A Certain Troublesome Journey
There were various quests posted on the guild's board. Some involved monster hunting, while others involved gathering herbs or even investigating strange places. There were also a few rather simple ones, like babysitting or doing chores. After the three had completed multiple quests, their rank had increased since the past few days. And so, their cards had become purple, which signified that they were no longer mere Beginners. Basically, that meant Accelerator and the twins could accept higher level requests. they were no longer restricted to Black quests, since they could do Purple ones as well. The girls also learned a thing about Accelerator, the fact that he's pretty much untouchable just puts the girls at ease since their chance at survival when doing harder quest is likely to be higher. But even so, they still need to be careful since Accelerator can't always be there for the twins. And so today, the trio decided to look for mid tier quests to do.
"Northern... ruins... hunting quest... Mega... Slimes?"
Accelerator reads one of the text on the purple quest listings. With Linze's help, Accelerator has been learning how to read for the past few days. And thanks to his abnormally strong memory, he's now able to read most texts rather easily. And so Accelerator decides to try and read one of the quests that a lot of people have been ignoring lately, Slime Quests. The reward for the quest is eight silver coins, a rather fine pay actually. Which is why he's confused about the fact that no one wants to do the quest at all. But when he decides to ask about it…
"Hey what about this one?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!." The girls refused in unison.
"Those things dissolve clothes, y'know? We're definitely not going anywhere near them!" Elze basically barked at him.
"Even if you're untouchable, we're not! So please choose a different quest…" even the usually quiet and obedient Linze protested. Accelerator sighed as he tried to find a better decent but also a good paying quest to do.
"How about this instead? A request to deliver a letter to the capital. Travel expenses covered... The reward is seven silver coins..."
"Seven silver... we can't split that evenly between us." Elze couldn't seem to agree with this quest as well.
'God dammit this woman is a pain in the ass…' grumbled Accelerator
"Well, we can just spend the leftover amount on something for all three of us" Linze then commented a rather good idea. After hearing this from her sister, Elze seemed to finally agree.
"How long does it take to get to the capital from here?"
"Hm... about five days by carriage, I guess?" This time, it was Elze who replied.
'That's quite a long way off... The mission is looking to be my first long journey since I arrived in this world. As much as it pains me to say it… I still have things I have yet to know about this world so I suppose this would be a great opportunity'
"Okay, let's go for this one" Accelerator commented shortly as he ripped the request notice making the twins confused a bit.
"Eh? That fast? But won't it be a little difficult?" Linze seems to question his intention
"Yeah! We've also just move here to this city, why are we going on a trip so soon?" Elze continued. Accelerator then stopped walking, he didn't even turn but he just simply said a short comment.
"Need I remind you who was it that spent our savings on random shopping and expensive foods?" the twins both fell silent as they start fidgeting while looking at each other.
"We'll be going, I've still got some cash to spare so we should be fine. Plus it says here that the travel expenses are covered"
"Well, I guess you're right…" Elze sighed as she finally gives up, she really can't win an argument with Accelerator.
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After leaving the guild, Accelerator and the others made their way to what seemed to be a prosperous shopping district with many stores all lined up in a row. After walking around for a while, they apparently stumbled upon the shop that matched the description on the quest paper. The store's signboard sported a needle and thread design and it also reads FASHION KING ZANAC.
"Who's the idiot that thought about such a lame name?" Elze couldn't help but snicker at Accelerators blatant comment, Linze felt kind of bad for also laughing at it.
Thinking they shouldn't be wasting too much time on commenting about the store's lame name, they all decided to enter the Shop. A small bell ringed as they entered the shop, signaling a customer had arrived. Not long after, a person came out to greet the group of three.
"Welcome! Oh welcome! How may I Zanac help you to find the stylish clothes that you seek?"
The man is an older gentleman with gray hair and a splendid mustache. He wore a stylish scarf and mantle, and a rose brooch shone on his chest. He walked towards the twin sisters examining their attires as if he was a true professional in style. The girls somewhat felt uncomfortable with the gaze but his attention was soon directed towards Accelerator.
"Wh-Where in the world did you get these clothes?!" Zanacs eyes are currently focused on to Accelerator, His attire is something he has never seen before.
"Hah?" Accelerator was not interested in getting involved with the conversation but his abnormal set of clothes really caught the attention of Zanac the stylist.
"I've never seen a design such as this. And the way this was sewn... How could this have been made...? Hrmm..." Zanac went deep in thought while Accelerator is currently pissed at him for side tracking.
The girls are actually kind of curious about where he got those weird set of clothes as well. Being the only one who's mind is still set on what's right, Accelerator decides to get to the point.
"We're not here for clothes shopping remember? We're here for the quest" Accelerator said while showing the request paper.
"Oh! So you're from the guild I see" The group then nodded all together.
"It's a shame honestly, I for one am very interested in the young boys fashion design! And you two girls have such a cute face that would really fit my best sets of clothes. If only the circumstances were a little different"
"Yeah, too bad" Accelerator replied, being sarcastic. Seeing that the group would not want to waste their time, Zanac decides to get to the point and explain to them what they needed to do.
"Well then! For this job, I would like you to deliver a letter to Viscount Swordrick in the capital. If you mention my name, he should know what it's about. I would also like you to return with a response from the viscount."
"Is this an urgent matter?" Accelerator asked
"I Wouldn't exactly call it urgent, but it'd be problematic if you left it too long." Zanac said that, then took the letter out of a small tube and placed it on the table. It was sealed with something like wax and bore some strange insignia.
"Also, here are your travel expenses. I might have included a little bit too much, but you don't have to return what's left over. You may use the spare change to go sightseeing around the capital, if you'd like!"
"Thank you very much!" The twins said it in a unison.
The girls actually wanted to take a more look on some of the fashion clothes Zanac has but Accelerator was not happy about it so he decided to drag the two of them forcibly. Now that they have received the letter and the money for travel expenses, the three set right out to prepare for their journey. Accelerator procured a carriage, Linze went out to buy food for the trip, and Elze returned to the inn to retrieve any items they might need along the way.
An hour later, their preparations were complete, so they set off for the capital."
Accelerator and the others were riding in a rental carriage, but it was really more like a cart than anything else since it didn't even have a roof. The girls thought about asking Accelerator to just fly them there so they can save a lot of money for travel expenses and fully use it to go sightseeing in the capital. Unfortunately, the calculations needed for a long travel flight isn't really that simple and Accelerator wouldn't want to carry too much luggage so he prefers to use The cart in the end. The girls were a bit disappointed since they can't see the amazing view of the sky like before if they were to ride on a cart but then they thought it's not really that bad after all so they decided to went along with it
Accelerator obviously can't control the horses, but luckily the twins were experts. They told him that they had been around horses from a young age because one of their relatives owned a farm. As a result, the two girls took turns sitting in the driver's seat While Accelerator just stayed in the cart, allowing himself to be rocked about the whole time.
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After a long road of traveling, they have left Reflet behind and passed straight through the next town over, a place called Nolan. After that, it wasn't long before the group arrived in the town of Amanesque, making it there just before the sun had begun to set. The girls figured that they should spend a night at the inn there, Accelerator simply went along with the idea.
With that settled, The group went and found an inn before the sun went down completely. They took the opportunity to stay in a slightly more upper-class place than the Silver Moon. The girls took a double room to themselves, while Accelerator rented a smaller single room.
With their lodging sorted out and cart tied up, they went out to look for dinner.
"The man at the inn told me that they made great noodles around these parts." Elze looked confused as she looked over the shops around her
"Sis, are you sure you're not mistaken? You're pretty bad with mapping at times after all" Linze seems more worried about her sister.
They have been walking around the area for 30 minutes right now, Elze is persistent in wanting to try out the noodles they have here. Both Accelerator and Linze has to deal with this persistent girl over here.
'This is getting nowhere…' Accelerator sighed, he decides to split from the girls and wondered along the streets to look for something decent to eat.
While walking around town, Accelerator has been inspecting the surroundings. Not much is different here than it is in Reflet. After walking around for a while, Accelerator is starting to get bored since nothing seems to interest him the slightest. When suddenly, he noticed a scuffle taking place nearby. A bunch of onlookers had gathered around, so it seemed like there was quite the ruckus. Having nothing better to do, he decides to go check it out. What he found was a foreign-looking girl surrounded by several men. Around ten men surrounded the girl, each with a dangerous look in their eyes. Some of them had already drawn their swords and knives. But what really caught his attention was the girl's clothes.
The girl wore a bright pink kimono with a dark blue hakama, white split-toe socks, and a pair of sandals with black geta straps. A pair of daisho blades hung from around her waist. Her long, flowing black hair was tied up into a ponytail and was cut with a straight fringe that leveled just above her eyebrows. Her ponytail was also cut straight across at its end, ending just above her shoulders. The simple little hairpin she wore suited her well. No matter how you look at it, These are Japanese clothes and some that he actually found people wearing back in Academy City.
"We're here to show our thanks for that little incident earlier, girlie!" One of the men decides to speak.
"...Whatever might ye mean? I've no recollection of any such thing, I don't." The girl replied coldly.
'What's up with those Anime like dialogue?'
"Quit playin' dumb! Don't think you can get off safe after doin' a number on our buddies like that!" One of the other men raised his voice.
"...Aah, you must be the companions of those ruffians I handed over to the town guard earlier today. That incident was entirely their fault, verily. They should not have been going around drunkenly flaunting violence in the middle of the day, indeed."
"Shut yer trap! Grab her!" The men charged all at once, as if his words were the signal they were waiting for."
The samurai girl nimbly dodged every single one of their attacks before grabbing one man by the arm, swiveling around, and throwing him. The man fainted in agony as his back slammed straight into the ground.
She moved in step with her opponent, broke his posture, and then threw him.
'What Is this? I might not know much about fighting styles but I do know that those are at least aikido or juijitsu signature moves…'
The girl tossed a second man down, then a third, and then staggered a bit. Her movements had grown somewhat sluggish.
Spotting an opportunity, one man approached her from behind to attack her with his sword. In a split second before the sword could hit the girl, the sword rebounded and a cracking sound could be heard.
"Oi oi… you guys should keep your school festivals private, Or else you'll run the risk of having someone like me coming along!" In that split second, Accelerator dahsed towards the girl reflecting the sword that was about to hit her.
The samurai girl was surprised by the sudden new challenger who had joined the fray, but she seemed to have judged that Accelerator wasn't an enemy, so she returned her attention to those before her.
"Ugh… my arm!" The previous guy was squirming in agony over his arm, The force from the rebounded attack had broken his own wrist. Accelerator seeing this decides to walk to him calmly with a devilish grin on his face.
"Oh geez quit being such a baby, You picked a fight with a girl in a one vs ten battle and you're crying this much over a broken arm? What a loser…" Accelerator taunted
The other guys, hearing this provoked them. They decided to move all together to gank him. Accelerator was just standing there waiting for his passive reflection to do the numbers on the enemies but just then. A familiar long silver haired girl with enormous gauntlets had joined the fray.
"Aah, geez, why do you always have to stick your nose where it doesn't belong?!" Elze let out a bemused comment as she joined the fray with a swift but heavy gauntlet-clad punch, but for all her complaining, she sure was smiling a lot.
Moving quickly, she punched the two guys that was coming towards Accelerator. The rest just got reflected by his passive reflection and got broken bones as well. It didn't take long before all the men were flat on the ground... half of them beaten into the dirt by Elze while Accelerator just stood there clearly unamused with the fact that she took away his fun. Not long after, the town guards finally arrived. The four then left the rest to them and left that area of town.
"Truly, I am in your debt. My name is Kokonoe Yae. Ah yes, Yae is my given name and Kokonoe is my family name, it is." The samurai girl, Kokonoe Yae, introduced herself and bowed her head deeply.
"Oh, are you from Eashen?" Elze asked
"Indeed, I am. I have come here from Oedo, I have." Her way of talking is as unique as always.
'So she's from Eashen huh… Oedo? Isn't that the old name for Tokyo? Eashen is seriously that similar to Japan?'
"You seemed a bit unsteady on your feet in that fight back there. You're not hurt anywhere, are you?" Accelerator decides to butt in on the conversation
The girls seeing this gave Accelerator a suspicious look. He was never interested in anything besides quests, Accelerator could definitely feel their uneasy gazes but decides to shrug it off. The fact that this girl is from Eashen interests him, He always wanted to look more into this place called Eashen.
"No, I am unscathed, I am. However... as much as it shames me to admit, I have dropped my traveling funds. Therefore..." Grrrrooowwwwllll~
As if on cue, Yae's stomach let out a massive rumble. Her face turned beet red almost immediately and she shamefully curled her shoulders inward.
And so, the starving samurai joined the party.
Yes I know this chapter is pretty short compared to the other ones, I decided to keep the chapters shorter since it makes it easier for me to write. Plus, I can update much faster by doing this so I'd say it's a win win for everyone. Yep, This fic is not dead yet! I just got off from a long break of having a heart broken… welp, y'know how it goes. But BOI am I back! And watching the new Accelerator anime sure gave me some more motivations in writing this fic! Well that's all I can say, see you on the next chapter everyone! Oh, and please comment on what you think about this chapter :'3
A little note about how Yae talks. The "It is, I have, I don't" on every one of her last sentences are meant to be her signature "de gozaru" word, it's similar to naruto's "Dattebayo" which doesn't really mean anything but a stylish way to end a word. Welp, it's hard to explain but I hope you get the point ^_^"