CHAPTER 23

Izale Village

From what Mash heard from his village chief, the Dragons’ Den is said to be far east of Krain Castle. The village chief also said that dragonkin will naturally be able to sense the cave’s location when they are nearby.

Anyway, I made the gate take us to the forest around Krain Castle, which Ishtar told me about when we were saving Mash. Seiya starts complaining as soon as everyone exits the gate.

“You should have had us appear in front of an item shop somewhere.”

“An item shop…? Wh-why?”

“We’re going to a cave, right? Not only are we going to need torches, but we need to prepare food, water, and other necessities as well.”

Elulu curiously looks up at Seiya.

“B-but, Seiya, I don’t think there are any monsters in this cave. I heard it was a holy place used to seal the ultimate weapon.”

“Don’t be naive. Who knows what could be there? We need to prepare.”

“W-well, I’m sure we’ll run into a town or village along the way. Anyway, we should probably get going.”

I try to appease the cautious Hero as we walk. However, the second we make it out of the forest, Seiya grouchily complains:

“Why are we walking all the way there? You should have just asked Ishtar to take us to a safe town near the Dragons’ Den.”

“W-we can’t do that! No shortcuts allowed! We have to start from a point near where we left off!”

I mean, Heroes don’t normally even get to go back and forth between the human world and the spirit world like Seiya does constantly!

“It doesn’t make sense to waste time like that when we’re supposed to be saving the world.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it! I told you already. By law, we are prohibited to excessively help humans on their quests! Besides, walking like this can be fun every once in a while! Right, Mash?”

I glance over at Mash, and he firmly nods back.

“Yeah! I can’t wait to fight a monster! I want to see how strong I’ve gotten from training with Cerceus!”

“Right?!”

While we hit it off, Seiya heaves a small sigh and begins power walking, as if he’s resigned himself to traveling to the Dragons’ Den on foot.

We end up following Seiya across the plains for a good twenty minutes.

Hearing panting from behind, I turn around to see Elulu struggling. When I approach her to hold the bag she’s carrying, I see a small fire in between her hands, to my surprise.

“Huh? What are you doing, Elulu?”

“Oh, um… Hestiaca taught me this. She said I could practice magic like this even while walking. It’s really exhausting, though.”

“So that’s why you were breathing so heavily.”

“Yep! I really wanna make sure I can help Seiya and Mash if a monster ever attacks!”

Seiya apparently hears Elulu’s courageous comment and turns.

“You don’t need to do that. All you need to worry about is carrying my stuff.”

“O-oh yeah! Ha-ha…ha…”

She’s smiling, but I can tell the light in her eyes just dimmed a little.

“Seiya!!”

I get ready to give Seiya an earful until he murmurs, “Besides, no monsters are going to show up.”

Now that I think about it, we’ve been walking for a long time now, but I haven’t seen a single monster. This isn’t supposed to be that safe of an area, either. So what’s going on?

Before long, I notice something squirming on the horizon. With better eyesight than humans, I can see the face of a vile-looking pig monster walking our way on two legs.

“Mash! Do you see that? Is that an orc?”

“Oh, you’re right! It is an orc! Heh. This should make for a good warm-up!”

After drawing his sword, Mash starts rushing toward the orc in the distance…until a colossal firebird suddenly comes raining down from the skies. It’s even bigger than the ones Hestiaca made at the reflective pond. It instantly swoops down and slams into the orc, engulfing it in flames and causing it to instantly collapse. Elulu latches onto my arm.

“Wh-what kind of monster was that?!”

“Did that thing just blow itself up along with the orc?!”

Monsters fighting each other?! Wait. W-was that even a monster?! If not, then that would mean…

“Everyone, watch out! There’s probably a sorcerer nearby!”

Elulu and Mash immediately take a defensive position. As a tense air reigns over the three of us, Seiya speaks in a composed manner.

“Relax. I made it.”

“““Huh?”””

Overcome with surprise, the three of us stare at Seiya.

“Automatic Phoenix. It can detect monsters’ evil auras within a fifty-meter radius and will automatically attack the target with a fire-based attack.”

Th-that was Seiya’s magic?! Long-range fire magic…? I mean, I’m amazed, but…

“W-wow, that was incredible, master! But let me handle the next one!”

That’s when Elulu screams.

“Ah! Mash! There’s another monster up ahead! Look! A tree monster!”

Engraved with the face of a human on its trunk, two human-faced trees are coming this way.

“Perfect! Just you wait, stumpies!”

Unsheathing his sword, Mash runs as fast as he can, but he’s no match for the speed of the phoenix in the sky. It quickly swoops down and crashes into the trees, setting them ablaze before Mash can even get close. He stops, then simply stares in astonishment. However, I scream to Elulu:

“Look! There are more behind you!”

Charging toward us is a swarm of killer ants the size of human children.

“Elulu! You should be able to use Fire Arrow and hit them from here! The phoenix just exploded, too, so now’s your chance!”

“O-okay!”

Elulu immediately uses Fire Arrow.

“Take thiiis!”

Moments before the arrow hits the ants, another phoenix suddenly descends in front of the spell and easily knocks it away with one of its wings before ramming into the ants, resulting in a huge blaze.

Elulu is stunned. Seiya stands by her side with his arms crossed, a look of satisfaction on his face.

“You’re wasting your time. Automatic Phoenix will instantly kill all monsters under level thirty, and there are always three of them on standby in the sky. So neither of you needs to do anything.”

“B-but then I’ll never get to fight any monsters.”

Seiya glares at Mash’s sour face.

“What’s wrong, Mash? I told you before. There is no greater option than winning without fighting.”

“O-oh yeah! I forgot!”

“Worry less about fighting and more about keeping those items safe. Got it?”

“Y-yes, master!”

Seiya swiftly takes the lead once again.

I stare at his large back in disgust.

…No wonder we haven’t been running into any monsters. Those phoenixes have been killing all of them for us. But at the very least, I really wish he would let Mash and Elulu fight just a little… A-anyway, I wonder how high Seiya’s stats are right now? I mean, I had no idea he could use such a high-level long-range magic spell like that. But it’s not like he’d tell me if I asked, so…

All right, it’s been a while! Let’s have a little peek!

I decide to use Scan on Seiya.

SEIYA RYUUGUUIN
LV: 1
HP: 111	MP: 111
ATK: 1	DEF: 1	SPD: 1	MAG: 1	GRW: 1
Resistance: Fire, Ice, Wind, Water, Lightning, Earth
Special Abilities: Fire Magic (LV: 1), Magic Sword (LV: 1)
Personality: Overly Cautious

E-everything’s 1! This is clearly Fake Out at work! Hmph! It puts a lot of strain on my eyes, but it seems I’m just going to have to use my Goddess Power and look right through your tricks! Ready or not, here I come!

Goddess Power!

…Wh-what the…?

Before I know it, the 1s on Seiya’s status screen are forming a single line. The finger-width 1s are wiggling their bodies as if they are alive while giving adorable cries.

Wh-what’s going on? They…pfft… Th-they are kind of cute, tho—

All of a sudden, a few handfuls of 1s lunge toward my eyes! And they repeatedly poke me with their pointy tips!

“Gyaaaaah! My eyes! My eeeeeeyes!”

The pain is so unbearable that I scream, causing Mash, who’s walking by my side, to jump.

“R-Rista?! What the hell! You startled me!”

“Th-the ones…! I thought they were so cute, but then they started stabbing me in the eyesss!”

“…?! Is that some kind of fairy tale or something?! Rista, you didn’t smoke any strange leaves, right?!”

“I’m not having a ‘bad trip’ if that’s what you’re asking!”

Hearing the commotion, Seiya looks back and gives me a cold stare.

“…You just love peeping, huh?”

“Can you not make me sound like a criminal?!”

“Looking at someone’s personal information without their consent is a crime. If there were police in this world, I’d have reported you immediately.”

“I-if you don’t want me looking, then just tell me what your stats are!”

“No. There’s no reason for you to know. And just so you know, that trap was a warning. The next time you try that, you can say good-bye to your eyes and your head.”

Not only my eyes but my head, too?! Gulp…! I sh-should probably refrain from looking for a while!

Shuddering, I give up on using Scan on Seiya.

Down the path, I begin to see a rural area up ahead with wooden huts scattered around the fields. It looks like we’ve arrived at a small village.

“Perfect. Let’s stock up on items here. It doesn’t look like they’ll have much, though.”

Within seconds, a middle-aged man with a beaming smile and a hoe in hand walks over to Seiya.

“Howdy, travelers. Welcome to Izale village.”

Seiya drips holy water from his pocket on the man’s face.

“Pff! What do you think yer doin’, boy?!”

“He’s human.”

“Seiya?! Isn’t it about time to retire the holy water?! Deathmagla’s gone, so I really doubt there will be any more undead!”

“Or maybe that’s what they want us to think. Never let your guard down.”

Seiya then looks back at Mash.

“Mash, I’m only going to say it once, so listen carefully. There’s an old saying that goes like this: ‘Undead strike when you least expect it.’”

“‘Undead strike when you least expect it’… Man! That’s so cool!”

Wh-what’s so cool about that? Is that even an old saying?

The middle-aged man looks as annoyed as I do as he stares at his holy water–drenched clothes.

“I’m soaking wet… The boy’s lost his damn mind.”

“Hey, you. Where’s this town’s item shop? Spit it out.”

“Did yer mother not teach ya any manners? Sigh. Go straight down that path, then take a right.”

We go straight down the path just like the sulking man told us. It isn’t long before we find the sign to the item shop.

Elulu curiously tilts her head.

“Hmm? We’re at the item shop already? But weren’t we supposed to take a right?”

“I dunno. The sign says the item shop’s right here.”

“I bet he lied to us because he was pissed off at Seiya for pouring holy water on him.”

We walk into the store. However, something immediately feels off to me the moment I set foot inside. Seiya places a finger on the sheath at his waist, apparently noticing as well.

“Welcome,” calls a man with a hoarse voice, presumably the owner, from the other side of the stocked display shelf. He is extremely short with buck teeth, but there’s a faint aura I can sense coming from him…

I stop Seiya, who’s getting ready to draw his sword.

“S-Seiya, wait! He’s a dwarf! While he might be classified as a monster, most of them don’t attack humans and live peaceful lives!”

Hearing my voice echo throughout the shop, an old woman of the same short stature comes rushing over with a little boy. Their eyes open wide the moment they see Seiya with his sword unsheathed.

“P-please don’t! What did my husband do to you?!”

“Stop!! Leave Papa alone!”

A young dwarf, so short that he comes up only to my knees, pleads with Seiya. He sheathes his sword, perhaps sensing no malice in them. Then he asks the frightened dwarf, “Hey. Do you have any torches here?”

“Y-yes, we do. But…are you by any chance planning on going to that cave?”

“You know it?”

“Yes, there is a cave in the rocky area to the east. However, it’s a dead end the moment you walk inside.”

Mash slaps his knee.

“That’s it! If Elulu and I break the seal, we’ll probably be able to go through the so-called dead end!”

“I see. Anyway, I’ll take some torches.”

“H-hey, Seiya? I was thinking. Wouldn’t you just be able to use your fire magic and skip the whole torch thing?”

“No. I don’t want to waste any MP.”

Thereupon, Elulu energetically raises her hand.

“Th-then, Seiya, how about we use my fire magic? It doesn’t matter if we waste my MP, right?”

Seiya immediately shuts her down.

“No thanks. I trust the torches to do a better job than you will.”

“Seiya! I—I can’t believe you!”

When I yell at him, Elulu awkwardly smiles.

“I-it’s fine, Ristie. He’s right. My fire is unpredictable.”

“Elulu…”

I feel so bad for her. She’s just trying to be helpful.

Ugh! That Seiya…! What’s wrong with Elulu helping out a little?!

But Seiya is already ready to purchase the torches. He takes a few gold coins out of his pouch while turning his gaze to Mash.

“Mash, this is our first time going to a cave. Now, here’s my question: How many torches do we need?”

“Fifty!”

“Mash?!”

I shout his name, taken aback by the excessive number he immediately blurted out.

Th-this kid has been poisoned by Seiya! He has no normal concept of items anymore! But even then, Seiya shakes his head.

“You were close, but no. The cave could be built like a maze, so it is safe to say that once we’re inside, it could be a few weeks before we get out. Plus, we can assume there will be monsters that spit water at us and ruin the torches we’re holding. In addition, we have to have enough torches to get us out of the cave after getting the ultimate weapon as well. Therefore, at the very least, we’ll need around five hundred—”

“We’ll take five!”

I talk over Seiya and place an order.

Clearly unhappy, Seiya practically has to be shoved out of the store. Full of smiles, the owner, his wife, and child see us off after we’re outside.

“Thank you for your business! Travelers, may the grace of Krosde Thanatus be with you.”

Krosde…? I’ve never heard of him before. Is that some kind of spirit worshipped around here or something?

Without putting much thought into it, we head to the next shop to pick up nonperishables and water, and soon, we’re finally prepared to go to the Dragons’ Den.