Author’s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some cameos and a small surprise at the end!
ANYWAY, this person who writes for you is extremely easily distracted (the den can attest to this), and finding out a channel about speedrunning games didn’t exactly help me with writing this chapter down, but finally, I did it.
ALSO, For those of you who want action, there should be some action in the next chapter, as in the violent time, not anything perverted. I do plan on keeping IO away from the mature tag.
ALSO(2), this weekend, if I manage to pump out a chapter of beepy fast enough, there should be another chapter around Sunday.
Have a good read!
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“And then, I told him: You don’t have a choice! We are rivals from now on!... or something like that, can’t really remember.” I told him with a shrug.
“Didn’t you just say that it happened a few minutes ago? How the hell do you forget something like that?” Lucas asked me with a slightly conflicted tone. “Besides, why the hell would he become your rival like that? It doesn’t makes any sense!”
“Making sense is overrated.” I said with a proud nod, which earned me a sigh from Cyg and a confused look from Lucas.
“Master… You…” She said in a sigh. “So you really did all that for the joke?” She asked me with a worried tone.
“What, you thought I had some kind of actual decent reason for doing that?” I asked her in a fake surprise, but this only made her sigh even more.
“Say… I’ve been meaning to ask, but what exactly is she?” The white haired boy asked while pointing to cyg. “She doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen before…”
I blinked before looking at Crys. I had kind of forgotten about it, as people from Eldor had already grown used to seeing her following me around, but I guess that Crys is kind of a unique existence… While feeling a bit idiotic, I sighed briefly before smiling wryly.
“Well, you see.” I said while choosing my words. “She’s a new type of lesser elemental that I… Met, some time ago. We found her on a mana infested cave.” I said with a slight smirk.
“Heeh… Mana infested cave, you say…?” He said with a pensive pose while as a smirk appeared in his face, the Rabbit looked down at him confused for a moment before nestling on his head once again. “How exactly is a mana infested cave?”
“How?” I asked curious seeing him focusing so intently. “Well… The mana was so dense, but so dense that it started to crystalize within the room, making even crystal formations.”
“Mana… Crystals?” He asked surprised. “A… Whole cave of it, you say?” He kept a fairly neutral face, but I could somehow see a glint of greed in the back of his eyes.
“Before you say something, no, it isn’t mana crystals, but crystallized mana. It’s different.” He blinked surprised for a moment before frowning.
“What’s the difference?”
“Well… I’m not exactly sure…” I said honestly. “But the main difference is that crystallized mana can’t be converted into mana, so it doesn’t work to make mana potions.” I saw as he changed from a greedy to a surprised face. “But, it does make a fairly decent crafting material.” I said while pointing to the sword on my back. “This thing here is the proof.”
“Wait… Mana as crafting material?” He asked shocked and I nodded while taking out the sword from my back and showing to him. He blinked surprised while looking at the black blade with awe in his eyes.
“Well, technically, this was made of bones, but it’s pretty much the same thing seeing as how the guy was infested…” I added while shrugging, and saw as he nodded weakly.
“This… Kind of look like a weapon from that Wargon guy the chosen keep talking about…” He said with an amused look.
I blinked surprised, not actually expecting him to go and blurt out my nickname like that. However, feeling mischievous, I made a slightly surprised face while looking at him in a fake shock.
“You heard about Wargon?” I asked, and saw as he made a smug face.
“Heh. Of course.” He nodded proudly to himself. “In fact, I actually bought some of his equipment myself.”
“Heeh, so even you are using the gear he made?” I asked surprised, but he shook his head.
“No… Even though it’s nice and all, it’s a bit too… Weak for my level, so I mostly use gear I get from the goddess or from more experienced crafters.” He said with a wry smile, but seeing me frown confused, he quickly explained with a smug expression. “You see, his gear is REALLY popular with the chosen, but since he only stays at Eldor, not many chosen can actually get it themselves.”
“Wait, then you…” I said shocked and he put on a victorious grin while giving me a thumbs up.
“I’m going to resell his equipment for double the price to those foolish chosen!” He said with a proud tone.
I had to hold myself to not start laughing at him right then and there. He went and blatantly said that he was going to resell the items I made at double the cost without even trying to hide it. Somehow I have the feeling that he and the Argento would get along just fine should they meet each other. While thinking so, I hid a smirk while nodding.
“I see, quite the opportunist, aren’t you?” I asked, but he shook his head in a slightly angry manner.
“I’m just a normal guy trying to get advantage of the situation.” He replied with a serious tone. I raised an eyebrow but didn’t discuss much longer.
“Anyway, I told you about my situation, now shouldn’t you do the same?” I asked while staring at him.
He blinked surprised for a moment before frowning, as if thinking. Since it kind of looked like he didn’t exactly feel like speaking, I decided to leave it aside and say that there was no real need to do that, but before I could do that, he sighed and said.
“Well, all I am doing right now is going to Ezoria Argus, since that place is a gathering place for magicians, I wanted to see if they could help me solve a… small problem I have.” He said while looking away. “Besides, I think I could learn a couple of things from the mages there... More like steal a few techniques, but..”
“I heard that.” I said lowly after he made the addition in a low voice.
“You heard nothing.” He said while looking at me in the eyes.
“Meh. No matter. Magic is for the weak.” I said with a snort. “A true man hunts with his muscle and wits alone.”
“Huh? Are you calling me weak?” He asked me with an annoyed tone.
“Nope. Just saying that I have no need for magic.” I said with a proud tone and saw as he stared at me doubtfully.
After staring at me for some time he finally sighed and shook his head, almost dropping the rabbit that stood in his head by accident, as if saying that I was just a random fool talking idiocies in broad daylight. He even shrugged it off and let out a disappointed sigh.
I would have gotten mad and complained, but sincerely, I kind of didn’t really care that much. Besides, I kind of wanted to see his reaction when I told him that I was the one who made the gear he was planning on selling at Ezoria.
Leaving that aside, before the conversation would continue, we heard footsteps approaching us, so the two of us turned to look to the newcomers, only for me to see a couple of girls whom I hadn’t seen before.
One of the girls had a beautiful silver hair, cut short around her neck height. Having a pair of beautiful bloody red eyes and wearing a black in white dress, with but a glance I could tell that she was a vampire, but different from Lucas, she didn’t seems like she was much of a fighter.
The other girl was clearly a demon, with horns sprouting out from her temples like that. She wore a beautiful red dress that made her look all the more elegant. Having long black ebony hair that fell at her back, her black eyes had a strange glint on them when she looked at Lucas.
Both of them were at Yuu-level of beauty, if I had to say so myself, but thankfully, I’ve built up a certain immunity to it thanks to the kitsune.
“Lucas! Where had you gone?” The demoness asked while approaching him, only to stop briefly when she saw me, so she gave me a brief acknowledging nod.
While she looked mostly indifferent, the other girl looked a bit more surprised, and quickly gave a bow before saying.
“S-Sorry for her. I’m Freya and she is Euomun, we are Lucas traveling companions.” She introduced herself and the demoness.
“Humm. Gondorrer Baneless…” Oh, COME ON! WHERE THE HELL DID THAT EVEN COME FROM? “I mean… Gondorrer Gravelheart. Skirmisher, crafter in training and professional trickster.”
“Eh? Professional trickster?” Freya asked confused before turning to Lucas, who simply shrugged..
“Yup. And these are all my pets, I could go on introducing them, but the readers would probably get annoyed.” I said while pointing to Aura and Co. She blinked surprised for a moment before looking at everyone who was surrounding me.
But the one who had the biggest reaction of the two was the demoness Euomun. At first I had thought that she was ignoring me with a haughty look, but after some time of her staring at a single place for far too long, I finally noticed that her gaze was gathered into a single place.
“…so cute…” She said in a low voice.
“Nyaaa.” Lieutenant said while taking his hat and giving her a brief salutation.
“…Lucas…” She said in a whisper before turning to the boy seating besides me.
“Wha…”
“Can you get that cat for me…?” She asked with a begging tone. Lucas blinked surprised for a moment before putting on a troubled face.
“Look, Eu… I can’t….” He said with a wry tone while trying to choose his words.
“Muu… Why not?” She asked with a pout while trying to convince him, and I saw as some sparks of fire started to form around her as she got seemingly more and more annoyed.
“Sorry there lady.” I said while standing up and stopping the girl, who looked at me with a surprised look. “You see, Lieutenant here isn’t one to be tamed. He’s a wild and independent guy, you know? There ain’t no soul that can tame this bad boy!”
“Nya!” Lieutenant added with a proud nod while crossing his arms.
“Then, if Lucas manage to tame him, I can keep him?” She asked with greedy dreamy eyes, that looked more like a hunter aiming for a prey than a girl looking a pet.
“Nyaa?” He asked surprised.
“That, and he’s also my pet already.” I added lastly, with Lieutenant nodding hastily before jumping on the bench and hiding behind me.
Eu made a sullen face at that and started to pout. Luckily enough, it didn’t look like she was going to keep insisting after hearing that Lieutenant was off limits.
“Then… Then… The little dragon? Can we tame her?” She asked while pointing at Rio.
“E-Eu!” Lucas said worried, and Freya prepared to move in to stop the girl, but before that happened…
“Muu?” Rio asked confused while raising her head. “What is tame?” She asked curious.
“““Eh? She can talk?””” The three of them asked surprised.
“Vii?” Correction, the four of them, I guess I should add the rabbit too.
“Hmm. Rio can talk!” She replied cheerfully while nodding and extending her arms, a cute yawn coming from her. “Stone man’s hair is so confy! Almost as good as mommy’s nest!” She said in a cute tone.
“A… A… A… Greater wyvern?” Freya asked surprised, making the wyvern nod once again. “Eeeeeeeh?”
“How the hell did you get a greater wyvern as pet?” Lucas asked in shock while staring at the wyvern atop of my head. “I mean, seriously, what kind of taming skill do you have to get something like that done?”
“Errm…” I scratched my cheek, unsure how to say it. “I… Don’t have a taming skill?” I said, making the four of them stare at me in shock. “And technically, Rio isn’t my pet, but a companion.” At those words, Eu’s eyes lit up as she turned to Lucas. “And before you make the question, no. It would be a bad idea to do that. Her mother is a pretty strong wyvern, so it might not be a good idea to go and tame her.”
“Strong?” Lucas asked curious while stealing a glance at the demoness, who put up a smug look. Feeling a bit curious, I wondered where her confidence came from.
“Yeah, she should be level four hundred or something.” I said briefly.
“Fo-Four hundred?” Lucas asked in shock.
“That’s… Even for me…” Eu muttered lowly while a drop of sweat formed in her forehead. “But… Maybe if I…” She said while thinking about something.
“Mooou, Eu! You are thinking something outrageous like fighting the dragon just to get the baby wyvern, aren't you?" She said, and the demoness looked away guiltily, she then turned to Lucas while still pouting and said. "That goes for you too Lucas."
“Eeh? I said nothing.” He said in his defense.
“Lies, you had a: ‘That sounds interesting’ face.” I said bleakly, making him stare at me in shock. “I know because I’m quite familiar with it myself.” I told him putting on my best victorious smirk.
“No… I… I didn’t do something like that!” Lucas said in self-defense. “I didn’t right? Right?” He asked while looking around, but when everyone either looked away or looked at him teasingly, he found out he didn’t have much support. “Eeh? I’m alone in this? No one will defend me?”
“Vii!” The rabbit said cheerfully.
“Vii! I knew you were with me!” He said while taking the rabbit and hugging it.
“Nope, she was atop of your head and didn’t see what face you did.” I added sneakily.
“It doesn’t matter! At least Vil is with me!” He said while hugging the small horned rabbit, who didn’t seem to mind it all that much. “I knew that you were the best, Vil!”
“Vii Vii!” The rabbit said cheerfully.
““Did we… Did we just lose to Vil?”” Eu and Freya asked in shock at the scene.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
When I started to laugh at their reaction, I noticed as the two looked slightly embarrassed by the scene, before quickly bending and grabbing Lucas arms, pulling him up.
“Moou! A-Anyway. We still haven’t picked which room we will stay!” The vampires said with an hurried tone.
“Y-Yeah, and the captain is calling us, so we should get ready.” The demoness added.
And with that, Lucas was dragged out of our place near the kitchen with one beautiful girl on each arm. Usually, I would have cursed his luck there and then for having such a situation, but I didn’t exactly had the right to do that, because…
“Shishou! The captain came to warn us to be ready.”
“Why did you leave like that, Teacher? We needed your opinion!”
And just like Lucas, I was dragged away towards our rooms on the other side of the ship
By the way, didn’t I say that if I left there was a chance that the two were going to stop fighting and work together to find me?
See, in the end, leaving WAS the right choice!
…
“Wait, since when do you have casual clothes?” Hanbei asked me when I came out from my room wearing a jacket and confy pants.
“These?” I asked while pointing towards myself. “I made them a long time ago, before I even went out to fight Blazing tails, you know?” I told her while frowning slightly. “Didn’t I show you these before?” I asked the cat-girl and she shook her head.
“Nope. This is the first time.” She said with slightly surprised tone. I raised an eyebrow at her words, but didn’t bother too much with it.
I guess there has been some time since I put on these street clothes, so no wonder she never saw them before.
Meanwhile, Hanbei herself was wearing some street clothes, much alike her real self. Black leather shorts and a simple light blue shirt.
I’m not sure why, but it seems like we somehow achieved a consensus to wear casual clothing during dinner, even though we didn’t exactly exchange a word with each other. This meant that right now, Yuu was choosing for one of her kimonos to wear, and this meant that she was in her room with Yami and Lily choosing their clothes.
Even Lieutenant and Aura went with something a bit more presentable! Taking out the badges from his military suit and tiding it up slightly. I guess I should make something different for him later on. Right now he only have his actual clothes to wear, so maybe I should get him something different. Meanwhile, Aura used water armor skill since it looked a bit like jewelry.
Anyway, Argento also went ahead to go and talk with the captain so that he could set up a trade-route later on, leaving only me and Hanbei alone in the corridor.
“So, why exactly aren’t you there with the others?” I asked curious.
“That? Well…” She looked around for a moment before sighing. “I wanted to have a talk with you.” She said with a sigh, making me raise an eyebrow curious. “Seriously, when are you going to make a move?”
“…Huh?” I made a silly sound, caught by surprise by the question.
“Don’t ‘huh’ me.” She said with a slightly annoyed tone. “I mean, when are you going to go and ask Yuu out already?” She asked me with a sigh. “And don’t come telling me that you didn’t notice. Yuu isn’t very good at hiding it herself, even more with Lily nearby.”
I blinked surprised for a moment while I processed her words, trying to understand what she meant with it. After a couple of seconds I felt myself getting slightly embarrassed.
“You see… I’ve… Had some trouble on my previous relationship, so I’ve been a bit traumatized about this whole girlfriend thingy…” I said in a low tone, and Hanbei widened her eyes in shock.
“Oh… Sorry, I didn’t…” She started.
“Nah, just joking.” I added in the end and she blinked surprised. “It’s just… I… May not look like it… But…” I looked away embarrassed. “I’m really bad with this whole romance thing…”
“…” She stared at me wordlessly for a moment. “I’m seeing things.” She said while rubbing her eyes. “I think I just saw a sincerely embarrassed Gon.”
“I feel mildly angry with that statement, you know?” I said briefly to her. “And what about you, aren’t you going to go after a man for yourself?” I asked her, but she shrugged.
“I’m more into mature men, so my market is a bit more saturated…” She stopped suddenly while looking at me. “And that reminds me, but…”
“I will be compelled to hit you as hard as I can if you dare ask me if my father is single.” I said briefly and saw as she hit her head.
“Tee hee…” She said before shrugging. “Anyway, it was only going to be a joke anyway.” She said with a shrug. “Besides, just seeing Yuu being so cheerful is enough for me.”
“That’s surprisingly noble out of you…” I said surprised, and she smiled wryly.
“Well, you see… As much as I also would like a boyfriend, I can still go out there and try to find one for myself.” She said with a sigh before turning to me. “But Yuu… Have absolutely no idea of how to go out there and talk to people. If it was only up to her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had to resort to an arranged marriage to actually find someone. And knowing her, even if she wasn’t satisfied with the arrangement, she would simply bear with it in silence…”
“Sadly… That does sound Yuu-ish.” I agreed with mixed feelings.
“But then, when I logged in for the first time, she appears accompanied of a boy I had never seen before, and she happily let him pet her head.” She turned to me and gave a mischievous smile. “It didn’t take me much longer to think that maybe this guy had an actual chance with her.”
“You overestimate me…” I said while scratching my cheek. “And it looks like they are done.” I said when I saw the door opening with the girls coming out.
Yuu was wearing a simple blue kimono. It wasn’t anything fancy, but as usual, anything she put on actually looked good on her, so there wasn’t much for me to comment.
Yami still had the same clothes as before, but had a jacket atop her clothes, so it looked kind of good on her.
Finally, we had the reason why the girls took so long changing. Lily. Since she couldn’t use inventory like us, she had to change her clothes manually. She put up a white sundress and black pants. It looked really good in her, as she was also a beauty in her own right.
Seeing Yuu once again I couldn’t help but think of the conversation I just had with Hanbei, but decided to ignore it for now.
The group gathered, we made our way to the upper decks of the ship, where we found the others passengers already sitting around a table that had been nailed down to the deck, as well as the chairs. The captain sat at the very end of the table, with some of his highest ranking members sitting close-by.
“Cousin! Come! Take a seat!” He said while pointing to the free seats around the middle of the table. I nodded and quickly took a seat, noticing how Argento had a thinking position besides the open seat.
Ignoring the gnome for now, I took a seat just in front of Lucas, who sat with Eu and Freya on the opposite side of the table. I gave him a quick acknowledging nod before sitting down. Only to have Yuu and Lily each take a seat besides me, with Cyg sitting in my shoulder, Rio exploring the table in front of me and Aura sitting down beneath my chair.
When I think about it, I have quite the flashy group, don’t I? The piercing stares from the other guys were a bit worrying, but I managed to endure it.
“Well, I guess it’s my time to shine, huh?” The captain said while standing up. “Well, here would be when I would say that I’m thankful for you all to come and wish us a safe voyage. BUUUT, I’m not a dense captain and know how much you guys are starving, so bring on the food and drink feast until we burst and drink until we fall!” He said with a wide motion, making some of the crewmembers come in with plates of food and drink. “And no need to hold back! We striked it big recently and didn’t have the chance to commemorate yet!”
I widened my eyes and thanked the crewmember who put down a plate in front of me. I also saw as Yami offered to help get the drinks for our party and asked whether we wanted wine or juice. I couldn’t help but frown slightly at what she was doing, as knowing her she probably had a second intention hidden in there somewhere.
Still, I ignored it and saw as she brought the drink for all of us, giving me the wine I wanted.
Normally, I don’t drink in real life, but since this was a game and shouldn’t affect me in real life, I decided to be a bit more free with it. Still, a small spark of curiosity appeared in my mind.
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask for some time, but… How realistic is drinking in here for us?” I asked curious. Crys blinked surprised before putting on a pensive pose.
“Well, we made it so that we can simulate drinking fairly well, even without the chemicals effects, so I guess it have a 90% similarity?”
“Wow, all that?” I asked surprised.
“Yup. I’m not sure how precise that is since I’ve never drank alcohol before, but my parents say that its really similar.” She nodded slightly before smiling. “There were even some talks about using it to treat those who suffer from heavy addiction, since it satisfies the need but doesn’t actually dump more alcohol in their bodies.”
I nodded understandingly. I have no idea how the hell does that work, but knowing it comes from the guys who created Cyg, I’m not really all that surprised.
“Then, if a person gets drunk in game… Will they act just like how they would if they got drunk… Out there?” I asked her and she nodded.
“That’s the case.” She replied proudly, and I nodded satisfied while turning back do dig on the food.
On a small note, I guess I should tell that the stew was delicious, but since there isn’t much interesting about hearing me talk about what I ate. I will go straight to the main happening of the night, and it started one hour later with a small sound from Yami as she took a peek at Hanbei’s mug, who sat besides her.
“Whoops…” She said in a low tone, but for some reason, I think I was the only one who noticed it.
Looking at her and raising an eyebrow at her, she looked around and stopped her eyes upon Yuu’s drink, who sat to her other side.
“Sorry.” She told me briefly while bowing slightly.
Here is where I would have asked her what happened, but before I even had the chance to do that, I felt as someone leaned on me from the side, holding my arm tightly. I turned only to find a Lily with red cheeks and a breath smelling of alcohol.
“Teacher… When are you going to teach me more…!” She asked while hanging on my arm. Being caught by surprise by that, I turned to her and noticed that she had more than a few cups of wine turned over. As I got worried about what was happening, I didn’t exactly have the chance to react, because soon enough another person held me from behind.
“Lily-san.” Yuu said with a slightly annoyed tone. “You are bothering Shishou.” She said coldly.
“Eeeh? I am?” Lily asked while looking up to me. I nodded a bit wryly and she made a pouting face. “Sorry teacher…” She said in a low tone before letting go.
…Surprisingly sincere, isn’t she? As I thought that, I turned to Yuu.
“Thanks for the hel… Are you drunk too?” I asked surprised, seeing Yuu with slightly tinted cheeks.
“Hmmm… Maybe a bit…?” She said while tilting her head. I blinked surprised before nodding, I mean, to say that I’m not worried about how a drunk Yuu would be would be a lie.
Luckily enough, it seemed that she wasn’t all that drunk, so maybe I was lucky enough to get sight of it before she went any drunker. Giving an annoyed glance at Yami, who kept looking away with a clearly guilty look, I turned back to Yuu besides me and said.
“Hmm… Maybe you shouldn’t drink too much, right?” I asked her and she nodded while smiling widely.
“If Shishou says so.” She said while putting the mug with wine away.
I couldn’t quite remember whether Yuu drank wine previously, but looking at the time we had spent in here, I would guess that it would be a bit more than the usual. Deciding to also cut myself short on wine before I became too affected by it.
However, before I could ask the crewmate to stop bringing me wine, I felt as Yuu tugged the hem of my clothes once again. Blinking surprised, I turned to her with a confused face.
“What is it?” I asked her.
“Don’t I get petting?” She asked me.
“Huh?”
“I helped Shishou and made what Shishou told me to do.” She said in a tone as if stating the obvious. “Don’t I get a petting?” She asked me while her ears and tails drooped.
I stared at her confused for some time before noticing as Hanbei and Yami stared at us with curiosity. If this went on, there was the chance of the others starting to look at our scene too. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I quickly grabbed Yuu’s arm and said.
“Look, later I’ll…” I started.
“Not later. Now.” She said stubbornly. “You never left to pet me later. Why do this now?” She… Is she a bit more drunk than what I thought? AS I thought this, she suddenly threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly.
“Wa… Wait. Yuu, what are you doing?” I asked her while a bit… Very, very confused.
“If Shishou won’t pet me, I won’t let go of Shishou!” She said with a stubborn tone, which made me look at her confused for quite some time.
“Drunk Yuu… Is on the offensive?” Hanbei asked in shock.
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Author's corner: If anyone is wondering, the way i imagine Drunk Yuu would be something like: Just like usual, extremely innocent, but she doesn't get embarrassed, and is a lot more direct, so... We should get some interesting results, probably.