CHAPTER 2 – MESSAGE TO THE PERSON WE EXPECT
Inoue Masahiko and his friends are finally out of the Deeptrails. After days in darkness and torchlight, they’re now greeted with the burning sun, but Masahiko already had that experience once after leaving Kraggwas, the city of the dari, and was mentally prepared this time.
In days of old, the Deeptrails would have been lit, but Masahiko is glad for the dark ride nonetheless, as he’s now so much closer to Kyou. He and his friends are in a rocky wasteland, supposedly close to a canyon from what Correo told them before.
Suddenly, Teruko steps forward and braces her spear. She asks: “Who is there?” Masahiko looks in the direction she’s looking at and two people come out from behind a large rock. One of them is large, not as tall as Masahiko or Daichi, but with a massive build, his hair is long, a bit of a beard around his chin. His armor looks strong, though it’s mostly monster-skin with some metal here and there. It’s hard to see the face, as his blonde-tipped hair is black and covers most of it.
The other man has even longer hair, bound together. He also has a beard, though it looks like he wants to cultivate it, while the other just didn’t shave. His armor is light and resembles a bit of a robe. However, Masahiko recognizes his face and starts smiling: “Yoshimura-kun! Then you have to be Hoshibashi-kun! Man, I can’t believe it! You’re looking great.” They have to be the reinforcement Correo has been talking about.
Both of them vanished after the princess hunt, so Masahiko was afraid that they had died, so it makes him really happy that they’re here. They also look very strong. Though there is something strange about them like they’re not the classmates Masahiko used to know, but on the other hand, would anyone recognize himself right away?
Yoshimura-kun gives a smile, it’s very confident: “Inoue Masahiko, it has been a lifetime.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
Teruko starts relaxing, though Daichi is looking at Hoshibashi-kun, most likely interested if he would still be stronger. Hoshibashi-kun used to mesh with rather violent people, but he wasn’t all that bad himself, so there was no reason to be alarmed.
Eri and Katsuo are exchanging glances, then Eri gets closer to Masahiko, whispering something into his ear: “Something is strange about them and why they’re here. Keep your guard up.”
Masahiko accepts her opinion, but he also thinks that Eri’s too careful. Although she’s also smarter than him, so he doesn’t dismiss her advice completely. She’s right, both of them look different from before, a sense of danger surrounds them, but they were on their own for about three months.
Hoshibashi-kun comes closer, the way he moves is full of power, it reminds a lot of Daichi, in a sense. Daichi walks sharply, while Hoshibashi-kun is dull yet feels as if he’s charging up with every step.
Hoshibashi-kun scratches his head, then he greets them: “Hey.” He doesn’t say anything else, as if he doesn’t know how to start a conversation.
Masahiko takes his hand and shakes it firmly. A second later, Hoshibashi-kun returns it and his grip is strong! “Welcome aboard! It’s amazing to see you two here! You know what this is about?”
“The princess, right?”
“Ah, I see. It’s painful to say, but there is something more important to us, it’s Momokawa Kyou. She’s somehow involved, so our priority is to save her.”
“I see,” Yoshimura-kun chimes in. “This makes matters more complicated. Inoue-san, it may be strange, but we should first catch up with each other. I’d also be interested in how your party fights, as my partner and I are used to fight only as a pair. We also faced Katsuragi’s party before, so we need to figure out who has the most recent news about him.”
“Faced them?”
“Correct, it was a bit unfortunate how it all went. Be careful, he’s not the boy we used to know from school.”
Correo, who was observing the youngsters before, claps into his hands to gain the attention: “Don’t misunderstand me, I’m all for a reunion and think we can take the time, but as I’m the oldest here, I want to suggest we first go to the camp. There we can talk, refresh ourselves, and I’ll take care of moderating the conversation so that we’re doing it chronologically. It'll be easier to understand and might shed some light on the developments of the Katsuragi-party, as it’s important to know your enemy.”
Masahiko doesn’t agree to see Katsuragi-kun and his companions as enemies right now, but he’s willing to converse. His lack of knowledge is the reason why he can’t even decide which approach would be the best.
―○●○―
Yoshimura Rentaro isn't anymore, instead another person has taken his place: Lent Wood, the [Wizard], a true hero who also has the [Merchant] and [Warlord]-classes. He's the [Warlord] of the ooaks of the newly named Woodkiller-clan, porcine people who wage war on an army of undead. The war is still in progress, as a mighty death knight called Laharel is their general, yet Lent and his troops had the upper hand.
Therefore he's discontent how he and his partner were sent here, but he's also a servant of Kami-sama, a deity who rules over the city the undead wants to reclaim for themselves. Nonetheless, Kami-sama isn't concerned about the undead and has more interest in seizing Katarine von Stolzherz, the crown-princess of Feuerberg, instead of purging the manifestation she doesn't even see as a threat. So Lent followed her order and let his adjutant, The Boss, take care of the undead for the time being.
Following the description Correo gave them, he and his partner—the former Hoshibashi Takashi, nowadays Star Killer—came to this meeting spot. They also already knew that Correo wanted to get more of Feuerberg's heroes as reinforcements to be on the safe side.
While Lent thinks he and Star are more than enough, he also likes the thought of ganging up on Katsuragi and his girls. Of course, only if necessary, as Lent hopes to convince them to join Kami-sama, especially as this would benefit his hero quest, convince twenty heroes to join Kami-sama's cause.
On the other hand, Star has to kill a hundred heroes. This mission is to further both quests, though the inclusion of Inoue and his party makes it more complicated. However, if the memories of his former self are right, everyone hates Katsuragi...
Lent needs to balance everything out during this mission, be prepared to change plans immediately. At least Inoue and his posse won't harm Momokawa Kyou... Lent needs to see her, as his former self was infatuated by her, but was not good enough. However, Yoshimura Rentaro was weak in body and mind. Lent Wood is powerful, a true hero.
For now, he has to play the role of that weakling, as he wants to use the minor heroes who will rather trust a former classmate than a much more powerful being. This way, he can manipulate them, pushing them in the direction he needs them to go, maybe even convincing one or two to join Kami-sama... or kill them if they get in the way.
He sure hopes that he will have an opportunity to talk to Correo without any of them listening, as the merchant certainly is pulling the strings as well. However, Lent might be willing to share them if he knows what Correo is after, as both of them are servants of Kami-sama.
―○●○―
“There is a small river ahead,” I tell the girls while using my [Farsight], looking for the trade road.
“Finally,” Kyou-san says, her tone tells me that we have to do that. I know we need to do it sometimes, especially now, as we’ve emerged from the swamp, but seriously, I have no desire to even think about it. “Laundry time!” I knew it...
Ara-san falls head-first to the ground, she looks like she just suddenly died. Rine is surprised: “Ara, is everything alright?”
“Don’t worry, Rine-chan,” Kyou-san says while smiling. “She’s just pretending. Arako, I have [Check up], so you should know that it won’t work on me. But if you’re too tired to walk, I—considerate as I am—will do you a favor and drag you to the river by your foot.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“...this sounds hurtful.”
“Then drop your act and start walking.”
“...yes, yes.” Ara-san stands up and her slightly wriggling ears tell me that she’s a bit amused. I think she’s going to slack off the laundry again.
Laundry... the single most tedious task in a fantasy world! Forget fighting monsters, escaping Crusaders, life-endangering situations, this is the real deal!
OK, I’m exaggerating, but seriously: Laundry sucks! As there is no washing machine in this world, it has to be done by muscle strength... unless there is a spell we still need to learn that does it for you.
The reason why we waited until we had a large body of water? We only can carry small washbasins in our [Inventory]. Items have to fit inside the opening of the backpack, after all. With Ara-san’s [Create Water]-spell, we can usually do laundry every time we want. Still, as even the [Inventory] with its pocket dimension has limited space in the end, we only have three basins, which would be enough usually... however, we were in the swamps.
Let’s face it, we stink! All of our clothes reek like something that was forgotten behind a refrigerator for months. Yet it was not worth even trying to do laundry in the swamps, so bit by bit, everything became swamp-tainted and with so many pieces and so little basins, it’ll be a pain in the ass.
Now we have a creek which will make things easier. We approach it. There seems to be no monsters around either. “I’ll set the net.” The current isn’t particularly strong, but just to be on the safe side. If someone drops the laundry, it will be caught by the net.
“Alright, we’ll set up the rest.” Kyou-san is the only one eager to do it, I think she might be sick of the stench. Well, I’m also not fond of it.
After I’m finished, the girls have put washing boards, some small blocks of soap, and the washing basins, one of them is full of our dirty clothes. We don’t need a clothesline as long as we have Ara-san’s [Dry]-spell.
Time to start. At the beginning, all of us kneel at the shore and start holding them inside the water. I can already see how the dirt is spreading into the former clear creek. Then some soap, and here comes the washing board: “Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!” With repeated strong movements, more dirt is removed, bubbles form on the creek’s surface. Some of you may complain about environmental pollution, but I have to say something to those of you: Shut up!
After some scrubbing, rinse the piece of clothing, check if you missed something, put it into the basin for the cleaned clothes. Ara-san will dry them later and check whether they belong in the backpack or the third basin so that Rine can fix them up.
Sounds easy? Well, you have to do it for every single piece of clothing. We change underwear regularly, mine reminds of trunks, for girls it’s a bit more like briefs. Kyou-san and Rine also wear corsets. Then there are the shirts, I sweat enough to change it daily rather than every two days, same for Kyou-san. Why do I know that? Because we all share the [Inventory], of course I’m bound to learn way too much about stuff like that.
In this fantasy world, some materials are sturdy enough to grant protections to cuts even if they’re thin. Reminds me of those bulletproof suits in my world, Rine’s bodysuits and Kyou-san’s strange sleeve-like arm-things—I really don’t know the proper name—are examples of how it complements their armor with good protection. Same goes for Ara-san’s dress. Due to my [Armor]-ability, I don’t need something like that, I can move fine. Rine may also have the necessary [Armor]-skill, but she has had the armor way longer than the hero-status.
Therefore the girls also have clothes that they don’t change often but clean regularly. Well, the same for me and my hood. Kyou-san also takes good care of her scarf.
Then there are Rine’s and Kyou-san’s other clothes, and... well, it’s a tedious task. Also, there is an added problem: Our armors also reek, cleaning mine is a thing I do every evening, but it doesn’t do much about the odor, it’s about maintenance and getting the dirt out of it. Now we also need to eliminate the stench...
After a while, Ara-san begins drying our clothes, while Rine switches to [Tailor] to mend the rips. Kyou-san and I stoically continue with scrubbing. After an hour or so of hard and straining work, we’re almost finished. The armors are done, even our boots, but there is still something we need to take care of: The things we wear.
“Ken, my suggestion: You’ll go upstream until we can hardly see each other, do your washing there, then clean your body. We do the same here. No [Farsight] allowed.”
“Gladly.” While it would be interesting to look at the naked girls, it’s just my lust speaking. I have some decency in that regard! Also, that means some solitude, I need it! I’ve been craving for it for two weeks!
I take a washing board and basin in addition to my backpack. I already have a spare set of clothes in the [Inventory], freshly washed and dried, so there is no problem.
As the region becomes more hilly, it’s not too hard to find a spot where I have my privacy. After undressing, I wash my stuff, put it into the basin, and then step inside the creek. It’s cold. While my hands are used to the temperature due to all the washing, it’s strange how cold my feet feel. Well, time to sit...
It’s almost the same as the chill at the balls when you enter a swimming pool. I grind my teeth a bit and concentrate on enduring the feeling until my body adapts to the cold. “Phew...” Then I lie down, my whole body feels a shock as everything submerges, but I still feel the creek floor with my ass, my breathing is a bit irregular for a moment, then I have full control over my body... Ah, refreshing.
I look at the cloudy sky. Kyou-san said it’ll rain, but this opportunity was too good to pass up. Also, finally some me-time, I’d better just push these thoughts away. My head becomes blank, at this moment, I just exist. Like all of my burdens vanished within a second, I feel some sort of peace, a moment with only me and nature. I hear my heartbeat and the water rushing at my ear. I see the clouds and the birds. I feel the wind in my face.
...boring. Even after all that time, I’m not a nature-guy. I’m a city-kid, a homebody. I can’t help but think about my poor computer and consoles which are alone at home, nobody who will play the heck out of them... well, not like I put feelings onto objects, that’d be crazy, but somehow it feels a tad better if I just pretend that they miss me instead of me missing them. Despite that, I still feel no real homesickness, maybe a bit of regret...
Since coming to this world, I’ve been at the mercy of whatever happened with and around me. First, the hero-system which changed my mind to not feel homesickness anymore, giving me the mindset and body of someone who can actually fight monsters. Then the curse which first tried to kill me, later married me to Kyou-san and the others afterward, and now behaves if I stay close to my wives, even rewarding me when we’re close... Then Muaotef, who used me for some kind of scheme. The church, Fake, Correo, the alfar, the mercenaries, the oni, the Crusaders, Crunch, Luuto, all together it’s a net of necessities, forces, and choices.
If RPG-heroes were real, they would go mad. I almost feel like one, here a quest, there a story-twist, here the area which should be explored later...
I’m still OK. I can keep moving. Everything I do is for my return. At this point, it might have been easier to just forge the girls and me to an actual party and beat the crap out of the demon king. However... I look at the cursed ring, the ring with the face of a lion which I can’t remove... is it a distraction or part of my journey?
Let’s face it, in terms of levels I slowed down since finding the ring while the dangers multiplied. On the other side, I learned about class-ups, the hero-system. I gained experience fighting many different foes. I think I’ve built up something more valuable than mere levels...
Maybe I’ll never know whether this journey is worth it or not, as there are a myriad of ways to accumulate real-life experience, but only one reliable way to gain levels: Killing.
I stand up from the creek and knead my face with my hands a bit. It doesn’t feel good but helps me focus. Well, time to wash my body, need to get off the swamp-aroma. Soap, hair-soap, washcloth, and go.
After cleaning myself, I feel much better. It’s almost like I’ve rinsed away everything that happened inside the swamps. ...well, there is still something I should polish to get rid of a certain kind of impurity. Let’s fuel it a bit... I think how the girls may play a bit in the rivers, stark naked, filling out the details that I’ve never seen... here it is.
I may have some decency, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t let things out once in a while. Two weeks! I wasn’t able to do it for two weeks despite all the input I got! Now it’s time to escape to my fantasies... which fictional girl?
…
… … …
… … … … …
Well, the deed is gone, though it’s tough to slap another girl’s face onto a fantasy that derives from certain real-life scenes. Nonetheless, I feel calmer. Now I’ll take a piss and finish my me-time. I’m a bit tempted to just leak inside the river, but I decide to just do it next to it.
“Kentaaaaa! ... !?”
What timing... Rine climbs the raise, most likely to call for me, seeing my naked backside. “Look away.” I’m not embarrassed at this point, as, sadly, this isn’t the first time she caught me pissing, it’s just a matter of time when traveling together. Yet I’m mindful about how her eyes are glued to my ass. I’m inclined to ask for a fee or to see hers in return, but she might actually do it, which would be way too awkward.
“But Kenta, you told me to observe you.”
Now I’m slightly angry: “You know that this isn’t what I meant!”
“I know, but it’s so hard to look away!” You just slipped your thoughts like it was normal... well, I guess my [Ranger]-ass has some attraction to some girls. Well, time to change to [Student], my whole body bloats a bit, it’s my true, nonathletic form, including belly.
Suddenly, I feel my face reddening a bit. While I thought that changing to an unattractive form would make her stop staring, it also feels more real now, as she’s staring at the person who I really am. Without clothes. Why is she still staring!?
Change of plans. [Ranger]-class, [Distraction]! This [Stealth]-skill diverts the attention for roughly a second. Now I move closer to my backpack, [Camouflage], [Mask of Wildlife]. My body changes colors to match my surroundings while my spirit meshes with the grass, not the best environment, but I take what I can get.
I dive for my backpack, quickly selecting my underwear from the [Inventory] and put it on. Covered! ...why do I make such a fuss about Rine seeing my ass? Well, now I can turn to her without risking to expose that particular portion. Even the rest of my body is hard to make out, as it looks like I have a full body-paint. In that sense, [Camouflage] has a unique secondary-effect: Making it harder for peeping-toms! What a useless application...
While [Camouflage] is a skill that costs many SP to activate, the upkeep is neglectable. Therefore I continue running it: “Is it easier now to stop staring?”
“Ah, sorry. I... I couldn’t help myself. Kenta, we’re finished, you can get dressed.”
Exactly what I had in mind... seriously, what a waste of time and SP... Also, why do they send someone when I could still be naked!?
[https://kentusauthor.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/kentaranger60.png?w=676]