We all left together through the main gate, and arrived at the plaza before the castle gates in order to go our own ways.
"Sakura-chan, are you sure about this? I've realized that you are right, it makes more sense for me to give you my party members and take yours instead." Motoyasu, you forgot what I said lastnight, didn't you?
"It's fine. After all, I was planning on ditching my companions from the very start, remember? I am much more worried about you. Worried that you'll be in bed with a different girl every night starting today, get somebody pregnant, and find yourself forced to join this country as a political pawn, that is."
"I'm not that dumb, Sakura-chan!"
"I hope so~ ?"
He looked somewhat offended, which was good. If he decides to prove me wrong and actually restrain himself, that would be ideal, really. I won't hold my breath over it, though.
"Ren-kun." I looked at him and smiled. He reminded me of Shirou's idealistic younger self. "Is it alright if I contact you every night to ask for advice?"
"You just want to check on me and make sure I'm alright, don't you, Sakura-nee?"
"If that was all, I'd do the same for Motoyasu-san, you know? Really, thus guy has me worried..."
Motoyasu-san looked like he wanted to object, but just crossed his arms and looked away. Well, it would be nice if he got offended, really.
"Then, please feel free to do so."
"Ah, are there any last minute advice you can give your nee-san?"
"Last minute advice... ah!" He looks like he suddenly remembered something. "You should get some sand from the Dragon's Hourglass, it'll let you teleport to towns and landmarks you've already been at!"
"Hey, hey, that's pretty important for a last minute thing, isn't it!?" Naofumi-san moved over as he heard Ren-kun say say.
"Well, Motoyasu already knew, I almost forgot you and Sakura-nee aren't really familiar with the way this world works."
Naofumi-san turned to look at Motoyasu.
"And what's your excuse for staying quiet?" He asked.
"...i forgot too."
"Come on, man. I can forgive the kid, but you're a frikkin adult! Anything else?"
"Uhmm... oh"
It seems like there was something indeed. Motoyasu-san looked at something in front of him which only he could see, poked at the air a few times, and having confirmed something, nodded and did a dismissive hand gesture before looking at us. An easy guess would be that he just confirmed something in his [Menu].
"You can set [Inventory] access privileges with your party members. You know, to let them access party money, potions or materials, stuff like that."
"Naofumi-san..." I turned to look at him with a frown.
"I know what you are about to say. Fine."
"It would be good if you really understood..."
"I still want to share access to potions, at the very least."
"I guess that's reasonable? What are potions for?" For some reason, everyone looked at me with worried eyes.
"Like, healing potions, Sakura-nee."
"Oh, so its medicine. I guess that's reasonable."
It was Naofumi-san and Ren-kun's turn to play with their [Menu] screen. I assume they are setting their [Inventory] access right now. Ren-kun seems to have done so easily and with no issues, though Naofumi-san seems to be struggling for some reason.
"I can't find the party options." He says after a few moments.
"Did you invite your follower into your party? Kind of important, man." Motoyasu-san seemed amused by Naofumi-san's predicament.
"Oh."
"I mean, this isn't a this game thing, is it? In pretty much every single MMORPG ever, you need to invite people before you are in an actual party, so I don't want to hear you bitch about it being something we should have told you."
"Yes, I got it. My bad."
"Wait, how do you do that? It sounds like it will be important at some point." It was my turn to ask questions.
"Right, Sakura-nee isn't a gamer. Hmm... open your menu and look for the [Invite] tab. You should see a list of people you are familiar with. You can click on someone's name and send an invitation that way. When you are in a party, you can keep track of your party member's life and mana, as well as their general location with the map function..."
"I see, thank you, Ren-kun."
Well, looks like Naofumi-san successfully invited Sophia-san to his party. I hope he was smart enough to properly set [Inventory] access rights, but considering that he seems to be this country's target for some reason, I think I will keep an eye on him. Just in case.
"Is there anything else you'd advise us to do, Ren-kun?"
"Hm... since we can copy weapons, visit a weapons shop? And maybe a mercenary group in order to hire companions."
"Right, that actually is a well-known power-leveling strategy. Hire some strong people to party with and earn lots of experience with them." Motoyasu-san added from the side.
"Understood. I will be looking for a weapons shop now. What will you gentlemen do?"
Naofumi-san and I will go to a weapons shop before heading to the Dragon's Hourglass, and then look for a mercenary group, while Motoyasu-san and Ren-kun, who already have party members, will directly go to the Dragon's Hourglass.
"Please be safe." Ah, it feels so refreshing to be able to headpat someone.
"Sakura-nee, i'll be fine. Please take care of yourself."
"Yes, yes~"
"You are completely just treating me like a kid."
What? Even if you bow and show me the top of your head, I am not going to head pat you, Motoyasu-san.
~O~
I couldn't help but feel quite guilty about wishing Sophia-san hadn't offered to come with me. I mean, I was this close to making a party with our resident beautiful heroine, Sakura-san. To be honest, it felt like I just missed a flag, a thought which only made me feel even more like a piece of trash.
Well, she is a very proper and serious, happily married young wife, but both Motoyasu and Ren died in their original worlds, right? So its not like they have bodies to go back to... I wonder if I would go back to my old body, or just step through a portal or get teleported home as a whole? I'm sorry, Emiya-san, but please don't resent me if I get to stay here with your beautiful young wife.
"What is it, hero-sama? You seem quite happy about something?" Sophia-san, you're a bit too close!
Ah, Sophia Mein, my first party member. She is a classically beautiful young woman with bright red hair whose appearance seems to scream 'Main Heroine', you know? Hah! Fuck you Motoyasu, get NTR'd, you cheater!
"Well, we are starting an adventure, aren't we? Any young man with my background would be happy about it."
"Naofumi-san, please be careful..." Sakura-san chirps in from right behind us.
Well, we reach the weapon shop in question, and after talking with the owner, I spend about 240 silvers for my own equipment. I offered to purchase some for Sophia-san, but she said she already had everything she needed.
Since we were paying customers, the strong-looking weaponsmith let us copy his shields and bows for free, saying that if we were going to risk our lives to save this world, the literal least he could do for us was 'nothing' and not charge us for something that would literally cost him nothing. To be honest, I am aware that because of game balance reasons, there's a need to merchant NPCs to charge heroes for goods and services, but every gamer understands it is about suspension of disbelief. After all, it makes little sense to get in the way of the people trying to save your life.
"Mister," Sakura-san approached the ojisan clerk. 'we still need to hire trustworthy mercenaries. Could you recommend us someone?"
"Hm? What? Well, sellswords are a tricky bunch, so make sure to use magical contracts if you hire a few. That way, they won't just run off at the first sign of trouble."
"You make them sound unreliable."
"Well, they are in it for the money, you can't fault them for wanting to look after their own lives first."
"I suppose you are right. Thank you."
We left the weapons shop, and headed over to the Dragon's Hourglass.
It was enshrined in a large cathedral, the whole place vaguely reminiscent of my world's catholic church. It was ever so slightly dissapointing, if I am honest. I had somehow hoped for something more fantasy-like, with armor-clad priests and paladins, instead of cloth-wearing clergy.
Was it my idea, or were the nuns much more polite to Sakura-san than they were to me? Well, I too would be a lot more polite to the violet-themed beauty than to some guy, so I felt as if I had no grounds to complain, though.
We acquired a bit of sand from the enshrined hourglass, unlocked the [Teleport] shield and bow, then purchased healing potions in bulk before we left.
"Alright, Naofumi-san. It looks like this is goodbye, for now." Sakura-san gave a very polite, deliciously bouncy bow.
"It is... please be safe, Sakura-san. Hopefully, we will meet again soon."
"Hm... I kind of hope we don't. After all, they say that no news is good news, so I hope everything goes well and we both get busy without getting into trouble. Ah, one last thing. Please take the chance to copy this."
Sakura-san created a round shield with a knife-long spike protruding from its center, and three more stretching parallel to each other from one edge, like claws.. She had already made a crossbow/shield hybrid for me before, and this one gave me the option to fight in melee as well, so I couldn't help but to feel extremely grateful to her.
"Please be careful." She said again, and fiddled a bit with the neck of my shirt, then turned to Sophia san and brushed a bit of hair off her face before holding and squeezing my companion's hands. "Both of you."
""You too.""
And with that, Sakura-san began to walk towards the south, as agreed. Ren went north, Motoyasu went east, and that meant I was going west.
~O~
I walked into an alley, and covered myself in an armour of woven shadows with as many defensive properties as I could squeeze into it, basing the design on what I had seen Sophia-san wearing. Of course, the smokey black armour would have looked quite peculiar to any observer, but that wasn't a problem so long as nobody noticed me in the first place.
Merging with the shadows, I actually had to be careful to not bump into anyone as I left the castle town unnoticed.
The so-called monsters were... rather cute. Compared to things I've seen and fought before, the brightly coloured balloons looked positively cuddly, and it was hard to shoot them, but...
'pop'
[exp +1]
Reaching for its remains, I unlocked [Red Balloon Bow] and stored what was left of it inside the bow's [Inventory]. Well, one down and 99 to go before that [Level Up] bar filled up... this would take too long. I did however, make sure to pop at least one of every color to unlock more bows, then moved further south and away from the city across the windy plains...
~O~
Following the Bow Hero(ine)-sama was a nightmare, degojaru.
Thankfully, we lost track of her near the south gate, and we didn't actually managed to spot her again, one of us did manage to notice balloon monsters dying in a mostly straight line going south from the gate. After a while, I managed to acquire signs of her movements, thanks to the stepped-on grass, twigs and mud making for a somewhat easy to follow trail.
I am convinced that she has nearly zero outdoor experience, or at least doesn't knows how to cover her tail, degojaru. If she had taken precautions, I would have never even known which was she was going, degojaru.
Here and there, I could see signs of large objects squishing the vegetation and making indents on the mud. Monster bodies, most likely. And she continued going straight south.
At one point, the trail ended, and I had to double-back multiple times before finding it again. It was as if she had leaped twenty feet in a single leap. No, a leap would have left a fairly deep and obvious bootprint I would have found with ease. It was as if she was a fairy leaping on the wind. Honestly, it was frustrating, but since I still managed to find her trail every time, it was also quite rewarding, in a way.
That was until I bumped straight into her while leaning forth to look at her foot prints. To be honest, it was extremely embarrassing, degojaru. I mean, I could have just as easily have walked into an ambush or a den of monsters. The Bow Hero(ine)-sama was a very soft and bouncy thing to bump my head against, but there's no way I will write that down on my report, degojaru!
Moreover, I should have at least spotted her feet and stopped before hitting her, degojaru! It is the blinder of a lifetime, degojaru!
"So... from just how high will I have to drop you before you give up, I wonder?" Was it my imagination, or was there a thin, sharp line of darkness creeping up from under her collar?
And why did I felt like the [Legendary Bow] was pitying me, degojaru!?
~O~
If I am perfectly honest, I could have teleported a few times in quick succession and that would have been enough to shake this person, but I wanted to see how it was managing to track me. I was sure I had no magical trackers on me when I realised it was following my footprints.
Yes, I definitively could have just used shadow step to make some distance, teleported back into town and take off in another direction, or just started flickering from a stone to the next, but this was as good a time as any to ask some questions.
"So... from just how high will I have to drop you before you give up, I wonder?" I could tell this was the same kabuki theatre stagehand-impostor I had been throwing out of the castle.
"...!?"
She turned and ran. I connected a shadow on her path with the one in front of me, and as soon as she stepped on it, she ran face-first into me again. When I tell hubby about it, I'll say that she bounced off me with a cute yelp.
Thre's no way I am telling him that she tackled me to the ground and we ended up face to face in a missionary-like position.
"Ouch..."
"Wh- but... HOW?"
"Please get off me."
She jumped back, and I cleaned myself as I stood up.
"Would you mind telling me why the lot of you are insisting on following us?"
She took off running away, so I twisted the shadows to have her run back into me once more. Of course, I did move out of the way this time, so she ran straight past me and tried to get away in the opposite direction. After about twenty minutes of having her run past me both ways, I began to feel kind of bad about it.
"Uhmm etoo~" I tried to call to her as she ran past me again.
And yes, at this point I was fairly sure it was a she. You can only get so close to someone before noticing certain things, and we had been squeezed against each other, so I was pretty sure it was a she.
"Would you stop? I think you..."
She kept running, so I kept redirecting her path.
"...are about to give yourself a heart attack."
Oh! She is jumping over any shadow large enough for her to fit on, now. I guess anyone would understand the trick if they saw it often enough. Well, I can always just shadow step myself unto her path, anyway.
~O~
It was the most terrifying twenty minutes of my life, degojaru!
I mean, every direction led towards her, every effort was pointless. I couldn't run, I couldn't hide. After a while, I realised the shadows that had always been my comfort, cloak and shield were nothing but maws waiting to spit me right back in front of the Bow Hero(ine)-sama, and having to run while watching my step in the middle of a frenzied escape and having her appear next to me every half dozen seconds was beginning to feel like I was trapped inside an strange dream.
"...heart attack." The Bow Hero(ine)-sama said something, after appearing in my path again, and suddenly the shadows leapt at me from every direction, and I fell flat on the forest floor. "I'm sorry about that. So... who are you?"
"I... I ah... I can't... ah..."
My heart was about to leap out of my mouth, my breath was unsteady, and I couldn't find it in me to push myself off the floor. A level of exhaustion I hadn't felt since basic training had taken over me with an iron grip, and wouldn't let go.
"Calm down, take a deep breath... that's it... you are in really good shape, so I used a spell to tire you out." Is what she said, but I heard no [Aria].
Well, she had already proven she knew strange other-world magic, so that wasn't all that surprising to me. What confused me was, she had just ventured outside the castle town, so her level couldn't be in the double digits just yet, but she still managed to play with me like a bug in a cage. This hero(ine)-sama is really scary, degojaru!
"So, why are you following me? Ah, take your time, I can tell you are out of breath."
"I..." I thought about it.
My instructions were to watch over the Bow Hero(ine)-sama, intervene if her life is in danger, and report any abnormalities back to her majesty. I really got the short straw this time, did I not? Even disregarding how hard it would be for this hero(ine)-sama to get in a problem she couldn't send away or flee from, just how was I supposed to begin explaining the bundle of abnormalities that is her existence? And, even if I took my own life, the hero(ine)-sama would just catch whoever was sent to replace me with just as little effort on her part.
"Yes?" She crouched by my side, and offered me her water skin.
"I... have been ordered to watch over you and... to intervene if you are in danger."
"I see. Would you like some water?" She gently shook her waterskin to mark her words.
"I would die of shame, degojaru."
"Hmm... I don't suppose you'll tell me who sent you?"
"..."
"I thought so. Well... I'm not really the torture-y type, either."
For some reason, I was sure the [Legendary Bow] was fuming in disagreement.
"Are you sure you don't want some water?"
"Yes, degojaru."
"Well... what to do with you."
She crossed her arms and looked down at me. I knew right then that I was entirely at her mercy, degojaru. What I didn't expect was her following words.
"Let's have an early lunch."
"Eh?"
"You haven't actually tried to attack me, so I won't kill you. I can't teleport you all the way back to the city, and the exhaustion will last for at least four hours, and I'm not in such a bad mood that I would just leave you alone as you are just for some monster to come by and eat you. So let's have lunch and talk."
"That seems to imply you'd leave me as monster food if your mood was bad, degojaru."
"Maybe?" She smiled, and it was the scariest smile I've ever seen, degojaru.
She couldn't actually lift me, so she dragged me over to a tree and helped me sit with my back against its trunk. Now that I think about it, I noticed when I bumped into her earlier, but she's incredibly light. I mean, it felt as if I had ran into a six or seven years old child.
For somebody so bad at covering her tracks, she seemed quite good at camping. In a few minutes, she had cleared an area, started a fire, and pulled out a few kitchen tools out of her [Legendary Bow]'s inventory, including a grill and a chopping block.
Soon, the air filled with a delicious scent.
~O~
"Kabuki-san, are you a picky eater?" I asked her as I chopped some greens.
"Is Kabuki meant to be me?" The kabuki stagehand-impostor looked, well... exhausted.
"Yes. I wouldn't know how else to call you."
"I am a shadow."
"Is that what you are? But that's like me saying 'I am a housewife' and expecting people to call me housewife-san instead of using my name."
"Shadows have no names. We are referred to as shadow."
"Well, I'll refer to you as Kabuki-san."
"I don't get a choice on it?"
"It could be Noh-san, now that I think about it. Both Kabuki and Noh theatre have people dressed in all black, but Kabuki sounds like a proper girl's name."
"I see."
Kabuki-san wasn't in a state that would favour a heavy meal, so I prepared a mild stew, and poured us each one bowl.
"Can you eat?"
"Is it drugged?"
"That's such a good idea. I will try and buy something to get people to talk the truth next time I am in town."
"..."
"So, can you eat? Or should I feed you?"
"I can at least lift a spoon."
"Alright."
I secured the bowl on her left hand, and placed the spoon on her right hand, then sat down to eat with her.
"So... you won't tell me who sent you."
"That is correct, hero-sama."
"And you were ordered to protect me?"
"Only if you are in grave danger."
"I assume the other heroes have shadows of their own, then. Its not a question, so don't worry about it."
We ate in silence, and I washed everything before storing things away.
"You haven't tried to attack me, but you are an unknown factor, so I can't let you follow me anymore. I am sorry Kabuki-san, but I will actually start trying to lose you now."
"...understandable."
"There should be a couple of hours until your exhaustion wore off. I will be nice since I'm the one that made you like this. Is there anything you want to know? I will answer if I feel like it. Then I'll ask some questions, and you can answer if you feel like it, too."
"I see... in that case..." Kabuki-san seemed to think about it for a bit. Well, it should be obvious that I wouldn't answer any uncomfortable questions, or explain my limitations. "Why are you so light?"
"I'm mostly shadow."
"Eh?"
"I'm mostly shadow. Think of it as the consequences of someone else's irresponsible use of magic. Why does the people in the castle hate the shield hero?"
"This country's religion is the three hero's chuch. It preaches that the Bow, Spear and Sword hero-samas are existences close to God, while the Shield hero is close to the devil. What are you wearing?"
"My shadow. I assume you are asking about my armor, and not my regular clothes, right?"
"That would be... correct."
"Yes, its my shadow. Is there anyone amongst the hero's companions that isn't involved in politics?"
"Not really."
"I thought as much."
We talked for a while, about themes like politics, religion, favourite foods, best shops for clothing, the reputation of mercenary bands, geography and a number of other things. Once Kabuki recovered from her exhaustion, I wished her a good trip back to the castle town, fused with the shadow, and jumped away, making sure to do so from branch to branch or from rock to rock in order to avoid leaving footprints she could track.
After about ten minutes of this, I had covered enough distance I thought it was safe to resume my monster hunt, but just in case, I'm sorry Kabuki-chan, but I'm going to throw in a bunch of [Shadow Flicker]s from now on.
Like this, I continued 'leveling up' in peace.
As for why I didn't got violent with Kabuki-chan... well, I pretty much got all the information I needed out of our conversation. She didn't know I had stablished a [Mind Link] between us, so she wasn't trying to hide her thoughts.
The queen sounds like an interesting person.
~O~
'Ren-kun. Are you awake?'
"S-sakura-nee, wh- oh, you are talking in my head again."
'I need you to think your answers. This time I am too far away to actually hear you, alright?'
'Eh? But it worked fine last time?'
'I was just a few meters away, so I was using the shadows as an extension of my senses, but this distance is too much. I have limits too, you know?'
My companions gave me an odd look. Well, right now we were back in town for the night and having dinner at a tavern and inn. It can't be helped that I'd look strange talking to a Sakura-nee that isn't here.
"Ah, the Bow Hero(ine) is talking to me using magic, don't mind me and continue with your dinner." They are still giving me strange looks, but at least they went back to eating. I will need to keep in mind to remain calm whenever Sakura-nee does this in the future.
'Eh? You are having dinner in town? You are right, I didn't think of that, that's right, I could go have dinner in town, sleep on a proper bed, and teleport back to my campsite tomorrow!'
'Alrigh, firstly... Sakura-nee, you heard that? And secondly, you are unexpectedly scatterbrained, aren't you?'
"Rude! Ren-kun, how could you think such a thing!?"
I actually fell over as Sakura-nee complained from right next to me all of a sudden.
"Sakura-nee! Wh-?"
"I teleported back to town using the bow, which got us close enough the magic tracker I placed on you told me of your location." Ah, she looks like she- wait, what's with that ominous-looking armor?
"It can't be helped since its made from shadowstuff."
Ah, she dismissed it just like that, leaving her on plain clothes. You know, you should have done that first if you were going to teleport back, now everyone thinks you are a suspicious individual, you know?
"I'm not suspicious, alright? I just came in for dinner like anybody else."
"Please stop reading my mind, Sakura-nee."
"But you're pretty much the only one without any lecherous thoughts, you know? It's refreshing."
"Lecherous... is that why you haven't done this with Motoyasu or Naofumi, then?"
"Pretty much, yes."
"That's... I think that's an invasion of privacy, Sakura-nee."
"But its such a good source for tease material..."
I can't help but to think that Sakura-nee has a rather playful side to her.
"Of course I do, girls are people too, you know?"
"Please stop reading my mind."
"I'm not reading your mind, just listening to your surface thoughts."
"What's the difference, and please stop already!"
"Fi~ine." She said as she took a chair by my left. "Actual mind reading allows the attacker to delve into another person's memories and secrets. It is an invasive technique. Hearing surface thoughts is exactly what it sounds like. Well, since most people don't know about it, they don't even try to hide their thoughts and that allows me to learn a lot about them by just leading the conversation this way or that way, you know? For example, Ren-kun, if you could ask your nee-san to do lecherous things for you, what would you ask for?"
"Sakura-nee, please have mercy and cut the link already!"
"Yes, yes. Feeling better now?"
"Is it really off?"
"Yes, don't you trust your nee-san?"
"Uh..." Lecherous things, uh? Honestly, I hadn't thought about it. I mean, Sakura-nee is really beautiful, but she gives me more of a motherly feel than anything else. Or is it because she's older than me? All I can think of is resting my head on her lap and having her clean my ears.
"It'd be kind of hard to find the right kind of q-tip in this world..."
"Sakura-nee, you're terrible!" That smile just now was kind of scary, too! And what's that black stuff creeping up from under your collar!?
"Yes, yes, its really off now." Or so she says, before calling for the waitress and ordering some food.
Hm. I am starting to feel a great deal of respect for Emiya-san. Sakura-nee is a real handful, isn't she? My impression of Sakura-nee as a meek and gentle older sister is slowly warping towards a teasing, playful older sister whose pranks are made all the more effective because of her gentle and meek demeanour. Like a kitten that could jump into your lap and grow lion-sized claws, you'd never see it coming.
'I'm sorry for having metaphorical lion-sized claws.'
'Sakura-nee, you said you'd cut the link!'
'Yes, yes I did. I wanted your companions to hear me say so, see? Just continue eating, we can have a casual conversation outloud while keeping serious topics on this channel.'
'Eh? That's a very gamer-like way of thinking, you know?'
'Is it? I do use social media and own a smartphone, you know?'
'I forgot. Yeah, I've seen you use it before. Does it has any battery left?'
'Uhm. I turned it off to save its battery life. I may need to take a picture of a puzzle or a complicated magical formation later, after all.'
'You are actually thinking ahead, uh?'
'Of course I am. This isn't the first time I've travelled to other worlds, you know?'
'The more I learn about you, the more amazing you seem, Sakura-nee.'
"So, how far from town did you get, Ren-kun?"
"Eh... we stayed in the plains. More importantly, which level are you at now?"
'Seventeen.' Is what she told me through the mindlink. "Nine. And you?"
"Seven. We are sharing experience, so it can't be helped if we are going a little slower than you."
'I caught one of those kabuki stagehand-impersonators. They call themselves Shadow, which amused me.'
'You didn't hurt him, did you?'
'...not really?'
'You didn't hurt him, did you?'
'W-why are you asking twice!?'
'Because it's important.'
'I did not lay a single finger on her. She almost gave herself a heart attack, though. So I had her sit down for a bit and forced her to rest and eat.'
'...Sakura-nee is kind in weird ways.'
"Ah, I'll have what my otouto is having!" She told the waitress while pointing at my dish. I don't think she'll know what 'otouto' is, you know?
'She'll get it by context. Anyway, turns out, the king isn't the ruler of the country, the queen is, and the king is acting against her orders. He shouldn't have summoned us heroes, you know?'
'Well, he needs us to save the country, so I can't fault him.'
'It got the country in trouble with its neighbours. They were going to summon just one hero each.'
'Oh.'
"Did you unlock a sword for every balloon colour?"
"Yes, Sakura-nee. So, how far did you go?"
"Oh, I stayed in the plains surrounding the castle town as well. After all, I'm travelling alone, so it would be bad if I ran into troublesome monsters." Is what she said, and then 'I entered the woodland to the south. I am aiming for the shore.'
'Eh, why?'
'No particular reason? I just want to play around in an amazing bikini.'
'Sakura-nee...'
'E~eh... even though I gave you a prod in that direction, your thoughts stayed so honest, Ren-kun. This is why I'm only using [Mindlink] with you. Really.'
'So, why are you going to the shore?'
'I heard that region got devastated by the previous wave, so I want to see if I can help.'
'Sakura-nee is a really caring person... wait, didn't the knights and adventurers stop the wave?'
'Yes, but it took them a couple of days, and by then multiple towns were gone.'
'That's... terrible.'
"Ah, thank you. Could I also have a mug of what that gentleman is having? Yes, thank you." She thanked the waitress as she arrived with her food, and asked for a mug of... I don't know what they call the local liquor.
'Well, it was made worse because they waited.'
'What?'
'This country discriminates heavily against demihumans. That is, people with animal traits. And since the first wave appeared on top of a region where most towns were demihuman towns, the knights waited and held the adventurers back.'
"That's...!"
"Sit down, Ren-kun. I am a twenty-one years old married woman already. I can drink if I want to."
Ah, she was covering my outburst by making it look like I was reacting to her asking for an alcoholic drink. I can see my companions making expressions that say 'yes, sounds about right'.
'Terrible, isn't it? That's politics for you. Kind of throws a wet blanket all over your shiny game-like world, doesn't it?'
'I... never actually thought about racism before.'
'It can't be helped. Japan is a very homogeneous country. You have probably never even interacted with a foreigner before, have you?'
'That's... true.'
'Well, now imagine how it gets when it's not about skin color or facial shape, but about people having wings instead of arms or whatever demihumans have.'
"This isn't bad. The meat and vegetables are quite fresh." She comments after a few bites.
"Not many condiments, though."
"That's not a bad thing. You shouldn't add extra salt to a finished dish, anyway."
"Sounds like dinner time at Sakura-nee's place is a serious event."
Oh, she choked.
"Not at all!" She said while waving the idea away. "It is a very lively event, you know?! A little too lively, even!"
"Well, I think that's probably a good thing."
"Yes, it is a good thing."
'Anyway, I confirmed that all of our companions were chosen over political reasons. There wasn't a single demihuman amongst them, right?'
'I hadn't noticed before, but you are right.'
'Try recruiting some tomorrow, and see how that goes.'
'Yes, Sakura-nee.'
'By the way, have you heard anything about Naodummy-san?'
'Did you just call him dummy?'
'He's way, wa~ay too trusting.'
'I haven't.' I'm sorry Naofumi-san, I don't think I can go against Sakura-nee.
'Well, I know they're springing a trap on him tonight, so after we're done eating, I'll go watch over him.'
I nod. Just like I thought, Sakura-nee has a playful and teasing side, but she's actually the caring, gentle type.
"Did you find any companions yet?" I asked her.
"No, I'm thinking on hiring mercenaries, though I may just recruit as I go. Less chances to end up with people wanting to take advantage of 'the hero' if they don't know I'm the Bow Hero(ine) until after they sign up."
"I see."
'I guess I may have to imitate you and run away...'
'Try and learn about the country's landscape, towns and geography first. I can escape from pretty much anything, which is why I'm just doing as I want. You may need an actual plan, first.'
'Yes, Sakura-nee.'
"You really have no expectations of your Sakura-nee in an amazing bikini?"
I choked on my drink.
"You're terrible, Sakura-nee!" You even said that out loud!
~O~
Author Notes:
Uh, once I started writing, I lost track of time and it was a good time I checked the page and word count before continuing, or this chapter would have gone on and on with Sakura stalking Naofumi and... well, that'd be spoilers.
If you want spoilers, feel free to ask me on discord. My ID tag is Maglad#4263. I'll be happy to take criticism and suggestions. If you want to send me a personal message, please use that, or click on the personal message option in this site. The review box is for reviews, hard to believe as it is. Yes, I too used it as a 'message to the author' box in the past, so I'm not free of guilt on this, either.
Having said that, I do enjoy reading reviews. Have a great day!