[Arc 2] Chapter 2: Surprising Negotiations

...Urgh... did someone catch the license plate on that meteorite just now? I think it was something like that.

Or rather, if that was what I think it was, which is a Darkness/Heretic magic spell, then we have a problem.

It completely ignored all my resistances AND it was so fast that even [Thought Acceleration] could prepare me for the impact. What the heck? 

Also, where am I? A tent? I was laying on a portable bed that's standing on a sandbank, so it must be the same shore I was blasted on.

"Good morning. Or rather, good evening. It seems that you are fine now." - ???

Who's that!? A... human? A nicely dressed one with glasses that screams: "I'm the smart one" is sitting by a folding table inside the big tent, but still a human... right?

I'm not sure, for despite him looking like a human from any possible angle, he emits some sort of... aura? I couldn't even sense his presence. Maybe he's an evolved human?

Oh, gotta answer him.........

"......" - Human (?)

.........*Sweat*...

"...?" - Human (?)

.........I can't!! Come on, don't chicken out like that, me! It's just a four-eyes in a suit! Just calm down, deep breathes, huff, huff,... not helping!! Wait, just imagine him being Gust! ...Not possible. I can't imagine this guy being on a level of someone that's on a level of a vegetable. 

"...I understand that you do not want to talk after the treatment Filyn gave you, but at least, allow me to apologize." - Human (?)

1, 3, 5, 7, 9... the last one's not prime! Huh, Filyn? Did this four-eye think I was quiet because I was angry?

Let's go with that! I urged him to continue with a nod.

"Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Blot Berlock, vice leader of the Beliar Private Army and servant of Filyn Belial. The person that you killed earlier today was one of my subordinates who had rebelled due to various circumstances. Oh, and thank you for saving our personnel at that time." - Blot

Personnel? Oh, those black-clothes! So, that was getting rid of a rebel faction? No, it didn't feel like that. The amateur dark mage's personality is giving me the impression of him being in the wrong.

"Our men were sent out to detain, or at worst, slay Reinhard Everwand, the person you killed. Reinhard has the power above a D-rank adventurer, maybe even a C-rank in the right conditions, so the plan was for me to come and assist them alongside lady Filyn, who has enough power to support, as you have noticed." - Blot

"Noticed" is just the half of it!!

"We were unfortunately hindered to arrive the moment our troops gave us the signal, due to we having a problem related to freeing some enslaved Growth Chimeras." - Blot

Chimeras? Like, was they used as lions in some colosseum? 

"Therefore, our gratitude for your help is reaching a point where we cannot express it, but anyway: Thank you so much for saving our men." - Blot

Gosh, don't compliment me~.

"Our lady herself wanted to thank you in person, but unfortunately, her timetable is fully packed to the point that she could not wait for you to recover." - Blot

Fine by me~. I think I'm gonna be too scared to meet someone that can one-hit me. *Shiver, shiver, shiver*

"I am currently the only one left, with your feathery friend outside watching the undead-repelling barrier for us." - Blot

Some good news. Or, I think that I can't take on this guy even if things went south. His authority notwithstanding, I'm getting the feeling that he's good in a fight to boot. [Magic Sight] tells me he's a practitioner of something wacky, but I don't know exactly what. 

[Identification]? After the incident with Glavras' body? NO WAY! I'm more careful of what I'm Identifying from now on.

And someone that's the assistant of some lady? They've got to have tons of skills related to [Identification]!

"We have already had a little talk with your bird friend regarding your situation." - Blot

Ah, they did that? Glad we talked about a situation like this, as in when someone asks me or Gust where we came from and why we're in this place, during the time I needed to grind [Sunlight Resistance]-levels.

The story we cooked up is that Gust had been kidnapped by some strange guy once, and I, who had lived most of my life in the wild, agreed to help him back to civilization, but when the two of us entered the region, we were trapped on a small island due to the sudden tsunami, but we managed to get this far thanks to the necromancy I had learned as a child and the corpses of some Tunas that had been washed ashore.

It's not a lie. We're just not mentioning any Dungeons or false gods here.

To complement the story, I had used the Ring of John Due to disguise my stats to make me look weaker, but still being Rogue/Spectermancer classed. The ring's practically a high-leveled [Fake Identity] item. As an afterthought, the ring's effect counts as proficiency for the two new status-concealment skills of mine. And with the effects of the ring being so high, so is the proficiency.

"Therefore, I have a suggestion: how about the two of you joining our Army? We have always room for someone with enough guts to withstand lady Filyn's original magic, not to mention a former student of the Grand Library Tower." - Blot

It came down to this then. The fact that I withstood the spell withstanding, they wouldn't let Gust, someone with connections with that Library-place, go without trying to milk some favors. 

Thinking about it, my fake status screen shouldn't mention anything that would let me survive that magic-meteorite. Don't tell me that my cover's busted!? But that's not my fault, you know! No one could foresee that a magical, interstellar phenomenon would just teleport straight into one's face!

"Of course, we are not planning to place the two of you in harm's way. Personally, I want Gust as a temporarily assistant regarding paperwork, while your job will be to teach-" - Blot

"No." - Garami

"-the troops... wait, what did you just say?" - Blot

Oops, I said that out loud! The four-eyes looked disturbed by my first spoken words being a refusal, but I can't stop now. Trying to change the situation will require even more talking, and I'm on my limits here!!

"I said... no." - Garami

I mean, simply teaching stuff wouldn't be too bad... but the students won't be obedient Sahuagins, but demons! I think so, going after the lady's last name. And I swore never to do something like that again after the Sahuagins! Teaching, or rather, interacting with any non-animals, especially strangers, is impossible for me!

Also, teaching would lead to me being a Champion being busted. Like, having to work in parties as a result of teaching will bust me the moment one of the students gets a level up. And even if I refused so, they're gonna catch on sooner or later.

Besides, they're an army, an army! It's important, so I said it twice. Think about it: would an army give up the chance to obtain someone that can double the Skill Points they obtain? Rather, would they even treat me as a human being as long as they could exploit the Champion-cheat? 

Those black uniforms of those soldiers from before also give me bad vibes. They looked like combatants from some sentai ranger show. Definitely not the type you wanna hang out with.

"...May I ask why?" - Blot

And here comes the question I can't answer truthfully about!! Wait, or can I?

"......Bad with... strangers. Also... don't like... obligations." - Garami

"...I see. But what about mister Gust?" - Blot

Pfft, mister...

"...I'm gonna... fix that." - Garami

"But his home lies on a Celestial continent. You need quite the amount of money to buy an airship ticket to reach it." - Blot

Celestial continents. Bigass rocks on the size of, you guessed it, continents, which is practically an enlarged version of Lap*ta. They float over the oceans while avoiding the continents on the ground, but they all close in on one of the land-based versions at certain times. But as they're in the sky, you need an airplane or something similar to get up there.

"...Have a plan... No problem." - Garami

Blot doesn't look convinced, but I have a plan. Really. Or, it's just that I was thinking about becoming an adventurer and earn tons of gold with my skills... at worst, I can sell the Hydra poisons or the better medicines I have left on the black market.

"...If that is your wish, then I will not pressure you. This was supposed to be a reward after all." - Blot

Yay! Hip hurrah for the sensible guy! You've earned your right to wear those glasses!

"In that case, allow me to pay you monetarily. Is 10,000 Sol enough?" asked Blot, producing a big sack filled with coins.

...Is that much, or is it not? Damn, I forgot to ask Gust about the value of money in this world. 

"...You can... decide." - Garami

"Then we have a deal. Also, take this as well," said Blot, handing over some sort of... medal? Looks demonic.

"This is the emblem of the Belial house. Show this to a smith named Armveil in town. It will give you some discount on merchandise from his shop." - Blot

"......Why?" - Garami

"He used to serve my lady's house before going independent. Just tell him you got this from me, then he will gladly help you out. Ah, and some of the soldiers have stationed themselves in the city as well, so just ask them for help if you get into trouble." - Blot

"...Not that." - Garami

"Yes?" - Blot

"...Why so... giving?" - Garami

"...Is it not important to have a good relationship with future VIPs?" - Blot

...This guy, did he notice? Wasn't the Ring of John Due supposed to be Ex-tier? 

"Guess I should go. Cannot let lady Filyn unsupervised all the time. And you can keep the tent and the barrier outside. Think of it as a bonus" - Blot

I wanna ask him what he meant right before, but it's also not a good idea to do so. 

"Well then, may we meet again." - Blot

And with that, he opened up a hole in... wait, is that a teleport spell!? 

Before I could snatch him to ask more about that spell, he had already entered the crack in the air and disappeared.

...Wonder if he could teach me that trick if I joined?

---

"They wanted to scout us, huh..." - Gust

I met up with Gust outside the tent and we left the haunted island with the HMS Bonefish after taking with us the stuff that Blot had left behind. He gave it to us, so it would be rude not to take it with us.

"Sounds like a good idea not to accept. From what I've learned back at the Library Tower, the Belial clan's not a good catch." - Gust

"They're rotten?" - Garami

"More like saplings that cannot grow. Their clan used to be a duke in Solomar, somewhere south of this lake, they have declined so much that they're barely barons by now. Even if we joined them, it's not sure if we could reach Industria." - Gust

No biggie then. But that teleport... no Garami, no! Focus on the important stuff!

"But are you sure about leaving this island? I thought you wanted to hunt down some undeads for your necromancy?" - Gust

"Can do that anytime, but I want some new equipment first." - Garami

"True. That robe of yours is on its last legs..." - Gust

Right? And I want to get a dagger that's more worthy of me. I wanna save the ammo of the Thaumaturgy Revolver after figuring out that I can produce bullets with that Extra Skill! It takes 30 days for a single bullet, but it's worth it. Besides, I'm not gonna go after more of those kaiju-monsters like the bosses from the Dungeon, so I'll not be so dependent on the Revolver anymore. 

The other skills I can produce bullets with are the two Bullet-skills, Glow and Gloom, some magic skills, including Healing, the Aura of course, and for some reason, [Chaotic Concurrence].

The two first one takes 10 and 1 minute each, the spells require anything ranging from 1-to-10 hours, Aura is as usual just 10 mins, but Chaotic needs 21 days.

It's the strangest in both effect and production time, so I'm having the ring produce it now since I've got quite the amount of Aura Bullets, as I call them, during the Sunlight training period. Still not gonna fall back on them unless it's an emergency.

Getting to town doubles as wasting time until I get the really powerful bullets, which will be my ace-in-the-hole in case I meet something of a Floor Boss level.

I looked back at the island that kept on growing smaller by the second...

What was that just now? I thought I could see something peeking up from the castle walls. You know, those ten meter high walls? And it looked kinda draconic too boot...

"What's up? Did you forget something on the island?" - Gust

Nothing except my courage, you damn, natural night vison bird!! Get the skill already! Why do only I have to be looked back at by the abyss? It's unfair!

Alright, that's it! I'm gonna get the biggest and baddest of anti-undead equipment that can be bought with money. Who would want something like that living so close to their own home!! 

...Of course, I need a home first. Let's focus on that. One with its own cook, soft beds... maybe with a pervy maid to boot?

If you're gonna dream, dream big! Now, how to get money in this world? Hmm...

Greydra

Kigal-Note/Chimeras: Growth Chimera (Human)

Description:

The Growth Chimeras is a type of genus that consists of several Chimera races that were born artificially by the Ultimate Goddess of Life, Yrlanaya. 

These creatures grow by consuming the flesh of other monsters, and when they have intaken enough meat from enough specimens of the same race, they can adapt their body to obtain a single ability from that species, be it bodyparts from the monsters or a skill. Sometimes, or rather, most of the time this only results in a small boost of the status category that monster specializes in.

The Growth Chimera (Human) is the starting point of this evolution line, and they will evolve into a Growth Chimera that is based on the monster species they have consumed enough from during their life.

Due to the two Disasters of Life and Chaos, most of the public is starting to look at Chimeras, especially the Growth Chimera that is a creation of Yrlanaya, with disdain. Due to that, they are often a victim of illegal enslavement.

Appearance:

The Growth Chimera (Human) does not have any differences when compared to a regular human at the beginning, but while they grow and consume monster meat, they may obtain small characteristics of the consumed monsters. 

In the beginning, they have pale skin and dark-brown hair, but that will change based on their diets. 

Abilities:

The strengths of the Growth Chimera depend on their diet of monster meat, so their status values will differ greatly as they grow up. In the beginning, though they are not that much stronger than a regular human. In fact, they can be weaker than them.

They can gain special skills by consuming monster meat, but this is solely limited to Monster Skills and only those that the monsters know from birth. 

The Growth Chimeras can also obtain a status boost depending on the leading stat that monster species specializes in, but the amount is around only 5~10 points for each race.

Also, after obtaining the power from one race, they will not be able to gain another such boost, no matter how much meat of that race they consume, or even if they evolve into a different type of Growth Chimera. They also need to consume the meat of several different individuals from the same race, 

Blot's comment: And here I thought I could win her over by showing off the organization's good sides.