Chapter 1: A Training Arc for this Former Princess!
Part One
"Oi, Iris, you burnt the eggs. Stop spacing out and redo them…"
I looked down and saw that the omelet I was frying had turned into charcoal.
The morning after our return to Axel, I was left in charge of cooking breakfast.
Specifically, I lost the match of rock paper scissors.
Revi was looking over my shoulder and wrinkling his nose at the smell of burnt eggs.
I can't prove it, but I think they cheated.
Regina is a goddess, a dark one now that I think of it.
Revi is the prince of a gambling nation.
Komekko calls herself a devil.
Rorisa is an actual devil.
I sighed and scooped up the failed batch and threw them out. Cracking a new batch of eggs, I started over again.
"Do it properly this time! We don't want to waste more eggs now, do we? You shouldn't waste our money, you know! And hurry up with breakfast! I need to go to the Archery shop and buy new magical bolts. Maybe I should buy a new crossbow, too…"
He was lecturing me about a few burnt eggs while declaring his intention to splurge on more magical equipment. This damn p2w…
"What is everyone's plans for today? Is everyone planning to recuperate after our tough quest?"
Rorisa-san asked, as she happily sipped the coffee I made for everyone.
"Rest is for the weak. I plan to take on a quest right away. We may have finished Regina-sama's quest for us, but who knows when a great evil will rise again, and threaten to destroy our world…"
"I don't think Regina-sama's quest had such high stakes as those. The villain was a bit anticlimactic, too. I was expecting some kind of mastermind, but we just got some centuries old pervert-stan…"
Revi said, skeptically looking at me after I slightly embellished the nature of our last quest.
"A-Anyway. We may have saved Uroburos, but we still live in a dangerous world. A quick reminder to you guys that the Demon King is still running rampant."
"Are we going to fight the Demon King next?! The Devil is pumped! Let's go to his castle now and bombard it with powerful spells! We can even bring lots of meat to barbecue!"
Komekko-chan stood from her seat and said something disturbing.
"I-I was just using the Demon King as an example. I'm sure there's other evil threats out there that need vanquishing. As such, the Iris-led party needs to be prepared to face such threats…"
"Hold on, hold on. When did this become the 'Iris-led' party? You, a leader? The only thing you've been leading on is me, you little tease! Hey, I wasn't planning to bring this up, but what was that kiss on the cheek for, huh?!"
I ignored Revi as he brought up that spur of the moment kiss that I'm starting to regret giving more and more.
"The devil respectfully disagrees. We should be called the 'Cursed Army of Revenants', because… you know, we rose from the dead and stuff."
"We're supposed to be an adventuring party, right? Why would you name us something that could be mistaken as part of the Demon King army?"
Revi forgot about the subject of the kiss as he retorted to Komekko.
"I think we should be called 'The Eager Girls'."
"That's not even an adventuring party anymore, that sounds like one of those 'idol' groups! And what about that guy!?"
"Since I'm the goddess around here, and you're all either a subject of mine, a creation of mine, or a quasi-creation of mine, we should be called the 'Five Little Dolls'..."
"Now you're just making us sound like an occult orgy… Actually, I don't mind that at all. Iris, you burned the eggs again."
I threw out my second attempt at eggs and started on another batch.
At least we'll have plenty of fertilizer.
Part Two
In the Adventurer's Guild, we looked at the quests available on the notice board.
"Why are only three of us here?"
Among those present is me, Revi and Komekko.
"Rorisa-san has been skipping work for weeks now, so she has to catch up. And Regina-sama said something about her being too powerful as a goddess already and soaking up our experience points if she comes."
"So, essentially, she's too lazy to come."
"Pretty much."
Komekko chuckled and struck a pose,
"Fear not. With the Devil here, there is no need to worry. We can clear this quest with me alone!"
She's basically saying that she's the hard carry of this party.
She isn't exactly wrong, but I wish she practised some modesty.
"That said, which quest should we even take? I don't feel like fighting Giant Toads today, not like we'll get a lot of exp from them, anyway. Aside from that, the other monsters here look too weak."
Revi said, after he looked through all the quests available.
"This is the town of beginning adventurers, after all. You don't get Destroyer events or the manifestation of Winter Shoguns everyday. But don't worry, onii-sama taught me about this wonderful technique called power levelling…"
The basic idea is to kill lots of weak monsters at once to significantly increase one's own levels.
"The Devil doesn't care as long as she can blow up lots of enemies!"
"Right. Well then, I think we should take this quest on since there will be lots of mob monsters involved…"
I pointed to the quest about Horned Goblins. According to the notice, about twenty Horned Goblins have taken over a village settlement's watch tower near Axel, one of the many farming villages that make Axel its central hub for trading.
The Horned Goblins have been using the watchtower as a form of shelter, while making do with the rations stored in there, meant for the guards. They've also got their hands on some ranged weaponry, like short bows, which goblins have some proficiency at using.
If the Horned Goblins run out of rations, they could go into the village settlement for a raid, which will cause a lot of damage to the village.
Revi and Komekko looked at me after I proposed the plan.
"Iris, I've long suspected this, but… are you actually some kind of pervert?"
Huh?
Did I say something strange?
Komekko scratched her cheek and there was a bit of a blush there.
"Let's see, how can the Devil explain this… Horned Goblins are known for their large amounts of lust and compatibility to breed with almost all humanoid races. It's said that a female adventurer who falls in battle to them is doomed to a tragic fate as human livestock…"
"Normally, it's not recommended for a party with female adventurers in it to take a quest involving Horned Goblins. They are stronger than the average goblin and are more aggressive, which says a lot. If the worst happens, any females in the party will be better off committing suicide than allowing themselves to be capture by a Horned Goblin…"
They both looked at me pointedly.
"Iris… do you want to get gobbed?"
"No way in hell!"
I yelled at them as they made all sorts of bad assumptions about me.
I was a sheltered princess who would never have access to such information, of course I wouldn't know about such things.
That said, I looked at the recommended level for the quest. It recommended a cumulative party level of 5.
Komekko's level was somewhere in the 30s, and I was a few levels below level 10. Revi should be somewhere between level 10 and 15 by now.
"Look, I understand the risk, but this quest is supposed to be for newbies. Even Komekko alone can probably handle this quest herself. We're looking to power level, remember? This means we look for weak enemies like this and efficiently slaughter them for exp."
They both looked at me suspiciously.
"I don't know… an overconfident princess who underestimates goblins… you seem like the ideal heroine of a goblin tragedy."
"The Devil is confident in her abilities, but this situation seems a bit…"
I rolled my eyes.
"Look, as long as we're careful and don't raise any flags, there's no way… we should be… you know what I'm thinking!"
That was close.
I almost said 'there's no way this can go wrong' and 'we should be fine'.
Good thing I stopped myself before I could raise any flags.
"Fine. Let's take this quest then."
"The Devil is convinced. Let's take this quest!"
We took the quest notice with us and went off to the village.
Part Three
The village was only half a day's worth of travel away on foot, and only a few hours if you had transport. We hired a carriage to take us there.
Much of the land in between settlements is used for agriculture. I never really thought about it, back when I lived behind castle walls, but the common folk didn't have much variety in their lifestyles.
Those not working on farms in village communities could be running minor stalls in marketplaces, or working under the employ of merchants for very little money.
I guess I can understand why a lot of young people chose adventuring as their career. It was an escape from the conventions of serfdom, the life their parents endured.
Even with a royal background, adventuring still ended up being too exciting to turn down.
During the ride, Komekko and Revi were playing various word games. I joined them for a little while before I found myself lost in the hypnotizing scenery of unchanging farmland.
I was broken out of my trance when the carriage arrived at our destination. The driver dropped us off near the village entrance.
We asked around for directions to the watchtower from the locals. At first they were wary when we introduced ourselves as adventurers. We're rather young and the party consisted of two girls and one unreliable looking boy. It took some convincing to have one of the locals give us directions to the hijacked watchtower.
"What a thick watchtower. You think they are compensating for something?"
This guy is projecting again.
"No, only you would think to do something like that."
This particular watchtower was located on the northmost side, one mile away from the village proper. There was another watchtower on the south, which we actually passed through during the carriage ride.
Despite what the boy said, the watchtower was unremarkable. It was about sixty feet high. The foundation was made of intercrossing wooden beams with a rope ladder within it, which led up to the actual fortification. The fort had several slit openings on each side, and it had a sloped thatch roof covering it.
"It's made out of wood, I Devil will proceed to burn the whole thing down with [Fireball]!"
"Hold on, you."
I pulled on her collar before she could burn the whole thing down.
"That watchtower is still the property of the village, and they need it. If it were as simple as lighting the whole thing on fire, they wouldn't have needed to call adventurers to do the job. We need to drive the goblins out another way."
"What do you suggest? Goblins are dumb, but they're resourceful in combat. They won't come down here when they have a good position above. And they have ranged weapons up there. They can pelt us down with arrows before coming down to finish us off."
As I thought about what Revi said, I remembered what they told me about earlier.
"I've got a plan, but I don't think it's a good one."
"Then why bother announcing it."
"Well it's the best one out of many, so that's why I feel it's worth mentioning."
"...What is it then?"
To the Revi who was looking at me curiously, I said,
"Let's lure them down with panties."
"..." x 2.
I was met with silence.
"Iris, there are other ways to relieve your sexual frustration. Exhibitionism in front of goblins isn't one of them."
"The Devil once considered Alice as a serious kind of character… I see now that was but an illusion. I suppose Iris herself is quite the lewd character, like Darkness nee-san, huh?"
"This is a plan based entirely on logic and expertise. Please listen."
Horned Goblins are intensely sexual creatures who have hyperactive libidos. From what they told me earlier, they seemed to have an attraction to all forms of humanoid females, and will go into heat once they see one.
"I see. So you're going to lure them down here with your panties. Do goblins even understand the appeal of panties?"
"There's only one way to find out."
"Tell the truth, Iris. You just want an excuse to drop your panties in front of other people again. Don't think I haven't noticed that you've been doing that a lot recently. In fact, you secretly wish that Kazuma-san had stolen your panties, don't you?"
"It's only a coincidence."
Without any other plans, they were forced to agree with my panty operation.
We found a decent stick among the surrounding trees and foliage. I stuck it on the ground.
Then…
I reached under my skirt and tugged down my blue-trimmed white panties, slipping them down my legs and around my feet. I may have swapped to common outfits since I began adventuring, but I had Claire send my personal undergarments. No reason not to be comfortable.
"Damn, that's hot…"
I forgot to tell them to turn around before stripping out of my panties.
...Giving my friends a free show like this made me feel weirdly tingly. Sort of like the feeling I got when I bound myself up with chains last time.
No, let's not affirm their suspicions about me.
"Why are you staring like that? Are you a horned goblin too?"
I tied my panties to the stick. There was a moderately strong wind, which made the panties flap along to the turbulence.
We watched the panty flag wave in the wind.
The sovereign flag of Belzerg is before us.
"..."
"..."
"..."
We continued to stare at the majestic sign of conquest.
"Why are we staring at a pair of panties tied to a stick again?"
"It's your stupid idea!"
Revi looked like he wanted to hit me.
"I don't get it. I thought the goblins would be swarming this place by now."
"...Maybe one isn't enough."
Revi glanced at Komekko. She met his gaze.
"...You expect the Devil to contribute?"
"Well, you see, like Iris said, it can't hurt to try… I mean, it's nothing we haven't seen before."
He suddenly likes this plan now, huh?
Komekko thought about it, and for a second, I thought I saw her lips twitch up into a mischievous little smile.
"Alright. The Devil will lend her bewitched undergarment to this plan!"
Just like me, she started stripping her panties off in front of us.
A pair of pink bat print panties slid down her thighs, then her knees, and then her feet, as she stepped out of her panties. She gave them a good stretch and pull… for whatever reason… before tying them underneath my pair.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The sovereign flag of Belzerg, and underneath it, the allied city-state of the Crimson Demon village.
"I have an idea."
Revi said, as he closely observed the two panty flags.
"You want to add your own?"
"Tempting, but pants work a little differently. This is my idea."
He reached out and held the stick. Then he raised it above his head.
He started waving the stick around while drawing closer to the watchtower.
"Ahoy!" , he called out.
The wind was picking up, waving the flags around.
"I-I see! Revi is using the wind to carry the scent of our panties! Look, the goblins are peeking their head out!"
Komekko pointed at the top of the watchtower. The goblins were poking their green heads out. True to their names, a singular, spiral horn protruded from their foreheads.
"Horny! Horny! Horny!"
They screeched, as they started to climb down the rope ladder.
What kind of language is that?
Or are they simply saying the word 'horny' in our language…?
Because that's pretty accurate to their emotional state right now.
"Horny! Horny! Horny!"
Revi stuck the flag on the ground and pulled his crossbow out. He loaded it with a bolt and fired, all in one motion.
His loading technique seemed to have gotten faster. Maybe he used some skill points to increase his Dexterity stat...
And it seems he had another new skill…
"[Ensnaring Shot]!"
The bolt pierced through a Horned Goblin's shoulder, and shortly after the moment of impact, it transformed into a net made out of thorny vines, which wrapped tightly around the Horned Goblin.
"Hornyyy?!"
It shrieked in pain, its body pricked by vicious thorns, as it fell down the ladder. Revi had aimed at the Horned Goblin on the top of the ladder. When it fell down, it caused a cascading domino effect. Some of the goblins at the bottom got crushed by the pile of dropping bodies, their small, frail bodies breaking from the impact.
...Why is he so smart all of a sudden?!
I turned to Komekko.
"Komekko, time to use a spell on the pile… Oi, pay attention!"
"Huh, what?"
She was distracted, spacing out while looking at Revi, and missed her chance to take all the goblins out at once.
This gave the goblins enough time to right themselves. They fixed their ugly, yellowed eyes on us and charged.
"Horrrnyyy! Horrrrnyy!"
For some reason, an image of chibi Makemake came to mind.
They formed a scattered formation with their heads lowered, aiming to injure us with their horns.
"[Fireball]!"
Komekko finally threw a fiery orb that sailed over the goblins. The resulting burst of flames only took out three goblins, as the rest were scattered.
Like Revi said, these goblins were resourceful in battle, and it seems they had some experience fighting adventurers before.
They all charged towards the spellcaster, trying to take down the target with the lowest defence.
...But their target wasn't your normal mage.
Komekko grinned as she bumped her fists together. The enchanted gloves glowed dark red as energy emanated from them. A right straight connecting to a goblin's jaw made its head turn back the wrong way. Another goblin tried to pierce her through an apparent opening to her abdomen, but she spun around and got it with a spinning back fist to the neck. Using the momentum of her spinning motion, she faced a flanking goblin from the back and hit it on the ribcage with a turning kick.
...This girl is a bit overqualified for our humble team.
Ah, here we go again. Komekko will single handedly win the battle and I'll be left doing nothing.
I looked around for something to do. After surveying the battlefield, I found something peculiar.
More Horned Goblins were coming out. They didn't come from the watchtower above, but from the ground below.
I see. They made a subterranean base as well. They came pouring out of the underground hole and there were around ten of them.
This is my time to shine…!
I casted a string of buffs on myself, improving my power, defense and speed.
I'm not going to be a passive healer anymore.
This is the redo of a healer!
I opted to go with hand-to-hand combat, imitating Komekko.
I also had training in martial arts back in the day, along with my sword training. I admit, I was being a bit competitive, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want to be shown up by a girl younger than me.
With an empowered punch, I ended the life of an overeager goblin with a swift uppercut to the chin. Another goblin tried to strike me from the side, but I twisted my right shoulder to roll off against its head, diverting the dangerous trajectory of its horn. Its face met with my left hand for a vicious, blindside hook, as I twisted my body again, using the shoulder roll's momentum to put all my body weight into the punch. I felt its nose and teeth break under my fist.
I felt another presence behind me. I tried to one up Komekko with a turning kick of my own…
...Only for my kick to get caught.
"W-What is that thing…?"
It wasn't there before, a hulking Horned Goblin unlike the small ones before it. It was easily over six feet tall and it had large muscles and a stiff gut. It looked at me with cruel eyes as it held my feet in its meaty hand.
It threw me down hard, knocking the wind out of me.
I tried to get up, but the Horned Goblins were already leaping on me.
"Horny, horny, horny…!"
A princess about to be violated by goblins…
How cliche can this get?!
As I braced myself for my tragic fate, a glowing bolt struck one of the goblins in mid air. The arcane bolt then twisted its course and hit the rest of the attacking goblins, a zigzagging bolt of death.
The bolt turned into its normal form and fell. It was the new 'Homing bolt' Revi spent a small fortune to buy, earlier. I criticized him for it, but I'm glad he made the purchase, now.
"What is our healer doing overextending herself?! You really wanna be violated by goblins, don't you?!"
Revi grabbed my hand and helped me up.
"Giant Horn!"
The giant Horned Goblin roared in displeasure and tried to grab Revi. He shot it with his crossbow and said,
"[Retreating Shot]!"
He used another new skill. As he shot a bolt, I felt the air shift around him. He seemed to move faster after every shot, and the magic was affecting me too, as he held my hand. With the increased speed, we moved away from the threat.
He kept firing and increasing our movement speed, until we were far enough away from the Giant Horned Goblin.
"Komekko, I'll leave that thing to you!"
"Got it! Good job, getting Iris out, Revi! Here we go! [Devil Trigger]!"
A semi-transparent figure appeared in front of Komekko. It was that winged, grey skinned devil she first summoned during our fight with the Rookie Killers.
That time, she was only partially summoning it in parts, but we can see a clear image of it now.
The Giant Horned Goblin was charging at Komekko before the winged devil manifested.
"Ora!"
Komekko's summoned creature hit the Giant Horned Goblin with a powerful lead-up punch with its right, and then it unleashed a barrage of fists.
Komekko slowly walked forward as her summoned image unleashed a seemingly endless rain of fists.
"Oraaa!"
One last overhand punch to the chin sent the Giant Horned Goblin crashing down.
The creature looked satisfied with its work before retreating back into Komekko's shadow.
"Phew, that was quite the workout! Ah, sorry, we were supposed to raise Iris's levels, right? The Devil ended up killing the final boss, sorry… hehe… Oh, I levelled up!"
"..."
And to think that onii-sama once thought that I was a living cheat code.
OP lolis are not born equal.
Part Four
In the end, I ended up with some EXP, but since I only skilled a couple goblins, it wasn't enough for a level up.
Meanwhile, both Revi and Komekko raised their levels.
When we made it back to the guild, we reported the completion of the quest. We also got extra money since the quest difficulty was harder than reported, with the presence of the Giant Horned Goblin.
A less competent party would have surely met a sorrowful end, if they had taken that quest instead of us.
"We got extra money, isn't that good news? Let's spend it on a feast! Server, I'll have the deluxe fried toad set please!"
Komekko happily waved the heavy bag of Eris coins around.
She really seems to enjoy actually ordering and spending quest money after being treated like a pet for so long.
Heh, cyot.
We were in the restaurant area, relaxing after the quest.
"It's not like we need money, the whole point of the quest was to help me gain EXP!"
"Hold on, why is it just you? I need to raise my levels, too."
"Do your levels really matter? Your expensive gear does most of the work, anyway. And Komekko here is just an EXP sink!"
Komekko rubbed the back of her head and grinned weakly.
"The Devil apologizes for stealing the spotlight all the time…"
"You don't need to apologize, Komekko-chan! We saved this spoiled , soiled, princess's butt that time. She's just too ungrateful to admit it."
It wasn't me who dropped the flag of Belzerg and it's allied state!
I sighed, then took a sip of Iced Neroid to calm my nerves.
...This bench is cold.
"Look, I'm grateful for the assistance, but I really need to raise my levels, OK? Next time, please make sure I get the kill!"
They both looked at each other and nodded.
"Good, then let's eat and rest up for tomorrow. We're coming here as soon as the guild opens to make sure we get the best quest!"
"We're doing this again tomorrow?!"
If I wanted to gain a lot of levels in a short amount of time, there's no room for breaks.
There's no point if we take days off…!
"Surpass your limits, right here, right now!"
"I thought it was tomorrow?!"
…
…
The next day, I was greeted to the sight of a bleary eyed looking Revi. Komekko seemed fine, but she was more subdued than normal.
"Oi…"
"What, got any complaints? It's fine to wake up early once in a while, you know?"
"I agree, that's why I woke up early. But you stayed in bed, didn't you?"
My sheets felt too comfortable. I couldn't get up in time.
"Well, we're all up and awake now. There's no use complaining about what happened in the past. Let's head to the guild now, shall we?"
"This girl…"
We headed on over to the guild. Luna-san was there, about to open the door.
"You guys… are here early."
She said, blinking once as she saw us standing behind her, waiting for her to open up the door.
Even in the chilly morning, she's wearing that short skirt and top that exposes her chest.
I hope Vanir-san is happy.
"Fufu. Top adventurers like us need to be diligent, otherwise some upstarts might take the title of top adventurers away from us…"
"R-Right…It's great you've survived your first week, but please take adventuring seriously, ok?"
Luna-san averted her gaze, and focused on opening the door.
We followed her inside as she held the door open for us.
The guild felt a bit spooky when it was empty. I was used to hearing the noisy adventurers that normally fill this building. Now, the only sounds I could hear were the clacking of Luna-san's high heels and Revi's loud yawns."
"..."
We stood behind Luna-san as she took out a pile of notices and posted them up on the board.
"How does the guild receive these requests, Luna-san?"
"...Clients fill out a form and either give it to us directly or mail it to us. Right now, I'm posting up the requests that I found in the mailbox earlier."
"I see, I see."
"...Do you guys have to stand so closely behind me?"
"Don't mind us, keep going."
"Ugh…"
Luna-san hurriedly finished her task as we unblinkingly stared at her back, forming a semi circle around her as she did her work.
We looked closely at the day's quests as Luna-san retreated, going off to do her next task.
I didn't know you could empty a coffee pot so fast.
"Let's see… This one's too far, this one looks suspicious, this one is just a fetch quest… Oh, this looks good!"
While the surrounding forests have been cleared out of monsters long ago, shortly after this town was established, there were the occasional migrant species that come over and make their homes in the forests.
These invasive monster species are detected early by scouts and a request is sent to the guild to exterminate them before they could cause harm to the local ecosystem, or even the people in the settlement.
The species in question this time are Swordbeaks.
They are described as large, flightless birds the size of ostriches. Aside from their sharp feathers, they were known for their beaks and talons, which were made out of steel.
Their beaks, in particular, were shaped like swords, hence the name.
Swordbeaks use their natural weapons for the obvious purpose of hunting, but there is another use for them.
During their breeding seasons, the males use their beaks to duel to the death. The winner will take the female, and they will collect the beaks of the rivals they defeated, treating it as a trophy.
Males had shorter, but broader beaks, but females had longer and thinner beaks, kind of like a rapier.
"This seems like a good quest. The recommended party level is 8."
I said, as I snatched the notice away from the board.
"...Do you think these birds will taste delicious when fried?"
"Please remember our goal here, Komekko."
I reprimanded Komekko, as she looked at the sketch of the Swordbeaks and drooled.
Part Five
We took a short walk to the area in the forest, where the scouts found the Swordbeaks.
Komekko mentioned that the trail we walked on to get there was the explosion trail Big Boss and onii-chan would take, back when they weren't busy with their married life.
I had a bittersweet feeling welling in my chest, as I imagined the two walking along the trail, a romance budding between them, two teenagers unsure of their own feelings.
It was a sweet thought, but it hurt me a little, too.
It was sweet, right up until I spotted the moonscape they made in the distance.
...
"I found them…!"
Revi said this while he was using his Farsight skill to survey the area, pointing to where the Swordbeaks made their home.
There was a lone male and the rest were his harem of females. There were often many cases of cuckoldry among Swordbeaks, where a male Swordbeak would challenge a male and steal the male's mate should they emerge victorious.
This male Swordbeak had 10 females in his harem. This meant that he was a strong foe who had won many duels in the past.
"Waah… I can't help but respect the guy…Hey if I kill him is it ntr?!"
Revi looked on in admiration at the alpha male surrounded by females he won by bloody conquest.
"So, what should we do? Should I just shoot him?"
"Should I cook them with a [Fireball]?"
"...You guys don't really get it, huh? I'm the one who should get the levels! There's no point if you two kill them!"
"What's the plan, then?"
I took out the quest paper.
"According to this, the females are docile by nature. When there's a threat, their first instinct is to retreat and let the male deal with the enemy. Their long, steel beaks aren't used for combat, and are instead used to dig up worms from the ground, or sap from trees. If you guys can incapacitate the male, I can come in and deal the finishing blow."
After we agreed on this plan, Komekko and Revi took their positions.
Revi raised his crossbow and Komekko did the same with her gloved hand.
"[Chasmic Mud Trap]!"
"[Ensnaring Shot]!"
The ground below the male Swordbeak was transmuted into mud, making the male's heavy talons sink down into it.
From above, Revi's bolt flew through the air and hit the Swordbeak just below its elongated neck.
"Kiiiii?!"
It let out a pained, avian cry as the bolt that struck it became a restricting net of thorn-filled vines. As I predicted, the females took their distance in a panic.
"Good job you two!"
I casted several buffs on myself and made my charge, running up to the captured Swordbeak.
But before I could attack it…
With a flash of steel, the sword beak used its flexible neck to crane its head down. It cut through the vines in one stroke.
Then, it stretched its neck out and struck its beak on the solid ground beyond the sinking mud around it. It used the beak as a lever and pulled its own body weight out from the mud.
What can I say… It was an impressive feat.
I stopped in my charge as a muddy, pissed off Swordbeak gave me a death stare.
"G-Good bird…"
Very majestic for something resembling an ostrich.
It eyed me, observing me. After it seemed to have come up with its own conclusion, he barked out a command to the females behind him.
"Kiiiii!"
Some of the females went away, only to come back dragging something with their beaks.
They were swords… likely pilfered from dead adventurers.
I see. Since male Swordbeaks have the practice of collecting the beaks of defeated rivals, this particular Swordbeak collected the swords of the adventurers who tried to hunt it before, and lost their lives in the process.
The females brought out six swords in total.
Right now, this Swordbeak who had such a high body count was challenging me to a sword duel.
"..."
The Battle Priest class Regina-sama gifted me with doesn't come with any inherent sword skills. And since I started out with balanced stats, I no longer boasted the high combat stats I used to have with my royal bloodline.
Taking all this into account, I didn't bother utilizing a sword in combat.
I was mostly in the backline, anyway, unless I had to use [Akashic Discharge].
I picked up one of the swords being offered to me, and looked back at Komekko and Revi, telling them with my eyes not to interfere.
If I wanted to improve, I needed to accept this challenge without receiving help from them.
"Hey, can this low skill priest actually use a sword? It doesn't look that way, and The Devil is worried…"
"I assure you, in her previous life, this low skill priest was actually very reliable and killed many things with a sword...kind of."
What do you mean, kind of!?
I tested the balance of the sword, and found it agreable. The females took the other swords back and retreated to a safe distance once more. The male raised his beak, as if declaring himself ready for the duel.
"I mean, I never actually saw her use the sword persay, just this one skill she'd spam endlessly like an instant win button."
I nodded and flourished my sword, accepting this monster's challenge.
"T..that doesn't sound promising, nee- Iris-chan! Big Sister Devil will bail you out if you get hurt, ok?"
The Swordbeak made the first move. He coiled his neck into a springing position and thrusted the beak straight, testing my guard. The attack was fast, but left the Swordbeak vulnerable. It was an easy matter to displace the beak and flick my wrist for a countercut…
...But Before I could cut at his neck, he opened his beak wide.
I was surprised by how wide he could open his beak. My blade passed through empty air. It closed its beak again and flicked its blade against me.
That's right, I'm not fighting an ordinary swordsman, here.
Luckily, my muscle memory kicked in and I was already following my momentum and sweeping to the side, my nimble footwork letting me avoid the counterattack.
It tricked me with that thrust. I thought I had it for sure.
"Oi, even I saw that one coming. Hey, I thought you were the princess of a military nation? Was I sold a bag of defective goods before? This was my support!?"
After that, it went on the offensive once more. I stepped back as the Swordbeak attacked me with a coordinated flurry of quick strikes.
I did my best to keep out of its range, looking for an opportunity to get some cuts in, but the unusual way he fought made it hard to find a sure opening.
"Oh my, even the females are losing interest...T..the Devil thinks we should root for Iris!"
"Oh yes, coincidentally, I think Komekko would make a great cheerleader. Let's get you a uniform and..."
"Oooooh really? Ehe…"
Meanwhile my dramatic, character defining battle to the death continued to play out.
…
Why am I having an honorable duel with a bird!?
"Did she just sucker punch it?"
"Indeed, a fist of justice!"
Unlike a man, a beaky boy ostrich has no free arm to deflect blows.
"Dirt...she just kicked dirt in its eyes!?"
"Indeed, justice is with the victor!"
One must always aim for the weak point...
"OH GODS she kicked it in the!?"
...For massive damage!
"Ahh, how unfair. But the Devil has never cared about justice, ehe!"
As former royalty, I am the Rules.
As I step over to the stricken bird, tears in it's eyes, looking up with hate.
Well, don't worry. I'll end your suffering. Become my experience points. GG, no RE.
"Squaaaaaakkkkkk…"
"Uwaaa, she took its heart out like some kinda deranged doctor. Seriously, what was that look in her eyes just then?"
"The Devil has lost her appetite from this shameful display. Can I fry it now? It's almost lunch time."
Did I just hear a ding?
I took out my adventurers card and checked it.
"I leveled up!"
There is a lesson here.
Forget honor, return to onii-sama tactics.
"You may have grown in levels, but I think you took a step down as a human being…"
At least I'm not 'teabagging' the corpse, the taunting maneuver onii-sama taught me about.
With the male gone, the females looked on at their husband, unsure what to do.
I smiled at them,
"Go on, you're free from the patriarchy. Be free!"
They stared at me and then at one another.
And then started tearing each other apart.
"Kiiii! Kiiii!"
"Alrighty, then! I think we've seen enough of nature today, back to civilization we go!"
Komekko teleported us back with the Swordbeak carcass. She went over to the guild restaurant and asked them to fry it for lunch.
I was satisfied with the level I gained, and the revelation I had about my sword skills.
Even if I don't have any relevant swords skills with the Battle Priest class, the techniques I spent hours of training to hone had never left me.
My instincts and ability to control the pace of combat was still there.
All this time, I've been fighting as a backliner and I even tried to fight with a stave once.
With the appropriate buffs, there's no reason why I can't fight with a sword.
I can even heal myself if I get injured.
"..."
I felt a bit dumb just realizing this now.