Nothing changed within the town, even though there was such an intense battle during the night. Just goes to show how little effect it had on a bigger scale. Surely, soon there will be another group to take up the underground slave trade. As long as there's demand, someone will find a way to provide the supplies.
Thinking such idle thoughts, we walk through the streets, doing some window-shopping along the way back to the adventurer guild. We already finished shopping for clothes, and it was quite eventful.
Kamii was allowed to select her own outfit, and she eyed a simple white sundress. However, since her claw wouldn't fit, she couldn't wear it. She was quite dejected to realize it, so I bought it anyway and asked the tailor to make some modifications to it. Instead of putting it on over the head, it could be pulled up from below, with a fixed strap over her left shoulder and a buttoned strap on her right. Since she's so slender, it works out. Incidentally, she's wearing it now and looks a little happy. Her eyes have regained their light, but she still clings to me at all times.
Senka also received a new outfit since the old one was in bad taste for her appearance. In fact, she also chose it herself, although Gram doesn't know that. Her frilly dress was replaced with a dark blue one with a simple white trim that goes down to just above her knees. A capelet with a white fur trim, coming in a set with the dress covers her shoulders. While changing her clothes, I noticed that she has stitches all over her body, not just in the corners of her mouth. The cuts they hold together look like they never healed. I was gripped by fascination and stuck my finger into the one on her stomach without thinking.
I still regret that decision. I touched a part of a girl nobody should ever touch from that side.
"The copyright claim will be my revenge..." She said at that time and gave me an annoyed expression. What did she mean by that? She asked for bandages instead of gloves for her battered hands afterward and selected a simple dark blue hat. For some reason, she picked out high leather boots that had to be meticulously tied, too. It doesn't fit the rest at all. But I'm really scared... what did she mean by copyright claim?
It's been almost half a day, and the sun is nearing the horizon when we reach the guild. You forget the passage of time when you have fun. The bard is already there. He's always already there, it seems. But Rolan and Luna are still out on their quest. Guess we'll wait. I take out the little book I got from the saint.
This isn't Japanese, but I can read it. I'm even aware of the fact that the phonetics are different, I've been using it all the time so far. It's really strange how I simply knew the language in this world the moment I came here. I mean, because of that, I didn't notice this until a while ago. I can read everything in here, but I'm most interested in spells under the light magic category.
Well, these are just the holy scriptures of some religion. It starts with a genesis story - skip. There's a prophet - skip. Some moral lessons - bookmark - it might become useful for future reference to see the moral values of the humans in this world. Ah, there's a section on light magic and incantations. There are some with really ambiguous effects, such as "grants vitality," "strengthens the mind" and "increases resistance to the dark arts." I'd interpret the last one to be a buff to dark magic resistance, but I don't know if this world works this way. Rock paper scissors elemental systems only exist in videogames after all. Reality is quite a bit more complicated.
But there are also some really interesting sounding ones, like "Sivalta." It's a short incantation used against the weakest of undead, which frees their souls and destroys their bodies. First things first, there are undead in this world. I inadvertently look down at Senka. Secondly, this makes it sound like the people here have figured out the secrets behind souls, something my previous world, with all its science, couldn't. I guess magic does that to a civilization.
There's a spell with a two-word incantation, "Ohnd Spyd," which summons a spear of light to strike one's enemies. It doesn't specify how big or how fast it would be and how strong it is. Guess I'll have to try it out eventually. I don't find anything about mana or the likes, so I think this means magic in this world doesn't use it? That's quite the broken system.
Well, there's no point in learning these now since I can't test them. I'll forget them soon anyway, so it'll only be useful when I actually train them - most preferably on targets. I close the book and put it away.
Let's take a look at the quest board. Yep, this is basically like a fantasy game, and they have a bulletin board where quests are pinned for adventurers to take to the reception desk and sign up for under their names. Time to learn a little about the organization of the adventurers in this world. There seem to be quite a few people who do this line of work, after all.
The majority of quests involve escorting merchants or gatherers on their jobs, very few subjugation quests for various beasts are available, and there are some about retrieving lost pets. That's a staple of any beginner adventurer's job, huh? The interesting part is that there are no difficulty levels specifically written out on the posted quests. Everyone is to judge their own strengths and weaknesses and see whether they're capable of doing it or not.
One quest catches my eyes: Annual Cemetery Dungeon Clearing. There are dungeons in this world, huh? Should have expected that. There's a difficulty level posted on this one. Only an experienced party with enchanted weapons, preferably with a fire mage, to combat the masses of undead. Wait, isn't that the perfect opportunity to test these light magic spells? Coincidence? I think not!
"Ignis." I mutter, and a small flame appears above my hand. In case the light magic fails, I can use some fire at least, right? I grasp the flame, and it disappears without burning my hand. How about trying this out with the members available here? If I went alone, I'm sure I'd have no troubles, but I doubt they'd let me. I might be getting ahead of myself though.
"Anything caught your eye, missy?" Gram's attitude towards me changed a little over the day. He used to call me Miss Marcott, but ever since I officially joined the party, I must have become more familiar to him.
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"I am quite interested in this Annual Cemetery Dungeon Clearing request." Trying can't hurt. I earn a nervous laugh from the big man.
"Ah, the yearly undead clearing. We never had the chance to try it before, but I hear it's quite dangerous." He looks a little nervous. This sounds like the first dungeon one is sent to on a quest in action RPGs. The boss in those games is always just a slightly stronger version of the mobs that run around the map and can be done with the basic equipment and only the starter skill. Does this mean it's considered difficult in this world?
"Do you think with the members here, we could do it?" I look up to the big man to gauge his opinion of the bard. I think he's quite useless, since he's just an average ranger, using a crossbow with pretty long reload times no less. What about him is a bard, other than when he sings during parties? There's no hint of his songs being able to give buffs or the likes, though.
"I don't think so. We don't have anyone who can decisively strike them down with us right now. Both the leader and Runa aren't here, after all."
Heh heh heh, you have a light mage right here! Demonstratively, I put my palm on his arm and whisper "Sano." A light surrounds my hand.
"You forget I can use light magic, and the Scripture of the Lady of Brilliance has great knowledge on improving this talent." I hold up the small book Arcelia gave me.
"Haha, don't overestimate yourself, missy." Ah, of course he would react this way. "You only just started on the path. It took Runa many years to get to her level of mastery, and she's incredibly talented, too." Fair enough, he needs a demonstration, it seems.
"Ohnd Spyd!" I chant out loud, and light gathers above me, shaping into an oblong, spear-like form. Gram's eyes widen at the sight. Um, what do I do with this now? How do I fire it? Maybe I need to grab it and physically throw it? No, that doesn't seem right. Even the double fire alignment slaver didn't actually touch his fireballs. Then I'll just will it to move in some direction. Luckily, there's a perfect target: An actual target board, hanging at one end of the guildhall.
The spear flies, faster than Gram's eyes can follow and hits the target dead center. Then it goes in, leaving behind a scorching hole the size of a volleyball in the wall behind it, and blow a hole into the wall of the building next to it. What's with this destructive power, oi! This is marked as a low-level spell, and it only requires two words to chant! Luna's spells are of a higher level and require a much longer incantation, to the point where it takes up a whole minute, and it's almost at the same level.
Everyone in the guildhall is dumbfounded by the sight, alternating their gazes between the wall and me. Yep, this spell is bad news. If I carelessly throw these around, it'll cause a lot of collateral. I won't be able to keep living in this society if I accidentally kill some people this way. But for now, poker face.
"I believe I am not overestimating myself." I think that might have come across as too arrogant. I only learned how to use magic yesterday, and today I throw a spell that seems to be armor-piercing. And apparently without any effort, too. "Let us try the quest." I look up at Gram with upturned eyes. I'm sure this melts anyone's heart.
"Well, the leader and Runa are going to return soon, so we could just go with them, then..." He looks away. So it was effective after all. His shock at my display of incredible magic was blown away as he didn't even comment on that part.
"Actually, the leader told me that they would return to the tavern right after the request is finished since it will continue very early tomorrow, too." The bard was listening all the time and finally dropped this piece of information. Perfect timing, although I think it would have been better if you had told us earlier. We waited for quite a while now.
"Ah..." Gram scratches his nose and averts his gaze further.
Wait, you knew about it? But now you have no more excuses, big man. The bard can join in, too, and gain some levels along the way. Oh wait, there are no levels in this world, so you'll stay a useless bard forever. I'm not sorry to think that way about you.
"Is this not best completed at night?" Not scared, you ask? This is a kind of horror different from Senka's. The influx of zombie games and movies have served to dull the senses, and they're in no way scary anymore. Especially when I have these powerful light magic spells at my disposal now. I'm itching to test out Sivalta, too.
"The big man is actually afraid of the undead." The bard exposes his comrade with a grin.
What, really? I look at him unbelieving, and he looks away while scratching his nose in embarrassment. Well, it wasn't nice of you to point it out, useless bard, but that's quite an interesting piece of information. At least it's not associated with a past trauma, or his reaction would have been different.
"He was told many stories in his childhood and has never faced up to those fears. There are not many opportunities normally, and we have usually been absent during the season when the annual clearing takes place."
"The clearing takes a big group to complete. It's not something we could finish on our own within a night." Why do I have a feeling that we could?
"Let us go!" I say with a decisive expression and take the note to the front desk. Yes, I'm forcefully becoming the leader during the actual leader's absence. Usurpation? Just consider me the one in charge when he's not around. Gram and the bard are both not the types to take command after all.
Maybe I can facilitate us getting separated from these two and test out Senka's combat capabilities. I'll also be able to teach Kamii about my true appearance there without having to fear for anyone else witnessing it. I won't overdo it and show her all of it right away; I don't want her to go mad.
"Excuse me, but we cannot let a beginner take this dangerous request." The receptionist doesn't know me, so it's only natural that she has her reservations about me doing this quest. Did she not see my magic just now? Do I have to demonstrate it to her again?
"Gram!" The voice of Ingrid echoes through the guildhall, and I turn around. She sounds alarmed.
"What happened?" The big man reacts with a bracing expression.
"Where's Rolan?" Uh oh, seems like bad news. "I got word from the continent. The Alliance army was wiped out. King Uther and Queen Lillian are dead." Oh, those are pretty old news. "The old transportation network will be used for an attack anywhere around the world now. We have to suspend any further requests and call back everyone." No no no, don't do that, I want to go into the cemetery dungeon. "The retaliation from the demons will come swiftly." It's been a week since then; I wouldn't call something coming now swiftly. Either way, this is the scenario Rolan subconsciously wished for.
Rejoice, Rolan Helt. Your wish will finally come true.