Chapter 2: West Wind Brigade
Akira pumps her fists in the air. "Awesome, Sirius-nee!" Ryuuta touches my head with his and I pat him.
Minori and Tohya look at me with gaping mouths. Words fail to form when Minori tries to say something. Tohya jumps around with excitement. "That is so awesome, Sirius-san! You have to teach me how to become a Samurai as powerful as you!"
"Is that so?" I sheepishly rub my head. I blush at his compliment. I am not as great as they think I am. However, Ryuuta grunts in agreement with Tohya. He reminds me I haven't properly introduced my dragon to them. "Minori, Tohya, this is Ryuuta," I say. Ryuuta lowers his head as a greeting. "He's a dragon that I got from a quest called 'Protect the Dragon Mother'. Actually he is a dragon egg, but I have to acquire the Dragon Slayer status to hatch it so I went on killing raid-rank dragons. Then it hatched."
The siblings stare at me with awe. I think I'm becoming a role model for them.
"But she can't do it alone of course," Akira adds. "She needs another Level 90 player to help her hatch the egg by using their combined MPs. So Ryuuta doesn't only have a mother. He has a father too."
I stare at Akira, who is babbling too much information. The siblings look sort of confused. Akira ignores my stare and goes on. "Ryuuta's father is none other than the Sword Saint, the guild master of West Wind Brigade, Soujirou Seta!"
Minori and Tohya listen with enthusiasm as Akira continues her storytelling. I resist the urge to strangle her.
"Sirius-nee and Soujirou-san has known each other for a long time, since they are just Level 40 rookies. Since then, they've been travelling with each other, fighting with each other and level-up with each other. They are inseparable life partners!"
I continue to stare at her with disbelief. Ryuuta wags his tail when he hears Souji's name.
"And they join Debauchery Tea Party together. Then they went on the quest together and acquired Ryuuta's egg. But Soujirou-san has already a subclass, so Sirius is the only one who can obtain the Dragon Slayer title. So they went to kill 70 raid-rank dragons and Sirius finally became a Dragon Slayer. Then they hatched Ryuuta together with all their MP and tada! Ryuuta was hatched!" Akira says, looking at me with pure admiration. "This is Ryuuta's life story!" Ryuuta growls in agreement.
"However…" Akira makes a dramatic pause. I know where this is going. "Ryuuta's life story is just a tiny element that impels the main story forward!"
"What's the main story?" Tohya asks, completely absorbed into Akira's storytelling.
Akira rubs her chin. She gives me a look that I don't like. She's gonna exaggerate things again.
"It is the love story—" her arms flail in the air. Ryuuta spreads his wings to follow her movement. "—Of Sirius-nee and Soujirou-sa—" I clamp her mouth before she spills too much. She struggles to break free from my clutch but I give a devastating glare. She stops and slump lifelessly to the ground. Pouting, she looks up at me, using her puppy eyes to soften me. "I am just telling the truth."
"Fabricated and exaggerated truth that becomes a big damn lie. Do you want me to feed you to the goblins? I'd be glad to so that I can check whether if you revive at the cathedral later."
She looks down at the ground, playing with the stones. "It's gonna happen sooner or later. What I was saying is a divination that will surely happen in the future. I mean, sometimes he is just so smitten with you and you enjoy having him around."
"You're confusing the rookies."
Akira looks at Minori and Tohya, who seem to be disoriented by us. I sigh. Then something growls. It isn't Ryuuta.
Tohya clutches his stomach. His face is a red blush. "Sorry… I think I'm hungry from all the commotion going on."
"I'll make you some food," Minori says as a burger appears in her hand. Before we can stop him, Tohya has grabbed the burger and takes a large bite from it. Then his face turns completely white. He turns to Minori, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Minori, w-what is this?"
"Eh?"
"Umm… about food," I speak up. They turn their attention to me. "Everything tastes like soggy cardboard, no matter what kind of food you create."
They look at me like I am crazy, their pupils dilated. Then they look back at the burger Tohya is holding. The siblings are trying to accept the horrible truth but it is very hard to swallow. "EH?!"
"W-why?" Tohya asks with pleading eyes. He has completely lost his appetite.
"We have no idea."
The two look as appalled as us when we first realized the horrible truth. Becoming a real Adventurer in Elder Tale is fun, but without the savoury of food that actually tastes like one, this place might as well be hell.
I stretch my limbs and Ryuuta imitates me. "Dang I'm exhausted. Maybe we should find an inn to live in?" I ask Akira. She yawns as an agreement. I turn to the siblings. "Do you belong to any guild?"
They look at each other. "We didn't join any guild. We thought we should level-up before we join one."
I scratch my head. "It's best if you have one since you are beginners."
"Ok then!" Tohya exclaims loudly. "Let's join one, Minori!" She nods. "Sirius-san, are you affiliated to any guild?"
I shake my head. "But I can still help you to train so that you can level-up faster. Besides, you guys get EXP pots before Level 30 so you can level-up even faster."
"Actually," Minori speaks up, her voice soft and looking shy. "Tohya and I can't really afford to ask you help up with leveling up. You just saved our lives back there. W-we… we don't know how to repay your kindness if we ask too much of your help."
"So we decided that we will level-up on our own, find a guild and become stronger then we'll come back for you, Sirius-san!" Tohya adds.
"Are you guys sure?" Akira asks. "It's not really safe to train alone outside right now."
I see determination gleam in their eyes. Their will is strong and will be further polished into unbreakable when they advance further into their new lives. I smile. These two rookies really impressed me. Their passion burns brightly in their hearts. It's sad to separate from them so quick. But since they have made their decision, it will not sway under any circumstances. "Fine. I wish the best to your guys too. But don't hesitate to ask me help when you need any. We'll be there when you need us." I flash them a wide grin.
Ryuuta growls sadly as he approaches the siblings. They back up by instinct but Minori bravely reached out for Ryuuta's outstretched head. She tentatively touches his scales and strokes his head until he purrs like a kitten. Tohya, too steels himself to touch him. Ryuuta gives them a big hug by wrapping them in his huge wings. It's his way of a blessing and saying goodbye. They laugh and we laugh too.
We add each other into our respective friend lists. Then Minori and Tohya make their leave. "Bye, Sirius-san, Akira-san, Ryuuta-san!"
We watch as their figures disappear into the deeper parts of the city. I hope all goes well for them.
"I'll miss them," Akira says. I smile.
Ryuuta growls. He looks expectantly in a direction faraway, like there has something he wants. I look at that direction and look back at Ryuuta. I cannot comprehend his wishes. "What is it, Ryuuta?"
He glares at me, seemingly cursing my stupidity. I sigh. I can't read your mind even if I hatched you, Ryuuta.
With his head lifted high with pride, Ryuuta walks on four feet towards that direction. His long tail creates a trail on the ground. Akira and I follow him nonetheless. He leads us into the center of the city, where the density of people is higher. Their eyes are fixated on Ryuuta as he walks pass them. They must look shocked when they see a real live dragon, larger than their build, walks past them nonchalantly like they mean nothing to him. Some of them hesitantly draw their weapons as defense, but Ryuuta continues to pay no heed. I want to stop him but he is persistent. I have no choice but to walk by his side, assuring the rest that he means no harm. His scales gleam like he wears a blanket of a thousand stars over his scales whenever the moon shines on him. The two sharp gold horns on his head glitter.
Ryuuta finally stops in front of a building, which is huge and Japanese-styled. It looks familiar but I can't quite grasp the idea. He growls at the door. I touch the knob and multiple dialogue boxes pop up. It clearly stated that the building is the guild of West Wind Brigade, belonging to the guild master Soujirou Seta, my old friend. I have no clearance to enter it because I'm not a guild member.
No wonder this place looks familiar. And no wonder Ryuuta wants to come here. Souji's here.
Ryuuta is displeased when I am unable to open the door. He threatens to break the door down with his head but Akira and I hold him back. I intend to voice call Souji before Ryuuta commits any unnecessary destruction when Ryuuta roars. It is such a loud roar that both our eardrums almost explode. The sound waves spread out in a circle to the surrounding area. The building vibrates in correspondence.
"Ryuuta! Behave!" I yell over his roar. He looks at me apologetically and I glare at him. He stops his roar and looks expectantly at the door, waiting for it to open.
It takes only seconds when the door opens, and a young man steps out. He has dark long hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a cyan green coat with matching hakama and a similarly coloured scarf over his neck. I recognize that handsome yet sort of childish-looking face anywhere. His dark orbs meet mine and he grins widely. Happiness written over his face.
"Sirius!" Souji shouts, but before he can come to me Ryuuta launches himself onto the man and both 'father' and 'son' topple to the ground. Souji's eyes widen with bewilderment when he sees Ryuuta and laughs. Ryuuta licks his face.
"Ryuuta! Oh my god! You're so huge!" He pats the dragon's head. Ryuuta is larger than him. He's probably crushing the boy's bones into dust. His tail wags excitingly. Both of them are glad to reunite with each other, Souji laughing while Ryuuta purrs.
"What's the commotion, Souji?" a busty fox lady emerges from the door. She has long purple hair and a pair of fox ears on his head. She is appalled when she sees an unknown creature tackles Souji to the ground.
"Nazuna!" I call and she looks at me, her eyes widen.
"S-sirius?"
"Nazuna-san, long time no see!" Akira says, smiling. Nazuna looks at her.
"Akira? Y-you guys are here too?" We nod. She smiles. "I never thought of seeing you guys here." She gives me a tight squeeze. "I know it sounds bad to say this, but I'm glad to see you here."
"Me too," I reply. Souji continues to laugh in the background.
"Ryuuta! Stop! You're tickling me!" Souji yells. Ryuuta steps off from him. He uses his teeth to grab hold of Souji's clothing and pulls him up. Souji adjusts his clothing and pats the dragon. The latter rests his head on top of Souji's, the dragon's face drunken from happiness.
Souji looks at me. "Sirius! Akira! It's nice seeing you here!" He steps forward, arms outstretched to hug me but suddenly retracts them back to his side. I smile at his shyness and give him a hug instead. His body stiffens at first but returns the hug. I swear I hear Akira snicker.
"So this is your guild, huh, Souji?" I say, admiring the building's marvelous structure. "Nice." I turn to him. "It's still a harem guild, is it?" I smirk. He looks confused instead as if he hasn't heard those rumours of his guild. Nazuna sighs while Akira giggles.
"Let's go in," Nazuna grabs my arms and pulls me forward through the door. "We wouldn't want to keep our guests outside." We enter the interior, which is nonetheless spacious and nice. I stare at awe at the place. My home in the real world isn't even as nice as this.
There are few girls when I enter the place. Their eyes widen in shock as they see me. Something tells me my presence here is going to shatter their little beautiful world with Souji.
"G-girl?" says a girl with long peach-coloured hair, donned with blue hakama.
"NOOO! Sou-sama has brought back another girl!" a tall she-elf, with hair braided into two plaits, yells like it is the end of the world.
"Calm down, girls," says a bulky man with an effeminate voice. "She's a guest. Behave yourselves."
"Master has brought back a new girl as his girlfriend?!" exclaims a girl with brownish short hair and dresses up like a typical monk.
I sigh. How stereotype of them. I maybe Souji's friend who is a girl don't mean I'm here to join your vying for his affection. How does Souji even go through all this every day?
Nazuna places her arm over my shoulder and leans against me. "Girls, she's not here to join West Wind Brigade," she says. They all sigh in relief. Nazuna grins widely. "Though she is a potential love rival and high chances that Souji's picking her instead."
"EH?!" they exclaim loudly. I can feel their murderous intent ready to stab me to death. Great job, Nazuna. You broke my first impression on friends I intend to make.
Akira enters the place joyfully, which is actually a bad timing. The girls look even shocked this time, to the extent of appalled. They freeze at the instant when they realize Akira is actually a very cute-looking girl, which might spell 'potential love rival' for them. "ANOTHER ONE?!"
Akira, who doesn't know what is going on, freezes at the spot. "Eh?"
I slap my forehead at how lovesick these girls are, glaring daggers at anyone who is their potential love rival. "Look, me and Akira has no intentions of having Souji to anyone of us. So if you would, please stop the hostility before mayhem ensues."
They stop glaring at us. I glare at Nazuna now, who is seemingly enjoying the situation. Somehow I have a hunch this isn't over.
Souji emerges and the situation completely calms down. "Guys, I want you to meet my son!" Completely oblivious, the innocent boy aggravates the situation.
"S-son?!" the girls shout and glare at me once more.
Nazuna laughs as she is unable to contain it anymore. "This is gonna be good."
"Come in, Ryuuta!" Souji shouts. The dragon pops his head through the entrance. Tentatively, Ryuuta walks in with pride. Thank god his head doesn't reach the ceiling but his tail sweeps the floor, sometimes toppling over fragile decorations. The girls freeze at the spot.
"D-d-dragon!"
Ryuuta looks at them. He closes in at the face of the peach-coloured haired girl. The steam from his nostrils creates water droplets over her face. For a second there I thought she might faint.
Isami—I finally notice her name from her status bar—shivers like a leaf. "H-huge lizard…"
Lizard is not the correct term for a dragon that can breathe fire and bite your head off right now, Isami.
"Lizard!" Isami does the unthinkable and hugs Ryuuta's neck. Ryuuta is taken by surprise and tries to shake her off, but to no avail. He roars pleadingly at me while Isami clutches to him even tighter. I grab Isami by the collar and peel her off my dragon. Ryuuta immediately cowers behind me, scowling at the weird human girl who he assumes is trying to kill him.
Isami, held back by the effeminate man—Dolce, yearns to touch Ryuuta again. "Cute lizard…"
Nazuna laughs even harder. "I so can't believe this is happening."
I sigh. Souji, however, looks happy. He has the usual wide grin on his face. Probably he thinks Ryuuta is getting along with his guildmates. He turns to look at me expectantly. "Are you here to accept my offer to join my guild?"
"EH?!" the girls let out a second gasp.
"Sorry, Souji, I still prefer to be unbounded by any guild," I reply. Plus I don't want end up massacred by you guild mates.
Souji looks at me sadly, tears brimming in his eyes. He's gonna cry because I reject him for the second time. How innocent and pure he must be. He must thought I hate him, just like how he thought of Shiroe when he rejected to join West Wind Brigade.
"It's not that I hate you or something," I add quickly. "I still like you, though." Shit, I shouldn't have said that.
His guild mates glare at me, with the exception of Nazuna who is trying hard not to die of laughter.
Souji smiles gleefully. "Thanks for saying that. I really hoped that you and Akira and Ryuuta"-he says and pats the dragon's head-"Can stay." He gestures me to follow him. "Come, let's go to my room and chat."
"His room?!" the girls gasp once more. I really wish Souji would stop being so oblivious.
I give a look at Nazuna. She sighs and wipes the tears from her eyes. Clapping her hands, she says, "Girls, let's not disturb Souji's reunion with his friends, okay? It's impolite." The girls pout and watch—glare at me and Ryuuta as we follow Souji. Akira stays behind because she says she wants to leave us alone for some valuable 'family' time. If she isn't Level 20, I'd kick her ass right now.
We arrive at a spacious room which is devoid of any furniture or decorations. Souji gestures me to take a seat on the cushion on the floor and I do. He sits in front of me and Ryuuta rests his head on his.
"How's your journey going?" Souji initiates the conversation. "When I hear you intend to travel the entire Yamato I am quite surprised. But, this is how you do things. You love freedom. And I thought I'd never see Ryuuta again." Ryuuta grunts in approval.
"We are halfway to Minami when the 12th expansion pack comes online. Looks like the plan has to be postponed. Who knew we are actually inside of Elder Tale now," I reply.
"They call this The Apocalypse. Not much irony in that, huh?"
I nod. "To me, it's not really a disaster. To be actually inside the game which I love so much is a dream came true. But there's still much to learn. I believe there's more to this game—correction, reality than we know it when it was a game."
Ryuuta snores as he falls asleep. I'm impressed how Souji can withstand his weight without faltering. Souji strokes the scales on Ryuuta's neck. "Me too. I thought it'd be fun to be in the game, but it seems this is our reality now. It'll take some time to understand all its rules and laws, but it's worth a shot. I wonder what we can do here. What would Shiro-senpai do?"
"You didn't look for him? I saw that he's online when the Apocalypse happened."
He lowers his head. Then he lifts it up, looking sad. "I think he hates me."
"Nonsense. The Villain-in-glasses doesn't hate anyone. He just likes using them for his plans."
"But he rejected my offer." Souji pouts.
"I rejected your offer too. Does it look like I hate you?"
"Well," he scratches his head. "Thankfully you didn't. Or else I don't know what I am going to do."
I smile and yawn. Drowsiness begins to knock at my door. My eyelids are getting heavier. I rub my eyes to keep myself awake.
"Looks like you're tired. Like mother like son, huh?" Souji says. I stare at him but my eyelids are getting heavier. He gently places Ryuuta's head on the ground, who is unperturbed by the movement. Then he stands to retrieve something. He places a futon beside Ryuuta. The futon looks like heaven to me but I resist the urge to jump onto it because it is impolite.
Souji, as if understands my predicament, gestures me to it. I immediately launch myself onto it, feeling so comfortable with its softness that drags me into sleep. Ryuuta in his sleep places his tail over my body and I hug it.
Moments before I drift to Dreamland, a hand strokes my hair gently and warmth envelope me as Souji pulls me into his arms.
"Good night, Sirius."
Thank you for reading and reviewing! I'm also here to clarify that romance is never the main genre in this story, just like how it goes for Log Horizon's main story line.
Whiteraven95 off!