Chapter 104: Human?

Uh... people are giving me weird looks as Arana keeps clinging to me in her sleep. I think I'm hearing some whispers of 'I thought she was with that human princess', not sure of what that's supposed to mean.

I carefully lift Arana without waking her up and place her on a bed Longleg has prepared. I wonder where he got that from...

"So, let's move to the next point. I would like for this place to become an actual country and not just a collection of tribes. That means that we need to have some common laws. I've already written down the obvious ones like 'no killing' or 'no stealing', but does anyone have any suggestions?"

Oh, I see a lot of hands going up, I was not expecting that. But let me make sure of one thing.

"Any suggestions that are not related to when or how you should fight each other?"

And all the hands went down, of course.

Well, if any more rules need to be made, that will become apparent with time.

"Next... We need to talk about how to improve the economy of the wasteland, or rather, we need to create one. And for that, I've asked for help from an expert."

When mister Oron steps forward I start hearing more murmurs, it seems like merchant is not an appreciated profession around here.

"Unlike what many believe, the demons of this wasteland have much more to offer than mere strength. For example, my own tribe of rock demons often dig many useful gems that cannot be recreated with alchemy from our mines. The arachne can make high-quality clothing, the blue demons know how to mix many types of potions and medicine, and so on. If we could establish trade with the surrounding countries, each tribe would have something to offer, with one exception..."

"Hah? Who are you looking at?!"

You Zerana, he's clearly looking at you.

"As you might already be aware, the reason why we don't trade with other countries, or even much between ourselves, is the fact that this place is considered 'highly dangerous' by most merchants. And the blood demons are the greatest contributors to that reputation."

"Now you're trying to make me look like the bad guy? You tried to make us pay a fortune during the outbreak of snake shadows!"

Did she say 'snake shadows'? If I remember correctly that's the name of a deadly and contagious illness that affects manaborn and causes some long and thin dark spots to appear all over their bodies. I've never looked too much into it since the cure is already well known, a flower that grows on some mountains mainly on the western part of this continent. Why would an outbreak of snake shadows be a problem when there's such an easy and effective cure?

"I tried to sell it for the appropriate price considering the risks."

"And why would we pay so much for something that we need? Especially when we were so much stronger than the ones trying to sell it?"

"If you didn't rob all the merchants that come close, the prices would be much cheaper! The only reason you didn't have enough of those flowers back then is that you scared everyone who could have brought them here away! Why is this so difficult for you to understand?!"

From Oron's exasperation, I can tell that this is not the first time they've had this discussion.

Does Zerana believe that selling something is worse than stealing it? That doesn't even begin to make sense to me... But if the blood demons are not interested in business, maybe we could point that aggression of theirs in a more useful direction.

"That's enough. Zerana, from now on you will not rob any merchants that come here. In fact, your job, and the job of the rest of your tribe, will be to protect them."

"What?! And why would we do that?!"

Uh, if Oron was not able to change her mind, there's no way that I can come up with anything that can convince her. Or rather, my mind has suddenly gone blank and I cannot think of any reasons at all.

I need to say something...

"Because I want you to."

Ah, that's embarrassing. We both awkwardly stare into each other's eyes for a few seconds until she looks away.

"Fine! You win! I'll do it!"

Oh, she was more reasonable than I expected.

"Good, but one more thing. If any of those merchants were to be attacked by bandits or monsters, I will consider that to be your responsibility. Is that clear?"

"..."

Zerana seems to be too scared to respond. But I don't think that I was saying anything scary, I was just explaining her duties to her.

"Well then, that will be all for today."

Some people are breathing sighs of relief and saying stuff like 'we survived'. Aren't they a bit too dramatic?

Then Nera comes running and tries to stop me from leaving.

"Wait! Are you not forgetting something?"

"Forgetting what?"

"The dance! After the feast, there's supposed to be a dance in these celebrations."

"Oh, uh... Does anyone here know how to dance?"

The only response I get is a lot of uhs and ehs, and people trying to look the other way. Needless to say, I don't know how to dance either, less so in these high heels.

I'm sorry Nera, but I think that you expect way too much from us.

It's been two days since the celebration, and I've decided that it's finally time to give Kalroth's contract crystal to Nera.

Even if I don't want her to leave, it's not good to selfishly keep this a secret from her. And so, this time I'm going to give it to her for sure, I'm DEFINITELY not going to get sidetracked by anything dumb.

But I'm a bit uncomfortable with being followed. That high-slime girl has been chasing me around everywhere for the last two days. I wonder what she wants, is this what they call a stalker?

The way she's acting makes me believe that she thinks that I've not noticed her, perhaps I should say something.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

"EEK!"

She's trying to hide further back into the corner... I'm sorry but no, no matter how you look at it, after I've already said something to you and you let out a scream in response, it's already too late to hide.

When she sees me get closer, she tries to get further back. But she runs into a strange-looking man that I do not recognize.

His shoulder-length disheveled black hair, his long face, and the black goggles that seem to be embedded into it give him a really weird appearance. Even more strange are his limbs that seem to have been replaced by mechanical ones, a sound of spinning cogs can be heard when he moves them.

{Race: Human?, Class: Technomancer, Element: Darkness, Level: 171}

"I'm sorry that I have to tell you this, but your humanity seems to be in question."

"Humans. Elves. Demons. Are all part of nature. It is preferable to become something else."

The high slime is staring at him with an expression of disbelief.

"You? What are you doing here?!"

"I deemed the analysis of this individual to be of great importance. Too important to be performed by an amateur. I decided to perform the analysis personally."

"So, do you two know each other?"

"Correct. She is a spy from my country. She is supposed to spy on you."

"I see... I guess I'll deal with that later."

"NOOOO!!!"

She melted into a puddle and now only her head is left. Well, I think that she's ok.

The 'not sure if human' gives me a pair of bracelets, but they seem to have some strange magic circuits in them. And also... non-magic circuits?

"Please put them on. We will begin the procedure shortly."

"Uh... What is this procedure for? I don't think I needed to have anything done on me."

"You are a subject with an abnormal level of magical prowess. This abnormality must be analyzed. For the sake of science."

"Oh, well, if it's for the sake of science then I guess it cannot be helped."

I put on the two bracelets, but one of them is almost a full millimeter longer than the other... I should say something about this.

"Please wait. I will adjust the device."

Before I can say anything, he does something to the bracelet that was longer and now it is exactly the same as the other.

Mmm, I think that I might be able to get along with this guy.

"So, what do I do now?"

"Make your mana flow through your body. As if you were going to cast a spell. The mana must also go through the devices."

"Like this?"

He adjusts something on his goggles and looks at the bracelets.

"Subject has an extremely high quality of mana. And complete control over it. Dark magic rank 20 confirmed. The nature of the mana is a close match to the mana produced directly by the subject. Matches the pattern of magic that has ranked up by standard means. The theory that the subject 'cheated' to obtain her level seems highly unlikely."

"Oh, I guess that went well then?"

"Moving to the next test. Please stay still for a moment."

Now another device emerges from the top of his goggles. Light comes from it and moves all over my body... It's a bit embarrassing to be watched like this.

"What are you looking at exactly?"

"Subject's brain activity appears to be unusually high. Physical stats seem low for her level. The subject also seems to inspire fear in those who observe her. I am experiencing an unexplainable intense terror at the moment."

"You say that, but you don't seem to be scared at all."

Or rather, he doesn't have any emotion whatsoever on his face.

"Luna! I knew that I was hearing your voice. What are you doing here?"

Nera came out of her room. Oh, that's right, I was on my way to see her.

"This man is analyzing my magic. Though I'm not sure of what exactly that means."

"Analyzing your magic? I don't think that's something that you should just let people do. Especially if you are not sure of what he's analyzing."

"Well... But he said that it was for the sake of science!"

"So he told you that, and that's all it took for you to agree to subject yourself to some weird experiments? I think that's a bit too naive even for your standards... Anyway, who is he?"

I turn my head to take a look at the strange man's inexpressive face, then I turn to look at Nera again.

"I have no idea."

"..."

It seems like Nera was just left speechless, or rather, she's not moving at all.

Well, thinking about it again, letting a complete stranger perform an analysis of my magic is probably not something that I should have done. I guess I can understand why she would react that way.

I'm sorry Nera, but I think that you expect way too much from me.

forli