"Good Morning!" I said to myself
Waking up, I didn't dream of anything for the first time in this world.
"Damn, It's cold as crap today."
Even underneath the wooly blanket provided by Hanachiryou's inn. I still felt cold.
I have to buy that warm, wooly blanket whenever we go shopping. I want it... No. I need it.
"Oh right. I'm gonna go shopping with that weird girl today."
Not waking up to anything weird today. It definitely felt like a good day is gonna go by.
Me not dividing conciousness confirms it.
As cold as it is. I still have nothing to wear except the jersey that came with me when I got transported here.
"I don't wanna leaveeeeee. It's too cold everywhere. Only this warm blanket can save me."
"But I have to right? Ahh! I know. I can buy clothes and a warm blanket. Wait how about my weapon? Psshh~ Who needs a weapon anyway. Right? Yeah, right"
I removed the wooly blanket and headed out to the guild.
It was already snowing and I was assuming most adventurers and regular people stayed inside for warmth. Wish I could do that, but I already promised that I would shop with that weird girl.
She said we were gonna meet by the adventurer's hall yesterday.
I went there and sat in a bench outside of the adventurer's hall, so she can see me easily.
After 10 minutes of waiting. She still hasn't come yet.
I'm starting to be cold at this point.
20 minutes...
and after 30 minutes she finally decided to come.
After 30 mins after the time of arrival. The girl finally decided to come, she was wearing something homely for once, without her bow and sheated dagger by her. Her hair still wasn't braided, but instead of it being messy, it was rather combed well.
"I'm so sorry! I overslept!" She said while waving her hand to me
"You did, but it's fine. I don't really mind. Aslong as you don't tie me up again"
"Hehe." She said while averting her gaze from me.
"Then, Let's start shopping. For our first trip, We should go to a blacksmith."
I was freezing cold here, wearing nothing except the jersey I came with.
"Humu... Ehh, Can't we go to a clothing shop first."
She took a good look at what I'm wearing and said "That's okay too!"
*Sigh* How could she be this cheerful compared to 2 days ago. She might actually be possessed.
At the clothing shop, we were met by a friendly shopkeeper. There weren't alot of people there. They probably were late to buy winter clothes.
For a total cost of 5000 Toris. I got clothes that can warm me up during the winter.
After going to the clothing shop, I dragged her to buy a wooly blanket.
"A wooly blanket? Why would you need that sort of thing?"
"Well, I think I was traumatized by you tying me up. Thank you by the way."
"I'm really sorry! You were a random guy sleeping beside me! I'm so sorry!"
Well, I guess I couldn't blame her. She said she wasn't the one who invited me when she clearly was
We entered the place to buy a blanket
"Ehh!? Isn't the price too high? Oi, oi. I don't think I'm the type of guy to want to be scammed" I said while staring intimidatingly at him
"No, no sir." He said nervously sweating
"The cost is 40000 Toris. Wool is pretty hard to get with monsters around. It's also winter which means stronger monsters showed up. No adventurers would do the job. The transport is too dangerous. Please understand, dear customer."
The cost of this wooly blanket is more than the cost of staying at a pretty luxurious hotel.
Wait, What's even the value of money here. If killing some arigifins are 50000 toris for a quest complete. Won't 40000 not be much?
What if the Arigifins are just strong and that's why it gives so much money, but just yesterday the adventurer's guild gave 100000 Toris for the emergency quest. Just how many adventurers showed up that made the money get split like that.
I was thinking too hard until "We'll buy it, mister!"
Should I exploit thisact of kindness and get the wooly blanket... or show humility by rejecting.
"Oh, you shouldn't. It's fine if I don't get it. It's just a blanket anyways."
"No, no. It was my fault for tying you up and freezing you anyways. Think of this as my sorry to you." She grinned after.
"Thanks"
Knowing this would happen. I went for the riskier route.
They went to the cashier and I went outside with one of the new jackets I bought to stay warm.
She went outside rightafter with the bag with the wooly blanket inside.
This was a gift I'm gonna cherish forever. No to freezing to death. Maybe that actually traumatized me a little.
"Then! Let's go to the blacksmith!"
"Humu, I only have about 15000 Toris, I don't think I can buy a weapon."
"Don't worry! There's some weapons under the cost of 20000 there."
"Oh, but I won't have any money to stay in later at night."
"I got you covered!"
I knew what she was thinking. She wanted to do a quest to pay off her fees.
I sighed again. I didn't really wanna fight too much. I was hoping I would be better off by using just elements and doing a hit and run strategy.
This time, she dragged me to a blacksmith that she knows.
"This blacksmith here is the shop where I buy my weapons!"
The blacksmith that we went had no customers. We were the only two there.
It wasn't too far away from the Adventurer's Guild, but it was still empty. Although, the winter could be a reason.
"Good mornin', Ojii-san. This is an adventurer buddy of mine. He doesn't have a weapon or armor yet."
(TL:DR, Ojii-san is similar to uncle. It's used as a slightly impolite way to address a middle aged man.)
"Yo, Mornin' Karisuki. Whaddya want? A spear, a bow, a sword? Don't tell me you broke your sword again."
She blushed a little from the comment of the blacksmith, but quickly regained composure and asked "Do you have umm..."
"Hey, hey. What weapon do you prefer?" She turned to me and asked.
"Any is fine, but I prefer a sword or a bow."
I didn't really know how to handle any weapons. Neither Zei or Kaideru went to Japanese archery clubs or training for weapons, so I had no experience on how to handle them.
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Although, I was hoping to use a sword so I could battle them while having an open hand for magic. A swordman- magician type of class. A bow was fine aswell, I could snipe people from afar. It would also mean I would be pretty safe from harm since I was so far away. Since I can use magic. I can be this type of rogue-mage class where I use arrows as a way to get my elements to the enemy. Adding to this, I was really interested in swords and bows beforehand. They're just reliable and lightweight. Straightforward and efficient without any added twists.
I can imagine how cool a bow would be with electric!
"Zeikai-kun. How about this one!"
What she pointed to is a shortsword. Costing 15000 Toris. It was a perfect fit for my money.
I wanted to have a bow aswell, since Zei always played the archer whenever we played mmorpgs. but I guess this was fine for now. Atleast I had something to protect me.
I had 15000 Toris exactly. I handed it to the blacksmith and left.
"Say, Zeikai-kun"
"What?"
"Uhm~ Since you're out of money. I was hoping we can do a quest together."
Exactly what I predicted.
"Ehh? You serious? In this cold? If we don't get eaten by monsters. We would freeze to death."
"Uhh, There is quest that provides good rewards for a clearance. No one really does that quest since... It's you know... cold."
The last bit sounded like a lie.
2 days ago. She did kill the arigifins easily, by sniping them, and she uses fire element so If it becomes too cold. We can take advantage of that.
"Arigifins again... huh?"
The quest was to kill the last batch of arigifins lurking around in the hills for winter.
Apparently, some arigifins escaped when they attacked this place. No one would do them because of this cold. Arigifins being weak to fire, can resist cold temperatures easily... Aren't reptiles supposed to hibernate in the winter?
The quest this time was bumped up to 75000 Toris upon quest completion. Probably because of no one doing it. Every arigifin kill gives you 10000 Toris
We're risking our lives for that kind of money. Cruel huh?
Who would've thought creatures with a crab arm, bear legs and a crocodile body would be common and troublesome. Who would've thought they actually would exist.
We took the quest and scouted the arigifins.
...
"That's them right there, Zeikai. Then I'll leave it to you.?" Karisuki who was looking straight at them from a distance.
"You're the one that's supposed to kill them. YOU have the fire element here."
The arigifins must have rudely eavesdropped on our conversation.
They looked straight at us and charged. There were 5 of them.
"Alright, weird girl.. I'm gonna distract them and you can shoot them down."
"Got it!"
"Wait, did you call me weird girl?"
"Let's go!"
I ran towards the right of the arigifins and imagined small compact water. One that I used to cut the tight ropes tied to me.
"Generate Aqua"
Despite it having the pressure to cut rope. It got easily deflected by the scales of the arigifin.
At this point they were closing their distance fast
"Any day now weird girl!"
"I can't...."
Ehh? Did she just say she can't?
"What? What do you mean? Didn't you just do this the other day?"
"I told you Zeikai-kun! It wasn't me! and please stop calling me weird girl!" She shouted back to me
"I can't use my element..."
"Then why the hell did you drag me into this?!"
Ahh damnit! I can't lose my cool. I just have to make my brain work.
I always do things by myself. Original world. This world. It doesn't make a difference
There was 5 enemies. Scales, armor of a crab and bear legs.
The legs were particularly easy to pierce and slice. It's fur wasn't too thick.
If we aren't gonna have any effective elements. that would be the ideal target.
"Oi!" I shouted to Karisuki who had a bit of distance between us.
"Shoot each of their legs!"
"Got it!"
She shot 3 arrows
2 of them missed.
Seriously...? Even with my brain at it's full power. I don't think there's a chance we can beat this.
Since I distracted them. The fastest arigifin was on my tail now.
It swung it's crablike claw again. but seeing as I got hit by this attack when I first got here. I dodged it nimbly
I went in low to avoid getting swung at and dodged one more attack before slicing up the back of it's leg.
Once it's leg was cut. It's movement became sluggish and slow
That's it. We just have to cut one of their legs. After that, they can't catch up to us easily.
I cut off the other leg of this creature.
Karisuki was in a pinch after I cut down the 2 legs
It was still alive but it could barely move. I bashed it's head with my sword to end its misery.
Since I was done with mine. I lent her some help.
I concentrated to shoot condensed pressured water to the 3 arigifins chasing her. 1 of them was behind because one of it's leg has been shot
Even though the pressure of the water was really strong, that it knocked me back a little. It still wasn't enough to penetrate through its thick scale, but it led their attention to me.
They were still fast, and there's no way I could outrun them.
"Karisuki! I'll distract them. Atleast shoot down 1!"
I prepared a battle stance. They usually do a swing attack using their crab claw first.
This time, It did a swipe with it's crocodile tail. I jumped up from it in time, but in landing, I got swung at by the other's crab claw.
It knocked me to the side, but I managed to get up in time to dodge a ground smash.
I cut off one of the arigifin's leg and Karisuki, after several attempts finally hit the leg of the other one.
It's movements were alot more sluggish so it was easier to cut down the other leg of theirs. even with that they still managed to hit me by the swinging their tails at the same time.
I was knocked to the ground after that.
"HELP ME! ZEIKAI-KUNNNNN~"
Karisuki, who was distracted from sniping, got snuck attack by the last arigifin who's leg wasn't cut down yet.
Damnit! Why to me! What can I do in this situation. The arigifin was gonna come eat me. I don't have time for this! I can't die to a mere crocodile creature! I quickly drew my sword in front of me to intimidate the arigifin that was gonna eat me. They didn't take the bait at all.
I had to do this fast. Using my superior agility to them, I went to one of it's sides and sliced its arm.
With that, they became more aware of me. They didn't dish out random attacks.
I have to save this girl. As useless as she was right now. She's my only hope for information.
BOOM! Like a miracle happened, a huge explosion appeared away from us. It made the 2 arigifins with injuries back off. The only remaining arigifin was the one that was chasing Karisuki.
Since I had alot of time, and it was pretty easy to predict these creatures, I cockily said "Hehe, If you don't tie me up again"
"ZEIKAIIIIIIIIIII-SAMA! SORRRRYYY!"
"Fine..."
The last arigifin, that was distracted by Karisuki was pretty open.
With my sword I bashed it's head quickly and it couldn't move.
I made sure it wasn't alive anymore by cutting it's nape.
It was lying face down on Karisuki.
It's saliva drooping down to her face.
"Pfffft-ha-haha-haha! Look at your face! Holy crap it stinks!"
She blushed and asked me to move the head that was still drooping saliva on her.
"Zeikai-kun, thank you so much for saving me. I-i promise not to tie you up anymore." She said after she got up.
"Zeikai-kun..." She looked at me and had her arms towards me
"C-can I hug you?" She then said something disturbing.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
...
We killed 2 arigifins which is 10000 per kill, We couldn't carry the arigifins back for its meat, especially the crab claw having a pretty large cost because of its elegancy and delicious tase. Luckily, the guild has a service where you can let them take it back for 5000 Toris each. Earning us only 10000 Toris in total.
We couldn't finish the quest since I was pretty injured. Even with injured legs. 3 of them could still be a pain. It affected their mobility but not the speed of their attacks. If they gang up on me i'll be sure to die especially if they bite me with their crocodile bite.
Ahh! Nearly dying for mere money. What a cruel world this is,
This kind of money wasn't even enough for a day in hotel.
I nearly died for this, WE nearly died for this.
We were lucky that explosion that blew up in the vicinity led the arigifins away. I have to rethank that person someday.
I decided, I don't wanna think anymore about how cruel this world was. It was also becoming nighttime.
After taking a bath, one of the things that I always look forward to when I came here. I sat down at a rather familiar table to eat my dinner.
I tried the Arigifin crab claws to taste.
It was sweet, tender and had an earthy flavor to it. It easily replenished the mana, or the energy that I used to cast elements pretty quickly.
This world had a weird spell system. Usually in RPGs, mana was something that you gain back overtime. It doesn't consume energy. It doesn't wear you out, make you feel weak. Maybe I just had a really bad mana capacity, or maybe I'm doing something wrong that makes me consume more mana.
"Zeikai-kun" Karisuki. who almost just killed both of us because of her incompetence of doing a quest, called to me.
"What?"
"Uhhmmm, Uhhh, Uhm..."
"Since... It was my fault that we failed the quest... W-would you like to sleep with me tonight?"
Was this it? Does she like me already? Just saving her life was enough? I mean she did cover me in crocodile saliva but that was fine right? I get to sleep with this beautiful girl. Was this the heroine of my story?
"No."
"Oh... Okay then, If you change your mind. you can always knock on my door. Just let me know it's you." I heard her force a giggle and then walked away from the guild.
Was she really that sad, that I wouldn't be able to sleep with her?
I sighed.
Just watch me, have no rooms in Hanachiryou's inn. Have no rooms in the hotel she's staying at. I'm gonna be forced into sleeping with her.
...
"How did this happen to me."
"Damnit Zei! You just had to set a flag again huh? You idiot Zei! We already had the money!"
"You dumbass! It was you that thought of that! Hmph!"
Here I was, sleeping with this beautifully weird girl.
For some context, I went to Hanachiryou's inn and had no money to stay there.
There was no hotel that was open for me to stay at. I couldn't just sleep outside since it was freezing cold, especially at night. Even with this beautiful, warm wooly blanket. I still wouldn't survive.
The only place I could go was here. With this weird girl.
My heart was beating fast. I could do some very bad stuff to her right now...
Ahh damnit! How am I experiencing the same thing as last time? Isn't she the same girl that I met? I already slept with her! Is it because she isn't her? Just the looks?
I'll be fine. I couldn't even see her face.
Probably because of the cold, she faced me. Her breaths again at my neck.
WHY WORLD WHY? I could just sleep at the floor here...
I couldn't even think of anything that could distract me from the fact that I was sleeping with someone.
I mean Zei was pretty popular with girls when we were in school. BUT NEITHER OF US HASN'T ACTUALLY SLEPT WITH A GIRL YET! She did invite me though. Does she want something from me...? What if... she actually wants to do it?
No no no no, you're overthinking, Kaideru stop overthinking... Wait, Kaideru? Wait don't tell me I'm splitting apart again? no not in this situation. I would definitely wake her up... Hmm, but what bad could that do?
That would be rude right. I wouldn't want to do that.
I mean...
I looked to her more closely. Like the first time, Her hair shone beautifully, revealing its true brown color. Her warm breathing hit my neck contrasting with the cold wind.
It's always these moments that make my heart beat fast...
The only reason that I put a door between me and her is... I don't want to become close to anyone in this world. I only wanna be with someone temporarily. If I get too close and I have to leave... They'd all be too sad... even if they despise me.
Her lips opened, it's like she wants me to kiss her, but come on. She's asleep.
"GUU, GUU, GUU, GUU" Suddenly she started snoring.
"Ehehe, Arigifin-san, did I mention you look good today."
She then punched me.
Is this her while sleeping?
That really hurt, really shows why she's an adventurer.
She got her chance. Can't believe I gave her one.
"Welp, Hello again my old friend." I said