“We've still got plenty of portable food but are we eating the orc generals just now? Don’t they say orcs taste good? Kobold king can look like birds if we try hard enough to see it that way so...”

She's a tough cookie... but I was thinking the same thing.

“Yeah, I suppose so. Orc generals are probably tighter than regular orcs so they're not as tender but they might be more nutritious in exchange. The kobold king is...something to try next time....”

Karen and Misha looked a little uncomfortable.

Well, Misha was the one who started it, so she deserved it.

“... orc...delicious...”

Here was someone who had already eaten orc.

We all asked Ellie what orc tasted like and we went to bed.

It is a safety zone but we still built a wall with Earth magic at the entrance and exit, just in case, as we prepare for tomorrow.

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

Author’s note:

I am also on Twitter.

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

2022-12-04 05:55:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 102 : One Per Household

TL:SummerPeanut

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

4 August 2030.

“Don’t you think, your sister-in-law obtained an excellent property.”

“It's true. Ede is the envy of everyone.”

“May I ask how you got acquainted at first?”

“......”

We're inside a wagon on the way to the labyrinth away from the city of Mesalius.

Inside the wagon are the Reimei girls, Ike, and glasses senior.

The reason why Ike and senior are here is so that they can retrieve this wagon after we dive into the labyrinth.

And inside the four-seater wagon, six people are being crammed in, and inside the wagon, they are facing each other in two rows.

They are split into Misha, Ike, with Karen, and Clarice, senior glasses, with Ellie.

And Ike and senior glasses are being questioned by the Reimei girls.

“Well…because I don't have to look for a man anymore, I no longer have to join the Knights of Regan... and there's definitely no man better than Ike in the Knights of Regan. But I don't know what will happen because Ike's father is against us..."

Misha asked when the senior glasses said it bluntly.

“Tell me how you got to know each other. When did you start liking each other? When did you start dating? Which one of you confessed?”

Ike was uncomfortable in the wagon and took refuge next to me.

The five girls in the wagon are increasingly engaged in their girls' talk.

“Sorry about that. Brother Ike. I'm sure everyone’s like that from joy.”

“Aah. It’s fine. Besides, I think I understand a little bit of what Mars is going through.”

“Hahaha. But if you start from the outer moat, even father might relent a bit, and I know it's a hassle, but please entertain the Reimei girls a little.''

“I guess so. Mars, you’re right. Let's ask the girls to help us. Of course, Mars, I'd like to ask your help too...okay?"

“Of course. Since it's senior glasses, you're more than welcome.”

We chatted happily as we made our way to the labyrinth.

“Even so, there are a lot of magic beasts here...especially orcs...”

Ike said so and burned the orcs to death with Fire.

It's true that orcs and kobolds appear more frequently here.

“Is labyrinth overflow happening?”

“The probability exists...... since we, the Red Lotus, turned back halfway through the first floor.”

By the way, the status of the orcs is like this.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Orc

Threat: F

Condition: Good

Age: 0

Level: 1

HP: 32/32

MP: 1/1

Strength: 10

Agility: 2

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 1

Durability: 15

Luck: 1

About the same as a hobgoblin or rather they are easier than a hobgoblin.

Their low agility is such that even Karen can evade their attacks.

However, they are sometimes mounted on the kobolds that come out with them.

When that’s the case, one needs to be a little careful.

Well, then again maybe you don't need to be that careful since kobolds have a threat level of G...

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Kobold

Threat: G

State: Good

Age: 1

Level: 2

HP: 6/6

MP: 1/1

Strength: 2

Agility: 4

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 2

Durability: 1

Luck: 1

We departed from Mesalius and arrived at the labyrinth after an hour's ride in a wagon.

We unloaded the large amount of luggage we had stuck on top of the wagon and said goodbye to Ike and senior glasses.

“Thank you for accompanying us. Is your right arm better now, senior glasses?”

“Yes. It's still a little uncomfortable but I'll get used to it.”

“Mars. Please be careful. When you have thinned the numbers to a certain extent, you can leave your luggage behind and come back to Mesalius. I'll have others come back later to collect your luggage.”

“Thank you. Take care of yourselves then, both of you. Senior glasses-...no…sister-in-law please take care of Brother Ike, please.”

When I said this, Ede was surprised and then smiled.

“All right, Mars. Leave Ike to me."*1

We saw them off and went into the labyrinth.

The formation is in the same order as we talked about last time but I and Clarice have a lot of luggage.

I can use Wind magic even when my hands are full so it's only natural that I should carry the luggage but I can't let Ellie and Misha, the vanguards, carry them.

And Karen would be unable to move if she carried the luggage, so by process of elimination, it was decided that Clarice would carry some of the luggage.

There were quite a number of orcs in the labyrinth.

There were probably as many as the goblins in the Irgusia labyrinth.

We defeated the orcs with Ellie and Misha as the focus.

Then Karen made a surprised face.

“Are you sure you're not planning to defeat all the magic beasts we encounter?”

“Huh? We are going to defeat all the magic beasts we see, aren't we? Is Karen and the rest not thinking the same?”

Karen sighed as I asked this.

“Normal adventurers don't ever take on every single enemy they encounter because of the risk of injury. In our normal case, we'd go into the labyrinth with several parties and divide up the roles. But well, this party has Mars so that means we can afford to take some damage...”

Misha is defeating more and more of the enemies she encounters.

It seems to be a good experience gain for Misha.

As we progressed further and further down the corridor, we arrived at a large room.

A large orc is holding a spear and watching us.

And next to the orc is a huge kobold-like magic beast.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: High Orc

Threat: D

Condition: Good

Age: 1

Level: 4

HP: 45/45

MP: 1/1

Strength: 22

Agility: 8

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 3

Durability: 28

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lvl 1/G)

A upgraded version of the goblin general but with the same threat level of D.

Just the right training partner for Misha.

And the wolf-like magic beast is…

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Kobold Lord

Threat: D

Condition: Good

Age: 1

Level: 2

HP: 20/20

MP: 1/1

Strength: 15

Agility: 25

Magic:1

Dexterity: 5

Durability: 10

Luck: 1

It's a so-so troublesome level enemy.

Misha ran into these two alone.

She seemed to be completely out of control so...

“Misha! Watch out! This isn't like anything you've ever seen before!"

“I know! But I can't wait, because I want to be able to fight next to Mars!”

W-what a brave child...she's not just a runaway elf, and so is Karen.

“I will participate in this fight too! I must catch up with Clarice and Ellie as soon as possible!"

And then she showered the orcs with fire magic from behind Misha.

Orcs and magic beasts of the beast type are basically weak against fire magic.

It might have been dangerous if Misha was alone, but Karen's participation made it an easy victory.

“......that......"

After defeating the High Orc and Kobold Lord, Ellie pointed in a certain direction.

In the direction Ellie pointed was a treasure chest. Then Karen said.

“That's a treasure chest! I've never seen one before! Can I open it!?"

When Clarice heard her, she talked about ‘luck’.

Karen looked down in disappointment and so I responded

“It's Karen's first treasure chest. Let’s get her to open it.”

Karen's face lit up but then she looked at Clarice and looked down again.

“If that's what Mars wants, then Karen should open it. I'm just telling you this but Mars has opened all the treasure chests in the past, I'm not saying he has to do so in the future. Above all, Mars is the leader of this party.”

“Thank you! Mars! Clarice! I love you!"

Karen then tried to open the treasure chest.

She appraised it beforehand to see if there were any traps but there didn't seem to be any.

When Karen opened the treasure chest, she found a gold ingot.

Well, it's money, so it's not a dud but Karen is clearly disheartened.

“I won't open...anymore…”

“Let's get back on track and keep diving. I can't wait to be free of all this baggage."

“True......my arms and shoulders are already aching.”

Apparently, Clarice has a lot of baggage to bear.

We're going through the labyrinth, destroying enemies as we go.

“This party is clearly abnormal... accomplishing the same thing as an A-rank party...”

Karen was mumbling as we proceed.

Misha is advancing with her spear ready to pounce on the magic beasts as soon as they appear.

This felt like a fun excursion trip.

“Clarice, I'll hold some for you.”

“Eh? It’s fine. Even now, Mars is carrying more than me......”

“Thinking about it, I wonder if it would be easier if I carried the luggage by floating them with Wind magic... I remembered previously when I was building houses and stuff in Irgusia, I used Wind magic to carry materials......“

I really wish I'd realized that earlier but when I said so... Karen said.

“Don't waste your MP! Especially since Mars has access to precious Holy magic!"

“Oh. Thanks for the advice, I'll carry them myself when my MP drops below 1000."

“Right, until 1000, what are you talking about......? ......Mars, do you have more than...1000MP?”

“Hmm? Yes, I do. I learned magic before I held a sword.”

“B-but hat’s the same for myself! ......Mars never ceases to amaze me......”

“...Mars...Special...chosen...”

“Anyway, Clarice, put your stuff down. I'm really sorry I didn't realize this earlier."

When I said that, Clarice put down her luggage.

I lifted that luggage with a flick of my Wind magic and Clarice said.

“Thank you. Mars.”

And then she kissed me on the cheek. If only she would kiss me like......

No, no, no, no. I've been getting a lot of stimulation lately, so my thoughts and body are running wild. I have to pull myself together ......

How many hours have we explored already? As usual, only orc-ish and kobold enemies have appeared.

“Shall we camp around here for the day?”

Everyone nodded when I said that, but Karen said.

“Mars. I'm not proud of it but I've never camped before. And I don't think I can sleep without a bath, and I've never slept on the ground...”

When Karen said the above, Misha too gave her opinion.

“I'm worried because I've never done it before but I'll give it my try my best. But I wish I could have had a bath...... No matter how much I change my clothes, my body feels sticky, and I feel disgusted because I've been exposed to a little bit of the magic beasts' blood."

Clarice said to them.

“You don't need to worry about that. The only thing you need to worry about is which order you're going to sleep in.”

I was working in silence, listening to everyone's conversation.

The first thing I do is prepare the bath.

I use Earth magic to make three large bathtubs and fill the bath pots with warm water using a mixture of Fire and Water magic.

One of the three bathtubs was built a short distance away.

Next, a large number of tubs are made and hot water is filled in them as well.

Then I surrounded the baths with a big Earth Fortress.

“OK. I've made a simple bathroom. I've also built a simple toilet over there so you can use it if you need to water the flowers. I'm going to enter the bathtub that is far away blindfolded so the females can use the other two bathtubs. There is hot water in the tubs, but if there is not enough, Clarice can pour out water and Karen can adjust the heat of the water. Of course, Misha can offer to spawn the water if she wants."

“Mars... just... how much MP that you had used Wind magic all day and still able to make such a magnificent bathroom!”

I said toward Karen whose face turned red.

“Don't be so angry. I've left enough MP to make beds for everyone. And I don't think we need bedding. I'll use Wind magic, Fire magic, and Water magic to control the temperature."

“Sigh... I'm not angry...... I'm so surprised my heart felt like it was rent...”

Misha's mouth is also in a wide-open state.

“We've been living in the labyrinth for years, we're used to this sort of thing. Especially when Mars is... I once troubled Mars by saying something like Karen did at first. But then Mars responded as what you heard.”

“...every party...1 Mars is a must...”

Ellie jumped along the momentum and said as if I’m a must have gadget for every household.

Well, I guess it's a compliment so I don't feel bad about it...

“If we find a safe zone we'll use that as a base. I'll make something a bit more elaborate then. For now, bear with me with just this."

We took a bath, ate the portable food we'd brought with us, and decided on our sleeping order.

“Anyhow, the order in which we're going to sleep is from 20:00... which means Karen and Misha’s turn right now. Then I'll be next at 21:00, and then Clarice and Ellie at midnight, okay? I want Clarice and Ellie to make sure I'm awake before they go to bed, just like in the old days. This is not a safe zone, and the magic beasts will attack. We're hidden away with Earth magic but it's not as strong as the Earth Fortress. Don't lose your mind when the time’s come. Okay?"

Everyone nodded when I said that, and Karen and Misha immediately went to the bed I had made.

This is how our first night in the labyrinth as Reimei passed.

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

Author’s note:

I am also on Twitter.

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

Next>>

TLN: I always had the image of kobold being half-man doggie. I blame Suikoden 2.

TL’s note:

Edean has always called Mars with honorifics but I usually do away ‘same’ level honorifics like ‘-san’ or ‘-kun’.

2022-11-27 06:03:44 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 101 : Mesalius

TL:SummerPeanut

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

“Clarice, since when were you awake?”

“I woke up right away. Apparently, I didn't use up all my MP. I just felt tired so I laid there for a time.”

“You could have just laid there.”

“Don't be silly. I don't have that kind of taste for peeping.”

I said it teasingly and Clarice replied with a straight face.

We left the room of the senior glasses but because of the large mansion, we don't know where to go to find everyone.

So we're walking around the mansion towards the outside at random.

“Then, how shall we pretend to attach Senior Ede's arm?”

“Um... how about saying that you attached them with Earth magic? Or maybe we can say that you one way or another attached them when you were pouring magic power into them… I don't think she’ll trust no matter what we say in the end, you know?”

That's right. There's a preconceived notion that Holy magic can't return a lost body part so anything we say will end up as a miracle.

“Well, let's just somehow evade this... Anyway to think that senior glasses is going to be my sister-in-law huh...”

“But he said Zeke is against this, didn't he?”

That's right… Why is Zeke against Ike's engagement? And Zeke was talking about how he didn't trust Ike... Could it be that he was trying to get Ike to marry someone else?

“Well, as far as I'm concerned, I would support my brother. Senior glasses isn’t a stranger either, and she's easier to talk to than some other strangers.”

“I'm not going to make my stand in this matter, okay? To begin with, I'm not in a position to have a say. But I suppose I'm glad that Senior Ede is going to be my sister-in-law.”

As we were walking and talking around the house, we met a man who seemed to be a servant.

The man who seemed to be a servant looked at us and said

“Excuse me, but are you one of Miss Edean’s schoolmates? Your uniform seems to be of a different color though. Are you from the Lister Imperial School?”

“We're first-year S class this year. We heard that my brother Ike was here and came to see him. We have finished our business and are planning to return back.”

When I said this, a servant said.

“You seem to be quite the accomplished first-years, aren't you? May I have a little of your time?"

Quite obviously, he was suspicious of us.

The man was in no mood to let us go.

Come to think of it, Guster was suspicious of us too.

“Of course... if you could get a member of the Red Lotus with you...”

As I said this, Garl the Dwarf happened to come into my sight.

“Senior Garl! Can I have a bit of your time?"

When Garl noticed us, he opened his mouth.

“What, are you done with the talk with Ike?”

“Yes. Where are the other Reimei members?”

“Oh, they're back at the inn. They said they wanted to take a bath first.”

“Thank you very much. Are you alright with us now?”

I thanked Garl and asked the man who looked like a servant.

The man who looked like a servant said.

“I am very sorry, sir. We are a little nervous because Miss Edean has been injured like that, and thus we are feeling anxious...about what the Master will look like when he returns."

“I think Senior Ede's right arm has been healed somehow. She might get angry if you enter the room now so please confirm it later nonchalantly.”

Both Garl and the man who seemed to be a servant were surprised by my words.

Neither of them seemed to believe my words but they still hurriedly ran the way we had just come.

I told them not to go because if they went now they might get in the way...

When Clarice and I arrived at the inn, the three of them were already in the bath.

All three of them had dark, gloomy faces.

“What's wrong? You all seem to be in a different mood, did you get into a fight?”

I asked, and Karen said.

“We heard from Senior Garl about that...Ede's right arm. You two saw the scar, didn't you? I knew about Ede’s situation before I came to this school so... She can no longer marry…nor can she join the knights… not even as an adventurer. I feel...sorry for Ede..."

Karen began to cry as she talked.

Ellie and Misha also had tears in their eyes.

“Karen. I healed Senior Ede's right arm. Her right arm is already healed. Didn't you hear her screaming in pain earlier? That was her scream because her right arm was attached and she had regained the feeling in her right arm. After all, the damage was still there back then. Also, Senior Ede's marriage candidate has already been determined. Even if she is missing a part of her body, I'm absolutely sure that Senior Ede can be joined in marriage.”

When I said that, Ellie, Karen, and Misha's faces changed.

“No way!? There's no way you can heal a lost part… That should be the case... but it’s Mars who said so...I can trust it…”

This time, with relief, Karen started to cry again.

This time it was Ellie.

“... Mars...5th... Ede?...”

Misha nodded to Ellie’s words and stared at me. To be honest, let alone the 5th, Zeke and Maria are still opposed to the 3rd and 4th lovers…

Huh? Come to think of it, they are also opposed to Karen and Misha's engagements with me... Well, in my case, I think the reason’s obvious... I know Zeke is thinking about the kids.

Seems like Zeke and Ike need to have a good discussion.

It’ll be best for me to set that location up I guess...

“I think senior glasses is going to marry my brother, Ike. Hence, I believe she's going to be our sister-in-law. It's not definite yet so keep it to yourself first."

When I said that, Ellie and Misha said thank goodness and started crying.

These tears aren't so much that they're glad senior glasses isn’t the fifth but more like they're crying because they can now cry with peace of mind.

“Clarice, please take a bath first. I'll take a bath afterward. After that, let's all go out to eat. I want to talk about what we're going to do tomorrow.”

When I said that, Clarice went into the bath first.

Misha said there were two baths in this room, so I went into the other bath and washed off my sweat.

I got out of the bath and we all waited for Clarice, who took a long bath.

In the meantime, I told everyone that I had been asked to explore the labyrinth.

I thought we should decide on the formation and other things now.

“I'm trying to think of a formation for Reimei. I'm considering having Ellie as the vanguard, then Misha, with me behind Misha, Karen behind me, and Clarice at the rear.”

When I said that, Karen replied.

“Although I know Mars is not a vanguard now... it’s still hard to believe...”

“I can also contribute as a vanguard if the front’s situation gets too tight. And conversely, if the rear guard needs help, I'll go to the rear. That is why I’m in the middle of the formation... or should I continue as vanguard?”

“...Mars...prefer you middle...”

Ellie stated.

Actually, there's another reason I'm in the middle position and that's because I wanted to keep Karen and Misha close to me.

Ellie and Clarice have already proven themselves but I think Karen and Misha would be in danger.

When Clarice came out of the bath and we were all about to go out to eat, I met a man outside the inn who looked like a servant who had just been in Count Mesalius'ss house.

“Ooh thank goodness. Could you all please come towards the mansion right now?”

When the man who looked like a servant said that, Karen answered.

“Who are you? There’s no way we would go to a stranger's place.”

She said something that sounded plausible.

The servant man looked a little miffed.

“I beg your pardon. My name is Murano, Count Mesalius's butler. Miss Edean would very much like to thank you all for your hospitality...”

When Murano said that, we also introduced ourselves.

As anticipated, Murano was shocked after Ellie and Karen’s introductions.

“I would like to offer my apologies for what I uttered earlier. I did not realize the presence of the daughter of Fresvald, the First Duke...and also Lord Golden Lion, the Duke of Syrians.”

Murano apologized with a deep bow.

The surrounding inhabitants are also looking at us suspiciously.

After all, it's not something common to see the steward of the Count of Mesalius, the most powerful man in the land, bowing down...

We followed Murano's lead back to Count Mesalius's mansion.

When we were shown into the dining room, the atmosphere was not full of the sadness we had encountered in the room of the senior glasses but as if we entered paradise.

“Mars. You've come. Today we're having a banquet to welcome and thank Reimei! Eat, drink, and have fun!”

It seems that Ede has already had a little bit of alcohol.

She's drinking alcohol even though her arms were just attached not long ago...

“Today's a joyous day so let's have a good ol’ good time, no-holds-barred!”

Garl looked so red it’s like he got cooked well done but he seems to be in a jolly mood, having fun drinking.

The other Red Lotus members are all drinking too and Ike looks like he’s having fun.

“Well then, we too will take your word for it and do excuse us.”

So we joined them.

Or rather, there was a feast every day in San Marina and now another feast in Mesalius.

However, the foods from San Marina and Mesalius are different so we didn't get tired of eating.

Anyway, banquets with a lot of people are fun and it's even more fun in Mesalius because we all know each other well.

Ike and senior glasses are talking next to each other in a very friendly way.

They already feel like a married couple.

When it was time for the banquet to end, I went to ask Ike a question.

Eh? Did you think I will ask him what happened after that with the senior glasses? I won’t ask that kind of question. There's no point in asking too. The two of them looked like they have already tied the knot.

“Brother. I want to ask you about the labyrinth... What kind of magic beasts appear there?”

“Oh. We only entered up to the first level so I don't know all the details but the magic beasts that appear are mainly orcs. These orcs are a bit tricky. These orcs work together. And it feels like they are also working with other types of magic beasts. I would like to somehow thin them out to the point where they don't cause a labyrinth overflow if possible.”

“Understood. We'll make the proper preparations and enter the labyrinth tomorrow.”

After that, we decided to return to the inn and rest well for tomorrow's labyrinth exploration.

Hmmm...I feel like I'm forgetting something... oh well, I feel like it doesn’t matter even if I forgot that something...

Dames was released the next day.

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

Author’s note:

I am also on Twitter.

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

2022-11-27 05:59:27 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 100 : Sister-in-Law

TL:SummerPeanut

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

3 August 2030.

We finally arrived in the territory of Mesalius.

We decided to head to the inn first and thereafter greet Count Mesalius, the father of the glasses senior.

Well, I don't think we'll see him right away because it's so sudden...

However, we didn't need to see him right away. I wanted to get information from Dames who was staying in the town.

When we got to the inn and tried to arrange accommodation, the shopkeeper noticed us.

“Hey, those uniforms, you're students at the Lister Imperial School, aren't you? I've never heard of that golden embroidery though…are you in the fourth or fifth grade? And you guys are four girls for one guy…?"

“Yes, we are from Lister Imperial School. We are all first-year students. The male/female ratio of our members is... well, it's just a coincidence that we ended up like this...”

“Y-yes, first years... all of you? Did they change the class embroidery this year? For all intents and purposes, you and the two girls behind you look more than just 15 years old...”

“No, it hasn't changed, the first-year S class is embroidered in gold.”

“S class! Right! Quick, go to Count Mesalius! I'll get you the best room, and I'll bring your luggage!”

“We haven't made any appointments yet...”

”It's all right! I'll be charged with a crime if we continue this to and fro talk.”

We were brought to Count Mesalius’s mansion after he said that.

I wanted to meet Dames before meeting Count Mesalius but I had no choice...

When we arrived at the mansion, the people guarding the house suddenly bowed to us, said “Please come in” and led us inside the big house.

What's going on? They didn't know who we were but...I suppose we're wearing these uniforms so there's no doubt about our identities...

In the first room we were shown, the members of Red Lotus were already there.

The room is apparently the room of the glasses senior.

The room's atmosphere is somewhat girly.

And only one person is lying on the bed in that room, and Ike is holding the hand of the person lying there. The other members surrounded Ike, and the one lying on the bed is the glasses senior.

When I entered the room, Ike found me.

“Mars! You came!"

He welcomed us saying so.

However, the other Red Lotus members looked somewhat sad.

“I'm sorry but could you guys stay out here for a bit? And please tell Ellie, Karen, and Misha about our situation. Clarice, I want you to stay here and listen to what I have to say.”

As Ike said this, the Red Lotus members walked out of the room with Ellie, Misha, and Karen.

“Is something wrong? Brother Ike?”

When I said that, Ike pulled me and Clarice by the hand and brought us to the side of the bed where glasses senior is lying. It seems as if the glasses senior is deep asleep.

“Look at this.”

Ike said and ripped off the bedclothes that the glasses senior was wearing.

To my surprise, the glasses senior was dressed in pure white underwear, both top, and bottom.

But there was one part that caught my attention more than that. Her right arm was missing.

Clarice covered her face and turned away.

“W-what has happened?"

“The day before yesterday, we were attacked by a mysterious group of people...1 who were incredibly skilled and we couldn't do anything about... and then Ede's right hand was cut by a dagger that was coated with poison…her arm got cut away before she could receive the impact by spinning her whole body."

Ike slammed on his own knee as he said this to me in frustration.

“I was utterly powerless... I was just too weak...”

“Brother Ike. The day before yesterday we were also attacked by what I assume is the same group. The dagger-using Guster is an A-level adventurer and I couldn't even detect his presence so we were completely defeated. They seemed to be from a clan called Phantom."

“I see...they are foes that even Mars can't beat huh... Mars, Clarice. I have something to tell you. I'm marrying Ede. Even though father is vehemently against this. But it's my fault that it's come to this. Though I had already decided to marry Ede before this happened but I'll continue to see Ede’s wound on her right arm to remind myself."

“Brother Ike...that won’t be possible.”

“What? Are you, by any chance, thinking of taking Ede as your fifth!?”

Ike said to me in a rage and I replied.

“No. I will definitely heal the glasses senior’s right arm. That's why you won't be able to see the wound on glasses senior’s right arm from now on.”

Hearing my words, Ike...

“T-there's no way you can do such a thing...I've never heard of Heal being effective on lost body parts...”

“I can't do it alone, of course. However, Clarice is here. Clarice, will you help me? For our sister-in-law.”

“Of course, I will. I don't know how many days it will take but I'll do it!”

“Where is the senior glasses' right hand?”

When I asked this, Ike took out the right arm of the glasses senior which had been carefully stored under the bed. Apparently, it had been frozen. And although it should have been poisoned, it is clean and not corroded. Hmm? Could it be that it hasn't been poisoned?

Clarice and I immediately heal the right arm with a Heal. It's completely different from when I lifted Ellie's curse. But there’s still a chance. That is Clarice's MP.

Her MP has more than doubled since four years ago.

And she has the title of Saintess.

While we Heal-ed the senior glasses dozens and dozens and hundreds of times, I asked Ike about what was happening in this Mesalius territory.

The quest that Red Lotus originally received was to explore the newly appeared labyrinth in Mesalius territory. However, bandits started appearing at the entrance and exit of Mesalius territory about a week ago so he decided to stop searching for the labyrinth and start exterminating the bandits.

Count Mesalius is not here because he is trying to stop the Balkus Kingdom with his knights. And his eldest son is apparently accompanying him. It seems that Ike and the others have not yet informed Count Mesalius and his eldest son that the glasses senior’s right arm is missing.

“Mars! I feel like her arm is connecting!”

Clarice said excitedly. It is true that the blood color of glasses senior's right arm has improved a little but I do think it is getting better. It's only a matter of being thawed out after...but more importantly, it looks as if the arm is completely attached now.

“Good! If we keep healing like this..."

I was so excited that I started to shout a little louder too and it seems that that had woken up the glasses senior.

“Uuh...you guys...what are you doing here?”

As soon as she caught me and Clarice in her line of sight, she shouted.

“Ouch!!!!!!!!”

Members of Red Lotus tried to come in from outside the room but Ike said “Don't come in!” and did not let the Red Lotus members enter.

Only the senior glasses' agony continued in this situation.

Ike moved nearer to the senior glasses and said.

“It's okay! I'm with you! Ede, where does it hurt?"

“My right...right arm, my right hand hurts! It's cold but hot!"

“Hm? Can you feel your right arm?”

Ike gripped senior glasses’ right hand as he said that.

Then, senior glasses was also surprised.

“It...hurts? It hurts! My right arm hurts and my right hand hurts too! I have sensation in my missing right arm! I can feel the warmth from your hand!”

Senior glasses looked towards her own right arm as she said this. It seems like she noticed that her right arm is connected now.

“Is this a dream? I have my right arm... and right hand... how?"

Senior glasses stared at Ike as she said above.

Just then, Clarice interrupted.

“Sorry. Mars, I'm running out of MP. I’ll have MP depletion so take care of the rest. Senior Ede, see you later."

Clarice said so and closed her eyes next to Senior Ede due to her lack of magic power.

Ike saw that and told the glasses senior.

“I'm sorry...Ede...for letting you suffer...but it's all right now. Mars and the others will heal you. Please keep this a secret no matter what. Please!"

Ike said this to the glasses senior so she...

“O-of course...but I don't know how you managed to attach my right arm. Even Holy magic can't do it..."

I and Ike stared at each other when senior glasses said that.

I see! It's common knowledge that even if you use Holy magic, you can't recover the lost body parts so I and Clarice are not exposed...

So I decided to instead not to answer senior glasses' question but continued my talk with Ike just now.

“The clan called Phantom that I just told you about won't touch Mesalius territory anymore. This was told to me by the clan master Guster himself so it should be trustworthy. Perhaps we were attacked because we were of S class and not using the normal uniform’s embroidery and it was set up so that Guster himself attacked us. Guster himself said he was tricked by the quest client.”

“I see... Understood. We'll let Count Mesalius know that Ede is safe. Even if we don't tell him, Count Mesalius and the others will have heard about Ede’s right hand... They might be so worried about Ede that they will retreat. Let's depart from here by tomorrow."

Ike also seemed to realize my intention and replied.

Then the glasses senior said.

“Can I ask you again? Why are you and Mars here?"

I told her about the events with the Marquis of San Marina and that a man called Dames had informed me that the Count of Mesalius was in trouble. Then the glasses senior asked me what Dames looked like, to which I replied.

“I apologize! I thought the man called Dames looked so suspicious that I thought he was a spy for the Balkus Kingdom and I locked him up! He's one of my benefactors and to think I actually did such a terrible thing..."

The glasses senior said in fluster so I answered.

“Oh, it's fine... Maybe...because he's suspicious no matter how you look at him. He also had past records too...”

I told them all about Dames, and both Ike and the glasses senior were outraged at what Dames had done. In particular, they were really angry about the fact that he tried to kill Clarice.

“Well, I guess if he’s Teacher Sasha’s slave, you can trust him in a way...”

Rather than trusting Dames, she trusted Sasha which meant that Damez will be released later.

“So what are Reimei going to do now? As far as I'm concerned, I need your help...”

“Yes. I also wanted to help in some way. If there is anything I can do to help, I will. What should I do? Though I’d like to do something about glasses senior’s right arm first...”

In response to my question, the senior said.

“Thank you. I think it's OK now. I've regained most of the senses in my right arm. If possible, could you thin out the monsters in the newly created labyrinth? It's quite challenging and I think it’s about intermediate level...”

“Okay, I understand. We will go and thin out the labyrinth. If you have any information about that labyrinth, please share it with us..."

When I said that, Ike said.

“Okay. Let's talk about it over dinner. Is it alright to let Clarice sleep in Ede's bed? By the way, this mansion is safe so we don't need an escort or anything. Also, even if it's Mars, I don't want Ede to be seen naked any more than this."

Ede rushed to cover herself with the duvet when she realized that she is only wearing underwear.

“Did you undress me, by any chance, Mars? You didn't do anything strange, did you?”

She asked, puffing out her cheeks. Then Ike.

“I'm the one who undressed Ede. I swear to God. I didn't do anything guilty.”

“Also, it sounds like you said in the throes that you wouldn't show it to Mars but you wouldn't mind the same to for yourself?”

When Ike heard the glasses senior’s words…

“Is that not obvious? Is it bad for me to gaze upon the woman I'm marrying? No...it IS bad... That should be after marriage...?”

“Eh... marriage?”

The glasses senior is scowling at Ike's words.

“Yeah. Ede, marry me. I love you."

“N-no... you can't... Your father is against this, isn't he?'

“My family doesn't matter. Or am I not good enough?"

“There’s no such thing! I've always loved Ike! But ..."

Then Ike suddenly kissed the glasses senior.

“I'll say it again and again until you nod. Ede, marry me."

“Thank you...despite my lacking self, I hope to be with you."

Ike's words were answered by the tearful glasses senior, and the glasses senior kissed Ike as she got out of the duvet and stood in front of him. Of course, Ike's son was standing there too but unfortunately, I’m not explaining that side, okay?

And I hope they didn't forget I am here. It seemed like the two of them were about to start a fight at any moment.

“Congratulations to both of you. Brother Ike, I'm going to leave now. I’m returning to the inn so please call me when you are settled. Sister-in-law. Please let me check on your right arm again later. I look forward to working with you in the future."

I bowed to them and they nodded their heads in embarrassment.

And as I was leaving the room, Clarice, who should have been sleeping due to a lack of magic power, followed me out of the room.

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

Author’s Note:

A memorable 100th episode.

I never thought I would write this much.

I had planned to write it in a lazy way.

I feel a sense of purpose when I think about everyone that is reading my work.

I feel nothing but gratitude to my readers.

Thank you very much.

2022-11-20 17:18:20 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 99 - Complete Defeat

TL:SummerPeanut

Ty for the support Myth666, Joshua Ramos, and all patrons.

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

“There's about 20 of them hiding in the grass up ahead! They are out of our range from here but watch out!"

I alert everyone and Karen says.

“It's all right. With the Fire crest of Fresvald and the Book Crest of Regan. No one would be stupid enough to attack a carriage bearing these two emblems.”

Yes. Thank you for the flag.

As we were passing through the grass, all at once, 20 men attacked us.

Karen shouted as she gets off the wagon.

“Can't you see these fire emblems and book emblems!? Are you trying to make enemies of both the Dukes of Fresvald and Regan!?”

The bandits ignored Karen's words and attacked.

Reimei’s female members also went outside the wagon to fight back.

While fighting, the bandits were sizing up the female members.

“Hey, you guys don't hurt these girls! If you can offer them up to Sir Guster, you'll get a promotion and a rise in rank!”

Sir Guster? Their employer? I'm also curious about their promotion and rank increase.

The bandits were surprisingly strong.

And they attacked me intensively.

It was a pretty convenient development for me.

I fired a Tornado at the bandits when they had consolidated.

Of course, I was being careful. Maybe that’s why some of them could resist but they got rendered into a situation where they couldn’t make any movement.

One by one, the bandits who had been blown into the air were dropped in front of the girls with Wind, they tied their limbs with ropes and rolled them around there.

The resisting bandits were also few in number so they were all quickly rolled to the ground.

However, Clarice and her team made one mistake here.

They did not blindfold them.

The rolled bandits turned on their backs and looked up.

Naturally, the women were in uniform and…skirts, so it was only after they had tied and rolled all the bandits to the ground that they noticed their gaze.

Clarice sensed their gaze and, with a cold look in her eyes, took aim at the bandits with her magic bow and arrow. Naturally, there was only one place to aim.

The bandits were still scowling because they don't know what was going to happen but I know and thus I restrained Clarice with my hand.

“Clarice. Although it might not be force majeure... but this time you'll have to tolerate it. I don't think even I could look away in that situation. Of course, the bandits will be turned in to Count Mesalius and sentenced accordingly."

Then Clarice.

“Alright. I'll let you off the hook this time for Mars's face.”

Thank God. 20 men's lives could have ended here.

“Who are these guys anyway? I can't imagine them actually attacking us with the Lister Confederacy’s Fresvald Household fire crest right in front of their eyes...”

As Karen put it.

“We'll hear about that at Count Mesalius's place too. In the meantime, let's bring these guys to the wagons and get to Count Mesalius as soon as possible."

We headed for Mesalius, dragging the bandits in the wagon.

The bandits were acting a little strange by the way.

They are about to be condemned but for some reason, they seem to be at ease.

They did not reply when we spoke to them.

They just looked like they were in pain from being dragged by the wagon but there was no sense of sadness at all.

When we were almost to the territorial capital Mesalius, my Mana Eyes reacted.

The fog is thick ahead but apparently, it is not a natural phenomenon.

I dispelled the fog with Wind magic, and before I know it, a man stood next to me as he said below.

“Oh...that's amazing...you're pretty good at Wind magic huh...”

Hearing that whisper, I pulled out my Thunder Sword as quickly as possible.

I know it's not something I should point at people but I had a gut feeling that the foe was too strong for me to say such a thing.

That prediction came true, and before I knew it, a dagger was lodged in my stomach.

I don't know when I was stabbed. I just felt hot in my abdomen and only then I noticed that I was stabbed.

“Ggh! Who are you!?”

I shouted and the girls came out of the wagon to see what was going on.

“My name is Guster. I am the leader of the men being dragged there. I have come to negotiate with you. I'll let you off the hook this time so why don't you let my people go? I know they are a bunch of weaklings but we cannot abandon our own people.”

Then Karen said.

“There’s no way you can do that! It was you people that had just picked a fight with Fresvald and Regan Households!”

Clarice controlled Karen as she said frenziedly.

“Karen wait! Mars was stabbed!”

When Karen realized I got stabbed.

“Oh no...... how could there be someone at the level of being able to land mortal wound to Mars…”

Karen's words were followed by a man who identified himself as Guster.

“Picking a fight with the Fresvald and Regan Households? What do you mean? We are only here to disrupt the logistics and human flow to Mesalius... The crest on this carriage…I see so that’s what happened...I beg your pardon. It appears we have been deceived by our client."

A man called Guster bowed his head and continued his story, saying.

“As you can imagine, we definitely don't want any business with the Fresvald family. And we owe Duke Regan a great debt of gratitude. ...how can we be forgiven? Of course, I can't abandon my comrades. In the meantime, let us heal his wounds. Russe! Heal him."

When Guster said this, the fog that I had supposedly blown away earlier came back to life, and an adult woman walked over to me from within it.

The woman then touched my abdomen and chanted 'heal', and my abdomen recovered.

The dagger in my abdomen that had been stabbed had somehow been pulled out and gone.

Russe healed my abdomen with a Heal and disappeared into the mist again.

“Now answer my question. Who are you? Who is your employer? And why are you interfering with Mesalius territory?”

I asked Guster with my Thunder Sword at the ready.

“As I said before, my name is Guster. Even though like this, I'm an A-rank adventurer, the clan master of the clan ‘Phantom’ and the leader of the A-rank party ‘Phantom’. Naturally, I can't tell you who the quest client is this time. And I can only say that the interference with the Mesalius territory is because it's a quest.”

When Guster said that, before anyone noticed anything, the bandits who had just been tied on their hands and feet and chained to the carriage were already behind Guster.

“......when did he.......!”

Ellie raised an unusually impatient voice.

I was also impatient because the bandits were behind Guster before I knew it.

“It seems like there are no more questions as such we'll take our leave. We will no longer interfere with Mesalius territory.”

With that, Guster and the others disappeared into the fog.

I appraised Guster before he disappeared into the mist.

Name: Guster

Title: Dagger King, assassin

Status: Human race, commoner.

Condition: Good

Age: 28 years old

Level: 60

HP: 152/152

MP: 174/201

Strength: 76

Agility: 104

Magic: 50

Dexterity: 124

Durability: 48

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Knifemanship (Lv9/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv7/C)

Equipment: Dagger of Divine Speed

Equipment: Dagger of Illusion

Equipment: Robe of Illusion

Equipment: Shoes of Illusion

Equipment: Ring of Protection

So this is an A-rank adventurer... I didn’t expect I couldn’t even notice a single sign of his presenece.

To be honest, I felt more despair from him than even Barnes.

“Is everyone okay?”

I asked the girls after Guster and the others had left, and they said 'yes' and ran over to me.

“Mars, are you okay?”

Clarice asked me with tears in her eyes and I replied ‘I’m fine’.

“It’s my complete defeat... There's no chance to win at all... So this is an A-rank adventurer...... I suppose I had been overconfident...”

You might think that I could have used Lightning cloak and Kamui but I believe there was a more fundamental problem before that. I don’t even know when he attacked.

It’s not like I can deploy Lightning Cloak or Kamui all the time so unless I can detect Guster, there's no point.

“It's a matter of...compatibility...Papa can win...but Papa can't beat Mars... maybe…”

“That's as accurate as Ellie gets. I, too, agree. I'm sure Lord Barnes can definitely win. After all, Lord Barnes had high durability and HP. Even if Guster attacks him several times, he won't be affected. On the other hand, he will easily catch Guster and finish him off.

And you're giving me too much credit. I can't win against Lord Barnes. But I can't keep losing like this. Maybe one day we'll have another rematch. I'll be stronger."

When I said that, all the girls hugged me.

The girls' eyes were filled with tears.

“There was also a Holy magician. It's definitely not an A-rank party for nothing. And they must have been at a pretty high rank. No matter how amazing the A-rank parties are, there isn't always a Holy magician in every party.”

When Misha said so, Karen nodded and then said.

“I think that Holy magician Russe was probably from the Lister Imperial School. I've heard that there was a Holy magician by that name in the Lister Imperial School.”

“Anyway, let's be on the lookout and hurry to Mesalius. I don't think Guster will attack us but there might be a party on a similar quest. Ellie, I'm sorry but can you play the coachman role with me? It’s a fact that I can't spot them all on my own."

“......okay...... I didn't see any sign of Guster either......”

Ellie got on the coachman’s platform as she said this.

“I didn't think daggers were that strong. I'm going to try to be a Sword King by the time I graduate…no, by the time I reach my third year. Ellie, let's work together so you’ll become the dagger king too!”

“I'll...definitely...become a Dagger King!..."

Clarice and Karen that were listening to the conversation between me and Ellie on the wagon.

“I'll be the Bow King too!”

“Then I'll be the Fire King."

Misha who was listening to their conversation.

“I suppose I’ll be the Spear King? I'll have to learn a lot while Glenn is at school.”

With a new resolve, we headed for Mesalius.

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

2022-11-20 17:15:30 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 98 - The Raid Event

TL:SummerPeanut

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

30 July 2030.

A few days have passed since the marine worms were defeated.

Since after the first day, only five marine worms have appeared on 27 July.

I’m not sure if they have all been killed or if they have moved elsewhere but there is now peace on the beach at San Marina.

The day after the marine worms were defeated, I started to fill in the holes in the beach with Earth magic.

I had let Karen and Misha know that I could use Earth magic but they looked at me in disbelief.

And yesterday I filled all the holes and the sea is open for the public today... But to be honest, I'm feeling troubled... It's a phenomenon that's happening right in front of my eyes right now.

“Hey. Where are you guys from? I know you must be lonely with just you girls so let's do something nice with us.”

I wonder what nth group is they now already? All the guys who come here pick up the girls, especially Clarice and Ellie.

Really, as far as I can see, all the bastard males here are here to pick up girls.

To be frank, Clarice and Ellie are wearing something quite provocative, like bikinis, whereas Karen and Misha are more reserved.

“We... actually, we're all engaged. We all have a fiancée."

The Reimei girls said the same words so many times I lost count of them already.

And each time, the guys refused to give up easily, saying things like, “Let's have an avant-garde date just for today” or “We can definitely entertain you better”.

I think that if Ellie and Karen told the guys about their origins, they would definitely back down but the Reimei girls don’t do that.

Rather, they seem to be waiting to be picked up.

And when there are guys who were too persistent in picking up on them, the Reimei girls come to me just as if they were waiting for me.

How many groups of men approached me already... This time it’s a group of four beastly, gorilla-like men.

“Yo bro, it's a waste of four guys for just one bro, isn't it? At least give us this blonde girl!? Right?"

By blonde girl, did he mean Ellie... You're a beastman but you don't even know about Ellie, the Golden Lion?

“No, I can't do that. They're all important women to me.”

I scruffily said this and the beastman grabbed me by the shoulders with his claws.

I'm only wearing trunks-type sea pants, by the way, so he can't grab me by the chest.

“If you are satisfied with grabbing me by the shoulders, then please go home. I don't want to antagonize the beastmen too much.”

After saying this, the beastmen...

“You're getting quite worked up just because you're working out a bit, brother!? Aahn!? Do you know how great and strong we beastmen are? Our Syrians Royal School has won the fighting tournament for years in a row, including this year! We're not built like you guys! Do you understand?”

Huh... something about these guys this time meshed the worst with me... I'm getting angry too...

“Are you referring to the Fighting Combat Tournament for new students? We, the Lister Imperial School, won both the martial arts and magic divisions this year, you know? And I believe I know even if you don't tell me that the human race and the beastmen's bodies are built differently?"

The girls are watching the conversation between me and the beastmen men with amusement.

Meanwhile, the rest of the pick-up artists are also paying attention to us.

The beastmen got offended by my words.

“You bastard! You're a fucking liar! I'll let you understand! The horror of the beastmen!"

Is it just me, or are there a lot of beastmen like this? I wonder if I just happen to be looking at a lot of strange people because the four beastmen attacked me altogether.

I could just let them beat me up like this, but as expected, my fiancées would be disillusioned by that.

I had no choice so I blew the four beastmen into the sea with Wind.

I thought this was the end of the matter, but Ellie...

“...they...can't swim...die...”

“Eh?! Why can’t they? Can't they at least doggy paddle?"

“...gorila race...can't swim...”

When I looked at the sea where I blew the beastmen, they were obviously drowning.

Huh, that's a pain in the ass... If you can't swim, why did you come to the sea... Hm? What does one normally go to the sea for? I don't know, I've never been to the sea in Japan...

I had no choice but to help the beastmen and they trying to stir up something again.

"I'm going to fly you to the sea again, okay?"

When I said that, the beastmen shut up.

And then, as if in pursuit, Ellie finally said.

“...Papa is Barnes Leo, former Duke of Syrians. I'm Ellie...and this silver-haired one over here is...the famous nut crusher...Clarice..."

When Ellie says this, the beastmen hold their crotches and look at Ellie and Clarice's faces, their faces turning blue.

Incidentally, Clarice and Ellie have already had a fight prior.

“Please, spare us from what Kuro experienced. We are but lowly first years of the Syrians Royal School! I won't do it again, just spare my...our sons...!"

The beastmen got down on their knees and apologized to us.

The people around us looked at them in surprise.

“That's enough. Please leave. Stop this persistent pickup attempt with us."

When I said this, the beastmen ran away at once.

The other pick-up artists who had seen the commotion also began to distance themselves from us.

“Sorry about this. Mars has been quite popular these days so we wanted you to know that we are a little favored as well. As expected, Clarice was the only one who was approached though.”

“Well, Mars has been the focus lately. I hope you're a little jealous?"

Karen and Misha sat down next to me.

“I tried not to let it bother me but it didn't work and I got jealous in the end.”

I said honestly, and Clarice and Ellie hugged me from behind.

“I'm sorry. I had a lot going on at school with Senior Ede so I wanted to annoy Mars a little bit.”

“...yeah...sorry...”

Clarice and Ellie also apologized. To mention a glasses senior at this point in time... could they be an esper…?

“Um... there's something I want to talk to you guys about later... alright?”

I said that and everyone nodded.

We spent the rest of the evening floating around, chasing each other, and killing time in the sea.

And now we're having a banquet at Marquis San Marina's mansion.

Ever since the first banquet, a banquet has been held every night.

It seems that the situation of not being able to open the sea in the town of San Marina was a matter of life and death for them.

That's why they called us every day and hold a banquet.

“Marquis San Marina, it looks like this city is safe now hence we are leaving tomorrow for the neighboring Mesalius territory.”

“Ooh. Thanks to your effort, the crisis in our San Marina territory has been solved. I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much. Are you... aware of the situation there that is why you're going to Count Mesalius' territory?”

“Yes. I have heard about it but only vaguely.”

“Well...please do lend Count Mesalius’s territory out too.”

The Reimei girls who heard the conversation between me and the Marquis San Marina are looking at me anxiously.

I explained to the girls how it happened.

“Actually, a certain person... former baron Dames Barker informed me that the territory of Count Mesalius located next to Marquis San Marina, in other words, the territory of the household of senior glasses that we passed by to reach here, has been invaded by the Balkus Kingdom. I hope you can make your own assumption as to why I and Dames are in contact with each other. There have always been skirmishes before but this time it seems to be on a slightly larger scale. I don't know if the nomination quest for Red Lotus is related to that but I'm planning to help if there's anything I can do. Can I ask everyone to go along with me?"

Then everyone said yes but Karen said.

“Is Mars okay with fighting the people from the Balkus Kingdom?”

She asked. I answered honestly.

“To my shame, I'm not at all okay with it... but I'm going to see if I can do something about this. Besides, this is not a completely personal matter.”

Karen seemed satisfied with my answer.

We enjoyed our last banquet in San Marina and prepared for tomorrow.

1 August 2030.

We departed from the territory of Marquis San Marina.

On our departure, the Marquis gave us a grand send-off and 10 gold coins as well as a reward for completing the quest.

“I hope to come back more relaxedly next time."

Clarice said this as we were heading toward Count Mesalius’s territory, and everyone nodded.

The Count of Mesalius is next to the Marquis San Marina and is also on the road we must take on our way back to the Lister Imperial School.

Naturally, we also passed through it on my way to the Marquis San Marina but the situation was completely different from when I arrived.

Having left the territory of Marquis San Marina and entered the territory of Count Mesalius, there were a lot of magic beasts.

“Were there this many magic beasts when we came here? I don't remember much because I was chatting with everyone in the wagon on the way...”

Misha spoke to me as she ran.

This time, not only me but all the members of Reimei are defeating the magic beasts.

In San Marina, it was almost exclusively me who defeated the Marine Worms so I'm trying to get the other members back on their toes.

“That's not true. As expected, this is just too many. Though, they're all weak magic beasts so there's no problem...”

The number of magic beasts might be about the same as the stampede of the magic beasts at Irgusia.

If we don't defeat them because they are weak, the town will be damaged and that's why as soon as we find any magic beasts, we destroy them even if it costs us a little detouring.

After destroying the magic beasts and when the Reimei girls were taking a break in the wagon, we experienced our first event since the start of this journey.

It was an event that had not happened four years ago when we returned from the Zarkham Kingdom to the Balkus Kingdom.

The wagon, decorated with Duke Regan's Book Crest and Duke Fresvald's Fire Crest, was attacked.

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

2022-11-13 02:40:41 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 97 : Rewards

TL:SummerPeanut

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

26 July 2030.

Once we had defeated the marine worms, we decided to return to the inn.

The purpose is to check on Misha again. Incidentally, it was still before noon.

Misha and Clarice were already out of the bath and relaxing. Since Ellie and Karen said they would take a bath too, they both took a bath after.

After all, you want to take a bath after going to the beach because your body feels sticky later.

“Misha, were you all right?”

“Yeah. I'm fine. Thank you so much. You saved my life twice, once four years ago and again this time. I don't know how to thank you anymore...”

“Don't worry about it. I just did as I like. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my Holy magic for so long.”

When I said that, Misha took my hand in hers and replied.

"Mars's hand is warm and feels good. And I felt very safe. I'm glad you used such important magic on me."

Misha now looked in Clarice’s direction.

“Thank you for everything, Clarice. I'll work even harder to be stronger so that I don't have to be protected and so that I can fight side by side with Mars, Clarice, and Eririn!”

Clarice nodded silently and pulled Misha's head close and patted her head.

Yup. I could watch the view of two beautiful girls shoulder to shoulder all the time.

Ellie and Karen came out of the bath hence I decided to take a bath too.

When I came out of the bath, the girls had already changed into their uniforms.

I changed into my uniform because we were going out to eat.

Duke Regan told us to always wear the uniform when we go out.

Apparently, one of the purposes is to advertise.

I also changed into a new uniform, not the one I was wearing earlier, but looks the exact same one with gold embroidery.

The Marquis San Marina insisted on holding a banquet in the evening so we finished our lunch with a light meal.

I had the usual Mars set meal.

You might think my action’s a waste since we've come all the way to the sea town, but we will still eat a lot at night anyway.

There’s time until night so when asked what to do until then, I answered I’m going back to the room to sleep because I felt fatigued due to various reasons so we ended up staying in our room.

I went straight to bed and tried to take a nap but the ladies came over to give me a massage.

Last time it went from massage to wrestling but this time it seems to be ok.

I was getting a massage and the girls seemed surprised when I turned onto my back. Because a massage where you're lying on your back is...

“Karen. I need to talk to you for a minute. Could you bring me the Salamander Sword?”

When I said that, Karen brought me the Salamander Sword.

“Don't worry, I want you to watch. It'll be fine.”

I said that and took the Salamander Sword out of its sheath a bit and cut my finger a little, and blood flowed from my finger.

The other three seemed to know what I was going to do.

But Karen panicked.

“What are you doing! Stop this self-harming!"

She said quite angrily but I chanted 'Heal' in a slightly quiet voice to heal my own finger wound and stop the bleeding.

Then Karen looked astonished.

“He...Heal is...Mars you!”

I held my index finger up in front of my mouth to imitate the shush action, in case the end of the word got too loud and those in other rooms found out.

“I can also use Holy magic. I can even use High Heal, by the way, I can also use Cure to heal the abnormal state of the body. I also healed Misha's wounds just now.”

“I-I knew it, Misha must have had a severe burn wound... didn’t she?”

“I'm sorry, I didn't tell you. However, I felt that excluding only you is wrong so I let you know now. By the way, Misha only found out a little while ago."

Misha to Karen.

“Karen... please don't reveal Mars's Holy magic. If people find out about this because of me, I'll..."

“Isn’t that obvious... if others find out about this, our current routine will be over.”

“Thank you both. Please don't tell anyone for a while. I'm glad I decided to let you both know. I’ve been feeling a bit of guilt up until now."

I said this and got down on my back and the girls started massaging me again.

“Aren’t you too stiff, Mars? I mean, your calves were kind of stiff earlier but your shoulders, arms, and back are also incredibly hard...”

That’s what Karen said.

Huh? I stretch a lot so I think my body’s quite soft if anything...

“If anything I should be on the soft side... I think I'm quite flexible?”

“Really? It's kind of stiff in all the places I touched... and different from myself...”

“Isn’t that Mars’s muscle you touched?”

After Clarice said so, Ellie too...

“Mars...very nice muscle...soft yet hard... feels good.”

If you take out two phrases from above, it sounds like something obscene... and

when Karen heard those.

“Mars, are you perhaps working out or something?”

I answered that I do morning runs and strength-training menus.

“You're not really a magician, are you... Am I allowed to touch your muscles a bit?”

“Yeah, just don't stimulate them too much...”

Unsurprisingly, my unruly stick will leak hot pathos if I receive any stimulation in this kind of situation…after all, I mature fast for a 10-year-old body… Anyway, the ladies touched my muscles as they please.

They went on “Oh, it's so hard!” or “Incredible!”...

“I-isn’t it fine now? I don't think I can sleep like this...”

When I said that, the girls started massaging me again and I fell asleep because the touches were soft and felt so good.

The next thing I knew, it was already evening.

And without me noticing, they had moved me to the largest bed and I slept with them in the same bed.

Clearly, the bed was too small for the five of us to sleep in but Karen and Misha managed to fit in because of their small size.

But it was still very crowded, and my hands were buried under someone else's body...

If I move, they'll call me a pervert and beat me up...I can't even turn over so what am I supposed to do...

I had no choice but to try to go back to sleep again, yet my neighbour seems to have woken up and is looking around.

And I can kind of feel that she's looking into my face.

Then something touches my lips. It's definitely lips.

I opened my eyes and there in front of me is Misha.

Misha looked surprised but opened her mouth.

“I gave you my first. It might not be enough as thanks though.”

Misha whispered to me in a small voice. ...what is this cute thing... I didn't know what is the right thing to say in response.

“Thank you.”

So I just said that.

When Misha heard these words, she got up and the other girls got up too.

Huh? Maybe they were all awake from the beginning?

'Well then, shall we all go to the banquet hall?'

After Clarice said that, she pulled my hand as we went to the banquet hall prepared by Marquis San Marina.

In addition to the Marquis of Saint-Marina, there were guild officials, including the guildmaster, innkeepers, and retailers from the city in the hall.

And there were still about 20 girls aged around 15.

I told Clarice and the others beforehand.

We're here to represent the Lister Imperial School.

Since we are here as representatives, I need to show some moderation in my attitude.

But we have to respect the client as well, and we will do just that.

So they should never behave or say or do anything that is not polite.

When the banquet began with a toast by the Marquis of San Marina, I took the four of them and went to greet the Marquis San Marina first.

Karen said that the Marquis would come to me and that I should just wait for him but I don’t feel comfortable letting him do that.

“Marquis San Marina. Thank you for inviting me to your banquet.”

“Why of course. Thanks to Reimei members, we manage to attract guests again this year. How much longer do you think it will take to wipe out all the worms?”

“I don't know how many there were originally and thus I can't say for sure but I think we'll keep a vigilant watch...until the day after tomorrow. We're planning to stay here until the end of July.”

“The end of July? Since there is no issue as long as you go back by 30 August, shouldn’t you be able to stay here until mid to late August?”

“No. After we have successfully completed the quest and having stretched our wings a little, we shall return to the Lister Imperial School and take on other quests. We of Reimei still have some nominated quests left so we want to complete other nominated quests as many as possible. I also want to raise my Adventurer Rank and party rank as soon as possible."

The Marquis San Marina and the female members of Reimei were also surprised at my words.

Maybe they planned to play here until the very end of August.

“I see...this is ultimately a quest in the end so it can't be helped... I also prepared a beautiful place for you today. However, that might be an unwanted effort on my part. But the girls have no fault. I invited them at my own convenience. Some of them come from noble families so I'd like you to say a word to them...is that alright?"

The Marquis of San Marina said this and looked toward Ellie and Karen.

Before Ellie and Karen could answer, I opened my mouth.

“I cannot let the Marquis of San Marina lose face. However, my fiancées also have their own position and for that, I will only lightly introduce myself."

So I said. I expected that the other girls would not take action after they learned of Ellie and Karen's origins.

My prediction was spectacularly betrayed...

I took the four of them to the ladies prepared by Marquis San Marina and greeted them.

“It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Mars, a first-year S class student of Lister Imperial School. It is an honour to meet all of you lovely ladies.”

The ladies were a little perturbed when I said the social words.

I continued.

“There are a few other members I would like to introduce to you.”

When I said this, Clarice was the first to introduce herself.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Clarice Lampard, ranked second in the S class of Lister Imperial School. I am the fiancée of Mars here, and I am his to-be lawful wife."

When Clarice said this, the girls said something unexpected.

“I knew it.”

“As expected, I don't think I could ever take a man away from her.”

“How can one be so beautiful?”

And so on and so forth, raising the white flag to Clarice right from the start.

If you think about it, Ellie, Karen, and Misha are all good-looking enough to aim for the number one spot at school, if not for Clarice.

But even these three were not able to match Clarice's good looks.

And when the introduction of the female members of Reimei was over, 20 girls crowded toward Marquis San Marina.

They were generally saying about ‘as if we can contend against Fresvald and Syrians!’, ‘Don't embarrass me!’, and so on.

By the time the banquet was almost over, the female members of Reimei and the 20 girls were chatting amicably and managed to get through the event...

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

2022-11-13 02:35:48 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 96 : Roar! Thunder Sword!

TL:SummerPeanut

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

26 July 2030.

“Alright! We're going to restore peace to the beach now!"

With Clarice's call, we of Reimei were about to head for the beach but the Marquis San Marina told us to go to the Adventurer's Guild to receive our nominated quest so we did just that.

I thought that since it was called a nominated quest, we wouldn't have to go through the guild but it seems like that was not the case.

We first dropped in at the Adventurer's Guild in San Marina where there were more guild officials than the adventurers.

This is indeed a bad situation...

We received the Marquis of San Marina's nomination quest but it was apparently written with the expectation that we would fail the quest.

The quest form said that even if we failed, he would not ask for any compensation or reparation and that the Adventurer's Guild would not penalize us... Either we are not trusted, or successive S classes are not trusted...

“I can see from this form that we're not expected to do anything...”

When Clarice remarked so, Karen said in response.

“Perhaps they think we're in S class because we come from a higher background and are a bit stronger. We still couldn't win their trust with just the Freshman Combat Tournament.”

“I suppose the fact that I exclaimed wanting to go to the beach to play immediately yesterday also played a part to this. They must be thinking that we are totally here to play, aren’t they…?”

That is true for all of us here I guess.

“Then we'll have to make up for it."

When I said that, everyone nodded.

By the way, we didn't get anything from yesterday's information gathering.

The reason is that people are too scared to go to the beach.

The people with money quickly left this San Marina and the town is now on the verge of ruins...

When I asked Karen why didn't the Marquis ask other nobles to help, she said that if he asked other nobles to help, he would be in debt to them and could be swallowed up by them.

And most nobles cannot afford to send their knights to other territories. The few that can afford that are probably those like Duke Fresvald.

Every territory has so many magic beasts that they had their hands full just to maintain security in their own territory.

You’ll hear the same thing everywhere else...

When we got to the beach at San Marina, the beach was still in its previous miserable state.

It had been ravaged by large numbers of worms and left untouched.

It was easy to imagine that a terrible tragedy had unfolded.

“Well, Clarice and everyone, do you have any ideas on how to defeat the worms?”

When I asked the girls.

“We could go into the hole and look for the worms, or we could place a bait near the hole and wait for them to come out.”

Clarice nodded her head and Karen said.

“Maybe if we put Fire magic in the hole, they’ll find it uncomfortable and come out?”

She had the same idea as me. In my case, it isn’t Fire magic though...

“What if Eririn scouts them out by the smell or something and then we all beat them up?”

Misha said but Ellie...

“...stinky...don’t want...”

She immediately rejected the idea.

“Let's try Karen's idea for now, shall we? Karen and I will use Fire magic at the hole.”

Then, Karen and I shot Fire magic at the hole as we saw fit.

Then something got caught in Ellie's detection.

“It’s here! Right under...!"

As it was quite dangerous, I hugged Karen and left the spot.

Clarice, Ellie, and Misha also left where they were.

Then a worm jumped out from where Karen was.

Just in the nick of time. If I had been any slower, I would have been eaten.

I looked at the worm and appraised it.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Marine Worm

Threat: C+

Condition: Good

Age: 3 years old

Level: 4

HP: 75/75

MP: 3/3

Strength: 30

Agility: 30

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 25

Durability: 50

Luck: 1

It's called a marine worm... a worm-like magic beast boasting 5m in thickness and 20m in length.

Its mouth is lined with sharp fangs...really disgusting.

Its abilities are completely the inferior version of the Hellsnake.

The only problem is that this one escapes into the sand.

We have to completely defeat it when it came out from the sand or else.

And the marine worm that missed us drooled all over us.

If this is the same as the Hellsnake, it might be a kind of dissolving fluid.

“Everyone, definitely make sure you dodge its drool!”

Before I could say so, Clarice and Ellie were dodging it but Misha was trying to wipe it off with her hand.

I tried to use Wind to carry her but it was too late, and the drool on Misha's hand made a 'sizzling' sound.

“hot!"

Misha pulled back her hand like that, and it seemed to have gotten on her face a little bit too.

Misha's face seems to have been burned too!

“Kyaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!”

Misha winced while holding her face due to the drool.

“Clarice! Take care of Karen!"

I handed Karen to Clarice and immediately ran to Misha.

Then Misha screamed in a voice that sounds like a scream.

“Don't look at me! Don't come near me!"

I didn't care, I held Misha in my arms and chanted High Heal to her burned face.

“What... no way? ...it doesn't hurt..."

I immediately Heal’ed the hand as well.

The reason why I used High Heal on a face that was not seriously injured and Heal on a hand that was in a worse state is for extra precaution, after all, this is about a female's face.

Heal might have been enough though.

Because her hand is fully restored from Heal only.

“What? My hands are also ...the burns ...got healed!”

Misha said this and stared at me.

I held Misha in my arms and went back to where everyone else is.

Karen ran to Misha.

“Are you okay?! We'll heal you right away! Misha, you’re an elf, I'm sure you won't have any scars on your face!”

She said something to cheer Misha up but when she saw Misha's face…

“Oh... you were burned earlier but… there’s nothing...?"

Karen looked into Misha's face and was surprised.

“Just now...it doesn’t hurt... I heard High Heal and Heal?”

Misha was mumbling to herself.

At least the two of them are safe now.

“Clarice, Ellie, take care of them! There’s something I want to try, I'm going now!”

Clarice was already attacking the marine worms that had appeared on land with her magic bow and arrow.

Ellie was constantly on alert at the sandy beach.

As expected, these two are different from Karen and Misha.

“All right. Be careful! I'll cover you without getting in your way!”

I approached a marine worm that had come out onto the beach while releasing Wind Cutter and finished it off with the Thunder Sword.

Clarice had done the damage beforehand so I was able to defeat it easily.

At any rate, it's good to have the worms cut down. I said to Clarice.

“Clarice! I'm going to lure all the marine worms in one go! There might be quite a number of them. Cover me! Ellie! I'll leave the marine worms that come out the other way to you!”

I went to the beach again and thrust the Thunder Sword into the beach.

I then slowly poured magic power into the Thunder sword.

Of course, it is the magic power of the Lightning attribute.

The target is the marine worms that are underground.

While making sure to avoid electrocuting underground... but with enough force to make them think they are better off above ground than underground...

Then the ground immediately started shaking like an earthquake.

I didn't move from that spot at all and waited for the marine worms to come out.

I was absolutely sure that the marine worms would not come out from under me.

Because I think that no one would normally charge into the source of a Lightning.

That expectation was betrayed spectacularly.

I was a fool. The magic beasts were in such a hurry to get to the surface because they didn't know what was going on and there was no way they would stay calm.

More than ten marine worms came to the ground at once.

And from under my feet too.

The first thing I had to do was not let these guys back into the ground.

So I quickly moved and thrust the Thunder Sword into the ground again, this time putting as much magic power as I can put into it and making electricity run through the ground. The beach around me turned golden.

All the marine worms on the golden beach have been electrocuted and have lost their freedom.

Predictably, marine worms are weak to lightning.

I enchanted the Thunder Sword with the magic power of Lightning and raised the attack power of the Thunder Sword, and went to defeat the marine worms that were electrocuted.

Naturally, Clarice is also attacking more and more with her magic bow.

In the end, 16 marine worms were killed in 10 minutes.

This may not be all of them but I must have killed more than half of them.

I think I'll be able to defeat them all if I do it two or three more times at this rate.

But I've decided not to do that today because if I do it continuously, they'll become wary of me.

I'm worried about Misha's condition too.

I decided to ask Ellie and Karen to call the Marquis of San Marina and the guild officials.

The reason why I asked these two people is because I thought that their credibility and trustworthiness in the Lister Confederacy is the best within Reimei.

They willingly accepted my offer. They probably understood my intentions.

I used Wind magic to arrange the marine worm carcasses and went to Misha.

The 16 marine worm carcasses are so grotesque that I couldn't bear to look at them.

”Misha, are you alright? You might not like it but can I see your face? And if possible, I'd like you to show me the other parts of the body too. Okay?"

Misha nodded as I said this.

“Clarice, please come here! Clarice will take care of the delicate parts!”

Clarice was still on alert to the surroundings but she came as soon as I said so.

“Obviously, I can't check all of Misha's so make sure you check too, Clarice. And Misha, if you sense anything weird, tell me!”

I quickly broached the subject with the two of them, and they nodded.

Besides her face and arm, her legs also seemed to be affected by that dissolving fluid.

As soon as I spotted such, I chanted 'Heal' and Misha chimed in immediately.

“Thank you Mars... I will never betray you...thank you very much...I'm so glad you're here...and I'm so glad it’s Mars."

Misha cried and thanked me.

I hugged Misha as I said.

“I'm sorry Misha. I should have protected you better."

Clarice also hugged Misha and said below.

“Misha. Luckily I don't think you have any marks that will leave a scar. But just to be safe, let's go back to the room with me and take a shower. Let me properly check at your body then, okay?"

Misha answered in response to Clarice’s words.

“Thank you too, Clarice. Can I trouble you to examine my body properly? I don't want to be embarrassed when Mars sees me.”

Misha looked at me and winked.

Has she recovered already? Clarice also chuckled and said, 'All right' and went back to the inn.

As if replacing Clarice and Misha, Ellie and Karen brought the Marquis of San Marina and the guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild.

The two saw a large number of dead marine worms.

“Did you guys from Reimei really do this? ...no, there's only Reimei here hence that’s a fact..."

When the Guildmaster said this, the Marquis of San Marina said.

“T-this is the wonder of our Lister Imperial School's S-class! It was just as we had hoped. Let us celebrate to the full today!”

“No, I don't think that's all of them yet. We will come back tomorrow and the day after to defeat the worms. It may be an optimistic estimation but I think we'll be able to defeat the worms that are around here after tomorrow and the day after.”

As I said this, the Marquis de San Marina shook my hand.

“By all means! I am truly indebted to you! I'll have a selection of beautiful women for you today! Mars! You can have high expectations of them!"

Hm? Has this man forgotten about yesterday? The Marquis of San Marina tapped me on the shoulder and tried to leave in a good mood.

The two magic beasts blocking his way were standing like a Niou in front of the Marquis of San Marina.

“Marquis? I knew it, you are challenging the Fresvald Household’s authority, aren’t you?”

When Karen said this, Ellie was applying serious killing intent to Marquis San Marina.

The poor old lamb was shivering and breaking out in a greasy sweat.

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

2022-11-06 03:45:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 95 : San Marina

TL:SummerPeanut

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

July 25, 2030

“Yayyyy. We're here!"

We arrived at San Marina, the territorial capital of the Marquis San Marina, right after we left the neighboring town in the morning.

We could have arrived here yesterday evening but we decided that it would be better for Marquis San Marina if we arrive in the morning so we arranged it so.

Was it quite difficult to get here? It was.

A runaway elf jumped into a group of Kobolds, and Karen unleashed her Fire magic on that group of Kobold, almost burning that runaway elf......

At the inn, I got a big eyeful from Clarice when I walked in while the girls were changing, and there was also Ellie sleeping in my bed with me when I woke up......

Somehow I made it here in one piece.

The city of San Marina is one of the most popular tourist spots in the Lister Confederacy.

Especially with the ocean, San Marina......was supposed to be very crowded this time of year.

“But there aren't as many people here as I thought there would be, are there?”

“Yeah. I thought it would be more crowded ......"

Clarice and I said so, and Karen opened her mouth.

“When we came here in the past, there were too many people and we couldn't get into the sea at all. But all’s well that ends well, isn't it? It's a little lonely because there are so few of us here though......"

“I'd like to go to the Marquis San Marina’s place for now. I want to get the task over with and get in the water as soon as possible."

Everyone seemed to agree with Misha and we were soon on our way to the Marquis San Marina.

Marquis San Marina was surprised that we had arrived so early.

The Marquis of San Marina is a dark-skinned, late-30-year-old man, that gives the impression of a bad father.

“Welcome to San Marina. I am the Marquis of San Marina. Thank you very much for accepting my quest. First of all, take your time. We'll talk about the details of your quest later.”

So said the Marquis of Saint-Marina but the runaway elf had a different idea.

“Then, I'm off to the beach right away. I came here for this after all!"

Said with a twinkle in her eyes. While the Marquis…

“The sea is a bit tricky right now...perhaps you might not be able to go swimming if you haven't accepted my quest.”

Then the ladies.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Raised their voices in unison. Even Ellie was surprised, so she must have been really looking forward to the beach.

“So we’ll do the quest first. And let me introduce myself. I am Mars Bryant, the second son of Count Bryant of the Balkus Kingdom, ranked first in the Lister Imperial School S class this year.”

When I said that, the ladies’ faces gave off the impression of realizing their mistake.

That they were so excited, they had forgotten to introduce themselves.

Well, I think it's the fault of the first person who went out of control but I can't say that because as the leader I'm responsible for them too.

Besides, running amok is both a disadvantage and a cute advantage for Misha.

After I introduced myself.

“I was also watching the match with Brad of Duke Syrian. It was amazing. It’s a match that will be carved deep into one’s memories.”

The next person who should introduce himself is puzzled by those words......

So I decided to introduce everyone.

“Let me go ahead and introduce the party members. She is Clarice Lampard ranked second and also the eldest daughter of the Viscount Lampard of the Zarkham Kingdom.”

Clarice nodded, and since Marquis San Marina was about to say something, I didn't pause.

“Next, the third in the ranking, Baroness Elie Leo of Balkus Kingdom."

When Ellie lightly bowed, the Marquis San Marina was very surprised.

He was surprised not only by the fact that she was introduced as one from the Balkus Kingdom but also by the fact that she’s a baroness.

“Ranked fifth, she’s Karen Lionel, the second daughter of the Duke Fresvald of the Lister Confederacy.”

They smiled at each other as if they are good acquaintances of each other. Their eyes were not smiling though...

“Finally, seventh in the ranking, Misha Febrandt.”

When I ended there, Misha said.

“Marquis San Marina, I apologize for my earlier unseemly appearance. Also, there was a slight deficiency in the introduction just now so I would like to make a small correction. I am Misha Febrandt, eldest daughter of Baronness Febrandt of the Lister Confederacy."

I was surprised and appraised her.

Name: Misha Febrandt.

Title: -

Status: Elf race, Eldest daughter of the Baroness Febrandt.

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 13

HP: 24/24

MP: 112/112

Strength: 21

Agility: 23

Magic: 23

Dexterity: 21

Durability: 13

Luck: 5

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv5/B)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv3/C)

Special Ability: Wind Magic (Lv4/D)

Equipment: Spear of the Gale

Equipment: Robe of Illusion

She has truly become the eldest daughter of the Febrandt household.

Misha has grown up quite a bit...... Especially her MP is almost 50 more than when she entered school. She must have worked pretty hard on her magic ......

By the way, it seems that in the Lister Confederacy, there is a practice of depleting MP several times before the age of 10.

And if the symptoms of MP deficiency are mild, they deplete MP more and more to increase the maximum MP.

If MP is depleted at a young age, there is a possibility of sequelae or worse, death, so in general, they do not do it but it is much more accepted here compared to Balkus Kingdom and Zarkham Kingdom.

That is why magicians in the Balkus and Zarkham kingdoms have low maximum MP, while many in the Lister Confederacy have high maximum MP.

I looked surprised, and Misha...

"Duke Regan has been offering a peerage for a while now, but mom always said no because it's not in her character. But everyone in the Reimei party is noble except me, right? She thought about my future and decided to receive the title for my sake."

After we had explained everything, the Marquis of San Marina said.

“Let me ask you one question. Do you belong to the Balkus Kingdom, Lord Ellie? Since you are of Lion race and a Golden Lion, are you not the Lister Confederacy’s next Duke of Syrians?"

"I am not my uncle's successor...... I am Mars's wife...... Mars belongs to the Balkus Kingdom… I too am from the Balkus Kingdom."

“T-that must not be......For the Golden Lion to be part of another country is… If Lord Ellie leaves the Lister Confederacy, the beastmen of this country will......”

Is the Golden Lion important not only to the beastmen, but also to the Lister Confederacy...? Till now, it was assumed that Ellie was missing, so nothing happened, but is it now that her presence has come to light, the Duke of Syrians can only be Ellie...

“Well, let’s talk about that next time. Since the introduction is done, may I trouble you to share the quest details? You mentioned something about the sea."

“Aah, yeah. Yes, that's right. Then it is best that we go to the sea together. Let us depart to the place that was the most prized sandy beach in the San Marina territory."

Was huh? Is it different now? I suppose we'll see when we get there…

Marquis San Marina took us to the beach where we could see the sea.

"What is this......? Is this......a sandy beach?"

Sandy beach? The so called sandy beach had dozens or even hundreds of holes in it.

Each is about 5 meters in diameter, and the holes seemed to be quite deep, with no bottom in sight.

“Roughly 5 months ago these magic beasts called ‘worm’ appeared here in masses. Originally, they were supposed to live in the southern part of the Balkus kingdom but for some reason, they appeared here and went on a rampage...”

“Where are the Knights of San Marina? And what about the other adventurers nearby?”

I asked, and the Marquis San Marina glanced at me.

"Yes. There were knights and adventurers, but they were... lacking. ...because since the beginning of this year, the Balkus Kingdom has been giving us a lot of trouble. The adventurers and knights have all been deployed to the borders of the Balkus Kingdom. Thanks to this, there were no tourists at all. I've never seen the place so deserted."

Oh, I'm starting to feel pretty guilty myself.

No, it's not my fault…it's true that the Kingdom of Balkus is at fault. ......No, I can't decide who's to blame by listening to only one side.

But I'm starting to feel like I have to be the one to do this quest.

But still, what is the Balkus Kingdom doing? Wasn't it at war with the Zarkham Kingdom? Do they have time to mess with the Lister Confederacy?

“Then we of Reimei will take down the worms. Are there any precautions? For example to defeat them here if possible or do you want us to avoid certain locations when fighting them?”

“It's all right. If you can defeat them, we will take care of the rest. But the worms have at minimum the threat level of C...... and a number of them have been discovered. Furthermore, it's possible that there are higher-rank species since there are so many of them as well. Even if you are from S class, this is the kind of quest you would ask a B-rank adventurer party to do. This time, the request is just for a face-off. If anything happens to you, I will be blamed by the entire Lister Confederacy. Please don't push yourselves too hard."

Then Clarice made a rare remark.

“That's not good enough! We want to play at the beach this summer! So we must finish this quest as soon as possible!"

She is desperate to play at the beach.

“Since the members have said so, we will have to defeat the worms. But today we want to gather information and make the preparations so we will start defeating them after tomorrow. Marquis, is that agreeable to you?"

When I said that, he seemed to take it in a different way.

"Ah, I'll leave it to your judgment. For now, Mars, we have prepared women to meet your needs but what do you think? Of course, the girls themselves have given their consent to various things for you.”

Then Ellie said.

"...if they come...kill…until the ends of the earth......absolutely!..."

She said something very disturbing.

Meanwhile Clarice too.

“Marquis San Marina? I believe you heard what Ellie said. By the way, I am his rightful wife. Ellie and I are both strong in our own way so please tell any woman who comes to Mars's room to be more than prepared.”

When Clarice said this, so did Karen.

“Marquis San Marina, I have one piece of advice for you. My father desires me to be his mistress. You do know what it means to send a woman to Mars, don't you?"

Karen's words were very heavy, apparently.

Marquis San Marina’s face turned blue.

“I-I apologize. I only said so because I didn't know your relationship and I have no intention of having anything to do with Duke Fresvald. I also do not wish to offend the two of you, Lady Clarice and Lady Ellie, so please forgive me this time."

Uhmm......this guy is a Marquis, right? That shows how great the Duke Fresvald and the Golden Lion Ellie are I guess...

Given that, Ike had done a hell of a lot of things, hadn’t he? I'm worried about the future of the Bryant family...considering that he hit Karen with his killing intent and made her pee her pants......

With this in mind, we went into the city of San Marina to gather information and prepare for tomorrow's battle.

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

2022-11-06 03:34:34 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 94 : Revealing

TL:SummerPeanut

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

21 July 2030.

It’s 0:05...... I overslept for five minutes longer than planned but it can't be helped...took a long time to deplete my magic.

And Clarice seems to have just fallen asleep.

As soon as I woke up, I went to the living room.

First, I checked to see where the three people who had followed us were.

One of them is in the same inn as us.

Well, he's definitely harmless to us.

I guess we can leave him alone...

As for the other two... they're apparently not in the vicinity...... I can't let my guard down but I can't waste MP on them either...

I gave up doing my usual running and decided to devote more time to muscle training.

After all, I have six hours. Plenty of time to abuse my body.

At 6:00 am, the girls woke up one by one.

Karen was the first to get up, then Clarice, and finally Ellie and Misha woke up around 6:30 am.

I knew Clarice is strong in the morning but Karen is good with morning too it seems.

And as expected, Ellie and Misha are very weak in the morning.

Because they're almost late to school numerous times, and sometimes both of them had similar exploding hair to Dr. Konto.*1

Then we all ate breakfast at the inn.

Breakfast was buffet style.

I eat the most during breakfast out of the three meals so thank goodness for the buffet arrangement.

Clarice and Karen were also eating well but...... Ellie and Misha were only reaching for a bit of fruit.

I went to one of the rooms after breakfast and before we depart.

It was the room of the guy who had been following us.

I knocked lightly on the door and the person came to the door and seemed to be debating whether to open it or not.

“Dames. Will you accept my quest?"

When I said that, he opened the door as if he had given up.

“W-what's wrong...?”

“I think Sasha asked you to tail me, and that's fine as it is. The quest from me is that in addition to Dames, there may be two more people following us. If you can identify them, please keep them in mind. If possible, please remember their faces and body shapes but don't take any risks as we don't know who they are."

I said that and gave Dames five gold coins. But Dames did not accept my gold coins. So I said the following words.

“I think from today we will proceed at the rate of 100 to 150 kilometres a day. I don't think you can ever catch up with us on foot therefore I think you should borrow a horse, Dames. Also, our horses are quite good so they don't take many breaks. I think you will need to change horse when passing a city multiple times."

When I said so, Dames took my gold coins before replying.

“Alright. I'll take that quest."

So he said.

“We leave at eight o'clock today. I won't be calling you tomorrow.”

After I said that, I went back to my room and got ready to leave.

At 8:00 am we set off for the next town.

Today is as smooth as ever but there were many...magic beasts. Or rather, there were too few around Regan. Duke Regan and the Knights of Regan are performing exemplary.

After I defeated a number of kobold herds with Wind Cutter, Karen and Misha came out from the carriage to my side.

“There should be quite a number of magic beasts around here...... Mars, did you defeat them.......?”

Karen asked curiously.

“Yeah. I'm taking them down, more or less.”

“How? I don't think you've drawn your sword, have you?”

“Then, you two stay here for a bit. I'll show you a part of my real strength like we talked about yesterday.”

After a short run, Misha.

“Is it just me? Isn't it quite cool here? Even though it’s almost August...the inside of the carriage is cooled by Clarice with magical tools but isn't it strange that it's so cool here? The horses aren't even sweating ......”

“I'll explain that too when the magic beasts come out.”

Then I saw a large herd of kobolds about 500m away.

This time there seems to be a kobold leader too.

Well, kobolds themselves are in the enemy class that even a civilian might be able to defeat.

Though I don't think a kobold leader with a threat level of F could be defeated by a civilian...

“There's a hundred of them! I've never seen a swarm this big before. As expected even for Mars, it’ll take time to defeat them and our side may receive some damage so I'm going to participate!"

As Karen said this, from the top of the wagon.

“Karen, wait. Mars alone is more than enough.”

I turned around to see Clarice and Ellie. When she turned around, Clarice and Ellie were standing on top of the wagon.

It ended with the position of Clarice and Ellie staring down from above whereas I had to look up in their direction…a wonderful sight of pink and yellow greeted my eyes.

Clarice noticed my gaze and turned red.

“Where are you looking!”

I said a phrase I heard somewhere.

Come to think of it, didn't she say she'd show me as much as I wanted when I had the mock battle with Red Lotus? Then Ellie answered.

“......Mars pervert......but I like Mars......as much as you like......”

Then Ellie showed me.

Speaking of which, Ellie always wears shorts under her skirt, Misaka style, but she is not wearing shorts today.*2

“Ellie, you're not wearing shorts today?”

“......I don't give service to other men......unlike Clarice......”

Oh, you meant that...... Well, the two of them fought as a result of that statement, as usual.

“Hey! Mars! I'm well aware of Mars's perversity but what are you going to do about this!?”

Misha said to me.

“Okay, then watch me.”

I fired a Tornado at a group of kobolds that were closing in on me at about 100 metres distance. It's the MP-saving version, as I don't need to combine Wind Cutter.

Karen and Misha were surprised by the large Tornado that suddenly appeared in front of us.

Well, it's natural to be surprised because the Tornado appeared without chanting.

It didn't take long for the Tornado to swallow the kobold swarm.

I missed a few of them but I took them down with Wind Cutter.

After seeing 100 kobolds defeated in just a minute or so, Karen said.

“W-what's this? Did Mars do this?"

“The magic just now…Isn’t it as powerful as mom’s?”

I nodded and explained.

“I used to be a magician. The worst Wind magic user. Even now, my Wind magic level is higher than my Swordsmanship level. My Swordsmanship level is 8, my Wind magic level is 9. In addition, I got the title of Wind King when I reached Wind magic level 8. This was when I was six years old, and it seems that this title of Wind King originally belonged to Sasha.

Only a few people know about this. Outside of my family, only Duke Regan and Sasha know about this. Oh, Teacher Reiner and Bram also know that I am a Wind magician. I want you to understand the meaning by revealing this to you two. And this isn't the only thing I'm hiding so I'll tell you next time I get the chance to."

They both looked incredulous.

“Everything he just told you is really true. When we discovered the hidden passage not long ago, brother-in-law formed up with us, didn't he? That's the formation the four of us were in when we were diving labyrinths. Ellie at the front, then brother-in-law, with me and Mars at the rear. This formation also means that the reason we put Mars at the very back because he has the means to attack from there.”

Ellie nodded in agreement.

Karen walked into the wagon with a complicated expression on her face.

Karen perhaps thought that she is better than me in terms of magic.

Misha apparently remembered the old battle between me and Cyrus.

“Come to think of it, four years ago when Mars fought Teacher Cyrus, he used Wind Cutter without chanting...... and I forgot about it because I didn't think it was such an incredible thing at the time. However, now that I think about it, the fact that he used it without chanting is incredible but using magic while moving during a swordfight is unbelievable…"

Misha said and hugged me before going back inside the wagon.

Clarice and Ellie also followed Misha.

Was the stimulus a little too much? Should I stop the mentioning of Holy magic?

That day we stayed in a town after making 130km progress.

Like yesterday, we took a bath and then had dinner before returning to our room.

By this time, Karen's confusion seemed to have subsided.

“But then again, what is Mars really? How does he become…both a Sword Saint and a magician?”

“Hmmm. Baron is one too, isn't he?”

“Baron is more of a swordsman. My Charm Eyes work on him, and not to mention I can also do a minor appraisal on him. But both Charm Eyes and minor appraisal don’t work on Mars, right? Do you have countermeasures set up?"

“Apparently any kind of Magic Eyes don’t work on me. Duke Regan's Magic Eyes don’t work either so I'm confident in this hypothesis. That is why minor appraisals from Magic Eyes won’t work with me unlike with the appraisal crystals. But I'm hiding my status and skills with this Disguise Bracelet."

When I showed her the Disguised Bracelet, Karen seemed convinced.

“Oh, I see what you mean. I thought that bracelet was like an engagement ring since you don't usually need to disguise yourself... What is your level Mars? 50 or more?"

“You're not going to believe this.......”

When I said that, Misha said.

"60, 70, maybe 100?"

I honestly revealed the answer.

"It's 20. I seem to have a curse that makes it hard for me to level up… and I probably won't level up no matter how many magic beasts with a threat level of D or lower I kill anymore. However, I think my status growth is pretty good."

Karen seemed to think that I’m joking.

“Twenty…is lower than me. I suppose it's still a secret. I wonder if Mars can use Water magic as well? It's so cool around Mars when he's outside... am I right?"

“Yup. That's right. During the day, I use Water magic and Wind magic around me and the horses to cool them down. That's why the horses don't get too battered.”

Clarice looked at her watch.

“It's 21:00, Mars, go to bed. We'll go to bed at 00:00 too. The rest I and Ellie will tell you what Mars can answer.”

“Okay. Thank you. If there are any weak magic beasts from tomorrow, I’ll trouble Misha to defeat them. Of course, I'll follow up after you."

Misha nodded and said.

“Good night. See you tomorrow."

So she said and I went to bed a step ahead of her.

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

TL’s note:

shorturl(.)at/LVW13
It’s the certain biribiri from certain railgun series

2022-11-06 03:30:49 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 93 : Secrets

TL:SummerPeanut

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

20 July 2030.

Today is the day we depart to Marquis San Marina’s.

I got to school with my luggage for the trip.

I arrived at the classroom and waited for the other members to arrive. Baron, Dominic, and Minerva have already arrived but the important Reimei girls have not arrived yet.

I asked Minerva who lives with the girls.

“Have Clarice and the others not arrived yet?”

Minerva appeared troubled when I asked her.

“They said something along the lines of they’ll be late because they are not sure which swimsuit to bring. Like they had bought too many swimsuits or whether Mars will assault them if they go with night battle underwear every day and so on."

What fellas...they completely misunderstood it as a summer holiday...

In the end, the girl members arrived at 11:00.

Fortunately, Reimei was not treated as late because we are only officially accepting the quest today.

“S,sorry for the wait Mars. We’re late...”

Clarice apologized sheepishly.

It’s fine since I more or less expected this outcome I guess.

The girls, specifically Karen and Misha, had a lot of luggage.

Clarice and Ellie had a little more compared to mine.

This was also to be expected.

After all, Clarice and Ellie know that I can use quite the convenient magics.

And the three of us had dived the Almeria Labyrinth together so I think we're at least a little used to traveling.

When we dive into the labyrinths, we always use the safe zone as a base to sleep in if there's one.

But Karen and Misha don't know that I can use magic so it was inevitable.

I’ll probably have a ‘coming out’ bit by bit during this trip.

As soon as we are all assembled, we go to Duke Regan's place and finish greeting her before our departure.

Normally, the school will hire a carriage and escort for us but it turned out that I and Clarice are stronger than the escort so there’s no escort.

And the carriage was not prepared by the Lister Imperial School.

I was told that the carriage was prepared by an external party and when I went to the carriage and found that...

There was a luxurious and gorgeous carriage there, the kind that nobles would ride in.

It was a large and luxurious carriage pulled by two magnificent horses that’s basically raising the flag for whoever riding it will be robbed.

The carriage was apparently sent by Karen's father, the Duke of Fresvald, as he had asked her to at least use it if she would not return to the Fresvald territory.

The carriage was decorated with the fire emblem of the Fresvald Household crest and the book emblem of Duke Regan’s Household crest.

Duke Regan said that no one in the Lister Confederacy would be stupid enough to make an enemy of the First Duke Fresvald and Duke Regan at the same time so this carriage is absolutely safe.

Thank you for the grand flag...

We immediately got on the carriage and set off to Marquis of San Marina.

We are a bit late after all.

I hear the inside of the carriage is quite comfortable.

The reason for me saying that is, as usual, I'm playing the role of a coachman.

The inside of the carriage is hot because it is summer but it is equipped with magic tools that cool down the temperature when magic power is channeled into it.

It seems that Karen is unable to use it but Clarice and Misha can. Apparently, it lowers the temperature when Water-attribute magic is channeled through it. On the other hand, it is a magical tool that warms the surroundings if Fire-attribute magic power is channeled through it.

I use Water magic and Wind magic to keep the horse's speed up and cool air flowing around me. If the horse gets tired, I use Heal of course.

And these horses' speed is also extraordinary.

We set off at 12:00 and in five hours we traveled 75km... Even discounting that they were able to run in a comfortable environment with Heal, Wind magic, and Water magic, I thought 10km/h would be the limit considering there are five of us, five bags, and the needlessly luxurious carriage...

Perhaps we could even get rid of the people who have been tailing us from Regan...

As soon as we arrived at the inn where we were going to stay today, we decided to have a bath and then a meal.

Naturally, we are using the finest inn in town. It has a bath as well as shower facilities.

Because the daughter of the First Duke Fresvald is here.

But there is a problem, I have only booked one room... What should I do about the order of the baths…? If I go in first, the ladies might think the bathwater is disgusting.

If I go in last, they might still think it’s disgusting in a perverted way...

What should I do...and Clarice who read my thoughts and began to set things up in a crisp manner.

“First, Karen and Misha go in as usual, and when you both have finished washing yourselves, call us in. I and Ellie will go in too. After Karen and Misha get out of the bath, Mars can come in. I think it’ll be good for Ellie and I to wash Mars's back once in a while.”

Then Karen and Misha.

“Eh!? You guys had already...at the skin-to-skin relation!?"

They said angrily. Then Ellie replied.

“From...6 years old...bed too together...”

“N-no, she didn't mean it in that weird way, okay? I mean, certainly, we slept at the same bed together but there wasn't anything special. Right? Mars?"

Clarice desperately tried to clear up the misunderstanding and sought my agreement while blushing.

“A-ah, that’s right. It's just that we were very young... Now that we're both grown up, I’ll trouble you to wash my back when we're a bit older again.”

“Yea, yeah. It won’t be good to let any weird misunderstandings arise too...”

When Clarice said this, Ellie interjected.

"We're engaged......no problem."

“Well, well, I guess you're right... believe it or not, there are talks about some upper nobles having children at the age of eleven...”

Karen affirmed Ellie's words, albeit her face is bright red.

“...in beastmen ten years old too...”

“An-anyway, Karen and Misha, you go in first.”

When Clarice said that, Karen and Misha went into the bath.

Then Clarice opened her mouth.

“I'll wash your backs another time. Ellie gets angry if I wash your back alone so we'll both wash it together.”

“Yeah, I'll look forward to it.”

After safely finishing my bath, I went to the inn’s restaurant equivalent to eat.

The food was sumptuous and expensive-looking drinks were poured.

I've always wondered about this so I decided to ask Karen.

“Karen. How old do you have to be to drink alcohol?”

“Oh? There's no such thing as an age limit as far as I know. I've been drinking since I was six. But I usually only have a sip because it's not good to drink too much. My father says it's better to drink in small amounts, and I've been taught that it's embarrassing not to be able to drink in the noble’s society."

Meanwhile Ellie…

“...dwarfs drink them...as milk substitute...”

Seriously! I know dwarves were supposed to be good drinkers but not to that extent...

After everyone had enjoyed their meal with just one light drink of alcohol, we returned to our room.

Once back in the room, we all decided to have a chat.

We talked about how I and Clarice met, Ellie's upbringing, etc.

When it came to talking about dreams for the future, Clarice and Ellie dreamt of being my wife, Karen and Misha the same but there seemed to be a slight difference in passion.

They asked me what my dream was, and I told them honestly.

Putting aside the obvious fact that I will marry Clarice and Ellie, both of them cried out happily when I say I will protect them no matter what.

The power of alcohol is scary even if it's just one light cup...

I then told them about a dream I'd never told anyone.

“I guess my dream for the future is…to become the Lord of Rimurgarde. For that, I want to become an upper noble. An upper noble in both Zarkham and Balkus Kingdoms...”

Rimurgarde is the old capital of the border town between the kingdoms of Balkus and Zarkham that I and Clarice stopped by on the way from Grantham to Irgusia.

4 years ago we were told that the labyrinth overflow and stampede of magic beasts had not subsided and that a number of A and B-rank parties were holding off the said stampede.

The reason why I want to be the Lord of Rimurgarde is that I want to stop the war between the Kingdom of Balkus and the Kingdom of Zarkham. If I become Lord of Rimurgarde, which includes East Rimurgarde and West Rimurgarde there will be no war because Rimurgarde is the border.

I absolutely don't want to see the inhabitants of Grantham and the inhabitants of Almeria fighting each other.

When the four of them heard what I said, they froze.

After a little while, Clarice and Ellie believe in my strength so...

“Mars can definitely do it. I'll help you too”, but Karen and Misha who are still not confident with my strength and remained silent.”

“Karen, Misha. You don't have to believe in my strength right now. For now, I'm going to aim to be an A-level adventurer. Anyway, I've recently found out that I need to raise my adventurer rank if I want to get involved with Rimurgarde.”

Sasha had told me the other day that the magic beasts of Rimurgarde are likely to annihilate any party lower than B-rank therefore one needs a certain amount of achievement to receive Rimurgarde-related quests.

Incidentally, Sasha told me that she can accept Rimurgarde quests but not individually and as a result, she needs to form a party to do so.

Then Misha said.

“It's not that I don't believe in Mars's strength, four years ago my mother told me that the threat of the magic beast you fought when you saved me was B-. I can easily imagine you being stronger now that four years had passed... but I don't know the serious mode of you two are actually like... That’s why I hope you will trust me and Karen a little bit next time and show me a glimpse of your strength."

“Defeating B- threat at six years old? Doesn’t that mean you were already a B-rank adventurer at that age! ....even I'd like to see the real strength of not only Mars and Clarice but also Ellie’s. I knew that Mars is not normal but I didn't expect you are that much of an outlier..."

So...they knew we were hiding things from them...

“Okay. One of these days I'll show you a part of my, Clarice's, and Ellie's real strength.”

I said this because I really don't want to reveal Clarice's Holy magic until there’s no other way. There’s also the fact that I don't want to lie to them.

“Thank you. Shall we go to bed then?"

It was already 21:00.

I, Clarice, and Ellie had made a decision previously.

Regarding the time to sleep.

We had decided to arrange our bedtimes as it wasn't as safe as at Lister Imperial School.

I would sleep from 9 pm to midnight and the other two would sleep from midnight to 6 am.

“Right. I'm going to bed now. What about you guys?"

I asked Clarice.

“I and Ellie will go to bed at midnight. What about Karen and Misha?”

Clarice asked, and they both agreed to go to bed at midnight.

“Alright. See you tomorrow then. Staying up late is bad for your skin so go to bed early okay? Good night."

I said that and went to the room where I sleep alone.

Now I have to deplete my MP as fast as possible and go to sleep.

Well, I'm sure I can deplete it quickly since I used quite a bit of MP during the journey...

And then I went to sleep to welcome tomorrow.

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

2022-10-30 13:52:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 92 : The Male Students’ Despair

TL:SummerPeanut

I will stop using single quotes for party names Red Lotus and Reimei now since most readers should know by now.

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

8 July 2030.

“Is this the end, I wonder?”

Glasses senior asked me, and I nodded back.

“That’s likely the case...there's nothing left but magic beasts that can't even be called mobs or shrubs...”

Then Ike, while looking satisfied, replied.

“Alright, now Red Lotus can head off on the nomination quest without a care in the world. Well, maybe it would have been better if the school's teaching staff took initiative, but this does well to cut off any hesitation."

As expected Ike who is full of responsibility. And glasses senior is another solid personality too...

“By the way, Mars, you and Ellie have incredible detection skills. Well, in regards to Ellie, she somehow knows the magic beasts’ location though… Thanks to that, this is the first time I've hunted so many magic beasts in this area."

We were here to exterminate magic beasts near the town of Regan.

By 'we' I mean Red Lotus and S class freshmen.

It was just the right magic beast extermination for us.

Misha's level is low so it’s good training for her.

Well, her level didn't get any higher.

“Where is your team going, Brother Ike?”

“We're going to Ede’s or rather Count Mesalius's territory. It’s a bit of a messy quest so we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Hmm. I'm going to do the various leftover work now and see if I can get out on 10 July. Mars. Take care of the Lister Imperial School. But are you guys going to be nominated on a quest too?"

“We don't know because we haven't been told anything yet...”

“Hmm... That's strange...normally I think the quest would have been handed down by now.”

“I'll ask Duke Regan later. See you tomorrow then."

On the way back to the dormitories, I asked Baron about the quest.

Apparently, Baron and the others have already been notified by Duke Regan about the August quest.

It appears that they are going with other senior students to various cities to get acquainted with the nobles and guildmasters.

In other words, they are going to make connections.

They say this task also goes around the rest of S class so the nobles and guildmasters will remember us better.

“Why are we the only ones without quests?"

When I muttered that, Baron said.

“Maybe it has something to do with...the harem party? Maybe they thought if you guys got a quest, you will brew something up again. Then Lister Imperial School’s reputation will drop so Reimei could possibly be waiting at the school the whole time...”

Baron has made a plausible case.

It would undoubtedly be...frustrating for the requester if a harem party came...after submitting a request...

9 July 2030.

“Duke Regan, may I have a word?”

I knocked on the principal's door.

I was told I could come in so I went in and Ike is there too.

“Um, I have a question for you...but if you're just talking to Brother Ike, should I come back to visit you later?”

When I said that, Ike replied.

“Aah, I’m done with my business. I'll be leaving tomorrow so I just came to report about that. And is your business about the quest?"

“Yes...Reimei is a harem party so I was wondering if the quests aren't coming due to that... The party members seem to be worried about this too..."

Then Ike said.

“Well then, I'll take my leave first now.”

And as he was about to leave the principal's office, Duke Regan chimed.

“Ike, wait a minute. Since it’s just nice, I want you to listen together."

She held Ike back.

“To tell the truth. There are a lot of quests coming to Reimei. We've never had so many quests in our history and we can never handle them all. Evidently, we won the previous Freshmen Combat Tournament’s complete victory over the Royal School of Syrians in the martial arts division and the overall championship. So the nobles of this country are desperate to forge relationships…from the dukes to the counts of the Lister Confederacy, and even from the royalty of the Kingdom of Balkus. We're not even sure which quests we should let you take on."

Apparently, the opposite of what I expected was happening. This made me feel a little assured.

“The origin of the Reimei party is quite special.

Mars is the second son of the Count of the Balkus Kingdom.

Clarice is the eldest daughter of the Viscount of the Zarkham Kingdom.

Ellie is the daughter of the former Duke of Syrians.

Misha is a rare elf in this world.

Lastly, Karen is the second daughter of the first duke of the Lister Confederacy.

We at the school are all the more struggling with this...

You shouldn't go to someone who is close to the current Duke of Syrians but we will receive complaints of favoritism if you take the quest of the Duke of Fresvald..."

It's going to be hard to stop the idle grumblings from Duke Regan's mouth... is what I am thinking when Ike opened his mouth.

“Isn't this a very enviable dilemma? I think only Duke Regan can be bothered with this kind of thing, right? If you can't decide, why don't you consult Reimei as well?"

When Ike said that, Duke Regan responded below.

“Certainly, that should be considered. Then I will give you the quests we have narrowed down, and you can choose which ones you like. If you can narrow it down to at least three, I'll decide the rest.”

After receiving more than 10 quest forms from Duke Regan, I returned to the classroom after school.

When I explained the situation to the members of Reimei, they were all relieved.

The worst that could happen was that the party would have to break up.

“What quests do you guys want to take?”

I asked, and one of them was the first to answer.

“I want to go to the sea!”

When the runaway elf said that, everyone decided to go to the sea even though they had not even seen the quest.

Is it true that summer equals to the sea in this world, too?

Thinking that there would be no such a convenient quest, I rolled up the quest forms given to me by Duke Regan and...actually found one... Let me check the content first…eh?

A week of enjoying the sea with the Marquis San Marina

Is this a quest? Don't you have something more for us to do, like some subjugations or errands? Showing this to everyone is only going to make them more excited... Well, I've always wanted to go to the ocean too. I haven't been to the ocean in my previous life... Huh? I can't swim...at least not in my previous life...

July 10, 2030.

The members of Red Lotus set out for the Mesalius territory first thing in the morning.

Everyone had an obscure look on their faces. They must have a very difficult quest awaiting them from now on.

In comparison, the members of the Reimei team are ...

“Clarice, what would you do if you are picked on by someone better looking than Mars?”

“What about Eririn?"

Karen and Misha are asking Clarice and Ellie respectively.

“I’m...devoted to Mars… I suppose?"

Hey. What's with the question mark?

"There's no one cooler than... Mars. And...even if there was. ...unlike Clarice... we are bound by our hearts... so no cheating."

That's as expected of Ellie. But when I said that, Clarice... I knew it, the usual fights started... This one is the usual development.

The Reimei girls are going shopping girls-only swimsuits shopping spree after school today while I’m going to Duke Regan to ask her for this quest. They are all thinking hard about which swimsuit to wear.

Then, after school, I told Duke Regan that we would take Marquis of San Marina's quest.

“Are you sure you want to do this? I thought you guys would never accept this quest but... you won't regret it, will you?"

“I don't know what would happen to those four if I told them the plan to go to the sea is canceled now. At the very least, I think I’ll be in danger...”

"Yes...but...there’s actually more than that... Well, okay. I’ll be sending out a note that you will be accepting the request of Marquis San Marina so Reimei’s departure will be around July 20. Please let everyone know. Do your best...and don't work too hard."

Somehow it felt like she said some meaningful words to me... Today is the first time in a while that I’ll be alone because the other four female members are hanging out together...or rather it’s been years that I've had to eat dinner by myself.

When I was in Japan, I went to movies, dinner... and even yakiniku*1 by myself.

It is probably the best luxury to always be able to enjoy dinner with Clarice, Ellie, Karen, and Misha.

I usually have dinner in town at night but today I decided to have dinner at the male dormitory.

Huh? This might be my first time having dinner at the male dormitory.

I use the facility every morning but my breakfast timing is so early that I almost never see other students.

I didn't expect the evening meal in the male dorm to be so crowded.

As I was standing in line for the serving of food, I was approached by a man in a blue robe.

He seemed to be a B class student. Behind the man, there are many men.

Each robe of their robe is a different color.

"Yo, playboy. You having dinner alone today?"

What? Is he trying to get me into trouble? He must have seen the suspicious look on my face.

"Hey, hey. I'm not trying to get you involved in anything. I apologize if I offended you. No one in this grade is trying make trouble with you or make you feel uncomfortable. They've all seen the Freshman Combat Tournament, and the general's match was a blast. It’s just that there’s hasn’t the opportunity to talk to you, and right now I just happened to see you so I decided to call you out. Can I have dinner with you?"

Come to think of it, I've talked to girls but I've never had a chance to talk to boys from other classes.

Huh? When did I talk to girls in other classes? I talked to them on the way I go to the principal's office, or in the student council room... Well, I have a lot of opportunities to talk to them.

I'm grateful to be approached in such a friendly manner by a person of the same gender.

“Of course. I've been a bit lonely on my own too, and I'd appreciate it if you'd do that."

I said that to the guy who approached me, and I was surrounded, not just by the guys around that guy, but by all the boys who were here.

“Eh!? What's going on?"

“There’s just that many guys who want to talk to you. Well, it's mainly about your female relations.”

I was being bombarded with questions from the boys while I was eating.

Who are you dating? Who do you like? How far have the relationships gone? etcs...Their questions were really all about female relationships.

They said they had a lot of other questions they wanted to ask me above first because if I didn't, their youth would be wasted according to them.

So I answered what I could.

“I'm not…in a relationship. As for who do I like... I do like them all, but if I had to choose one, it would be Clarice. As for how far have I gone in my relationship... healthy relationship."

The boys went crazy at my words and said.

“Yesssss! Now, I can officially go for Clarice! I don't care if I lose in academics, martial arts or magic but I'm not going to lose this one!"

Everyone else is shouting about who they're aiming for too.

Hmm? I didn't lie but maybe I didn't say enough.

“Well, there's something I want to add. As for our relationship, it's already been decided that Clarice and Ellie are my fiancées. Clarice will be my legal wife and Ellie is the mistress. I thought it should be a well-known fact..."

When I said this, the boys all made a complete reversal and cried.

Some are even seriously crying that their youth is over, while others are dropping their chopsticks in abandon.

“S-so you're saying that Lady Karen and Misha aren't engaged with you right?”

He asked me with his remaining energy.

“Aah. Duke Fresvald and Teacher Sasha told me that they wanted me to have them as mistresses but my father and mother said that I am not ready for the third yet so they put the talk on the shelf for now.”

Apparently, these words were the last straw...everyone is covering their heads or faces while sobbing.

They were saying things like there’s no hope anymore or there’s reason to keep living anymore...

I couldn't stand this atmosphere anymore therefore I finished my dinner quickly and left the place as quickly as I could.

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

TL’s note:

https://upload . wikimedia . org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Yakiniku_002.jpg. Was quel ga dsier eta.

2022-10-30 13:49:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 91 : Mouth Is the Source of Disaster

TL:SummerPeanut

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

“The winner will be decided by either surrender or the referee's discretion. You know the rest but let me say it again you lose the moment you use a fatal attack. Understood?"

I nodded as the glasses senior said this to me. The glasses senior, the dwarf Garl, the spear user East, and the Water magic user Yuri. These four and I faced each other.

“Then it's time to get started! ‘Red Lotus’ versus Mars! Let the game begin!”

First, the glasses senior covered my surroundings with Earth magic's Earth Fortress. Apparently, she’s trying to block my field of view.

As I quickly cut the Earth Fortress with my sword, I felt disgusting eyes looking at me. It is probably that the glasses senior used her Magic Eyes on me. Naturally, the Magic Eyes doesn't work on me, and the glasses senior was surprised by that fact.

“Garl! I failed! The binding eye doesn't work!”

Then Garl attacked me from behind.

Apparently, he got behind me within that short few seconds when my vision got blocked by Earth Fortress. Good coordination. If had gone as the original plan where I got restrained under the Binding Eyes, Garl would have ended things by attacking me from behind.

I parried Garl's axe and struck Garl in the stomach with the flat side of the Salamander Sword.

By the way, I didn't use the Thunderbolt sword.

That's not the kind of sword you point at people.

Garl cowered on the spot.

“Normally, this would be a fatal blow... ‘ol me’s done here, it seems. I'll to take my leave."

Okay, one first. Three left.

By the way, Ike is not participating.

If possible I'd like to do something about the two magicians as soon as possible though...

The magicians, glasses senior and Yuri, took distance from me and attacked me with magic from distance but I cut down all the magic with my sword.

“Wai-......what's going on?!”

When Yuri exclaimed so, glasses senior replied in response.

“Even if he's Ike's younger brother, to think he’ll be able to do this much… but I can't lose! Let's go! Yuri! We’ll shoot magic from a closer range!"

After saying that, glasses senior approached me at a very close range with Yuri.

East, the spear user, is still looking behind me for an opening.

Shit, my legs are still numb and I can't move satisfactorily… probably because I was made to sit on my knees for more than ten hours just counting yesterday and today but the numbness should go away in a few more minutes...

But ‘Red Lotus’ didn't wait for me.

All three of them moved at the same time.

Since the MPs of both senior glasses and Yuri are on the verge of MP depletion, they will likely go for an all-out attack rather than be taken down one by one.

To be honest, this situation is the toughest for the current me right now.

I can't move so I have no choice but to fight on the spot.

The spear user East came to my front, and he stabbed me with his spear from there.

And Yuri, the Water magic user, after consuming MP almost to the limit, charged at me from behind with a dagger.

And for some reason, glasses senior used Yuri's spear as leverage and jumped to knock me down from the air.

However, she jumped too high so I’ll just ignore senior glasses for now…

First of all, Yuri rushed at me from behind with a dagger, and when I knocked her dagger and put my sword at her neck, she immediately surrendered.

East used that gap to thrust his spear at me but I was able to avoid him by shifting only my upper body and after knocking his spear away and he immediately raised his hands as well when I thrust my sword at him.

Lastly, glasses senior must had jumped way higher than she was supposed to......

I’ll feel bad for her If I let her fall down while she’s screaming so I caught her in a princess carry style.

This was a big mistake...... It must have been because I let down my guard thinking that only senior glasses is left.

I had forgotten that...my own legs are still numb.

The shock to my legs when I caught senior glasses was so great that I couldn't stand up.

Somehow I managed to make sure that only glasses senior was not injured...so that I could absorb the impact of her landing...and to go against such a template pattern, in other words, the lucky pervert accident. I did my best.

As a result, glasses senior is standing on the ground and I am on the ground.

I forcibly crushed the flag.....

It's usually the pattern in these kinds of situations that the girl's rear will land on my face.

The result is that I'm in a position that made me look like I completely lost the fight.

“Winner! ‘Red Lotus’!!!”

A loud voice called out but no one on the ‘Red Lotus’ side was happy, and the spectators were still keeping the silence.

I looked around, not understanding why ‘Red Lotus’ and the audience were silent.

I tried to stand up but my legs are still numb... How long will the numbness last I wonder? I can't get up very well so glasses senior gave me a hand.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, Mars, I didn't get hurt. It's hard to feel like we've won when you've done so much for us.”

“No, no, it happened on the spur of the moment......also my legs are so numb that I can't stand up from this position and can't even reach glasses senior's hand...”

When I said this, the glasses senior put my arm around her and stood me up on her shoulder.

She smells so good... and the distance between our faces is too close......hmm? I felt the lips of a glasses senior traced my cheek but...

When the audience saw me get up, crackling loud voices arrived from them.

“My heart’s numbed!”

“I love you even more!”

“You're an exemplar man to save a girl at your own peril!”

“I don't care if I'm the 100th girl, please!”

“Tomorrow I'll start wearing red glasses too!”

Seeing that I'm in close contact with glasses senior, the four judges immediately rushed over and took me away from her.

Then the senior glasses girl said to the four of them

“If you do too terrible things to Mars, I will seriously steal him away from you.”

She gave advice to the four of them.

When she said terrible...... did the glasses senior know I was sitting on my knees? Then Clarice, on behalf of the four of them, said.

“I-I'm sorry...... I'll keep that in mind.......”

Honestly bowed her head.

Ike, Garl, and ‘Red Lotus’ members gathered here too.

“Mars. I'm sorry about a lot of things......I've cleared up the four's misunderstandings. Well, a little......I'm really sorry! And thank you for saving Ede."

Somehow Ike tried to gloss something at the end...... Well, everything ended with a happy ending.

Garl naively thought.

"It feels like we won the game and lost the war but a win is a win. Of course, you get a reward for winning, right?"

He said that while touching his 13-year-old beard.

“Y-yes...... please go easy on me. What am I supposed to do...... Senior Garl?"

Then the glasses senior said.

“I have something I need Mars and the others’ help with. You know that the Knights of Regan have been working hard lately to maintain security in the slums, right? Because of that, the number of magic beasts in the vicinity of Regan has increased a little. There are many talented people in Regan but they all graduated and joined the Knights of Regan so the quality of adventurers in Regan is low...... Well, I myself am not sure whether to join the Knights of Regan after graduation or to fulfill my role as the eldest daughter of the Count family.”

Ah, come to think of it, the glasses senior is the Count's eldest daughter…

“Isn't it unusual for the eldest daughter of a count family to join the Regan Knights?”

“Well, it's not a very common example... but the point is that it's like fishing for manpower. The Knights of Regan are all very talented people so it's definitely better than being married to the eldest son of a weird upper noble via an arranged marriage...... In my family, the eldest son will be the heir to the family title anyway and my father gave his word that it doesn't matter either way, so, well, it's a happy dilemma."

I wonder if that’s how things go......maybe the aristocracy in this world isn't as bad as I thought......because I thought a married partner was something where you are forced onto or something like that.

“If it's something like that, I'll gladly accept. When should I start?”

“We want to get it over with as soon as possible so we can get to the expedition in August as soon as possible. So it would be helpful if you could start as soon as possible......”

“Then we can start tomorrow. More importantly, what do you mean by the expedition in August?"

I asked the glasses senior, and Ike replied.

“Speaking of which, it’ll be the first time for you guys too. This school goes around in the summer to do simple quests within the Lister Confederacy. And we ‘Red Lotus’ have a slightly more difficult quest coming up. I want to start preparing for it as soon as possible. That's why we're trying to thin out the magic beasts in the area so that we can go there without any worries."

“I suppose we of ‘Reimei’ will also be taking that August quest too?”

“Yeah. That’s supposed to be the case......we also did a simple errand quest together with the other senior students when we were freshmen, so they should proceed with the same arrangement."

“Okay, I understand. Thank you for telling us. Now then, we will go to the student council room tomorrow, please take care.”

After I bowed to the members of ‘Red Lotus’ and when I was about to leave the gymnasium, the girls who were still on the second floor cheered again.

Being passionately cheered is really not a bad thing, don’t you think so?

I tried to gallantly depart away but...I'd forgotten that my legs are still numb. …normally wouldn’t it be the case where it got healed without my notice and thus I forgot my legs were numb!

I left the gymnasium again, unceremoniously borrowing Clarice's and Ellie's shoulders.

☆☆☆

Currently, I'm lying on my back.

I'm lying down in the harem room on the sixth floor of the female dormitory that everyone envies right now.

Four beautiful women and one outsider are around me.

Right now I'm being massaged by four beautiful women.

It's the retribution for all the violence from yesterday and today.

For your information, it’s a proper massage…obviously right…?

“Mars, I apologize. I had falsely accused you.”

Clarice, who is massaging my right hand and right shoulder, said so.

As usual, Clarice's hands are soft and nice.

And sometimes I felt a brushing of a softer spot...

“......Mars......I believed you......”

Ellie, massaging my left hand and left shoulder, gave her understanding.

And the Little Queen and Runaway Elf are jumping all over my back, hips, and rear.

“You should have explained it to us properly. Mars, you should fix your inarticulation too, no?”

It turned out that these two are so light that it feels good from them just stepping on my back so I let them do so, and before I knew it, they were jumping on me because they were bored.

Minerva said to me from her chair.

“Well, thank goodness. It all turned out to be a misunderstanding.”

I looked at Minerva and saw Minerva's triangle spot.

“...same white like glasses senior’s…”

I was so distracted that I said an unintentional word... There’s no need to mention that the massage turned into a pro-wrestling session...

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

Author’s note:

Mars has Sky Eye and his eyes are needlessly good which led to him seeing many things.

2022-10-23 12:03:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 90 : The Scene of Carnage

TL:SummerPeanut

It never rains but it pours. Swollen foot and scalded hand. Luckily I got chapters in stock. Thanks for the peanuts, Abunai.

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

30 June 2030.

Right now I'm sitting on my knees.*1

And in front of me is a letter.

‘Dear Beloved Mars’

Well, it is what is commonly known as a love letter. And this was delivered yesterday, to the top floor of the first-year female dormitory...... in other words, to the ‘Reimei’ party girls' room.

These letters arrived quite often but this time the person and the content of the letter is bad.

Of course, the sender was the glasses senior. The contents of the letter were.

“Dear Mars,

I hope you remember our promise when we two skipped classes together. I'll be waiting for you at the usual place after school on 1 July.

P.S. I gave you my first time so you haven't forgotten your promise, have you? If you did, I'll go to Ike and cry. From your glasses person."

Where my knees are sitting right now is the floor of the harem room on the sixth floor of the female dormitory, the object of everyone’s envy.

Around me are four demons and one outsider...... as for why that outsider is here, Clarice said that if four S class girls live in a room together would make it seems like they are excluding her and that’ll be sad. So Minerva also lived with them in Reimei’s girls’ room.

Normally it's forbidden to live in a female dormitory.

But I reduced that rule of cohabitation to null and I can enter this room anytime I want.

Welp, they really went and did it... They should have kept the entry ban to the female dormitory area...

Clarice spoke to me with a smile plastered on her face.

“Mars. I won't get angry so tell me honestly. You and Senior Ede have been very close lately, haven't you? You often call her glasses senior or something similar, don't you? What first time did Senior Ede give you?”

I looked down and answered, unable to look directly into Clarice's eyes because of how scary her eyes are.

“N-no, I didn't receive anything ......”

“Oh, so are you saying that Ede-senpai is lying? It’s even something that would make her cry if you forgot right?”

“No, I didn't do anything like that......”

And now the Queen of Jealousy’s turn.

“......Mars......recently changed......sad......”

She said some stinging words.

I feel like I shouldn't let a woman say these words.

I feel like the worst trash kind of a guy......Though I'm the cause...

Queen Little is next.

“Putting aside Clarice and Ellie, and although it’s plausible for Misha, I can’t accept losing to Ede! Come on Mars, assault me too as you had to Ede!"

Saying this, Karen suddenly laid sideways and closed her eyes.

Lady Karen. Your words are dangerous!

Finally, the runaway elf suddenly hugged me and tried to kiss me.

“Why can't it be me? Is that senior glasses that much better...?”

When I held Misha's shoulders and tried hard to stop her, tears started to flow from Misha's eyes......

This scene of carnage lasted for less than four hours from after school to 7 pm.

The issue became such that it could only be resolved in its entirety the next day during the meeting with the glasses senior after school.

And the next day after school - 1 July 2030 - I went to the student council room.

I knocked on the door of the student council room with Clarice and Ellie on my shoulders.

Without caring whether it’s the homeroom, magic class, or martial arts class, to think that I had to sit on my knees the entire time...

“Excuse me...”

When I entered the student council room, Ike looked at me and immediately noticed the unusual atmosphere.

“M-Mars...... what's wrong? Aside from Clarice, it's unusual to see Ellie, Karen and Misha here, isn't it?...”

Then, instead of I who wasn’t given the right to answer, Clarice plastered a smile on her face before speaking.

“I have a few errands to run with Senior Ede. I believe it will be over quickly. May we interrupt you for a moment? Brother-in-law?"

Ike also seemed a little put off.

“S-sure...... I don't know what it is but... don't do anything too extreme, okay? But for Mars's fiancées wanting to see Ede... Mars! Don’t tell me even Ede?..."

As expected of my good brother that I’m proud of...... so perceptive to the point of causing disgust......

"Yes, I'm falsely accused...... and I didn't do anything......."

Then the four judges stared at me.

No, they can’t be said to be a judge anymore. They look more like executioners… Then came the initiator of this case, the glasses senior.

“Oh? Did everyone come? But that’s a no, okay? It will be just you as promised, okay? Well then, Mars, let's go, shall we?"

Then Clarice was about to say something to the glasses senior but Ike restrained Clarice and said

“Ede. Where and what are you going to do with Mars?"

Ike asked the glasses senior. Then she replied.

“Oh my, we discussed this with you the other day, didn't you? We're going to the gymnasium…now."

As soon as she finished, she dragged my hand.

But Clarice pulled my other hand.

“Wait. I haven't finished talking to you yet!”

Clarice stopped her with a loud voice, and the glasses senior was surprised. Then Ike turned to Clarice.

“Clarice. I'll take responsibility here so let Ede do what she wants. I'm sure that absolutely no harm will come to the four of you...I think. At the very least not in the way you guys might think."

Ike separated mine and Clarice's hands.

Ike looked apologetic to me and clasped his hands in front of his face.

Is that a sign of an apology? Or is it a sign of condolences?

I was taken to the gymnasium by the senior glasses.

Ah, my legs are still numb and... by the way, when I secretly recovered the numbness with Holy magic yesterday, Clarice told me I’m not allowed to because I didn't show any remorse...

The hall was not like the one where I fought Ryner the other day but a much larger gymnasium where you could look down from the second floor.

And there were a lot of girls upstairs.

Apparently, all of them are upperclassmen and I received many cheers from the second floor.

“Good luck, Mars!”

“I love you, Mars.”

“Mars, if you win, you can do whatever you want with me”

Then, glasses senior said.

“There's a lot of support for you Mars......I'd say more than 90 percent of the fans there are here for you. It's been a while since I've fought as an away team and I'm getting motivated!”

And Garl, the dwarf, too said.

“Well, it’ll be ‘ol us win so they'll be screaming in no time. Don't overdo with him, y’all. Ike will be furious."

The members of ‘Red Lotus’ were already in the hall, and they were already in discussion with each other excluding Ike.

I already knew what was going to happen.

But it seems like the four executioners still don't know what this meant......

When I tried to explain to them, Ike put out his hand and restrained me.

I am sure that Ike will explain to the four properly.

As for me, I would be more grateful if Ike explained it to me.

Hm? Did Ike know about the conversation between the senior glasses girl and me? Why does Ike know? And if he knew, why didn't he clear up the misunderstanding in the student council room?

As I approach the middle of the hall, the voice of a woman, apparently the MC, echoes through the gym.

Huh? Could this voice possibly be miss announcer from the Freshman Combat Tournament?

“Okay, everyone! Today's main event! First, the Red Corner! It's no secret that this is the strongest and number one party in the Lister Imperial School! Everyone longs for that party, and everyone envies that partyyyyyy----. B rank party, ‘Red Lotus’!!!!!”

There were cheers from a few in the audience.

“And from the blue cornerrrr!!!! The younger brother of Ike Bryant, also renowned as the strongest of this Lister Imperial School! Blonde, good-looking, with a face more beautiful and delicate than girls, and above all, the master of the harem party in the first year! The name of the man who is going to win this battle and welcomes our Ede as a member of his harem is......Mars Bryant!!!!!!!"

There's no doubt...... this way of agitating the crowd is miss announcer from the Freshman Combat Tournament......

When my announcement ended, the senior girls on the second floor went wild.

I looked up and saw hundreds of cherry blossom views.

But soon Clarice came up to me.

“I'll show you ours later as much as you like, just don't look up now.”

She told me that still with a smile tacked on her face.

Although it’s a lucky opportunity for me, I don’t think I should be happy about this…

“I was just curious because the cheers were so loud, that's all. More importantly, have the misunderstanding been cleared up by a bit?"

Then Clarice apologized.

“I heard what happened from your brother-in-law just now....... I'm really sorry! I always believed in you Mars......."

The end of the sentence is getting weaker and weaker......

“But! What first time did she give you?! I'm still not going to forgive you depending on your answer!"

Hearing those words, the glasses senior…

“Are you talking about my first time? That's a matter of course. There's no way I could write it in a letter and there's no way I could say it in public either."

Clarice heard that and said.

“Look, Mars, you're having an affair!”

“What? Affair? ......did you guys think that is referring to cheating? Just from how I gave him my first time skipping class for Mars?"

When the glasses senior said that, Clarice...

“Eh? The first time you skipped...class? So two of you didn't skip class and did something unseemly together?"

“If you want to call it unseemly, it might be so... but Ike said that even if ‘Red Lotus’ all together took on Mars, we wouldn't win so I just skipped my class and went to negotiate with Mars......is that unseemly?"

Clarice fell into turmoil.

“Eh? What…do you mean unseemly… Mars, why didn't you say anything...?"

No, I said I definitely didn't do it.

I was a bit irritated too so I told Clarice.*2

“I'm the only person who can actually judge in this trial. At the very least I have the right to pronounce the judges. You had made a mistake."

Clarice seemed to understand.

“B-but from my perspective......right?”

And then she backed away.

I quickly told Clarice.

“I'm going to punish all four of you together later. Be prepared."

Anyway, so much for picking on my fiancées, I told glasses senior.

“To begin with, it's all because senior glasses sent me that strange letters. Since we are meeting in the student council room every day, wouldn’t it be fine if you just say it normally?"

When I said that, the glasses senior replied.

“But isn’t something like a letter or challenge necessary? And it’s weird to send a letter of challenge to the harem room right? So I wrote it in the form of a love letter like the other girls but......was that a poor decision?"

She said with a wink.

Was this letter calculated? Or is she just that airheaded?

“Then, what do you want us ‘Red Lotus’ to bet? Naturally becoming your fiancée is a little hard...”

“Then please clear up any misunderstandings to our members. Karen and Misha are particularly dangerous.”

Saying this, I looked at the four people behind me and saw that Ike's persuasion seemed to have worked and they had become smaller.

It seems that the misunderstanding has already been completely cleared up so it might be okay if I don’t get glasses senior to explain. But just in case.

And then the fated(?) battle between me and ‘Red Lotus’ began.

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

Author’s note:

I hope you will all fight any false accusations to the bitter end. (lol)

TL’s note:

Seiza. 101 of how to torture your legs.
Wow, this might be the first time Mars explicitly said he’s annoyed. I already thought of him as another typical pushover MC by his harem long ago.

2022-10-23 11:59:24 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 89 : Sword of Oath

TL:SummerPeanut

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

May 1, 2030.

It has been about two weeks since the fierce battle with Ryner and Bram.

Bram woke up the day after the fight.

But as soon as he woke up, he fell into a long sleep again.

The curse must have been very strong.

The next time he woke up was a week later.

However, he went back to sleep again soon and woke up again briefly.

It was only yesterday, on April 30, that he was able to speak properly.

First of all, we decided to have the two of them talk it out.

However, it’s quite scary to leave only two of them so I’m the only one present.

And I'm on good terms with the two of them, having exchanged sword fights with them.

After a short discussion between Ryner and Bram, Bram, who had heard a lot of things from Ryner, said to me

"Thank you very much. I will repay you this favor for the rest of my life.”

With that, Ryner too said

“I will also serve Sir Mars. I will serve as your sword against all your enemies!”

I had honestly been waiting for these words.

I was waiting for these words because of Leena.

If I let Leena enter this school, there would be no one to protect her for three years after I graduate.

But if these two would serve me, I thought they would at least be faithful to protect Leena when I request them to do so.

By the way, Bram's status is like this.

Name: Bram Chest

Title: -

Status: Human race, commoner

Condition: Good

Age: 32 years old

Level: 51

HP: 52/52

MP: 213/213

Muscle Strength: 21

Agility: 31

Magic: 60

Dexterity: 52

Durability: 12

Luck: 1

Unique Ability: Spatial Magic (Lv3/G)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv5/D)

Special Ability: Earth Magic(Lv4/D)

When I saw this status, I am of the opinion that the status is quite low for a level 51...

This may be normal for the 5th place in the S class 18 years ago...... and I've never known that skills could increase to level 3 despite having talent at G.

I guess talent only affects the ease of raising the level and not the upper limit after all.

I was also taught in the classroom that talent never goes up.

I think that's why Clarice and I are special.

I in particular can easily increase my talent level. I think this is thanks to Innate Talent].

What I'm most interested in is the Unique Ability] Spatial Magic...... Bram is also a reincarnated person......

And then an unexpected trophy arrives to me from Bram.

“Sir Mars, actually, inside my Spatial Magic storage, there is a sword that you might be able to use.”

“Let me see."

Bram is conversing with me completely as his master.

I'm not asking him to correct his language either.

Why? Because I thought that if I behaved like his master, Bram would not commit suicide. To be honest though, I don't like it when people talk like this.

But if this is going to keep him alive, there's no choice but to continue as is.

Bram made a sword appear from the void.

"Oh... This is...awesome..."

The sword that Bram brought out of space had a slightly golden coloration.

Name: Thunder Sword

Attack: 24

Special: Agility +1, Magic +2

Value: B+

Details: -

The user will always be electrocuted without lightning resistance. Enchanting the sword with Lightning magic will increase its attack power.

Finally, a weapon that can be said to be exclusively for me! And it's pretty strong too!

“I was wondering if Sir Mars would be able to equip it......what do you think?"

He said that so I picked up the Thunder Sword.

It easily fits in my hand and, perhaps recognizing me as the owner, it shone with golden light for a moment before fading again.

“Bram. Thank you. This is the sword I've been looking for.”

Bram is also pleased that I was able to equip it.

It seems that Bram had been thinking about throwing it away because it electrocuted him every time he held it but he thought it was a very good and valuable piece of equipment and had been storing it in his space for a long time.

This might have made me as strong as between average to high-class B-rank adventurer.

Name: Mars Bryant

Title: Thunder God / Wind King / Goblin Butcherer

Status: Human race, second son of Count Bryant

Condition: Good

Age: 10 years old

Level: 20

HP: 56/56

MP: 7622/7622

Strength: 53

Agility: 54

Magic: 71

Dexterity 53

Endurance: 50

Luck: 30

Unique Ability: Celestial Gift (LvMax)

Unique Ability: Natural eyesight (Lv9)

Unique Ability: Lightning Magic (Lv7/S)

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv8/A)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv3/E)

Special Ability: Water Magic(Lv2/G)

Special Ability: Earth Magic(Lv3/E)

Special Ability: Wind Magic(Lv9/A)

Special ability: Sacred magic (Lv6/B)

Equipment: Thunder Sword

Equipment: Salamander Sword

Equipment: Disguise Bracelet

The status had increased even though my level had not increased.

Obviously, since I didn't defeat any magic beasts or people, my level shouldn't have gone up.

My statuses all exceeded 50, and the level of Lightning magic and Holy magic had also risen.

I expected my swordsmanship level to increase but it has not.

Well, it took me a very long time to get my Wind magic level up from 8 to 9, so I guess swordsmanship won't go up that easily either......

“All right, let's go then."

I said to them and they both nodded and followed me.

The three of us went to the principal's office where Duke of Regan is, and we entered after knocking on the door. We saw Duke of Regan and Sasha waiting Duke of Regan's eyes were already filled with tears.

The moment Duke of Regan saw Ryner and Bram, she cried.

"I'm glad you are safe. And I'm sorry for the pain you’ve been through."

She bowed her head to us.

Lately, Duke of Regan has been crying a lot ......

“Now then, the three of you may speak.”

“You can stay too, Mars."

Duke of Regan advised so but I’m sure the three of them will have a lot to talk about.

I'm fine with it as long as I get to hear about Joseph and Johan later.

Duke of Regan told me in advance about the handling of Ryner and Bram’s case.

Naturally(?), it was biased towards Ryner and Bram.

And I have other things I have to do first and foremost.

“No, I hope we can talk about that later.”

With that, I left the principal's office and headed for the hidden passageway to the elf statue.

The reason why I came here is that the hidden passageway is being destroyed by Earth magic, mainly by, glasses senior, the vice president of the student council.

They decided to block the path because this hidden passage is dangerous for the Lister Empire School.

But I'm not supposed to be able to use Earth magic.

That's why I'm secretly trying to dig this place during this classroom lesson.

I'm lying on the grass near the hidden passageway, using Earth magic until my MP is nearly depleted.

I'm not slacking off, okay? I'm just resting after using a little too much MP, okay?

As I was lying on my back, a person came into my view.

I voiced out the color that jumped out at me.

“......white......”

I could see what was in her skirt so I said it unconsciously.

The woman in the white pants crouched down close to me...... you could have sat down but that way of crouching is......deliberate, isn't it?

“You have four fiancées and you still don't think that’s enough?"

The woman......the glasses senior, vice president of the student council, said ridiculously as she checked where I was looking.

"I-I'm sorry, senior glasses. It just came to my line of sight so I accidentally blurted out. I didn't mean to offend you.”

“Senior glasses? Do you always call me that?”

The glasses senior stared at me with a suspicious look on her face.

I was so surprised that I just said the nickname I had always called her in my mind.

“Y-yes… I thought you looked good in those red-rimmed glasses.”

When I open up and tell the truth, the glasses senior smiled broadly.

“So you have a glasses fetish, I see. When this fact gets out, I’m afraid most of the girls in this school will start wearing glasses."

She laughed and patted me on the back.

No, at my age, even a little body touch is enough to make me feel bothered...

“I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind?"

The glasses senior suddenly asked in a serious tone.

“Of course, if I know."

“What are you doing here, Mars? No, what were you doing before you were lying here?"

"I was a little bothered about the hidden passageway...... I thought I would have interrupted glasses seniors’ group if I come here when you were working so I sneaked over to check on the progress. After all, I feel uneasy since this place is connected to the outside...... is there anything wrong with that?"

“Recently, I felt the progress of the work with this hidden passageway is weird once in a while. It should have progressed much faster, I wonder why that’s the case.”

The glasses senior looked me in the face...... maybe she's suspicious of me?

“Senior glasses, this is the first time I came here so I don't know anything about the progress but it looks like you are managing it properly. I think it will be completed in less than a month?”

It is no longer completely usable as a passageway.

Now is just the question of feeling on whether this passageway should be properly sealed or not.

"From what I've seen, it's going to take another month and a half. ......well, that's fine. I'll cut to the chase. Could you have a mock battle with us ‘Red Lotus’?”

“A mock battle? Why?"

“Didn't Ike say it the other day? Even if all of us in the ‘Red Lotus’ were to go against you, we wouldn't be able to beat a single Mars. I just wanted to confirm that. You might think I'm being childish but there’s no denying that I'm a little frustrated.”

When I was wondering about it, the glasses senior girl said something outrageous.

“Do you want the four of them to know that you were looking at my underpants?”

“Understood. I'll choose the mock fight.”

That was an accident......or did she show it on purpose just for this?

“So can we wait until after our nomination quest is over? Probably after June. I'll let you know when it's decided.”

After saying that, the glasses senior left me.

Hm? What about the glasses senior’s class?

I also returned to the classroom after I had completely lost sight of that glasses senior.

When I returned to the classroom, the morning classroom lesson was just coming to an end.

After lunch, Duke of Regan and Bram came to the magic class.

Apparently, Bram had also been made assistant teacher for S class.

And he will be going to teach us both magic and martial arts.

To be honest, Ryner's martial arts are not suitable for Karen and Minerva.

He is good at teaching them but Ryner's martial arts are techniques for defeating enemies.

For Karen and Minerva, martial arts are more for them to avoid enemy attacks so this arrangement is more appropriate in terms of live combat.

But Dominic, it's the opposite.

Although he can use magic, he uses it only to make the most of his sword.

His style is not to use magic to defeat his enemies so it is more practical in terms of live combat for him to practice his way of using magic in addition to how Bram uses his sword.

In no time at all, the magic class passed and it is time for martial arts class.

Ryner came into the classroom and lined up with Bram.

Ryner's looked much more invigorated than ever.

“From today onwards, I and Teacher Bram will instruct you in this class. I'm going to whip you guys up stricter than ever, so prepare yourself!”

The class, which suddenly started with Ryner's spartan declaration, was truly a hellish experience.

However, Ryner seemed to be very lively.

It was the first time Ryner had shown such face ever since coming to this school.

Drops of sweat fell from Ryner's and Bram's eyes.

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

Author’s note:

This is the end of chapter 5.

Huh? What about Joseph and Johan?

Well, they will appear in due course.

I am also on Twitter.

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

2022-10-16 02:53:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 88 : Ryner and Bram

TL:SummerPeanut

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

April 15, 2030.

“Thank you for coming. Teacher Ryner."

I called Ryner into the gymnasium that Duke of Regan had prepared for me.

Currently, it is time for the afternoon magic class. I asked Sasha to swap today's magic class for a martial arts class.

By the way, the other students are standing guard outside.

Ike and Ellie are on the roof of this building, and all the S class students except Clarice are near the building. Duke of Regan and Sasha are also in the vicinity to prevent other teachers from entering the building.

“Mars, what's going on? Teacher Sasha called me over......"

Ryner really doesn't know what's going on, apparently.

So I said while daringly using appraisal on him.

“I called you here today to have a serious match. May I?"

I said this and appraised Ryner.

As expected, he is still in a cursed state even though he seemed normal.

And then I immediately start to appraise the magic sword Bram.

Name: Bram Chest

Title: -

Status: Human, commoner.

Condition: Cursed

Age: 32 years old

Level: 51

HP: 52/52

MP: 212/213

I could only appraise so far. During the appraisal, the magic sword Bram immediately appeared in front of me, and Ryner attacked me with that sword.

If I was concerned about the results of the appraisal instead, I would surely have been killed.

As Duke of Regan had said, the magic sword Bram was a person.

Ryner seems to have lost his mind.

He kept trying to kill me with deadly blows.

I used Sylphid, Vision, and Mana Eyes to defend myself. This time I just have to endure. And even if I take a little damage, I can heal myself immediately.

Not to mention, I can use magic as much as I want. I can use Wind Cutter if I feel it gets too dangerous.

There are only us in this gym.

After a couple of minutes of endurance, Ryner’s group started to attack again.

An ice blade came out of nowhere and settled in Ryner's dominant right hand.

In his left hand is the magic sword Bram... this is bad...... right hand is Ryner's swordsmanship and tricky attacks will be coming from Bram on his left.

I decided to deal with Ryner's right sword with Salamander Sword and use Wind Cutter to clash with the magic sword Bram.

The magic sword Bram would shift coordinates just when I thought I had repelled it sword so it was easier to intercept it with magic.

However, the situation is not good.

I’m evenly matched in the fight with his right hand, or in fact I’m actually holding the advantage but the defense against the magic sword Bram is inevitably lagging behind. That’s even when using Vision.

The reason is that the demon sword Bram seemed to have brought a dagger with spatial magic, and I am unable to fully avoid the dagger.

Furthermore, the dagger is carefully coated with poison......

Hence I've been using Wind Cutter to deal with Bram's attacks, and avoid the poisoned dagger if I can. When I can't avoid it, I'll recover immediately with a Cure and then a Heal.

I am glad that I have been training magic every day to raise my maximum MP.

I now have a maximum MP of over 7600.

Even if I use 100 MP per minute, I can continue fighting for more than an hour.

Well, in my case forget about 1 minute, I would easily use more than 100MP in no time at all so I used Sylphid and Vision at different key points.

As I continued to deal with the attacks, Ryner's expression changed.

At first, he seemed agitated but I think he is back to his usual face.

But it seems that he is no good with Holy magic.

When I used Heal and Cure, he was quite wary of me.

Maybe he was just surprised...

The fact that I can’t let my guard down from Ryner’s magic sword Bram attacks on his left hand remain the same but I can now afford to use appraisal.

I looked at the remaining MP of the magic sword Bram. There are less than 80 left.

If I can survive 80 more spatial magic attacks, it’s my win.

This appraisal by the Sky Eyes] led Mars to an advantageous battle situation.

Because while Mars can calculate his opponent's remaining fighting strength, Ryner and Bram, do not know their opponent's remaining MP. Common sense tells them that with all the Wind magic and Holy magic he was using, Mars's MP should have been depleted in less than a minute. However, Mars is not conservative in his use of magic.

Although Ryner’s face seems to be back to his usual one, his attacks are getting more and more intense, as if he has no more time to spare. The atmosphere is that he wants to decide the battle as soon as possible.

And Bram's MP is also running out rapidly... Bram's remaining MP is now in single digits.

I had been continuously using magic too so I have less than 500 left.

In fact, we were fighting a very close battle over here.

I kept appraising Bram's remaining MP all the time.

5, 4, 3, 2...... remaining 2, the magic sword Bram disappeared into space.

That means it used spatial magic when it had 2 left, so now it should have 1 only.

Okay! Just like the plan......*1

I was looking at Bram's MP the whole time so I completely overlooked the threat from Ryner's right hand.

There was no way Ryner could have missed this opening.

I couldn't avoid the killing blow from Ryner's right hand and got hit on my right arm, dropping my Salamander Sword.

Ryner seemed to think he had a chance and slashed at me with great momentum but I managed to intercept him with my Wind Cutter.

And that's when it happened.

When I hit Ryner's sword in his right hand with Wind Cutter, the magic sword Bram appeared in Ryner's left hand.

A deadly blade that can’t be evaded assaulted me.

I undid Sylphid and put on my newly-learned God’s Authority(Kamui) instead.

Kamui is referring to the previously activated magic by coincidence when I fought Barnes. It’s a combination of Wind Cloak(Sylphid) and Lightning Cloak.

It sends electric signals to the body, which has been enhanced by Sylphid, to forcibly improve the body’s physical abilities. Because it is a forced reaction, there are many disadvantages.

My body itself cannot keep up, which is dangerous because it leaves a lot of damage to the bones and muscle tissues.

Well, it can still be recovered with a Heal.

Ryner, who missed an attack with the magic sword Bram which they had thought was a sure-hit, attacks me in a frantic manner.

Immediately, I released Kamui and shouted.

"Clarice!”

Then, as if she had been waiting for me, Clarice came out of the women's restroom in the gymnasium, put maximum magic power into her Magic Arrow, and shot the magic sword Bram.

The impact was so great that Ryner dropped the magic sword Bram unintentionally, and Clarice sent the magic sword Bram flying further and further toward the edge with the Magic Arrow.

I picked up the Salamander Sword and stood between Ryner and Bram, ready to prevent Ryner from nearing Bram.

Clarice ran to Bram and casted High Heal on Bram several times.

Bram has no more MP so it can't escape into the void.

Our strategy was to set Bram's MP to 1 from the beginning and when Bram returned to the void, I would act as if I have fallen into a pinch so that it could not escape by consuming his last MP after reappearing.

We are of the opinion that even if Ryner's curse is lifted, Ryner might fall into the curse again if the magic sword Bram is still here.

I also thought that if Clarice was there from the beginning, Bram would be wary of her and would conserve its MP so I had Clarice stay on standby the whole time.

This time I got away with the best pattern but I even had a plan to reduce the magic sword Bram's MP to 0 until he pierced my abdomen in the worst-case scenario.

When Clarice High Heal-ed me several times, a light shot out from the magic sword Bram, and a man a little shorter than Ike appeared unclothed.

It was probably Bram. He seemed to have fainted due to a lack of magical power.

I immediately looked at Ryner who was just about to slash at me.

The man who was slashing at me had a face full of tears.

He was sobbing and slashing at me with tears in his eyes.

What could he cut with such a sword and strength? It was such an attack that make you question so.

Ryner was still cursed.

I sealed Ryner's sword while I was crossing swords with Ryner.

I was no longer the focus of Ryner's sight.

He was staring at Bram who was lying on the ground the whole time.

Clarice approached Ryner and High Heal-ed him while I and Ryner are locking swords.

Finally, the curse on the Ryner is broken and the Ryner collapsed on the spot.

After a bit of time passed and things finally calmed down, I, Clarice, and Ryner sat down next to bare Bram.

By the way, we haven't told everyone outside that the battle is over yet.

Ike will come to check once at 15:00 but it's only 14:30 now so that's not a problem.

By the way, my upper half is basically au naturel. I have holes in various places thanks to being slashed round and around by both Ryner and Bram, and I couldn't let anyone else see my current clothes and robe. The fact is that despite being soaked in blood, I don’t have any cuts anywhere on my body.

How did you recover from all that? There is no way I can answer that if asked.

I had burned the uniform and robe I was wearing on my upper body.

So that is the reason why I have no clothes for Bram.

Clarice has both her uniform and robe well intact but I’m not comfortable using a girl’s robe to cover the lower half of a male.

It doesn’t matter to Ryner apparently.

“thank you...really... Thank you so much."

Ryner repeatedly thanked me for my help.

"It’s fine. I'm glad we were able to break the curse safely. And please don't tell anyone about mine and Clarice’s magic.”

“I know that. I've seen that tragedy many times in this academy after all.”

Ryner’s face looks as if the ghost possessing him had fallen off his face.

Then Ryner began to talk.

“I still remember the time I killed Cyrus. I also remember when I cut my fellow adventurers from the back. I still remember the grief I heard from Bram......"

Sure enough, it was Ryner who killed Cyrus......

“Was Bram suffering too?"

“I think Bram probably suffered more than me. Thanks to the magic sword Bram’s curse who knows how many lives had been taken. He kept voicing…how do I return to normal, how do I die.”

I and Clarice listened to Ryner's words in silence.

I believe it's absolutely necessary to listen to him like this.

“There were also times that I can speak freely but when I hold or feel the magic sword Bram, my thoughts and actions became brutal......but Bram was the only person I can talk to. So for the past month, I've been able to talk to you guys and I didn't have to talk to Bram. I didn't trigger the curse as often. But then Bram would be alone all the time. I couldn't leave Bram alone because I'm the one who caused him to be this way to begin with...... And then the curse would always kick in, and everything repeats itself."

It was much more sublime and harsh than I thought… Can we hold these people guilty? I can kind of understand how Duke of Regan feels now......

“I'll answer for my crimes. With Bram. We had decided together all along that if we ever got back, we would atone for our sins. Then again, talking about that kind of thing can trigger the curse again."

Ryner's face showed determination.

“I understand. Let's follow the rules of Duke of Regan's territory. Please wait for the Duke of Regan to come..."

I stopped mid-sentence.

If I left Ryner here alone, he might possibly commit suicide......

“Clarice, I'm sorry but could you go get Duke of Regan and Brother Ike? I want you to go outside and tell them that we are safe, just in case."

Clarice understood my intention and immediately went outside the gymnasium.

Ryner chuckled at that.

So he intended to harm himself, after all?

Duke of Regan and Ike came quickly, and Duke of Regan cried when he saw Ryner's face, and as soon as she saw Bram's face, she broke down crying on the spot.

Duke...... it's fine to break down crying but you should do it at a better place...... what’s in front of you is the lower half of the bare Bram......

Ike came over to me and gave me a fist bump.

Then he said one word ‘That's my proud little brother’ I'm most happy to hear that.

Then Ryner turned to Ike and apologized.

“Ike. I'm sorry for what I did to you.”

Then Ike also apologized.

“It is also true that my conceited heart was strengthened thanks to you. Please don't apologize. It was a good wake-up call for me.”

After a while, we moved to a different place and started talking about the future.

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

Author’s note:

Tomorrow is the last chapter of volume 5.

TL’s note:

Must resist, can’t type ‘All according to keikaku’.

2022-10-16 02:48:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 87 : The Magic Sword Bram

TL:SummerPeanut

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

“Duke of Regan, that’s why I told you. There is no way we can tail Mars anymore..."

Sasha said to Duke of Regan, and Duke of Regan replied.

“How did you notice? We were quite far away this time... and we put on maximum alert towards any wind movement...."

She asked with her beautiful face contorting slightly.

“It's a trade secret."

I simply replied.

Well, it was all thanks to Ike.

Why did Ike put me and Clarice in last place this time?

His action meant putting the two best fighters at the rear despite this not being a retreating battle.

And that for some reason it took me a long time to come out of the hidden passageway in the basement.

Considering these factors, we were basically told to make sure that the rear was well scouted.

At first, when Clarice and I were told to stay behind, I thought he meant I should be suspicious of Clarice but I believe in the bond between myself, Ike, Clarice, and Ellie is more than a real family.

“Now, what do we do? Do we stay here and talk?"

Ike said, and Duke of Regan said.

“No, it's not good for us to stand out here. Let's go back through the underground passage for now. We’ll discuss it on the school side where you can see the entrance to this hidden passageway.”

Hmmm, there is no way these two could have anything to do with Joseph and Johan's disappearance I guess.

We followed Duke of Regan's advice and went back the way we came.

In the underground passage, Duke of Regan stopped at Cyrus's arm spot and clasped her hands together.

We followed suit.

Duke of Regan muttered in a small voice ‘I'm sorry’.

Back at the Lister Imperial School, we decided to talk a short distance away from the elven statue where the hidden staircase was located.

Misha was looking worriedly into Sasha's face.

I tapped Misha on the shoulder and she leaned back against me.

I’m sure she’s worried that her mother might be denounced from now.

“Are you two the ones who killed Teacher Cyrus?”

Ike suddenly drove in the knife.

Misha is the one who is fearful of the answer to that question.

Perhaps Misha also thinks that Sasha might have done the deed.

That's why Ike asked this question first.

“No, there’s no way that’s true! I swear to God and my daughter! I had nothing to do with Cyrus! And of course, I had nothing to do with Joseph and Johan!"

Sasha said angrily.

Yet Ike wanted Misha to hear these words as soon as possible.

“I'm sure you're right. I’m glad for you. Misha."

Misha seemed a little relieved when I said this to her.

Sasha, too, seemed to realize why he was asking that and felt a little awkward because she yelled back at him. Well, if someone suddenly said something like that in front of my daughter, I would also be upset.

“I apologize for doubting you. Teacher Sasha. But I wanted to reassure Misha first. Misha, I would like to apologize to you too."

Ike bowed to Sasha and Misha. Yeah. He's a good brother. I want to be someone like him.

When Ike apologized honestly to Sasha, she too said below.

“Rather I'm the one who should be sorry… I yelled at you without any dignity as an adult... I also appreciate your concern for Misha.”

Sasha also apologized properly to Ike.

I think we are now in a better mood to talk a little.

Misha's grip on my hand had been very strong, perhaps because she was worried but now her grip had softened. Her expression also became a little brighter.

“Then who killed Teacher Cyrus? If it’s Duke of Regan, I’m sure you already have some ideas, don't you?"

Ike asked but Duke of Regan remained downcast.

Ike said a few words.

"It was Teacher Ryner who killed Teacher Cyrus, wasn't it?"

To which Duke of Regan replied.

“Not exactly... I believe it was... not Ryner.”

“What makes you think so?"

"Because... Ryner’s level hasn't changed in 18 years…..”

“18 years? What do you mean? Has Duke of Regan known Teacher Ryner for a long time? 18 years ago…is Teacher Ryner actually..."

“Ryner was a student at Lister Imperial School 18 years ago, ranked 2nd in the S class.”

Ryner is actually a graduate of this school…? But then again, if his level hasn't changed since he graduated, his status probably hasn't changed that drastically either... If he's ranked 2nd with that strength, then the ranked 1st student must have been quite strong right? Maybe Ike and I came into the same notion and hence the talk below.

"His level hasn't changed and he's ranked 2nd with that kind of strength? It's really hard for me to honestly swallow that...”

"Oh? It's really true. And I'm sure you guys would understand. There was no Royal School of Syrians back then so the beastmen went to this school too. Four years ago, Ryner was 29 years old, and now he is 33. Don't you think it’s weird that he is of the same age as someone else?"

When Duke of Regan looked at Ellie…

“...Papa…”

She said as her eyes fluttered open. I see. That makes sense then. There’s no way to beat Barnes... Ike quickly agreed.

“If it is not Teacher Ryner who killed Teacher Cyrus, then who is the culprit? You are not going to say it was done by a ghost, are you?"

“No... I don't have any proof...but it should be Bram...”

Hmm? I don't know anyone called Bram... where have I heard of him before?

“Just who is that person?"

Ike got a little annoyed now and he further pressed the answer from Duke of Regan.

“Bram, the magic sword that Ryner is equipped with... I believe it was Bram who killed Cyrus....”

“How can a sword kill a man at its own will?!”

Ike said to Duke of Regan in an unusually loud voice, and Duke of Regan replied

"That sword can. That cursed magic sword(Intelligent Sword)... That sword is originally ‘Bram Chest’, Ryner’s peer, the ranked 5th in the S class at Lister Imperial School.”

"A man turning into a sword?"

I asked and Duke of Regan nodded.

Can one actually believe that? But Ike nodded.

“Please let us know what exactly you mean by that.”

At Ike's serious look, Duke of Regan nodded as if she had given up.

“Eighteen years ago, there were 5 S class students in the fifth grade. Three of them were beastmen and two were human. They were, respectively, a three-person party of only beastmen, led by Lord Barnes, and a two-person party consisting of Ryner and Bram. I don't know if these two parties were close or not but they stimulated each other’s growth. And in the fifth grade, Ryner obtained the title of Sword King.”

“He challenged Barnes, who he had never been able to beat, to a match. He was convinced that he could win because of his title as the Sword King because he had lost only so narrowly in the past. However, the result was a defeat. In fact, Barnes had been holding back all this time. The only difference was that Barnes couldn't take it too easy either and he broke Ryner's sword during the fight.”

Just how strong was he to break a sword using bare hands… When I looked in Ellie’s direction, she was wearing a very proud expression.

"Then Ryner began to rely on the quality of his sword from thereafter. He started sword hunting. But in the beginning, the sword hunting of his was different compared to recent ones. It was properly legal...

Both side fight with their swords on the line. It was done with the consent of both parties. I've been there a few times, and even the losers were satisfied."

“In the beginning...so later on...?”

“One day, Ryner and Bram went to the Kingdom of Zarkham to do a quest, and they had a sword-hunting match with a child of Zakham’s nobility... I said child but he was an adult obviously and Ryner won in a landslide. The child from the Kingdom of Zarkham got a little hurt.”

“The child's parents hired a group of demon race to put a curse on Ryner in retaliation for the injury. But when the child's parents found out that Ryner was good friends with the next Duke of Syrians, they decided not to put the curse on Ryner. However, the parents were not satisfied and placed the curse on Bram, a member of Ryner's party instead.”

“Bram was kidnapped during a quest, and by the time Ryner came to realize Bram was gone. A snow white sword was delivered to Ryner later. And that was the reborn Bram, Bram the Magic Sword.”

“Since then, Ryner started to behave strangely. The sword was turning from white to red. It wasn't until after Ryner graduated from Lister Imperial School that I realized that the color of the sword is now the color of human blood.”

“Tell me one thing. How do you cast a curse?”

I was very curious about curses.

After all, Ellie was cursed, too.

“Curses... can be used by the witchdoctors of the demon race. But it takes a large number of such spellcasters to cast a curse. Not to mention the amount of time required to cast a single curse. In fact, I've seen it happen a few times but it would never affect us if we were in a normal state."

Ike opened his mouth.

"So Duke of Regan thinks that the Magic Sword Bram, walked in all by himself and killed Teacher Cyrus?"

Ike lunged at Duke of Regan.

“No... I think he used Reiner's body to kill Cyrus... and my simple appraisal result is that Ryner has been cursed for a long time...since 18 years ago… I thought he had finally returned to the previous Ryner since his behavior reverted back but apparently he is still under the curse. Though I haven't been able to appraise Ryner…or rather Bram recently because Bram is ever so reluctant to be appraised..."

“Brother Ike. I think Duke of Regan is probably not lying."

I told Ike that because he didn't believe Duke of Regan's words and then he held himself back before saying.

“I...see. Does Teacher Ryner have his memories? Memories of killing Teacher Cyrus, and of killing other adventurers.”

“This is just my guess, I think he does... It's just a feeling with no assurance. I heard that Ryner tried several times to cut himself... and everything went wrong, probably thanks to Bram...."

The fact that she said it’s ‘thanks’ instead of ‘because’ of Bram conveys Duke of Regan's feelings toward Ryner. I am sure that she wants to save Ryner.

“Then why is there a need to kill Teacher Cyrus? I don't understand why Teacher Ryner...no, Bram would kill him. I do believe the sword that Teacher Cyrus has is a good one but it is certainly not as good as the swords belonging to Mars and Baron.”

“That’s because I requested Cyrus to do an internal investigation of Ryner. I never thought it would turn out like this...."

Sasha continued on behalf of Duke of Regan because her voice choked with tears.

“On the second day of the entrance examinations, Mars, you are able to exchange a sword fight with Cyrus with a calm face, right? When I reported it to Duke of Regan, she said that Mars might not be able to grow in the Lister Imperial School and that she would need to hire Ryner assuming he’s back to normal now. Even though I had reminded Cyrus to never push himself..."

So a little bit of this is my fault too huh...

“So tell me about Bram's abilities and stats. Does he have any strange magic?"

I said, and Duke of Regan choked back tears.

“Bram could use magic known as spatial magic. He could only change the coordinates of objects and store something in space. The coordinates of objects could only be moved 2 or 3 meters at most, and I think he could only put away one or two swords in the space."

This solved the mystery of Ryner’s suddenly appearing and disappearing swords.

It might be better for me to use VIsion to see Bram's future attacks than to see Ryner's...

“One last thing from us. If I shatter the magic sword Bram, will Teacher Ryner’s curse break as well? And what will happen to the magic sword Bram if I break the curse on Teacher Ryner first? I would like to know what would happen to the Intelligent Sword if it lost its vessel."

“It's all my speculations but if you don't remove the curse on Ryner properly, there might be some kind of curse left on Ryner even if you shatter the magic sword Bram...

In the case we remove the curse from Ryner first, I fear the collapse of Ryner's spirit... I’m scared of what Ryner will think when he comes to his senses after seeing the magic sword Bram... If it loses its vessel, I believe there will be more victims again...

It's just my own opinion... but I believe Ryner is innocent...and I don't think Bram is even more so. The magic sword Bram itself is cursed and has no will of its own. Of course, all the crimes were committed using Ryner's body... I think the one with the heaviest sin is the nobility parents who put the curse on Ryner..."

Well, it’s not like I don’t understand how she feels...

“Can you give me one chance? I'll do something about Teacher Reiner and Bram."

When I said so, and Duke of Regan replied.

"How will you...?"

"Teacher Ryner is... not good with Clarice so I think I'll go from that direction. Basically, I'm the only one who fights."

I think I understood the reason Ryner had shown discomfort when he fought Clarice.

“What should we do?”

“Prepare a sturdy building that has no issues being destroyed later with no windows where you can never see the inside from the outside. Bring Teacher Ryner there and I will take care of the rest. Joseph and Johan may take some action at that time so please be on the lookout outside."

That last part was complete bullshit. Because I don't want anyone else to know what's going on inside.

Then Duke of Regan answered.

“Give me two weeks. I'll figure something out."

Then two weeks passed and it was time to settle everything Ryner.

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

2022-10-09 03:21:11 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 86 : Hidden Passage

TL:SummerPeanut

Wee yea ra accrroad repoear spam

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

“I'll take the lead with Ellie. Ellie will be slightly in front of me just like in the past. Following behind us will be Galar, Ett(East), and Misha. Behind them will be Karen, Ede, Minerva, Yuri, and then Baron and Dominic. Mars and Clarice are in the rear. We'll go in this formation! Alright!"

The members of ‘Red Lotus’ were surprised at this formation.

They couldn't believe that he had entrusted us with the most dangerous positions, the front, and the rear.

“Glenn, as expected, wouldn’t it be pitiful for the first years in this formation? It’s fine to let ‘ol me stand beside you as usual”.

When a dwarf called Galar(Garl) said this, Ike replied.

“Don't get me wrong and listen to me. This is neither me overestimating nor underestimating you all. The strongest amongst us is definitely Mars. Even if we ‘Red Lotus’ party fights him, it’s doubtful whether we can win or not. Next in strength should be me and Clarice. Clarice is better in terms of overall strength, and she is almost even with me in terms of solo combat. I think Ellie is the next strongest. To be honest, I don't know about the other first-year students, but looking at the ranking, I'd say it's probably like this. I think the rest are pretty evenly matched, but trust me, the four of us have the power!”

The members of ‘Red Lotus’ all showed expressions of disbelief.

But since it was Ike who claimed so.

“Understood. ‘Ol me will do as what Glenn says for now. We have to prove our power later.”

When Garl said this, Ede(Edean), the bespectacled beauty who is also the vice president of the student council, also chimed in.

“I'm kind of jealous but Garl’s right.”

“Thank you. This formation is just for this time. Don’t let your guard down just because we have more numbers than usual. Let's go!”

"Wait a minute. Brother Ike. Why don't we close this door and check if we can open it from the inside to make sure we can come back? When we all go together, we close this door first, right? We don't want to be locked in here when we come back just because we can't open the door. Can Ike and the others go inside to make sure it is safe and then come back here first? I and Clarice will stay here and keep the door open.”

“I see. I completely overlooked this. Then we'll go underground and come back after we've gone a little further inside. After that, we’ll close the door and confirm if we can open the entrance from inside. As always, I can’t help but praise Mars's discretion."

With that, Ike and Ellie went down the hidden staircase leading to the basement.

The others followed Ike and Ellie, leaving only me and Clarice.

Ike and the others returned after checking the safety of the basement to some extent.

"Seems to be no problem. I'll close the door and then open it. If it doesn't open after 10 minutes since the closing, use the switch from outside to open it."

After exactly 10 minutes, the passageway to the basement opened a little.

After it opened a little, it didn't take long for it to open completely.

“There are no switches or anything in the basement. It seems to be a completely one-way road. However, it is not impossible to open it by force as it is now. In fact, if Mars came downstairs, it would be much easier to open it. But nevertheless, it’s good to know this. Thanks, Mars.”

Ike said and went underground again.

This time, Clarice followed behind the others but I didn't go down.

Clarice, perhaps suspicious, held out her hand and asked, ‘What's wrong?’.

I took Clarice's hand without saying anything and we went down to the basement together.

As soon as we got downstairs, I closed the door where we had entered.

It closed easily. Right......so easily......

When we got down to the basement, there was a passage about 4 meters wide that went straight to the south. The passage itself is quite wide.

And the walls were reinforced with Earth magic, and lamps were hung at regular intervals so there was quite a lot of light even in the underground passage.

Because of the lights, I could see quite far ahead.

The matter of lighting doesn’t bother me especially since I have night vision.

After about a kilometer, Ellie suddenly stopped and got everyone to stop. It didn't look like there was anyone in particular.

Then Ellie called me to the front of the line.

"......That thing...... appraise......."

She whispered in a low voice as she pointed in a direction.

It’s rotten but it was definitely a human arm.

I appraised it while feeling fearful. It turned out to be Cyrus’s arm.

I was informed that parts of Cyrus's corpse had been found in a slum. But the fact that the arm was found here might mean that...... Ike read my expression and called the vice president, the bespectacled Ede, and had her evaluate it.

“That's Teacher Cyrus’s arm......”

Ede said shakily.

Ike had someone else do the appraisal so that I wouldn't be found out. As expected of Ike......

“Did Teacher Cyrus die here? Or was he damaged here and died in the slums...... or did someone take all but his left arm to the slums...... This much is clear, however. Teacher Cyrus was murdered."

When Cyrus's burnt skeletal remains were discovered, there was considerable controversy over whether it was an accident or an incident ......

In the end, it was ruled as an accident but once this was found…or rather, the fact they considered a body with traces of having been burned as an accident is unnatural to begin with......

And I know only two people who could win a proper fight with Cyrus in this Regan.

One is me. But it’ll be hard to beat him from pure swordsmanship alone.

And the other one is, needless to say, Ryner......

And here's where I noticed something strange.

When was Cyrus killed? And how long has this arm been here? If Joseph and Johan passed through here, they would surely have seen this...... Did those guys know that Cyrus had been killed? I have another case to discuss with Ike later.

After that, we went straight for a while with caution as the road narrowed and the surrounding walls started to look a little different.....The road from here on must have been built recently.

But after a short walk, there was a staircase and then a dead end.

Ike went up the stairs and lightly opened the ceiling part of the stairs while looking me in the eye ......it should be as heavy as the previous entrance but he opened it easily.

Earlier, it took 10 minutes...... is that what he wanted to say?

I had no idea where we are after opening the ceiling.

Then I make sure to close the floor that leads to the basement we just came out of.

It looks like we are in a big house...... but there were two people noticing something right away.

Ellie and Misha.

Ellie immediately started checking out the house.

Then Misha whispered to us.

“This is that haunted house in the slums.”

I went next to Karen and held her hand gently, and she seemed a little relieved and regained her composure.

"Thank you."

Karen's eyes were moist as she looked up at me.

Is she slyly acting cute? No. The height difference between us is so much that when I hold her hand, there’s no choice but to look at her from up down.

Is there a need to make her own eyes moisten though? She must have been quite scared because of the incident with Cyrus. And then the unexpected haunted house ......

Then the other hand is held by Clarice.

This girl is still scared too... Ellie returned after finishing her search around the haunted house.

It seems that no one was there.

When Ellie and Misha returned, Ike said to them

"Why do you two know about this place?

I told them about the previous quest and they were convinced.

"So this is what happened...... The ghost ruckus was caused by someone coming up from this hidden passageway in a house that was supposed to be unoccupied, and the slum people thought it was a ghost and sent out a quest."

It hit me when Ike said below.

“How long had that quest been posted up? We haven't taken any proper guild quest since the beginning of the year because I was helping out the teaching of first-year students martial arts until the Freshman Combat Tournament, and when that was over I received a nominated quest."

“The quest is probably put up since the day we first registered for the party which was February 15. There are a lot of females in my party so we thought we'd let the ‘Red Lotus’ do these quests but some of them were still there so we had no choice but to accept the quest on March 1.”

Before Ryner came to Lister Imperial School, the ghost ruckus had already happened.

So Ryner had nothing to do with the ghost ruckus? No, he might have been in Regan before he was assigned to Lister Imperial School.

On the other hand, he could sneak into Lister Imperial School from here at any time.

“What should we do, Brother Ike? If we leave this passageway unattended, it means that the culprit can sneak into our Lister Imperial School from here at any time. I know it's a pretty dangerous passage...... and I'd like to end today’s search without using this underground passage anymore."

Most of the members looked surprised when I said that.

I see. I guess they all had no idea that the culprit was entering Lister Imperial School through this haunted house......

“That's a scary development to consider. If Duke of Regan hadn't told us to live with several people together for a while, I would have lost myself from fear. That's the principal for you."

Ike, after hearing Clarice's words.

“Yes, I suppose so. This passage is quite dangerous. But I am sure this passage is used for some kind of crime. Perhaps Joseph and Johan also passed through here. And two of them must have seen Cyrus's arm. Unfortunately, I don't think they are not involved anymore."

Ike spoke everything in one breath and looked over at us before continuing again.

After all, Ike was aware of the possibility of the meaning that Joseph and Johan saw at Cyrus's arm, too.

“I trust only the 13 names here. I would like these 13 to do voting.”

Ike said so while looking for a reaction from the others.

When everyone nodded, Ike began to speak.

"Do you want to tell the Duke of Regan about this or not? If the result is to not tell her, we'll have to consider monitoring the entrances and exits at the Lister Imperial School for safety reason."

All the women raised their hands to tell Duke of Regan, except Ellie.

Or rather, it was only me, Ike, and Ellie who agreed to monitor both entrances without telling Duke of Regan.

“Then it's decided. Let’s tell Duke of Regan."

Ike said and slowly approached me.

I knew what Ike was going to do so I nodded in silence.

Ike patted me on the shoulder and I gave up my spot to him.

Ike suddenly opened the floor that I had just closed tightly and found two shadows trying desperately to escape from the underground passage without being seen by us.

"Duke of Regan! Sasha! Could you please come this way instead of running away?"

Ike shouted angrily, and Duke of Regan and Sasha came out of the underground passage, looking embarrassed.

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

2022-10-09 03:18:12 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 85 : Disappearance

TL:SummerPeanut

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

1 April 2030.

On my way to school after my usual routine, the top floor of the female dormitory is under construction. I wonder what they are doing......

From today onwards, I'm going to belong to the student council.

Clarice will also join the student council.

This surprised me, but what surprised me more was that both Clarice and I became members of the public morals committee.

I'm not proud of it but I'm conscious that I'm probably the worst offender of the public morals in this school.

And it's Clarice who's disrupting the public morals with me...... This isn’t something we can boast about, and we certainly are not ones that can pay any attention to public morals......

But Ike didn't think so, apparently.

Are we breaking any school rules? Is there anything in the school rules saying we can’t have numerous fiancées? Is that against the law? and so on and on.

It's not against school rules nor it's against the law. I understand that.

But rather than the thing about morals......the eyes full of jealosy are a bit...... Ike seemed to really want me and Clarice to be members of the public morals committee so I and Clarice had no choice but to accept the idea.

And with me and Clarice often being put in charge of things together.

This was also Ike's plan to impress upon others that Clarice and I are always together.

I thought it was too late for that but it seems that Clarice's popularity is so incredible and there is no end to the number of people who keeps asking Ike about the relationship between me and Clarice.

Within the compounds of Lister Empire School, the length of the skirt is fixed.

It's no good if it's too short after all. Incidentally, the length of the skirt doesn't matter in the dormitory.

Clarice is on the very edge, or rather, anyone with a skirt shorter than Clarice’s is an instant out. My point is that Clarice is on the very line with the school rules.

The reason why her skirt is this short is that it is more convenient to have a standard that can be quickly compared when measured, and also because of the school days back in Japan.

Incidentally, it is surprising that the school skirts back in Japan were even shorter.

Even now it's so short that you can see it if you peek at it from the bottom of the stairs......

When I returned to the classroom after finishing my student council work, six students were already sitting there.

Both I and Clarice are allowed to be late to homeroom to some extent because of student council works. Well, that's on the assumption that we're doing student council work.

If anyone else is later than us, they are considered late.

Joseph and Johan have not arrived at school yet.

Come to think of it, yesterday I saw them escaping from the dormitory when I was looking outside while I doing my magic training......

Lorenz asked.

“Has anyone heard anything about Joseph and Johan?”

But no one replied.

“It's quite unusual for both of them to oversleep at the same day… Well, I'll ask the teacher in charge of the male dormitory later...... We'll start the morning's classroom.”

It was during the magic class that I found out that Joseph and Johan had disappeared.

During magic class, Lorenz called me into the principal's office.

“I’m sorry to always trouble you. Cutting to the chase, do you know anything about Joseph and Johan?”

Duke Regan blurted out her words rapidly to me.

“No, not in particular...... Is something wrong? I believe they didn’t come to school today?”

“We lost track of them...... and I have even searched their room...... there's something very strange going on and I'm currently,to be frank, taken aback”

“What exactly is going on? If you don't mind me asking, I'd like to know......”

“Their belongings were not in their room...... The only things that were there were the beds and other daily necessities provided by the school. Not even a single hair fell out of the bed....... Mars, do you have any clue about the two of them?"

I told him about the two of them escaping from the dormitory every so often.

“I see, then do you know where they went?”

“No... But it's surprisingly difficult to get out of the school from inside the school, isn't it? If there's a hidden passage or something, they should be able to get out but I don't think you can fool the gatekeeper's eyes, so I assumed they'd be somewhere within the school grounds.”

“Do you know when did they start their escape from the dormitory?”

“Err......as far as I know, it was around the time Teacher Reiner first came here but it seemed like they are very used to it so maybe even before that.”

When she heard my words, Duke of Regan fell silent.

Then, after a few moments.

“Why don't the three boys from the first year S class live in a room together for a little while? There are 5 girls too......it’ll be too small for 5 people, so 2 of you, Clarice and Ellie, and the other three will be Karen, Misha, and Minerva. How about that?"

“Yes. I'll inform them about this arrangement.”

“Also, tell Ellie that the room for the party ‘Reimei’ is due in June. I'm sure she'll be delighted.”

“I'll also let her know about this then. If there is nothing else, please excuse me. Teacher Ryner will be very angry if I’m late for the martial arts class. Please call me if you need me again.”

I bowed and immediately left the principal's office.

Cyrus disappeared in January and pieces of his corpse were found in March.

And this time Joseph and Johan disappeared......

I suddenly remembered what Cyrus said to me four years ago.

“Always make sure you know who you are up against.”

I wonder what exactly Cyrus wanted to say? .....let's consult to the always reliable Ike after school.

I'm enjoying my martial arts classes these days.

If I am to say the reason, it will be because fighting Ryner while using wooden swords is very addicting.

Let's be honest. I can't beat Ryner at all even though I'm overwhelming him in terms of status.

I never thought he could go so far without that red sword.

I tried to land a single hit on Ryner using the gap where he was withdrawing his sword but he used the momentum of the withdrawn sword as if drawing an arc to counter me.

I then tried to catch his wooden sword with mine but it slipped through my receiving sword and instead struck me with a powerful blow.

I can't use heal so it honestly hurts a lot.

I knew it. I have to build more practical muscles instead of those muscles built from muscle training... Muscular athletes in physique and bodybuilders cannot withstand a boxer's attack.

But boxers with slimmer figures than above can withstand a boxer's attack.

I must get someone to beat me up every day from now on... I swear I'm not a M...... maybe.

He’s not a Sword King that boasts level 10 Swordsmanship in appearance only......

Baron and Dominic seem to agree with me, and the three of us are always talking about how great Teacher Reiner is.

Ryner too perhaps is getting more used to us as he’s talking quite friendly to us lately.

However, there is still something suspicious about Ryner.

He seems to be treating Clarice very cautiously.

His reluctance to get involved with Clarice is very apparent.

Clarice also seemed to know that she was the only one being avoided, asking everyone, ‘Did I do something wrong?’.

After school, I went to the student council room and found Ike there so I immediately asked him about this.

Then Ike replied irritably.

“Damn it! They got me again this year...... Just what am I doing year after year after year!”

“What's wrong? What do you mean this year again......”

“I told you the other day about the Holy magic users being kidnapped, didn't I? Most likely Joseph and Johan are also Holy magic users......”

Oh, I only told him about the fact that they had disappeared... Then I informed him how the two of them had been escaping from the dormitory night after night, that there is not a single hair in their room, and also about how there were no hints of them living there, and all their possessions were missing. After that, Ike opened his mouth.

“Isn’t the female’s place the only place that they’ll go after escaping from their room? But with their belongings disappearing too or that their room turning into a clean state…just how is that possible?"

Ah, I didn't realize it because I've built a harem myself but normally at this sensitive age, normal boys would want to break out of a dormitory that's only for males.

The two of them going to a woman's place at night... hmmm. Maybe because we are not close, the Joseph and Johan I saw are kind of suspicious... If it were Baron and Dominic, I'd be completely convinced by the reasoning of them visiting some woman’s place... I mean, in their case, it's definitely Clarice's place...

Come to think of it, those guys were running in the same direction every time... I'll do some checking when I go to the town...

I left the student council room and went back to class.

I invited everyone to go out for dinner after school to talk about what Duke of Regan had told me.

First I told the class about Joseph and Johan's nightly dormitory escapades.

Then Baron and Dominic also noticed that and thought it was strange.

We walked out of the school building to the spots where we often see Joseph and Johan, and from there we walked out of the city.

As we walked while keeping an eye on the ground, we could barely make out footprints that belonged to Joseph and Johan.

“Maybe we can follow these to see where those guys were going...”

The footprints led them to a statue of an elf at the edge of the school grounds.

“This is where the footprints went missing, right?”

I asked everyone and they all nodded.

I look around for now but there's nothing.

So I guess the ground is the most suspicious......

I stepped down hard near where the two footprints had broken off and found what appeared to be a cavity underneath.

“What to do... I think I found something.......”

So I said, and Clarice replied to my words.

“Do you want me to get Duke of Regan?”

I actually don't trust Duke of Regan very much.

I can't help feeling that she's hiding something from me and that I'm being deceived.

“Well... I'd actually prefer Brother Ike... but I also have to give everyone a message from Duke of Regan today......”

I’ll waste my time if I continue to hesitate here.

“All right! Let's all go back to the student council room once. On the way back, I'll give everyone the message from Duke of Regan. If some of us stay here and keep watch, the mummies hunter might turn into mummies so let's move together.”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and followed my lead.

As we walked toward the student council room, I relayed to them the request for some of them to stay together and everyone gave their OK immediately.

Everyone got excited as they think it’ll be a fun experience. Well, that's just the way it is.

But I added that, just in case, they should remember that they are living together because of the risk to their personal safety.

And when I told Ellie that she was told to look forward to the room dedicated to Reimei because it will be ready around June, she nodded in satisfaction.

When I returned to the student council room, the members of the Red Lotus party were all there.

They were about to go to the Adventurer's Guild.

When I told Ike about the cavity in the ground earlier and that I wanted him to come with me, he agreed to come with me easily.

Eight first-year S class students, five fourth-year Red Lotus members.

There couldn't have been better group members.

When we came to the statue of the elf from earlier, Ike examined the ground and found what looked like a switch.

Ike pressed it without hesitation and a hidden staircase leading underground appeared on the ground.

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

Author’s note:

It’s totally OK if you don't remember them all.

Below is the Red Lotus] party members.

While all members of the Red Lotus are 13 years old, all the first-year students are 10 years old.

The strength of the current year's first year students is abnormal.

Only the third ranked Eda will come out every now and then(I think?).

She is also known as the glasses senior.*1

Student council president, 4th year, S class, ranked 1st

Name: Ike Bryant

Title: -

Status: Human race, Count Bryant's heir

Condition: Good

Age: 13 years old

Level: 24

HP: 74/74

MP: 1022/1022

Strength: 55

Agility 48

Magic: 30

Dexterity 30

Endurance: 50

Luck: 10

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv5/C)

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv8/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv6/C).

Special ability: Wind magic (Lv1/G)

Equipment: Flame Lance

Equipment: IfrIt’s Mail

Equipment: Flame Bracelet

Equipment: Disguise Bracelet

Equipment: Ring of Protection

Student council vice president, S class, ranked 3rd.

Name: Edain Alistar

Title: -

Status: Human race, eldest daughter of the Count Mesalius

Condition: Good

Age: 13 years old

Level: 20

HP: 49/49

MP: 178/178

Strength: 11

Agility: 16

Magic: 38

Dexterity: 15

Endurance: 12

Luck: 10

Special Ability: Magic Eyes (Lv/Max)

Special Ability: Archery (Lv2/D)

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv6/C)

Equipment: Gnome's Staff

Equipment: Magic Robe

Equipment: Ring of Protection

4th years, S class, ranked 2nd.

Name: Galar Gadget

Title: -

Status: Dwarf race, commoner

Condition: Good

Age: 13 years old

Level: 21

HP: 65/65

MP: 20/20

Strength: 34

Agility: 20

Magic: 6

Dexterity: 40

Endurance: 32

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Axemanship (Lv6/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv1/E)

Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv2/C)

Equipment: Banded Axe

Equipment: Dwarf Mail

Equipment: Wood Shield

Equipment: Ring of Protection

4th year, S class, ranked 6th.

Name: East Rajika

Title: -

Status: Human race, commoner

Condition: Good

Age: 13 years old

Level: 20

HP: 48/48

MP: 28/28

Strength: 25

Agility: 22

Magic: 15

Dexterity: 19

Endurance: 22

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Spearmanship(Lv5/D)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv 2/E)

Equipment: Mithril Silver Spear

Equipment: Mithril Silver Light Armour

Equipment: Mithril Silver Shield

Equipment: Ring of Protection

4th year, S class, ranked 7th.

Name: Yuri Bil'anx

Title: -

Status: Human race, second daughter of Baron Artharaim

State: Good

Age: 13 years old

Level: 20

HP: 42/42

MP: 122/122

Strength: 9

Agility: 18

Magic: 35

Dexterity: 18

Endurance: 17

Luck: 10

Special Ability: Knifemanship (Lv 2/D)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv6/C)

Equipment: Magic Wand

Equipment: Magic Robe

Equipment: Ring of Protection

TL’s note:

I know it’s very hard to read the author’s note, his sentence doesn’t connect at all. I tried to rephrase his paragraph below. As to why I rephrase it here instead, it is because it is more likely for me to miss out or misconvey what the author wanted but this author’s note is really chaotic in structure and hard to read imo.

“Below are the members of Red Lotus and it is totally OK to not remember them all. Only the 3rd ranked Ede that is also known as the glasses senior from Red Lotus will appear once in a while(I think?). All of the Red Lotus members are 13 years old whereas the first-year students are all 10 years old. By the way, the current first-year’s students are abnormally strong compared to the first-year students in the past.“

2022-10-02 04:00:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 84 : Routine, Part 3

TL:SummerPeanut

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

1 March 2030, 16:00.

We ‘Reimei’ members are looking at the abandoned quests as usual.

Our aim is to raise our fame as quickly as ‘Red Lotus’ so that we don't get entangled in weird troubles.

At first, I had no intention of raising my adventurer rank but after Sasha told me that harem parties like mine would often become embroiled with other adventurers thanks to the low rank, I decided to become a C-rank adventurer as soon as possible.

I was told that I, Clarice, and Ellie could become C-rank adventurers right away because of our achievements in the Almeria and Irgusia labyrinths but I felt like I would still receive some complaints one way or another so I decided to become a C-rank adventurer without those achievements.

However, there is no such thing as a labyrinth in this Regan Academy City, and the magic beasts outside had been defeated by the Duke of Regan's Knights of Regan, so there are no quests that would allow me to improve my rank instantly.

Incidentally, the Knights of Regan seem to be an elite order made up solely of graduates of the Regan Imperial School.

The conditions for enlistment are quite strict, with them being limited to D-rank adventurers and above who graduated from the Regan Imperial School but the treatment and compensation are said to be outstanding.

“There are no quests left unattended......”

When Karen said so, I responded.

“No, there's another quest of this type......”

Yup. There are quests left as usual.

They are slum-related quests.

This huge city of Regan is a very flamboyant city.

Every year, top children from all over the world come here and enjoy the first-class life in school.

But inevitably, where there is light, there is darkness.

School dropouts from this school, people who have committed crimes here in Regan, people who have been conniving something in this city......

These people settle in the slums in the south of the city.

The Duke of Regan is also making efforts to maintain security in the slums but the security is nevertheless still quite poor......

And quests from the slums have very low rewards.

That's why other adventurers don't like the quests from slums.

“This request is......to exterminate ghosts in a haunted house?”

When I said that, Misha suddenly got very excited.

“I want to do it! I want to! I want to see ghosts!"

Misha likes this kind of thing a lot, perhaps because she has overcome her old experiences.

On the other hand, there was one individual who was very bad at this kind of thing.

Yes, it’s Karen who pretended not to see this quest earlier.

“No! Let's leave these things to ‘Red Lotus’! Hey Clarice?!”

Karen knows that Clarice is not very good at this kind of thing either.

That is why she is trying to get Clarice on her side.

“I don't want to do it either if I can help it but...... this seems to be the only way so...... what do you think Ellie!?”

“I'll......do it if......Mars does. If not, I won't..."

As usual, Ellie doesn't speak for herself.

Everyone pays attention to me when I made the call.

“Well, then Karen. How about this? It's 16:00 now, right? It's still bright. How about we try it until 18:00 before the sun goes down? If it eases your fears, would you like me to hold your hand the whole time?”

“Okay. Then don't ever let go of my hand.”

Saying this, Karen started to hold hands with me.

‘Why do you need to hold hands now?’ is what I thought inside but since it’s cute, I didn't delve into it.

The ghost house was much larger than a normal house.

It was about the size of the house we rented in Almeria.

“It's a pretty nice house. If there wasn’t any incident, I'd want to live there.”

Before I could use Search, Misha and Ellie entered the mansion.

Apparently, Ellie also likes this kind of thing.

And when Karen clenched her left hand tightly, there was someone holding my right hand.

It's Clarice. As expected Clarice isn’t good at this either.

“Can I have this hand?”

I said ‘Of course’ and both my hands were blocked.

It was hard for Karen to make up her mind to go inside but soon Misha and Ellie came out and said ‘There’s nothing. It was boring’.

In the end, myself, Clarice, and Karen never went inside the mansion.

A male guild official is staring at us.

The reason for the guild official's presence was to prevent us from reporting that nothing had happened even though we had not entered the house.

That male guild official is looking at me uncomfortably.

(Why is this guy just holding hands with beautiful women? Are the women who entered the mansion disposable for him?)

I immediately knew what he was thinking.

The guild completely lost their good feeling toward me.

When I returned to the Adventurer's Guild, it was just after 17:00 and we decided to have dinner albeit a little earlier than usual.

Today is the day I eat with Karen and Misha.

As to why we didn't eat together, it was Clarice's suggestion.

Karen and Misha are apparently too shy to talk to me because of Clarice and Ellie.

I don't think that's true though......

They suggested that we split it into three days: one day to eat with Clarice and Ellie, one day to eat with Karen and Misha, and one day to eat together.

Clarice is a very attentive and reserved girl. Yup.

Karen and Misha also do not want to walk next to Clarice and Ellie outside. It's the issue of body shape.

Clarice and Ellie, appearance-wise, are already adults.

Misha, on the other hand, has the shape of a schoolchild with a chopping board, and Karen is shorter than Misha, although her breasts are a little fuller.

For all intents and purposes, they looked like older sisters with their younger sisters.

Karen and Misha jumped for joy when Clarice suggested the idea. They must have been quite concerned.

Clarice and Ellie went home first and had dinner in the dormitory canteen.

I, Karen, and Misha went into a restaurant with a stylish atmosphere and have a pleasant dinner. This is precisely why the adventurers around us gave us the cold shoulder but it can't be helped now...... We have to make up for this from other places......

Whenever the three of us eat together, we always go back by 20:00.

I'll feel bad for Clarice and Ellie if we reached back late after all.

When we all eat together, we have a curfew of 21:00.

After finishing the meal, we walked slowly through the streets of Regan towards the school.

And when we get near the female dormitory, I watched from a distance until they enter. The reason why I don't go closer is that Ellie had told me repeatedly not to come near the female dormitories.

Then I go back to my room, take a shower, and practice magic until 00:00. Currently, I’ve been stuck inside my room making swords.

I thought I ran out of things to make with Earth magic such as dumbbells, power ankles, and bench presses so I wondered if there was anything left to make before realizing that I don't have my own sword.

The Salamander Sword is of fire attribute so it's not exactly suitable for me. So I'm trying my best to see if maybe I can make a lightning attribute sword or something.

When I was looking outside while practicing my magic, I saw two shadows escaping from the dormitory.

I probed the shadows with Search and they were Joseph and Johan.

It's almost 00:00 and where are they planning to go?

I depleted my magic power as I pondered.

2 March 2030.

I woke up again at 03:00 as usual and started my morning routine.

Marathon and muscle training, followed by a morning shampoo and a morning bath.

I went to school after eating, and when I showed up at the student council, I found Ike, who was looking much better, already sitting in the student council president's seat.

“Brother Ike. Good morning. How are you feeling?"

“I’m fine, sorry for worrying you. I'm feeling much better now.”

Ike seemed to be in good health.

We had a quick chat and headed to our respective classrooms.

As soon as morning homeroom was over, I was summoned by Duke Regan to the headmaster's office, where Sasha is also present.

“Mars. You know why I called you here today, don't you?"

I bluffed with ‘I don't know’.

“You have the title of Wind King, don't you? And it was four years ago that you earned the title of Wind King right?”

What? I was wondering how she could even know the time of year, when Sasha, after reading my expression exclaimed.

“No way, it was you, Mars. That means you were already the Wind King when you first met me. Well, maybe I should have realized that when I saw your chantless Wind Cutter, Tornado and Firestorm.”

Sasha...please keep that to yourself...

“Why did you think it was four years ago?”

I asked, and Sasha replied.

“I'm actually a former Wind King...... 4 years ago when I thought my Wind magic’s power suddenly weakened, I lost my Wind King title...... the title of Wind King is almost exclusively held by elves so I didn't think it was you, Mars ……"

Oh, my Wind King title was Sasha's... if I remember correctly Sasha was level 8 in Wind magic when we first met...

“My apologies. You're right......"

I admitted honestly.

“Who else knows about this?”

“Only my family and my fiancées, I think.”

“Does that mean Karen and Misha too?”

“They don’t."

Sasha asked the next question.

“Yesterday you dropped Karen and Misha off at the female dormitory around 20:00, right?”

“Yes. I sent them off at that time...... is there anything wrong with that?"

“Why didn't you come to the front of the female dormitory? You seemed to be watching from a distance......"

Ah, maybe she's angry because I didn't properly escort her own daughter......

“Ellie told me never to go near the female dormitory. However, I always watch from a distance just to make sure they went inside the dormitory properly. I apologize for not escorting Misha home properly."

“So that’s the case. Thank you. It's not easy for you too, Mars."

Sasha winked and forgave me.

This mother's cuteness is also very destructive......

Duke of Regan heard this story and mumbled something.

“Living with Mars...... Ellie being jealous......and forbids him from going near the female dormitory.......”

She must be planning something no good.

She seemed to have come up with a good idea because she looked refreshed.

“Now, may I ask you one last question?”

I nodded to Duke of Regan.

“Do you think you could win in a real fight with Teacher Ryner?”

“I don't know. If I use my Wind magic, I should be able to manage.”

“......I see. I understand. You can go back now."

After saying that Duke of Regan turned around and continued talking to Sasha about something but I paid her no heed and left the principal's office.

☆☆☆

“Are you going to let Mars handle Ryner!? Duke."

After Mars left the headmaster's office, Sasha asked me in a slightly hoarse voice towards me.

“......I don't know......”

“But the two of them will surely clash with each other if you don't do anything! Shouldn't you at least tell him about Bram?”

“If I do that, then Ryner will lose......”

“So you want Mars to die!?”

Sasha is gradually getting hot-headed and is now baring her emotions.

“I am not saying that. It's just that...... Ryner is suffering too......perhaps even more than Ryner, Bram too suffered...... since they graduated from this Lister Imperial School. They have been suffering for a long time, for 18 long years now......"

“Then I wonder who exactly should break the curse on Ryner?”

Sasha's cold voice echoed in the classroom and tears spilled out involuntarily.

“I know. I know that I have to do it...... and that many lives have been lost because of this......"

In the middle of our conversation, the vice principal entered the room without knocking.

“One... part...of the body of Cyrus was found in the slum. He was skeletonized......no, burnt by someone!”

Later that day, Cyrus's death became known throughout the school.

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

Author’s note:

I was only going to write about Mars's daily life but......

It was actually the Duke of Regan's decision to build the Reimei party room in the female dormitory.

That decision might have been made in this chapter’s time.

2022-10-02 03:54:53 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 83 : Routine, Part 2

TL:SummerPeanut

Foresight -> Vision because the author included the English/katakana name. Thanks for the support Cooper Schmidt, Robert Apgar, Jean Clinet, Christian Toia, and all the patrons. There’s bonus chapter this weeeek too for everyone as thanks.

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

March 1, 2030

It's afternoon and magic class has started.

Being taught by Sasha four years ago she knows that I can use Firestorm so I don't have a problem with Sasha knowing that I can use magic to some extent but......

I haven't told any of the students yet.

However, I decided that it would not be a problem to tell them that I can use Fire magic so we have been focusing on practicing Fire magic in the classroom.

The reason for this is that my older brother Ike is one of the best Fire magic users in the school, and I thought it would be no surprise if his younger brother could use it.

I practiced Fire magic exclusively with Karen.

We are practicing Fire magic together while being taught by an expert.

By the way, Clarice, Ellie, Misha, Baron, and Dominic practice Wind magic together.

It is said that Wind magic is the most unfavorable out of the rest but I think that’s no longer the case these days.

In fact, I even think it is essential magic for close combat.

Minerva mainly practices Water magic with Sasha. Joseph and Johan are still practicing various kinds of magic together.

I called out to Sasha who was practicing magic with Minerva.

Lorenz is not included in the team so he is doing something else during magic class.

"Sasha, or not...... teacher. Can I ask you a question?"

“Yeah? About me from the other day? Are you interested in me?"

Oh right, there was that thing too about Sasha's husband ......

“No, it’s about the new S class assistant teacher. About that Teacher Ryner."

Sasha laughed teasingly and said.

“I'm joking. Just a joke. I knew you'd ask. About Teacher Ryner, I've never been in a party or a large-scale subjugation(raid) together him but I haven't heard any good rumors about him. I think you know already about his nickname of ‘Sword Hunter’ but none of the current vanguards want to team up with him... But I think he was just stripped of his adventurer registration quite a while ago......”

“Why was his adventurer registration revoked?”

“When you become a B-rank adventurer or above, you are obligated to respond to quests offered by the country and the nobility but Teacher Ryner didn't respond at all. And his ominous nickname of ‘Sword Hunter’ is definitely not a plus so he was stripped of his adventurer's registration. I think he was said to be the closest individual to an A-rank adventurer among B-rank adventurers. But there could only be 100 A-rank adventurers in the world. It must have been tough even for Teacher Ryner since he has to win against one of those monsters.”

Huh? He is not an A-rank adventurer?

“Is Teacher Ryner that strong?”

"Ummm... He's a lower B-rank adventurer in terms of status...... he might even be considered a C-rank adventurer in the worse case...... but his swordsmanship is apparently that overwhelming, and it’s an instant loss if the opponent can't handle that. I don't know the details…just be careful in the class after this one. You know about Ike and all, I've heard that Teacher Ryner only held himself back to a certain extent."

“Let me ask you one more question. For example, is there a stronger weapon similar to Teacher Cyrus’s Ice Blade?”

“I heard that they do exist. But Value A usually means that there is only one in the world...... there’s no way to know the actual truth.”

The Ice Blade of Cyrus is indeed not of Value A… So there is a possibility that it is another Ice Blade ......

Then magic class ended and it was time for the martial arts class.

Lorenz and Ryner arrived right on time.

And for some reason, even Duke of Regan came into S class with them.

“We are going to start the martial arts class. Duke of Regan wants to observe with us today. Let's all put our best foot forward, shall we?”

As soon as Lorenz said this, martial arts time began.

Since today was Ryner’s first day, they decided to have a simple mock battle.

First, Ryner instructed the five rear guard members Clarice, Karen, Joseph, Minerva, and Johan one by one.

The order was from lowest to highest, starting with Johan.

Johan, Minerva, Joseph, and Karen were instructed with wooden swords by Ryner, who was polite and enthusiastic, and everyone was very satisfied with his instruction.

Only Clarice was different.

The moment he noticed that Clarice was quite skilled in swordsmanship, he greeted Clarice's Defender with the bright red sword I had seen the other day.

Once their swords crossed, I noticed that Clarice looked a little strange.

I can't use appraisal in front of Ryner......not to mention the Duke of Regan is here too......

I kept my eyes on Clarice, and she suddenly said.

“Excuse me, I think I'm a little tired. I'll ask for your guidance another time."

After saying so, Clarice walked toward me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. But be careful, maybe it's the sword you need to be careful of...... I felt something absorbing me when I crossed the sword with Defender......”

There's something wrong with the Magic Sword Bram...... I'll try to appraise it from a distance next time so I don't get caught......

But Ryner also seems to be in bad shape...... or rather it's better to say Ryner is in a worse state......he stared at Clarice with a very pale face.

Then it's me, Ellie, Baron, Dominic, and Misha’s turn.

Misha is a spear user so Ryner is teaching her with a wooden spear.

…He is also good with the spear. Misha was also surprised at how well he teaches.

After that, they had a mock battle with Dominic, Baron, and Ellie.

Dominic's wound was still a little sore, so he only taught him how to hold his stance and so on.

When it was Baron's time, that red sword came out again and Baron also complained of feeling sick so the mock battle ended.

This time Ryner’s state did not worsen...... but instead he got better.

Baron soon came to me and said the same thing as Clarice.

And the next fight with Ellie was over quickly.

Ellie, perhaps sensing the danger, did not attack at all.

She had to hit the teacher in a mock battle but Ellie wouldn't attack at all.

“What's the matter, Ellie? Go ahead and attack?"

“......who? Why do you give off a strange feeling.......?"

As Ellie said this to Ryner, Ryner started mumbling to himself.

“Well, that’s fine. Ellie, we’ll practice next time. Next is Mars. To be honest, you are the one that I want to cross swords with the most. Please enlighten me on the depth of Sword Saint’s prowess. Don't let me down.”

I nodded and stood up while Ryner was already holding the red sword.

I will fight with the intention of using everything except my trump card. I'm sure Duke of Regan came to watch me fight. But if I don't do it seriously, I will be sent to the infirmary too. The moment I think it’ll get dangerous, I'll use my trump card too.

"Teacher Ryner. The classroom is a little cramped so could we fight in the hall? I would like to fight with all my might......"

When I said that, Ryner nodded.

Duke of Regan said ‘Fine’ and headed for the hall.

While we were heading to the hall, Baron turned to me.

“Mars. Be really careful. Teacher Ryner is on a different level. I know you are strong but there is always someone better than you. Don't overdo it. I don't want to lose Mars. Of course, I understand your feeling of not wanting to let him quit while he’s ahead but I also don't want to lose a classmate, and a friend of mine.”

Baron said something that makes me happy.

Wait? Isn't this called planting a flag......?

When I arrived at the hall, I immediately faced Ryner.

In my hand is the Salamander Sword, and in Ryner's hand is that red sword.

When Ryner said to come at him anytime, I drew my sword and faced Ryner in his direction.

I used Sylphid, Foresight(Vision), and Mana Eyes from the start and rushed at Ryner.

Ryner seemed to be surprised by my speed and immediately pulled out his sword. The red sword crossed with the Salamander Sword.

Then, I heard a surprised voice from Ryner.

“What!? What's going on!?”

I didn't care and kept on attacking.

Ryner was on the defensive and did not seem able to go for a counterattack.

He would sometimes counterattack in between my attacks but my Vision showed me Ryner's attack 0.5 seconds later.

But this is absolutely strange...... my status should be able to completely overwhelm Ryner.

Moreover, I'm also using Sylphid and Vision. I know Ryner is a Sword King boasting level 10 Swordsmanship. I know but...

The surrounding students and Duke of Regan are very surprised.

Especially Duke of Regan who would have read the power of my Wind magic.

After more than two minutes of swordfight, a weird thing happened.

He attacked differently than what’s shown by my Vision! Ryner's sword suddenly took an impossible trajectory and grazed my cheek.

After that, we switched turns and Ryner attacked continuously.

This is quite the tough turn of events.

Up until now, we were evenly matched thanks to Sylphid and Vision but when my Vision is blocked, I can't attack him anymore. However, conversely, I am able to keep up with Ryner's sword as long as I don’t attempt to attack him.

And most importantly, I never felt sick after crossing swords with Ryner.

“That's enough!"

Duke of Regan said and I put my sword away.

But Ryner did not seem to want to put his sword away.

Ryner sheathed the sword with his whole body and when he turned around for a moment, the red sword was no longer there......

“You have incredible sword skills. Mars. I'm interested in a talented young man like you. We will continue tomorrow.”

Ryner said, and the martial arts class ended without incident.

Duke of Regan asked me to come to the principal's office during tomorrow morning's class and left the hall with Ryner.

Everyone except Clarice and Ellie was flabbergasted by the battle just now.

When I said "Well then, let's go back for homeroom", Lorenz suddenly came to himself and said "Right, there’s homeroom", and we all went back to S class.

Needless to say, I was bombarded with questions until we got back to class.

It was 3:00 p.m. and we were all getting ready to leave the school.

Incidentally, although it is a bit unusual, only S and A classes finish at 15:00 while the rest of the classes finish at 16:00.

The S and A classes have only a one-hour lunch break but the other classes have a two-hour lunch break so they end at 16:00.

As expected with 2000 students their lunch break needs to be stretched a little. If they all come to the cafeteria at the same time, not everyone will be able to eat their food.

Normally, I would have shown up at the student council meeting but today I went to visit Ike.

Eight of us, excluding Joseph and Johan, decided to go visit him.

Huh? Do you think it's better to have a small group of people when you go to visit a sick friend? That's not true in our world apparently. It is better to be as lively as possible.

There was already a visitor in the doctor's office.

It was Duke of Regan.

She was talking about something but when she noticed us, she left.

At that time, she reminded me again, "Be sure to come tomorrow morning.”

“I heard you managed a draw with Teacher Ryner, Mars.”

“Yes, Teacher Ryner still has a lot of composure to spare though despite my side giving everything I have.”

"So he’s that much of an opponent...... then it’s inevitable that lost......"

“Brother Ike, did you feel any discomfort when the red sword and your spear touched?”

"Yeah, I felt like I was losing strength when that happened...... That is not something anyone should touch and I tried to evade it but failed, so here we are.”

It seems like Ike is going to stay in the infirmary today.

Fortunately, there are no lingering wounds and there’s no need to use Heal on him.

We left the infirmary, not wanting to stay too long.

After that, Baron, Dominique, and Minerva left us, and we went out to the city as usual.

Whenever I go out to the city, there is something I always do.

That is to train my detection ability.

I have been training ever since I was followed by Misha’s parent-child combination a few months ago.

And finally, I created the magic called ‘Search’ which is a combination of Lightning magic and Wind magic.

I’m the one that gave it this name, and it means what it says for better or worse.

It consumes a certain amount of MP so it is a good magic to deplete my MP.

It also serves as training for Lightning and Wind magic.

And as usual, we headed for the Adventurer's Guild.

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

Author’s note:

I was going to write the routine stories in two chapters, the first part and the second part.

But it somehow turned out as three chapters...