Chapter 26 : Relationship Confirmed & Fer’s Sudden Change

"Huh?? You're staying in the same room as Ren?!"

"That's right, what about it?~"

After we finished our party registration, we returned to the inn to discuss our next plan.

Sig-san hadn't rent a room yet, he asked me whether I already rented a room and when I answered truthfully, he seemed really surprised.

"Ren.. To think you would agree to sleep in the same room with this dangerous guy… Hey, won't you come into my room instead?" Sig-san asked.

"Umm.. Back when we were travelling here, I already slept in the same tent with Chris-san and I think I didn't get hurt or anything. What dangerous things are you implying though?"

"Well at least you have 2 beds instead of only one but! Now that both me and Sig is here, what if Chris got impatient and decided to attack you?"

Huh?

What are they talking about?

Well it was true that Chris-san already said he was going to pursue me but nothing ever happened between us yet, you know?

"Hmm~ I would never force someone against their will, you know? It's my principle~ But, if Ren-chan give me his okay, I would be more than happy to satisfy him~"

"Eh?!"

W-wait a second Chris-san!

I didn't know you see me in that way!

W-well, I guess that kind of thing was normal for a married couple though.

"See?! He's dangerous! As I said before, it'd be best if you stay with me instead,right?"

"What are you saying? I think Sig is also dangerous. Hey Ren-chan, you will stay with me, right?"

"The two of you are equally dangerous. I will book another double bed room and have Ren stay with me. Sig and Chris can take this room instead."

Er..

What was this?

Did I really have to choose between these three people?

The three of them are talking casually with smile on their face but the aura around them was freezing cold.

I could see the fury inside their eyes too..

Well then..

"I understand.. I will.. Sleep in my tent instead!"

"EH?!" The three of them said at the same time.

They were so in sync.

I guess despite their quarrel, they had a good bond between them.

"What are you saying Ren-chan? Even though we finally have arrived in the village!"

"But you said it was normal for low ranked adventurer to sleep in big tent instead of renting a room in the inn to save lodging fees."

That was right.

There was a lot of people on the street, there was no way all of them can fit in the inn.

I already asked Chris-san and he said that most of B-ranked adventurer and below will sleep in the tent instead of inn.

"Well, I did say that but it will be safer to stay at the inn."

"That won't be a problem. I can cast a barrier surrounding my tent."

"… I understand. Ren-kun is trying to avoid any conflict by not choosing any of us. Then how about this, let's rent another single room for Ren-kun. I will stay in this room with Chris and Sig will rent another single room for him too. So none of us will sleep with Ren."

Fer-san said his suggestion while muttered something like "It can't be helped.."

Well but..

A single room will cost more than double room, right ?

We will waste money like that.

"But.."

"I guess we don't have any other choice.."

"Eh?"

"Yeah, I agree. At least no one will sleep in the same room with Ren-chan alone."

"Eh?? Eh?"

"It's decided then."

The three of them kept on talking.

It seemed like they even had reached a conclusion without even asking for my opinion.

As expected, I was doomed to become the party leader figuratively.

"Okay then, after I finish renting a room, let's go outside of the village to try Ren's buff magic for a little bit. There's something that I want to try." Sig-san said.

"That's a good idea, I also want to try something~" Chris-san added.

"Okay, then we will wait at the table over there." I replied.

As Sig-san walking to the reception desk, the three of us decided to sit and waited for him at the nearby table.

I didn't know how effective my buff magic was for the three of them so I felt grateful that Sig-san suggested us to try it first before the we start the quest tomorrow.

After all when the subjugation quest starts, our life would be put on line so it was better to have practices before the actual thing started.

No matter how strong those three were, they weren't immortal.

It was to be expected to cover all possible means for survival.

I would do my best to showcase my buff magic!

"But you know, Ren-chan's healing magic is amazing! My tiredness just disappear in seconds!~"

"He can heal tiredness huh.. But I also curious about his buff magic." Fer-san added.

"Please don't expect too much from me.." I whimpered.

Chris-san put my healing magic in such high pedestal that Fer-san's expectation rose through the roof as well.

Really, please don't expect too much from me!

"Thanks for waiting. I've already booked a room, let's go outside now."

Sig-san already finished renting a room, he came back to us with a huge grin on his face.

Seemed like he was really looking forward to my buff magic.

"Yes, time for us to test Ren-kun's buff magic."

"There's an open grassland near the village and since it's not full moon yet, no monster will come. Let's go there~" Chris-san suggested.

"Yes, I think that place will be a great for our practice session." Fer-san agreed.

Hm?

There won't be any monster because it was not full moon yet?

"Chris-san, why there won't be any monster because it's not full moon yet?" I asked.

"Hm?~ Exactly like what I said before. In Calhea, for some reason the monster will appear during the full moon night from dawn to dusk. No one knows the reason but it makes it easier for the guild to assign the quest because the the monster has fixed timetable to appear."

"Is that so? How strange.." I murmured.

It was strange.

But since no one knew the reasons why, they just accepted it as a fact because it will be easier that way I guess.

"It has been ongoing for the last few hundred years. There are also some places in Alsar that has the same peculiarity. Some researchers had come and investigated it but to no avail."

Ah..

I see, so people had been researching for the cause but they still couldn't find the reason behind it.

"If it's not for the fixed timeline, we would've abandoned Baunov village since it would be deemed too dangerous as a place to live. In fact thanks to the annual quest event like this, it actually increase the income of Baunov. The adventurer will also gets more money during the quest. So it's a win-win solution for everyone."

I see..

The Aspell country had to dispatch the quest out of their own pocket money but in return, the surrounding village would have an increase in their income and the parts that adventurer got from defeating the monster will also benefit others business sector.

So in the end, it was a win-win solution for everyone.

Some humans really had a good nose for money, amazing.

"Look Ren-chan, we're here!~"

"Oh, wow.."

After walking for about 20 minutes, we've finally arrived at our destined place.

In front of me, there was a wide prairie filled with tall grasses swayed by the gentle breeze.

Probably because it was still summer, the grass had grown almost as high as my waist.

Ah, wait there were even some patches of grass almost as tall as me!

In the distance, I could see a couple of grassy hills, standing proud beyond the horizon.

No matter how hard I tried to strain my eyes, I couldn't see the end of the prairie.

"Okay then Ren, please try to cast your buff magic on me."

"Um.. What kind of buff magic do you want me to cast?"

"You need to be able to decide that by yourself, Ren. The ability to decide which support magic to use in a nick of time, can change the tide of battle so, do your best!" Sig-san cheered.

Hmm..

So I had to decide it by myself..

I guess, for now I would cast [Haste] to increase Sig-san's speed then.

"Okay then, [Haste]!"

I casted [Haste] because I thought that you couldn't go wrong with it.

What Fer-san said before, I think it was a nice advice.

After all, during real battle you wouldn't have time to wait and listen for your member's request.

I need to be able to judge which magic I should cast on to support them in battle.

"Hm? There's no light when Ren casted buff magic.. Weird.."

"Yes, because it would be bad if someone become too conspicuous because of my buff magic. I think that buff magic will lose its effectiveness if you don't conceal it properly."

Generally speaking, when someone cast buff magic, there will be grain of light surrounding the target and then the light will disappear after a few seconds.

People in Alsar called those glittering lights as invocation lights.

When I first casted buff magic, I thought that those shimmering light was really beautiful.

But as I thought about it more deeply, I thought that those light will attract too much attention in real battle so I tried to find a way to make those light disappear.

Basically,the core of magic in this world lied in the imagination of its caster so I tried to practice buff magic while thinking "No light, no light, be subtle, be subtle".

After I practiced concealing my buff magic, I finally able to cast it with no shimmering light even without thinking hard that I have to be subtle.

I finally able to cast buff magic without any light easily.

"I see!~ Those lights will become a hindrance when you tried to do a surprise attack as well, as expected of Ren-chan, you're really amazing!~"

"You're right, I've never thought of concealing those lights before. Ren-kun, you're truly amazing to be able to think that far. Anyway Sig, how do you feel?"

I was glad that everyone agreed with me.

In battle, if you able to do surprise attack successfully, you will be able to grasp the perfect momentum to defeat your opponent.

So being stealthy was important.

But actually, it was by chance that I managed to think of hiding those lights you know?

I wasn't that great or anything you know.

"Ooooh! Yooosh!"

When we were in the village, Sig-san was hiding his sword inside his leg pouch to avoid attracting attention because he had a really big sword. (T/N: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))

Now that I got the chance to look at his sword up close, I realized that his sword was probably almost as big as me.

Sig-san was really strong huh, to be able to swing that huge sword like it weighs nothing.

"Wow~ Ren you're amazing! My sword feels lighter than usual and I also able to swing my sword easier too!" Sig-san said with a wide grin on his face, he looked like a child with a new toy.

Oh, wait!

His tail!

He was wagging his tail!

Ah looked like my buff magic pass with flying colors.

I wonder what I should cast next?

"Ren-kun, please cast your magic on me as well. I also want to try it out." Fer-san asked.

"Ah..Okay then.. [Haste] [Might]!"

I casted two buff magic on Fer-san.

He also started to swing his sword to test the effectiveness of my buff magic.

"To be able to cast two buff magic easily, Ren-chan you're really talented, you know? After Fer, please cast some buff magic on me as well~"

"Chris-san even if you keep on complimenting me like that, you won't gain any brownie points from me you know? Well then for Chris-san.. [Haste] [Might]!"

I also casted two buff magic on Chris-san.

"Ah! That's not fair! I only got one buff magic!" Sig-san whined.

"Right, Sig-san too, [Might]!"

Seeing Fer-san and Chris-san received two buff magic from me, Sig-san started to whine at me.

When Sig-san acted like that, I felt like he was younger than me.

*CLANG*

*CLASH*

Chris-san and Fer-san were sparing against each other now.

They kept on exchanging blows, there were some light spark when their sword met.

Their sparring looked very intense.

Their movements were so quick, my untrained eyes couldn't catch it properly.

I could use healing magic on them if they got hurt but..

I didn't want any of them to get hurt..

"Huh? Sig-san?"

I was too fixated on Chris-san and Fer-san that I hadn't realized that Sig-san had disappeared.

I turned my head around until I finally found Sig-san.

He was running toward a huge boulder, with his sword on his hand, ready to strike.

*CLANG*

A loud crash could be heard as Sig-san swung his sword to tear the rock into pieces.

The debris flew all over the place and an especially large debris was flying into my direction.

Ah, no!

I couldn't move, I was utterly petrified as I watched the debris flying closer to me.

"Watch out!"

Suddenly, I felt myself being yanked by someone.

"Ugh!"

A muffled groan came from above me.

I hesitantly opened my eyes to see strands of blonde hair enrapturing my vision.

"Eh? Fer-san?!"

"Ren-kun, are you hurt anywhere?"

Fer-san was holding me in his embrace, his face looked worried as he tried to inspect my body to search for any injury.

"No, I'm fine." I replied, I didn't feel hurt anywhere so I was sure I was unscatched.

"I see, that's good then." Fer-san gently smiled, his smile was so beautiful I could see flowers blooming around him.

"Oi! Fer!"

"Hey, Fer! You're hurt!"

"This kind of injury is nothing."

Injured?!

No matter how you looked at it, Fer-san got hurt because he was protecting me from the debris, right?!

I hurriedly freed myself from his embrace and looked at his back.

Fer-san's shirt was torn apart, exposing his bloody right shoulder.

The rest of his shirt was dyed in red because of his open wound.

Even though he was badly hurt, the first thing he asked was whether I was injured or not.

I clenched my teeth to endure my tears from flowing.

"B-because of me.. [Heal]!"

First thing first, I had to treat Fer-san's wound!

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…. If only I had casted a barrier on myself, Fer-san wouldn't have gotten hurt…."

"Ren-kun, you're still a greenhorn. I know that you won't be able to make a quick decision at times like that. It's okay to take your time and slowly improve your skills. We will definitely protect you, so rest assured."

Fer-san stroked my cheeks gently as I apologized to him, he was gazing at me with a gentle look on his face.

"Nah, actually I was at fault too. It's because I carelessly started to crush the rock.."

"Sig, you need to think carefully before you act! Thankfully, Ren-kun didn't get hurt but what if by any chances, Ren-kun got hurt because of your careless action?"

As Fer-san scolded Sig-san, his warm gaze suddenly turned icy cold.

"Yeah.. That was stupid of me. I'm sorry.."

Sig-san apologized once again.

You could see his honesty by the way his ears and tails slumped in regret.

"Okay, okay that's enough. Sig, please be more careful from now on. Fer, how's your injury?~"

Luckily, Chris-san broke the tension with his usual gentle demeanor.

"Yeah, I will." Sig-san replied.

"Hmm.. I don't feel any pain at all also, my wound already closed. I don't think it left any scar as well. Ren-kun, you're really incredible."

"I'm glad that you're alright, Fer-san."

I was really worried that Fer-san got hurt because he was protecting me.

Thankfully my healing magic worked well, seemed like he didn't feel any pain anymore.

"I will have to throw this shirt though. With this many blood soaked through and the huge torn on it, I won't be able to use this shirt anymore." Fer-san said as he took off his current shirt and grabbed another one from his magic bag to change to.

"We will have Sig to replace the cost of your new shirt later then~ Anyway not only Ren-chan's excels at healing magic, his buff magic is also superb!~ My sword feels so light and I can feel the impact of my attack increased too!~"

Ah, that must be thanks to [Might].

I looked at Fer-san again and it seemed like he had finished changing.

"Yes, we can conclude that Ren-kun's buff magic is more than suffice to support us. Next, we should try his defensive magic like [Shield] and offensive support magic like [Roots] and [Sleep] as well."

"Okay then, try to cast [Shield] on me please Ren-chan~"

We continued our practice session, I also casted various kind of support magic for them.

I hope with this training session, I would be able to get accustomed more in casting support magic to help them.

After we finished training, we head back to the inn.

When we reached the inn, I once again checked Fer-san's wound and thankfully, there was no single scratch left.