CHAPTER 8

A New Class

After making his emancipation declaration, Seiya heads straight to Enzo the Baptist, who can change classes. I nervously follow behind.

“Oh, look what the cat dragged in. Interested in changing classes?”

The old man Enzo broadly smiles, missing most of his front teeth.

“Yeah. I have something I need to ask you first, though. Will I be able to change back to my original class after changing to a new one?”

“You sure can.”

“You better be telling the truth…unless you don’t mind losing an appendage.”

Enzo’s smile instantly disappears.

“Heh. You’re one scary kid. Not saying what appendage I’d be losing makes it even scarier. But I’m telling you the truth. Just come to me, and you can return to your original class.”

“I have another question, then. When I change back, do I keep the skills I learned?”

“No. Once you return, you forget whatever moves you picked up. But, well, you can use them again if you go back to that class.”

Seiya continues interrogating Enzo about changing classes after that. He seems to be interested, but personally, I’m conflicted. What kind of job would he switch to that’d be better than a Spellblade? It’s an advanced class, after all. In Seiya’s case, he’d be able to equip two classes if he gave up his Spellblade categorization, but he’d lose powerful moves like Phoenix Drive and Phoenix Thrust…

“These are your choices as of now.”

Enzo points to the available classes.

Monk, Lancer, Mage (Wind, Lightning, Earth), Merchant, Seer, Jolly Piper.

Hmm… Looks like he has an aptitude for many different jobs. Oh, hey! There are even throwaways like Seer and Jolly Piper! Ha-ha-ha—ack! This is no time for joking around! He needs to defeat Bunogeos… So how about going with Lancer? He might be able to learn a powerful thrust attack like Phoenix Thrust. For a second, he should probably go with Mage. I wouldn’t mind if he stuck with Fire, but Wind and Lightning might not be so bad, either.

But Seiya says to Enzo:

“I’ll start with Mage—an Earth Mage.”

“What?! Earth magic? You mean just like Eich?”

The unexpected choice takes me by surprise, which catches Seiya’s attention.

“Huh? You’re here?”

“Of course I am! Are you seriously still mad?! You already hit me, kneed me, and smashed my boob, so I think it’s about time you forgive me!”

“Whatever. Just stay out of this.”

“But you’re choosing earth magic. It’s not good for offensive spells. I mean, I’m sure there are spells you can use to break the ground to hurt the enemy, but it’s not something you choose over powerful fire spells.”

“Just shut up. Earth Mage is going to be my secondary class. My primary class is going to be something else.”

Oh! He’s going to choose something like a Lancer, which specializes in offensive abilities, and use the earth magic as backup! Well, if that’s the case, then…

The instant I expel a relieved sigh, Seiya says to Enzo:

“I want my primary class to be Jolly Piper.”

“…?! You’ve gotta be kidding me! You’re gonna play the flute?! You’re joking, right?!”

Seiya continues the conversation in spite of my astonishment.

“Jolly Piper as your main job and Earth Mage as your support job, eh?”

“That’s it.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Hold up! You are not picking Jolly Piper! It’s not happening! Besides, your stats are going to lower exponentially if you choose that as your main class!”

Seiya’s attack and defense are higher than average because he’s a Spellblade, which is an advanced class. If he chooses a throwaway job like Jolly Piper, all of his attributes will suffer. And yet…

“You’ve got it, kid… Class Change!”

Enzo’s hand begins to glow, wrapping Seiya in a blinding light. The light eventually fades, revealing Seiya in a bizarre costume reminiscent of a street performer.

“All right, all done. Starting today, you’re a Jolly Piper and Earth Mage.”

“A-ack! He really changed classes! H-hey, it isn’t too late to change back, Seiya. Are you sure you don’t still have a touch of amnesia?”

Seiya shoots me a reproachful glance.

“Can you stop talking for one second? Go take a nap or something.”

“No! I’m worried about you!”

“I don’t need you worrying about me.”

“What?! What’s wrong with worrying about my party member?!”

“Who ever said you were my party member? I never planned on taking you with me.”

“Excuse me?!”

“You’re useless, and you’d just slow me down. Now be a good girl and wait here.”

“I—I admit it was my fault you didn’t get to prepare long enough in the spirit world! But that’s exactly why I want to help you!”

I desperately try to convey how passionate I am, but Seiya turns a distant gaze on me.

“Bunogeos can use Chain Destruction. In other words, all monsters in Ixphoria can kill you. I’m not confident I can protect you like I did in Gaeabrande.”

“That’s fine! I can take care of myself!”

“So you don’t care if you die?”

“I’m willing to risk my life!”

After a few moments of silence, Seiya mutters:

“Knock yourself out.”

I nod with a solemn expression, but I’m gloating on the inside.

Heh-heh-heh! How do you like that! I’m willing to put everything on the line! I bet my love rating has gone way up now! We’re in this together, after all! Come! Let us save the world of Ixphoria with the power of our love!

Brimming with anticipation, I use Appraise on Seiya.

RISTA’S LOVE APPRAISAL
-Your love rating with Seiya:	1 point
-Seiya thinks you’re:	a stubborn parasitic weed.
-A tidbit of advice:	Even though he told you not to come, you won’t listen, which seems to have really annoyed him. He wishes he could just roll you up into a ball and throw you away!

What the…?! Not only did our love rating lower, but now he wants to throw me away?! What kind of garbage is this?!

Seiya begins to walk off as I droop my head in despair. I chase after him until we reach the item salesman sitting behind his mat. Lowering my voice so the shopkeeper doesn’t hear, I whisper to Seiya:

“Hey, Seiya… This guy basically only sells farm equipment. None of this is gonna help you on your journey.”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Seiya picks up an iron cylinder from the mat, snatches the pouch of money Ishtar gave me, and pays.

“I should be able to make a flute out of this with little effort.”

“You seriously plan on playing the flute…?”

“I am a Jolly Piper, after all. But I didn’t come here only to buy a flute… Hey, shopkeeper. I’ll take a thousand glowstones as well.”

“You’ve got it, sir. Thank you very much for your pat— One thousand?! What are you going to do with a thousand?!”

I’m used to Seiya’s ridiculous purchases, but the shopkeeper is taken aback. While I’m not surprised, I still realize we don’t have enough money and won’t be able to carry that many anyway. Plus, I can see where the shopkeeper is coming from. What would he need that many glowstones for? I somehow manage to talk Seiya down to fifty.

Seiya buys a huge sack and stuffs it full of glowstones, but it doesn’t end there. He points to something on the mat that looks like jarred pickles.

“I’ll take those emergency rations and that canteen of drinking water as well. In fact, give me all of them.”

“Um… If you take all of them, we won’t have anything to eat or drink…”

“I-I’m so sorry! Just sell us as many as you can, please!”

Seiya places the food and water he bought in another sack before handing it to me. It’s like we’re preparing to descend into a dungeon or something. After shopping, Seiya mutters:

“I need some equipment. Even though I’m a piper, I should at least have a sword. It’s a shame Bunogeos stole the platinum one.”

“That’s fine, but there aren’t any weapon or armor shops here.”

“What are you talking about? There are plenty of weapons and armor.”

Seiya points at Braht. Noticing Seiya approaching, he yells:

“What do you want?!”

Braht tightly knits his eyebrows when…

Whack!

“Hrblbrbl…?”

Once again, Braht begins foaming at the mouth before collapsing.

“…?! Seiya?! Why did you hit him again?!”

Seiya swipes the sword off the unconscious leader’s body, then casually equips it as if he’s done nothing wrong.

“Guess I’ll take his armor while I’m at it.”

He strips Braht of his armor, then passes it to me.

“Perfect. Now I’ve got a steel sword and some steel armor.”

“Y-you’re terrible!”

Furthermore, his eyes fall on one of Braht’s friends, who was watching in the distance.

“Hmm… I could use a few spares as well.”

“Eek?! Please…! No…!”

Seiya chases the man down, beats him unconscious, and robs him of everything he has… Common sense tells me this definitely isn’t something a good person would do. But after considering the fact that we have to save the world and need resources to do so, I decide to keep my mouth shut.

W-we don’t have any other choice. This is the only way we can get the items we need…

As I try to justify what we’re doing, I feel a sharp pain on the top of my head.

“Owwwww!”

Rip, rip, rip! Seiya tears out handfuls of my hair without so much as asking!

“Wh-wh-what the hell are you doing?! Seiyaaaaaa!”

“Stop complaining. It’s for synthesizing platinum swords.”

“You could have at least said something first!”

“…Well, now that we’re stocked up on items and equipment, what should we do next?” I ask while rubbing my head.

“We leave tomorrow morning. Today, we’ll stay at the inn and rest. I need to examine my new magic and characteristics.”

“Wait! What?! We’re leaving tomorrow?! Shouldn’t we take our time?!”

I figured Seiya would have wanted to train here for a while!

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

“R-really? Well, if you say so… More importantly, there doesn’t seem to be an inn here…”

“We can just make someone host us at their place.”

“I don’t know… I mean, not many people really like us here.”

“I don’t care. We’re going to find a place.”

Seiya surveys the area until he spots a lanky, timid-looking young man. He approaches him.

“Hey, you. What’s your name?”

“Huh? C-Caron. Why?”

“Okay, Caron. Provide us with shelter for the night.”

“What?! Do you mean my house?! I—I can’t! It’s too small! Plus, it’s dirty!”

“I don’t mind. Where is it?”

“I-it’s really, really dirty… It’s a terrible place to sleep…”

“Caron, if you are really that dissatisfied with your house, then leave.”

“…?! Wh-what?!”

“From now on, it’s my house.”

I wrap an arm around the young man’s shoulder as he starts to cry.

“C-Caron, don’t worry! It’s just for one night! After that, we’ll be gone!”

“Mn… Sniffle! Does that mean…I can still live in my house…?”

“Of course! I mean, it’s your house! You have every right to live there!”

“Thank goodness! I’ve grown…so attached…to that house! I’m so…happy…!”

And just like that, we force a young man we just met to let us stay the night.

The next morning, we pick up our sacks of belongings and leave Caron’s house.

“All right, ready to head out?”

“Y-yep…”

We take our leave of Little Light, but only after causing a lot of trouble for the townspeople. Needless to say, nobody comes to see us off.