Chapter 20

"Take this, sir,"

Pochi drives her sword into the thief's boss's leg, but the man barely flinches despite the blood pouring from his wound. He grows and tries to hit Pochi with his axe as she withdraws, but she is too fast for him to keep up.

"Don't underestimate me, girly,"

He brings his axe crashing down where Pochi once stood, only to miss. His axe digs into the ground cutting open the mud and sending dirt flying as Pochi successfully retreats out of his reach. He grunts in frustration shooting a glare and Pochi as she prepares her next attack.

"Mrrr,"

Mia shoots an arrow from her bow, hitting the boss in the shoulder and drawing his attention. Like before, he barely reacts to the pain and storms toward Mia as she prepares to fire a second arrow. Then a stone thrown by Tama hits the man's arm, nearly causing him to drop his axe.

"Just you wait when I get my hands on…."

The man still marched toward Mia, only to stop and collapse after Arisa used a Physic Magic spell, Mind Blow. The man went down in the blink of an eye, collapsing into a heap. There are still plenty of other thieves out there, so even with the boss dealt with, we can't relax just yet.

Liza, Nana and Pearl battle against four other thieves, but they have the upper hand, so I am not worried about them as they back the thieves into the corner. Lulu is hiding in the carriage behind everyone else, perfectly safe from attack. At the same time, Satou forms our back line, sneakily supporting everyone with his magical spells while monitoring the surrounding area.

As for me, I formed the frontline driving the thieves into two groups so the others could deal with them while taking care of three of the thieves myself. These guys weren't so tough, with levels ranging from five to nine, but they had some cursed weapons that could deal some nasty wounds. It only took us a few minutes to defeat them. It may have taken us longer to tie them up after the fight than it did to defeat them.

We tie them up, and Arisa uses her Physic Magic to make sure they don't wake up any time soon as Pochi and Tama strip the thieves of their weapons. But as we assemble the thieves in the middle of a meadow next to the road, we have an important decision to make.

"So, what are we going to do with these fellows?" Arisa asks, circling the thieves.

"What do people normally do in this situation?" Satou asks, looking at the thieves.

I'm not sure what the correct way to handle the situation is. Still, from what I have seen of this world's version of justice, I can make a guess. But I am not sure I can carry out the act and end their lives. Even after hearing Satou list the crimes the thieves have committed, I don't think I could kill a defenceless person.

It would have been easier if these guys were like the others. So far, we have been attacked a total of seven times by bandits. Before, it was only starving villagers, so we let them go and gave them enough food to feed their village and seeds and fertiliser. But these guys are the first professional bandits we came across. There we were well equipped with steel weapons and leather armour. They were well organised, too, with a chain of command until Arisa used her Physic Magic to knock out their officers. If they had run into anyone but us, they could have easily defeated them.

"Master, if the criminals have caused trouble, the standard procedure is to behead them," Liza approaches, answering in Arisa's place. "If you take their head to a town or city guard, you will receive a reward for their extermination."

So, it was a violent way to handle this situation. I really don't want to go through with it, and from the looks of things, Satou doesn't either.

"What if they haven't caused any trouble?" Satou asks, and I hope it means there won't be a deadly fate I would have to grant them.

"If they haven't caused any trouble, then most people would still kill them, but if you don't wish to do that, then you could always take them to the nearest town," Liza answers. "There, you can sell them as criminal slaves, and you would receive half the sale price and the standard reward."

I'm glad we don't have to kill them.

"Should we bring them to the town we passed by this morning?" Arisa asks.

"No," Satou shakes his head. "Let's just dig a hole and toss them inside."

What we are doing to them may sound harsh, but it is for the best. Honestly, the guards in that town are worse than the bandits. If Satou and I hadn't had titles, they would have forced themselves on the girls, me included, while stealing our loot. Nobles in this territory must be bad people because their faces paled as soon as they realised our ranks.

"All of them?"

"Yes," Satou nods. "I have a spell that will make it easier for us."

True to his word Satou used some Earth Magic spell to create a hole large enough to throw the thieves inside. When we threw them inside, I could tell the hole was deep enough that they would struggle to climb out. I doubt they would be attacking anyone else any time soon. Once we were done with the thieves, we returned to the carriage, where despite our win, Lulu seemed to be disappointed for some reason.

"Are you alright, Lulu?"

I ask as we regroup around the wagon. I was going to let Satou handle this, but Pochi and Tama dragged him away, bragging about how well they fought. In the end, it was left to me to cheer her up while Arisa now joins Pochi and Tama in search of praise from Satou.

"Y… yes…."

Lulu jumps, having not seen my approach. She must have been terrified watching us fight and seeing the thieves suffer injuries. Even I was a little put off by the blood we spilt in subduing the thieves. It was an easy battle, but it wasn't a pretty one.

"I can see that something is bothering you," I tell her in a quiet tone, so the others won't overhear. "You don't have to tell me, but I will listen if you have something worrying you."

"No, it's nothing," Lulu whispers back.

"Okay, but my offer to listen still stands,"

I can't force her to talk to me, but I can wait until she is ready to talk. I go over to where Pearl and Nana are helping Liza search through the thieves' belongings. From the looks of things, these bandits were well prepared. Apart from their weapons and armour, they also had a few lesser potions and quite a bit of money on them. But the thing that catches Pearl's eye is some kind of fruit. It's about the size of my fist and looks like a red pumpkin.

"Gabo fruit…." Pearl mutters with a rare look of displeasure and disgust on her face.

"I take it that the fruit tastes bad," I say, kneeling beside her.

"Horrible," Pearl replies as she forces the disgusted look from her face. "These things cause goblin populations to explode, so we need to destroy it."

"Go right ahead,"

Pearl quickly leaves to dispose of the fruit, so I help the others deal with our loot. There was some jewellery, an old poetry book and a bag filled with teeth and bone for some reason. I didn't want to know what it was for, so I buried the bag by the roadside before we left.

<0>

Two more days have passed, and things are only getting worse the deeper we travel into the territory. We saw more starving people than I could count, a village buried to the ground by the territories soldiers and people hanging from trees for even the most minor offences. I am starting to realise how naive I was. I thought I could make a difference by bringing in food, but now I know it isn't enough. Corrupt officials, power-tripping guards, and too many bandits to count are the most significant problems here. I will need to deal with the demon and those problems if I am to make any real change here for the people.

We ran into a patrol of soldiers that tried to rob us. Those guys were a hassle to deal with, but we managed to scare them off without resorting to violence. The worst part was seeing how many parents wanted us to take their children. It was hard breaking seeing all those kids that were nothing more than skin and bone. I hope the supplies we left them with will stop them from starving. But now we have run into an even bigger problem.

"Oh! These must be those kid bandits we have heard about,"

"Yeah, it seems that way,"

Satou brings the carriage to a halt as five young girls lay flat across the road in front of us. They look better fed than most children I have seen so far, but they are still underweight. It was reckless of them to stop our carriage this way, as I am pretty sure most people would just run them over rather than stop and lose their goods. They must be desperate to try something like this.

"Don't move! There are ten shooters in the trees aiming at your horses!"

A couple of boys now emerge from the forest armed with nothing more than sticks and rocks. Liza and Nana, who are currently on the horses, move closer to guard the carriage as Pearl, Pochi, and Tama get ready to jump out of the back. I hope it doesn't come to a fight. I would hate to have to hurt children. It seems Satou is not wanting to fight either, as I overhear him telling Nana and Liza not to attack.

"Give us some food, and we will let you pass!"

The boy's voice starts to creak as he makes his demands, and despite his efforts to sound intimidating, the fellow kids soon ruin the effect.

"Yeah, especially your potatoes!"

"Shouldn't we tell them to give us jerky instead?"

"I wanna try some bread,"

"Anything is fine, as long as it isn't weeds,"

"Shut up, you dummies!"

"Takes one to know one, dummy!"

"Just be quiet!"

I can see the faces of more kids poking out from the treeline as their argument continues. I can't see any bows, just kids holding stones and sticks. They are all thin but look full of life at the prospect of food. While we have plenty of food, I don't mind paying off bandits this time.

"Private Pochi, Private Tama, you're in charge of getting those little girls out of the street. Don't hurt them, though, okay?"

"Aye-aye, sir!"

"Roger, sir!"

Satou reacts faster than I could, ordering Pochi and Tama, who give a salute in return and jump out of the carriage. Satou got down as well, and Pearl followed me out of the carriage. I was too happy when I saw Satou throwing one of the kids off of the road, but it appeared she was thrown hard enough to hurt her and the other children quickly rushed to catch her. Still, Satou is the only one clearing the road since, for some reason, Pochi and Tama haven't carried out his orders.

"They look hungry,"

"Rumbly tummies, sir,"

Pochi and Tama kneel down, looking at the girls as their hands dig through their pockets. They started feeding the girls whatever scraps of food they had, from crackers to small slices of dried meat. In response, all the girls start cheering, and some have watery eyes. But Pochi and Tama notice Satou watching them and quickly start ushering the girls out of the road.

"Hey, no fair!"

"I want to eat meat too!"

It doesn't take long until several boys run over to Pochi and Tama, asking for meat and shoving each other out of the way. Pearl moves closer to ensure things don't get out of hand, but a small riot could break out if they are not careful.

"Get along,"

"You mustn't fight, sirs,"

Pochi and Tama do their best, but it is only when Pearl arrives that things start to settle down. Now, all that is left is to remove the last girl who stubbornly remains on the road. As I approach, she nibbles on a piece of dried jerky but shows no signs of moving to join the other kids.

"Hey there," I smile, kneeling in front of her. "Would you mind moving out of the way for us?"

The girl quickly glances at me before looking back down, holding the piece of jerky close to her chest as if she thinks I will steal it. She is covered in dirt and looks like she hasn't eaten in a while but beneath all that grime is a cute little girl. I try to pick her up, only to notice her hand caught in a root. It would probably hurt her if I tried to use force, so instead, I took out a knife to cut her free. I'm surprised the girl doesn't struggle to free herself when I grab her or flinch when I pull out a knife. I'm worried about what she went through to make her so unreactive to see a stranger pull out a knife.

"Let go of Totona!"

On the other hand, the leader of the boys reacted by rushing over to me, looking both scared and angry simultaneously. Armed with a wooden club thicker than his thin arms, I ignore him and cut Totona free. I carry her prince-style over to the side of the road. The boy tried to hit me with his club, but I stepped out of the way a tripped the boy as he passed by. Nana and Pearl quickly rushed over, but I assured them everything was under control as I kicked the boys club away from him.

"Now, this is a better spot to sit down, and you don't have to worry about getting hit by a carriage," I tell the girl as I hand her a small a few more pieces of jerky I had on me. "Share these with your friends and try not to do anything so dangerous."

When I return to the others, I see Satou and Arisa have already prepared some food for the kids. Still, it looks like they are giving them our less desirable rations. We climb back into the carriage and start moving again as the kid picks through the food we left behind. Liza lectures Pochi and Tama on why they shouldn't have given away food without permission. At the same time, Mia takes over, riding Liza's horse. I sit back, relax, and settle for the next leg of our journey, watching Pearl and Arisa play some kind of card game.

We cross over a river about ten minutes after we dealt with the kid bandits and begin to follow it upstream. To our right is another forest, and according to Satou, we will be on this road for the next three days. From there, we will have to stop in a town to buy more horses since Satou says the road we need to take that leads to the giants is too small for our carriage.

Unfortunately, we don't get much peace. Only two hours after we crossed the river, Satou says there is another group of people up ahead. At least they aren't a threat, according to Satou. They are just a group of elderly people sitting by the river. Satou said there is a village nearby, so they probably just came to the river to fish.

It takes us another half an hour to reach the spot where the elderly villagers are. They are still there by the river but don't appear to be finishing. Instead, most of them are huddled around a small fire for warmth. There were around eight of them wearing coats with holes torn into them and looking tired.

It doesn't remain a mystery for long as to why they weren't fishing. The river is dried up in this area and doesn't look very clean. If they travelled further downstream, where this river merges with another, they might have had better luck, but here there is no way they could catch a thing. The elderly people notice us but don't make any move as Satou brings the carriage to a halt.

"Let's stop for lunch here," Satou says as he parks the carriage on the opposite side of the road to the elderly people.

Satou and Liza go to greet the elderly with some food and wine as a gift as soon as we get off the wagon. I was going to go to, but I ended up getting drawn into helping prepare lunch. Arisa ends up being the only one not doing anything. While Pochi, Tama and Pearl go to collect firewood and Mia and Nana take care of the horses, Arisa just lays down and stares at the clouds.

It looks like we are making something with boar meat and some herbs we gather during our travels. Lulu quietly and efficiently slices up some vegetables to go with the meat while I cut the meat into thin slices to cook. Despite being in my storage for nearly a week, I'm surprised by how fresh the meat is. Magic really makes travelling a lot easier.

"Um… Kura… how can I become strong like everyone else?" We were about halfway through prepping when Lulu spoke up. Glancing nervously at me as her hand shakes slightly. "I feel so useless when we are fighting. All I can do is hide when you and everyone else fight."

"You're not weak," I assure her. "You manage to keep the horses calm in the heat of battle, and you never once panicked or ran away."

"But I want to do more," Lulu insists. "I want to be of use to Satou even when it's dangerous."

"Well, how about asking Mia to teach you how to use the bow?" I suggest. Lulu doesn't look strong enough to swing a sword, but maybe she could provide some ranged support. "If you really want to do this, then you should talk to Satou. He might have something you can use in a fight."

"But what if he says I'm too weak to fight?"

"He won't say that," I know he won't. "If you want to fight, he will help you fight. So you should speak to him about this when you have the chance."

"I'll think about it,"

It seems Satou's talk with those elderly people is going well. As Lulu and I finish our talk, she returns to help us, leaving Satou alone with them. They seem to be talking about something interesting, as I see Satou's eyes sparkly as they talk. It was a peaceful time for the next fifteen minutes until….

"Hey, geezers, we brought some food,"

"It's not weeds today!"

Covered in leaves and spiderwebs, the kid bandits came tumbling out of the woods behind Satou and the elderly people. They have had a few more cuts and bruises since we last saw them, but they seem happier.

"Hey, it's those guys from before!"

"You didn't come to take back the food, did you?"

"They got here ahead of us!"

The kids instantly move to guard the bag of food we gave them while their leader readies his club. If it wasn't for Lulu, there would have been a fight.

"Master, the food is ready,"

Lulu's sweet voice is enough to remove any thoughts of violence. The kids and the group of elderly people turn to her, with a few of the kids drooling at the sight of the tray in her hand. It's not anything special. We only fried some boar meat, seasoned it with wild herbs and warmed up some vegetables. Still, the way everyone looks at the dish is like we cooked up a Michelin star worthy meal.

"Have Liza bring it over so we can all eat together,"

Satou must have arranged this with the elderly as they don't seem surprised. On the other hand, the kids are left with their mouths swinging wide in shock. They just stare, their eyes never leaving the food as Liza and Nana carry over a table while the rest of us move the dishes. We made enough for everyone, but even after our group and the elderly group were served, the kid bandits made no moves to grab anything for themselves.

"You kids are free to take some too," Satou says after a few moments pass, but the children refuse to move.

"Come on now," One of the elderly men speaks up. "Grab some food and eat with us."

"You won't get anything this good again any time soon, so don't waste this opputnitity," After another elder speaks up, the kids finally take some of the food.

"Y-yummy!"

"It's not weeds at all!"

"Whoa, it smells good, too,"

"It's meat!"

"For real?"

"You're right. It's meat!"

The children quickly start to devour the food, eating as if they will never see food again. They cheer and gush over the food as they eat, with a few kids even shed a tear. They need to slow down, though. If they keep eating that fast, I'm afraid one of them might choke.

"Make sure to chew your food thoroughly before you swallow, or your stomachs will pay for it later," Arisa warns the kids. If her mouth wasn't full of food at the time, I'm sure more of the kids would have listened to her.

"This little las is right," Someone from the elderly group chimes in. "Chew this food up good. You never know when we are going to eat like this again."

"Don't say such dark things in the middle of a meal, you fool,"

Pochi and Tama are the first to finish their meals. They approach Lulu with clean plates. Unaware of the war, they are about to start with the following words to leave their mouths.

"Seconds, please, sir,"

"More meat, please,"

The bandit kids instantly look at them. Most of their plates are empty, too, and they stare at the food Lulu is serving with envious eyes. Some of them look ready to tackle Pochi and Tama and steal their newly filled plates.

"You don't need to be so modest. If you want more, go get some," Arisa tells the kids setting off a stampede.

As soon as they heard her, the children rushed to Lulu asking for more food, quickly overwhelming her to the point she could barely work and Nana and I had to lend her a hand. At least we managed to maintain order and get the children to line up before things got out of hand. The kids would quickly run off when we gave them their food and return for thirds not long after, with a few asking for a fourth helping. The elderly group only had seconds and would stay to talk for a little bit before returning to the fire to eat.

I had to start making skewers out of whatever meat we had on hand to keep up with the demand for food. It was hard work, but I managed to max out my cooking skill by the end, and no one complained about the food. In fact, I had one of the elderly ladies, Totona and a younger girl who could be Totona's sister ask me to teach them how to cook. I wasn't sure what to do, but I showed them how I cooked the skewers. I told them when to flip them, how I applied the local herbs we picked along the way and how long to cook them for. I wasn't sure how my lesson was going, but even Lulu started watching me at some point.

Between Lulu and I, along with the three extra helpers, we managed to keep up with the demand for food. Everyone seemed happy with the kids cheering and jumping for joy. They look entirely different to the starving half-dead kids that tried to rob us. I smile as I hand them skewers, enjoying the sight of the kids being able to act like kids.

"Meat is the best, sir!"

"Yeah, meat skewers!"

Pochi and Tama even join in the cheering and start playing with the children. Mia, meanwhile, has moved off to the side. I didn't even notice she had finished until I heard her start playing the lute. Her music was the perfect fit for the atmosphere complimenting the cheers of children as they ate and played.

"Hey, mister merchant," The boy, who appears to be the kid's leader, approaches Satou. He doesn't look like he will cause any trouble, but I watch the two out of the corner of my eye, just in case.

"What is it?"

"This is for the food. And to make up for attacking you earlier today,"

The boy held out a smooth, wood-carved object. It looked like three two-inch wooden cubes, each connected to the other two. But it isn't wood. When I use my Appraisal, it turns out the item is made of Damascus Steel and is some kind of key.

"Did you make it yourself?"

"No, I found it in the mountain,"

"Hey!" One of the elderly must have been listening to them too. An elderly man quickly appears, smacking the boy on the top of the head. "I told you how dangerous it was up there! Why, in gods name, did you do something so dangerous?!"

"Is there something living on the mountain?" Satou asks.

When I look up there, I can't see anything that stands out. Hundreds of trees, a few large rocks and a flock of birds flying above the tree tops. I don't get the feeling of danger up there, but there could be something living on the mountain that I haven't seen yet.

"The vengeful ghost of nobles live up there," The old man explains. "At night, the nobles and their soldiers appear, while a giant boar we call One-Eyed rules the mountain during the day. I'd keep far away from him if I were you. Last year a group of soldiers tried to take One-Eyed down. None of them returned."

We spent the entire day by the river bank making tents and coats for the children and elderly and learning more about the surrounding area. The elderly people tell us about the nearby towns and villages and a nearby fort on the mountain where the ghost resides. The children surprisingly know where many other bandits and thieves are in the area. It made sense after they explained how they needed to avoid other bands of thieves or they would end up being robbed.

<0>

The following day we headed out. We left our carriage and horses in the care of the elderly group and kid bandits while we hiked towards the fort. Our goal was Satou's idea. He suggested we hunt the boar for the people by the river and eliminate the monsters at the fort. We are not sure about the current condition of the fort, but Satou believes it will be a good place for the kids and elderly to live.

So far, we haven't run into any problems. The few animals that saw us ran away, and no monsters made an appearance. We found a few animal skeletons along the way, but we left them as they were. The biggest problem we have is the trees. The leaves are thick enough to block out the sun, and their roots threaten to trip us with every step. The worse problem is they give monsters and bandits plenty of hiding places.

"Rest in peace,"

Tama at the first sight of human remains we come across. We found them at the base of a small cliff, so they could have fallen, but it is impossible to tell how this person met their end.

"What is it?" Satou asks, approaching Tama.

"There are bones," Tama replies, pointing to the body.

There isn't much else there apart from a few bones and a skull, but something shiny catches my eye. Maybe it is jewellery or a few coins, but I don't. I am not desperate enough to steal from the dead to find out.

"Wait here,"

Satou, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have the same problem I have. He moves over to the skeleton and quickly picks up the shiny object that turns out to be a blue-bladed knife. When I look more closely, my Appraisal automatically activates, telling me the knife is made of mithral. Apart from the knife, Satou also found a bag nearby containing a few books and some kind of level that looked to be made out of the same material as the object the boy gave Satou.

The books were in bad condition, but I could still read their titles. There were two larger volumes, Magic Cannon: Noble Blood Maintenance Guide and Magic Cannon: Noble Blood Operation Guide, and three smaller ones that seemed to be cyphers of some kind. The lever, on the other hand, was in surprisingly good condition. A bit dirty, but I don't see any scratches or damage to the object. Satou just puts the items into his storage, and we move on.

It is still morning when we reach the gates to the fort. It had taken us nearly three hours to climb, but I didn't feel tired at all. Arisa had to be carried on Liza's back after nearly collapsing halfway into our journey. Mia and Lulu look tired, but everyone else doesn't appear to require some time to rest. Nevertheless, we take a quick half-hour break before approaching the fort.

The fort is bigger than I was expecting it to be. It looks like it could house at least a few hundred soldiers while it was still in use. The steel portcullis had fallen, blocking the entrance. But the gate still holds strong with even all of us pushing together, not being enough to make it budge. In the end, Satou had to climb over the wall to open it for us. Somehow he found that the pullies on the other side connected to the gate still worked, and the gate squeaked open.

We spent the next hour exploring the towers on the walls and the few wooden buildings inside the courtyard but found nothing. We didn't find much. All of the food was rotten. The well needed to be repaired but appeared to still have water at the bottom, and most of the weapons and armour we found were rusted or broken. The entire place is in disrepair and overgrown with weeds. If Satou intends to have the children and elderly live here, it will take a lot of work to prepare this place.

But it wasn't all bad. The beds needed cleaning but still looked to be in good condition. In the rear of the courtyard are plenty of places to grow crops and even some orange birds that look similar to chicken roaming around. I wonder if they are this world's version of chickens. They lay eggs and cluck so they could be, but then they are twice the size, and their feathers look slightly different to the chicken, I know. If we could build a cope and round them up, the elderly and children would have no shortage of food.

"Geh!"

"What is it?"

Heading toward Arisa's fed-up voice, I found an area full of fresh parsley and saw Satou examining the field with Arisa.

"Oh, parsley?"

"Who're you calling parsley?! I won't let anyone call me a parsley at this age! The least you could do is marry me until I become an adult, even if it's just a common-law marriage, master!"

Arisa was growling like a dog while jumping up and down in front of Satou while Lulu watched her sister. Staring wide eyes at Arisa's behaviour, Lulu seems unable to do anything after seeing her sister act this way.

"I'm serious! And Lulu's my sister, so you should marry both of…."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll consider it if you're still single in ten years, alright?"

Arisa seemed to be heading toward an inappropriate comment, so it was probably for the best that Satou cut her off.

"Really? It's a promise, then!" Arisa pumped her fists in a pose more befitting a triumphant athlete than a little girl, then dashed away.

"…How nice…"

Lulu muttered with a light blush on her cheeks. She must be head over heels in love with Satou because I have never seen her look so happy before.

"Master, could I also…?"

"Sure, Lulu. If you're single in ten years, too, I'll marry you along with Arisa,"

"Yes!"

Satou better keep his promise. I would hate for him to be hoping Lulu finds someone else before those ten years are over. Lulu smiles to herself while thinking of her future, pressing her hands to her cheeks while mumbling to herself. While it is a long shot that someone as beautiful as Lulu will still be single in ten years, Satou better marry her if she is single then.

"Hee-hee… A bride, huh?"

Now the last place we have left to explore is the keep itself. It is a tall stone building we a heavy door barring our entrance and a creepy aura around it. We stopped to have a quick lunch before going inside. Surprisingly this time, the door opens without any resistance.

With Nana and Liza leading the way, we enter the keep with our guard up. Satou had warned us this place is a den of undead monsters. Tama and Pochi were right behind them, followed by Arisa, Mia and Lulu. Finally, Satou and I take up the rear with Pearl.

The entrance hall contained a stairwell leading up to the second floor, where light leaked in through a window. It was the sort of place where balls might have been hosted. Since the undead appeared only at night, we'd decided to explore the fort during the day before the actual battle at sunset. The skeletal remains of several soldiers were strewn about the entrance hall. Once night had fallen, these would probably begin to move.

It is an unsettling sight seeing so many remains, but at least I know it is safe for now. Lulu, Arisa and Mia, on the other hand, look terrified. They even run back to us with Mia hugging my side and Arisa and Lulu hugging Satou.

"Don't be scared. It's perfectly safe during the da…."

As I attempted to reassure them, the loud bang of a door slamming shut interrupted me. At that exact moment, specks of black appeared on the window and soon blotted out all the light from outside. Shrieking, Mia latched onto me more tightly as my eyes rapidly adjusted to the darkness, thanks to my Night Vision skill. Nana, Liza, Pochi, Tama and Pearl quickly move closer to us while keeping guard of our surroundings. It isn't long before they form a tight circle around us. Satou took my Magic Lamp out of storage and supplied it with some MP to illuminate the room.

"Kweh-heh-heh… Foolish vandals. You know not your place, daring to enter the secret base of the revival of the house of Marquis Muno," I can't see who is speaking or tell where their voice is coming from. "Prepare to become the cornerstones of the marquis's house's revival at our faithful soldiers' hands!"

Soon the sounds of cracking bones and the clan of metal fill the room as the skeletons rise up and surround us. They wear rusty metal armour and wield spears and swords as they slowly close in. There are only three in this room, but I can hear more approaching from other rooms of the keep.

"These enemies are strong, so take each of them on in pairs. I'll handle the last one."

"Understood!"

"Aye!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Orders registered. Switching to combat-doll mode."

Satou is the first to recover quickly, giving out orders and getting everyone to quickly respond to the situation. I have no idea what Nana means by combat-doll mode, but if I were to guess, I would say it is something she learned from Arisa. Nevertheless, Nana works with Tama while Pochi assists Liza as the battle begins. Pearl, meanwhile, takes a skeleton that approaches from behind single-handedly. I'm not really that worried about her. Out of everyone in our group, she is probably the strongest after Satou and myself. Mia, Arisa and Lulu are the only ones I need to worry about. They still cling to us while shaking, although I am starting to suspect that Arisa is just pretending to be scared as she sniffs Satou's clothes.

The skeletons don't look that tough. Their bodies move in slow jerking ways that are easy to predict, but they could hit you with a fast overhead strike. If the girls fighting weren't careful, they could easily be killed. The battle isn't helped by the fact that Pochi and Tama aren't able to deal much damage with their short swords. Luckily Liza is there to shatter skeletons with rapid jabs from her spear. Nana, meanwhile, is using her shield to crush them, while when I check on Pearl, I see her magical sword can slice through their bones and armour with ease.

The first battle ended in our victory but judging from the sounds, it won't be long before more skeletons enter the room. We were lucky enough to make it through with no one suffering as much as a scratch, and I hope we will continue to win unarmed. We still had some time before the next wave attacked, so we quickly made a barricade from whatever we could find in the room and prepared as best we could. Satou wrapped a few poles in cloth and cast the Shelter spell to create a lattice for defence. It was a dome with an entrance and some smaller holes for attacking. This would keep the rearguard safe while we fought.

"Mia, can you light the room?"

"Mm." Mia cast a new spell Satou developed. "… Bubble Light Hotaru Awa!"

Several spheres materialised, like faintly glowing soap bubbles. The only problem with this spell was that the MP cost was high since Satou had used code from a Light Magic spell. When I checked in on everyone now that the room was lit, I noticed that Lulu was wearing a dark, brooding expression. Maybe the sight of the attacking skeletons scared her?

"M-master. I-is there anything I can do to be of help?" Lulu clasped her hands in front of her chest as she spoke.

I know I told her to talk to Satou about being useful in a fight, but I am not sure now was the right time. Still, having an acter set of hands for this fight isn't something I will complain about.

"I… I want to be useful like everyone else!"

"You don't need to worry about that. You're already useful, Lulu,"

"Master. Perhaps Lulu could try one of those Magic Guns you used before?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about those,"

I haven't seen Satou using those guns in a while, so I doubt he would mind lending one to Lulu, but I will let him decide. Arisa was the one who suggested giving Lulu a gun. After seeing how effective Pearl's magical sword was, I can't think of any reason not to use those guns now. In the end, it appears Satou agrees with Arisa's suggestion because he takes out one of his guns and hands it to Lulu.

"Aim this toward the monster. Then pull this bit… it's called the trigger…. and a Magic Bullet will come out from the end of the barrel,"

"R… right!"

"Lulu, you don't need to be so tense. Try to relax." Satou moved behind her and put his hands over hers to demonstrate how to pull the trigger. "Gently, like this. All right?"

"R…r…r… r… r… right…."

"Sorry, sorry. I was too close?"

It's a shame I couldn't watch the scene anymore. Lulu looked so cute as she blushed and tried to focus on the weapon in her hands. The skeletons finally reached us and started entering the room. Satou moved up to help the frontline while I hung back with Lulu, Mia and Arisa to transfer my magic when necessary. As the battle began, it soon became clear I would need to keep a hand on Lulu's shoulder since the magic gun drained her MP after only two shots.

The battle was slow and endless. Arisa and Lulu began sharing the gun, and the girls at the frontlines had to take turns resting behind our barricade. We must have taken out at least a hundred skeletons by now, but they still keep coming. Liza's spear started producing red light, glowing like Pearl's sword. It always happened just as she landed a powerful strike, so maybe it was a visual effect to indicate that a skill had been used. Satou is currently trying to figure out what is happening, but he isn't getting far due to the constant attacks.

I hope we reach the end of the skeleton onslaught soon. I have even had to attack skeletons that had gotten pasted the front line. Still, after I defeated the skeletons, I ended up with the "Pierce" and "Consecutive Attack" skills and no one was hurt, so it wasn't too bad. After an hour of nearly none stop combat, the assault has ended, but according to Satou, there are still more monsters in the keep. Now it was our turn to go on the attack… or at least that was the plan. Instead, we spot that Lulu isn't looking too good.

"Lulu, are you all right?"

"Oh, don't worry about me,"

Arisa hovered over Lulu with concern as she sat on the floor.

"Maybe she has level-up sickness?"

She does look like she has the same symptoms Henry had when she was suffering from level-up sickness. Ultimately, we decided to move on before the enemy had a chance to regroup, so Lulu ended up riding on Satou's back. We faced only a few scattered skeletons as we pushed forward. We only stopped when we reached the heart of the keep. Behind a set of metal doors, Satou tells us a wraith is waiting. He handed everyone anti-paralysis since it had an attack with the paralysis effect.

"Finally, it's time for the boss battle!"

"The boss can use Ice Magic, so I'll head in first and take it out. The rest of you, wait a bit before you come in after me. There are four stronger skeleton soldiers in there, too, so I'm leaving those to you,"

"Understood,"

"Seriously, Miss Liza? We can't just let him charge in there on his own!"

"Arisa, Satou, can defeat a single wraith with ease, I report,"

Arisa was the only one opposed to Satou's strategy.

"I'll be fine, all right? You don't need to worry about me unless the enemy's a greater hell demon or something,"

"Greater…?"

"Relax, if a greater hell demon showed up, I can take care of it,"

I'm pretty sure Satou was only joking, but my words still put Arisa at ease.

"Master, please use this, at least." Liza handed Satou her beloved spear. "I believe the spear you currently have will not allow for effective Spellblade use. Ideally, I would prefer to accompany you, but I understand that I am not nearly strong enough to do so. And if I can at least offer you my spear…."

"All right. I'll borrow it for a minute, then,"

"Kweh-heh-heh… So you have come to seek your own deaths, foolish vandals. The great house of Marquis Muno will…."

Satou enters the room alone while we back hearing the wraith gloat.

<0>

"Oh my. Is it over already?" Arisa asked.

"Yeah, I guess so,"

It had been less than five minutes since Satou entered the room, yet he had already taken care of the wraith and its skeleton guards.

"I'm sorry, Liza. Your spear looks different now,"

"…Is this a pattern, not cracks?" Surprised, Liza stroked the surface of the Magic Cricket Spear. Then she slowly swung it in the air a few times experimentally. "Perhaps it's my imagination… But it's as if my senses travel all the way to the tip of the spear now, even more so than before."

Liza's black spear is now covered with blood-red lines. Liza continues to wave it around, putting more force into each swing, while Satou looks like he has something he wants to say.

"Wait just a minute! There's a hidden door over here!"

Arisa's force draws everyone's attention as she pulls back a tapestry on the opposite side of the room. My "Trap Detection" skill sounded the alarm, and so had Satou. He had Arisa pull back while he disarmed the snare. Before entering the room alone, just to make sure it is safe. There were two slimes in the room's corners, but Satou quickly disposed of them and put the remains in his Storage. After ensuring there were no more dangers, I called the others into the room.

"Wooow!"

"So shiny, sir!"

"How very remarkable."

"Whoa, what is this?!"

Everyone entered the room and exclaimed with surprise at the piles of treasure. There was a heap of what must have been ten thousand gold Shigan coins, statues made of precious metals, and jewellery on display. Along the room's walls were piles of boxes full of equipment. Mithril weapons were lined up on beautiful display stands. The objects wrapped in oiled paper were probably paintings of some kind. There wasn't a single rusted item or speck of dust in here. The slimes had probably been for cleaning and rust removal. We should've captured them without killing them.

We went few the room and decided to take what we liked. Pochi and Tama ran around the mountain of gold coins. Liza asked my permission before inspecting the weapons. Mia examined the silver musical instruments with an inscrutable expression. Arisa scooped up gold coins with both hands, cackling something about filling a bathtub. Satou, meanwhile, is looking at some documents while Pearl and Nana start looking at the jewellery. I didn't take Pearl as the kind of girl who likes jewellery, but I don't have a problem if she wants to take something she likes.

As for myself, I start looking over the books to see if there is anything of value. I put a few maps into my storage along with spell books for fire, thunder and water magic, but I leave the diaries and tax ledgers behind. Arisa noticed the books as I put them away, so I promised to let her borrow them when she wanted to read.