Ossan Saikyō Chapter 8 Part 10
When we returned to the inn, ate dinner, and were relaxing in our room, Miss Sphenia came back.
“Good work today. Is the epidemic response progressing smoothly?”
“Yes, there have been no particular problems. Hoffena's medicine is highly effective, so those who have received treatment are already recovering. How about your side, Soushi?”
“We cleared the F-class dungeon as planned. Tomorrow we'll tackle the E-class one.”
“By the way, how long did it take you to clear it?”
“About one and a half koku (roughly three hours). After that we did our training and spent a little time looking around the village. Mostly visiting shops.”
(E/N: So, 1 Koku = 2 hours)
“That's certainly fast. Did you find anything interesting?”
“Yes. We visited an accessory shop and discovered that items with support effects are still beyond our budget.”
I shrugged as I answered.
Miss Sphenia narrowed her eyes and seemed to smile faintly.
Even that alone gave her an almost mystical air.
If she joined our party, I had a feeling we'd stand out simply because of her presence.
“How about you two? You both seem unusually happy.”
Miss Sphenia turned to Freynil and Rani.
This was clearly becoming girl talk, so this old man would quietly retreat from the conversation.
“Ah, you could tell? We got some nice pendants. Matching ones for me and Fray.”
“This one here. What do you think?”
“Fufu, you chose something adorable. Was it your preference, Fray?”
“Yes. I've always liked things with animal motifs.”
“I like them too. And when you say you got them, you mean Soushi bought them, right?”
“Yep. I think it's the first gift he's given us since we formed the party.”
“When I became an adventurer, he bought me equipment...”
“That's not really a present, is it...?”
“Fufufu. It made Fray happy all the same, didn't it?...”
Yeah.
Staying in this room was starting to become a little painful.
Back in Japan, I could've escaped into my smartphone at times like this.
That's it.
Tomorrow, during some free time, I'd look for a bookstore.
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The next morning, we headed outside the village at dawn and completed our training before entering the E-class dungeon.
Like the others, this dungeon was housed within a giant tree with a hollow opening.
The monsters inside were all new to us: Kobolds with canine faces and humanoid bodies, wolf-type Night Wolves, and animated trees known as Killer Plants.
That said, aside from the poisonous Killer Plants, they were all physically oriented monsters with relatively low defenses.
They matched up very poorly against Rani, and even groups of ten posed no challenge whatsoever.
Of course, the fact that Freynil could instantly wipe out three or four of them with【Dual Cast】«Sacred Ray» before they reached us, helped considerably.
If anything, I barely had a role to play.
I was, however, allowed to handle the boss, a Kobold Leader.
Unfortunately, its upper body exploded from a single blow, earning me matching “Ah...” expressions from both girls.
The skill I obtained was【Steadfast】, a skill that improved my ability to hold my ground when taking attacks.
It was similar to【Stability】, but this one created the strange sensation that the soles of my feet were stuck firmly to the ground.
At first glance it seemed like a defensive skill, but if it improved my footing, it should also increase my attack power.
It felt like a subtle but useful ability.
Freynil acquired a skill called【Sanctity】.
Apparently it emitted an aura that repelled undead while simultaneously increasing damage dealt to them.
It certainly added to her saintly image.
Rani's new skill,【Nimble】, smoothed out body-weight transitions during movement.
It appeared to be a lower-tier version of my own【Whiplash】.
In any case, it was another skill perfectly suited to her combat style.
After finishing the dungeon, we completed our training in the forest clearing and returned to the village, heading towards the Guild to sell our materials.
That was when Freynil suddenly began looking around.
“What's wrong, Fray?”
“Ah, yes. I sensed a strange presence.”
“An undead one?”
“Yes. It feels close, but it doesn't seem to be an undead monster itself. ...It's over there.”
Freynil pointed toward the very building we were heading for: the Adventurers' Guild.
“Let's stay cautious. Act normally so we don't attract attention.”
With that warning, we entered the guild.
As usual, several groups of adventurers were present, along with the guild staff behind the counter.
I casually scanned the room.
One party in particular caught my attention.
They were a four-person group consisting of three men and a single girl.
What stood out was that while the men all wore similar light armor and looked like warriors, the girl's outfit had a distinctly Japanese feel to it.
More specifically, it resembled shrine maiden robes.
Her black bob-cut hairstyle only strengthened that impression.
And to top it off, a single short horn protruded from her forehead, bringing to mind the image of a Japanese oni.
Perhaps noticing where I was looking, Rani moved beside me and whispered:
“Interested in that girl?”
“Yeah. They seem like an unusual party. And her outfit resembles something from my homeland. Looking closer, it's not quite the same, though.”
“Hm... But that party smells a little like those slave hunters we ran into before. Something about them feels unpleasant.”
“Really? Fray, the presence you sensed earlier...”
“Yes. It's coming from that woman.”
Could she really be sensing an undead presence from an adventurer?
The girl was obviously alive, and she certainly wasn't a monster.
Still, if that shrine maiden-like outfit truly had religious significance, perhaps she was someone capable of handling undead.
“What do we do? Want to try talking to them?”
Rani suggested.
But honestly, I had no idea how one was supposed to handle situations like this.
The only thing I knew for certain was that amateurs acting recklessly rarely ended well.
“Let's not. We don't even know if they've done anything.”
“True enough. But Fray's instincts are usually right, aren't they?”
“Yeah. There's definitely something there. I'll mention it to Mylan-san.”
So I quietly informed Mylan to keep an eye on them.
Her response, however, was unexpected.
“Hm? Ah, she's from Ozu. She's been active around here for a little while now.”
Mylan mentioned a term I had never heard before.
“Ozu?”
“Yes. It's known as the Nation of Sorcery. They maintain diplomatic relations with no one, but they're said to control undead and monsters. The Adventurers' Guild is one of the few organizations they interact with, so on rare occasions adventurers from Ozu travel abroad.”
The Nation of Sorcery, Ozu.
That certainly sounded suspiciously fitting.
Personally, her Japanese-style clothing made me feel a strange sense of familiarity, but caution was probably still warranted.
“I see. Thank you.”
After expressing my gratitude, we left the guild.
It felt like we'd just obtained the sort of information that would qualify as a flag in a story.
But at the moment, that party hadn't actually done anything.
For that matter, we hadn't even confirmed whether the undead appearances were being artificially caused.
There was no point worrying ourselves sick over mere speculation.
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E/N:
Fray-chan's Undea-dar is quite potent! What trouble is coming for these three, I mean four?
Stay tuned!
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