Hey guys! It was brought to my attention that it wasn't really clear where in the timeline this story is taking place.

As far as where in the timeline this story takes place, Sumaru arrives in the world after the cabbage harvest, but before the Veldia debacle.

Anyway, Sumaru's adventures won't really have much impact on the main story line, the point of his character is that he's not especially driven.

On to the story!

Over the next few weeks, Sumaru developed a daily routine. He would wake up, grab a quest from the guild, finish it, grab his reward, and go back to the inn that he was starting to call home.

One such morning when he brought his chosen quest to the desk for Boob lady to verify, she sighed at him.

"Hey, what's up with the heavy sigh?" Sumaru closely inspected Boob Lady's face from across the counter, "Are you sick?" She shook her head. He looked around and lowered his voice, "Are you deep in the red?"

Boob Lady's face turned red, "What? No! How could you even think that-!" She noticed the other adventurers looking over and lowered her own voice, "It's nothing about me. It's just," She paused, and Sumaru looked at her curiously, "It's just this quest."

"Oh." Sumaru leaned back and actually laughed, "That's it? I thought it was something serious. Wait," Sumaru hunched forward and looked at the quest flyer, "What's wrong with the quest?"

"Well, how should I say this?" Boob Lady looked up and away, "It's giant frogs."

Sumaru raised an eyebrow, "And that's bad because, why?"

Boob Lady fidgeted, and Sumaru was distracted for a moment. She tried again, "It's just that you're going out to fight giant frogs, again."

"I still don't see how that's a problem."

Another receptionist with a smaller, more reserved chest leaned over from where she was working on paperwork, "Dude, all you ever do is kill giant frogs. It was kind of cool the first few times when you came in all torn up, but now you just show up covered in blood every time! Do you know what it takes to clean those stains?!"

Sumaru rolled his eyes, "Well yeah, I'm the one cleaning my clothes every day. And it sucks getting hurt all the time, too."

The second receptionist pounded Boob Lady's desk with a fist, "That's not the point! It's boring! You come in here everyday like you work an office job! Shamelessly killing frogs and collecting your coins! Did you know we have a surplus of frog meat because of you?!"

Sumaru sweat dropped, "That's a good thing, right?"

The receptionist reached through the window and grabbed Sumaru's shirt, "And what do you think happens to the days leftovers?"

Quick, think of a snappy comeback! "Um, late night frog leg happy hour time?"

"Wrong!" She shook him by the collar, and Boob Lady squeaked as she was pushed out of her chair, "They give the days leftovers to the staff! Frog legs, frog soup, frog sandwiches! I'm sick of frog! My complexion can't take it anymore! Go kill something else for me to eat!"

"But-! Frogs-! Are-! Dangerous!" It was hard to talk while being shaken.

She shook him harder, "Do you know what they call you! Frog slayer! Frog maniac! Crazy frog guy! Frog f- Aaah!" Someone pulled her off of Sumaru and dragged her away.

Sumaru rubbed his neck, Thank goodness that's over.

Boob Lady frantically bowed, "I'm terribly sorry for my colleague's lack of conduct."

Sumaru shook his head, "Hey, no harm no foul, but could you confirm my quest? If I don't make it soon, the frogs won't be at their normal spot."

Boob Lady giggled as she stamped the flyer, "It really is like an office job for you, isn't it?"

"Well, at least it's consistent." He waved as he left, "See you later."

Boob Lady nodded, "Yeah."

When Sumaru finally made it to his regular hill, there was already someone there. It was anolder man with peppery hair and a mustache lounging in a lawn chair

"Who are you?"

The man waved away the question, "I just thought I'd get some sun today." He stretched, and leaned farther back in his chair with a smile, "Feel free to act like I'm not even here."

"Um, okay." Sumaru trudged around the lawn chair and stood in his normal spot overlooking the hills. There where two bare spots in the grass where he liked to plant his feet. Sumaru turned to the older man, "Things might get dangerous. I just wanted to say that I'm not responsible for your wellbeing. If you get hurt, it's not my fault."

The man took a sip out of the gem studded goblet he was holding. Where did that come from?Then the man smiled, "Aah. Remember, I'm not even here."

"Right." Sumaru turned back and raised his hand to the sky, "Spark!" A sharp crack rang through the air and a tendril of electricity fired into the sky.

RIBBIT RIBBIT RIBBIT RIBBIT RIBBIT

All across the field, frog sounds echoed and were answered. The horizon wavered with movement as frogs from far off moved toward the sound.

That's a lot more frogs than usual. Still, it's not a problem. Sumaru gripped his spear with both hands and let his eyes take in all of the movement. I'll just take them out as they arrive.

It took the first frog a few hops to make it up the hill, and when it landed in front of him, Sumaru stabbed it in the face with the sharp end of his weapon. He twisted the spear and yanked it out in time to bat away an offending tongue. With his boot, he rolled the frog's body down the hill and readied himself for the next one. It didn't take long, hopping over the rolling corpse to get close.

Sumaru managed to skewer one of it's legs as it landed, "Freeze!" Ice magic extended from his outstretched palm at the frog's face and covered it's eyes in a layer of frost. Then he swung the back end of his spear and bashed it's face in. A second frog went rolling down the hill.

Sumaru glanced at his hand and flexed his fingers. I don't know if I'll ever get used to being able to do real magic.

RIBBIT

Sumaru looked up in time to be bowled over by a flying frog. As they flew past the old man, the frog oppened it's mouth to swallow Sumaru whole and Sumaru drew his dagger. The frog's tongue snapped out to wrap around him, and Sumaru cleaved most of the way through it with the first swipe of his blade.

Then the frog hit the ground and it's behind folded over it's head, and Sumaru tumbled down the backside of the hill.

Sumaru felt his feet touch the ground, and pushed his legs. He twisted into the air in a clumsy cartwheel backflip and would've busted his face on the ground if not for the frog tongue that caught him out of the air and yanked him in another direction.

Sumaru struggled against the air pressure, but still managed to get his hand on the tongue that had him, "Spark!" Electricity streamed into the frog tongue and coursed through it and Sumaru. The tongue, successfully numbed, lost it's grip on him and wrapped around the frog's head. Sumaru flew over that frog and, though he was shocked, was able to sheath his dagger in time for a rough landing.

Sumaru cursed and swore as he bounced across the grass. He swore louder when he realized he'd lost his spear during that wild tumble.

RIBBIT RIBBIT RIBBIT

Great, I'm surrounded. Sumaru jumped to the side to avoid a frog tongue. Just what I didn't want to happen. A frog bent over to gulp him down and he pointed his hand at it, "Spark!" Smoke streamed from the frog's eyes, and Sumaru scrambled to avoid it's reactionary lunge. He stopped just in time to avoid having a giant foot crush his skull, "Freeze!" The frog's mucus crystallized and it's skin tore.

He ripped his dagger from it's scabbard and stabbed another frog that was trying to eat him. That frog reared back, and though he tried to hold on, Sumaru's hand slipped from the blade and he tumbled back to the ground.

RIBBIT

Sumaru looked up at the giant frog standing over him, blocking the sun with it's body. It hunched over him while he struggled to roll over. Move! His arms and legs shook, and his hand slipped in the dirt as he tried to push himself up from the ground. The frog's mouth was wide open and dripped slime all over Sumaru.

Sumaru shut his eyes and lifted his shaking hand. I'm running out of mana, but this is the best thing I've got! He shouted, "Spa-!" Before he could finish the incantation, something whizzed past Sumaru and then he was doused with warm, sticky, wetness. He opened his eyes, "Huh?"

The frog had been turned into a steaming pile of goo and his spear was stuck into the ground next to him. Though part of his brain wanted to process what had just happened, the other part kicked it between the legs and yelled, Screw that! It's time to strike back! Sumaru grabbed his spear out of the ground with a wild scream, "Aaaaah!"

Then he dove headfirst into the rest of the frogs, who seemed just as confused as to what had just happened.

When Sumaru trudged back up the hill he'd started from soaked to the bone with frog blood, the older man spared him a glance and took a long drink from his cup. He smacked his lips, "Have fun?"

"That wasn't fun at all." Sumaru looked at the man. He was still lounging back in his lawn chair, as if he hadn't moved the entire time.

"Huh, you could've fooled me with how you were swinging that thing you call a weapon." He sipped his drink, "Looked like playtime."

Sumaru leaned on his spear and yawned, "Look, thanks for the save, but are you just going to insult me? Who are you anyway?" He tried to wipe some of the blood off of his face, but just smeared more on, "What are you even doing here?"

"I heard about a fledgling Spellsword they call the Frog Slayer and I was mildly curious. So I came to look at what you could do." He swished his drink in the goblet, "As for who? Let's see..." The man took a long drink, "Haah, that's good stuff!" His face flushed slightly, and he grinned, "You can call me Masutaro, and you have peaked my interest!"

Sumaru blinked, "Eh?"

"You're rough around the edges, but your struggle resonated with something within me." He took another drink, "So, I lent you a hand!" He stood up and let out a bellowing laugh that echoed across the land, "Come with me, kid! I'll show you how to be a real Spell sword!"

"No thanks."

"You didn't even hesitate! That's what I like to see!" He gave Sumaru the thumbs up, "But it's too late for that. Too bad. I've been looking to take on a disciple for awhile now, and now that I've found someone like you..." He shrugged, "Well. Let's just say I'm not letting you get away. Now that I've saved your life, you're not allowed to refuse, kid."

"That's nice!" Sumaru was already halfway down the hill. If I can make it to the city, then I'll just report this guy as a stalker and let the authorities deal with him. So what if he saved my life? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who's meant to teach, or even be around children.

"I like your spunk, disciple of mine! You're so excited that you started training without me!" Sumaru's eyes bugged out, How'd he get right next to me?! Masutaro hadn't put down his goblet and even took a deep drink from it, letting the purple liquid splash on his face and neck from the movement, "But! You may want to stop for a moment!" Masutaro pointed and, out of reflex, Sumaru looked. Frogs were swarming all over the bottom of the hill, and more seemed to be coming out of nowhere. There was an incredible number of them. That's got to be all the frogs on this side of town! Sumaru stumbled, and Masutaro caught him by the back of his shirt, "For now, that's a few more frogs than you can handle. So! As you are now my cute little disciple, it is within my capacity as your teacher to lift you out of the mess you find yourself in." He swished his goblet again, and Sumaru was able to clearly see it refill itself with dark purple liquid. Masutaro continued, "Of course, you could always refuse me as your teacher. That would just mean I've already done my good deed for the day and that this-" He gestured down to the writhing mass of frogs, "Is none of my business."

Sumaru glanced at Masutaro. This guy is definitely some kind of weirdo. He looked down at the frogs. They were moving up the hill. But, that's a lot of frogs. Sumaru looked back at Masutaro, "You're definitely strong?"

It wasn't reassuring to see the older man grin with his entire face wet from what he'd been drinking. He laughed into the sky, "Yeahahahahaha! That's one way to put it!" He drained his drink in one gulp and stretched his arms. In his hands, the goblet glowed and stretched into a spear just as long and much more ornate than the one Sumaru owned. Masuta twirled the weapon above his head, "C'mon, you cute little clouds! Come to papa!" He pointed the tip of the spear toward the sky and Sumaru glanced up. There isn't a cloud in sight. Still, Masutaro shook his weapon in the air and yelled, "Call Lightning!"

For a moment the sky turned black, and then everything was white.

"Aah!" Sumaru clutched his face, "My eyes!"

"Oh yeah, you might not want to look up."

"You asshole!"

"Hey!" The anger in Masutaro's voice made Sumaru flinch, "The only name you get to call me is Masutaro." Then Sumaru heard a slurping sound and Masutaro sounded much happier, "Or teacher. That works too."

Sumaru felt himself be picked up by the back of his shirt and he struggled, "Hey, I can walk on my own two legs!"

"Now, now, my cute little disciple. It would be irresponsible of me to let you run off while you still can't see." Masutaro laughed out loud and slung Sumaru over his shoulder. He twirled his spear in one hand and it shrank into a ring on his finger, "Besides if I didn't hold on tightly, you might get lost! Wahahahahahaha!"

Sumaru grumbled. I'd love to get lost right now. This guy gives me a bad feeling.

"U-um..."

Sumaru held his adventurer card out to Boob Lady, "Is there an issue?"

She shook her head, "No, nothing's wrong. It's just," Her eyes took in Sumaru's blood soaked form, "16 frogs is a bit much," Her smile strained, "Don't you think?"

Sumaru shrugged, "There was nothing I could do about it."

"Uh huh."

Neither of them spoke while Boob Lady was filing the paperwork.

Sumaru fidgeted, "...Do I still get extra pay?"

Boob Lady sighed, "Yes. It's not as much as for the first five, but you do."

"That's a relief." Sumaru scratched his cheek and chuckled, "By the way. If anyone asks about a crater outside of town, it wasn't me."

That got a raised eyebrow from Boob Lady. She took her time to answer, "...Why would anyone suspect you?"

Sumaru hunched, "There's a lot of charred frogs." Then his face darkened, "Also, I may not come back for a while."

She blinked, "You're leaving?"

Sumaru lightly shook his head, "No, nothing like that." His shoulders fell, "I'm just gonna be occupied."

Boob Lady's face fell, "Oh." Then she looked up at Sumaru, "Wha-"

Sumaru's hand slammed on the desk, and he heaved a heavy breath. In a low voice, he said, "Don't ask." Then he grabbed his money and his card and walked out of the guild, leaving a bloody hand print embedded in the wood.

"You done already?" Masutaro was leaning on the stone wall, just outside of the door. He grinned, "I thought you'd have a few more sweet nothings for your honey."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, old man. And give me that." Sumaru snatched his bag out of Masutaro's hand and started walking, "Well, since I can't get rid of you anyway. What do you have in mind, oh infinitely wise self proclaimed teacher of mine?"

"Heh," Masutaro slung his own pack over his shoulder, "I know a place."

"Then lead the way, I'll be right behind you."

"Hah! You aren't fooling anyone with that!" Masutaro grabbed Sumaru's shoulder with a toothy grin, "As if I'd let my cute little disciple out of my sights for even a moment."

Together, the two of them left town.

Out Sick in This Wonderful World

Sumaru: Hey, you aren't the normal person.

?: I'm not.

Sumaru: Is she okay? She's here every day.

?: She's not.

Sumaru: She's not? Is there some kind trouble going on?

?: There isn't.

Sumaru: That's a relief. So what's up with her?

?: It's her...

Sumaru: It's her?!

?: Day off.

Sumaru: Day off?!

?: Yeah.

Sumaru: -_- Oh.

?: Need something?

Sumaru: No, I'm just gonna go.

?: T_T Ok.