Part 7
"Ugh… Ugh… Sniff… It smells… It smells like fish…"
Aqua snivelled as she followed behind me, covered in slime.
"It's smelly inside the frog, but the warm feeling isn't too bad… I gained some knowledge that I'd rather not know…"
Megumin, covered in goo like Aqua and being carried on my back, told me something I never wanted to learn.
If someone used magic that exceeded his or her mana capacity, it'd drain his or her life force to make up for the difference.
Using powerful spells with your mana depleted might even lead to death.
"From now on, explosion magic's banned unless there's an emergency. Please get by with your other spells from now on, Megumin."
After hearing what I said, Megumin grabbed my shoulders harder.
"… I can't."
"… Huh? You can't what?"
I parroted Megumin's words.
Megumin grabbed even harder and pressed her lacking chest onto my back.
"… I can only use Explosion; I don't know any other magic."
"… Are you serious?"
"… Yes."
As Megumin and I turned silent, Aqua, who was snivelling, joined in our discussion.
"What do you mean you only know Explosion? If you had enough skill points to learn Explosion, you must've learned other spells, right?"
… Skill points?
Speaking of which, the counter lady at the guild did mention something about skill points.
Seeing that I was confused, Aqua explained to me:
"Skill points are something you earn when you choose a job; it's used to learn skills. The more potential a person has, the more skill points they start out with. You can learn all sorts of skills by investing skill points in them. For example, the excellent me has learned all the banquet party tricks as well as all the spells of an Archpriest."
"… Where are you going to use banquet party tricks?"
Aqua pretended not to hear my question and continued:
"Depending on the person and the job, there are restrictions to the skills they may learn. For example, someone with a fear of water would need more points to learn water or ice elemental spells… However, as detonation-series magic consists of composite spells, you'd need deep knowledge of fire and wind magic to master it. This means that people who can learn detonation magic should be able to easily learn other spells."
"This means that it doesn't make sense to be unable to learn low-tier spells when you know high-tier magic from the detonation-series… Anyway, where can you make use of banquet party tricks?"
Megumin mumbled when I finished my sentence:
"… I'm an Archwizard that loves Explosion. What I like is not detonation-series magic, but Explosion."
Really, what was the difference between detonation spells and Explosion? I didn't get it at all.
Aqua listened to Megumin's monologue with a serious face.
No, compared to that, I was very distracted by the banquet party tricks.
"Adventures will definitely be easier if I learn other spells. Fire, water, earth, wind and light… Learning spells related to this should be good enough… However, I couldn't do it; my only love is Explosion. Even though I can only cast it once per day, even if I'll collapse after using the spell, my one true love is still Explosion! The only reason I chose the path of the Archwizard was to cast explosion spells."
"Incredible! Great! Your resolve to follow your romantic dreams despite knowing it's inefficient really moved me!"
… Oh no, it seemed like this mage was going to be useless.
The best evidence was her hitting it off with Aqua.
After two battles with the frogs, I highly doubted the usefulness of this goddess.
Honestly, just Aqua alone was troublesome enough. If another one were to join in…
All right, I made up my mind.
"I see. I think this will be a difficult path, so do work hard. Ah, I can see the town. Let's divide the rewards equally at the guild. Yes, let's meet again if our paths cross once more."
Megumin grabbed me harder after I finished.
"Humph… My only wish is to use explosion magic; the bounty's just a complementary bonus. How about this: I don't need an even share of the rewards. If you're willing to foot the bill for food, bath and miscellaneous items, I can consider not taking any rewards. That's right, my power as an Archwizard is available at the price of meals and other miscellaneous fees! How could you miss this opportunity to form a long-term contract?"
"No, no, no, our weak team isn't worthy of such amazing power. That's right, it's too much to ask Megumin to stay in our team with your amazing powers. A team just starting out should make do with a normal mage. Look at me, my job's even the weakest one, Adventurer."
To chase away Megumin, who was grabbing on to me tightly when we reached the guild, I attempted to loosen her grip.
Nevertheless, Megumin refused to let go.
"No, no, no, it doesn't matter if you're novices or weak. I might have a top-tier job, but I'm still a beginner too. My level's just six. When my level grows, I won't collapse after using my spells. So let's talk this over, and then you may pull my hand away, okay?"
"No, no, no, it's too hard to utilize a mage that can only cast one spell a day. Ugh, she's a mage but her grip's strong…! Let go, the other teams probably didn't want you either. Or rather, one can't use explosion spells in dungeons or indoors, which would render you useless. Hey, release your grip! I'll split the rewards equally with you, so please let go!"
"Please don't ditch me! No team's willing to take me! I'm willing to carry the luggage or anything when exploring dungeons, so please don't throw me away!"
It was probably because Megumin on my back was yelling, 'Don't throw me away', that the passersby started whispering while looking at us.
Because we were in town and Aqua's appearance drew a lot of attention, it made us the center of focus.
"– No way, that man wants to abandon that child…"
"– He has a girl covered in slime with him."
"– To toy with such a small child and to abandon her after that, what trash. Look, why is there goo covering the girls? What weird sexual games did that pervert make them do?"
… The passersby maligned me.
Aqua smiled deviously upon hearing them, how hateful.
Megumin seemed to have heard their whispers too.
I looked at Megumin who was peeking over my shoulder, only to see a malicious smile showing on her face…
"I'm fine with any sort of play! Even using the frog's slime just like now is okay…"
"All right–I get it! Megumin, I'll be in your care!"
Part 8
"All right, everything's in order. I've confirmed that your team has finished the quest of defeating 5 giant frogs in 3 days. Good work."
After reporting in at the guild's counter, I received the promised reward.
Since Aqua and Megumin were covered in slime, they'd be too smelly if they didn't wash up. It might cause misunderstandings for me, so I shooed them off to the bath house.
One of the frogs we defeated disintegrated because of the explosion magic, so I was afraid it might've affected the completion of the quest. But the type and number of monsters defeated were recorded on the adventurer's card, so there were no problems.
I handed in my and Megumin's card to the counter lady, which she put in a strange box-like machine. The confirmation was done just like that.
Things developed in this world used magic instead of science, so the technological level of this world was quite advanced.
I looked at my card again and saw that I was at level 4.
I heard that those frogs were great for novice adventurers to grind levels.
I defeated 4 frogs by myself, enough to raise my level to 4.
It was easier for low-leveled people to level up.
All the stats on the card increased slightly, but I didn't feel myself getting any stronger.
"… But, I can really get stronger just by killing monsters…"
I mumbled to myself.
The counter lady did mention that when she explained it in the beginning.
All things in this world have souls. No matter what form it takes, if you eat or kill a being, you can absorb a part of the memory of the soul. That was what she said.
This part felt like a computer game.
Looking at it closely, there was something called 'Skill Points' on it, which showed the number 3.
Just by spending these points, I could learn skills.
"Well then, turning in 2 giant frogs, in addition to receiving the bounty for completing the quest, comes to a total of 110,000 eris. Please take this."
110,000.
These giant frogs yielded 5,000 eris after deducting transport fees.
So the bounty for the 5 frogs was 100,000 eris.
Aqua said that quests were completed with a team of 4 to 6 adventurers.
So for normal adventurers, risking your life to fight 5 frogs for a couple of days would yield about 125,000 eris. For a 5-man team, that would be 25,000 eris each.
… It wasn't worth it.
Finishing the mission in one day meant a daily salary of 25,000.
It might've seemed like a good deal for a daily salary, but considering the risk involved, it didn't seem to be worth the effort.
If another frog had shown up and eaten me, the three of us would've been wiped out.
That sent a chill down my spine.
I looked at the other quests. The ones on the bulletin board were–
– Cut down the evil trees corrupting the forest, bounty's dependent on the amount turned in.
– Help me look for my pet white wolf.
– My son's swordsmanship lesson *Requirement: Rune Knight or Sword Master.
– Recruiting subject for magic practice * Requirement: High HP or strong magic resistance…
Yeah.
It wasn't easy to survive in this world.
I felt like returning to Japan on my second day of adventuring.
"… Excuse me, may I ask…?"
Just when I was getting a little homesick as I sat down on a chair nearby, someone spoke to me from behind.
Feeling tired of dealing with the realities of this different world, I turned my head with hollow eyes.
"Is something the matter…?"
I was speechless when I saw the person talking to me.
She was a female knight.
She was a super beautiful female knight.
She gave off the vibe of a cool beauty at first sight as she looked at me expressionlessly.
She was a bit taller than I was.
My height was 165 cm (5 ft. 5 in).
A bit taller than me should be about 170 cm (5 ft. 7 in).
She was wearing solid metal armor all over her body, a beauty with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Probably a year or two older than me.
I couldn't tell her body shape from her armor, but I felt that she was very curvy.
Her face seemed rather cold… How should I put this, it picked on your masochistic side…?
… Ah. This wasn't good, I was entranced.
"Ah, eh–what's the matter?"
Facing Aqua, who was about my age, and Megumin, who was younger than me, was fine, but this beauty slightly older than me made me stutter.
That was the bad point about living the life of a hikikomori for an extended period.
"Um… The team that put up this recruitment notice was you, right? Are you still looking for people?"
The female knight showed me a piece of paper.
Indeed, we didn't tear away that notice after Megumin joined our party.
"Oh–we're still hiring. Although I wouldn't recommend you joining…"
"Please pick me! Please let me join your party!"
When I was about to reject her tactfully, the female knight suddenly grabbed my hand.
… Eh?
"No, no, no, hold up. Our party has plenty of problems; the other two members are burdens and my job's the weakest. Because of that, my two companions were covered in slime… Ow! Ow! Ow!"
When I mentioned the slime, the female knight tightened her grip on my hand.
"I was right, those two covered in goo were your comrades! What happened, how'd they end up like that…!? I-I also…! Want to experience that…!"
"Huh?"
What'd she just say?
"No, I phrased it wrongly. For the two young girls to experience that at such a tender age… as a knight, I can't stand by and watch. My job's the top-tier Crusader, so it should fit your recruitment criteria."
What was with this female knight? Her eyes looked dangerous. I thought she was a calm and collected big sister!
But my danger radar was acting up.
She gave off the same feeling as Aqua and Megumin.
… She might've been a beauty, but it couldn't be helped.
"Ara–I didn't finish. I really don't recommend you joining. One of our party members is useless, the other can only cast one spell a day and I have the weakest job. That's the lame party this is, so I suggest you find another…?"
The female knight strengthened her grip further.
"That's perfect! To be honest, I'm confident in my strength and durability, but I'm not too agile with my hands… So I can't hit the enemy…"
My sensor was right.
"So you don't need to treat me as having a top-tier job; I'll just charge ahead without a care, so abuse me like a shield."
The female knight shoved her pretty face in front of me.
Her face was too close!
Because I was sitting, she was looking at me from up high. The female knight's golden locks brushed against my face, making my heart race.
My time as a hikikomori was affecting me again…!
No, this was simply too stimulating for an adolescent virgin boy, making me uneasy.
Calm down, don't get seduced by her charm!
"No, how can I let a girl act like a shield? My party's super weak, so the attacks will really hit you. The monsters might gang up on you in every fight!"
"That's the way I like it!"
"No, how should I put this…? My two companions were eaten by frogs and covered in slime! This might happen every day!"
"That's exactly what I want!"
… Oh, I get it.
The blushing female knight who was holding my hand.
Looking at her, I understood something.
… This girl wasn't just useless, her character was rotten to the core.