CHAPTER 1 – RUMORS TO THE PERSON WE KNOW

Far away from Feuerberg, there are two heroes that shitty kingdom summoned, that country’s crown-princess, and an alfr who has nothing to do with Feuerberg at all.

I’m one of the heroes, Katsuragi Kenta. I was kidnapped from my world when I was sixteen years old and I think I’m still that age. I really need to make the math since this world has longer days and the weeks, months, and years are calculated differently. A year is ten months, a month five weeks, a week ten days, a day twenty hours, an hour a hundred minutes, a minute a hundred seconds. Problem is that their second is different from our second, maybe around half as much, and the days are longer than 28 of the hours I used to know... Well, it’s a mess and it becomes only more difficult because I have only a rough estimation of how long I’ve been in this world... maybe five months of Earth time? No, 28 hours per day, so every six days it’s an additional day... let’s say 150 days here, so 175 on Earth, making it roughly six months... I’m still sixteen years old.

Well, back to topic: kidnapping. As the kingdom of Feuerberg wanted some help with their war with the demons, they decided to use some magic to summon a class of Japanese highschool students, including two teachers, without even asking them. The only way back is when one of us kills the so-called demon king. Each member of the party who does so gets a so-called `perfect wish` granted by the gods of this world, just let’s assume everything goes.

Before I became a hero involuntarily, I was just a gamer, someone who didn’t really fit into class, but seriously, most of them are just plain idiots while the rest are fakes without any redeeming traits. I also was kinda bullied, mostly trashed-talked behind my back and treated like a bag of shit. Hah, good times... not really, but way better than what I’m facing in this sorry excuse of a fantasy world.

I’m a gamer at heart, I love RPGs. Yet I’m not a moron who actually wanted to be in one. As a hero, I may have a status, a lot of [Attributes], [Abilities], [Skills], and the like, but if I’m hit, it hurts. When I hunt a monster, I actually kill it. When I’m killed, I will stay dead.

…at least I should be thankful that I received something to survive this world, I guess. The hero-system wouldn’t be so bad if there wasn’t the whole summoning-kidnapping connected to it.

I have three classes, [Student] is the default-class and more or less just myself with a slight power-boost due to being a hero. The other two classes are much better, they even reshape my body to make it more capable of doing what those classes do. First [Pikeman], which makes me rather buff, the other is [Ranger], which turns me into an athletic warrior of the wild.

Currently, I’m roaming the abandoned bandit-camp, looking for some valuables and food. Especially food. During the last two weeks, the number of frogs I’ve eaten is horrifying. Though Kyou-san made them almost delicious... “Phew...” Still, I’m starving for something else right now.

...I feel a presence, my [Perception]-ability enhances all of my senses. Though I’m sure who it is... yes, it’s Rine. Her hair is blonde, her eyes are like fire, her body is clad in leather armor, a sword is at her side. She already wiped off the blood of the bandits she killed before. Now she’s staring at me from behind a corner...

Well, I told her before that she should watch me, but I wasn’t talking about stalking. “Rine, come out.” Untypically mute, Rine comes into plain sight. She still stares at me, it’s actually even creepier now that she’s not hiding anymore.

This is Katarine von Stolzherz, my wife. Yeah, my wife. While the marriage was involuntary and is actually part of a curse, it’s still legit in the eyes of the gods, with all the benefits I don’t need, and all the demerits I don’t want.

Rine’s blonde hair reaches her shoulders and it’s held back by a black hairband. Her face is beautiful and cute, her eyes have the color of burning fire, under her leather armor she packs a voluptuous body. She’s usually kind, optimistic, ardent, and stubborn, but recently, she’s a bit down. This has to do with a realization that still haunts her: The realization that, in the end, she was thinking like a child, believing that everything revolves around her while interpreting everyone’s actions by her own standards and make-believes.

To make matters worse, I gave her some food for thought with the way I worded her feelings, and even homework. She thought of me as some kind of superhero before, thought that she was so in love with me, and I finally got through that thick head and now she’s supposed to figure me out in real.

At least she’s quiet again. Shortly after our talk, her period kicked in, and Rine is always extreme in what she does, including having her menstruation. So she was moping around all the time, crying whenever I spoke to her... this quietness is much better.

I also had an argument with Kyou-san, one of my other wives... yeah, the curse married me to three girls, and it’s not pretty. In this world, if you’re married to more than one spouse, you’re a sinner and there is magic which can make sinners burn... I hate Crusaders.

Well, back to topic. Kyou-san and I had a huge fight about Rine’s predicament. Let’s boil it down to the most crucial part. Kyou-san said to me: ‘You can’t be serious, moron! Did you really say something like that to Rine-chan!?’

‘Yeah.’

‘That’s far too difficult for Rine-chan to understand! What were you thinking!?’

‘The only reason why Rine is like that is that nobody really cared to let her think on her own! Her head is full of what other people said to her and the shitty stories she admires! So don’t you dare to ‘help’ her! She has to learn it!’

Yes, Kyou-san doesn’t believe in Rine’s mental capabilities, and to be honest, I can’t even blame her as Rine so far acted like a simple-minded, one-tracked fool. However, trying to console her or giving her an easy way out is out of the question. Even Kyou-san must have realized it, though she gave me a look like I’m giving a speech about saving electricity while standing next to a cooling fan.

... I’m certainly not the best guy to offer life counseling. However, I’m the one who decided to make that girl take the next step, so I need to stick to it.

I just wish that she would stop stalking me. “Rine, what are you thinking about?” I try to make it sound collected while I try to start a conservation as Rine silently staring at me gives me the chills.

“...” Rine cocks her head, it’s not her usual ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’, but a more brooding gesture. “We attacked the bandits for provisions... it has nothing to do with bandits being a threat to the people who make their living honestly, right?”

“Basically.”

“So did we steal?”

“Yeah. From bandits, but we stole.”

“But stealing is bad, and we still have provisions. It’s just a bit one-sided, but we could have hunted.”

“So why do you think we attacked the bandits anyway?”

“...for their loot?”

“Is a nice side effect. What else?”

“For... for... ah, intelligence.”

“Yeah, it’s easier to ask some after capturing them. There is one more reason.”

“... … a...” She looks a bit lost here.

I won’t give her the answer, though. “Think about it if you have time.” The answer is that the bandits were a test-run. After the first few days in the Spirit Swamps, we had some serious downs, especially when facing Luuto, or however that alfr was called. Afterward, we decided to up the game, but we had serious trouble, and Rine started menstruating, which made it worse. Soon enough, Ara-san, wife #3, also started... During that time, however, in terms of fighting as heroes, we rebounded.

In fact, each of us had some level-ups and learned new skills, as if we were adapting to those harsh conditions. While Rine is all gloomy in private, the moment combat begins, she’s the murdering machine of massacre she has always been, but now she has finally gotten some new [Skills]. Rine isn’t a hero like the rest of us who were summoned to this world. She became a hero when the cursed ring married us off. So she always was a bit behind in terms of skills, but now she’s catching up.

I also have a new trick up my sleeve, so of course, I wanted to do a test run. As we will face more and more bounty hunters, yes, another of our worries, I wanted to fight humans. Bandits are scum anyway, so while I still have my qualms about killing people, it’s not like I’ll have sleepless nights over it. In fact, Kyou-san even proposed to speak to them first, using her high [Persuasion]-attribute, but I guess she was too cocky... I heard everything as I used the [Share Senses]-skill on the frog she brought with her. She also left it there and the bandits totally ignored it, I knew every single one of their orders...

Also, Rine on her own is enough to level a bandit-camp, she’s so overpowered. Though I believe that maybe even I could have beaten them all on my own. I shouldn’t be too confident, though, as combat is more about being able to use your strengths and avoid your weaknesses, and who knows, there may be very powerful bandits out there.

“Rine, I need to know something. If you put me into Feuerberg’s military, how strong am I?”

“...I don’t understand the question.”

“What would be my rank?”

“Kenta’s rank? Measured by what?”

“Combat strength.”

“Kenta, this is not how it works. Your military rank is decided by your accomplishments and your ability to lead, not your combat strength.”

“I see... but it’s easier to gain accomplishments when you’re strong, right?”

“Ah, that could be... Sorry, I can’t tell you.”

“Phew...” Would be great to have a proper measurement, but I can’t even measure myself against soldiers from my world, as I have no idea what they’re actually capable of. In games, they’re either basically useless or unbeatable monsters that will kill you for entering another person’s hut, but ask you to gather some herbs because the monsters outside town are so scary. Games aren’t just good for comparison.

Stolen story; please report.

“Kenta?”

“Mh?”

“Would you raid other people for food and wealth?” The way she looks tells me that she doesn’t really believe it, but this is the effect of her bringing my actions into question.

“...nah, not worth it. Why become criminals if you can provide for yourself?” That’s 90% the reason why I have the [Ranger]-class in the first place.

“But aren’t we wanted? Because of me...”

She’s right, I’m already a criminal. In Feuerberg, they believe that I have kidnapped their runaway princess, my too beautiful wife Rine. The Merchant’s Guild has also put a bounty on my head for the same reason, though I’m sure it’s because of that bastard Correo, who used his oni thrice to mess with us, and who is the whole reason why we chose crossing the Spirit Swamps. Finally, there are the Crusaders, who are looking for me when I don my hood, as they know that I’m a sinner, but never got a look at my face. Nonetheless, they’re also looking for me without the hood for investigation.

Rine is down, I know. The easiest thing would be to say something corny like ‘It’s not your fault, it’s theirs’, but realistically speaking: If she would have consented to return to Feuerberg right after we had that incident with Fake & Friends, we may have cleared the misunderstandings. But like I said, Rine is overpowered, she’d beat the shit out of me before I can even cry uncle.

So instead of some shitty consoling attempt, I switch the topic. “We haven’t farmed WP yet today. Let’s continue searching while linking arms.” While the curse of the rings is bad, it has one questionable upside: WP. Collect them, use them for special features. Its downside: I need to act intimate with the girls, and while I’m getting used to it, it’s not like I would miss it if we just stopped...

Two weeks ago, Rine would be all over me by now, yet she slowly starts to link her arm with mine. She and I are about the same height, so she technically can’t look up to me, but somehow she manages it while looking a bit shy.

Girl, don’t make my heart flutter like that. While it’s better than her dragging me around like before, I can’t wait until Rine is out of her slump and starts being more vivid again. Maybe because it’s what I’m used to. Maybe.

After a while of searching and looting, we see Kyou-san, who is already at a cooking fire. Momokawa Kyou, the black-haired beauty, is technically my wife #1, the first one I married. Her long hair reaches under her shoulders, she has two hair clips that keep it away from her face, black eyes, and is a Japanese like me. She used to be my class president, but in this world, there are no such titles. We also don’t get along, neither back in Japan nor here.

Currently, she acts as our [Herbalist], [Priest], and [Cook], her job is to heal and feed us. At this point, I’m already hooked up to her cooking, though I will never admit it, as sometimes I think that we’re fighting a battle of dominance.

“Hey,” I ask her, “where is Ara-san?” That would be my third wife, the hero-sage Ara’ainn.

“She’s still busy with the bandits.”

“Poor them.” Ara-san has just recovered from that particular time of the month she shouldn’t have, as she’s an alfr. Some people may mistake an alfr for an elf but don’t. It would be unfair to elves which may be entirely fictional but still deserve that dignity. Alfar are special, they’re the young folk, which means: Forever stuck in puberty. For centuries.

Now imagine an alfr, who has a yearly mating season and, therefore, an annual menstrual cycle that doesn’t involve bleeding. Then imagine that alfr to be cursed by a ring, changing her biology to have a monthly period with bleeding and all the other bad stuff, that I, as a man, can only imagine. Finally, let that alfr, who has just recovered from it, interrogate people... I can only think about how she will make them suffer to pay them back for something they didn’t commit...

Actually, they’re bandits, so it’s only to be expected that they murdered, stole, and maybe even raped. So they don’t have my empathy... speaking of empathy... I use my spirit sense, trying to figure out if Kyou-san used her [Empathy]-spell on me. I don’t feel anything...

For some reason, Kyou-san notices that. “Come on, Ken. As I said, I won’t use it on you without your permission.”

“I can’t trust that.”

“Why are you so paranoid about it anyways!?”

[Empathy] is a spell that makes the user feel how the target feels. As Kyou-san can guess up to 80% of what I think at any given time, I don’t want to let her into my emotional life as well. I also know how manipulative she is, so this spell is a perfect way to give her more ways to control me... she’s too good at figuring stuff out.

“Ken, let me tell you... That one time was enough. I need to practice it more before I’m even remotely confident enough to try to use it on you. You’re a boy, I’m a girl, we feel different.” She says that with enough conviction that it makes me want to believe it, but while I started to be less on guard around her in the past, my emotions are one of the most private things of me... I mean, it could only be worse if she would actually be able to read my thoughts and memory. These are mine, dammit!

“Kenta, Kyou is really trying to practice it. Though I make her feel down... Sorry, Kyou.”

“Don’t worry, Rine-chan. I just wish that Ken would be able to feel how you feel...”

“We’ve already gone over it.” The last two weeks in the swamps were a full training-camp, including learning new skills or improving the control of older ones while putting them into practice with dangerous monsters.

However, I can’t even get close to learning that [Empathy]-spell despite observing Kyou-san using it on Rine every evening. She’s currently struggling with filtering it before she uses the spell, but as I know from [Share Senses], it’s not that easy.

I still hope to learn [Empathy], though I’m sure that I’m not very compatible with it. According to Ara-san, who has researched heroes for a while, each hero has a certain compatibility to different skills and spells. That’s why I still haven’t learned that damned [Perforate]-skill from the [Spear]-ability, though I really, really want it. It would be so good to either keep enemies at bay or to get multiple hits on soft but large targets. “Phew...”

“Ken,” Kyou-san’s sudden determination surprises me: “I...” There it goes... again. Another thing that repeated over the course of the last two weeks.

I’m sure it’s about the incident with Luuto, the alfr hero, former colleague of Ara’ainn, and now an underling of the dragon-god Muaotef. That bastard used a spell on me which was supposed to make me see him as the person I loved the most.

Let’s say that it backfired and made me want to kill him instead. Actually, not even I’m that clear on the whole situation anymore, though I now know at least that the most inner nature of humans is that of a beast. This feral outburst, however, almost invaded his mind, a predicament that saved us all.

I still don’t know how to feel about that encounter. In the end, it seems so pointless, but I guess that’s life — a collection of pointless stuff accumulated together. I guess Muaotef tried to gather some more soldiers for his future war with Feuerberg and wanted something from the center of the Spirit Swamps. We just stumbled upon them, which forced Luuto to fight us.

Though Ara-san has some business with Luuto, she agreed that staying would be too dangerous. She’s rather quiet about the whole topic, though I don’t try to pry. It’s her business, after all.

As Kyou-san is still struggling with asking her question, I just ignore it. “Is it OK for me to just drop the loot we collected so far here?”

“...go ahead.”

I reach into my backpack with my hand and take some stuff out of it, the magical [Inventory] is rather practical for this. The things I brought are mostly valuables, as we didn’t find the place they keep their provisions yet, though I wasn’t getting tired of opening their trunks, raiding their shelves, and turning everything upside down. It almost feels like a game, though it’s a crime. Well, taking from bandits isn’t that bad, right?

Wait a minute. “Kyou-san, did you find their provisions?” As she’s cooking right now and the smell of the meat isn’t frog for sure, this is the logical conclusion.

“No, the bandits had dinner when we raided them, I’m just trying to make their meal edible.”

“That bad?”

“Worse.” We both know how bland the cuisine tastes here in comparison to Japan. Of course it does, thinking about how many spices and flavor enhancers Japan uses in its food. High-class in this world means that it’s covered with spices to an unhealthy degree. So bandit-cooking... urgh.

“This is a nice facial expression.” Finally, here is my third wife. She just came out of a hut and is now walking toward us with her long, pointy ears upright while her face is as expressionless as always. It’s Ara’ainn, the hero-sage, 144 years old with the mind of a juvenile. High cheekbones, a long nasal bone, two irises per eye, one dark blue, the other dark green, while her pupils are cat-like. Long flowing white hair bound to a ponytail, a frail-looking body, the complete lack of breasts, yes, she’s an alfr alright. Her classes are [Accountant], [Druid], [Bookie], and [Acrobat], though she is mainly [Druid] for combat-purposes, using her spells. Recently she also uses her [Acrobat] more, I just hope that she will become decent in melee combat at some point... “How are you feeling, Kenta-kun?” As she doesn’t have as many facial muscles herself, she never learned how to read a face that well, while her usual method of deciphering mood, reading a spirit, only works well on alfar so far.

“I’d call it ‘mild disgust’, I guess.” She’s also my only friend in this fantasy world. She’s intelligent and crafty, like me, just less... capable of common sense. However, we get along. Though her curiosity led her to be cursed as well, she’s the one who figured out how the curse is capable of marrying me off and triggered it willingly while she thought it was just a party system instead of a marriage.

Well, she got what she deserved. Like I mentioned before, biology-change. Monthly period and she’s physically attracted to me, and I to her, despite us being from different species.

“Mild disgust... The reason?”

“Food.”

Ara-san turns to Kyou-san: “Momo, I want to ask you to stop putting your bodily fluids into the food I’m going to eat.”

This is poking her head into a hornets’ nest: “Arako?” The way how Kyou-san says her nickname for Ara-san is somewhat unsettling, especially seeing how she smiles like she’s in a great mood, which is a bad sign: “I haven’t put any ‘special ingredients’ into this stew yet, but I’m thinking about something new today. Alfr ears, I heard they’re delicious.”

“This may be the case, but that would be cannibalism for me. Additionally, you lack any alfr for this experiment.”

“I think we’re going to be fine. At least, I will.”

“If you’re thinking about using my ears, be warned: I may look delicious for a human, but I don’t know how I taste. You can, however, lick my fingers to get an impression.”

“...nevermind.” Usually, Kyou-san would go to her and pull Ara-san’s ear or something like that, but whenever she’s cooking, she rather minds the food. “Let’s see...” She has her cooking pouch in her hand. As far as I know, there are several herbs and some salt for seasoning in there. I can distinguish the different kinds of herbs, though it’s also ultimately not my job, and therefore, I don’t know how each of them tastes.

“Kenta?” Rine at my side looks at me. Here it comes, now she’s trying to figure out what just happened between Ara-san and Kyou-san. “Did they tease each other in friendship or are they fighting?”

“You can ask them yourself.” If I have a guess, I would say it’s teasing. I get the feeling that the girls in this party get along most of the time, but I’m also aware that the girls in my class always badmouthed each other behind their backs, so it could be that everything is just a farce. At least from Kyou-san’s side, as Rine lacks the dishonesty and Ara-san the finesse of social interactions. She’s just like me.

“Ara?” Rine turns to the alfr, “Have you just teased Kyou?”

“Katarine-san, be sure that I never will ask someone to lick me seriously.”

“Why?” Erm, why would she?

“Because I’m too sweet, and then poor me will be eaten alive.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, here. Try me.” Ara-san stretches out her fingers to Rine... OK, she’s contradicting herself right now.

“...” Rine takes Ara-san’s in hers and licks her fingertips. “...uaaah.” Rine is stretching out her tongue. “Ah, zhat...” The blonde girl looks a bit in pain.

“Hot-tongue paste, when it reaches the tasting buds, it feels like the tongue is on fire. I just used it for the interrogation, so there are still traces on my fingers. The amount won’t be sufficient to last longer than a minute or two.” OK, that makes sense. Stupid alfr-humor.

There is a flaw though: “Won’t it be harder to interrogate someone when they can’t speak properly?”

“Don’t worry, I did it after the interrogation.”

“Why?”

“He asked me to.”

OK, here comes a punchline. “Why would he do that?”

“Because he had the option between hot-tongue on his tongue or itching powder in his gluteal cleft.” Bandit, you chose wisely.

“Let me guess, you said something like ‘Either you tell us and you get hot-tongue or you don’t tell us and get itching powder.”

“Precisely.”

He’s a bandit, a bad guy. Still, sometimes I wonder if this alfr, who is even less harmful than the regular one, might be worse in terms of humanity... well, alfar aren’t humans after all. At least they’re less malicious... well, less dangerously malicious.

It’s also not like our party is as heroic as our slapped on hero-title would make people believe. To be honest, I think our last bastion of decency, namely Rine, is taking a break right now...

[https://kentusauthor.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/rinepk57.png?w=676]