14xx/06/26 Johannes Calendar

56 days since arrival…

Illiasburg at last!

Man, I am actually glad that Latina is my guide. Who knows how long do I have to walk just to reach the nearest city? I'm so used to flying and teleportation that I forgotten how long this shit will actually take. I was more than happy when I saw the familiar stone walls of the city itself.

The travel here has been long, and frankly, boring. Our stories dried up in the middle of our journey, and we ended finishing the rest in silence. The stories we share aren't much, but it was enough for us to learn more than what we expected.

For starters, Oskar honestly thought that I was a weirdly-dressed inquisitor. He cited two reasons why; first is my steed, Latina. High-ranking officers of Ilias tend to use white horses as a symbol of purity, and inquisitors usually come in black raiment. Now that Monster Girls are more accepted nowadays, white centaurs like mine are now an acceptable substitute.

The second reason of course, is my absolute disgust with the Monster Girls I fought. He told me that he never saw any adventurers that fought Monster Girls with upmost revulsion other than an inquisitor or an old-school warrior of Ilias. My insistence on not wasting valuable ammo on trivial enemies and answering each invitation for sex with unending contempt is nothing more than inspiring.

The reason he still has his doubt is because whenever he asked me to pray with him, I simply told him to lead as I have no idea how his religion worked. He assumed that I was testing his faith, so he led the prayers often. I usually dislike pointless praying, but when holy magic can only be easily accessed by praying, you gotta do what you gotta do.

It was even worse when I tried to pray and not healed at least once. He tried to teach me the exact word and intonation, and it failed miserably. That was the first time he ever asked me if I actually followed the religion.

And you know what's the craziest part there is? He didn't go 'Deus Vult' on my ass there, or say something stupid like 'May Ilias guides you to a better place'. No, he's fucking cool as a cucumber. Then again, despite his looks, he was actually far more reasonable than I expected from a warrior priest, especially one that has direct access to god's power itself. I can see why Natsuki has a thing for him.

Natsuki…Honestly, that woman can find food anywhere. Either its wild game or wild plants, our plate was never empty whenever we moved. It's a good thing too, cuz we only have like a couple of Preservation Jar, and if we just splurged on it every day, we won't have enough to reach the city. Besides, fresh meat always makes for a good meal and a good time. The pelts that she found were also good quality, so it's easy for us to make extra buck in case we ran short.

And yes, I was completely correct when I say that she's handy with her hand axe.

Aside from her infatuation with Oskar, she's a pretty swell gal. She goes well with everyone, and the captain enjoyed her company like she was his own daughter or something. Not much to say really, but she did ask me once or twice if there's a way for her to get Oskar to roll in the hay with her. I suggested a nun outfit, a proper one that is. Not the one that has been bastardized to the point of non-function. Seems like she took the advice at heart.

Kael is…well, interesting to say the least, He said that he came from Pornof because he was tired of being a stupid cumbrain. At first, I thought that he wanted to become better than his peers back home, that is until he spoke about his taste in women. He wanted refined, noble women, and knowing his chance will be zero if he remained in the city, he joined the university to climb his way upward to get better quality chicks.

Honestly, I respect that dude. He put in work, that's for damn sure. Every spell he used packed a punch, and we spoke at great length about the deeper mechanism of magic. He was more interested in learning mind-control and other…less-savoury method. I just wanted to figure out how many loopholes I can use when I cast magic. Imagination is a weapon best loaded with knowledge. And what better way of obtaining knowledge, than from the teaching of a learned scholar?

But thankfully, we reached the city as allies. Good thing too, cuz I need more of those.

And well, we reached it at evening. Not much you can do when everyone is tuckered out and tired. I still have more energy left to write, it seems, so that's why I'm awake. I did ask the captain if he has business here, because I have something special planned for Latina. He said yes. He told me he has some friends that he wanted to catch up on, so we will be here for a couple of days at least.

That's good, because honestly, I'm getting tired of horseback riding.

So, we punched in at a local inn, dropped our luggage and spent the entire evening just lounging around in our rooms. Man, hot water and soft beds felt like the highest of luxury, even the mediocre lunch taste like ambrosia itself. Once again, hardship makes pleasure even sweeter.

We will spend the night here. Tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can find anything or anybody that can help me nullify magic.