The next day:
“Why are we going out again, Daisuke?”
“Well, you didn’t get a proper break, so I decided that we should go out today as well”- I lowered my body a little
“Are you sure?”- Akari stopped, walked in front of me staring me
“Why shouldn’t I? Just enjoy yourself today”
“So, Daisuke, what should we do next?”
“Well, what do you want to do, Akari?”
“I don’t know”
“No, let’s just take a look and see what will she want”- Senri walked and held Akari’s hand, we were passing through looking at many shops Wiefra had to offer, well market stall will be a better word since we actually were in the square.
“Can I go play with them”- Akari pointed to a group of kids playing near us
“Of course. We will be near watching you”- Senri gave Akari her ball
Akari walked up to the kids, I couldn’t hear what they say, but the kids looked strange at Akari for a bit, until they started to play with each other, they seemed happy, the kids are less racist than their parents it seems. I hope this can go on for longer
“Hey, Senri do you think the kids parents are watching?”- Me and Senri were sitting nearby in front of a ruined house, it was close, and we had a view on Akari the other children.
“Yes, I think so, the kids as I know live in the houses nearby”
“Great Sage?”
“Yes, the parents are watching, they are in front of you actually, well the children obscure them but yeah, they are watching and are very suspicious of Akari”
“Thanks Great Sage”
“It feels good, to see Akari play and be happy”
“Well, it’s an improvement. Don’t worry too much, they should be ok”
As one of the kids played with the ball, he kicked it too far on top of a house
“Let’s go and get it”- Senri got up, dragging me with her left hand to the house
“Miss, can you help us get the ball?”- One of the kids asked while pointing at the roof where the ball landed
“Of course”- Senri lifted the ball in the air using her wind magic
“Thanks miss”- The kids left to play with the ball again
“Let’s go over to their parents”- Senri held my hand, dragging me there
“Hello”- Senri waved at the parents
“Hello… Miss Hero, what brings you here?”- The group of parents was formed of 6 human women
“I am just keeping watch over the kids as well”- Senri sat a little further away from the women
“No more mission, that’s great. It must be good to have free time.”
“Who is that young lady? She had been following you? Maybe an admirer?”- One of the women pointed at. Wait? Why does she call me a woman?
“Daisuke, I swear you sometimes lack self-awareness. Have you looked in the mirror? You look like a trap, and you do a good job at it”
“Trap?”
“Yes, don’t know what it means?”
“No, surprised that you know the term”
“I am a Great Sage, of course I know many things. But for the record, you look like a woman”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me about it?”
“Well, Okura figured it out using his Great Sage skill, if it wasn’t for him, Noni, Sakamoto and Senri will have said you are a girl, and also for the fact that Mitsude referred to you as he.”
“I mean, I like looking like a trap. I feel comfortable looking like this.”
“Don’t worry too much”- Snapping back to reality, only a few seconds passed
“Ohhh, him, he is Daisuke. That’s how he was born to look like”
“Well, yes. Is it important for me to look like a man? Does it really matter?”
“Here it might, there are a few stingy people around, you might get beaten to death if you don’t look like your gender here”
“Why should it really matter? I mean, can’t both man and women perform just as well”
“Socrates, is that you?”
“Are you mocking me, Great Sage?”
“Yes. Watch your mouth”
“Why?”
“This is a medieval fantasy world, not 2022 democratic Japan. One wrong thing said, and you become a human sausage roasting at a stake”
“Fine”
“Thinking about it, I think your friend Daisuke is right about some of that stuff”- Snapping back to reality, the women were talking to each other
“Yeah, forget it, just a passing thought. When brought up with topics like this, I can’t help myself”- I extended my left hand to scratch my head
“No, no need to worry, we might look like low level peasants, but we are actually managing the library. This group studies people’s world views and other things. We are also mothers, we wear clothes like this to not be recognized by other people, a little peace is welcomed once in a while, isn’t it?”
“You know, it’s interesting you can keep things impartial. We can’t talk too much about things like this, we didn’t know we held similar views but in Wiefra there are some bad blasphemy laws, and you have to abide by them”
“What god does this town serve anyway?”
“Goddess Sara”- Her? They worship her?
“Well, she is mostly a useless goddess, she gives people succubus tattoos that aren’t taken seriously, it’s supposed to mark perverts but 90% of this country has this tattoo. She is also stupid with her choices. That’s one of the reasons why Wiefra struggles so much.”
“Well, hmm, about that goddess, what is her deal anyway? I mean, she seems pretty mean if you ask me”
“Well, the people that meet her are the priests, and they are the one saying this. There is a myth of people reincarnating from other worlds here. We know it’s true because of the 4 heroes, but aside from them, I have never seen anyone reincarnated here.”
“To be honest, we never saw Daisuke either. Where is he from anyway?”- All the women turned to look at me
“Well, he doesn’t know either. Someone found him passed out in an alley, someone robbed him, the robber used strong magic to erase his memories”- Senri covered me. She made up a lie to protect me. The king’s spies might be near, listening to us
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“Seems pretty tough for him. One thing, where did the fox-child come from?”- The group pointed at Akari
“She is mine. I adopted her some time ago, I begin teacher her, and now it’s her break time”
“You were teaching her?”
“You adopted her?”
“Well, yes, I couldn’t leave an injured kid to die. She was also sick. Her name is Akari. At home, Akari is so sweet and respectful to other people. She is eager to learn almost anything, so I taught her some basic magic tricks.”
“That’s so kind of you. Especially how demi-humans are looked upon”
“Yes, it’s cruel, but we can’t do anything to stop the king”
“Well, I have nothing against anyone. Just be nice to everyone unless they aren’t nice to you, that’s all”
It feels like I am an alien in the conversation, keeping my eyes on the kids, watching them play so joyfully. A little later 2 kids, well teens came around, gazing at Akari, looking at her like she was some kind of outcast, well demi-humans are considered outcasts but still, children should be children and enjoy their lives
“Look, there they are again”- 4 of the women got up
“Who are they”- Senri pulled herself up using my hand.
“Some kids that are troublemakers, they hate demi-humans, because of their parents, it’s sad to see kids like this”
“I will go closer”- I have to protect Akari at all costs
“Hello guys, what do you have here”- One of the kids got close to Akari, one of the kids got in front of her to protect Akari
“A fox. Interesting. Did you run away from your master? Did they throw you out?”- He got closer to Akari, trying to touch her, the other kids were taking a step back
“Daisuke, stop it, don’t let her use magic, don’t let it be known she knows magic”
*Use Skill: Feral Frenzy*- Dashing with the speed bonus in front of the 2 teens
“Who are you”- The on in front took a step back
“It must be her master. You should take better care of your goods”- It’s not worth hitting him. A stupid kid copying his parent's worst behavior
“Shut up!”- The scream was pretty deep
“Sorry”
“She is my daughter. Don’t try to do anything funny. Leave her alone!”- Trying to scare them, my bluff was to make fake casting a spell. I got my hand in the air, gathering all my magic energy to create a water ball
“We are sorry”- They made a 180 turn and ran away
“Kids, don’t worry. Just continue playing, ok?”
“Are you ok Akari?”- Akari was looking straight into my eyes
“Yes”- She moved her head to the right
“That’s good. Have fun playing with them”- Before leaving, I leaned in to pat her head. The kids gathered again. Walking away, they were talking to Akari
“Daisuke, this fell on the ground”- Senri leaned down to pick a heart-shaped medallion.
“What did happen?”
“This fell of you”- Senri gave the medallion to me
“I don’t really remember wearing it”- What was it. It looks familiar, but can’t seem to place where I know it from
“I will tell you later, kid.”- Great Sage might know
“Thank you. Doesn’t matter, I must’ve forgotten”
3 hours later we returned to the mansion, sitting in my own room
“Great Sage, what is the medallion about?”
“Haruhime gave it to you as a gift.”
“Why don’t I remember as much?”
“It’s because of this world and the blessings you got. It made you amnesic. You may not remember much of your first few months, but memories from now on should be clear and concise.”
“Great Sage, can you recap everything that happened?”
“Sure, here we go”
“Thanks”
“First you came home from school, watched anime, usual otaku stuff. The next day you tried to socialize with someone, but you failed, 2 girls Sara and Hanako tried to socialize with you, one of their brothers bullied you further you opened up to them a little, they invited you to a lolicon manga publishing. Her brother came there to bully you further, but he threw you in front of a moving car that hit you, and you died in this way”
“Ok, but what happened when I was here and not on earth”
“Well, after you reincarnated you woke up in an alley, you got into the guild, meet Mistude and Petra. After slaying the monster for a while, you meet the 4 heroes. You were staying at the 4 heroes house and tavern every other day until you started living here. You were helping everyone, so they didn’t mind, you spent a lot of time with Senri, then you got the mission for this, and we are here”
“Thanks, doesn’t say much but thank you”- Great Sage flashed the memories that I had made there before my eyes.
“No problem kid”
The next week at the demi-human village:
“Daisuke, you are here.”- Okura was waiting for us at the abandoned house of Akari’s family
“Yes, did something happen?”
“No, we need to train Akari for hand-to-hand fighting now. Noni and Sakamoto will come shortly. I will need to discuss with you after this”
“Fine”- We waited around for Noni and Sakamoto to appear
“You 2 are late”- Okura walked up to Noni and Sakamoto, whispering something
“Sorry”
“Akari, let’s go, you have training again. Daisuke won’t be able to come”- Senri held Akari’s hand following Noni and Sakamoto
“Ok, now we are able to talk. Follow me in the forest”- Okura dragged me into the nearby forest, well it was small patch of woods at best, we followed a trail leading some kind of camp
“What is this?”- The place where he leaded me had the remains of a fire and a log place to act like a chair to seat on.
“Well, I found out information regarding Emiko.”
“I am listening”
“Tonight, she will come here trying to save all the slaves in king’s palace. We need to do something fast, think of a plan”
“Great Sage?”
“Yes, first guard all the access points, all 5 of you, the castle has 5 access points where Emiko will try to enter, there are is 1 window where she will enter, the one in the back. Emiko will try to sneak around the main hall. Okura needs to sit at the back window, faking sleep, Noni and Sakamoto should guarding the slave room, Noni will need to prepare a magic arrow to save Emiko from a trap, Sakamoto will be guarding the entrance, Senri will set faulty magic traps around the castle for her, of course the traps won’t do anything aside from visual effects and you Daisuke, will need to stay outside, in any case that the king’s army decides to attack the village, if they needed assistance you be able to sneak in and assist them. That’s my plan”
“Did you come up with anything?”
“Yes, look, Emiko will try to enter through the back window, you need to guard it, fake sleep and let Emiko in, Senri will set faulty magic traps around the castle, Noni has to be ready and save Emiko if there is any trap there, Sakamoto will need to guard the room. I will stay outside and see if the king’s troops are moving, or provide assistance to you if you need it. That’s the plan Great Sage made for us”
“That should work. Now, who is gonna report to the king?”
“I will do it, Okura.”
“Ok then. There is no time to lose, get going!”
The king’s castle from what Great Sage told me is outside the city on a road outside the law house, well the law house seems like a castle enough all right, well thinking again how wrong my assertion was of the law house, the castle was huge and decorated with jewels that I don’t recognize, it’s too much detail for my mind to remember
“What brings you here Daisuke?”- The king was outside looking at some flowers
“So, what brings you here?”
“Well, my king, I got to make a report about the mission”
“Come inside”- Following the king inside the castle, he brought me in the dining hall
“Ok, take a seat and tell me”- His hand pointed to a seat next to him
“We have info about Emiko, she is preparing an attack tonight”
“Ok, where do you know the info?”- The king looked and sounded interested enough
“I overheard it from 2 villagers. She is planning to lure the entire army to the village and free the slaves. I devised a plan to stop her, but it will be hard. Keep in mind she is level 200 after all”
“Yes, don’t worry, tell me the plan. I got enough guards to deal with her”
“I will stay outside and be on the lookout for her, my king. We need to get prepared right away. We shouldn’t underestimate Emiko”
“I get what you say, Daisuke. We will get prepared, get into your position, take this, the insignia will allow you to give orders to my army. So how should we do it?”- The king leaned to grab a cup
“As I know from her plan she will try to make a distraction in the village to come directly in the castle, we need them to guard the castle if we want to stand a chance”- While talking to the king I tried to maintain eye contact with him and not flinching
“Well, Daisuke. Now go, we will prepare, do your 4 companions know?”
“Yes, they will be here shortly”- Time has come Daisuke, time to do this
“It may look idiotic the way we do it, but it will save the reputation of the country”
“Great Sage, please be as active as possible”
“Don’t worry kid. I give you 24/7 support”
“Thanks. But what will come of this?”
“Well, you sure do sound uncertain. If worse comes to worst, we already talked on what you are needed to do”
“Great Sage, I don’t want to kill anyone”
“Well, neither do I, but it’s needed, do you want your friends to get killed instead?”
“No, I don’t want either one. Is there a way to save them both?”
“No, the circumstances won’t allow it.”
“I hope it never comes to this”
“Hoping is good”
Whatever will come of this night, the situation must turn out good.