So let's continue where we left off the last chapter.
Thanks to Loby's unwavering resolve and his efforts, the Crimson Demons managed to drive the Demon King Army back.
However, it seems like the Phoenix-plosion Loby cast just then have some sort of adverse effects, considering Loby's anguish cries echoed through my communication device.
At any rate, I headed towards his direction and go check on him.
Oh and by the way, in case you are wondering, the Fire Phoenix flew back to where I was and turned back into the Fire Core before anyone can notice.
Even though it was pretty pointless if I just move from my hiding spot and go check on Loby.
But then again, I had already take a look at Loby.
"Are you OK? I heard you screaming. What happened to you-"
"My staff... My staff is-!" Loby said as he showed me his staff, which was broken into halves at the moment.
I whacked him in the head wordlessly.
On our way back to the Capital...
"It wasn't the Demon King's Army, huh...?" I muttered softly to myself.
"Onii-chan? What's the matter?" Iris asked me with a touch of concern in her voice.
"Nothing. Don't worry about me." I gave Iris a smile as I continued contemplating about the true identity of the group responsible for the damaged village of the Crimson Demons.
The night before we left the Crimson Demon Village...
"Sierra, are you there?" I called Saki through my communication device.
"Sierra copy. What can I do for you, Commander Zulu?" Sure enough, Saki responded instantly.
"Iris and the others managed to repel an unknown group before they can obliterate the Crimson Demon Village completely. Can you help me take a look into the identity of the group? I don't really buy into the theory of that group being a special unit among the ranks of the Demon King's Army."
"Hmm... May I ask what species did the group consist?"
"I took a look at the battlefield with the scope of my magic rifle back then and found that the group mainly comprise of goblins and kobolds. I know that's normal as the Demon King Army literally has a large number of them. However... I found that there were humanoid creatures hidden within the group."
"Humanoid creatures?"
"Exactly. They have grey skin with purple eyes that glow in an eerie way. Not to mention that their hair colors were darkened versions of the original colors, or at least I think so. I have my doubts upon this issue, considering my sources told me that nothing was known about them. I have sufficient reasons to believe that the group belonged to the Cult."
"I will see what I can gather from my end. I will inform you when I find something new."
"Please do."
But still, that wasn't just any common undead. Nor those guys were any high-ranked undead like liches, vampires or devils.
What are they? They were weaker than the likes of liches and other high-ranked undead, yet they were leagues ahead of the common undead.
Even though those humanoid creatures were weaker than the vampires and the like, the sheer number of them could make up of that lack of power.
If their numbers kept on increasing, there is a huge likelihood that the Belzerg Kingdom may fall and its civilians leading hard lives.
But why am I thinking about them? I mean, why would I care for people who hate me? There must be something wrong about me.
To come think of it, why did I choose to reincarnate into this world?
Seriously, why?
I am so going to think about that later on.
A few moments later, back in the Royal Castle...
"Beldia was defeated in Axel, the Town of Beginners? How embarrassing. How embarrassing!" I muttered as I read the newspaper.
Maybe I should go to Axel and go see that party myself. It must be pretty badass, considering the fact they defeated the Dullahan.
Since Iris was having lessons today, Karu was wandering around outside, Loby was having some fun time with his family in the Crimson Demon Village... Maybe I should go alone once in a while.
After all, I could care less about people if I go without company. Not to mention, I can protect myself, as I have the Core System with me.
"Alright then, let's-"
"What are you doing?" A blonde girl with a lavender combat outfit stopped me.
As you may have expected, the girl who stopped me nonetheless Alicia from the Astroraia House.
"Nothing special."
"You liar. Why would you use Teleport if you have some mundane tasks?"
"Alright fine, if that could shut you up, I am going to Axel to collect some information about the party who defeated the Dullahan, Beldia."
"Collect the information for what?"
"For what...? Um, I didn't think that far ahead..."
"What?" I asked Alicia as I stared at her with a blank expression.
"You... you truly are the lowest scum in history... You stalker..."
"What the hell, woman?! What stalker?" I raised my hands in exasperation.
"Anyway, I am just curious about the party who defeated Beldia, who claimed to be the 'Hero Slayer'."
"Perfect! I am going to tag along as well and you can't refuse!" Alicia locked arms with me as she eyed a person who was running towards us.
"What the-"
"Hurry up!" Alicia looked at me with desperate eyes.
"-Teleport!"
And then, we arrived at Axel, the Town of Beginners via Teleport.
At Axel...
"Seriously, what's the big idea? Who's that guy?" I asked a bunch of questions before I noticed Alicia put her hands on her head.
"Ah shut up for a sec!"
"Well, let's go to the Adventurers' Guild and collect some information, shall we?"
A few moments later, at the Adventurers' Guild...
"Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild! I am Luna, the Guild Receptionist. How can I help you?" A girl with blonde short hair wearing the standard Guild Staff uniform greeted us cordially.
Her eyes were golden-yellow, if I really have use a trope to describe this, it probably would be "the Curtains Match the Windows", not that most of you would get it anyway.
Alicia on the other hand, was looking at the adventurers who were drinking at the moment.
"Well-"
"Hey Luna, I have something to ask you." a blonde guy with red eyes and wearing a red outfit interrupted us.
By the way, I couldn't remember what he said as he talked a bunch of random stuff, so it is safe to assume that he wasn't sober back then.
Judging from his flushed cheeks and that somewhat incoherent speech, I guess that guy was drunk.
"Dust-san, if you speak in such a vulgar manner to an employee of the Adventurers' Guild, an appropriate penalty will be imposed upon you. You already tend to quarrel with the new adventurers, and have caused various disagreeable incidents. Therefore, if this continues, I may be forced to take some measures against you. Not to mention, I am currently talking to these two adventurers at this moment." Luna warned Dust, the delinquent adventurer, or at least hearing from Luna.
"Oh? You also have a nice body as well. Would you mind giving Lynn some advice?" Dust turned Alicia as he was ogling all over her.
"Sorry sir, but please leave us alone." I stepped in between them as Alicia hid behind my back in embarrassment.
"What the hell are you? I am asking this beautiful young lady over here." Dust attempted to push me aside, but failed.
"Please stop harassing her any further. Or you may feel extreme pain."
"By what?"
"Me."
Dust tried to throw a straight punch, but I judo-throw him onto the ground and knocked him out before he landed the punch.
And then we left a stunned Luna and a knocked out Dust behind and went to a table.
"Excuse me, are the seats occupied?" I asked the guy with a mohawk, a mustache and a beard, dressed in an attire which consists of a pair of green pants, white bracers, rose colored suspenders, a set of shoulders and metal-plated shoes.
"No, have a seat." The man answered in a deep voice.
We thanked that person and sat, then ordered some food afterwards.
"Uh, sir. I would like to ask a few things."
"Yes?" The man turned his attention onto us.
"The first thing I would like to ask is about the walls of Axel. Why was it damaged? The newspaper didn't write anything about the reason for it being damaged..."
"The town walls were damaged due to the battle between the undead legion led by Beldia the Dullahan, one of the Demon King Generals and the Axel Adventurers' Guild."
"..."
"Is there something wrong?"
"Please fill me in with the details."
A few moments later...
"So... Who defeated Beldia?" I asked the ruffian, or least he called himself that.
The ruffian glanced at the direction of a young man.
The young man had short and slightly spiky chestnut-brown hair and green eyes. He wore a gold-trimmed green mantle, white shirt, pants, and leather boots.
He walked towards the Guild Receptionist.
Then I used the Lip Reading skill and hear out the conversation.
"Eh, well… Satou Kazuma-san, correct? We have been expecting you."
So that guy is called Satou Kazuma, huh? But he looked a bit scrawny though...
Well, considering he is the leader of the party which defeated a Demon King General, I guess I shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
"… Actually… It's like this. The guild has decided to present a special reward for your party."
"Huh, why just us?"
"Hey, MVP! If it wasn't for you guys, there's no way we could have beaten that Dullahan!"
In response to that, the drunk adventurers agreed with enthusiasm.
The counter lady cleared her throat and announced.
"Ahem– To honor Satou Kazuma and his party's victory over the Demon King's General, Beldia… The Adventurers' Guild will give them a reward of 300 million eris."
The entire Adventurers' Guild went silent after hearing the announcement.
Well, kudos for them taking out the Demon King General, albeit the fact that I would like to take that Dullahan on one by one.
"Hey, 300 million, it's your treat Kazuma–!"
"Woah–! Kazuma-sama, treat us! Treat us–!"
The adventurers were on cloud nine at that moment.
"Eh, things are like this. Because of Kazuma's party… Which is to say, Aqua-san's flood, the buildings around the town were washed away and damaged like a catastrophic disaster… But taking into consideration the merit of defeating a boss of the Demon King, the town won't ask for full compensation, just a part of it… That's how it is…"
After making this announcement, the Guild Receptionist lady slowly averted her gaze and left the counter in a hurry.
Uh... I will leave a F here.
"Aqua...? Aqua? Who is Aqua?" I mumbled as I dived into my sea of thoughts and memories, trying to remember who Aqua was.
"What's wrong?"
"The name 'Aqua' sounds extremely familiar to me. Yet... I don't think I remember who she is."
"Is that so..."
"Ah!" Alicia yelped with a wide-eyed expression.
"What?"
"I recognize that person!" Alicia pointed at the blonde hair girl who was clad in black, white, and yellow armor, with a metal shoulder plate on her left side, and a wing-like cloth perched upon her right shoulder.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah! That person is..."
"Hold up, I didn't ask you to tell me who she is. Even though you may tell me the details later on." I told Alicia with a blank expression.
"Alright then. Let's go back-"
"You know what? I would like to stay here for a few days."
A few hours later...
Alicia and I walked around the town after we rent a room in the tavern.
"So, who is she?" I asked Alicia out of the blue.
"Pardon me?" Alicia looked at me with a "Are you OK" look.
"You said you know that person in yellow before. Who is she?"
"Right! That girl is Dustiness Ford Lalatina. The Dustiness House is known as 'the Favored Sword of the Kingdom'. *5 minutes of Alicia introducing the Dustiness House*"
Ah shit I did not think this through!
"Wait, what's her first name again?" I asked.
"Lalatina."
Pfft.
Unable to take the girl's name seriously, I couldn't hold back my laughter.
"What?"
"Nothing. I think Lalatina... Pfft... is a pretty uh, unique name."
"Anyway, let's go." I continued as we headed towards the Adventurers' Guild.
One boring hour later...
"Guardian! Guardian-san!" Alicia cried out to me as she got chased by a group of undead monsters.
So back at the Adventurers' Guild, we (or rather, Alicia) picked a quest.
And somehow she picked a quest for the extermination of a large amount of undead monsters.
She gave a challenging look as she picked the quest, probably because she wants to have a contest or something like that.
As a result, I was sparring with an undead warrior while Alicia on the other hand, was being chased down by about sixty six undead monsters.
"What? I am busy on my end here!"
"No you are not! Help me!"
Sigh.
I did a Chuck Norris Roundhouse Kick on the undead warrior and headed towards Alicia's way.
"Core change, Light Pegasus!" I muttered as the jacket extended into a blue trenchcoat and the sword became a bit bigger.
The blue glow emitted from the blade was getting brighter gradually as I charged towards the large group of undead.
"Let's go!"
I dismembered a few undead adventurers as I used the skill Whirlwind Flash Sword.
"Can you still fight? I don't want to clean up the mess you made here all by myself."
"What did you say?! Very well, I will show you what a Rune Knight is capable of!"
"Oho. That's the spirit." I responded as I stabbed my sword into the ground.
Then, I channeled my mana through the sword.
"Rest in peace, restless souls..." I mumbled as the undead adventurers had me surrounded and closing in.
'Holy Repulsion.' I muttered as I released the magic stored within the sword and into the ground.
The undead adventurers were purified at the moment they were in contact with the light magic released.
"Well, that was kinda fun." I said as I was lying on the ground.
"Uh, why do I heard frogs croaking?" Alicia asked as she rose and looked into the distance.
And toad-shaped silhouettes appeared and got bigger as time passed.
"This is bad... Hm? Since when did it get foggy here?"
I don't think the fog was natural, considering the fact the lingering scent in the air just gave it away.
The Giant Toads went in a different direction.
But still, this ain't something that I can handle, at least not in a somewhat exhausted state, to say the least.
At any rate, the mist dissipated after a few minutes.
The Giant Toads fell down at a distance. However, they didn't have any apparent fatal wounds.
I am going to look into that later on.
During our way back to the Adventurers' Guild...
"Hey you! What's your name?" A few drunk thugs yelled and pointed at us, who just reached the gate at that moment.
Shit.
What name should I use?
"My name... is Pootis Spencer."
Maybe I should this as an alias. I found it funny and cool at the same time. *snickers*
But they were still looking for a fight, huh?
"Now, I wouldn't want to resort to force, but I will do what I must." I warned as I tried to dodge the attacks of the drunk delinquents.
Considering I was heavily outnumbered back in that moment, I activated the Light Core Outfit silently.
The blue jacket extended into a blue trenchcoat and the sword got a bit bigger.
I took a step back and pulled out my sword.
Then, I channeled my mana into the sword, which emitted a blue glow.
The delinquents had wide-eyed expressions, which was followed up by smug expressions.
"Are you mocking me? Fighting us with a toy sword?"
"Save these words when you actually manage to kick my ass."
The delinquents drew their weapons with fierce expressions.
"Pootis Spencer, is it? I have waited this for a long time!" One of the delinquents shouted with a crazy grin on his face.
"Wait, what?"
I took a closer look at the guy who spoke, and his clothes seemed familiar.
The guy wore a red jacket and black shirt, brown leather pants and boots.
"Oh... It's you." I said with a slightly stunned expression.
"You dummkopf. Why would you do this again when you finally have a chance to start over and do a heel-face turn?" I asked as I knocked his accomplices out of cold with the hilt of my sword and elbow strikes.
"Who are you?! You look awfully similar to the guy who did a number on me a few months ago!" The delinquent yelled furiously as he swung his club.
"Didn't I told you already? My name... is Pootis Spencer!" I did Attitude Adjustment (aka STFU), a signature move from a certain famous wrestler as his theme, the New Titantron 2012 plays in the background.
I guess if Eris was looking at us in the heavens, she would probably facepalm herself due to the fact how stupid the scene looked.
But screw that, I actually enjoyed that. I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to mess around once in a while.
Anyway, after dealing with the nuisance made by some random people, we headed back to the Adventurers' Guild and collect our reward.
"So... How long are we going to stay here?" Alicia asked me with a puzzled look.
"Well... Maybe a week or more? I don't know. But I will come back from time to time to check on Kazuma-san, that's for sure." I answered with a slight uncertainty in my voice. Considering the fact how that man and that team of his defeated a tough opponent using somewhat dumb methods, I think I would watch his career with great interest.
Sometime later at the Adventurers' Guild in Axel...
"… Do you know why I crave for money so badly?" The man asked in a slightly gloomy tone.
"The elegant and wonderful me couldn't possibly understand what a former hikikomori like you is thinking about. You're after the funds you need to stay a hikikomori forever, isn't that it?" The blue haired girl (Aqua-san, was it?), well, um... She said in a way belittling the man and putting herself on her high horse.
"It's debt."
When Aqua heard what the man said, she trembled and averted her gaze.
"It's the debt, all right! Because of the money you owe, the reward from that quest was completely gone! My brows were frozen when I woke up in the stables this morning! The other adventurers are already renting rooms in the tavern to sleep! If we keep sleeping in the stables this winter, we'll freeze to death! Get a grip, now is not the time to say stupid things like, 'I'll return victoriously after defeating the Demon King'!" The man continued in a more pissed tone.
Kazuma slammed his hand on the table as he lectured Aqua who averted her eyes and cupped her ears.
– In this world, there were people known as adventurers.
They fought monsters that threatened the lives of people night and day, and preoccupied themselves day by day without worrying about the next.
Even adventurers who weren't known for their long-term planning mulled their time away in the inn during the winter.
This was because the weak monsters had all hibernated; only the dangerous creatures were still active.
We were located at the town where novice adventurers congregated, Axel.
For adventurers who were just slightly stronger than regular people, taking up quests during the winter was suicidal.
At this moment, Aqua banged on the table and rebuked Kazuma.
"That couldn't be helped! If not for my superb performance, this town would've been destroyed! How unreasonable to just throw the debt at us without a word of thanks! This is ridiculous! I want to complain to the counter staff!" Aqua attempted to head towards the Receptionist Table and gave the Guild staff a piece of her mind.
"Hey, stop that, don't trouble the counter lady…! In the end, we did receive a large reward… It was just negated by the debts. Destroying a part of town wasn't something that could be ignored." Kazuma held Aqua back to do damage control.
By the way, is this the Aqua I know? I mean it's mission impossible for anyone not to recognize her, considering her blue hair really stands out in the crowd. But her demeanor was the exact opposite of the impression I had when we first met.
Well, I guess that's the Aqua that sent me down to this world. Not that I would care anyway, since I wouldn't sweat over the small details that frequently.
But I am rather interested in how did that guy managed to take a goddess with him.
I mean, he can't do that...! Shoot him... or something.
Forget it, that wasn't my concern no matter how I look at it.
Matter of fact, I suppose that's not my business. So I will just leave this aside.
Maybe I should go take a quest for now. I can't let my weapons rust like that, can I?
A few moments later...
'Flash Fire Combo Slash!' I cut a few rookie killers and the groups of goblins down with my slash blades.
"Phew! What a day. I should have some fun for-"
Before I could finish, my stomach was crying out of food as I have depleted my mana supply once again.
"Oh boy... Looks like I'm hungry again. Maybe I should cook some monsters over there-"
The atmosphere turned still, as if the time itself was stopped.
And judging from that, there is only one monster I know that has the ability to do so.
To avoid getting my head sliced off, I did a front flip to dodge the anticipated attack and to take a look of the monster that was about to attack me.
Just as I expected, a pale blue katana was planted at where I was standing at a few seconds ago.
A pale blue samurai appeared with white mist breathed out of the helmet.
"You know that I didn't do that on purpose, right...?" I spoke to the Winter Shogun with slight hesitation to confirm whether or not he got my message.
It didn't take long for the Winter Shogun to respond by attacking me anyway.
I dodged the attack, pulled out my nodachi and made a fighting stance to face the monster that was standing in front of me.
'Fkin reincarnated NEETs.' I cursed silently.
Meanwhile...
"Achoo!" Kazuma sneezed in the stables.
"Oh! Someone must be talking about you, like how you are a NEET and such." Aqua made fun of Kazuma.
Seriously, I really want to kick their asses, but that's most likely to be impossible, due to the fact either they were all dropped dead or their cheat items could be overpowered to a certain extent that it would the other way around, where I would probably get my ass kicked.
I mean, why the heck would you create an extremely overpowered monster here? For what? Let's be honest, those people could have gone up to the upper society and can live rather comfy lives in an extremely short time with those overpowered items and cheat powers.
The Winter Shogun took advantage of me spacing out and knocked the nodachi out of my hand.
As a response, I drew my slash blades and channel my mana into them.
The Winter Shogun took a few steps back as he eyed the slash blades, which emitted an orange-red glow on the edges.
He probably felt the heat from the slash blades and got a bit shocked.
Then I stabbed the slash blades in the ice and did a back flip to approach my nodachi.
The Winter Shogun covered his ears as the heat-revved blades made a high-pitched sound when they were planted into the ice.
But I didn't really expect that either. It was a physics thing, was it?
Anyway, I sheathed the slash blades and retrieved the nodachi.
The Winter Shogun lunged at me as I stabbed my weapons into the ice once again.
"I ain't going to waste my time on you! Wildfire!" I channeled my mana into the weapons and created a large ring of fire.
I then escaped while the Winter Shogun was too busy tanking the damage from Wildfire.
Back in the Adventurers' Guild...
I was enjoying my dinner before my communication device rang.
"Commander Zulu, are you there?" Saki's voice spoke through the communication device.
"Yes I am. How's the progress?" I replied.
"I am currently doing everything I could to investigate the identity of those grey humanoid creatures. But please hurry back to the capital!" Saki warned me.
As a result, after I finished my dinner and heeded Saki's warning and returned back to the capital.
At the capital...
"Oh crap..." I muttered under my breath as chaos unfolded before my eyes.