"You traitorous bastard!" Shakram hollered at Schocco as he made sure I was safe from the two girls' onslaught, "Going against your own to help this stupid assassin! The elder would be ashamed of you!"
"The elder doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone from the island." Schocco plainly shot back a glare, "He has his own agenda that keeps him going, and as far as he's concerned, we're just a stepping stool to that agenda."
"There!" Shillianna found a tiny opening in his defense, running headfirst and plunging both of her tiny knives onto Schocco's side.
"Schocco!" I shouted.
"Hmph." He exhaled from his nose, nonchalantly flexing the muscles in that area to push the knives out, "You're forgetting who you're up against, Shillia. Those toothpicks only work on someone your own size."
Whoa, more like someone that's not a giant like you. This dude just casually deflected two sharp as hell knives like they were nothing! And with absolutely no armor to boot! Well, no one here has armor, including me, but still.
"Lune's still fighting back there?" I happened to hear him and the old man shouting at full volume on the other side of the shrubbery, "Hey, how about we wrap this up quickly, you guys. I'd rather have my future father-in-law be there at my wedding."
"The hell are you on about?" Sheila nibbled on a gritty rock to sharpen her teeth even more, "We're done only when one of us falls."
"Guys, use your heads a little." Schocco began begging them to understand the situation, "The elder kidnapped this one's girl, and the guy fighting him currently is the girl's father. What part of that man do you find appealing enough to die over?!"
The trio stood there reevaluating their allegiance towards the damned geezer, however after collectively thinking it through together, they reached a rather braindead answer.
"He's our savior." They shook their heads, "Hundreds of years ago, he came to the island to help the Founder and her offspring survive far longer than they should have. Had it not been for his continued efforts, none of us would be standing here today."
"Guys-!"
"I think you should be the one reevaluating your beliefs, Schocco." Shakram sighed dejectedly, "As your friends, we're disappointed."
The ensuing silence between both parties was suffocating to bear, even when I never knew these guys personally. A disagreement between friends can range from a mild peeve to a full-blown falling out, depending on the topic. In this case, the old man appears to have dug his fangs deep into the Archipelago's people, to the point where they treat him as some sort of God. I didn't know he was here for that long...
"Is that so? You're disappointed?" I yawned, "What a bore."
"Lem?" Schocco looked at me.
"It's boring to you because you're an outsider." Sheila retorted, "Stay out of it, unless you want your neck to get chomped off."
"Oh no, you completely misunderstood." I felt my vision turn Yellow, "It's a bore that we won't be fighting. Turn back, head to your homes and don't come back here until the old man is dead."
Immediately, all three of them jolted. They knew from prior experience exactly what it meant when my Eyes glew that bone-chilling Yellow hue. What I had just uttered was a Command, and if they refused to follow it, then heavy pain shall befall them. Thankfully that Heal I received with the magical water helped restore my Focus as well.
"Grhk!" Shakram tried desperately to run towards us, however he quickly stopped, instead rubberbanding in the opposite direction, "You coward!"
"Call me what you want, but I don't have time for you." I said plainly, "To begin with, I don't have a reason to fight you in general. I just have beef with the old man, so consider this my mercy to you."
"Lem...!" Schocco's Eyes filled with joy, "Ahem, thank you for sparing them. They don't know what they're doing, so I'm happy you didn't judge them for it."
"Don't get it twisted." I shooed him off, "I just wanna get to the old man as soon as possible."
Thus, the three warriors left in peace, leaving the two of us alone to ponder on what exactly we should do next... Not.
"Bring me the Book!" The old man's grouchy voice beckoned them over all of a sudden.
Eh? The Book? What's he talking about? W-Wait, where did these guys run off to now!? They're not going towards the residential area at all!
"Crap, they're trying to get to the elder before us!" Schocco panicked on who to follow, "And they split up in different directions so we can't stop them all!"
"Wait, what's this about a Book?" I tilted my head.
"I believe the Fairy... Nelly had the Book of Misfortune." He explained, "The elder had Misfortune's sister Book, Fortune. When writing in them, these Books can make any wish come true."
"...What?"
"You don't need to understand, just know that if they deliver that Purple Book to the elder, the tides will have turned immensely in his favor." He continued, "But when did he give them the Book for safe keeping? And why? It must have been when we were still fighting together with your father-in-law."
Ah, wait a second, I'm not yet married to Nelly. I guess he must've gotten confused about my joke earlier. But these three, they're directly disobeying my orders to leave premises just to deliver this supposed all-powerful wish Book to the old coot. What's worse, only one of them has it, and we don't know who, so if we get this 2/3 chance wrong, we're screwed... Still, if Nelly really had such a tool, then I'm really pissed off at her. Why didn't she wish for me to wake up earlier, dammit!?
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"It's Sheila, she's the most responsible of the three!" Schocco was eager to chase after her.
"Wait, it's gotta be the dude!" I pointed him out, "Shakram, was it? He's the only one not taking the long way around!"
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Having chosen our respective targets, we gave chase immediately and didn't look back. Before that though, I did make sure to warn Lune about this supposed Book. He might not know what it is either, but if he does, the info will probably be useful.
"Stop!" I Commanded the guy running in front of me, "Tch, how the hell are you defying me!? Doesn't that hurt like hell?"
"It does, but my belief in the elder's vision is stronger." He retorted, still not having slowed down by even just a little bit.
These guys are crazy. All three of them are still under my Command, yet they're acting like they're not! They must have incredible faith in the geezer to truck through this amount of pain without complaints... Geez, if I can't Command him to stop, then I ought to think of something a bit more crafty!
"Fall!" I shouted.
"That's not gonna work. You already tried it!" The idiot dared to mock me, only to just barely stop in time before getting crushed by the tree in front of him, "Huh!?"
"Who said anything about you?" I said as I steadily closed the distance, "I've been thinking, plants are living beings too, right? And so long as they're alive, I should be able to Command them to do my bidding just the same as any other human being."
"The fuck... What the fuck...!" He turned around to face me, showcasing abject fear in his Eyes, "How is that power so incredible!? Are you... God?"
Whoa, being called a God is a bit much now. Not gonna lie, it feels good though. I mean, I get it—What CAN'T my Iro Ability do? Even I was pretty shocked that this worked as well as it did, to be frank.
"Alright, now gimme the Book." I backed him up against the fallen tree trunk.
"...Too bad." He shrugged with a nasty, smug grin.
"Dammit, Shakram!" Schocco followed closely behind, bitten all over but still refusing to give in to the wounds, "Lem! She escaped into the bushes, I lost sight of her!"
"Then what are you doing here?" I shot back, "Go find her and get the Book!"
"That's the thing, though!" He anxiously revealed, "She doesn't have the Book!"
Wait, what do you mean she doesn't have the Book? That's bad, isn't it? 'Cause if she doesn't have the Book, and this guy doesn't have the Book, then...
"Uh oh." I facepalmed.
"Looks like you picked the wrong two out." Shakram crossed his arms confidently, "Yet again, the elder's genius knows no bounds. Since he knew you'd think the Book was entrusted to the two more responsible options, he had no qualms about giving it to Shillianna for safe keeping."
"What!?" Schocco jolted.
"You heard the man." Shakram stopped gloating only in favor of rubbing their victory in our faces, "By now, that airhead cannibal probably already gave the Book to the elder. We won."
"Grrr...! Not yet!" Schocco and I started rushing towards where Lune and the old man were, however this idiot kept blocking our paths.
"You understand now, don't you?" He said, "Unlike before, where you two didn't let us run to the old man, now I'm the one blocking the path!"
"Move." Schocco threatened, "I'll scrunch your body up into a super condensed cube."
Threatening him as he may, he still refused to move, obviously. This guy is being a real pain in the ass, and worst yet, he's somehow built up an immunity to my Command. Of course, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse...
"Hrk!" Schocco suddenly fell to his knees from the wounds he sustained, "Dammit, get up...!"
"Shillianna's blades might not pierce your skin at all, but Sheila's teeth sure do!" Shakram mocked him, "Come on, what's the matter big guy? Gonna lose against a girl? Get up!"
Try as he may, Schocco's wounds and gashes were too deep to move from. He couldn't do anything but kneel in place, meaning he was out of the battle for sure. It was once again down to just me.
"What now, assassin?" Shakram stood in front of us, "You're all alone again. Run away, and I kill Schocco on the spot. Your choice."
Dammit, what the hell...?! Everything was going well until that old man shouted for them to send the damned Book over! Schocco, I can't just leave him here now, especially in that state. But... I need to run past him somehow, I need to reach the old man and beat the crap out of him for hurting so many people!
"Alright, had enough fun, everyone?" A familiar female voice asked.
"That's...!" I recalled.
"Tch, Showa." Shakram turned to the girl that silently loomed over him on top of the large tree trunk I felled.
"Lem." She called me by name, "Keep running down that path, you'll find the old man fighting Meil there."
"My name, how... No wait, Meil!? What's he doing there!" I stomped on the ground furiously, "Well I'm not letting him take all the credit for saving the day! "
"Assassin, stop-!"
"Halt." Showa jumped down in front of Shakram as I made my exit, "If you wanna tussle, I'm your woman."
"Showa, thanks for this..." Schocco said as he tried and failed to get up.
"Rest for now, once you feel you've recovered enough, please help me." She vowed to protect him until then, bracing herself for the deadly duel.
These guys, are they all super capable fighting machines? She was the girl that tried to swim to mine and Issei's raft during our escape. Before that, she was with dad. While on Auros' shoulder, I also saw her with Meil and Nelly. No matter what though, I really ought to apologize for pushing her off the raft like I did...
"...Eh?" I saw the old man in the clearing in front of me, maniacally laughing at the corpse of my White haired rival in love, "Meil?"
The two girls, Shillianna and Sheila, also stood beside him. Despite everything though, Lune was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey bud, I did you a favor." The damned old man pointed to Meil's pool of blood with a proud smile on his face, "Now Nelly has no choice but to go with her second pick."
"You... Who're you calling second pick!?" I raised my tone, "Olyahim, I'll make you wish you were mortal when I'm done with you!!!"