The next morning I wake up to Lilly’s sleeping face…? I look around for a moment… this IS my room… what is she doing here? Gathering my thoughts for a minute… I have no idea why she’s here, her little hands holding onto my shirt. She looks like a little angel and I unconsciously brush her hair while staring at her sleeping face. I promise… I’ll be there for you and protect you from anything that would harm you Lilly.
After a while she let’s go of my shirt and rolls over giving me enough room to sneak away. I leave my room, not before making sure she was properly tucked in though. Silently I grab my things and kiss Lilly on the forehead and head over to Harvey’s office. As usual he’s sitting in his chair swamped with a mountain of papers, you couldn’t pay me enough to deal with that.
(Harvey) “Oh Kuro you’re here earlier than I thought you’d come.”
Taking a seat I turn towards to Harvey to inquire about what he said the night before.
“Well you DID call me over so I assume it’s either important or a job.”
Continuing to work as we talk Harvey looks at me for a moment.
“Yes, about that. It’s a quest. Remember I told you there’s been an increase in monster activity lately, it’s regarding that.”
He did mention that when he forced my entry into the Guild, didn’t he.
(Harvey) “There’s been a report of missing people in a village towards the north, there’s been a request to investigate.”
Recon huh? Those can be troublesome, things either go well… or bad… very bad.
“So why me? I don’t mind taking the job but why request it directly from me?”
He chuckles a bit and stops writing.
(Harvey) “That’s because you Kuro can make it there and back the same day, a NORMAL person would take a full day just to reach the village. The number of disappearances are raising at an alarming rate and I would like to take care of this quickly.”
That makes sense to me. I honestly don’t have much else to do so taking a job for some extra pocket money isn’t a bad idea so I take the job. Ah! Before I leave I should ask Harvey about that.
“Hey Harv, I have a question for you.”
(Harvey) “Shoot”
Well that was a quick reply.
“I need a new dagger, preferably one of similar quality to the sword you gave me. I’ve been to the Smith’s Alley here and I can’t find anything nearly as good.”
I watch Harvey as he thinks for a moment brushing his beard.
(Harvey) “I’m sorry Kuro… Dwarven Blacksmiths aren't easy to meet in the Kingdom. Also my friend Yael likes to travel often. So I have no idea where he is right now, otherwise I would ask him in a heartbeat to help you.”
Well at least I tried, I thank Harvey for his efforts as I leave to pick up some supplies again. My haul from my shopping trip was more dried meat… the merchant tried to sell me dried fruits after I bought everything he had. I’m not THAT desperate for a meal, seriously. Hmm, I also picked up some replacement daggers… I got a deal on a dozen hunting knife looking daggers..
At least if one breaks I’ll have a bunch more to replace them! They even threw in a new bag of metal shards, unsure of why I wanted something like that. The people here really think inside the box don’t they? Finally I increased my stock of powdered sugar and purchased a few jugs of lamp oil and set off to the village to the north.
The trip was short it only took me an hour or two to reach there, I did stop for a moment when I saw one of those strange deer-goat animals. It tastes a LOT better cooked… Ah yes… fire and thumbs… how I missed you back then.
When I reached the village it seemed to be about… noon? Judging by the way the sun seems to punch me in the face when I look into the sky. Well… time to get to work! After gathering all the information I could I sat down nibbling on a piece of bread and try to put everything together.
The villagers that go missing, disappear at night. There also doesn’t seem to be any preference in the targets. The elderly, the young, male and female all are targeted without any discrimination. The next interesting fact is that there is no sign of a struggle or blood to be found the next day, almost as if they were taken willingly.
This is troublesome… whatever is taking these people is an extremely efficient hunter. I should probably check the sites myself for clues… maybe something was overlooked. Sometimes hints can be hidden in places people wouldn’t look. There’s also cases where a clue can be something small almost negligible…
After checking each sites I’m even more uncertain now… there seems to be no rhyme or reason for no one noticing the disappearances, until it’s too late. There were only a handful of sites that were confirmed, the person was there for one moment, gone the next...without a trace. The amount of time differed each time but I know each time the missing person left the witness’s view for a short period of time before they disappeared.
There however was one person who recalled hearing the sound of water before it happened. That’s the only clue I have… it happens at night when someone is alone or not in view of others and the sound of water. This makes no sense… unless…?
No, something like that couldn’t cause this much damage, and I’ve never heard of one of those being this intelligent. It seems I won’t make it home for dinner tonight… hopefully Lilly won’t be too mad at me and prepare for a night watch… after I get a bite to eat. The village was too small for there to be an Inn, so I ended up staying with one of the victim’s family.
They even feed me… well not enough… they gave me enough for a NORMAL person my age and I didn’t have the heart to ask for more. So here I am, walking around the village in the middle of the night… nibbling on jerky. Ah… I’m still hungry but I don’t want to eat all of the meat I have saved again.
I should probably buy more bread next time… Yes, let’s do that. Even I get tired of eating dried meat all the time as a snack. Wait… what’s that…? While I was patrolling I see a mass of something move by? That… was that a slime? Are you kidding me?
There’s no way something like a slime can ambush people… and does it drag away it’s prey or does it just break it down right away? How the hell does it do it? I give chase to what I believe is a slime and when I turn the corner… it’s gone?
Am I just seeing things…? I must be missing something… there’s nothing here but a… well…! It’s hiding in the water supply! No wonder no one could find it and it could hunt in the village in peace. Slowly I approach the well and look throw a rock inside trying to lure the slime out to no avail. This thing’s smarter than I thought… cautiously I approach the well and look inside… nothing?
Did I guess wrong? I then try to back away from the well and slip… it’s wet!? Crap! As quickly as I can I twist my body and stab my sword into the ground using the momentum to push myself as far away as I can. Rolling away I regain my balance and watch a wave of water cover the place I was before… it was a slime.
Grabbing two knifes I engage the slime, it looks like it’s given up on catching me off guard and just tries to capture me inside it’s body. We’re at a stalemate… I can’t hurt it with my knifes, and it can’t capture me… how the hell do I deal with something that doesn’t have a solid body! I keep slashing at it and it doesn’t seem to get any smaller… and this thing’s smart enough to not let me retrieve my sword… not that it’d matter.
After dancing around with the slime for a while more I notice…there seems to be something strange with my knifes. Are they...melting!?! Is this slime just a pool of acid or something? This is bad..bad… what the hell do I do now? I continue to try so cut at the slime as I think of a way to defeat it. What I would do for some baking soda right now… maybe I can keep adding water to it until… No, it lives in the water supply I’m sure so that won’t work… burn it?
Will that even do anything!?! The slime again tries to consume me and I jump backwards getting as much distance as I can, the force of my jump dissipates my daggers leaving only the hilts. Looks like I’m out of time… Wait.. It’s mostly water right… it’s either sink or swim now, I have no other choice do I!
Frustrated I throw what remains of my knifes at the slime further provoking it and it comes at me like wave hitting the beach. Reaching my hands out I concentrate on one thing… freezing as much of the water in it as I can... to barely make it in time. The slimes frozen silhouette in the form of a wave is millimeters from my hands… close… too close.
Clenching my fist I break apart the slimes frozen mass into pieces leaving only a small round candy…? Is the god of this world some kind of sweets enthusiast or something? Congratulations! You killed the monster! Here, have a candy! What the heck! Well... I am still hungry… it hasn’t upset my stomach yet. So I pick it up and eat it. Sweet! Sickly sweet at that, it’s like someone made a ball of pure glaze and condensed it into a small ball, THEN coated it with more sugar!
My next thought is to check on my sword… it was submerged in the slime for a while it’s probably rusted to the point of no return… it was a good sword it served me well. But to my surprise the sword was fine, no signs of rust or any damage whatsoever. Just what is this thing made of?
Seriously I need all my stuff to be made out of this stuff, note to self commission the first Dwarf I meet even if by force to make me new gear. Imagining all the things I could make I return to the house I’m staying at and go to bed.
The next day I report my findings to the Village Mayor type person and return to Demarrer and report into Harvey that it was an intelligent slime.
(Harvey) “Would have never thought it would be a slime of all things, good job Kuro. I’m glad I sent you to investigate. I added a bit extra to compensate the costs of those knifes you lost.”
Harvey pays me with a small bag of Cura… well can’t expect much payment from a small village and they didn’t even have anything I could buy to appease Lilly… great… she’s totally going to be mad when I come home if I don’t bring her something at least.
Before heading home to the manor I take a detour to the market and buy Lilly a present, but what is the question. Wandering around the market for a while I decide to pick up a hair pin for Lilly since she seemed to like the one I gave Aoi last time. Still morning I reach the manor and try to sneak inside before Lilly can notice I was gone… maybe I can tell her I was home late last night… Yes, let’s do that. I travel along the outer wall of the manor until I believe it’s near my room and climb on top of the wall and look around…
“Ok… Clear…”
No sign of Lilly yet so I jump off the wall and land in a way to minimize the sound and sneak up to my window and look inside…
(Lilly) “Late!”
Crap… I didn’t think she’d be here ambushing me with her super pouty face.
“Morning Lilly I was just out… training for a bit this morning.”
Why did I lie? Well I’ve had this weakness to situations like this… Mia would just ignore me for a day if I came home late… Even Arlene! She would just stare at me… not saying a word… it’s scary when they don’t say anything and just pout at you!
(Lilly) “Lie! Hmph”
Gah, I watch Lilly as folds her arms and faces away from me. It’s really cute...and scary at the same time.
“Oh Lilly I got you this earlier today.”
As quickly as I can, I remove my sacrifice to appease the little girl in front of me and show her the hairpin. Lilly glances over with just her eyes and walks over while not looking at me… grabs the hairpin and runs away… I guess that wasn’t enough.
(Aoi) “So… Kurogane… where have you been... “
Uh...oh… she sounds pissed… I slowly turn around and see my sister folding her arms glaring at me with a seemingly black aura behind her. My instincts are telling me to run far… far away but experience tells me if I do that .. Yes, let’s just not.
“Ah… Sorry sis, the job I took yesterday took longer than I expected, the monster wasn’t active until night time so I had to wait for it.”
It’s not like I don’t have a legitimate reason! And there isn’t something convenient like cell phone to call home and tell them oh I’ll be late work is taking longer than I thought!
(Aoi) “And…?”
A cold sweat trails down my forehead… Why are they making me feel so bad! It’s not my fault the slime was nocturnal!
“Uhh… I’m sorry for not getting you something also..?”
Uh oh… bad move… I can feel the black aura growing larger, at this point it wouldn’t surprise me if her hair turned yellow and spiky but instead she slowly starts walking towards me…
“Wait… why are you cracking your knuckles...Sis…? Uhh… dearest sister? SIS!?!”
After receiving a one sided thrashing from my older sister, since I didn’t dare dodge a single strike or throw she gives me a hug.
(Aoi) “Remember this little brother of mine, you have a family here and we worry about you. Especially when you don’t come home when you promised, more important than objects… that’s not what we want when we see you come home.”
She’s right…
“I’m sorry sis… I’m home.”
Brushing my hair Aoi smiles and tells me.
“Welcome home, now go find our troublesome little Lilly she’s probably pouting in the corner somewhere.”
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Patting me on the head once more Aoi lets me go to search for Lilly. I found her quickly though, she was right outside my door hugging her knees. As soon as she saw me she quickly turned her head away again. It’s seriously cute, her reactions.
Slowly I walk over and sit next to Lilly and pat her on the head and tell her I’m sorry for worrying her. I explained to her what happened and why I was home late but she continued to look away from me but didn’t move away from my hand. Once my explanation was finished she crawled over and sat in front of me facing the same direction as me not saying a word.
(Lilly) “Bad Dwagon…”
All I do is continue to pat her on the head until I notice she fell asleep. Was she up all night waiting for me to come home? A weary smile appears on my face as I pick up Lilly and put her to bed and head to talk to Eddy and Lila. Edward was in the Den for some reason today and was reading a book, until he noticed me.
(Edward) “Oh you’re home, Lilly and Aoi were worried sick about you. I tried to calm them down telling them you would be safe, and that it would take something like the Demon Lord to defeat you but they wouldn’t listen. Lilly should be waiting for you in your room, she refused to go back to her room saying she’d wait for you to come home.”
So she did stay up all night… that silly girl.
“Ah I already saw Sis and Lilly, I put Lilly to bed before I came here and sis gave me a thrashing already.”
Edward laughs as he closes his book.
(Edward) “That sounds like something she would do! While you were away she took over your guardian duties too, I lost count of how many people she repelled over the years. Thankfully we no longer have to worry about things like that anymore.”
Well that’s good… at least the random assassins and kidnappers stopped, those were annoying. After we chat for a bit I decide to visit Lila and Edward sends me off after telling me that today her condition isn’t so good, the only person she thinks she recognizes is Bastian… who she thinks is Sebas.
Reaching Lila’s room I knock on the door before entering. When I open the door I see Bastian with a black wig on and Lila sitting on her bed reading a picture book? The only one who noticed me was Bastian who looked me in the eyes and sadly shook his head. That tells me she doesn’t know who I am…
“Hello Miss Lila how are you today?”
Finally noticing me she looks up at me confused for a moment.
(Lila) “Good morning, and who might you be Big Brother?”
No matter how many times she says that… it’s feels like her words stab me through the heart…
“I’m Kurogane, I was sent here by the Duke to see how the Young Miss is today. He misses you dearly and I am to keep you company before returning to the Capital to report.”
It’s the setting that I was to use when visiting her if she didn’t recognize me… I had to lie to her otherwise she would look frightened and Bastian would have to escort me out.
(Lila) “Daddy sent you? Please keep it a secret from Daddy that I can’t leave my bed for now. I don’t want him worrying about me and get in the way of his work for the King.”
Lila begins to have a cough fit and me and Bastian run to her to take care of her. Each time I see her now it feels like her health is getting worse and worse… Edward keeps getting new Doctors and Healers to see her but to no avail… no one can do anything for her.
All we can do is cherish what time we have left...everyone from 50 years ago wants to be there with her all the time. But we can’t, when her memory reverts to certain times we would be suspicious to her and would be forced to leave by either Bastian posing as Sebas, Aoi and sometimes even me..
After taking care of Lila for a while I reluctantly left telling Bastian to take care of her. Bastian’s a good child, he knows how much it hurts each of us and you can see it on his face when he see’s us off or has to tell us that she won’t recognise us… truly a good child.
Slowly I walk through the hallway, my steps feel immeasurable heavy, my heart feels like it’s been torn to shreds. My feet eventually carry me to the courtyard, the place where most of my memories of Lila are and I planned to reminisce for a moments time before going on with my day.
(Guard) “Good Afternoon Sir Kurogane!”
Huh? When I reach the courtyard it seems like the Guards are doing training exercises right now so I decide to watch them to get my mind off of all the depressing things. Hmm… Do they just swing their swords vertically and horizontally? There’s no variation to their swings and their stances are all over the place?
They must have already warmed up and did some muscle training before this… right? Thinking back… these guys were a lot weaker than our old Guards so I pull over the current Captain.
(Guard Captain) “You called for me Sir Kurogane?”
After our first brawl the Guards have been very polite to me and treated me similar to our guards from 50 years ago.
“I just wanted to know what kind of exercises you guys do for training.”
The Guard Captain with a face full of pride told me then run a few laps around the perimeter of the manor and do a hundred swings every day. No good… these guys are no good. I decide to take over for the day and tell the Captain to join the rest of the Guards. Peace is a terrible thing for one’s martial training, you grow lax and complacent.
The Guards look excited when I stand in front of them for some reason when the Captain told them I would be overseeing their training for a short while.
“First off there are a few things I need to go over. One, you will refer to me as Sir and only that. Two, when asked a yes or no question, your answer will only be yes. Three, if you don’t follow orders one or two, the entire unit will be punished. And finally… If you think you can’t do something you obviously aren’t trying hard enough. Understood?”
All of their faces started to pale as I spoke and unanimously yelled
“Yes, Sir!”
For starters I had them do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 Squats and 10 Kilometer run, sadly not a single one of them could complete it and I ended up with 20 passed out adults. Letting them rest for an hour or so I splash them all with magically generated water waking them all up forcing them to continue their training. I plan to continue this until they can complete this workout even if they end up coughing out blood! And at that time I’ll just increase the difficulty until I run out of time or they go bald whichever comes first.
The next day to my surprise… all guards were present in the morning for training, they seemed to have muscle pains but came regardless. So I answer with their determination training them until they pass out, wake them up after a few hours and continue my training regimen.
The 3rd day they all showed up, even Lilly showed up to watch our training. Today though the guards all look much better… I figured I’d let them rest after they passed out the first time but I don’t get it, how did they heal so fast?
“You guys look better than you did yesterday are you guys feeling ok?”
The guards all straighten up and yell
“Yes, Sir! One of the Maids is proficient with healing magic and healed us afterwards.”
So… there’s a convenient Maid that can help heal their muscle aches and pains after huh…
(Lilly) “Kuwo! Scawy Face!”
Huh? Is my face scary? I look over to the Guards and they look pale again…? What… it’s not like… who am I kidding, I’m going to do it anyways.
“Can one of you bring this Maid here, I’d like to have a word with her.”
With that, I got my hands on a convenient training tool. The next few days I lost count how many times the Guards had passed out and were healed by the maid until she was unable to use magic any longer and had to rest each day. Lilly would even start imitating the exercises but she wasn’t forced to continue when she grew tired.
By the 6th day the Guard’s current training regimen had changed to 150 push ups, 150 sit ups, 150 squats, 10 minute planks, and instead of running, I make them do 10 kilometers of bunny hops with full armor on. Each of them can complete this training now even barely, and it seems like they’re starting to think they’ve accomplished something.
On the 7th morning Lilly follows me as usual and the Guards are already waiting for me with smiles on their faces, the maid drinking tea in the shade. I wonder why they’re so happy? Are they one of those types?
(Guard Captain) “Thank you Sir Kurogane, we all feel much stronger thanks to your training!”
Ah… they misunderstood…
“So… you guys think that’s the complete training?”
They all reply with a yes sir… these poor souls.
“Well then, I hate to inform you but you guys have all been able to complete the WARM UP now so let’s put forward extra effort today!”
It took a moment to sink in but once it did their faces were drained of blood again… I never told you guys that was all you had to do ya know… After completing the warm up I made each of them start doing sword swings while adjusting their stances before putting each one against me in a sparring match giving them pointers afterwards. This part gets tricky because I have to adjust each person’s training depending on their strengths and weakness. Those who seem to have a weak stance I end up forcing them to stay in stance for an hour not moving until their legs give way.
Those that had a good basic stance were trained in a larger variety of attacks. Each type of swing was to be executed 100 times to get their bodies to remember the motion of each attack. This continued on the 8th day of the week and they started to show some improvement during their sparring against me.
The second week of training I had them start wearing their armor through the whole warm up and started to have them spar against each other. With me giving them pointers throughout the training match’s.. Good, these guys are getting somewhere… I should prepare a the method to increase the difficulty with the Captain so they can continue while I’m away… no… that maid will be a better choice I think.
The morning of the day before I am to escort Erin back home I have the Guards train themselves and speak with the Maid that has been healing them.
(Maid) “You summoned me Sir Kurogane?”
With a curtsy the maid introduces herself once again when I confess to forgetting her name.
(Maid) “Please don’t mind it, once again my name is Beatrice Hellion. May I ask what is it you require of me today?”
This Beatrice is definitely a well mannered girl, she looks I’d say sixteen right now with long red hair that reaches her back, her eyes however were black… I’ve never met a person with black eyes before, this is interesting.
“Yes, Beatrice I was wondering if you would take over training of the Guards of the Manor in my absence. If you do well I would like to instead have you take over for me. This is by no means an order, just a request, so feel free to decline.”
At that moment a wide grin appeared on her face, sending a chill down my spine… she’s definitely one of those…
(Beatrice) “As you wish Sir Kurogane… I will whip those worms into shape.”
Did I just unleash…? No, it’s too late to think about it and offer a silent prayer to the guards stationed here. I go over various methods to increase the difficulty of the training and tell her to ask Bastian or myself if she has questions about form and technique. With this I can return to my previous lifestyle without worry, and push the thoughts the guards fate into the back of my thoughts.
The remainder of the day I had to spend picking up some things from the market. Due to my last growth spurt I can fit into some of the regularly sold equipment so I wanted to upgrade. My short sword is still useable for offense… but it’s starting to feel a little short.
It’s been a good sword but I might need to use something else in the meantime. After browsing through the shops again...nothing. None of these swords have a curve to it, all I see are long swords, short swords and rapiers. A katana would be great right now...or even a Dao or scimitar! Do these guys not have anything that isn’t European? At this point I settle for another shortsword, since the long swords feel too… long for my current size, yet most daggers are starting to feel short.
After getting a new sword I run over and pick up a pair of Gauntlets, a pair of Greaves and some chain mail which the owner said should fit me and to return to get it fitted otherwise. The last thing I need to prepare is camping equipment, since I won’t be traveling by myself I really can’t make Erin sleep in a tree like me and make sure to grab extra blankets and sheets to cover the ground.
Finally I make sure to grab plenty of dried foods and bread and more powdered sugar in case of fatigue before running home. Once I was home I had one more thing I wanted to confirm before I left, taking out the reddish black cloak from my bag I tried it on and it barely fits, the end of it drags on the ground slightly but I should grow into it soon...hopefully. Just to make sure I put on all my equipment to make sure they all fit…the swords feel a bit off, but I should get used to it.
Alright I’m all set for the trip to Réunion!