Yuu Tanaka Read online

The kids retired to their rooms or continued their antics in the playroom, leaving Fran

  and Jet alone with Io. Fran rubbed her belly and sat up. “I’ll be going now.”

  “So soon? Won’t you relax and have some tea first?” Io stopped her before she could

  walk out the door.

  “Your brew?”

  “Yes. I have some cookies to go with it if you want.”

  “Don’t mind if I do.” Fran wasn’t going to let the opportunity slide by. She returned to

  her seat in one fluid motion and Jet followed suit.

  “I have something for you, too, Jet.”

  Io smiled at the direwolf’s silent enthusiasm. She really was a good person. The cookies

  couldn’t just be made from flour, sugar, and eggs. They were delicious. Fran and Jet’s

  reactions made that clear. Although Io used some of the cheapest tea leaves you could

  find, it was still delicious. Fran and Jet enjoyed its relaxing effects. Io smiled as she

  watched over them.

  Before Fran could leave, Io bowed her head. “Thank you so much.”

  “Hm?”

  “I put a little bit more effort into cooking for you today… but I want to tell you that

  every meal is filled with smiles.”

  Anyone would’ve taken those words as a boast on Io’s part, but we knew better.

  “Before,” Io went on, “the children and I were always worried whether we would have

  enough to eat. They could still smile, but I could tell they were trying to be strong.”

  The kids couldn’t be carefree when they knew the orphanage might be shut down at

  any given moment. They weren’t stupid—they could see the lack of supplies and the

  battered and broken building. Not to mention the thugs and loan sharks that dropped

  in on them from time to time. They knew perfectly well the condition their orphanage

  was in.

  Seeing children in that kind of state was enough to make any adult worry, but that only

  made the kids feel more anxious about their conditions. It was a vicious cycle, but now

  the kids laughed loudly and without a care.

  “Thank you so much for bringing the children back their smiles.”

  “Amanda’s the one who helped.”

  “Yes, and the orphanage is deeply indebted to her. But you were the one who told her

  about us, and for that we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

  Io bowed deeply.

  “Hm…” Fran didn’t know what to do. She felt uncomfortable and had to force a wry

  smile, but I noticed her cheeks were flushed.

  Io was embarrassed by Fran’s awkward reception. Fortunately, they enjoyed each

  other’s company, so the awkward atmosphere remained friendly and was soon replaced

  with warm conversation. Io talked about the children and Fran nodded happily, then

  it was time for Io to tuck the oldest of the children into bed. We needed to get going, too.

  “I’ll be going now.”

  “Thank you for coming to dinner.”

  “No problem.”

  Io saw her off to the entrance. Fran and I thought about how to repay her for all the

  food, but she refused to take our money.

  “But I ate most of your pantry.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Tonight’s dinner was meant to thank you. I can’t accept payment

  for that.” Io didn’t look like she would change her mind.

  Teacher, what do we do?

  Well, it would be very rude of us to pay off someone who wanted to thank us. Forcing her

  to accept our money would probably make Io sad.

  So in the end, we thanked Io and left the orphanage.

  “Bye.”

  “Goodbye. Come again any time.”

  “Hm. Definitely.”

  “You’re always welcome here.”

  Fran hummed to herself, in a good mood the entire walk back to the inn.

  Was the curry really that good?

  “Hm!”

  Oh no! I’ll have to put my chef’s hat on!

  “But that’s not all.”

  Yeah?

  “It was so much fun eating with everyone. With Io and all the kids.”

  You’re right.

  “Hm. That was really nice.”

  Fran smiled. She sympathized with the orphans, having lost her parents, too. Seeing

  them happy really made her happy.

  I’m glad to hear that.

  “Hm.”

  We had three days before we had to set off. We spent that time just chilling—walking

  around town looking for good eats and lazing about. We dropped by the orphanage

  again. Although Io only served us tea and biscuits at such an odd hour, that was fine

  for us. By the time we were done, we left Io a little something for the tea. And while

  we would never admit it, we left a little something for the curry, too. Since money was

  too obvious, we gave her a care package of flour, sugar, and spices.

  The morning of our voyage finally arrived, and we made our way to the harbor.

  We can finally go to the Beastman Nation.

  “Hm. Looking forward to it.”

  We’re on actual guard duty now. Don’t think you can relax like last time.

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  I remembered the last time we got on a boat. Fult and Satya, the royal twins of Phyllius,

  gave us a ride to Bulbola under the pretense of a guard job, but we ended up getting a

  lot more. I could look back on it fondly now, but at the time it was a series of very

  intense encounters.

  First of all was our battle with the giant sea serpent, Midgardsormr. That monster took

  all of our strongest attacks and kept squirming. The only thing we could do was slow

  it down and try to get away. We had gotten a lot stronger now, so I doubted the smaller

  monsters would be able to stop us. But even Fran wasn’t sure if we could take down a

  Midgardsormr. She was more than ready to give it a shot, though, especially considering

  we now had a few tricks that could potentially roast the great serpent underwater.

  Still, Fran could only give me a shrug.

  I don’t think we’ll run into that thing again. It’s quite rare.

  We had to remain on guard for other sea monsters, of course.

  When we arrived at the ship, the captain and his crew welcomed us. They halted their

  discussion when they saw Fran approach.

  “Fran the Black Lightning Princess. We’ll be in your care for this voyage. Allow me to

  properly introduce myself. My name is Jerome, captain of the Algieba.”

  “Hm. C-Rank adventurer Fran. Nice to meet you.”

  Fran and Jerome shook hands and smiled at each other, seemingly on the same

  wavelength. Although, you had to know what to look for to notice Fran’s smile.

  “You! Bring Fran to the first mate!”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “I have embarkation protocol to take care of. He’ll fill you in,” Jerome said before going

  to speak to the port authorities.

  Documentation needed to be filed before we could set sail. On Earth, ships couldn’t

  embark on a whim, and I was sure this world had similar protocols. And the sheer size

  of the Algieba would cause trouble for other vessels if it suddenly left for open waters.

  “This way.”

  “Hm.”

  The sailor led Fran up a wooden ramp, although it was so big that it looked more like

  scaffolding. The thing wasn’t perfectly straight, and we had to zigzag our way up. I

  counted over a hundred steps just to get onto the ship—it really was gigantic. Sailors

  went about the deck, going about their business. Our guide called out to the one

  directing the whole affair.

  “First mate!”

  “Yes? Oh, is this the last of them?”

  “Aye. This is Fran the adventurer.”

  “C-Rank adventurer Fran, at your service.”

  “I am First Mate Buffet.”

  There were many variations of beastmen, and Buffet seemed to be the weaker sort.

  This was the first time I’d encountered someone with the head of a goat. However,

  despite his animal appearance, he was a perfect gentleman. He bowed courteously,

  although I had a sneaking suspicion he wasn’t of much use in battle. A quick Identify

  confirmed that he was much more suited to management. His only battle-related skills

  were Bow Mastery and Spear Mastery, but he more than made up for that with high

  levels of Trade, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, and Measurement. He was more than qualified

  to be Jerome’s first mate.

  His beastman species really made me wonder. How could I not? The man had the head

  of a white goat. I worried about the possibility of him being eaten by more carnivorous

  beastmen.

  “Captain Jerome told me about you. So you are the Black Lightning Princess that

  everyone’s been talking about… I’m sorry, but I still find it difficult to believe.”

  “Captain said she’s the real deal, though.”

  “Hm. You can check my ID.”

  “Of course, and I trust the captain. But I am not a man of combat and you look like a

  greenhorn adventurer to me. I am sorry if I’ve offended you.” Buffet bowed his head in

  apology. Despit
e being unable to tell how strong Fran was, he trusted his captain’s

  judgment.

  “Don’t worry about it. Happens all the time.”

  “Ha ha ha. I’m almost glad to hear that. Alright, let’s round up the other adventurers

  so you can break the ice.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “Just wait here.”

  The first mate signaled to one of the sailors to bring in the other adventurers.

  “How many are there?”

  “Twelve, including you. We have combatants among the crew, but the guild can get a

  little irritating if we don’t take some adventurers along.”

  I remembered a conversation about cooperation between the Beastman Nation and

  the Adventurer’s Guild. While the guild didn’t force the boats to hire adventurers, it

  would cause relations to sour. The great galleon Algieba was a merchant vessel with a

  direct route to the Beastman Nation and it employed more than its fair share of

  adventurers, at least compared to smaller tubs.

  “You’re the only solo adventurer today.”

  “How strong are they?”

  “I can’t say. There is a C-Rank party, a D-Rank party, and an E-Rank party. The leader

  of the C-Rank party is reportedly a B-Rank adventurer.”

  Really? It sounded like we were in quite competent company. Although I worried

  about having to follow a chain of command. I didn’t mind another party taking the

  lead, but I doubted Fran would be willing to follow orders.

  “There they are.”

  The adventurers filed in. There were multiple parties in this one group.

  “Strong…”

  Yeah.

  The fighter at the head of the group caught my attention. His skin tanned into wheat

  brown and his brilliant silver hair was tied into a topknot. Coupled with his height, the

  man looked quite imposing. His deeply carved face was more dandy than handsome. I

  thought he was in his forties. Either way, he was strong. Even his footsteps carried the

  weight of authority. This man was definitely the B-Rank.

  Hmm?

  His face felt familiar somehow, like I had seen him somewhere before.

  I’ve definitely seen that blue armor… but where?

  I couldn’t remember. Maybe I caught a glimpse of him in the guild hall? No, he’d left a

  deeper impression than that.

  “Right this way, Sir Mordred.”

  His name was Mordred. I hoped we would be alright, because his namesake was a

  traitor.

  “Allow me to introduce you to our final guard.”

  However, it was the smaller man next to Mordred who answered.

  “Hey. Did you really have to bring our boss out here to meet this little girl?” The small

  man glared menacingly at the sailor. “She should be the one coming to his quarters!”

  The tiny man was very annoying, but he had a point. Anyone looking at this exchange

  would think that Mordred far outclassed a little girl. His party nodded in agreement.

  Their value was hooked to their leader, and they were underestimated in the same

  measure.

  The atmosphere turned awkward. To make matters worse, the small man took a step

  forward and even placed a hand on his weapon.

  “Boss! Let me teach these guys a lesson for—”

  “You’ve embarrassed me enough for one day, Surnin,” Mordred cut in before he could

  finish.

  “Huh?”

  “The weak have to pay respect to the strong. Which is why I came here.”

  “Wh-what are you saying, boss!” Surnin balked in disbelief, and he wasn’t the only one

  shocked. The other parties were equally surprised. Fran was about the only one who

  kept a straight face as Mordred bowed his head in greeting.

  “I apologize for my men’s rudeness.”

  “Hm. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mordred. Leader of the C-Rank party Breath of the

  Steel God.”

  “Fran. C-Rank adventurer.”

  Surnin and the others let out a surprised gasp. She was stronger than they were, but

  it was obvious to everyone present that Mordred was her better.

  “Also known as the Black Lightning Princess, yes?” Mordred asked.

  “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.”

  “I knew it. I saw you fight in the tournament.”

  “You were in Ulmutt?”

  “I fought in Ulmutt! Although Phelms knocked me out in the second round.”

  I knew I had seen him somewhere before. We watched him fight in Ulmutt. The same

  flash of remembrance struck Fran.

  “You’re the one with Steel Magic?”

  We were quite impressed by it. Who knew that had been Mordred? We learned much

  of the possibilities of Steel Magic because of how expertly he handled it.

  “You remember?”

  “Hm. You put up a great fight.” The memories of that match were still fresh in Fran’s

  mind.

  “Thanks. That means a lot coming from the one who beat Phelms.”

  “Uhh… boss?” Mordred’s party were still puzzled and confused. Did they not watch the

  tournament?

  “While you were busy in the Crystal Cage, this girl took third place in the Ulmutt

  tournament. She’s as powerful as an A-Rank.”

  “What?!”

  “Seriously?!”

  “No way…!”

  I see. So Mordred went to Ulmutt by himself.

  “Yeah. She’s way stronger than I am.”

  Mordred’s words didn’t take long to sink in.

  “We’re so sorry!”

  The adventurers fell on their faces in instant apology. I appreciated their humility. Fran

  didn’t look upset, either. Instead, she watched with fascination as the men prostrated

  themselves.

  “I know they’re dumb, but they don’t mean any harm. Can you find it in your heart to

  forgive them?”

  “Not even mad.”

  “Thank you for your understanding, ma’am!”

  Mordred’s men would’ve fit right in at an athletics club, although I thought the diving

  apology was a little much. Still, they executed it with perfect harmony, and it made me

  wonder if they’d practiced the maneuver in the past.

  The adventurers of Breath of the Steel God sighed with relief. They introduced

  themselves meekly, with an aura of reverence. I was surprised that a single statement

  from Mordred was all it took. Usually, people insisted on underestimating Fran,

  despite being told otherwise. It showed how much the party trusted Mordred. They

  knew he wouldn’t lie to them.

  I wasn’t sure if Fran was “way stronger” than Mordred. In her Awakened state, sure.

  But in her ordinary state, I didn’t think that there was a large gap between them. From

  what I remembered, he was an experienced warrior mage—maybe up there with

  Colbert. He shouldn’t be taken lightly.

  “These four are my party members.”

  “Very pleased to meet you!”

  “Hm. Same. I’m Fran, and this is Jet.”

  “Woof!”

  “Wh-where’d that wolf come from?!”

  “From the shadows, I think!”

  “Ooh. He’s a strong one.”

  “Hm. Reliable.”

  Unlike his men, Mordred didn’t panic at Jet’s appearance. Instead, he smiled and

  nodded, appreciating the addition of strength. The other adventurers only stared at

  Jet from a safe distance, unsure what to think.

  “I’ll introduce you to the rest. These guys are D-Rank party Red Earth.”

  “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Yo.”

  “’Sup.”

  I assumed the leader was the serious one, contrasted by the two lax men at his sides.

  Red Earth was a strange party. First of all, there were strange scales on the faces and

  arms of all its members—they were probably snake beastmen. Their bodies were of

  the same slender build, but what struck me as odd was that their faces looked

  remarkably similar, and all of them wielded dual blades.

  “You all look the same.”