And we are back with another chapter. Managed to get this one finished a little early, and thank whatever deity that exists that my college suffering is almost at an end. So hopefully updates will be faster in the following weeks.
Big thanks to Qinlongfei for beta reading this chapter and giving good feedback and ideas.
It was actually at Qin's suggestion that this chapter was made since if you all recall from the last chapter , he felt as though the quest needed a third act and so that was how this chapter was created.
Also just a heads-up before diving into this chapter ... I did mention to you all that this would be a multi-POV story didn't I ?
Oh wait , I didn't ? Oh well...
:P
Let's get this chapter started !
Chapter 8: Lesson for the Road
He had to admit ... there were a lot of things he had to get used to upon getting summoned to a literal isekai world. Getting used to the obvious technological differences between his world and this one for sure . Indoor plumbing had already been invented, at least in the major cities there was so that was one thing to be relieved about .
But outside of that he found that Melromarc was pretty much medieval fantasy world grade tech . He was somewhat sad when his phone ran out of battery , despite essentially being the equivalent of a brick without access to the internet , he still would have liked to use it from time to time to look at pictures of his mother and try to not feel too homesick.
He supposes he would just have to deal with it for now , he had a Wave to prepare for.
" You look great in that Sir Motoyasu ! " His companion Lesty complimented him as she pointed at his newly donned armor.
" Thanks Lesty " Motoyasu returned her smile as he stretched his arms a bit to try and get used to now added weight on him. The armor itself wasn't uncomfortable and it felt pretty easy to move around in.
And Motoyasu had to agree ... he did look great in red with white armor plating.
They had decided to pay a visit to the guild blacksmith , whose shop was actually attached to the building itself in order to get some upgrades to their equipment with Motoyasu already approaching level 24 . Elena had suggested it would be a good idea to stock up on good equipment rather than wait for the Wave to come to get it , so they could all get properly used to their new equipment.
" So how does it feel boy ? Not too tight I hope ? " The blacksmith , Balmur he remembered was his name asked . Balmur was a short robust-looking old man with thinning white hair on his head with a mustache paired with a beard. To cap off the blacksmith look , he had the whole apron and black gloves.
Motoyasu resisted the urge to ask if the old man was a dwarf , but wisely decided that the old man would probably kick his ass if he tried to ask him that.
" The armor feels just right on me . Its also lighter than I thought it would be " Motoyasu gave his honest comments as he gave his spear a quick twirl , not really being able to notice any distinct difference with how fast his hand could move with the armor on.
" Ha ! My work is still up to par then ! " Balmur let out a laugh as he helped adjust the shoulder piece on his left side " This set is called the White Knight , fitting name eh ? "
White Knight , huh ? Not a half bad name ...
" I think I'll take it " Motoyasu nodded as he turned to his companions " Do you girls need anything ? "
" No , I think we're alright Sir Motoyasu " Lesty politely shrugged him off .
" Are you sure you don't need any armor ? " Motoyasu persisted a little .
" Its quite alright Sir Motoyasu , I for one am quite comfortable in my current gear " Elena lazily replied.
Motoyasu had to admit that their lack of armor did worry him a little . Considering that none of his companions wear armor at all, just regular clothing. It made Motoyasu wonder if stats truly did dictate everything in this world and to hell with real world logic . That was mainly the reason for why he had always advised his companions to stay back while he handled dangerous monsters since he had the best defense of them all.
" You shouldn't worry too much about your companions boy , even without armor they should be okay for now " Balmur reassured him.
" But isn't armor important ? " Motoyasu argued back
" Armor definitely is important for almost any class but ... your party is still fighting low- to mid level monsters right ? " Balmur seemed to wait for Motoyasu to nod before continuing " Well , then you don't need to worry too much about it for now. Armor isn't especially important to agile focused fighters like your fencer girl here who rely more on dodging and parrying than directly tanking hits "
" See ? Balmur knows what he's talking about" Lesty said with a cheeky smile.
" Don't get the wrong idea lass , I do think you girls should start wearing some armor when you get to the higher levels " Balmur clarified " Training your body to get used to fighting while wearing armor is important , even if its light or medium armor "
" Do we have to ? " Elena droned voice almost sounded annoyed.
" Unless you don't mind the possibility of instant death when you receive a hit that you WILL get at some point in your adventuring time , then yes you don't have to " Balmur shot right back at Elena who gave him an annoyed look " Armor can sometimes mean the difference between getting critically injured or instant death . Take your pick ..."
" Fine ..." Elena rolled her eyes.
" I'm sure it wouldn't be too bad ..." Lesty spoke optimistically.
" Light and medium armor for when they get to the higher levels, got it " Motoyasu gave a nod of respect to the blacksmith " Thanks Balmur "
" Anytime boy , anytime ..." Balmur gave him a pat on the back which somewhat comforted Motoyasu.
" So how much do I owe you ?" Motoyasu changed the subject .
After paying for his new armor , he and his group promptly exited the guild blacksmith shop and back into the guild hall itself where many adventurers were already seated and either enjoying their meals or planning out their next adventure. Motoyasu was still amazed the first time he came into the guild , with all the different races and adventurers in the guild .
Though even someone like Motoyasu noticed the looks he got from some of the adventurers whenever he entered the guild.
Particularly from the adventurers who looked similar to that of clerics or paladins , some of which were looking at him with awe and reverence. Did the heroes really have that much prestige among the common people ? He wasn't sure if he could ever get used to that sort of thing.
" Excuse me , Sir Motoyasu ! " The blonde hero heard someone call his name and turned to see one of the receptionist , Micah , calling him over .
" Micah what is it ? " Motoyasu asked as he walked over , clearly seeing that the normally polite and kind receptionist look both irritated and worried.
" We just had an urgent request come in from Pickaxe " Micah held up a quest paper in her hand as she spoke " Reports over undead attacking villagers of Pickaxe recently , the lord just put an urgent request for reinforcements to wipe them out "
" Pickaxe village ..." Motoyasu recalled that name from just a few days ago " Wait isn't that the same village Naofumi took to clear that undead infestation ? I thought he already cleared it ..."
" Apparently not . If we just got a report from the village lord that there are still undead out there ... " Micah seemed to spit out the words in contempt " The Shield Hero reported finding some kind of Outsider shrine at the site before destroying it but then why are undead still roaming around ? "
Outsider shrine ?
Micah got herself together and refaced Motoyasu " Anyway can you please take this quest , Sir Motoyasu ? The request is urgent and all of our mid or high tier adventurers have already set out for their daily quests ..."
Motoyasu didn't need to think about it too hard " Don't worry about it Micah , I'll handle it " Motoyasu gave her a calming smile " You can count on me "
" Thank you Sir Motoyasu ... better you than the shield ..." Micah said thankfully and lowly at the same time.
Motoyasu wanted to refute Micah , but he knew that he was on the clock .
" Come on girls , we got a village to save " Motoyasu said proudly as he and his group exited the guild.
He was looking to break in his new armor anyway.
The trip from Castletown to Pickaxe wasn't really long if Motoyasu was being honest . But both Elena and even Gretel to an extent had mildly complained a bit over the length of the trip on the way there. And Motoyasu somewhat had to agree with how boring the trip actually was .
God , this world needs cars or hell even motorcycles .
Note to self : Get a carriage or wagon after the wave.
After some more walking they finally arrived at the entrance of Pickaxe village and Motoyasu had to admit ... he could already tell that the place had seen better days.
What looked like a wall that surrounded the village which was comprised of just large wooden spikes tied together to form a barrier . The wall seemed to have taken significant damage from what looked like arrows and slashes from swords . One portion of the wall looked like it was ready to collapse.
Looks like Micah really wasn't kidding about this place getting hit by undead ...
Approaching the entrance , Motoyasu was about to take a step forward if an arrow hadn't just been shot where his foot was about to be.
" Who goes there !? " A man sounding gruff and angry shouted at them from the top of a watchtower near the gate.
Motoyasu quickly held his hands up in an attempt to disarm the man " Take it easy ! We're adventurers from the guild ! " Motoyasu yelled out trying to diffuse the situation " I'm the Spear Hero ! "
" ... Yeah and I'm the king of Melromarc , so why don't you punks just screw off and-"
" Wait ! The Spear Hero !? Open the gate ! "Another man interrupted but this one came from behind the gate.
All of a sudden , the wooden gates of Pickaxe opened up and Motoyasu could see several men actually waiting behind the gate with weapons drawn. As if preparing to attack any deemed threat.
" Please come in Sir Spear Hero ..." An older man who had a beard and white hair on his head quickly gestured him inside.
Motoyasu hesitated for a moment , before taking a step forward into the village.
" What a warm welcome committee ..." Elena dryly commented as she eyed some of the villages who were holding onto their weapons.
Though Motoyasu could hardly call them weapons , most of them just had pitchforks , sickles and axes that looked more for chopping wood than fighting. Clearly the village didn't have an abundance of proper weapons to arm themselves with.
" My apologies , but we have had to hold back the undead's attack before your arrival Sir Hero " The village lord apologized " As you can see ... we are really up against it here ..."
No kidding ...
A lot of the villages didn't even have proper armor and were just wearing regular clothes . The few lucky ones seemed to have donned basic leather armor that looked cut up in several different places . And many of the villagers looked injured or had received cuts .
" Are you really ... the Spear Hero ...?" One of the villagers asked , looking at him with hopeful eyes.
Motoyasu wanted to say yes , but he figured a show of his weapon would be more reassuring . So he simply changed his spear to a different one to prove his status as a hero .
" Amazing ..."
" The Chief God has not abandoned us ! "
" Alright , alright , everybody settle down ! " The lord quickly calmed his people before they could get too in Motoyasu's face " You all have your duties to do , so get to it ! We're losing daylight here !"
The villagers seemed disappointed but respectfully obeyed their lord's commands.
" Sorry about that , my people can get a little ... in your face about stuff like this " The lord apologized once again.
" Its alright , I understand " Motoyasu nodded empathetically . These people looked like they could use all the hope they could get.
" So ... can you tell us about this undead problem you've been having ? " Lesty broke into the conversation.
" Yes of course . It all started with that infestation in that cave ...we had put in a request for help from the adventurers guild and then the Shield Hero and his party showed up and supposedly cleared it ..." The lord explained with a grim expression " We thought it was the end of our troubles ... but then two night ago we were suddenly attacked by a large group of undead ... we were able to beat them back but we lost a lot of good men "
" Undead are still popping up ... how could that be ? I was sure Naofumi had taken care of it ..." Motoyasu mused out loud.
" They could be stragglers that had wandered away from the main infestation ..." Lesty suggested.
" With their number and size , I doubt it was just a few stragglers that had wandered off " The lord pipped in.
" Whatever the case may be , we need to deal with them before they become a problem " Motoyasu said firmly " Where is this cave you said they were inhabiting ? There is a chance they might have gone back there ... "
" Just west of here , you should be able to find it "
" Alright , we'll head out soon and hopefully take care of this once and for all "
" You have our thanks Sir Motoyasu ..." The lord bowed his head.
" Don't mention it " Motoyasu smiled , he had to help these people . He was a hero after all.
Finding the cave was actually a lot easier than Motoyasu thought it would have been . With the distance being only like maybe less than 10 minute walk away from the village.
Motoyasu was genuinely surprised to find the entrance to the cave ...unguarded.
There wasn't even a single undead in sight.
And that made him nervous.
" Is something wrong Sir Motoyasu ? " Gretel asked.
" Nothing its just ... I thought there would be guards or something near here ..." Motoyasu admitted . In his game , there was usually at least two or three enemies waiting by an entrance to a stronghold to fight . But here there were no enemies to speak of .
" Undead aren't the brightest monsters in the book , there are probably more inside " Elena commented.
" Maybe ... but stay behind me alright ..." Motoyasu said as they prepared for enter the cave.
After lighting some torches , they all began to descend down into the cave in an orderly fashion . Motoyasu was of course at the front serving as the vanguard , while Elena , Lesty and Gretel were walking behind him holding their own individual torches for insurance in case one of them goes out.
Motoyasu had to hold himself back from gagging at the smell of the cave . The smell of rotten flesh , blood and something else that smelled like shit polluted the air . Motoyasu held up his cloak to try and block out the smell but to no avail.
" Ugh , this place smells terrible " Lesty complained .
" Agreed ..."Elena nodded in agreement as she held up a cloth to try and protect herself from the foul stench" Why do we have to do this ? "
" I'm really sorry about this girls but just ... try to bear with it " Motoyasu tried to reassure , even he couldn't stand the stench of this cave" We'll be out of here in no time "
Elena merely grumbled while Lesty gave a nod .
Motoyasu readied his spear preparing to face down whatever this cave could throw at them. He was worried though that he and his party may not have a lot of room to move around in . Add in the fact that if he held his spear horizontally they could quite literally touch the walls of the cave so that meant he couldn't do more than just thrust at whatever was in front of him.
That was fine though . He was supposed to be the vanguard anyway.
So they continued down the cave , occasionally passing by what looked to be burned remains of eliminated undead. Most likely from when Naofumi and his party first came here . But they tried not to focus too much on that and was instead prepared for any threat that might jump out at them from the shadows.
They eventually came up on what looked to be two paths that seemed to go into seemingly different directions. And after some quick decision making , they decided to go right since there seemed to be less blood on that path.
" Sir Motoyasu ? " Lesty spoke up.
" Yeah ? What is it Lesty ? " Motoyasu stopped looking back.
" Don't you think its weird ? " Lesty posed the question.
" What's weird ? "
" That we've been walking in this cave for the past 5 or so minutes and we haven't encountered a single undead " Lesty explained " If they had really come back here , don't you think we would have seen some by now ? "
Motoyasu thought about it and it made sense " You're right , that is pretty weird "
If they had really come back to this cave , we should have encountered some by now . Are they deeper in or have they scattered to the forest ?
" Should we keep going down into this smelly cave or turn back ?" Elena asked crossing her arms impatiently " Its your call Sir Motoyasu"
My call ...
I don't want to cause the girls more trouble than I should but ... I need to make sure.
" We're going further in " Motoyasu announced.
" Great..." Elena rolled her eyes.
Motoyasu looked downcast at that but he managed to push on.
As they continued down the path , Motoyasu could see something come into his view and he could feel that the path they were on get wider providing more room to move around in.
There was something ... shiny coming into view ? And as they got closer and closer-
" Wow ! " Lesty exclaimed " These ores are beautiful ! "
Motoyasu couldn't help but agree with that statement. That shiny light that seemed to come into his sight turned out to be several greenish ores that stuck out of the walls and seemed to illuminate the cave they were in somewhat.
" Fascinating ..." Gretel exclaimed as she touched one of them " I never thought we would find ores of such impressive quality all the way out here ..."
" Are they special or something ? " Motoyasu asked.
" They are definitely magical in nature . I can feel the mana flow through these rocks but I can't know what they are " Gretel could only shrug . She was a student of the arcane and not a miner.
" Its light metal ore " Elena suddenly spoke up " Its typically used to make light metal armor and is one of the more common mid-tier metals out there for its reasonable price ..."
The rest of the group stared at Elena in surprised.
" What ? My family runs a business , of course I would know stuff like this " Elena shrugged.
" Either way , this should unlock something good " Motoyasu aimed his spear just right and struck at the base of the ore sticking out of the wall . Using his spear to pry a piece of the ore out before absorbing it into his spear.
Light Metal Spear
Increased Magic Attack ( Medium)
I've seen better but I'll take it ...
" Come on , let's get going ..." Motoyasu started walking down the path and the rest of the girls started following after him.
Eventually they reached what seemed to be the end of the cave and what looked like some kind of mid-sized room. That of course had the worse stench of them all with several burned undead and rotting corpses.
But what caught Motoyasu's eye was what seemed like a burned out stand that resembled some kind of ... shrine maybe ?
" Chief God's mercy , what the hell is this room ? " Elena complained as the smell attacked their nostrils.
" I don't know ... but I think this is the shrine Naofumi mentioned in his report " Motoyasu deduced " But if its already been destroyed than ... why are there still undead ?"
" Sir Motoyasu ! Come take a look at this ! " Gretel suddenly ran over holding what seemed to be a book of some kind.
" What is it Gretel ? "
" I found this over there , some of the pages are torn out but it looked to have been left here recently ..." Gretel dusted the book off as she took a look at its contents "" This ... doesn't sound like it was written by an undead " Lesty said slowly " This looked like it was written by a human ..."
" Read it out loud " Motoyasu said as Gretel started reading .
Research Log 1#
I've done it ! I've finally managed to get my hands on one of those Outsider artifacts ! It wasn't easy going through the black market with my limited funding but it was well worth it to get my hands on this !
Those fools at the academy laughed at me and called me crazy for wanting to experiment on Outsider magic ... but I can feel the power of the void flow through this artifact and I believe that it can be the gateway to incredible power and knowledge.
Experiments with the artifact are already underway.
Research Log 4#
Spending a few days with the artifact now and I can't quite seem to have it off my mind. Whenever I hold it in my hand , its almost as if I can hear it whispering to me ... as if it is trying to tell me all of its secret but my glorious mind can't comprehend a word of it.
No matter , I have already begun researching and experimenting on the artifact. I believe that the artifact itself either contains some kind of hidden dark power within it or it has direct connection to the Void itself. I am positively thrilled to see the potentials that this new discovery can be made .
Explore the possibility of obtaining a second artifact . Funds still too low.
Research Log 7#
I have regrettably hit a roadblock in my research . I can't quite seem to draw the power of the artifact out of the blasted thing ! I have tried all of the arcane methods I know to try and extract the power from the artifact but it seems that all conventional methods are ineffective at studying the power contained in each one of these runes.
Out of desperation , I asked around for information on the black market for anything I could find about these artifacts.
Of course , I ended up with almost nothing from those urchins. But some said that in order to unlock the true power of the artifact ... I must insert it into my very soul.
... I have not grown so desperate to try such rash decisions , but ... the possibility must be explored.
Research Log 14#
Damnit , damnit , DAMNIT !
Those charlatans have kicked me out of the academy ! Me !? Claiming that all of my research was nothing more than just occult thinking and a waste of the academy's resources ! Bah ! Shows what those fools know about true genius !
They said I was lucky that I was only getting off with expulsion and a confiscation of all of my research, equipment and tools.
But I was able to hide the artifact at least.
I must- no WILL obtain the power of the artifact and I'll show those fools REAL POWER
Research Log 16#
It took the last of my funds but I was able to obtain one of those 'bonecharms ' that are always being passed around. Trinkets said to contain power from the Void as well .
It is comparatively weaker than that of the artifact so it should be alright ?
...Right ?
Research Log 17#
Yes , yes , YES !
I've done it ! I've managed to manipulate the power of the artifact at long last !
And all it took was inserting that trinket into my very essence which was not easy to do but well worth the investment . If anything I feel even more powerful than I have before !
Now its time to show those fools what true power is .
Research Log 20#
After toying with the artifact , I seemed to have obtained the ability to attract particular monsters that are in the vicinity to me ... especially of the undead variety.
Very interesting ...
I will now be attempting to use this power to lure several undead into a nearby cave in which I have set up a shrine to act as a beacon to attract more undead. Once I have properly mastered the artifact I will use it to control the undead.
And all who mocked me shall pay !
Research Log 22#
Outsider's cursed balls !
The undead I attracted to the cave did come ... only they didn't quite obey my commands the way I wished that they did ! Instead the vile creatures attempted to attack me !
I was forced to retreat from the cave and abandoned the precious artifact too !
I didn't want to leave it but I had to . I will attempt to retrieve in a few days . Damn the village to the undead for all I care.
Research Log 24#
Everything is coming apart !
The village complained about the undead infestation getting too close to the village and lodged a quest at the guild ! And of course the band of adventurers that went in killed off almost all of the undead in the cave .
And worse yet ... they completely destroyed the shrine and the artifact too !
Everything has been lost ... all my money , research ...even the artifact that I went through the black market to get !
Its all been lost ...and its that damn village fault !
If those damn villagers hadn't complained about a few of them getting killed everything would have been fine ! I would have been able to continue my research and recover the artifact !
Who gives a damn if a few nameless villagers get killed ?! My research is far more important than any of them !
This calls for punishment ...
I may not be able to control the undead ... but I can bring them to me ...
The whole village will be destroyed and I will use their bodies to make up for the loss of undead ...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
A wave of silence overtook the group as Gretel finished reading ...
" T-This guy ... was toying with Outsider magic ?! What kind of madman would do something like that ? " Gretel asked outloud.
" More importantly it looks like this guy was the one who was behind the infestation and recent attacks on the village " Motoyasu stated " And he said he had the power to bring monsters to him so ..."
" He has to be inside the village for that to work ..." Elena said seriously.
They all looked at each other and they all knew what that meant.
Motoyasu was already booking it out of the cave " We need to get back to the village now ! "
The rest of his party followed after him , for once they didn't even have time to complain.
The whole run back to Pickaxe village wasn't very long with how close the cave was and in no time at all did they manage to get back to the front entrance of the village . Practically bursting through them and surprising the villagers and lord waiting for their return.
Elena and Lesty almost fell over from the exhaustion of having to run all the way to the village, only Gretel and Motoyasu were able to stand up relatively straight from all the running . Though they were all tired and panting for air from all the running.
" Spear Hero ! Are you alright ?" The lord immediately asked putting a hand on Motoyasu's shoulder " Did you manage to take out the undead ? "
" N-No we ... we found something else ..." Motoyasu was still panting and struggling to a certain degree to speak.
" What did you find Spear Hero ? "
" We found a-"
" UNDEAD ! "
A loud voice coming from the watchtower suddenly shouted and interrupted Motoyasu.
" What the- Undead attacking now ?! "
" We got incoming from the north ! " The man on the watchtower shouted.
" Shit ! " The lord pulled out his own sword as several other villages quickly took up weapons.
Motoyasu and his party weren't standing idly by either. Recovering and unsheathing their weapons to prepare to defend.
Motoyasu calmed his tired breath as he focused on defending not just the village , but these people too .
He had to .
" Wait a second ! They are trying to attack the wall instead ! " The watchtower man called out " The wall ! The wall ! "
The man repeatedly shouted but it was too late for anyone to react . Motoyasu turned just in time to see a portion of the wall come down and several undead start to pour through the crack in the village defenses.
" Form a line ! We need to hold them back !" The lord shouted at his men .
" Girls stay back and shoot magic at them ! " Motoyasu shouted before he ran to join the villagers. Impaling the first undead he got close to with his spear .
Motoyasu grit his teeth as he twirled his spear and used it to slash at several undead .
" Stay back you demo- AAAAHHH ! "
Motoyasu could only watch as one of the villagers get stabbed to the death by the undead and many more following after him.
" Damnit ... Chaos Spear ! " Motoyasu unleashed the skill and sent a flurry of strikes at the undead , chopping several of them down . But he couldn't get nearly as many as he wanted to with the villagers in his way.
The villagers try as they might stood no chance against the undead. With their lacking in armor , levels and proper weapons , the villagers were practically cannon fodder for these zombies . And worse yet , Motoyasu couldn't unleash all of his skills so long as the villagers were around .
" Air Strike Javelin ! " Motoyasu threw his spear and managed to two for one with the skill as he jumped back to get some more breathing room " Lord ! Tell your men to fall back now ! "
" W-what !? But we-"
" No time to argue ! Your men are getting slaughtered here , tell them to pull back and protect their families ! " Motoyasu shouted .
" S-Sir Motoyasu ! What do you want us to do ? " Gretel asked him , as she sent out a wind spell that knocked some of the undead back.
" Help the villagers evacuate , I'll hold them off ! "
" By yourself !? "
" Don't worry about me I'll be fine !" Motoyasu reassured her.
" But-" Lesty looked like she wanted to argue but was interrupted by a sword swipe by an undead.
" Just go !"
His party looked at him for a moment before they ran off to help with the evacuation.
" Alright assholes ..." Motoyasu turned back to the undead " Now where were we ? "
The undead charged at him and Motoyasu was ready to meet them halfway , sending another skill that tore through them like cheese.
With the villagers out of the way , Motoyasu was free to use his skills to his heart's desire . He had already unlocked plenty of good skills from his copied spears but he was still too low level to use some of the big skills .
Still there were more than just a few attack skills that he had unlocked .
" Blinding Lance !" Motoyasu shouted and held his spear up high as it shined bright which seemed to both blind and disorient the undead.
And that gave him plenty of time to launch a few skills their way.
" Chaos Spear ! Fiery Thrust ! " Motoyasu unleashed his quick strike skill again which followed up with a fire based skill .
The two skills tore through the undead with relative ease as their numbers dropped.
Motoyasu took the time to jump back and down a Soul Healing Potion with his SP getting low.
Alright , their numbers are already down by half right now . If I can just keep this up then-
" Zweit Tornado ! "
Motoyasu barely turned in time to see a tornado of wind get thrown at him . He held up his spear sideways to block the attack . It didn't help.
He felt himself get thrown into a nearby wall and gasped in pain as he landed.
"... Owww ..." Motoyasu exclaimed as he looked up at where the spell came from . To see a man dressed in what looked to be mage clothes and wearing glasses glaring at him.
" So ... I take it you're the big bad behind all this ? " Motoyasu asked as he tried to stand up using his spear as leverage.
" Hah ! I suppose I should be honored that one of the Cardinal Heroes caught wind of this ! " The mage smugly smirked at him " Yes , I am the proud and great researcher , Dere-"
" Listen I don't give a shit about your backstory or who you are for that matter ..." Motoyasu cut him off " What I am concerned about is you threatening these fine people with your undead minions "
" W-Wha- How dare you ! I am the one who dared to venture into Outsider's magic ! While all others were too cowardly to do so ! Me ! " The mage " And you tell me that you don't even care for my name !? "
" ...Yes ... because people like you don't even deserve to have the credit of a name " Motoyasu said firmly as he stood up .
" Why you ... Zweite Wind Cutter ! " The mage shot out a blade of wind at Motoyasu which he barely managed to jump out of the way in time.
" Air Strike Javelin ! " Motoyasu threw his spear at the mage who dodged as well.
Motoyasu also had to deal with the undead trying to slash and bite at him .Which meant he had two enemies to worry about . One that could throw magic attacks him and the other that was desperately trying to bite his face off.
He wasn't sure which was worse.
" Getting tired yet , hero ? "The mage mocked.
" I'm just getting warmed up ..." Motoyasu exclaimed , wiping the blood off of his mouth.
" Then let's see how well you fare ..." The mage said as he sent more wind spells at Motoyasu.
Motoyasu grit his teeth as one of them cut the skin of his arm , breaching his chainmail . And another strike from the undead right at his thigh which made him gasp in pain . And made him jump back to recover for a moment , using his spear to keep himself standing.
His HP was at the halfway point right now . If this kept up he would be in serious trouble !
" Hah ! Is this truly the best the Cardinal Heroes can do !? " The mage laughed at Motoyasu " If I can take you out , my name will be known throughout the ages !"
" Thank you for your sacrifice ... Spear Los-"
" Zweite Earth Shot ! "
A magic spell that came in the form of a huge rock came barreling towards the mage and hit him right in his face and sent him tumbling back.
" Who dares ...?! " The mage shouted as he got back up looking in rage at the people who attacked him.
Motoyasu was surprised too . It was his party ! They came back !
" We do ... we are Sir Motoyasu's companions ..." Gretel said firmly " Zweite Tornado ! "
The usually small and timid mage girl sent a tornado in similar size at the mage which he just managed to jump out of the way.
" Sir Motoyasu ! Are you alright ? " Lesty asked as she ran up to him with the rest of the party.
" Girls ! What are you doing back here ?! I told you to help with the eva-"
" We don't have to listen to our party leader when he's acting like a daft moron ! " Gretel shouted interrupting him , as she looked at him with hard eyes " Do you really think we are so fragile that we need you to protect us at every turn Sir Motoyasu !? We did not get chosen as potential candidates for the heroes if we were ! We are your companions ! And we will fight to the death with you if we must ! "
Motoyasu was shocked by this as Lesty and Elena helped pull him to his feet.
" We are fighting together and that's that ! " Gretel announced as they all got ready to face not just the mage , but also the remaining undead.
Motoyasu didn't need to say anything. Gretel was right.
" ...Let's do this ..." Motoyasu said as their enemies attacked.
" Fast Gust ! "
" Zweite Tornado ! " Gretel's spell easily tore through the mage's and sent him flying back.
Motoyasu and the others were busy handling the undead.
" Air Strike Javelin ! Fiery Thrust ! Chaos Spear ! "
Motoyasu sent skill after skill at the undead , tearing through them with all of his anger and might.
" Zweite Wind Cutters ! " Lesty sent a swirl of wind slashes at the undead with her fans , cutting each and every one of them down.
" I didn't know you guys were this strong ..." Motoyasu couldn't help but say.
Lesty smirked at him " You never asked . Zweit Aqua Slash ! "
" How troublesome ..." Elena said as she sent several consecutive strikes all at the undead.
Gretel was busy keeping the mage occupied with ease.
" Fast Gust ! You think you stand any chance against me little girl !? "
" ...Yes ... because I know exactly what you are ..."
" Oh and what's that ? "
" An insecure whiner that cried wolf when things didn't go his way and turned to the dark arts out of pettiness and spite " Gretel mocked him " Its no surprise that the academy kicked someone like you out , if you took the easy way out so quickly ..."
" Y-Y-You ..." The mage struggled to form words " HOW DARE YOU ?! "
" I dare ..." Gretel said cooly.
" Zweite Dark Cut ! " The mage tried to change tactics and sent a dark spell at Gretel.
" Gretel ! " Motoyasu looked on in shock.
Gretel didn't seem fazed in fact she seemed more calm than ever. She jumped out of the way of the spell and aimed her staff at the mage " Fast Earth Shot ! "
Gretel sent a smaller version of the spell she used before and in turn the rock ended up hitting the mage square in the groin.
" GAAAHHHH ! My nuts ! "
Motoyasu almost felt sorry for him.
" Zweite Tornado ! " Gretel unleashed a tornado at the mage which knocked him back ... right into the last of the undead !
Motoyasu and the rest halted their attack as the undead turned their attention to the mage.
" W-What the ... get off of me ! Get away from me ! Attack them you fools ! " The mage's cries went unanswered as the undead swarmed " Oh Outsider no ! Help me ple- AAAAHHHHHHHHH ! "
Motoyasu flinched as the mage screamed as the undead ate him.
" ...Let's end this now " Motoyasu ordered and none of the girls argued with that.
In no time at all , he and the girls managed to take out the remaining undead.
Motoyasu let out a breath as he collapsed against a nearby wall . They won.
In the hours following after , the lord had set up a field hospital for the wounded villagers and his party had taken Motoyasu there where he was healed with potions and some healing magic courtesy of Lesty. Thankfully there weren't that many casualties and Motoyasu's team had came out uninjured , bar from him of course .
" I cannot thank you enough for what you've done my people Sir Motoyasu " The lord bowed to him while Motoyasu laid back on the bed.
" Its fine ... all in a day's work " Motoyasu managed a weak smile.
" Excuse me , but I must go help my people " The lord bowed once more to Motoyasu and the girls before leaving.
So that just left Motoyasu with his party and the few other wounded people in the hospital.
" Sir Motoyasu ..." Gretel started " About earlier I wanted to say I'm sor-"
" Don't Gretel ..." Motoyasu interrupted " You don't need to apologize...if anything I should be the one doing that "
His words clearly surprised his party.
" I'm sorry ... I should have trusted you all more , you're all much more experienced in this world than me and I should have let you all help me instead of trying to do everything by myself ..." Motoyasu apologized.
" We understand Sir Motoyasu ... you were just doing what you thought was right " Lesty reassured him.
" But you need to let us help more okay ...? " Gretel said softly.
" I know ... I know ..." Motoyasu nodded.
" Alright girls , I think Sir Motoyasu has learned his little life lesson already ..." Elena chimed " Just let him rest for now ..."
" Get better soon Sir Motoyasu ..." Elena wished him as they all moved out of the room. Motoyasu gave them a smile as they left.
Motoyasu lied back down on his bed . He definitely had learned something today...
The girls in his party were a lot more dangerous than he thought. And he would let them fight by his side.
He was in a literal isekai world and if he wants to survive , he needs to trust his companions. And he plans to do just that.
As he felt fatigue catch up with him , he noted that the next time he saw Naofumi he would tell him to be more careful when clearing out an infestation.
Mein's POV
" Mein ! Bee's on your right ! " Naofumi calls out to her , just like he had done days ago against that porcupine .
" Fast Fireball ! "Mein is quick cast the spell , feeling the heat quickly form and disappear from her hand as she throws the fireball at the gigantic bees .
The knight was busy slashing his fair share of bees at a rather ... fast and monstrous rate , like killing them was the only thing that seemed to have mattered .
" Naofumi , look out ! " Mein calls out to him , as she sees another few bees about to attack him .
" Shield Prison ! " Naofumi quickly changes his shield to the Chain Shield , and activates the skill to trap the bees inside a ball of metal .
Once the prison had worn off , Mein fires off some arrows from her bow while the knight slashes them to pieces , it is unfortunate she can't accidentally shoot him in the knee in a horrible misfire accident .
Mein wipes some sweat off her brow as she hangs her bow over her shoulder , it had been a few days since Naofumi had acquired the Barbarian Armor , and they had spent the last few days raising their levels quite significantly . She felt a schoolgirl type of joy as she saw she had gained another level , as she finally reached level 26 . The knight was only a few levels behind her , at 23 and Naofumi was still lagging behind at level 17 .
The wave was only 2 weeks away now by her count and they would need to be as strong as possible before that happened .
" That seems to be the last of them , lets head back to the adventurer's guild and report that the job is complete " In that time though Naofumi had accepted more , less dark and cave like quests to help more people . And to get some money on the side but Naofumi seemed too innocent to be thinking like that.
" Yeah , lets get out of here ... " The knight seems to give her a sideways glare before walking towards the direction of the capital .
And yet in these past few days she has struggled to put this arrogant knight in his place , since they have spent the past few days camping out in the forest Mein has been unable to get him all nice and alone like back in the cave so she can deal with him or perhaps threaten him into obeying her . Although the knight will not be easy to control , as he has shown completely disregard for her status as a princess and has even outright insulted , he is not easily intimidated .
And for reasons , Mein has yet to uncover , he has not made a single attempt to alert Naofumi of her transgressions against him during their trip into the undead cave and as far as she knows , he has not told Naofumi about her true status as a princess , even though it would serve as adequate payback .
Mein stares the back of the knights head , wondering what is going on inside his head .
The knight is plotting something ... she's sure of it , based on the death glares and stares she gets , she is certain he is up to something .
But what it is ... who knows ?
Mein shrugs it off , as she focuses on just staying close to Naofumi .
Her mind was completely elsewhere , when they passed the gates of the capital and walking through the streets of castletown . Mein looked over her shoulder , to see no black robed figures following them , they had kept an extra sharp eye out for those robed people whenever they saw them again . Now that they had sufficiently raised their levels to satisfactory heights , Mein believes that they would be able to handle them , if they ever dared to show their faces again .
Entering the adventurer's guild , Mein took a seat at one of the benches while Naofumi went about to go talk to the receptionist at the counter , looking around there didn't appear to be too many adventurers around today . Since their little run in with the 3 Heroes in the guild a few days ago , they hadn't encountered them since that time , Naofumi had said he wanted to talk with them regarding their strategy during the wave , but unfortunately there had been no such sighting of any of the other heroes at the guild .
Mein figured that they were all busy raising their levels and acquiring new skills , much like Naofumi was . Hopefully they will meet again soon so that they may form at least some strategy or plan for the wave , even if what the Wave may bring is entirely unpredictable . Mein recalls back to her father having a strategy meeting with all of his generals , commanders and fellow war heroes before the First Wave came , father's strategy during the first wave was to rally as many high level adventurer's to help them fight in the wave alongside the knights , with a reward being offered to the adventurer who could achieve the highest number of kills .
" Hey Mein , check this out " Naofumi called her name as he walked up to her carrying a quest paper in one hand , handing it to her " Its some kind of investigation type quest , I found it on the board , it was posted a little while ago "
Mein reads its contents before turning back to Naofumi with a confused expression " Investigate the haunted abandoned inn , near the giant circus tent in the slums ? "
Now I get what you're all probably wondering at this point and yes ...the old man at the beginning of the story is in fact the same blacksmith from Goblin Slayer.
XD
Okay but for real , you're all wondering why I essentially turned Motoyasu into an OOC and that answer actually has two reasons behind it . The second of which I'm not going to be explaining for plot purposes and because I don't want to spoil anything related to Motoyasu's character for that matter. But the first reason is actually pretty simple and that relates to canon.
Because one of the things that I absolutely hated in canon was how the author went out of their way to constantly justify Naofumi morally and always make him seem like the 'smart' and 'rational' one of the 3 Heroes.
And of course , Naofumi looks smarter and rational than the 3 Heroes ... until you realize all of his competition are mentally handicapped morons that it is a surprise they manage to get out of bed.
Especially Ren who got the worse of this which made his entire characterization throughout the story completely inconsistent. Even in Rising and Reprisal , Ren is smart enough to know that there's more to the 3HC than what meets the eye and is smart enough to know when to GTFO before shit hits the fan. But at the same time he can't even figure out he's not in a video game.
Because of course , nobody can be seen as smarter than the author's precious pet husbando. Even if it doesn't make sense with a character's actions and to hell with consistency.
There are plenty more things I can rant about Rotsh but we'd be here all day then. But let me just say that Motoyasu's character here really isn't all that more complicated than his canon version honestly.
Let's just get to reviews shall we ?
To Qin :
Yes , I think we can both agree that Ren is an edgy character.
XD
Oh well you know I didn't really think too hard on the codenames and the characters reactions to them...
To darkdraco0021:
Oh rest assured that Malty will get some interesting powers , the vast majority of her early powers are actually going to be from canon Dishonored but let's just say they aren't going to be immediately helpful.
I can't promise I won't turn this into a bad story to sate my own wants but thanks for sticking with this story !
To XBOY40:
Nice theory on who the hood people are ! Let's see if you are right in the future ...
Malty's attempted murder in last chapter was definitely meant to show that Malty still isn't necessarily a goody-two shoes like Naofumi is and is still very much willing to do things like murder to get what she wants.
I have already decided on who's going to be in the party but once again no spoilers !
Thanks ! I'm glad you're still enjoying the story.
:P
That's all for now and hope to see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.