Chapter 259

Chapter 259, The Preparations

Translator: Barnnn

Proofreader: Xemul

“What is the meaning of this, Poer!? Why must I suddenly partner up with this… little lady!?”

“Come on, help me out here, Lylia! Besides, it’s a good chance to show off your genius warrior prowesses and try teaching it to someone! Don’t worry — Ferris here won’t be a liability, I promise.”

“Poer, my man… That sounds reasonable for her and all, but me taking little Bright here as my partner is… quite impossible, don’t you think?”

“I think he’ll provide good support, though — at least let him try for… a week or so, Giorno!”

Having the kids experience the extent of the Holy Warriors’ power is sure to make them understand their place and role in this mess of a situation.

I would do it myself if I could, but I’m not strong enough — not to mention they’re already familiar with my fighting style and mindset.

The thing is… Chappie, Bright, and Ferris have gone through many battles together, and built up some solid teamwork as a result. But just that wouldn’t be enough for where they are now.

Over here, when one is told to do ‘one’ thing, they’d actually need to think of the ‘three’ or even ‘four’ following actions as well. Without planning far enough ahead, they’re sure to bite the dust instantly.

To reach the future I’m looking at, we’ll absolutely need their help — so we better make them get good at this.

“…All right, fine, since you asked so nicely… BUT just one week! Whatever happens after that is none of my business!”

“Yes, I CAN let him TRY… just don’t blame me if he ends up dying, all right?”

No, I’m totally gonna blame you if that happens because of your negligence, Hero.

Still, seeing his and Lylia’s imposing figures as they stand in front of me, I can feel with a certain degree of certainty that they’ll do things right.

~~Day 1~~

“…Don’t follow me, little lady.”

“Oh, come on! I’m doing this willingly, so stop whining already!”

“Did Poer make the wrong call about your… competency? You know you weren’t supposed to shoot that spell like that, right?”

“…I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

~~Day 2~~

“Not good at all. You must aim to either lob off its head or crush its heart with a single hit.”

“And you missed three of your so-called ‘single hits’ just now. That’s not really helpful, all things considered.”

“Okay, I can see that you’re fixing up your faults from yesterday… but honestly, your performance is still not up to par.”

“…I see. Perhaps I should try applying this method early on against all monsters…”

~~Day 3~~

“Seriously? You call that support? Better focus on what you can actually do, if you know what’s good for you.”

“Hmph, I did that BECAUSE I know I CAN! How about YOU start taking things seriously, and limit your ridiculous antics to when you’re eating?”

“Hmm… still not right. I do know that you’re trying, but it’s much easier to match with Poer because of how fast he moves, you know? Actually, forget it — now is probably too soon to expect that from you.”

“So my technical side is all good now, but my physical performance still needs improvement… I see, I see…”

~~Day 4~~

“Carefully consider your weapon’s characteristics. A metal rod has no blades, but wielding its blunt end well can enable for an expansion of attack range and field of awareness.”

“T-that’s… I already knew that!”

“Boy, It’s all about the mindset — think about living through the fight instead of winning it, and you’re bound to defeat your enemies faster. It’s not cowardly to strive for survival in a potentially fatal situation.”

“I’ll try to… understand that, of course, but it sounds so… abstract of an explanation.”

~~Day 5~~

“No, still not good enough. It’s a whole separate skill to sustain yourself in long battles. When facing a horde of monsters, you must look for openings in which you can take a moment’s rest.”

“Hmph, bring it on!”

“It’s a bare minimum requirement that you’re able to take on SS-ranked monsters with one hand. And you should keep in mind that your blind spots may increase or decrease depending on where the monsters’ dead bodies are. Remember — just killing your enemies as fast as possible isn’t enough to keep you alive in this hellhole.”

“I see… Instead of burning them to ash instantly, I could use their bodies as shields if I turn down the heat a little… Yes, I understand. Thank you very much.”

~~Day 6~~

“Your eyes aren’t enough to keep up with all enemies. Hone your senses — make it seem as if you have eyes behind you. The shifts in the air and ground, smell, sounds… There aren’t many things you can read from a battlefield, but there isn’t a limit to how many ways you can win it.”

“That’s a piece of cake! Guess that’s one awesome thing about me, huh!?”

“Just because you’re a mage doesn’t mean you have to kill your enemies with magic. You must have figured that instantly when you saw Poer in action, right? Consider all the options you have — one of which is to use your body itself as a weapon.”

“Yes, I know that all too well. And I know I can do it, too!”

~~Day 7~~

“…You pass. Your support just now was almost perfect.”

“Hmph, of course!”

“You pass as well. Boy, you really are a fearsome mage…”

“Thank you very much.”

Looks like both of them have recognized Bright and Ferris’ talents now.

I tried taking the kids outside the range of the traps I had set up, and they were so efficient that they significantly reduced the number of monsters that managed to get dangerously close to Sodom.

“You know, Poer, it’s not so bad to operate on others’ terms once in a while.”

“Hahaha… can I assume that you trust me now, Giorno?”

“Hey, I’ve started trusting you since a while ago now.”

First time I’ve ever heard that.

“I mean, you did manage to gain Lylia’s trust even earlier, yeah?”

First time I’ve ever heard that, too.

“Master! I’m hungry!”

Now THAT, I’ve heard almost every hour.

Looks like Chappie’s been doing some intensive training with Pochi as well, but what training exactly, I don’t know. I sure hope it’s not some random nonsense.

“By the way, we’ve finally done it, Master!”

“What? That better not be your usual nonsense, yeah?”

“Of course not! This is something absolutely essential for Chappie, sir!”

Oh yeah?

This better be good — like, some super wonderful results from her intensive training routines. After all, it was HER who insisted on being fully responsible for teaching Chappie.

In the town square, I folded my arms and watched Chappie smile as he spread his wings.

“Now, take a good look, father!”

“Feast your ears of this, Master!”

So do I have to look or listen? Getting some conflicting messages here…

“AWOOOOOO!!”

……Huh?

“Well, Master!? Isn’t that amazing!?”

“…What?”

“AWOOOOOO!!”

“That sounds just like my howl, doesn’t it, sir!?”

D-did she just… spend those precious seven days… teaching him how to HOWL!?

Before I even finished thinking that previous sentence, I had already thrown a punch at Pochi’s head.

“Ouch!? What was that for!? That’s animal abuse, sir!!”

“Because your head was there, that’s why!”

“That must’ve been an easy target to hit, sir!”

“You’re not supposed to be proud of that! Did you even give him any other training!? Something actually HELPFUL!?”

“Were you expecting something else, sir!?”

“Actually, I was NOT! That’s how predictable your bullshit is! And my GOD, I wish my expectations were wrong for once!”

Chappie, not seeing to understand why Pochi and I were arguing, only stared blankly at us the whole time.

In the end, I got the info out of Pochi that she DID teach him useful stuff — particularly, how to deal with different types of monsters.

It boggles my mind why she would prioritize the howl over… just about anything else, but I guess that’s just Pochi being Pochi.

And the argument eventually ended like they always would: both of us being grumpy and sitting down on a nearby bench. Then Chappie noticed someone calling out to us.

“Oh, what is it, Garm? Be careful how you approach — father and mother aren’t exactly in the mood to talk right now.”

“Hehehe, very funny! They look perfectly active to me, though!”

Damn it, Chappie… I know he’d spent a lot of time with Bright and Ferris, but man, he’s absorbed quite a lot of biased knowledge from them.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since it’s just a part of growing up, but it IS worrying to think how it might affect him in the long term.

Anyway, what business does Garm have with me, and is it so urgent that he needs to come over here by himself?

“So, Poer, I wanna give you some kinda token of appreciation, ’cause you’ve helped me out a whole lot. Here, take it, man.”

Garm handed me a long and thin leather bag.

“…A weapon?”

“You never really liked wielding anything in a fight, right, Master?”

Okay, looks like the doggo isn’t grumpy anymore.

“Hehehehe… A weapon, yeah, but a weapon for mages! Just take a look!”

Feeling more eager to know what it is after seeing Garm’s enthusiastic grin, I turned to look at Pochi for a second, then opened the leather bag.

“Whoa…”

“It’s even shining a bit! That’s so cool, sir!”

“It looks beautiful, father!”

Its color is quite close to that of the mantle I have on now.

“Hehe, I know metal materials don’t work well with mages, so I mixed it in with a blend of magical rocks that suppress its properties! …Which also got rid of the usual Drynium pattern, but the solid red is like your main color anyway, so it’s not too bad, yeah?”

“Yes… it feels just about perfect in my hands.”

Even more so than the Torrent Dragon Staff…

“Yeah, I did design it just for you, you know! Now go blow away the Devil King with it or something! Hehehehe!”

The moment I squeezed the deep red staff in my hands, it briefly emitted a flash of light…

“”GYAHHHHHH!?””

…Which totally spooked the two Sacred Beasts of Legends around here.

“Hehehehe, it’s reacting great to your arcane energy, man!”

“Now THIS is what I’d expect from a Drynium Steel staff!”

“And I’ve even named it — the Drynium Rod! Take good care of it, man! Hehehehe!”

I feel like I’ve heard of that name before…

Suddenly, I was reminded of the name of a certain shop in my era’s Royal Capital Regalia, run by… Don Kisaragi.

“Haha… Drynium Rod… Drynium Road… I see, I see…”

“The hell? Your ears not working right or what, man?”

“Oh, no, it’s just an inside joke.”

So now I’ve got a new staff to go with the addition of my stronger-than-before son and apprentices to our ranks.

…Maybe we should start planning our moves now. The sooner, the better.