A Gift From A Friend

-Later in the evening-

Village Head: "I know I've told you this before but... Thanks."

Me: "Hey, don't worry about it. Besides, I'm just glad that I'm able to help you guys save the village."

I could hear someone's shoe soles scraping nonchalantly above the dry ground as it's getting closer towards our direction as Noah emerges into our sight.

Noah: "Father, it's time."

The village head clears his throat and at the corner of his eyes, he glances at me.

Village Head: "After the speech, everyone in the village will go to the local tavern to celebrate our victory against the Devillings and have a drink to mourn for the death of our loved ones. You should come."

He said with a sweet smile while I was flustered by the soft gesture from his face.

Me: "You're inviting me?"

Village Head: "Of course, I would invite you. You're the 'hero' of this village after all."

He smiled again but this time with a lot brighter expression after he said the last part.

Damn, I think I might have a crush on him. And he's a human no less.

To be honest, he looks not that much different from an elf but more....bulky....and muscular.

Me: "Aight, I'll be there."

Village Head: "Now that's what I like to hear."

He turned around and started to walk into the crowd but before he even manages to disappear straight into the ocean of people, I pinch my fingers at the bottom edge of his shirt behind him whilst my eyes embarrassingly averted from his.

I let go of him as he stops.

Shit, my heart! I think it's about to explode!

Village Head: "Hm?"

Me: "H-hey. You never told me your name. I can't acknowledge you just as the village head forever now can I? Tell me your name."

Village Head: ".....Right! Where's my manner? Oh, how rude of me for not introducing myself. My name is Jonathan Selkey. Nice to meet you."

He winked at me.

Stop! You're breaking my mind here!

Me: "L-likewise."

Noah: "Ehem!"

A sudden audible tone of an impatient child out of nowhere resonates between us as it has dragged us back to reality.

Jonathan: "Ah yes, the speech!"

Later, he then walked fast by himself into the crowd with an apologetic expression on his face to the people around him and stood on a wooden crate as a small podium for him to deliver his speech.

As I was intently watching him delivering his speech, I can feel a soft nudge as an elbow gently poked the side of my stomach.

It was Noah.

He looks at me with a grin on his face with lots of twisted meanings behind it.

Me: "What?"

Noah: "Nothing. Just thinking about how did an outsider coming out of nowhere, who's also occasionally not a human, saved me in the forest from being eaten by monsters and later, saving the village of the boy he saved earlier from the same monsters. I mean...you did great."

Me: "Ouh, yeah, right. Hehe. I guess I'm not that useless after all, huh?"

Of course...

I'm just an outsider here.

(Previous evening)

As I was turning into the corner on one of the houses, I follow cautiously towards the noises of bones eerily being crunched with my sniper rifle pointed in front of me tailed with a father and his son from behind.

The noises then lead us to another small alley only to find another gorefest of human chunks scattered all over the scene.

Me: "Tsk, we're too late."

Then, within those scenes, I saw a bunch of bloody footprints which are too big for a person's footprints heading towards...

Jonathan: "...The market. It's heading to the marketplace."

He said, crouching next to me while inspecting those footprints thoroughly.

Noah: "Let me assist you."

Noah said behind me, showing me his left arm that has already been equipped with some kind of a mini DIY crossbow set.

His father was looking at him with full doubt, though, he didn't say anything to him.

Me: "What's that?"

Noah: "This? It's a crossbow slingshot. I invented it myself."

Me: "Cute. And you have that with you this whole time? Then why didn't you use it against the monster that was chasing you?"

Noah: "That's because I just brought it from my house and when I was looking for you guys, the monster had already waited for me up on the roof. So it caught me off guard that I forgot to use my weapon to fend it off. Even if I tried to use this against the Devilling it's too small for me to be able to kill those things only with this. However, before I let you say another word, do not underestimate me. I can ensure you that I could help you with my aim. That's all I'd got to say for myself."

A small chuckle escapes from the father's mouth with his arms crossed on his chest in a very prideful way.

Jonathan: "Yes, I agree with him. I mean, just as much as how I wanted to oppose this idea, he does know his stuff. After all, I'm the one who trained him day and night to maintain his impeccable skills. In addition, it's also my job as a father to have faith in his son."

After I heard the defensive statement spouted out from him, I look whilst frowning in question at Noah who's now nodding energetically at me upon the proclamation of his.

Me: "Uhuh. I hope you're not wrong."

I replied to Jonathan nonchalantly as I looked at the kid which I felt like I'm going to regret this decision somehow.

Me: "Aight, I'll let you help us kid. Just watch the six for us while I look out for twelve and your father will take care of nine and three."

Yet, after giving all the orders I gave them, all they did was blink at me in confusion.

Jonathan: "Excuse me, did I miss anything here? What's with the numbers?"

I sighed.

Me: "It means Noah will have to cover our backs while I lead us all to the market while you cover our right and left flanks."

Jonathan: "Oooh. Why didn't you just say that? It's easier."

Ugh, I miss my old team.

Me: "Nevermind. Let's keep moving before it kills more people. Keep your eyes sharp and have your position steady while following my lead."

I commanded them in affirmation.

After a while, we finally arrived at the marketplace and the only thing we saw was the mass destruction of local stalls.

All the goods such as fruits, veggies, and crops alike were ruined as they were pathetically scattered all over the ground.

Jonathan: "Son of a bitch, what an utter mess. Look at all these goods. They're all ruined! It took us half a year to harvest this amount of crops. In the end, all of our hard work was for nothing. What a huge waste."

He gazed his eyes at the stalls along the path in anguish as we continue to walk further into the marketplace.

Well, luckily for some owners of the other stalls, most of them were just doing fine.

Me: "Looks like there are a good amount of stalls that are still in good shape, I suppose."

Shortly, we heard a slow deep growl coming from one of the buildings behind the stalls as a huge black silhouette could be seen from the roof as the sun covered its back, conveniently shadowing the front of the enormous figure.

It jumped down from the building and landed in front of us, shaking the ground with a loud thump with his giant legs.

The shadow had no longer covered its face thus revealing huge burns on the monster's skin of its face and the rest part of its left body.

The familiar scent that I kept smelling with my nose from earlier...which is a similar scent from yesterday...is coming from this one.

Me: "So, we meet again. You're the one who survived the blast. Now that explains the burn marks on your face and the rest of your body. Do you miss me?"

The monster: "GRRRRAAAAHHH!!!"

Me: "I'll accept that as a yes."

The monster charged itself towards me as he crawled on the ground with its pair of colossal arms angry and deranged, thumping the pathway like a giant gorilla.

The marketplace was very small and narrow for me to run around freely as it has limited my movements, which also included the monster.

Me: "Hey, the village head. Take your son and hide somewhere behind those stalls. It will make my job easier if you're out of the way."

Jonathan scoffed sarcastically at me but still did what I tell him to do while grabbing his son's right arm, heading to the safe spot nearby behind a random stall.

Me: "Now it's just you and me."

Without sparing another second, the monster then launched itself towards me, pointing its claws, aiming for my head.

I simply look at it undisturbed by the danger that's coming for me thus dropping my sniper rifle as I'm about to summon yet another precious weapon of mine.

Me: "Summon: Alice"

A broad sword with neon blue lights then materialized itself in my right hand and as the monster claws swish very close to me, I brought up my sword to block the attack.

The impact between the sword and the metallic claws clashing on each other then causes strong wind currents to the ground below us, powerful enough for us to see the dust starting to whisk itself in the air.

Noah: "Woah..."

The ground below me began to crack as the claws keep striking, clashing, and pressing their weight on my blade, forcing me to kneel down, holding me onto the ground while I use my other hand to push back the blade in guard.

Me: "Guh! Was it...always this strong?!"

The monster took the chance to attack me when I was busy defending myself by throwing another slash of claws at me from its other freehand on my left flank.

Me: "Summon: Bella"

Another broad sword has been summoned in my left hand but this time neon pink lights illuminated from its blade.

I instantly blocked the second attack using Bella, causing another strong wind currents to blow throughout the whole marketplace.

After the collision, I backflipped myself simultaneously kicking the monster on the chin elegantly with my right foot as I freed myself from its claws.

It growls again furiously after rubbing its chin in pain.

After that, I stood in front of it, fixing my battle stance with both of my swords flashing themselves by the sunlight simultaneously begin to chant my spell protocol in the back of my head.

Me: "[Fighter Protocol, Class 1, Dual Blades Execution]"

My blades were both glowing brightly with neon lights after I programmed the spell into my swords.

I ran towards it to execute the spell on the monster but I don't know how the fuck this could happened to me but...

I FUCKING ACCIDENTALLY SLIPPED MYSELF ON A BANANA PEEL AND FALL FLAT ON MY BUTT WHEN I WAS DOING SO!!!

Me: "Oof!"

WHO THE HELL PUT THE FUCKING BANANA PEEL ON THE FLOOR WHEN I WAS FIGHTING!?

[Author: Probably an idiot.]

Both the village head and Noah slapped their forehead out of disappointment after witnessing the huge flaw that occurred in my own epic battle.

Holy fuck, this is so embarrassing! I really wanna burn myself until the very last piece of me disappears from the surface of the earth right now.

At the same time, I heard a distinctly deep growl in a laughing tone coming right in front of me.

What the fuck?! The monster is also...laughing at me?!!

What? Not enough embarrassing myself from falling flat on my butt because of a stupid banana peel and now a lowly monster that's standing right in front of me is laughing at ME?!!!

I felt like my cool image have just got shattered into a million pieces.

That was so uncool!

I can feel myself blushing from the overload embarrassment pilling up from time to time while rubbing my butt while slightly groaning in pain, dusting the back of my jeans that's covered in dirt.

Fuck, that hurts.

When I was about to stand up, the monster noticed my certain action and growls as it tries to dash towards me to attack when I was off guard.

However, I heard a loud shout coming from behind the monster.

Noah: "Hey! Do you want a piece of this!?"

Me: "Oh boy."

Noah taunted the monster with a stupidly huge grin plastered on his face from a distance.

Jonathan: "Wha-... How?... When?!!"

The father was panicking behind the stall after he just realized that his son has already gone out from the safe place before he even notices his son's disappearance.

The monster takes the taunt and rushes itself towards the boy and leaps as it launches itself forward, pointing its claws from both of its hands at Noah.

Regardless of how the monster attacks Noah, with the advantage of being small, without any hesitation he also ran towards the monster with a full burst of confidence and slides himself down on the ground when the monster leaps over above him.

And at that very moment, he then swiftly took out a small-sized arrow from his pocket and loads it inside the tiny crossbow on his arm, aiming and accurately releasing the arrow on the monster's right eye as Noah sled all the way until he stumbled himself in front of me.

Noah: "Bullseye."

Jonathan: "Yes! That's my boy!"

His father proudly cheered for his son from afar.

The monster then painfully stumbled on the ground with a loud thud, screeching in pain as the tiny arrow got stuck in its eye.

Now's the chance!

Me: "[Fighter Protocol, Class 1, Dual Blades Execution]"

My blades then glowed again as the spell was channeled straight into my swords.

Me: "This is for making fun of me."

I ran towards the monster, minding every step I made in order to not make the same mistake again as before and slash the blades rapidly and continuously and swirling in a circular motion just like dancing with the blades in my hands, starting from its head to its lower limbs and lastly to the very tip of its tail.

Fireworks of blood then spark themselves from the corpse right after I removed the blade from its flesh.

Me: "Five down."

I let go of my swords as they were dispersing themselves into the matrix.

Noah: "See? I told you that I could do it."

Me: "Heh. Yeah, you sure did."

Jonathan: "Well done out there you two. So that's the one who called the hoard to attack the village?"

He gestured his chin at the monster corpse with his hands on his hips.

Me: "Seems like it. The burn marks kinda give a dead giveaway. And the scent too. I certainly can't mistake it for something else. But how did you know?"

Jonathan: "Just a wild guess. Now let's go hunt for more."

Noah and I both nodded.

Hours later, after patrolling the perimeter of the village to find more of those scattering monsters as many as we can find.

Though, later then we found out that the other monsters has already been killed by the villagers with the help of the village guardsmen.

They sure are tougher than I gave them credit to, that's for sure.

After that, Jonathan called all the villagers to gather the people and had given orders to clean up all the mess hence finding all the bodies around the village so that we can bury them before they begin to rot.

After the search, we've been informed by one of the guards on how many people we've lost during the hellish raid event from this evening.

Many good and innocent lives had been taken by those wretched creatures; 60 men, 15 women, and 6 children were gone.

This is a small village and with that big loss amount of villagers, the village itself feels a lot...quieter.

And all of this ruckus is caused only by 'eight' Devillings.

What kind of chaotic occurrence and havoc will arise if there's an army of them?

Jonathan did say that there's a demon lord who can summon these things from the Underworld himself. I'm sure that's he's the one who's responsible for these people's suffering.

81 graves have been dug for 81 dead people. I would never forget what happened today.

All the cries and tears from the family and close friends of their loved ones. It's just sad. To mourn for the people who we will never meet again.

This really reminds me of my past...- NO!

...It's not the time to think about that.

After the funeral, Jonathan called the people to gather at the heart of the village for him to deliver a speech about what happened today as it will be written in the history of Rekia Village. And the rest was history.

-Later that night-

Jonathan has assigned a young maiden to lend me a room inside of an inn.

She's been leading me to a two-story building which I believe this is the inn Jonathan was talking about.

I'm not actually certain about this because it does have a signboard of some sort at the front of the building but the thing is...

The writings are all very foreign to me! Are those even readable?!

She opened the main door with a key in her hand. It seems like she's the owner of this place.

For all I know, I only know about the inn from all the fantasy animes I watched back at home on N*tflix or VNs I used to read on my laptop.

I've only been to hotels and resorts but never an inn so I'm kinda a bit excited to know what it looks like in real life.

I bet it's gonna be cramped.

But what I am really impressed about is the lady who's accompanying me right now.

Not like the other villagers or guards who reacted like I was some kind of mutated monster or the servant of a Demon Lord or some shit, she behaves quite well when she is with me.

Is this what they called professionalism to its finest?

????: "Here is the key to your room. Your room will be upstairs and you'll find it by going straight and trying to look for a door that has the same numbers referring to those numbers attached to your key. Have a nice stay~"

Her voice was rather robotic than I expected.

Without thinking twice, I took the key away from her and started going up the stairs but as I was doing so, she loudly speaks.

????: "Thank you!"

I was a bit startled by her loud thank and it seems that she wasn't prepared for it too as a shocked expression plastered on her face.

????: "S-sorry. All I wanted to say is...thank you...for...saving our village."

Before I could even reply to her thanks, she hastily goes to the receptionist desk to do her job.

Or pretending to do her job...by wiping her hand on the already cleaned front desk aesthetically, slightly embarrassed.

I let out of soft sigh in the tiredness of this human's unexpected antics and go straight to the upstairs to find my room.

Me: "227...228...229...aha! 300."

Well at least, they're the same numbers as mine written in this world.

Am I really in a different world now? Like being isekaid by some weird magical transferring process?

Oh no... My weeb self is showing...

I insert the key into the keyhole after I've confirmed my room and twist the doorknob which I did with ease thus opening the door as the fresh woody scent gently strikes itself into my nose.

I look inside the room and it's pretty cozy than I anticipated.

Now it's time for me to change my outfit.

Ughh, my jacket has been stained by lots of various kinds of shit; The kid's blood, the monster's blood, sweats, dirt, etc.

I'm too tired to take a bath and explain the inner part of this place to you guys so for now, I'm just gonna do a quick makeover and move on with it.

-Moments later-

The tavern, I asked the girl from before for some directions and she said it was just around the corner of a building after I turn...this way?

Me: "Ouh, there it is."

A small building with a warm light lit up inside of it where I can already see it slipping out brightly through the windows and doors.

The loud noises of chattering, laughing and melodic tones coming from musical instruments which I can't really put my finger on it can be heard from outside the building.

And the smell...

My stomach then without any shame, grumbling.

Me: "Man, I'm starving."

I opened the door of the tavern and as I walked in as all of the noises I heard from outside then fade away and finally comes to a stop almost immediately.

Everyone and I mean EVERYONE is staring at me.

Me: ". . . . ."

Wew, what with the pressure?

Jonathan: "Hey! You're here!"

He greeted me merrily at the entrance of the tavern as everything becomes normal again with the noises and the music after Jonathan made his entrance.

Me: "What...was that?"

Jonathan: "Hm? What's what?"

Me: "I mean, 'that'?"

Jonathan: "Ahh, THAT? That's nothing. It's normal when someone's new coming to this tavern. And they all have already accustomed to your arrival.....and appearance. So don't sweat about it that much."

Me: "That's neat."

Jonathan: "What are you talking about? We are always tidy."

Me: "...."

Jonathan: "Here, let's take a seat."

He offered me a seat next to the window far behind in the tavern which is pretty secluded from all the commotion that's happening inside the tavern.

Feels like we have all the privacy for ourselves tonight.

Jonathan: "Alright, let's start over, shall we?"

Me: "Huh?"

Jonathan: "Let's introduce ourselves first. The first time I met you, the only thing I was scared about was the safety of my son. I thought that you're some kind of a new type of demon that'd been mutated or some sort, no offense, and when I saw Noah standing right next to you unconscious, to be honest...I don't know what to think about you back then."

Me: "What do you mean?

Jonathan: " I mean...I felt guilty. Towards you. Especially when I punched you like...what? Three times?"

Me: "Four."

I said it with a dry tone...teasingly, of course.

And he took it quite well.

Jonathan: "And that's what I wanted to tell you. I just wanted to say sorry for hurting you when you didn't even do anything wrong. Especially when you were standing outside of the barn with my son."

Me: "Ah, that old thing? Don't worry about that. I don't hold a grudge. All things considered."

I gave him a thumbs up.

Jonathan: "Good good. So...tell me, what's your name?"

Me: "Hm?"

Jonathan: "Yes, you did ask for my name this evening but you didn't even mind giving yours. So I don't know who you are right now as you are a stranger to me 'cause I don't know your name."

Me: "Oh?...Oh! Shit, how can I be so dense? I'm such an airhead."

Jonathan: "Nonsense. I think you're just cute in some senses."

I blushed...

...HARD

Me: "Balthazar. Balthazar Brook. You can call me Bal. Nice to meet you."

Jonathan: "It's a pleasure meeting you as well."

He winked at me. Just like he did to me before during the speech session.

Me: "...."

Jonathan: "Hey, are you alright? Are you hungry?"

Me: "OH YES! That's it! I'm hungry. and I mean REALLY hungry, ahahaha."

Jonathan: "Huh, you should have told me sooner. I've already made a reservation for us."

Me: "OMG! Please, don't tell me that this is a date!"

I exaggerated in my mind.

Jonathan then let out a soft whistle with his mouth to call out for the waitress as she immediately nods her head and walks into the kitchen.

Minutes later, she came out from the kitchen with other waiters and waitresses with steaming hot food on white platters in their hands and put them on the table along with sweet floral scent booze of ale.

Me: "Wow, that's sure lots of food here."

Jonathan: "Well, for starters, I don't know what your taste is, like...do you prefer raw meat or cooked food?"

Me: "Uhuh, so that explains why there's a plate with a piece of stag meat soaking with fresh blood, right there?"

Jonathan: "Y-yep..."

Me: "You're so sweet. But no, beastmen do not eat raw meat. We eat cooked meat. And we're also omnivores. Veggies are good for us too, you know that."

Jonathan: "Oh, sorry I didn't mean to-..."

Me: "I know, I know. You're just trying to be considerate here. I understand that. You mean good. As I said, all things considered."

Jonathan: "I see, I see."

I picked up myself a plate of lamb grill with some kind of green spicy sauce on top of it.

Me: "This meat is definitely a lamb but I've never seen this kind of sauce before."

I thought to myself while poking the sauce with my knife.

Jonathan: "Are you alright?"

Me: "Yeah, I'm okay. Just kinda weirded out by the sauce they use on this meat."

Jonathan: "Oh, that? That's called Oxel. It's a mint sauce ground with sweet green chilly paste and mixed with fresh honey. You should try it."

Oh fuck, just by listening to the explanation even though it's not that into detail, it's just enough to make my mouth drool metaphorically speaking.

I love spicy food! (*w*)/

Me: "I would like to, thank you very much."