"…No, really, there are too many things happening…"
"Affirmative. Thanks for the effort."
After the attack, we were able to return home safely. In the end, due to the reconstruction work and other factors, it was inconvenient for us to receive the hospitality of the Regal Kingdom, so we finished our business and were allowed to go home first.
I never thought I'd see Kagurazaka-san again like that… Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask her to keep the fact that I came from Earth to this other world a secret from the people of this world!
…Well, I don't think anyone would go out of their way to ask Kagurazaka-san about me, so I guess it's okay…?
Lexia-san and the others stayed in the Regal Kingdom to help with reconstruction and for diplomatic discussions, and Kagurazaka-san said she was not returning to Earth yet, so I could return with the usual members in a relaxed manner.
When I left, I made sure there was no one around and used teleportation magic to return directly to my house. It would take a long time if I had to use a carriage.
So, I'm tired from all the things that have happened…
"…Isn't it kind of noisy outside?"
"Affirmative. I can hear sounds of fighting."
As soon as I got home, I noticed that there was a strange noise outside the garden of Sage-san's house. I really wanted to ignore it because I was tired, but it seemed that the fight was more intense than I expected, and I could feel the vibrations even inside the house.
I couldn't calm down without knowing, so I had no choice but to go outside to check.
"Gaaaaaaah!"
"Gugaaaaaahh!"
Then I saw two monsters fighting fiercely, something I had never seen before.
It looked like an ogre and a goblin, but…
"W-what is that?"
"Unknown. But it looks really desperate."
As Yuti said, the ogre and the goblin didn't seem to take a step back from each other; they were just concentrating on killing the enemy in front of them.
First of all, since this is the first time I've seen these monsters, I'm going to use [Identification] on both of them.
[Kaiser Ogre]
Level: 2
Magic: 5000
Attack: 50000
Defense: 10000
Agility: 3000
Intelligence: 1000
Luck: 1000
[Emperor Goblin]
Level: 2
Magic: 3000
Attack: 45000
Defense: 5000
Agility: 10000
Intelligence: 1000
Luck: 1000
No, no, no, they're strong! Or rather, why are these monsters here? At least, I've never seen one around this Sage-san's house.
"What the heck is… Hmm?"
"Question. What happened?"
"Ah, no… I saw a weird stone fall between the two…"
"Stone?"
Yes, a beautiful blue stone shaped like an egg has fallen between the fiercely battling monsters.
I've never seen such a stone before, so I was wondering about it, and for some reason, the Kaiser Ogre and Emperor Goblin that had been fighting seemed to notice my gaze, stopped fighting, and suddenly attacked Sage-san's house.
""Gaaaaaaaaaaaahh!""
"W-what the heck!"
"…Speculation. Those two are fighting over that stone over there."
"Eeh? W-why?"
"Unknown. But when Yuuya stared at that stone like you wanted it, they thought you were an enemy."
"Isn't that too unreasonable?"
I have no intention of wanting that stone. I don't even know what it is in the first place!
"I mean, what's with all these monsters all of a sudden? It's stronger than the Goblin General and the Bloody Ogre…"
"King. They're the king of the ogre and goblin species. In other words, the pinnacle."
"Eeh? That means they're the strongest of the goblin and ogre species?"
"Affirmative."
I really don't know why such monsters are fighting in front of this house! However, it's troublesome to have them fighting in front of the house like this. More importantly, it seems that I've been identified as an enemy.
"In that case…!"
When I took out the [Absolute Spear], I strengthened my body with [Magic Attire] and also released the power of Evil, and threw the [Absolute Spear] at the Kaiser Ogre with all my might.
It may be an excessive attack, but in order to make sure that I kill it, I will give it my all. As a result, my throwing of the [Absolute Spear] flew at an unbelievable speed, directly erasing the upper half of the Kaiser Ogre's body.
"Gah!"
The Emperor Goblin next to it seemed to think that the Kaiser Ogre's upper body had suddenly disappeared, and it turned its head in that direction in surprise. But I didn't miss the opportunity and immediately took out my [Formless Bow] and fired an arrow at the Emperor Goblin.
"Gaaa? Gugaaaaah!"
The Emperor Goblin noticed that something was coming towards it and immediately used the sword in its hand to block the invisible arrow.
"Gaaaaaaaaahh!"
The Emperor Goblin then shouted at me in anger, but while the Emperor Goblin was blocking the arrow, I threw the [Absolute Spear] that had returned to my hand with all my might again.
Similar to the Kaiser Ogre, the Emperor Goblin was unable to respond to the [Absolute Spear], and in the next moment, the upper half of its body disappeared, turning into particles of light and disappearing.
But unfortunately, it didn't seem to drop any drop items.
Level Up
"Huh?"
Then I let out a faint voice at such a message, something I hadn't seen in a long time. When I checked my status in a hurry, I found that my level had indeed increased by one.
[Yuuya Tenjou]
Race: Human (Transcendent Species)
Occupation: None
Level: 2
Magic: 12,000
Attack: 18,000
Defense: 18,000
Agility: 18,000
Intelligence: 11500
Luck: 18,000
BP: 100
"Huh?"
I noticed something different when I leveled up. Before I evolved and became a Human (Transcendent Species), my status increased by 10 for every level I gained, but now it has increased by 1000. I wonder if this is another benefit of having evolved?
At any rate, there seems to be no change in the BP that can be earned by gaining one level. So, let's think about which status to allocate the current 100 BP.
…I haven't had any drop items earlier, and more importantly, I've been involved in too many difficult situations lately. I think I'm going to increase my luck a little bit.
It may not seem like much, but I allocated all of my BP to luck stats.
And this is the result.
[Yuuya Tenjou]
Race: Human (Transcendent Species)
Occupation: None
Level: 2
Magic: 12,000
Attack: 18,000
Defense: 18,000
Agility: 18,000
Intelligence: 11500
Luck: 18,100
BP: 0
There are only 100 points, and so it's only raised by 100 as well. I can only hope that this luck stat will have some effect.
As I took a breath after defeating the two monsters and assigning my status, Yuti nodded.
"Impressive. Yuuya, you're getting stronger. I can't beat you now."
"I-is that so?"
In addition to training with Master Usagi, I also started training with Iris-san, so I do think that I am stronger than before…
For the time being, I went to see the stone on the ground that seemed to be the source of the fight between the monsters earlier. If I just leave it here, the monsters might fight in front of this house again, so I collected it.
"So… what do you think this is?"
"Unknown. No idea."
"Woof."
"Fugo."
In the house, I took a closer look at the stone I had retrieved. However, it seemed that even Yuti, Night, and Akatsuki didn't know what it was.
In this situation, the only person I could ask was Ouma-san…
"Hoo! This is a very unusual thing to pick up, is it not?"
"Eh, do you know what this stone is?"
"Yes. Incidentally, it's not a stone; it's an egg."
"Ah, I see, an egg, huh…? Eh, an egg?"
As expected of the Genesis Dragon, he knew what this beautiful blue stone ─ or egg ─ was. I knew it was egg-shaped, but I didn't think it really was an egg…
If so, what kind of creature would hatch from this egg, I wondered…
Ouma-san nodded with a triumphant expression, but his expression quickly clouded.
"…Well, I can't be sure, but…"
"Eehh?"
"It can't be helped. If it is the egg of the creature I imagined, it is a very extraordinary thing."
"I-is that so?"
"You must hatch it quickly to be sure."
"Hatch it, you say…? No, it won't hatch that fast, will it? And after all this time, can I raise it on my own?"
"It's really too late for that… Don't worry. If my prediction is correct, it will be of a similar type to the Akatsuki and will be of a species that has no parents."
"B-but if not…"
"Eeeii, that's too much to ask! Just hatch it quickly!"
Ouma-san tapped my foot.
"I-I get it. So, how do I hatch it?"
"Umu. You need to let your magic power flow into the egg."
"Fumufumu… And then?"
"That's it."
"That's it?"
No way. Is that all it takes for it to hatch? It's an egg, so shouldn't it be warmed up or something?
My question seemed to show on my face, and Ouma-san continued with a dumbfounded look.
"Well… that egg is different from a chicken egg, you know?"
"T-that's true, too. Then, I'll immediately…"
"Expectation. I'm excited."
Yuti was looking at the egg somewhat happily, too. The same was true for the Night and Akatsuki, who were looking at the egg in my hand with great interest.
As I poured my magic power into the egg, it gradually began to warm up.
"Ah!"
A crack appeared in the egg, and the crack gradually spread. Finally, the creature appeared from inside the egg.
"───Pi. Pi. Pi."
"Wow…"
What came out of the egg was a small bird with transparent blue feathers. In the beginning, the bird was just chirping with its eyes closed, as if it had just been born and its eyes weren't accustomed to it, but eventually, it opened its eyes and stared straight at me.
"Pi. Pii! Pii!"
"S-so cute…"
"Woof!"
"Fugo!"
Night and Akatsuki nodded at my words and looked at the bird chirping cheerfully in my hand.
"Beautiful. It's like the blue sky itself."
The bird in my hand made Yuti smile, too. However, only Ouma-san was excited in a different way.
"Oh! I knew it was as I expected!"
"Eh?"
"That bird is a sacred bird called [Luan]*. As I mentioned earlier, it is similar to Akatsuki in terms of the species type."
"Fugo?"
[T/n: In Chinese mythology, it is a mythical bird related to the Fenghuang (Phoenix). For this reason, it's also called a Phoenix at times. The Luan's plumage is blue, as opposed to the red or multi-colored plumage of the Fenghuang.]
After hearing Ouma-san's words, Akatsuki tilted his head as if he didn't understand it well. Ouma-san then continued with a bitter smile at the sight of Akatsuki.
"…Well, while both the bird and Akatsuki have holy powers to fight against the Evil, but its essence is different."
"Different? What's the difference?"
"The bird is said to appear and guide the one who is worthy of being a true king in this world."
"H-heh…"
I don't know what it is, but the story is really grand. What is it? This true king stuff…
"…Hmm? That means that… I shouldn't have hatched it after all!"
"Mmm? Why?"
"Why, you ask…? That true king thing, you know? Doesn't that mean it has to go to the right person?"
"Yeah. That's why you're here, isn't it?"
"...…Huh?"
I didn't understand what Ouma-san was saying and let out a silly voice. However, Ouma-san once again explained clearly to me who was dumbfounded.
"Therefore, Yuuya. It must be because you are the person who deserves to be the true king that it has appeared here."
"….."
Ouma-san said this with a dazed look.
On the other hand, I'm───.
"Eeeeeeeeehhh!"
I just screamed.
No, this is crazy! What? A true king? I don't remember becoming such a thing───.
Thinking to that point, I remembered the title ─ [Holy King] that I just acquired today.
"That title?"
"Astonished. Yuuya, the king?"
"Woof."
"Fugo."
Night and Akatsuki also looked at me in surprise, but I'm the most surprised one.
What is this, a true king? I don't remember becoming such a thing!
Then the blue bird in my hand tilted its head cutely.
"Pi?"
"... No, geez, I feel like anything is fine because it's cute."
"You're a big shot in an extraordinary way."
I'm not the type to be called a big shot, but in front of this cuteness, anything goes. Besides, I was surprised to be told that I was a true king. But to be honest, I didn't really feel it at all.
After I was convinced to some extent, I asked Ouma-san about something that was bothering me.
"By the way, you said that this bird is rare even from Ouma-san's perspective, but just how rare is it?"
"That's right… in all the years I've lived on this planet, I've only ever seen it once if that helps you to understand."
"Seriously?"
"Astonished. That's outrageous."
I've said it many times, but Ouma-san has been alive since the creation of this world. Even for Ouma-san, he's only ever seen it once, so the rarity of it must be pretty serious.
"That's why I don't know much about the bird's biology. And what kind of abilities it has."
"I-I see…"
"Pii?"
I tried to activate the [Identification] skill on the blue bird that was sitting quietly in my hand.
[Luan]
Level: 1
Magic: ──
Attack: ──
Defense: ──
Agility: ──
Intelligence: ──
Luck: ──
Skills: [Hades Return March]* [Resurrection] [King's Guider] [Blue Flame]
[T/n: I'm not sure about this, the kanji is 黄泉返りのの, so please let me know if someone can help with a better name.]
"W-what is this…?"
"…It's so ridiculous."
Ouma-san, who can read the status just like me, was just as puzzled as I was. First of all, none of the statuses are displayed, and all I could see were the names of the skills. And even the names of those skills had a dangerous vibe, to begin with.
What? This [Resurrection]. Can't it die? In addition, [Hades Return March]… there are only words there that sound dangerous.
The rest is the [Blue Flame] skill that this bird looked like and the [King's Guider] skill that Ouma-san mentioned… but none of it rings a bell. What was the effect? [Blue Flame], as the name implied, was probably to manipulate blue flames or something like that.
"Ouma-san…"
"I'll tell you in advance; I don't know any of these skills."
"Ugh."
I was about to ask him, but he said it first. However, to have skills that even Ouma-san did not know… it's too mysterious.
It's just a super cute-looking bird, though. When I stared at the blue bird in my hand, the blue bird shyly hid its face with its wings and twisted its body.
"Pi, pii."
"So cute."
"You've been saying that for a while now."
It's because it's cute.
When I was relaxing my cheeks, Yuti asked me a question.
"Question. What are you going to name this little one?"
"Eh?"
"Confirmation. This child is going to be part of the family, right?"
"Pi? Pii!"
The blue bird repeatedly nodded, as if in sync with Yuti's words, and looked at me expectantly. I-it's dazzling…!
"I-I don't have much of a naming sense, but…"
But just like when I named the Night and the others, I remembered that it reminded me of a clear blue sky when I first saw this child.
Therefore…
"You are… Ciel. What do you think of the name Ciel?"
I believe it means "Sky" in French…
"Pii! Pii!"
In my words, the blue bird… Ciel flew happily around in my hands.
"That's good. So, it's nice to meet you, Ciel."
"Pii!"
And so, by a strange coincidence, a new member was added to my family.