"Excuse me, Thomas?" I heard Louis speak up as I lead the group to an inn, after bidding farewell to both Amaki's group and the farmer we stayed at previously.
After my duel with the Sword Hero, we headed to the farmer's home, and I spoke to him about sleeping arrangements, and he brought up the inn, where it only cost 1 silver coin per person, per night, which is quite good.
And that's we're heading to.
"Ya need something, Louis?" I asked as I walked along, hands in pockets as we walked down the dirt path to the inn, the sun nearly gone over the hill.
"About that martial art you used against the Sword Hero, what is it?" He questioned as I thought about it.
After a minute, I opened my mouth.
"That martial art is called Bajiquan, and it was developed in the lands of China back where I'm from. Kiera and I were taught Bajiquan by our mother and grandfather when we were growing up." I explained while moving my arm in a circular motion.
Louis simply nodded his head.
"I asked as it seemed quite different from some martial arts I am familiar with, especially as my oldest brother as he is well versed in unarmed fighting." The eastern priest added.
Lars let out a yelp as he brushed up against my leg, nearly knocking me over. A small smile made its way onto my face as I watched the pup acting without a care in the world.
The spellcaster let out a giggle, watching Lars run about.
When we reached the inn, I headed to the receptionist, which was a young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair tied up.
"Hello, welcome to Autumn inn. How can I help you?" The blonde-haired woman asked as she eyed me with her orange eyes.
She reminded me of Motoyasu if he was a girl.
"Yeah, I like to get a room with three beds, please," I asked as the lady nodded her head, albeit having a slight tint on her cheeks.
Do I seriously have an effect on people or something? First Ashley Brooks, then Samuel 'Sam' McCloud, and then that yakuza princess Nagisa Akatani.
I'm still surprised that last one still happened to me.
Eh, must be either an Anders or Kotomine trait.
"S-Sure thing!" she said, blush threatening to overtake her pale face.
I gave her my thanks as she began leading my group to our room, trying not to stare at her ass as she walked up the stairs.
Christ almighty, Thomas! Get it together!
When we were brought to the rented room, the blonde-haired lady gave me a key to the room, gave me a wink before walking off with a sway of her hips.
She was really a tease, eh?
I shrugged my shoulders, and I used the key to open the door, with the bicoloured wolf rushing into the room while waggling his tail, earning a smile from the rest of us. Once all of us entered the room, Melia had taken the second room with Lars following her at the heels, while Louis and I shared the other room.
I stripped myself of my sleeveless shirt, boots, and gloves before placing them onto a nearby desk and undoing my ponytail, letting my brown locks fall to my shoulders.
I let out another yawn as I collapsed onto the bed, pulled the thin covers across my body before falling asleep.
-TimeSkip-
December 24th, 2019.
"Fuck, it's cold," I muttered to myself as I left Ashley's home, wandering the streets of Galway, hands in my slack pockets as the sun disappeared over the cityscape.
While today isn't the coldest day, the wind really does bring a chill to the atmosphere, while it can be somewhat pleasant, it makes ya freeze.
But, hmm, what should I do when January rolls around? Go to the countryside for a while? Or a trip to Japan?
If I go for a trip to Japan, maybe I should visit Akihabara with Motoyasu and Nagisa, that could be fun, considering that Motoyasu wouldn't stop bitching about that new online game coming out.
I think it's called 'Emerald Online' or something like that.
As much as Motoyasu likes crackin' dirty jokes, he's still a good friend to be around, alongside Nagisa and her love for European culture.
A smile made its way onto my face as I continued wandering around the port-town until I heard a thud, followed by a pained grunt.
"What the hell?" I said, and with my interest piqued, I followed the noise with a sense of caution.
When I entered the alleyway, I saw a slim young man with light brown hair and a helix piercing being shoved into a wall by a big black man, with a skinhead behind him, giving a smirk.
Hang on, isn't that Sam?
"If you know what's good for ya, I suggest that ya give us anything, m'kay?" the skinhead stated.
Okay, this fucktard is pissing me off.
"Oi! Fucktard!" I bellowed out, gaining the attention of the trio of men, with Sam having a look of relief on his face.
"T-Thomas?" Sam's quiet voice quivered as the big man loosened his grip around Sam's neck, and tried to rush me, fist above his head.
A smirk made its way onto my face as I stomped on the ground, before rushing towards the man.
I grabbed his left wrist and pulled him close to me, and I slammed my right elbow into his sternum, kicked him against his calf, which sent him to the ground with some blood coming out of his mouth.
I focused my crimson orbs onto the skinhead as his eyes widen with fear as I walked over to him.
My eyes widen as I felt a sudden pain within my stomach, as I looked down, I saw crimson liquid flowing freely from my stomach.
"You…fucking cunt…" I growled out as I turned around to face the big man with a revolver in his hands with a psychotic look within his eyes, grinning wildly.
Pain flared throughout my body as the bastard kept firing that damned revolver at me, blood leaking all over my body and soaking my suit.
With hatred flaring throughout me, I stumbled over that that fucking eejit, my hand balled up into a fist as I felt something hit me in the side of the head, knocking me sideways.
As I tumbled onto the ground, the fucking skinhead stood over me, a stained crowbar within his grasp as he smirked at me, an evil look in his eyes.
"Your tough, I'll give ya that. I think ya'll make good practice for what I have in store for pretty boy over there." He gestured towards Sam with the crowbar, an evil look within his eyes as he brought the crowbar against my face again.
…Fuck…it hurts…so badly…
Tears were leaking out of my eyes as I saw the bigger guy get up and send a kick to my side.
"Damn…you…to hell!..." I managed to growl out with blood leaking out of my mouth as the duo gave me sadistic looks.
"Aww! The bleeding man thinks god will save him!" The skinhead mocks as he swings the crowbar into my skull.
All I could see was red and black…and Sam tearing up while looking at me.
-Timeskip-
I gasped as I shot myself from my bead upwards, sweat clinging to my body crimson eyes looking everywhere.
"…Calm down…it's a nightmare…" I told myself as I managed to control my breathing as I wiped some of the sweat off my face as I took in a deep breath before exhaling.
Fuck, I haven't dreamed that at all since I arrived at this world, which is weird. Anyhow, now I'm awake, I'll probably go through my codex again or go on a walk to calm my nerves.
As I shifted around in my bed, trying to get comfortable in an effort to fall back asleep, I felt the warmth of Krishna being summoned on my back within a burst of dimmed flames, much to my amusement.
I quickly went into my inventory and pulled out several pictures I had on my person at the time I was summoned, mainly the ones I had in my blazer pocket and my wallet.
The first picture was one back in January of 2019 when I met up with Nagisa and Motoyasu in front of the Akatani residence. Motoyasu has his blonde hair styled in a ponytail and wore a red jacket with a white undershirt and brown chinos with a friendly grin on his face. Nagisa has dyed hair cut short and wore a black jacket over a white turtleneck and black slacks with a confident smirk on her face. I looked the same as I currently do with my hair let down and I was wearing a blue and white sukajan jacket with a white undershirt underneath, black jeans with a wallet chain connected to my belt loop and a calm smile on my face.
The second picture was a double date I was with Ashley, Sam, and his boyfriend Max back in our final year of high school. Sam had light brown hair neatly-combed and a helix piercing in his left ear, and he was wearing a white dress-shirt and a pair of grey pants. Max was a muscular man with crimson hair and lightly tanned skin, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans. Ashley still looked the same as her older self and was wearing a red shirt and a black skirt. I had my hair in a ponytail and was wearing a white V-neck and a pair of black jeans with a wallet connected to my belt loop.
A smile made its way onto my face as I recalled some of the best moments of when I was just Thomas Izumo Anders, a university student with a loving family and friends that wanted to become a coroner. Now, I'm a hero of the spear, summoned to prevent the world from being destroyed by a calamity, alongside a few willing adventures and a pup.
Sounds like a plot to an Isekai novel, now that I think about it. With Naofumi Iwatani, Ren Amaki, Itsuki Kawasumi, and myself as the protagonists of this plot.
I probably spent a half-hour just going over past memories as a yawn escaped my mouth and my eyes felt heavy.
"Okay then…let's try round two," I muttered as I fell asleep once more.
-TimeSkip-
Over the next few days, my group did various tasks for Autumn, with Louis doing missionary work and helping with the farmlands. Melia was tasked with helping with the orphanage and teaching the spellcasters how to convert mana. Lars stayed with me as I did farm work, slaughtering malevolent monsters and helped out Chulann with his shop.
And with each monster I killed, I sliced those beasts open and sold anything like meat or fur to make some money while empowering myself for the first wave, and I like to think I'm doing a good job at that.
"Young Anders! It's done." I heard Chulann say as I finished sorting out some of the scrapped weapons from a pile before getting up from the stone floor and dusting myself off and headed to the older man who was in the main shop itself.
On the counter was a wooden box with my order, with all the components being steel and no enchantments as of yet. As I examined the contents, something caught my attention. length of cloth with tribal markings running along the borders of the cloth.
I went to reach for my money pouch before I felt the firm grip of Chulann who shook his head.
"You've helped Autumn a great deal, and the misses wanted to show her thanks by making something that would go great with your armour. I think she did a fine job." Chulann praised as I nodded while continuing to unpack my armour, and with the blacksmith's help, got those armaments onto my body
Chulann helped with wrapping the cloth around my torso twice as it drops to mid-thigh. I let out a sound of satisfaction of my equipment and gave my thanks as I heard footsteps from behind, and when I turned around, I saw my party with smiles on their faces and admiring my armour.
"Thomas, you're really starting to shape up to become a great hero." Melia praised as I felt a blush form on my cheeks, although she didn't see it.
"She's right, young Anders. You remind me of Zach when he was in his prime." Chulann commented as I nodded my head while kneeling down towards Lars who yapped as I scratched behind his ear.
He's adorable.
I gave Chulann a firm handshake as we left his shop, a frown formed on my face.
Hmm, not long until the waves happen, so my group needs to focus on gaining more power for our survival.
With that in mind, we headed outside of Autumn to train some more.
A/N: Well then, that's chapter 12 done.
Doing the aftermath for Thomas' nightmare turned out to be more troublesome than I thought, I think I rewrote that scene roughly 3 times.
Talk about a pain in the ass.
Also, I want to ask; how does Thomas come off? Does he come off as laid-back? Or something different. I'd love to hear your opinions on him.
Anyways, I'll see you next chapter, which is probably going to be the Waves, but I'm not too sure.
Chao.