A/N: Okay, so a lot of people have mentioned outrage about this chapter, which is why I'm rewriting it. If you want to see a more detailed opinion on why I did so, check out chapter 17, which I've changed to have a response to the criticism I was receiving, and why I've changed this chapter. As it is, I've not simply rewritten it but there is also more to this chapter, so if you read 17 last time, you can go ahead and skip to the Sleipnir scene in this chapter.
"Hmm... was that all?" Suzuki muttered to himself. In a way, he was kind of disappointed with the results of the battle.
He had been using Necromantic Slave Sight to view the battle from the point of view of his Elemental Skulls, and as far as he could tell, there were no more enemies of any worth left.
Albedo had used her skill Dimension Lock to block any possible teleportation. Suzuki had considered the possibility of the enemy being a high levelled one, perhaps even a level 100 enemy, and in that case, he wasn't sure if Albedo would be able to handle it herself. Since he now had access to undead of the tenth tier, he could summon a Doom Lord, which by his estimates could hold its own against a level 80 warrior. As such, he felt that now he might be of some help rather than a hindrance to Albedo in a fight, though if he really wanted to reach a level where he could make a real difference in that kind of battle, it would have to be after he learned several Super Tier spells- in that case if it was the two of them versus a single player, he doubted that they would lose unless it was someone such as Touch Me.
But, nothing of note happened even as his Elemental Skull slaughtered the remaining beastmen, and Suzuki didn't see any trace of that Night Lich he had encountered earlier. Once all the beastmen had been dealt with, he summoned an Eyeball Corpse with his tenth tier undead summoning spell. It was a very weak monster, but its ability to detect things was second to none.
"Hmm... there doesn't seem to be anything else," Suzuki said. Was that it? Were they really safe now?
As no other foes appeared, he could only guess this was the case. Many of his questions were still left unanswered- but with a jolt he thought of a way that he could perhaps find the answers.
"How is this one, Suzuki-sama?" Albedo asked as she twirled around in an exquisite sundress.
Magical clothing was one size fits all, and there were really no limits on who could wear what in the game. This, coupled with the fact that most clothes were usually only available for a certain period of time meant that some people liked to buy up sets just because they felt that their value would increase later on.
As such, it was no surprise that they had found a large stash of magical clothing in the treasury- for both men and women. Most of them were only cosmetic and didn't have very much combat use, but they were still great additions. The only real issue with them was that they had belonged to dead people, but neither Suzuki nor Albedo were too worried by this.
Albedo had a few dresses gifted to her by her creator, but this recent find increased her wardrobe by about twenty percent. Once Albedo and Suzuki had returned to their private room, Albedo had asked Suzuki to rate how the clothes looked on her.
Suzuki was fine with giving his opinion- but then Albedo began stripping right in front of him (which was probably the reason she had suggested this in the first place) and Suzuki told her to change somewhere else. She sighed, and after that began a sort of catwalk in front of Suzuki. She even brought out some of the original clothing she had been given but hadn't had a chance to wear up till now.
"This is my favorite!" Albedo said as she changed into a red dress that was adorned with gemstones that dazzlingly reflected the light falling on them. Suzuki honestly felt that it looked kind of gaudy- Albedo basically looked like a giant disco ball. The excess adornments seemed to detract from her features rather than add to them as his attention was drawn to the bright gems rather than her face.
However, he couldn't find it in himself to say that. It was clear from Albedo's expression that this really was her favorite dress.
Personally, Suzuki thought that her best dress was one that had a black-and-white palette, which was overall far simpler in design though in no way lesser in quality.
"I-It's my favorite too!" Suzuki said.
The thing was that he had to admit that he had no real fashion sense- so if Albedo said that this was the best of her dresses, then she was probably right. As it was, Suzuki didn't want to see her upset any further.
When they had returned, Albedo had decided to once again try to make something for Suzuki to eat. It had, like all of her previous attempts, resulted in a charred mess.
For some reason, probably as a result of Yggdrasil's influence, neither of them could cook. In Yggdrasil, food gave stat bonuses, so one needed specific job classes in order to cook anything, which the two of them lacked.
This had caused Albedo considerable distress- she considered cooking to be an essential skill of the perfect housewife.
"But doesn't every man want a wife who would cook for him?" she had asked him teary eyed when he had tried to console her.
While that might be true, Albedo honestly had so many other skills which made up for this small deficit. He honestly couldn't fault her for this one thing when she had practically carried them up till this point.
Plus, as it was, it wasn't like Suzuki was any better.
For some reason, he wasn't even able to make something as simple as toast even though he could have back on the Earth of 2138. It should have been easy- just cook some bread. And yet, every time he tried it the bread always ended up burnt to a crisp. Even Fluder could do that somehow- it must've been related to the fact that he was a player.
Suzuki had even considered perhaps putting a level into Cook to see if he could maybe make something for Albedo which he thought would've been somewhat romantic- but then decided against it as it would make him weaker and he didn't know if he could overwrite his levels once he committed to them.
Neither of them really needed to eat anything anymore anyway, and even if they did, Suzuki was used to tasteless meals which only served him with enough nutrients to get through the day. As it was the only reason to eat anymore was to savor the taste of food, and for that, they could always just order something.
Perhaps there was a different kind of satisfaction in serving something you had made with your own hands, but he felt the two of them could live without it. As it were, he felt that they didn't have the luxury to worry about such things.
"Oh!" Albedo said in response to Suzuki's comment and blushed.
Right then there was a knock at the door, and Suzuki opened it to see Baron Moss.
"Ah, Suzuki-dono, the preparations for the parade are about to be ready. We, the nobility of the Draconic Kingdom await your presence downstairs within the hour," he said.
"Alright, thank you," Suzuki said and closed the door.
He then turned around- the Draconic Kingdom had decided to throw a victory parade for them. As per all reports, the last of the beastmen had abandoned the human cities and retreated back to their own countries, so there was no more danger on that front.
"Um, Albedo," Suzuki said. "What do you think I should wear?"
Albedo's eyes seemed to nearly pop out of her skull at the prospect of choosing out some of Suzuki's clothes.
Suzuki's best clothes were the ones he had just recently found, and in his opinion, the best of them was a dark blue suit not too different from the kind that Demiurge wore, and given his usual attire as a salaryman was the one he was the most comfortable with.
However, it was clear that Albedo had a different idea. "This one!"
She took out a white tuxedo embedded with thousands of tiny gems and decorated with gilded embroidery on the sleeves.
If Suzuki wore this, then he felt that the two of them would look like a matching pair of Christmas ornaments. This suit was far too ostentatious for his taste, but on the other hand he had often overheard people remark that Albedo had the taste of a fine noble lady, while he had the taste of a common peasant. If he was going to try and impress people of noble standing, it was probably for the best that he listen to her.
Once he was dressed, Fluder met up with them as they walked down the hall. Fluder generally avoided such events, but Suzuki had wanted the man to stand besides them because he gave Suzuki an air of legitimacy. Even now more people were aware of Fluder Paradyne than they were of Suzuki Satoru, but that was only to be expected given Fluder had over two centuries to build up his reputation.
Suzuki was greeted by a strange sight as he reached the ground floor.
In front of him was Marquis Alexander- and he looked as prim and proper as ever. No evidence of the rumored drinking or drug abuse was on his face, and there were also several other nobles gathered with him. Suzuki recognized most of them as being Marquis Alexander's supporters.
Alexander smiled as he saw Suzuki. "Ah! Suzuki-dono! How grateful I am to see you!"
His friendly greeting caught Suzuki off guard. Where was the man who had opposed him at every single turn?
"On behalf of Her Majesty, do please let me thank you for your services," he said. "As for your reward, given they are national treasures, they will be handed over to you in a grand ceremony by Her Majesty."
Suzuki was annoyed at having to take part in yet another large ceremony, but he supposed it couldn't be helped. At least this man was not trying to bilk him of his due pay anymore.
"And of course, during today's parade, I do hope that you will be the lead," Alexander said.
Suzuki's heart nearly skipped a beat- he had just been told that he had to participate, not lead it. "Lead?"
"Indeed, as you are the man nearly solely responsible for our victory, you will be the centerpiece of the celebration," Alexander said. He began leading Suzuki away towards the street where a crowd was already gathering. "Come, I have prepared a suitable steed for you."
Suzuki heard audible gasps from the crowd as a stunning snow white horse with eight legs and a saddle made of platinum and gemstones was brought to him.
It was a Sleipnir- though as far as Suzuki knew, those horses always had black skin in this world.
"Behold- Suzuki-dono, a white Sleipnir, a rarity amongst even the herds of Sleipnir- truly a steed worthy of the hero of our country!" Alexander said. Fluder muttered something into Suzuki's ear. Every few thousand Sleipnir would be born with a white coat, and given how rare and expensive Slepinir were, a white one was a treasure that even a ruler of a country would have trouble finding, let alone purchasing.
Suzuki was reminded at that point of one of his guild members, who had talked about spending hundreds of hours outside of Yggdrasil to get a shiny Pokemon- in other words, a Pokemon that was a different color. This was probably something like that.
Fluder then stroked his beard. "Correct me if I'm wrong- but I do believe that I've seen this steed before. In the Emperor's own collection, nonetheless."
"Ah, you have a good eye, Fluder-dono. This was a gift from General Alfonse, who had been instructed to give it to me as thanks for my collaboration with the Empire," Alexander said. "But, I feel rather unworthy of it. I therefore intend to give it to you, Suzuki-dono, as a gift." Before Suzuki could respond, Alexander said, "Please do not refuse, Suzuki-dono. This one must apologize most deeply for offending you previously, but I do hope that you will forgive me."
Alexander then did something unexpected- he bowed his head.
"Ah, we all, we do apologize for our earlier actions." With these words, the other nobles lowered their heads as well.
"Please raise your heads!" Suzuki stammered. This situation was a bit unbearable- it was one thing if the Marquis were to shout at him in anger- that Suzuki would know how to handle, but he wasn't sure how to respond appropriately to this.
Suzuki was still quite suspicious of the man's true intentions, but the fact remained that if Alexander was genuinely remorseful, it would be a grave mistake to reject this offer of reconciliation. As it was, even if the man had ill intent, with the way things stood if Suzuki rejected Marquis Alexander's offer his own reputation would plummet. People would assume that Suzuki was being pigheaded and unreasonable if he were to reject the Marquis's offer.
There was really no socially acceptable way out of this for him but one.
"It is fine, I will accept this gift of yours. I also hope we can put our past strife behind us."
However, Suzuki was faced with another problem. He didn't know how to ride a horse- and from his conversations with Fluder, he knew that a man who didn't know how to ride one would be viewed like a man from his own world who did not know how to ride a bicycle. Suzuki would be mocked relentlessly if word got out that he couldn't ride a horse- was that what the Marquis had been planning from the get go?
Suzuki had no levels in riding type job classes, but anyone in Yggdrasil could ride a Sleipnir and many other kinds of mounts. Riding type job classes simply gave the rider several stat boosts and the like and were not a requirement for riding. That, however, had been a video game with simple controls and this was a real horse. And Suzuki did not have a spell that could charm this creature with magic.
"Ah, but I cannot take credit for my success alone," Suzuki said as a route of escape came to him. "I would not be here if not for help from my two companions. As such, how could I ride this horse by myself?"
"It is no issue, Teacher," Fluder said. "Your achievements were nearly all entirely thanks to your prowess. I am happy riding a normal horse, and will gladly trail beside you. I am simply overjoyed that you have received a gift so valuable, and that your accomplishments will be recognized by this entire country."
With that avenue exhausted, Suzuki turned his pleading eyes to Albedo.
"Ah, but you are the leader of our team," Albedo said. "And as such, all of our accomplishments are thanks to you! I could think of nothing better than seeing you leading a parade!" She clearly thought it would be wonderful if Suzuki got to display himself in such a way.
"But you are my teammate, Albedo, and as teammates, are we not equals?" Suzuki said. He was hoping to somehow at least convince Albedo to ride with him, though she would probably hand him the reigns and expect to sit behind him. As it was, even Albedo had no experience riding mounts or men for that matter, so he didn't know how well it would turn out even if she was convinced to take the reigns somehow.
"I applause your concern for your teammates, Suzuki-dono," Marquis Alexander said. "But, as it is, Albedo-dono is wearing a dress, is she not? I will prepare a carriage so that she may ride behind you."
This made Suzuki wonder why the two of them couldn't simply ride in a carriage together, but it seemed that these people were adamant on pushing him to ride this beast. They wanted to make it clear that he was the real hero.
Resigned to his fate, but hoping for the best, Suzuki advanced towards the horse slowly so as to not startle it.
And then it suddenly flared its nostrils and lifted its hind legs to kick Suzuki in the head.
Even the blow of a normal horse would be quite deadly, but that of a Sleipnir, which was magical beast and possessed several magnitudes of strength greater than that of an ordinary steed would surely decapitate a normal person.
This Sleipnir was more muscular than the others; clearly it had been fed and trained to be faster and stronger than its brethren. This extra attention it had been showered with was likely because of its rare color.
As such, the blow would've been enough to even fracture the skull of someone such as Gazef Stronoff and give the man a concussion as well as knock out several teeth.
However, before the hoof could make contact with his head, Albedo grabbed him from behind and spun him around so that it hit her instead.
Anyone who saw this would've expected Albedo to have a a skull resembling a pancake after suffering such a blow. Especially so since she seemed rather weak and fragile. Even if she was much stronger than she looked, it would be expected that she would have a skull fracture at the very least.
However, her head had not budged from its place at all. As a matter of fact, aside from getting some dirt in her hair, she seemed to be completely unfazed, and she then immediately pulled out a massive weapon out of what seemed like thin air. She radiated a lethal aura at the beast, and poised to strike before Suzuki grabbed her hand.
Everyone was so busy looking at Albedo that they didn't notice the snarl that Marquis Alexander had on his face at the moment.
"Wait, Albedo," Suzuki said. He was afraid that if Albedo killed the Sleipnir, he would be given another horse to ride, and he would end up in the same spot he was in before. "It's just an animal- let it be. As it is, I think it's best if the three of us ride in an open carriage pulled by this legendary Sleipnir- like a chariot. That is far better than me accepting the entirety of the limelight for our victory."
Albedo lowered her weapon, but it was clear that she still harbored a grudge towards the animal.
"I can arrange for a larger carriage, but this Sleipnir may still run wild," Marquis Alexander said, quickly recovering and maintaining a cordial expression.
"Ah, give me ten minutes- I'll figure something out," Suzuki said. "I trust that you can prepare the carriage by then?"
"I also need to fix my hair," Albedo said. People were still stunned that she had apparently not suffered any consequences from getting hit by the Sleipnir, and the nonchalant way in which she was talking about her hair after that blow only served to further bewilder them.
Many had assumed that Albedo was just some eye candy that Suzuki let hang around him and that it was Suzuki who was doing most of heavy lifting between the two of them- and that even if she was somewhat strong she was probably not that strong given that no one had heard of her participating in any big tournaments or any great battles. It didn't help that Suzuki was given the entire credit of nearly everything that the two of them did together, so it was only natural that people underestimated her.
Marquis Alexander had not even factored her involvement into his plan. He had assumed she was just a glorified concubine given the way she never spoke up during their war council meetings and that Suzuki and Fluder were the only ones with brains.
In a way, the fact that Albedo was often underestimated was actually quite a boon to Suzuki, for example, in this very situation.
The special Sleipnir was attached to a gilded chariot. It still seemed slightly restless, which was why Suzuki pulled out a scroll.
He had teleported to the nearby Magician's Guild and bought several scrolls with the spell Charm Species enchanted within them. It was a tad expensive, but it was worth the price for him. Of course, given it was a magical best, Suzuki had to cast the spell Resist Break along with inflicting a few other debuffing spells he had learned by specializing in Umbramancy for the scroll to even have a chance of working. Scroll spells were slightly weaker than when they had been imbibed into scrolls, so even if Suzuki's own magical stats were very high, it wouldn't help with the scroll's effectiveness.
Suzuki used a scroll, and felt a strange connection form between him and the animal, telling him that the spell was successful. It was no longer so restless, and while it was not intelligent enough to understand human speech, it could understand basic commands, and Suzuki told it to move forward.
Albedo and Fluder were with him in the chariot.
As it moved slowly along and Suzuki looked around at the throngs of people eager to get a look at him, he quickly realized that staying in a chariot was not as easy as he had otherwise presumed.
As it was, the chariot was basically just a giant open box attached to a horse. It didn't have any seat belts or other safety measures to prevent someone from falling off, and Suzuki had had to grab onto Albedo to stop himself from falling out a few times.
Behind them, a large procession of nobles and their soldiers marched in tight formation. Their armor and equipment gleamed in the light, but none of them were as eye-catching as Suzuki and Albedo.
Around them, children eagerly begged to be let onto their parents's shoulders just for a better view. Those who couldn't do that climbed atop boxes and their curious faces lit up as they saw the nation's heroes.
Many of them were shouting things, and Suzuki could only make out snippets of the conversation. It was clear that many of them were quite impressed by the clothes he and Albedo had.
It was clear that the people of this world rather liked the kind of clothing that Suzuki had thought was kind of over the top.
The people spoke the name of Fluder Paradyne the most, most among them assuming it was the magic caster of legend who must've been their savior, but many also began asking each other who the other two in the chariot were. The names of Suzuki and Albedo were on nearly every tongue, and the story slowly spread of how it was Suzuki, not Fluder, who was the actual one responsible for saving them. Those who had not witnessed Suzuki's powers firsthand found it hard to believe that Suzuki exceeded Fluder in magical ability, but that was only to be expected.
Suzuki had to use another scroll during the parade, and it got him thinking. He now had a stash of Yggdrasil gold- perhaps it was possible to manufacture scrolls himself? He would need a large source of raw material though, and it would be ideal for him to be able to get even more Yggdrasil gold. If only he had access to any Yggdrasil guild base- the use of a Shredder could possibly allow him to convert things such as grain to Yggdrasil gold. If Yggdrasil players existed, then there was the possibility that a guild base was also out there somewhere in this world.
His thoughts were interrupted as he was pretty sure a woman in the crowd had shouted "Suzuki Satoru, please marry me!" but when he turned his head he couldn't find the source of the voice. He was pretty sure he hadn't imagined it as even Albedo seemed to be irked somewhat.
The triumph ended at the governor's building, where Draudillon was waiting with the treasures that had been promised to Suzuki.
Thankfully, Suzuki felt that he had not embarrassed himself too much in the proceedings as he accepted the prizes.
Jircniv, once he was done reading over a paper and signing it, briefly gazed out the window.
Based on what Alfonse had told him about that man, Marquis Alexander, Jircniv's plan should have been executed sometime today. What was the result of it?
Had Suzuki Satoru been killed? If so, what would happen after that? Did he really have access to resurrection magic, or would he remain in the grave forever?
Regardless, Jircniv was several degrees removed from the incident, so regardless of what would befall Marquis Alexander, Jircniv would've been completely safe.
With the return of the Eighth Legion, most dissent that had cropped up after Fluder's absence had ebbed away.
Jircniv had an agent in the city of Camelot, but he would have to wait a few days for confirmation on what had happened given how unreliable the Message spell was.
He then turned his attention to his next task- there was a noble who had requested an audience with him. He rang a bell signaling that the man could come in.
Several weeks earlier...
In a secure room in the capital city of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, a meeting was going on with eight very menacing looking figures gathered around a table.
The symbol of the Eight Fingers hung in the room, making the identity of the people gathered there easily apparent.
"There's a problem," Hilma, a rather attractive blonde woman said. She was the one who had called the meeting in the first place. "Yet another one of my farms has been hit and the crop burnt to the ground. No culprits have been found."
The 'crop' in question was the black dust, a powerfully addictive drug whose use was widespread in the kingdom and whose revenue made up a large chunk of the Eight Finger's cashflow. As it was, without the drug, there was little point of the smuggling and security divisions, save for perhaps the slave trade. The slave trade, however, was quickly dying out,
"Ah," Zero said. "It seems that you require some extra security..."
"I will be declining your assistance for now," Hilma said. Help from the other branches was rife with problems and better avoided as much as possible. "As it is, aren't you going to be busy with the new job you've taken up?"
Zero snorted. "Just whatcha getting at?"
"I mean your task of killing Gazef Stronoff," Hilma said flatly.
Zero's face twitched before he asked with a malicious grin, "Oh? And who told you that? Was is Malmvist? Or that idiot Succulent who leaked it to one of your whores?"
Hilma laughed gently. "It was just a rumour... but thanks for confirming it for me anyway."
"Do you really intend to go against that man?" Cocco Doll asked. "Won't that invite too much heat on us?"
The purpose of their organization was to gain power and money- taking out the Chief Warrior of this country would result in a lot of unwanted attention.
Such a thing could normally be passed on to the assassination department, but there was no one capable of matching Gazef Stronoff. It was doubtful if even Zero could face the man, no matter how much Zero prided himself on being the real strongest man in the kingdom. It would take at least three members of Six Arms to ensure Gazef's death.
"Part of the request is that we are to remain hidden, which really, the noble who requested it must've had rocks for brains. Of course we won't do it in the open," Zero said. "We must make the opportunity ourselves, however."
"Is it worth assassinating that man?" Hilma asked. "With him gone, won't the Empire be able to make further progress into the Kingdom? It won't be good for us if that happens."
"With the loss of that famed magic caster, the Blood-Emperor is in a tight place," Zero said. "He probably can't make further incursions into the Kingdom's territory because of that. And if we get rid of the Chief Warrior, it is good for us. The actions the government could take against us would be quite limited then."
"I have an idea," Cocco Doll said. "That bitch's mutt- I've heard that the Chief Warrior and him are kind of close. Let's take the brat hostage first!"
Zero smirked. "Oh, that would work very well for you, wouldn't it? Given that that bitch has been interfering in your business?"
Cocco Doll said angrily, "In the end, isn't it our product which leads to profits for the other branches?"
"Hm... right you are on that, in some ways," Zero said. If there were no drugs or slaves, certain departments would have no reason to exist. Perhaps only the assassination department could eke out a living then.
A/N: Someone brought to my attention that Suzuki's sorcerer job levels suddenly disappeared- that was my fault as I didn't realize that I hadn't put them in while making one of the lists. That's been rectified and Suzuki no longer has his "War Mage" job levels anymore.