The next day after the bandit encounter, the girls returned to normal. They don't pretend it never happened. In fact they became more resolved to kill bad guys. Knowing what happened to Kayla if we didn't meet, and also what I told them about how the evil cult act, make them more resolute to fight against evil.
Few days later, we finally reached Mellian City. It took longer than we thought, but we became much stronger during our journey. Although none of us increased our level to Intermediate, our party can fight against a strong Advanced level mage. Without me, they have enough strength to fight against a group of Intermediate mage.
"Hey Roy. What are we going to do today since we're already here?"
Kayla asked me curiously.
"For today, we will look for an inn to rest. We will stay here for about one month and possibly longer if I haven't found what I'm looking for. We will go to the guild to accept missions. At least we will go on a quest once a week. After we're done with any quest, you're free for a week and during that time I will be looking for the monster I have to defeat."
One month is a long time and if just do quest every day, it will be boring staying here. But if I found the monster I'm looking for before one month, I will choose to stay here for vacation. This city is bigger than Melk after all. And somehow, this place has never been targeted by the cult. I don't know the reason why, but maybe I can find the reason while staying here.
Soon we found an inn to stay. We paid for two rooms. One for me and another is for the two girls. They say that it was to save some money. So I asked them if I could stay with them to save more money but they refused.
After finding an inn, we spent the day looking around the city. Other than the fact that there are more hunters in this city than in Melk, there's not much differences.
A lot of hunters staying here is because there are a lot of area filled with monsters near this city. That's why Mellian city is one of the city that got attacked by monsters the most. But with the amount of hunters here, the city is well-protected.
The next day we went to the hunter guild to take a request.
The girls were looking at the quest board while I went to the staff to ask about monsters around here.
And from what I heard about the monsters here, there's no one that interest me. Not any flying type monster, or even a fast running monster. I thought at least my target would be a fast running one because of my desire to escape when thing go wrong or when it's impossible to win. Well, it may be because I haven't seen the monsters yet so I hope it's the fast running one that I need to defeat.
"Is that all of them? They are the only monsters that show up around here?"
"It's not all of them. They might be some wandering monsters who somehow entered the area from another place. These all are only those that commonly appear around the area. Who knows if there are more rare monsters which rarely appear on site? Maybe you can find some rare monster appearance on the quest board."
"Alright, I'll see the board later. Does the guild have some kind of monsters encyclopedia?"
"The guild doesn't own such encyclopedia. Usually books like that are owned by Advanced School specialized in theory. Not magic or battle. Maybe the guild master has one. I'll go ask him later. Why are you interested in monsters?"
I can't say that I'm looking for a monster to awaken my special ability, right? Then I will tell her the other truth. Ever since I was returned in time, and realized that I'm too weak even with a new power, I always want to learn more about monsters. About how to defeat them. And how to run away from them.
So I answered the receptionist as such.
"I want to learn so I know what I'm running away from."
"You're not trying to defeat them but to run away from them?"
"Yes. Obviously, my life is more important than being a high rank hunter. If I could defeat them, I would. If I couldn't, then I will escape."
"That's interesting. Usually hunters will only escape as a last resort. Most of them are prideful and think only of gaining achievements despite their obvious lack of talent. And they would die on a mission. You are the first person I ever met to think of running away from monster."
"Well, I'll be going to my friends over there. See you in a bit."
I'm leaving the receptionist and go to where the girls are. They are still in front of the board but they're being surrounded by men.
Oh shit!
"Hey, girls. You should just became our friend instead of waiting for your friend who might never came. We can go to quests together from now on."
A bald man tried to flirt with Angela and Kayla. This is their unluckiest day ever. For the men...
Angela tried to refuse their offer, but the men insisted. They even grabbed Angela's arm. Before anything happen, I should intervene.
"Hey! Stop it!"
I tried to approach the girls but two men blocked me.
"Don't come any closer if you don't want to regret it."
One of them threaten me. I don't care much about his weak threat, but if he want me to stop then I will stop. But I still shouted something to the men.
"It's not me who will regret it. It's you guys! You should have wear some kind of crotch guard before you flirt with them!"
"What?"
As the two who blocked me got confused, someone yelled in pain. It was the guy who grabbed Angela's arm.
"GAAAH!!"
He got kicked in the nut by Angela. Subconsciously my hand moved toward my crotch to protect it even though I was just seeing. Well, as a man, I can feel the pain. All the men in the guild also made some weird expression.
Angela is still being nice because she only kicked the man who grabbed her, while Kayla… Kayla she targeted every men who surround her and kicked their nuts.
"Wait, wait! GYAAAH!"
Obviously, the men who blocked me also got kicked. There are several men dropped on the ground with their hands between their legs. This is not a sight to see.
I'm afraid. Afraid of Kayla. This is the first time I've seen something like this, but I know this will happen. It was because of Kayla who always wrote down something I said.
Yes. Kicking men's crotches is something I taught her. And I'm the kind of guy who is afraid of people with the same knowledge as me and practice it. Even if the one who did it is the one I taught.
I'm scared because if there's someone out there who want to kill me, but we both have the same personality, then that guy will undoubtedly come at me again and again even if they fail to kill me. Just like what I will do. That's why I'm afraid of those with the same mind as me.
If I was in a situation similar to Kayla, I'm sure I will do the same thing as she did. But seeing it from the sidelines gave me nightmare. I'm both proud of her to follow my advice, but also scared because she followed my advice to a T.
If I want her to be able to survive on her own, I have to teach her everything. And she also has proved to me that she can grow stronger. That's why I will keep teaching her what she can learn. I trust her so I'm sure she won't do the same thing to me what she did to these guys.
…Right?
"I'll remember your faces!"
The shout of the losers was heard as they escaped. All those who tried to flirt with Angela and Kayla left the guild in pain. I hope we won't meet again. Because if they come at us, I can give them something worse than being kicked in the nuts. Although it will be painless, it could be much worse. But with Kayla here, I'm sure even if I did something at them, she will keep kicking them. Because when the guys leave and I take a peek at her face, she wear a smile that gives me shiver.
The other guys in the guild looked away from Angela and Kayla, but the girls are all clapping their hands. Now more people learned how to deal with annoying guys. Scary…
"Well, now that they've gone, have you picked a quest yet?"
"Oh right! There's a subjugation quest in the Northeast Forest. The type is not important as long as we at least defeat the minimum numbers of monsters."
"Good. We'll take that."
I've heard about such quest before. Usually, it was a repeatable quest that always put up on the board at the guild in every city located near area where a lot of monster reside. Like this city.
The quest is always available so there will be no monsters from outside that will enter the city. The reward is also good. And with the type of monsters material brought back, it may increase.
We let the receptionist know we took that quest and then left the city.