Volume 4, Here is the Training Menu! Subquest Reception Counter

Volume 4, Here is the Training Menu! Subquest Reception Counter

“Oh, Boo Boo. What are you up to today?”

Someone spoke from a higher level of rock.

Ground’s Nir was a small but nature-filled island that a human could walk around in about 3 days. A lovely voice rang out like a bell. It was Fairy Queen Sutriona. She looked like a 10-year-old girl with long silver hair, white skin, and reddish-purple eyes. She wore a ribbon dress that was no more than black ribbons wrapped around her body with large flower petals and a miniskirt added to make it look more dress-like. Lastly, she mysteriously spoke from a position of superiority. Everything about her was imbalanced, but she was one of the Break News, the paradoxes with souls that took their name from the fact that they were sources of chaos so great that merely sighting one was treated as breaking news. They were bringers of extreme environmental change who readily referred to the Thousand Dragon, a giant dragon measuring more than 1000 meters, as their weakest.

The arrival of a typhoon was a problem, but if they never arrived, the national water jug would never fill. A volcanic eruption was a disaster, but ancient volcanic ash had helped create the fertile land. The Break News played that role as a single life form.

“Boo?”

When you got down to it, she was still a lovely girl (←important) and her words elicited a tilt of the head from the Iberian Orc named Boo Boo, whose porcine-faced but humanoid body measured nearly 4 meters tall using human units.

In the mountains of Ground’s Nir, he held something like a large wriggling serpent and he turned toward the small queen who looked down at him from above (and who supposedly wore no underwear).

“I just caught a Large White Meat Lizard’s tail. They taste great on their own and they grow back no matter how many times you cut them off of the lizard, but if you take them to the ocean, you can fish for Red Meat King Scallops.”

On the higher rock, Sutriona thought about that. A Red Meat King Scallop was a bivalve larger than a bed that lured in targets with illusions of giant jewels or unbelievably beautiful girls. Once its prey was close, it snapped shut and would not let go.

They were nightmarishly violent and much like a treasure chest trap. She wondered if they were one of the reasons the humans from another world did not like approaching the ocean. And as Boo Boo had said, the contents were red and delicious. They had a strange flavor like the perfect mixture of fatty meat and fish.

But Sutriona was more interested in something else.

“No, Boo Boo, I was asking about the basket on your back. I imagine my underling who has essentially moved in with you weaved it in a single night like so many of your other possessions.”

​

“It’s light and sturdy, so it’s really useful.”

“...And why do you have 4 or 5 human-sized stones in that light and sturdy basket?”

He of course did not need stones that large to capture the Large White Meat Lizard he was using as bait to fish for something better. In fact, it was dangerous enough simply running around the harshly-sloped mountains following the trail of wild animals in this realm of eat or be eaten. The area looked plain enough, but it would even wear down the lives of the level cap humans who were thoroughly reinforced by various kinds of Magic.

“I’m training.”

“Hm?”

That was a childish thing to say, but anyone who knew the lifestyle of Boo Boo, the final Iberian Orc, would be surprised. His strength primarily came from the workout necessitated by his lifestyle. What did he need to do to acquire food and protect his home? He would cross rivers, climb mountains, pursue beasts, chop down trees, and construct a house. And all that had built up his muscles.

But now he claimed to be abandoning the wild Iberian Orc life to work his muscles simply to train them.

Now, how much room did he have for growth when he could already beat down the Thousand Dragon with only a blunt weapon?

“...I couldn’t protect Disaster or Beatrice.”

Despite the great possibility he already held, his voice sounded somehow unreliable as he leaned over and retied the basket’s shoulder straps.

“It was only coincidence that Beatrice survived when the Sage appeared. If things had been just a little different, I never would have seen her again. Squeal, so I need to be stronger. Catching my own food like this means I’m a grownup, but that isn’t enough. I need to be a bigger Boo Boo who can protect more than my own life.”

Sutriona silently narrowed her eyes.

Into a smile.

He did not seem aware of it himself, but that pig-faced giant had already saved many lives, including the palm-sized Fairies. His lack of awareness may have been the best part of his salvation, but nothing could be better than him finding something he truly cared about. And as long as he felt that way, his growth would know no bounds. Nor would he be swallowed up by his own power and transformed.

“I see.”

As she summed up her conclusion like that, the (pantie-less) Fairy Queen brushed back her long hair and placed her hands on her hips. (The Fairies had specially woven her ribbon dress out of Ground Spider silk, so no matter how wildly she moved about, the fabric would move on its own and cover her up!) This was so very enjoyable, but she made a mental note of her tendency to look down on people whenever she opened her mouth.

“Then, Boo Boo, did you know there is a way to train your body that is more effective than placing a needless burden on it? And it is standing right in front of you.”

“Boo?”

“Now, now. Have you forgotten what I said when we first met? I believe I said you are decently muscular, but I could teach you how to use your body if you made me your master.”

“Really, Sutriona...? You’ll help me out!? You’ll give me the power I need to save Beatrice and the others!?”

Seeing him lean forward with hope filling his face and sparkling light filling his eyes, Sutriona realized anew how blessed she was. She was haughty, domineering, and vain. Whenever she met someone, she could not help but talk like this, so she was grateful to have someone who would accept her extreme selfishness without complaint.

So the Fairy Queen kept her hands arrogantly on her hips and smiled while actually relying on and indulging in someone else.

“Of course. If you insist, I suppose I could teach you a thing or two.”

Holy Swordswoman Beatrice, the red-armored and miniskirted representative of the level cap humans who Signed In to Ground’s Nir from Earth, held her head in her hands.

She had lost to the Sage.

More than just pull strings from the shadows, that VIP was thought to have worked with the delinquent soldiers of Elkiad to purge the Iberian Orc village in the past. On top of that, when her black gothic lolita dress and silver restraints were burned away, she had been revealed to look just like Beatrice herself. It was possible that the Gates that surpassed distance to connect Earth to Ground’s Nir could also interfere with time and it was thus possible that a future version of Beatrice herself had traveled back in time to cause all of this mess.

Nevertheless, Beatrice’s mind was filled with shame and embarrassment more than fear, confusion, or guilt.

(Ah, ahhh... How am I supposed to look Boo Boo in the eye now? I kept going on and on about trust, but I’ve never actually let him see my weaknesses...)

When Beatrice had once gone berserk in an attempt to take the Elkiad leader’s life, Boo Boo had directly confronted her and she had lost badly. But this was different. It was a truly pathetic and utter defeat with no room for excuses. Her mask of maturity had been thoroughly torn from her. She had shared so much time with Boo Boo, but she no longer knew how close they were. Any thought on the matter made her entire face grow bright red and she had to cover her face with her gauntleted hands.

(Come to think of it, Boo Boo really is amazing for letting me see both his strengths and his weaknesses. How can you bare your heart to someone like that?)

Whatever the case, she was back to square one.

Pursuing the Sage had seemed like grasping at clouds, but now she had physically appeared before them. She still intended to do harm to her surroundings and she plotted in secret between the 2 worlds. On top of that, Beatrice now had to suspect the Sage was herself from the future. Fighter Priest Armelina, another from the level cap group, had suggested it was someone else who had adjusted their appearance to look just like Beatrice.

But in that case, that other person would need a reason to borrow Beatrice’s appearance. Beatrice had to investigate whoever was plotting in the shadows and, if it was something that would cause suffering to a great many people, stop it at all costs.

And if the Sage really was Beatrice and she had traveled back in time to crush the Iberian Orc village, Beatrice would have to make up for that crime. She could alter the present which was connected to the past and the future, so she had to influence the future to avoid that past incident.

She was groping in the dark here, but she could not come to a stop.

She doubted this was something she could do alone.

She did not know if she could accomplish it even with her full strength.

But that was all the more reason she could not afford to make this awkward. If she was to take even a single step off the rails laid out by whoever this was, she had to build up a new relationship with Boo Boo.

(Oh.)

With that in mind, she left the inn town, walked through the mountains, and heard a rustling. It was not a wild animal. She was oddly certain of that right away.

(Is that Boo Boo?)

For some reason, the Holy Swordswoman hid behind a large nearby tree. She may not have been as prepared as she thought, so she felt some light self-loathing.

Meanwhile, she heard a voice from beyond the bushes.

“Boo. Sutriona, I want to get even better. I want to be a bigger Boo Boo who I don’t have to be ashamed of.”

(Sutri-...what?)

Beatrice was unsure what was going on. The maiden in love thought of the Break News who looked like a 10-year-old girl in a swimsuit. (Not that Beatrice’s outfit was much better.)

And then she heard his next words.

“So, Sutriona, help me out! Use your body to make me a grownup!!”

Her mind went blank.

She was mostly confined to the Detached Magical Palace, isolating her from a normal school society, but even she knew where babies came from. Or she thought she did. She at least knew that time of the month was more than just god harassing her.

So...

“Wait, wait, wait just a seeeeeeec!! Boo Boo, what are you trying to do while I’m still recovering from the pummeling the Sage gave me? And don’t you dare say something clever about ‘when the cat’s away’!!!”

Oddly enough, Boo Boo’s wish was granted.

By making Sutriona his teacher, he was blessed with a training method more effective than pursuing wild animals while carrying large stones.

Mission: Do something – anything! – about blazing scarlet Holy Swordswoman Beatrice!!