CH 79

I and Rishe-chan safely find the stairs and then head up to the second floor. It appears that this building has three floors, and when we arrive at the second floor, I don’t feel any presence nearby. If it’s only one floor, I can pretty much detect it using my miasma, and now that I’m spreading my miasma through the second floor, I can tell that the soldiers there only amount to several people.

Well, if by chance Reis is somewhere inside this building, he’ll surely be a huge pain, and given the fact that these presences are busily moving around, most likely Duke Orba isn’t among them.

Ah, by the way, I first thought that I might be able to detect if it was just a single floor was when we were looking for the stairs leading to the second floor before. Well, since Leila-chan already spread her miasma on the first floor through the basement, mine wasn’t that effective, though.

It seems that if there are two different miasma similarly spread in a same location, their detection ability will fall considerably.

Either it because the miasma clash against each other, or because the air become too packed with miasma, or because I spread mine later that my miasma can’t properly grasp its surroundings, or simply because Leila-chan’s miasma control is way better than mine, I don’t know which one is the real reason, though.

In any case, given the fact that I can properly detect my surrounding in the second floor, most likely Leila-chan only spread her miasma in the first floor and the basement.

“Say, Kitsune, unlike your right eye, your left eye is red just like Leila’s, so… does that bring any difference?”

“Hmm… I think it’s merely like Leila-chan’s eyes, this red eye doesn’t have any special ability or anything either, and the sight is also normal.”

“… I see, so your sight doesn’t turn red, huh.”

“Rishe-chan, are red eyes that unusual?”

“No, they’re certainly not unusual, but… leaving that mysterious attacker aside, isn’t restoring something that’s already lost not usual?”

That may be true. Even Finia-chan’s recovery magic couldn’t restore lost parts, and from Riche-chan’s words, could there be no magic or item that can restore lost parts even in this world? Perhaps it may be possible with recovery-type innate skill, but innate skill possessor is already rare in itself.

How nice, innate skills. Innate skills sure are convenient, aren’t they? I want innate skills too.

Ah, actually I’ve already got them. Three of them, no less, aren’t I like SSR here?

“How about you, Rishe-chan? Have you gotten accustomed to battle?”

“Well, today I defeated three Crazy Monkeys. I was able to fight without any problems… so I think little by little I’m getting stronger.”

“Hee… good for you, Rishe-chan.”

Seeing Rishe-chan looking so refreshed, I’m also somewhat happy for her. The stronger my comrades, the higher my chance of survival, and taking back Finia-chan and Lulu-chan will also become considerably easier.

For now, let’s check her status first.

◇Status◇

Name                        : Trisha Rumiela

Gender                     : Female Lv. 32

Strength                   : 1670

Stamina                    : 1890

Resistance                : 100:STOP!

Agility                       : 1780

Magic Power             : 500

Title                           :『Adventurer』『Demon Eye Holder』

Skill                           : 『Sword Art Lv.4(↑ 1 UP)』 『Demon Eye of Foresight Lv.0』 『Body Reinforcement Lv.4(↑ 2 UP)』 『Swift』『Intuition Lv.2(NEW)』『Mikiri LV.3 (NEW)』

Innate skill                : 『Demon Eye of Foresight』

PT Member              : Naginata Kitsune (Human), Leila (Demon), Nico (Human)

◇

Her status has certainly went up. She was level 27 before, and for her status to rise this much simply from leveling by 5… as expected, it seems that mental state greatly affects status and skills, huh. And in Rishe-chan’s case, because of her unstable mind, I think the experience she had accumulated previously wasn’t converted to her status properly.

But now that Rishe-chan is in a fairly stable mental state and also has a strong will to become stronger, all of the unconverted experience is converted to the amount it’s supposed to be.

By the way, how about me?

◇Status◇

Name                        : Naginata Kitsune

Gender                     : Male Lv.1

Strength                   : 400

Stamina                    : 2500

Resistance                : 3450

Agility                       : 2620

Magic Power            : 1220

Title                           : 『Other worlder』『One who’s loved by demon』

『Demon eye holder』

Skill                            : 『Pain Nullification Lv.5 』『Intuition Lv.5 』『Eerie Constitution』 『Other World Language』 『Status Appraisal』 『Persistence』 『Overpower』 『Near-Death Experience』『Demon eye of foresight Lv.6』『Miasma Reistance Lv.5』『Miasma Aptitute Lv.6』『Miasma Manipulation Lv.5 (↑ 1 UP)』 『Evasion Art Lv.1』『Mikiri Lv.1』

Innate skill              : 『Demon eye of foresight』『Miasma Manipulation』『Re: Origin』

PT Member             : Trisha (Human), Leila (Demon), Nico (Human)

◇

“Huh?”

How strange, my level is regressed to one. Moreover, the “STOP” next to strength has also disappeared, just what’s the meaning of it? Well, I don’t think that the status that has reached its limit will ever rise any further, so now that my strength limit has somehow disappeared, that’s good in itself, but… just what happened?

My status also stays as it was, and thanks to the miasma-ball juggling, detecting my surroundings using miasma, not to mention deploying tens of knives when facing Reis, I sure am happy that my『Miasma Manipulation』has risen by one level, but… all in all the situation is kinda eerie, like『Eerie Constitution』.

“What’s up?”

“…Nah, nothing.”

“…is that so?”

Well, my status stays as it was and there also seems to be no setback either, so whatever. Let’s just think about it again later.

Nevertheless, it seems that before I noticed it I’ve already become capable of withstanding Rishe-chan’s normal attack barehanded, huh. Well, speaking of attack power, I’m simply and utterly weak, though. With such strength, no matter how fast and how hard I attack, I can’t imagine myself defeating even a single demonic beast. However, it’s still good that with this now I’m slightly further away from death.

And while thinking about such a think, we find the stairs leading to the third floor. Using the miasma, I can easily find where the stairs is, not to mention that I can also easily move while avoiding the soldiers, this skill sure is convenient, huh.

“It’s the stairs…”

“Let’s head up, Duke Orba is most likely somewhere above, not that I have any basis, though.”

“Well, since you’re the one possessing 『Miasma Manipulation』, it’s only natural for me to follow your lead, let’s go.”

When I start walking up the stairs, even while mumbling something, Rishe-chan is still properly following me. I thought this girl leaned more toward muscle-brain type, but her thought is unexpectedly rational, huh.

She also easily accepted the fact that I’m capable of using 『Miasma Manipulation』, could it be she actually has a firm mind? But she’s that shy, or rather weak to gazes. Delicate or firm, which one is she actually?

“—I’ve been waiting for you.”

Then, on the way up the stairs, I can hear a faint voice of a woman from above.

When I look up, there’s a woman whom I can tell even from below that she’s pretty tall. She’s a beautiful woman with long legs and is also beautifully dressed in a similar uniform like that of guild receptionist. She possess long blue hair, similar like the blue haired receptionist in Miniera, and cold eyes.

From a glance, she looks like someone connected to Duke Orba, precisely speaking someone like his secretary, so I find what she said just now to be strange. Rather than “I’ve been waiting for you”, shouldn’t it be “Please go back”?

“…been waiting?”

“No, I also just arrived here.”

“Rishe-chan, didn’t that sound like a couple going on a date? Like, when they meet up?”

“Geez, please don’t run away from reality.”

I’m only intending to tease her a bit if she doesn’t know about it, though.

“Then? Who are you?”

“Duke Orba’s secretary… I don’t mind if you think of me as such.”

“Hmm… So, what do you mean by waiting for us?”

“…I wish to ask you to get rid of the Duke Orba from this town.”

Get rid of him from this town, does that means to literally drive him out of the town… or to kill him? Driving him out seems to be a pain, while killing him seems to be way easier, is this the so called flag of assassination plan?

“…of course you’ll explain what that means, right?”

“Yes, as that’s the reason I’m here.”

Well then, what does that mean? Why does she have to ask me to get rid of Duke Orba? Is it something like those things in those novels? Like because he’s a tyrannical noble, or because he’s an evil noble who partakes in corrupt business, or perhaps because she’s simply unable to stand him any longer?

As far as I’m concerned, I prefer the third reason as it’s the lightest of all.

When I think as such, she begins to explain the reason she’s waiting here.

◇ ◇ ◇

―――Outside of the town, at the location where the battle was taking place, it was so quiet that you could even hear the sound of blowing wind.

The one standing there was, a huge demonic beast… the Goblin King.

A powerful top D rank existence that was half-step away from Demon level. The huge club in its hand was dyed in sticky red, and under its legs, along with a huge number of wolves, monkeys and goblins’ corpses, the remains of adventurers, who bravely confronted and wielded their swords against it, were lying around.

At that time, not long after the first adventurer who rushed toward the Goblin King and was crushed under its club, life ceased one after another there. Either it adventurers, beasts type demonic beasts, and sometimes even its fellow goblins, the Goblin King crushed everything it deemed hindering its path.

That was a very atrocious spectacle, a hell that couldn’t be overturned simply with courage and conviction alone. Probably, as this was the most probable outcome from the beginning, in the end this spectacle unfolded as expected.

“…Hmm… Zo vrittle, agting zo vrave an migty… only do be overgome by deazh, how dizgrazevul.”

“—- haa…! Haa …! Damn it… how dare you, how dare you… !!”

The ones remained there were the brave adventurer who first wielded his sword, the youth who had been earnestly and frantically chasing after that back from his childhood, the Goblin King, and several goblins and goblin knights.

Except him, all of the adventurers had died. They died protecting him.

—because for me, you are the real “adventurer”.

—looks like I’ve been affected by you too, huh… I’ve come to want to bet everything on you.

— I mustn’t let future sapling be plucked so early… you still have bright future waiting for you.

— Survive … then, carry my life along with you…! That will surely make you stronger!

— Those words from before… when I’d got my legs trembling as though a newborn fawn… they were so cool.

While protecting him, the adventurers died leaving those words.

Should they fight, those adventurers would surely be way stronger than him, and yet they used their lives to protect him and died there. They believed in his potential, bet on his future, and used their lives to connect his path to his future.

However, right there, right now, he was… all alone.

“….Why, for someone like me…!”

The Goblin king, goblin knights, and goblins, after taking his life they’d surely breach into the town next.

He couldn’t find a way to survive this situation. Even his brand new sword had snapped quite a while ago. His stamina had also reached its limit. The ones remained were regret of oneself who decided to participate in this battle and regret of having wasted the lives of the adventurers who could’ve survived this battle.

Therefore, even if he had to burn his own life, he’d fight to the bitter end.

Holding his broken sword, he clenched his teeth and steadied his trembling feet. Within his heart, he could hear sweet words such as “Run, none will blame you even if you run away here”.

“Damn it… Dammit… Dammit!! I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die!! But I don’t want to run away either!!”

He wasn’t talking to anyone. He was simply rebutting the whisper within his heart to run away.

Looking down on him, the Goblin King approached him step by step. Brandishing its club, until the youth was within its club reach, its huge legs kept on moving forward.

“—I… want to be… an adventurer!!”

He couldn’t hold his tears any longer. And then, the shadow of the Goblin King’s club finally reached upon his body.

That was the last moment he could maintain his consciousness. Within his sight that was blurred by tears, with his consciousness turning white, the last thing he saw was a flesh-colored,

—hand-like shadow.