Chapter 119: Experiments

"Okay! Let's do this!"

Today, early in the morning, I turned in the paperwork with Sophie and Shana that would allow us to skip school except for tests only. By the way, there's nothing that says we can't go to school. I think I'll go teach Claudia some magic now and then. So today we're going to do some experiments in our garden.

“First... these balls, right?"

I took two balls out of my pocket. I tried to put them in my magic pouch, but they wouldn't fit, so I had no choice but to put them in my pocket.

"Hora!"

Swoosh! Roll, roll, roll...

"About five meters?"

I throw the ball and when it's about five meters away from me in a straight line, it suddenly stops in midair and transitions back to me.

“Let's put it in the box and see what happens.”

This time, I put the ball in the box and threw the whole box.

"So that's what happens..."

The balls shifted out of the box and came back. The box flew away with the momentum of the throw.

"Then let's wrap it in paper this time.”

In order to see if it was light enough, I wrapped it in paper and threw it to see if it would transfer together.

"So that's what happens..."

This time, it came back with the paper.

“Sophie, can you hold these balls for me?”

“Yes.”

I decided to leave the ball with Sophie to prepare for what I wanted to try next. The moment I did, I remembered that I couldn't give these balls to anyone else.

"Ah... Eh?”

“??"

But the ball ended up in Sophie's hands. What's going on? 

“Should I just give it to Sophie as it is?”

Just as I was about to say that I would give it to Sophie, the ball disappeared from her hand and landed in mine. What? I had my hand open, didn't I? How did it close?

“Do they understand language?”

I don't know if it can read my emotions, but it just doesn't seem to want to leave me. I'm starting to feel it’s a little cute.

"Sorry, can you hold them again?"

"Sure.”

I handed them to Sophie without thinking about giving them to her and for a moment the balls stayed in my hand, but then they went to her.

“Alright! Let's do it!"

Then I used my magic to make an indentation in a stone a little bigger than the palm of my hand into which the balls would fit.

“Sophie, give me that.”

“Yes.”

I put the balls that Sophie had given me into the hollow and threw it.

“Is it a matter of area?”

This time it came back to me, along with the stone.

Then I tried with a slightly larger and heavier object, but when it was less than 3 meters in diameter, less than 100 kg and more than half of a ball was in contact with it, it came back with the stone. However, this was just a test with what I had in the house, so I don't know the details yet. 

By the way, even if Sophie was holding the balls, only the balls would return back after 5 meters. I guess it doesn’t change for living things. But if I can fit this ball into a weapon, I can make a weapon that will automatically return to you when you’re 5 meters away.

"Lightning armor! Okay, Sophie, please!”

“Yes!”

The next experiment was to see what would happen if I used charge while the lightning armor was activated. The magic power that was used when the lightning armor was used to cut the stone has been recovered.

"Roar! Thunder Burst!"

And then I was hit by a spell from Sophie.

"Picon!"

"Charged Lv.1 and Lightning Armor Lv.1 have been combined to become Raiden Armor Lv.1.

"You have acquired the [Title] Skill Integration."

"What the hell ......?"

I worked so hard to acquire the charge and now it's gone. However, due to the change in skill, the amount of lightning worn is larger than that of conventional lightning armor and I feel that stamina consumption is also reduced. I'm certain that the amount of magic power converted by lightning absorption has also increased. The effect of skill integration, which is the title, was that skills could be easily integrated. I removed the natural enemy of insects, which I didn't feel particularly comfortable with and set it. But the next time a good title comes along, I'll remove it.

“Was this good...?"

I got a new title, so I guess it's good. I'll start working on my adventurer's rank tomorrow!

Chapter 120: Escort Quest

“What did you end up doing with those balls?”

"Oh, that’s..."

The next day after the experiment, we received a simple quest to kill some orcs in the vicinity, as it was my first activity as an adventurer in a while. I was surprised to hear by chance that the adventurer who first got involved with us had been missing since the orc outbreak. 

Incidentally, it's not that unusual for adventurers to go missing, so there's no particular search for him. But when someone close to you, or perhaps someone you know, goes missing, it makes you feel like you have to be careful too.

"Won’t the balls be easy to carry around if you crush them up?"

“No... isn't it also quite troublesome to have powder chasing after you?”

“I agree.”

If powder is chasing you, it might get into your eyes or something. That would be more troublesome than the balls. Somehow, I don’t think this ball can be crushed so easily. By the way, even if I ask Yug and Zeal (Previously Ygg and Ziel), they don’t know anything about this ball.

"How do you use the chain and scythe Shana?"

"I'll show you."

Unusually, Shana said proudly and waved her chain at the orc who arrived just in time.

“Huh?”

“It's amazing. Isn’t it?”

And then the chain hit the orc and wrapped itself around it’s body. It then wrapped around the orc's neck and strangled it to death.

“Does it wrap itself around anything it hits?”

“No, it doesn't. It can be manipulated.”

To prove it, Shana moved the chain around to create a star shape and a circle shape.

“It's a good one.”

"I made it good. You try.”

"Uh, okay."

Shana said with a little annoyance. I took the chain from Shana and tried to operate it myself.

“What the hell is this?”

"Fufu!"

There was no way I could control it. Rather I don't know what that means. It just moves around on its own. I can't even make a distorted zero shape.

“This is something I can do because I used to make use of chains.”

Sophie also tried and it was just the same as me, she couldn’t control it.

"And the scythe?”

“Oh, this one.”

I thought the chain and scythe were a set because I knew what a chain and scythe were, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“I'll show it to you next time the Orcs come out.”

“Please do"

And so we set out to find the orcs again. Within half an hour, we had found a new orc.

“I'll be back."

Then Shana went behind the orc in stealth, we could see her, but the orc couldn't see her, so she weakened her cover and raised her scythe.

"Whoa..."

“Wow… it’s big.”

Shana's scythe had grown to about two meters. Considering the original size was about the same as a mowing sickle, it was many times larger.

"Eeei."

She whispered cutely and swung the sickle down, cutting the orc in half.

“You can change its size?”

“Yes.”

It's convenient to be able to change the size, but I think the scythe is more difficult to use as a weapon.

“In its normal state, it's not that different from a dagger.”

"What if you made it bigger?"

"...I still can’t use it well.”

Do you really need such a thing? I thought. But Shana seems to have her own ideas about why she chose this scythe.

“I don't have enough firepower. That's why this scythe was the best choice for me to make up for it.”

If she could find one, she would have preferred a normal sword that could be resized, but there were no such good ones in the second treasure vault. Well, the scythe was hard to use, that must have been why it was in the second treasure vault. However, the scythe is more specialized in cutting than a normal sword, so if you can master it, you might be strong.

“I'll try my best to master it. ......”

"Good luck."

"Do your best."

By the way, if she makes it bigger, it’ll be heavier. So it seems that she’d need to raise her status a little more.

“Are we done for the day?”

“I guess so.”

“Nn.”

It's still early in the afternoon, but I've decided to call it a day. There's a reason for that, too.

"Oh, isn't this escort request just right?"

"Sounds good."

"Maybe."

The reason is because we want to accept an escort quest. It's still a little while away, but I heard that you have to complete at least one escort request to move up to B rank. I'm the type of person who prefers to finish such requirements first. I don't want to forget to complete the escort request until I'm ready to move up to B rank and when I look at the quest board, there are no escort requests! I don't want to be in that situation.

 By the way, I heard that fixed parties that reach B rank have to decide on a name for their party. I'll ask Wallace and the others what their party name is next time I see them.

The deadline for the quest is this week, but if the capacity is filled, they'll be leaving tomorrow or the day after. The minimum number of participants is three for C rank and five for D rank. This should be no problem for just us.

“What? Do you guys want to take it too?"

When I took the quest paper, it was taken from behind me as if to snatch it.

"What's your rank?"

"C."

“What? How can that be when we're only ranked D?”

“ How should I know.”

The person who snatched the paper from me was a kid about my age or maybe a year older. Well I’m the youngest to register in the adventurer’s guild, so they’re definitely not below me. I mean, if this guy is a kid, I am a kid too, but I'm not this rude.

“That’s it! You must have cheated in some way."

Even the girl with the short pink hair got involved. The two girls further behind them bowed their heads and looked apologetic. The other girl is unconcerned and is just dazed. Her atmosphere might be similar to Shana's. Maybe the five of them came from somewhere other than the royal capital to become adventurers as friends.

"Well, whatever! I'll show you what being an adventurer is all about with this request!"

With that, he took the request. There are multiple quest posters, so there's no need to snatch them. And at the end of the day, his eyes were focused on Sophie and Shana, who were standing beside me, so he wasn't looking at me at all. It was just plain annoying. There's no need to take the same request as these guys. We have enough capacity. I decided to look for another request.

"Can you give me a minute?"

“I knew you'd come for some reason."

The guild chief appeared later. I knew she would come, so I watched closely with bird’s eye view and she came out of the shadows right behind me.

“Thanks for your hard work in the inter-school battle, I watched you with my own eyes you know?.”

“Is that so?”

“So it was the highest-ranking lightning spirit?”

“......"

I was horrified because she suddenly whispered about spirits right in my ear. After all, the guild chief has an adult charm or sex appeal… Sophie, it hurts? Don’t go crazy. I was bad. 

“By the way, will you accept that request?”

“Eh.......”

No… I don't think I'd ever want to take a job with them.

“They’re all high and mighty because they think they’re good.”

"I, see."

“Honestly, the client is too pitiful to accept it if they’re the only ones. Besides, it's probably the first time they've been asked to stay overnight.”

“Huh?”

“That's why I want you guys to accept the request, including their guardianship.”

“Eh......”

To be honest, I want to decline. Or rather, I'm declining. Even though we were the first to take the escort quest, it’s too troublesome to have a kid who’s not willing to be protected to protect. I was about to turn it down, but the guild leader spoke over me again.

“The spirit named Zeal is the highest spirit of lightning, right?  What kind of spirit is the other girl that Zeal and Shadow respected even more?

"........."

“You'll accept my request, right?”

“…I'm sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“same.”

I don't want to hear any more about that, so I guess I should accept the request. I didn't seem to have a choice so I apologized to Sophie and Shana. Hmmm… I’ll do my best for this quest.

“I'll accept the ...... quest.”

“Thank you! Then come to the reception.”

And then we got the same quest as those guys. But when I think back, there’s a good side to it other than accepting a quest with those kids, at least it convinced the guild chief to give me time before questioning me about the things she really wants to know.

Chapter 121: Cheeky

“I'm sorry.”

“It's okay.”

“No problem.”

"Thanks..."

I apologized once again to Sophie and Shana at the meeting place on the day of the quest. I'm sure they don't want to have to deal with this kind of hassle, even though we’re getting paid three times more than normal.

“Good morning.”

“I've heard about the situation from the guild leader to some extent. I'm looking forward to working with you for a little while.”

“Oh, it's nice to meet you.”

After a while, two carriages arrived. Of course, they were my client's carriages. The client was a dandy uncle. He was the only one who came down and greeted me, but it seemed that his family was also in the carriage. When I spoke with him, he told me that he had asked the Adventurer's Guild to escort him many times. He's what we call a client. What surprised me was that all the money for our quest came out of the guild leader's pocket.

"I'm sorry We’re late!"

About fifteen minutes late from the meeting time, three girls came running in. And the ones walking instead of running in the back are the guy and girl who complained to me.

“Isn’t it because the protagonist basically appears late?”

What are you talking about? I was wondering what they were talking about, but I ignored them because actually saying it would delay the time even more.

“Now that we're all here, let's go.”

The uncle said and the carriage went on its way. As we walked, I asked the boy if he wanted the front or the back of the carriage. He answered immediately, "The front!" So we left the front to him and went to the back.

"They’re…  really bad”

"That’s right."

“Nn.”

The guys in the front were just talking to each other and didn't seem to be paying any attention to their surroundings. It's more reasonable to say that they were having a picnic than being escorts.

“We'd better be careful..."

"I honestly don't care."

“Me neither."

Sophie and Shana were apathetic but were generally uninterested in other people. However, the guild leader paid us a commission that includes taking care of these guys, so it's better not to leave them out.

“I'll go tell him.”

"Have fun."

“Good luck.”

“Huh...”

No one wanted to go and since I was the leader of the group and it was my fault they had to take this request, I had no choice but to go and warn them. 

"Hey...”

"Ahh."

“I'm not saying don't talk at all, but you should be a little more wary of your surroundings.”

“What are you talking about? Of course I am.”

“What do you mean?”

It's been three hours since we started moving, but he doesn't seem to be on alert.

“If you want to complain, why don't you come to the front and I'll go to the back?”

“......"

He grinned and said something like that. I decided to go back to the back because I felt like I’d pull out my sword if I talked to this guy any longer. I could have answered but decided not to.

"...Zero-niisama, I'll go next."

"No, don't do that."

She stopped moving forward as if she sensed something when she saw me. If I let Sophie go, it’ll likely be a bloodbath. Seeing that Sophie was more irritated than me, I was able to calm down.

“Hmm… I'll be back in a bit.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“What about me?”

“You two stay here in case something happens.”

I used my stealth to go past the carriage. What I wanted to do was go find a place to set up camp. After taking the request to the receptionist, I asked the guild leader to give me a few minutes of his time to give me an idea of what I should do in an escort quest. One of the tips was to find a place to camp before it got dark. I thought about telling the guys in front of me, but no matter what I said, it would be a hassle, so it would be easier for me to do it secretly.

“I found a spot where we could camp a little further on. Let's call it a day. I'll let the coachman know and take him to the spot.”

"Understood."

After informing the two of them that he had found the point, he knocked on the carriage window and informed his client.  I also informed the coachman about it and guided him there.

“What are you doing here this time?”

"...To show my client where the camp will be..."

“I'll take care of that, you go to the back.”

“Do you know of any place where we can camp?”

“We'll see about that.”

“Huh...”

Searching while guiding a carriage... How long do you think it will take? It will take at least until dark. We're on a paved road now, but we can't camp out on it and if it's in plain view of the road, it's like asking criminals to target us if they pass by. So we need a place in the woods where we can't be seen clearly from the road, but wide enough to have a good view of the surroundings. That's what the guild leader told me.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"........."

I can't take care of them anymore, so I ignore them with impunity. He looks like he's about to pull out his sword, but if he does, I'll pull out mine. I don’t think the people around him who allow him to have this attitude are any better. The woman complaining with him is out of the question, but why don't the two apologetic people and the mute woman pay attention to him?

“Then we'll get ready  to camp.”

When we arrived at the encampment, we began to prepare the camp.

 Unfortunately, he didn't pull out his sword after all. To be honest, I don't expect anything from them anymore, so I quickly set up the camp with just the three of us. I thought about teaching them how to do it together, but it would be too much trouble, so I decided not to. If they had any motivation, they would have said they would help us. What we had to do was not so different from when the three of us were camping, so we could do it at a good pace. Incidentally, it seems that the client and his family sleep in the carriage and those who are hired, like the coachman and us, sleep in the tent. However, those who are hired exclusively, such as the coachman, are said to rent tents from the client. The tents were set up by themselves. After we finished preparing the camp, we made two tents.

"Why are you setting up tents?"

"To sleep in."

“You're a fool! We have a carriage, so why don't we sleep in the carriage? Can't you even think of that?”

“You're the idiot, one of the carriages is occupied by the clients and the other one is filled with their luggage.”

I heard that when we were talking in the morning. Or rather, the quest form says that only food will be provided, so you can tell that you can’t stay in the carriage.

“Then where are we going to sleep?”

“I don't know.”

Don't tell me you didn't bring a tent? I wondered. But judging from his reaction, he probably hadn't. 

“How many tents do you guys have?”

"Three."

Thanks to Sophie's magic ring, we had more storage capacity, so we bought another tent as a spare. Of course, I didn't buy it to lend to these guys.

“Then give it to us.”

"...You're getting carried away."

As expected, I lost my temper. He's too cocky for his own good. I decided to let out all the complaints I had accumulated. Well, even if I didn’t get angry, Sophie would.

Chapter 122: Bizarre

"Huh? Who the hell do you think you are?"

I complained normally, but he talked back. How can I make them understand the difference in our abilities? Since we’re under a quest we definitely can’t battle. However, I don’t know any other way to intimidate them or how to get rid of them. At any rate, I'll just try my best not to kill him. I mean, I’m calmer than I thought though I’m angry.

"Who the hell are you?" (Zeros)

"Ah...ah..."

For the time being, I glared at him with the consciousness of seriously killing him. Then suddenly, he started to shake.

“Picon\

"You have obtained killing intent Lv.1."

Whoa, looks like that was good.

“The adventurer's hierarchy is determined by rank and strength, right? Why do you both speak to me like that?”

"Eh...ah..."

He listens to me, trembling and shaking on his butt. He’s going to be incontinent at this point, so I'll stop with this guy. By the way, that's what Mr. Wallace told me.

“What did you do to Sock?!”

“I'm talking to you, too.”

“Huh..."

I used the killing intent on the woman who complained to me in the same way. Then the woman sat down, trembling as well. The cocky man's name was apparently Sock. I don't care, because I don't want to remember it.

“You three who look on like strangers are just as guilty, okay?”

"Pi!"

“You...”

"......"

“Why don't you just look sorry and pay attention to these guys?”

"Because......"

"Aaah?"

“Pi!”

Somehow, I got the hang of my killing intent skill and this time I'm able to keep the output down enough to have a conversation.

“They don't listen. There's no point in paying attention. They won’t understand until they go through something painful like this."

The girl who had been silent for a long time suddenly started talking. A bokukko {TN: A girl who uses ‘boku’ instead of ‘watashi’ when speaking}? Or rather, there’s no sign at all that ishe’s frightened by my killing intent.

“They could have ended up dead because of it.”

“That's just because they're stupid.”

“They could have gotten you killed.”

“I'll never die.”

“… Really.”

At this point, I ended my sermon time and headed to the client to confirm our future plans. I wondered if this would improve his attitude a bit. But still... that bokukko who had been mute until now was very odd. Her last line seemed to have some basis in fact. I guess she really believes that it’s impossible for her to die. But I didn’t feel confident that she was strong. What was this all about?

“I now understand why the guild leader recommended you guys.”

“Huh?"

When we finished confirming our future plans, the client suddenly said something like that.

“No matter how strong you are, your subordinates won’t follow you with just that. The guild leader wants you to have more than just strength.”

"Hah..."

“I'm sorry, I suddenly said something strange. You can forget it.”

He then took the number of people who had been given food for tonight and went back into the carriage. Could it be that the guild leader made us accept this request for our own good and not theirs? No... I’m thinking too much.

"I got your food for tonight."

I went to hand out the food to the others. The guild leader paid for our meals, of course.

“Oh, thank you ........."

The guys were completely deflated. It's better than being cocky, but it's not good for it to stay that way. I'm not trying to scare them into listening to me. Hmm… what should I do?

“Let's set up a rotation of guards.”

“What's the point of having guards? Even though we have magic tools?"

The bokukko shot back. She’s the only one who doesn't seem to be shying away. Rather, she began to speak better than before.

“We have guards just in case a monster appears that is strong enough to ignore the magic tools.”

“What can we do about such a monster?”

“We'll stall for time and let the client escape in the meantime.”

“Hmm.”

What I just told her is an idealistic theory. In fact, many adventurers who find themselves in such a situation use their clients as bait and run away. But I don't think there's any need to mention that here.

"The rotation group is..."

“I want to work with you.”

“Obviously, we'll be split up into male and female.”

I ignored the bokukko and carried on with the conversation. In the end, the rotation was Sophie, the sassy girl and the bokukko first, then me and the sassy guy and finally Shana and the mature girls. By the way, it seems that Bokukko had brought two tents. So we ended up sleeping in a total of four tents, with different genders separated.

"Zero-niisama, we're switching turns.”

“…Hmm, got it..."

It was time to switch places with Sophie and I began my watch with the gut who was still timid and scared of me. However, no demons appeared and I handed over the watch to Shana and her team. By the way, Sophie seemed to be sleeping in her tent this time.

"Wake up..."

And when Shana woke me up, the night was over. After that breakfast was served and the encampment was cleaned up. The second day of the escort mission began again. Of course, I had no way of knowing that on this second day, an event would occur that would completely change our relationship with them.

Chapter 123: A Sense of Discomfort

"......?"

“What's wrong?”

"What's the matter?"

I was escorting the carriage, staying in the back like yesterday, when Shana suddenly stopped.

“There’s something on the ground a little further”

"What is it?"

“I'm sorry, all I know is that it's some kind of long monster.”

“Okay, that's all I need to know for now.”

Shana apologizes for not knowing the actual kind of monster it was, but it’s enough to know that it’s still tens of meters away. I hurriedly told the coachman what had happened and asked him to stop the carriage. After that, I went to explain the situation to my client.

"I'm sorry, I had to ask you to stop because there might be a monster ahead."

“What kind of monster is it?”

"All we know is that it's in the ground and it's very long.”

“I see.”

“I think the best thing we can do is to take a detour, don't you think?”

“If we take a detour from here, the journey will be quite long, so give me a choice that does not involve a detour.”

In short, they want us to defeat the monster. Even so, I think that it’s usually a situation where a detour is an option, but was something said by the guild chief?

“I understand.”

"But if it's going to endanger someone's life in this place, then we’ll choose a detour.”

“Understood.”

The conversation with the client is over. I'd like to start with a strategy, but I think the first thing I need to do is tell those kids what's going on.

And almost at the same time as I finished telling them of the situation, Sophie and Shana also came to the front. The operation time began by informing the two of them of the client’s request.

“Well… what should we do?”

“Should I be a decoy to distract the monster?”

“Rejected. So, Sophie, what should we do?”

"Well..."

I've already decided that Sophie is in charge of the operation. It would be quicker to hear Sophie’s idea before I think badly.

The first thing to consider is that, based on Shana's story, the monster is probably a snake-type monster. But there are no snake monsters around here, so we can't even determine what kind of snake monster it is.

"I see..."

If it is a snake monster, it certainly makes sense that it is long and that it’s in the ground.

“It’s troublesome g because many snake-type monsters use poison.”

I've bought some poison antidote, but in the worst case scenario, they might have enough poison to kill you instantly without even having time to use the antidote. Well, monsters with such poisons are S rank or higher, so that’s probably not the case.

“Then let me go.”

“””””Huh?”””””

When I said that, they all looked surprised. Well, I don’t think it’s so easy to get poisoned and if I can’t win in the worst case scenario, I can run into the woods and take the antidote. This was just a suggestion. I don't think Sophie would allow this to happen at all.

" Zero-niisama and I will deal with the monster. If it’s stronger than we are, it will have already noticed us from this distance. And Shana, will you guard the carriage in case another monster appears?"

"Nn."

“And if it's a monster we can't defeat, we shouldn't take a detour. Many others will be sacrificed."

Huh? I feel like it’s a bold strategy for Sophie. Rather than that, I don't think it's much of a strategy at all. Sophie doesn’t seem like she’s worried about others too much. I usually think my safety is her first priority, but what does she mean…she wants only the both of us to fight? What's happening?

“First of all, I’ll cast magic on the ground where the monster is. It probably won't die from that alone. From there, Zero-niisama should be in the vanguard to draw its attention. I'll support you as the rear guard."

"Ah."

“if the mist-like poison, which is said to be the most troublesome part of snake-type monsters appears, please come to me immediately. I’ll deal with the poison..”

"Oh..."

“The rest will be handled flexibly. There will be times when I will give you instructions. Be sure to follow my instructions.”

“Oh, oh.”

“Let's go.”

“Uh-okay.”

So Sophie and I walked to the monster.

But I still felt that Sophie was different from usual. I can't say for sure what’s strange, but it feels strange to me. Hmmm... she wants to put me in danger near her? Well... there's no point in doing that at all, so that’s unlikely. What’s really going on? I hope it’s nothing to worry about......