[EMIYA SHIROU]
[THE GAMER]
[LV 27- 15000/26000]
[HP: 2700][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 920][SP: 11]
[STR: 45][DEX: 47][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 102]
Having successfully taken his Boundary Field skill to a satisfactory level, Shirou decided it was high time to venture back into the Reverse Side.
The threat that Mikado Ryouko posed would not be resolved by hiding himself within his own home. He was fairly sure that she wouldn't come knocking at his door, as no sane Magus would want to fight a peer on their own territory.
Similarly, he knew he wasn't at risk during the day either. Secrecy was the second most important things to magi and none could afford to act brazenly in broad daylight, especially not in a city that had a Second Owner keeping watch.
If a confrontation were to take place, it would happen in the Reverse Side, where all parties could act unbridledly without fear of punishment from the big powers of the Moonlit World.
The reason why he waited so long and why he returned now were several. To begin with, he wanted to fortify his home. It would do him no good to fight an entire night and return home greatly weakened, only to find himself trapped in an enemy's ambush.
Having layered several Boundary Fields around his home, he was fairly certain that no one could easily break in without him noticing. He had reached the "Expert" tier, and therefore, there were probably just a handful of people among magi that could get past his defenses without breaking them altogether. Unless Mikado Ryouko came from one such families, he could consider his home as safe grounds.
Secondly, he had hoped that Tohsaka would find him some intel on Mikado Ryouko, her motives and her abilities, but there had been no news on that front. That wasn't all that strange. Tohsaka was affiliated with the Clock Tower back in England, but there was plenty of magi families that weren't, particularly in Asia.
Lastly, he had finally run out of Mana Cores, save for a small handful he chose to keep for emergencies. With his meager Mana pool, he needed lots of those to grind his Magecraft Skills and to keep his home protected.
Fortunately, unlike the Time Altering one, most Boundary Fields required very little energy to be kept active, since they were dormant unless something triggered them. One he laid them down, they would not require additional energy from him.
Having his back covered, he could finally advance without ulterior worries.
Thus, he decided to embrace the fundamental of his Gamer abilities. He started to look for serious Quests.
[Br]
As usual, Matsumoto was drinking by herself and the Ahnenerbe.
Sitting at a table in a corner of the establishment, Matsumoto gulped down a cup of sake and let out an appreciative sigh that made her outrageous bosom jiggle.
Shirou made a point of looking elsewhere in that moment, though it was a daunting task. He was almost sure that the sheer mass of those things had its own gravitational field that inevitably attracted all things toward them.
The theory was disproved by the fact that only men's gazes were captured in their orbit, but it was enough to make one wonder.
"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" she asked.
"I'm looking for work. For missions, to be more specific."
"Are you trying to become a mercenary?"
"Not necessarily, but I understand that not everyone in Soul Society is a fighter. If anyone needs a bodyguard, or a hired hand for dangerous tasks I'm up for it."
"Hmm… there is no shortage of work here. As you said, lots of people here aren't necessarily fighters. There's a board in the building we use a primary base of operation where people who require specific things post their requests."
"That's precisely what I'm looking for."
"May I ask why you decided to take this path? The reward of these missions aren't necessarily better than what you can acquire by hunting solo. There's a reason why most of these requests have gone unanswered."
"It's not about the payment. It's about the tasks themselves. I can handle myself in a fight, I already know that, but not all problems can be solved with Magecraft or a sword."
"So… you are trying to challenge yourself?"
"I suppose you could say that." he agreed.
"Hmm, alright then. I'll show you the request board. You can see for yourself whether or not the jobs are up your alley."
She took him to the building where he could go to exchange Mana Cores for money. The exchange desk was on the first floor, but above it there with several office workers going about their day like they weren't in a mirror version of a city filled with monsters.
"Surprised?" Matsumoto inquired amusedly.
"A little bit, yes. I suppose that even the Moonlit World can't escape the clutches of bureaucracy."
Matsumoto laughed. "Yes. That's exactly the case. Soul Society moves a great deal of money. We need to make it appear as legal as possible in order to avoid trouble. As you said, not everything can be resolved with power. The best way to avoid problems is preventing them from coming to pass in the first place, after all."
Shirou could only nod in agreement. Prevention was the best course of action.
"Here we are. Take your pick."
The request board would have been better off being called Request Wall instead. An entire length of the floor was covered by posts. There were thousands of requests waiting for someone to take them up.
"This is…. this is ridiculous. Some of these have been here for years!" he exclaimed.
"Indeed they have. Like I said, most don't pay nearly as well as simply hunting monsters for Mana Cores and those that do are inherently more dangerous. Only the simplest requests are usually accepted, such as harvesting specific monsters' parts, which overlaps with harvesting them for Cores. Otherwise, the risk/benefit ratio is just too disadvatageous."
Shirou gingerly picked up a post at random and read it over.
[New Quest: Gather Fishmen Scales]
[Description: Gather 100 Fishmen Scales for the Blacksmith shop]
[Reward for success: 10000 Exp, 25 Mana Cores]
[Accept/Refuse]
[Y/N]
Shirou balked at the amount of experience the Quest offered as reward. Considering that EXP payout increased with difficulty, the hunting Fishmen couldn't possibly be an easy task. In fact, it was probably incredibly difficult.
For an ordinary dweller of the Reverse Side, 25 Mana Cores was not quite a paltry amount, but it was still a sum that could be harnessed with little risk by hunting relatively harmless creatures such as slimes. There was no reason to risk their lives for something that they could acquire safely otherwise.
Shirou was different, though. The Quest had a greater reward for him in the form of experience points that other people had no access to.
'Technically, that's not correct,' he mused. Although for other people it would not be expressed as a numerical value, anyone who undertook this Quest and came out of it alive would have become stronger in turn.
The only real difference was that Shirou could discern the factual value of his actions beforehand, and decide if it was worth his time or not.
"Are you considering taking the job?" Matsumoto asked from behind him.
"What do you suggest?"
Matsumoto shrugged, noncommittally.
"The longer a monster lives, the stronger it becomes. Slimes are fairly weak because the area around our base is swept frequently, but the farther out you go from here, the more powerful they'll become," she explained. "Fishmen are on a whole different level because they live underwater most of the time, so they have the opportunity to grow stronger before setting foot on dry land."
"I see. So I should expect them to be tougher."
"You should. And to make matter worse they move in groups ranging from three to ten members. The pose a threat of much greater magnitude then slimes, that much you can be certain of."
"Hmm," he pondered. "Oh well. I won't know if I can do it unless I try. I'll take it!"
"Really? I see. You are cut from a different cloth from the rest of us."
"Hm? Why do you say that?" he asked.
"Everyone in Soul Society has their own reason to be here. Either they are looking for profit, or they just don't fit outside anymore. Either way, very few would risk more than strictly necessary, and those who do aren't considered particularly sane."
Shirou snorted. "Well, you can toss me with the latter group then."
"Yeah, that much was clear from the start, wasn't it?" Matsumoto said jokingly, but it was clear that she also meant it.
Shirou did not take offense.
Although he would never think it as being wrong in any shape or form, the truth was that he was pursuing a path that, by his own admission, would never bear fruits. Chasing after an impossible ideal, no matter how beautiful, wasn't for the faint hearted or for those who sought a tranquil life. That much was certain.
From the point of view of those people, he had to be out of his mind.
That was fine, tough. No one ever became a hero by walking down the beaten path.
With that, the Quest was accepted and it became logged into his Quest submenu.
He then walked out of the office along with Matsumoto.
"Do you have any suggestion on how I should proceed?" he asked.
"That is entirely up to you and your skillset. You can alway consider buying better equipment, or if you find that the job's too hard you can also hire some help. However, I'm afraid that any help would cost more than you can make."
"That won't be necessary," a voice announced. "I'm going with him."
They both turned, only to find Saeko approaching them. She was wearing a white blouse and skin tight black pants. Her look was completed by her usual thigh-high boots, elbow-long gauntlets and her swords.
"Sa- Saeko?" he stuttered. "What are you doing here?"
"What could I possibly be doing in the Reverse Side?" she laughed. "I came to hunt monsters, just like you."
"One would think that you have enough work on your hands keeping your land clean, Busujima-san," Matsumoto said frostily.
"You needn't worry about my business, Matsumoto-san," Saeko replied with just about the same fake cordiality. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of them on my own."
Shirou took a step back. These two clearly knew each other and they were not on the friendliest of terms. He had no idea why, but he somehow felt he was to blame.
That was ridiculous, of course. He's never done anything that would put both women at odds with each other.
"Are you sure about it?" he asked. "It's almost full moon, isn't it? Won't you have even more wraiths on your hands if you don't clean them up beforehand?"
"Ah, you don't need to worry. I recently took on another disciple and she's doing a fine job on her own."
"You have?" he blinked in surprise.
"Are you jealous?" she asked, her voice laced with mirth.
"What? No. Why would I be? I was just surprised that someone else managed to get through your... admission exam."
Saeko laughed pleasantly.
"Ah, well. The truth is that I have become a little bit softer recently. I wonder why is that?"
"How would I know?" Shirou replied with blush.
Matsumoto watched this exchange, unable to make heads or tail of what she was seeing.
These two people... what kind of relationship did they have. She knew that Shirou was a disciple of the Busujima school, and that with Saeko being the last living inheritor of the style she had to have taught him.
However, Saeko's behavior in that moment did not match her reputation.
For starters, although she was clearly part of the Moonlit World, she never joined Soul Society until after Shirou did.
She also never showed up after passing the test, but she appeared now. Although it made little sense, Matsumoto felt that Shirou was the reason why she had bothered to join in the first place.
How very curious.
"So, what did you have in mind, Shirou?"
"I... I just took a mission. I need to gather a hundred fishmen scales for the local blacksmith."
"Is that so? Great, let's get going then."
"Are you sure?" he inquired. "They say that it's pretty dangerous."
"Do I look like a stranger to danger?" she asked, playing with the hilt of her sword. "Besides, I too need to expand my experience. If I limit myself to fighting wraiths, the day when something unexpected crops up I will be caught flat-footed."
"Still-!"
"Would you rather I ventured out on my own, Shirou?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "I can also do that."
"NO! I mean... it's better if we stick together out there, after all."
"That's what I thought," she agreed. "Let's get going then. A pleasure seeing you again, Matsumoto-san."
"Likewise," the blonde bombshell replied, though her tone implied it was anything but.
"Ok, what was that all about?" Shirou inquired once they were out of earshot.
"Hm? Whatever are you talking about?"
"Back there. You and Matsumoto-san both looked like that if one was on fire the other would roast sweet potatoes."
Saeko looked pensive.
"I just don't like her, that's all. My instinct tells me that she's not to be trusted."
"Hmm," Shirou pondered.
"Do you think I'm being excessively paranoid?"
"Is that even a thing in the Moonlit World?" he joked, making her laugh.
"Point. Still, be careful around her. I have the feeling that she's up to something, and nothing good at that."
"Alright. Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep my eyes open. Speaking of which... what's with the change of outfit?"
"Did you think I only wore my school uniform or something?" she asked amusedly.
"No, well... the only other thing I ever saw you wear is, well, that thing you wear at night."
"That thing I wear at night, huh? I was under the impression that you liked it."
"I do. I do," he stated vigorously. "How couldn't I? It's just that I thought it was your standard outfit for battle."
"It is," she agreed. "Or rather, it was. I felt it would have been less than appropriate wearing it anywhere else. Unless, of course, you don't mind other men seeing me like that."
Shirou's face went through a variety of expressions, none of them pleased.
"... I could take objection to that," he eventually said.
"That's what I thought as well," she replied diplomatically. "So, fishmen? I suppose that means out destination is the harbor then."
"Yes, let's go. The night isn't getting any longer."
"Never thought I'd see the day when that would be a bad thing," she laughed, following after him.
[br]
Saeko and Shirou made a beeline towards the harbor. As they got further away from the Mirror Red Light District, they started to run into monsters, without having to look for them.
They were still slimes, but their levels were considerably higher. However, they stood no chance against the combined might of the two swordsmen and they were quickly eliminated.
Eventually, after a couple of hours of walk, they made it to the harbor.
Even from a distance, Shirou understood exactly what the problem with hunting fishmen was.
They were all over the place.
On the piers, on top of the shipping containers and even crawling on the loading crane. They formed small groups of levels ranging from 25 to 35.
Barring particular abilities, Shirou was confident that he could take any one of them with relative ease. However, there was no doubt they would all gang up on him at the same time.
They were equipped with rudimentary shields made of strange shells and rusty-looking tridents. Even individually they posed a much greater threat than slimes.
"This doesn't look good," Saeko commented.
"Yeah, no kidding. There's no way we can take on them all the same time. They don't look nowhere as easy to deal with as wraiths. No offense."
"None taken. Wraiths are tireless and relentless, but their only threat is in numbers. These creatures appear to be more intelligent on top of being actually equipped with weapons. There's no telling how many more of them there are underwater."
"I didn't think of that. No wonder no one ever took this job."
"So... what do you think we should do?"
Shirou tapped his foot while he rubbed his chin pensievely.
After a few minutes of pondering he snapped his fingers.
"I have a plan, but I'm not sure how effective it's going to be. There's a huge component of danger involved, but it's worth a shot."
"I'm all ears."
He quickly explained his plan to Saeko, who listened and nodded, offering her input when necessary.
"You are right. It is worth shot."
"Great! Let's get to it then."
[br]
Across the pier, several dozen fishmen mingled, crouched on the asphalt. Some of them were eating, biting into the carcass of an undefined creature.
Some other were butting heads, quite literally, with each other, making incomprehensible growling noises.
None of them were being particularly watchful. None of them felt threatened at all.
At least not until an object soared through the air and smashed into one of them, showering the creature in liquid fire.
"Kiiih!" the fishmen cried, rolling on the ground to put out the flames, while its companions turned to look in the direction it had come from.
Shirou stood with his arm still stretched out, like a baseball pitcher.
"Come get me!" he shouted, and then without waiting he turned around and run away as fast as he could.
He didn't need to look back to know they had taken the bait. The stomping of dozen webbed feet and the angry growling warned him not to slow down unless he wanted to die.
He occasionally glanced behind his shoulder and he knew they had made the right call. It was a simple tactic, but an effective one.
Simply put, people and creatures didn't run at the same speed. Some were faster and some were slower, which meant that a good number of them would eventually be left behind, as it was happening in that moment.
The higher level fishmen were considerably faster than their lower level brethren. They weren't all that fast to begin with, certainly not enough to keep up with a Reinforced Shirou.
Their webbed feet didn't lend themselves to running on dry land. They were probably fast as heck underwater, but Shirou had no intention of ever battling them on their home turf.
He actually had to slow down a bit, lest he left them in the dust for real. However, he had to dodge some tridents they threw at him.
Considering how deep the weapons embedded themselves into the concrete of the buildings next to him, the fishmen had to possess physical strength at least on par with Shirou's own.
He really wasn't looking forward to fighting them in superior numbers. Fortunately, his plan accounted for that as well.
He kept running until he had only about a dozen of them left on his tail, then he circled around to the place where they had set up their trap.
He dove into a narrow alley between two buildings. The fishmen gave chase without hesitation, but with their numbers they found themselves struggling to advance. Eventually some of them tripped and fell, dragging a number of the others down with them.
Seeing that scene, Shirou let out a loud whistle.
In that moment, from a window several meters above, five molotovs fell on the hapless fishmen, dousing them in fire.
"KIIIH!" they shrieked, while Shirou's vision was filled by prompts of the damage they received from the attack. It was considerably lower than what Slime suffered from the same type of attack,, and considering how much their level was, it probably also meant that the fire took an even lesser chunk of health off them.
That didn't matter. The fire was just the last of a series of diversion.
First, he had lured them away from their turf, breaking off their ranks and distancing them from eventual reinforcements from beneath the sea. Secondly he forced them in a tight space where their numbers turned from an advantage to a disadvantage and lastly he crippled their effectiveness with fire.
Now it was a fight they could win.
He brandished his sword and run back towards the closest fishman, who in light of being ahead of the group did not trip with the rest of them and got only a partial share of the molotov cocktail on his shield arm.
He saw Shirou approach and quickly understood which was the bigger threat. He might have been burning, but it knew that he could deal with the fire later.
Shirou lifted his sword for a downward blow and the fishman prepared to meet it with its shield and retaliate with the trident.
A fraction of second before impact, however, Shirou flowed from a vertical swing to an horizontal one aimed at the creature's abdomen. The fishman reacted quickly, but not quickly enough. Shirou's sword slashed its stomach open, causing blood to splatter on the concrete.
It was a shallow wound, though, courtesy of its sturdy scales, but added to the burning arm it impaired the fishman even further. To the creature's credit, it almost didn't even flinch at the wound and lashed back with its trident.
Shirou had to refrain from using the Busujima style and use his sword to deflect the blow laterally. The shape of the trident would make it impossible to do so. Instead he took advantage of his own smaller size, ducking under it and simultaneously aiming at the fishman's legs.
With another spurt of blood, the creature dropped to one knee, using its trident for support, while Shirou rolled under and behind it. Before the fishman could recuperate, he aimed a double-handed swing at his neck.
Scales or not, its head went flying and its body dropped down dead.
[Fishman 1 (mid tier) Defeated - Exp Gained: 1000]
That was some very good experience, but Shirou had no time to ponder on it. The entire exchange had lasted less than five second, and he looked up just in time to see Saeko jump down from the same window from where she had thrown down the molotovs, holding her blade downward aimed at the head of yet another fishman.
Because of the acceleration for her fall and the fact that the burning fishman's guard was completely down, for obvious reasons, Saeko's blade went right through its skull and came out of its jaw. The fishman's eyes twitched and then in dropped dead, but not before Saeko had pulled out her sword and jumped away.
With both exits to the alley closed, the remaining fishmen had no way to run, no room to maneuver and they were still burning. Under those circumstances, the previously fearsome group of creatures was no match for Shirou and Saeko and they were quickly mown down.
The fight, if it could be called such, ended with Shirou earning enough exp to level up. Some time was lost to recover the Mana Cores from the bodies of the fishmen. Unlike with slimes, Shirou had to look for the location of the cores inside their bodies, and he found them inside their chest.
He also managed to get the scales he was looking for. Although some were burned and other cracked, in the end he managed to gather double the amount he needed to complete his Quest.
"Half of these are yours," Shirou said, handing over half of the Mana Cores they got.
"I have no need for those. You may keep them."
"Uh-uh," he shook his head. "We have worked together and so we need to split the spoils. If you don't take them, I won't accept your help ever again."
"... How stubborn. Fine, I'll take them."
"Thank you. Now, this sortie took enough of our time. We should consider heading back. I wouldn't want the other fishmen to track us."
"We could probably take them."
"Maybe, but I'm out of molotovs and I've already got what I was looking for. Besides, we both have school tomorrow."
"There is that," she agreed. "Alright, let's return now."
Shirou put away the spoils of this hunt inside his Inventory without bothering to hide it from Saeko. Similarly Saeko did not ask anything, simply assuming that it was the same feat of Magecraft he had used to summon the molotovs out of nowhere.
Inquiring a Magus about their mysteries was akin to threatening their families, and while she didn't think Shirou would take nearly as much offense, if any at all, it would still be rude of her.
As such, they made their way back towards the Red Light District with their guards up but otherwise talking amiably.
Only after a bit of time did Shirou stop in his tracks and threw a look behind his shoulders, at the roof of a tall building. He did not need to see the person who was spying on them to know they were there.
His [Detect Presence] skill told him without the shadow of a doubt. Still, he did not give chase, for he would have to leave Saeko on her own to do so, and because he was not sure he could catch their watcher.
"Is something the matter, Shirou?" she asked, stopping in her tracks.
"It's nothing," he replied, turning forward and catching up with her.
Although he didn't say anything, Saeko mirrored Shirou and they both kept a hand on the hilt of their sword until they made it back to the Red Light District.
For the time being, their mysterious watcher didn't make a move. With everything that had been going on, Shirou was not sure whether it was friend or foe.
Time, he guessed, would eventually tell.
XXX