Chapter 74: The Woman of the Reverse Harem
(Aren't your desires the same? Why are you so angry?)
Uh, is that so?
Leading a party of handsome young men is the female summoner, Iriane.
As Lina mentioned, it's a reverse harem party, albeit with the roles reversed. It's envy-inducing in a way, but it can be quite annoying to others.
Very well, I'll observe closely, taking note of the party's balance for reference.
(Fool, that's not the focus right now. Concentrate.)
You're right; it's an individual battle. Thanks for the reminder, Professor Lina.
"Battle should rely on one's own strength, but summoning and familiars should be considered an extension of one's power."
Atnesk's emphasis probably takes into account the information the handsome scouts shared with Iriane about my skills and abilities.
"Alright, are you ready? Begin!"
In the second round, as soon as Atnesk gave the signal, I was the one who attacked first.
Mostly without incantation, small fireballs flew towards me. So, they do have magic abilities. That's troublesome.
I dodged by jumping sideways. It doesn't hurt much thanks to my soft landing, but I'll need to do some laundry later.
During that opening, Iriane started a longer incantation. This isn't familiar to me; is it a summoning spell?
In front of Iriane, one, two, three small shadows appeared and materialized one after another. Is there no limit to the number of summons?
What appeared were magic wolves. They're only level 3, but they are fast. And there's more than one of them.
They attacked with coordinated movements.
I created a clay wall up to my shoulders to shield myself from their attacks. Underneath that wall, I conjured an image of Lina, the mage, in full size, crouching.
After finishing the summoning, Iriane began molding her magic power. I thought this was a non-lethal match? Just as I thought that, the wolves, having taken a step back for a running start, leaped over the wall. But this is exactly what I anticipated. Lina fired fireballs from below, turning two of them into fireballs one after the other.
Iriane should have no idea what happened, or rather, she should have had a skill like "Insight."
As I was about to strike down another wolf with my wooden sword, a powerful vortex of flames came flying. That was close! I defended myself with a ceramic shield I summoned, but the flames enveloped me, leaving me with a few minor burns.
The last wolf was engulfed in flames with much greater power than Lina's magic. He didn't hesitate to drag his own summoning creature into it; he's merciless.
Meanwhile, Iriane started another incantation. Another summoning? This time, numerous shadows floated above her. Five of them?
Level 4 giant eagles, higher level and more numerous than before. Are they going all out? Dealing with them from above is troublesome. While having Lina intercept them with magic, I envisioned and created several ceramic throwing knives. It's been a while since I used my throwing skill.
I don't expect my knives to hit the flying eagles, but perhaps they serve as a distraction? The main goal is to buy time until Lina's fireball hits.
I handed Lina the shield and, from behind it, aimed at the eagles, while deliberately leaving myself unprotected above. Naturally, they came down towards me, and just as they descended, Lina turned them into roast eagles.
However, after defeating three of them, a giant bear appeared with the next summoning spell.
It crashed into the clay wall, instantly destroying the wall that had reached up to my shoulders. If it attacks me directly, I'll be in trouble, right? Isn't this against the rules? I glanced at the referees, but they just watched without saying anything.
While brandishing my wooden sword to distract it, I summoned a shower of clay masses to crush it.
My MP is running low.
Finally, Lina managed to hit the last eagle with her fireball.
Iriane started another incantation, but her legs seemed shaky. Is she struggling too?
This is the showdown. I absorbed the remains of the clay wall to recover my MP, held my wooden sword at the ready, and closed the distance. She's not good in close combat, right?
Just when I thought I had closed the distance for a sword fight, a monster appeared in front of me. A level 5 skeleton warrior. Is that sword of his real? That's cheating!
As soon as our swords clashed, a crack appeared in my wooden sword, and I quickly pulled it back, rolling to the side to dodge.
While escaping from the pursuing skeletons, I transformed Lina. We made it in time. Lina, now in her priestess mode, approached the skeleton that was trying to finish me off and cast "purification."
The skeleton's structure shook, gradually turning into a hazy sand-like substance and crumbling away.
Ilia-Nu knelt, drained of MP, looking bewildered.
"Do you wish to continue?" I asked.
"...No, I surrender."
"Shiro, the victor!" Atanesque declared, and cheers erupted.
"No complaints. Come to the registration counter later," Mr. Barton said. So, this means I passed.
Norte's eyes sparkled with joy. Was this the first time she saw me in action? It should boost her favorability.
But the commotion around us didn't die down.
"Hey, hey, he defeated Ilia-Nu, sis?"
"Seriously, isn't he on par with high-level adventurers?"
A young man from Ilia-Nu's guard squad helped her up and gave her something from a vial. Was it an MP recovery potion? If there's one that doesn't taste bad, I want some too.
One of the guild staff members healed my burns with "heal."
"Thank you; you saved me."
I have only one MP recovery pill that Beth gave me as a parting gift. I want to save it for a life-or-death situation.
"Is that 'Doll Play' your skill?" Ilia-Nu, now healed, approached and pointed at Lina. It seems she knew the skill's name.
"Yeah, when I transform her, she can become a beginner-level mage or priest."
"That's amazing. There are still fascinating skills in this world."
She looked genuinely excited.
"Hey, your face might be just okay, but with some fashion sense improvement, how about joining my team?" She pointed at me sharply. Seriously, is she scouting for a talent agency? I wish she'd leave the face out of it, but being surrounded by these seductive ladies... might be a bit tempting.
"No, no, Master is my Master!" I completely forgot about Norte.
"Oh my, so you're into these loli busty types? A bit older wouldn't hurt, right?"
"No, it's not like that, Norte. I mean, it's not in that way!"
Between Norte and Ilia-Nu, I desperately tried to explain, and Ilia-Nu said, "Just kidding. Well, we might do quests together someday. I'm quite influential in this guild, so if you ever run into trouble, consult with big sis."
With that, she left with her guards, laughing.
I went to the counter, and Barton gave me a new guild card. It was a bit more impressive than the previous bronze one, made of iron with some readable characters – my name, adventurer as the job, and maybe the issue date? There was also the word "Orbania" engraved, albeit in small letters.
"It mentions the knight status recognized by the Orbania family. Guild cards serve as a form of identification. However, in this adventurer guild, nobility or commoner, everyone is treated the same. Adventurers are adventurers," Barton explained.
That's fine with me; I'm no noble anyway. I also asked about registering Norte, which seemed like it was interrupted earlier. I didn't want her forced into simulated battles.
"Show me her status. She's of age at sixteen, but slaves can't be registered as independent adventurers."
Was it impossible?
"However, if the owner of the slave is already registered as an adventurer, the slave can have limited access to the guild. They might come in place of the owner for certain tasks. Plus, since you have a knight's status, we can treat her as your attendant."
In the end, they made a card for Norte, similar to the bronze one I made for her in Suctari. It had my name engraved next to hers. This indicated ownership, I suppose.
In any case, it seemed that both of us had obtained a standing here in the capital.
I also asked about where we should stay, and they directed me to the Guild Housing section. An elderly, thin woman working there suggested that if we were staying for one or two nights, there were guild member lodgings on the third floor, which were affordable. If we needed longer stays, there were several affiliated inns. However, she advised against staying within the city; it's expensive. For adventurers who take on requests or hunt monsters, it's wiser to find lodging outside the city walls.
Indeed, the choice of where to live would depend on the jobs and activities we'd undertake as adventurers.
If I couldn't decide, it seemed staying at the guild's lodgings tonight would be a good choice. There, I would first check the available jobs – quests, essentially.