CH 91

Leila and the others return after midday. I didn’t expect them so soon.

They all look tired as they walk into the mansion, especially Talia and Luilui.

“So, how about you introduce her to us…”

Is she upset about coming back and seeing a new girl? I told her I was buying a slave.

“She’s Sera, a war slave. Her physical abilities are very good because she’s a beast person, and I don’t stand a chance against her in mock battles. Now I can feel safer while I travel.”

Oh? No response? I think I did a good job explaining.

“I see. Then we should definitely face off later.”

What a motivated soul she is. She just came back. I would just be thinking about resting.

“Talia and Luilui look tired. Did something happen?”

The other four actually look full of energy. Is this like the kind of bullying that tends to happen in parties?

“I don’t know what is going through your mind, but I imagine it is wrong. Talia and Luilui were busy scouting.”

“That’s right master, this quest was strange. It was a hunting quest that called for multiple parties, but when we got there, there wasn’t a single monster. That’s why Talia and Luilui went out to scout over a large area, but they still didn’t find anything.”

“Did someone hunt the monsters before you got there?”

“That can’t be. We took the quest because it said the monsters formed a group, and there were A ranked adventurers taking part as well, so I assume the quest was put out based on very accurate information.”

Says Leila.

“And it’s strange that despite all that, there was nothing there…”

I heard something similar when we went to the adventurer guild. About people taking quests and finding no monsters when they got to their destination.

“…Stampede.”

“Sera?”

Sera mumbles something, and everyone’s eyes focus on her.

“It reminds me of something I experienced one time.”

“I see. Then we need to prepare for it.”

“Do you actually believe me?”

“I don’t want to stir up any needless concern, but I do think we should be ready if it happens.”

Sera looks surprised to see that Leila believes her.

Leila probably reached that conclusion based on the situation and her experience as an adventurer, but to Sera, it probably seems like Leila is trusting her opinion. And it looked like Leila was looking at her with something that resembled hostility at first.

“But we should introduce ourselves. I am Leila, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Everyone follows Leila as they introduce themselves, and Sera quietly listens.

After the introductions are over, t start having mock battles as a sort of social event. How did we even get here?

I figured Sera would say no, but she goes along with it. It seems she wants to test what we were talking about before, about magic energy. Yes, it doesn’t feel like she’s just obeying what they say. Although I’m pretty sure she’s only harsh towards me, or probably males in general.

These mock battles are between Sera, Casey, and Leila. And me? I politely declined of course.

I was thinking about how full of energy they must be to do this right after coming back, but I guess they didn’t really get to do anything while they were out, and probably have pent up frustration because of it. Mostly Leila.

I feel like Sera is checking her own movements while she fights Casey, and doesn’t have the leeway to focus on that while fighting Leila. Leila looks happy to have an even match too, and even though these are mock battles, she slowly heats up and feels to me like she’s really fighting by the end.

“I haven’t been this fired up in a while.”

She looks very satisfied. Yor and the others on the other hand look surprised by how she was fighting.

I think the experience from taking down the orclord has made her a lot stronger. Appraisal tells me Sera’s level is still higher, but I assume they were evenly matched because of the difference in their experience fighting people. Leila says they learn self-defense techniques in the academy, even though it’s a magic academy.

The fact that I can’t beat them is proof that I still have a lot of training to do.

“It was a good experience for me too.”

I think she has the advantage against Hikari due to the weapons they use, so facing a sword user probably feels different.

“I am honored to hear that, although… Sora is stronger than me in a real fight.”

She says the last part too quietly for me to hear, but I’m curious because Sera is looking at me with surprise on her face. I hope she’s not putting any weird ideas about me in Sera’s head. She has a bad enough impression of me already.

After dinner, the girls all go out to take a bath, all excited like they’re part of a club. Sera doesn’t really like baths, but the now rested Talia and Luilui drag her with them.

“Do you want to go with them?”

Asks Loux as we see the others leave. Will she understand if I say yes? Or look at me with contempt? I’m afraid of the answer, so I just smile silently. Knowing how to smile politely comes in handy in times like these.

I go take a bath in a bathroom for one, all by myself. It’s small, but honestly, just immersing myself in warm water makes me happy. I can clean myself with purification magic, but you can’t take a nice bath away from a Japanese person. Ahh… That feels good. When it comes to inns, only the expensive ones have baths.

After the bath, I lay back and relax. I promised to have another magic energy practice session, but I have no idea when the girls will be back. I just have to stay put and wait.

In the meantime, I think about traveling. I bring up Map, infuse the transmitter with magic energy, and see a reaction. Of course, Map doesn’t show me anything else, because it’s in a place I’ve never been to, but I can tell from the angle that the reaction is in the Beast Kingdom of Lath.

If we’re going to meet up again, should I go to the Beast Kingdom of Lath through the Magic State of Efa, or actually in the Magic State of Efa? It would be faster to meet up through the Kingdom of Elesya, but I don’t want to go near it unless I have to.

I also have to think about how to travel. I want to walk of course, but I don’t want to force Hikari to walk too much. She’s very persevering, so she won’t tell me even if she’s having a hard time, leading me to think she’s doing well and pushing her too much.

Wagons are also an option, but wagons in this world aren’t very comfortable. Can I do something about that with Alchemy? Then again, I don’t have the money or magic stones.

But thinking back to when I was thrown out of the castle, I can see I’m doing pretty well right now, and I’m having fun. Yes, fun. I’ve been at risk of dying, but I can’t deny that it’s been pretty fulfilling.