Chapter 5 - Section 5 - Travelers
Morning was announced with the faint screams which resonated in the cool dew air coming from the tent flap where a set of delicate hands were tightly gripping the fabric.
Two sets of wide eyes peered out from within, while two furry creatures could be seen mimicking them from below.
Turning my body around I stared at the spectacle of early morning timidness.
"Oh my good morning, did we wake you?"
"…"
"Oh if it's about him, well I suppose it's best if he does his own introduction"
The man sitting across from me stood up from his seat took a few strides towards the tent.
Placed his right fist against his left breast and performed a quarter bow forward.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance ladies, and errrr… beasts?"
'grrrr'
[Settle down Kurama beastfolk are an entirely new thing for him]
"My name is Heracles, I was summoned by Lord Satou to act as his personal attendant and driver, I will be in your care from today onwards."
Time slowly passed Heracles didn't budge from his bow, the girls meanwhile remained stunned still peering out from inside the tent.
Kurama and Ruby on the other hand rather cautiously exited the tent, Kurama looked to me first but I gave a quick nod, and she loosened up before returning the bow.
"Me, Fox-Kin, Name Kurama, Master Mine!"
"Are arara"
"Pleasure to meet you both"
Shaking the paw, and hand offered to him.
[Really Kurama, and cmon Herc not even going to try and deny her claim to me…]
More time passed but the girls still didn't exit, so I called off the introductions.
"Seems they'll need a bit more time, for now let's start with breakfast ok"
"As you will"
"'Kay"
The preperations were rather quick since collection was all that was needed Ruby, and Kurama ran off into the forest to collect mushrooms, eggs, and herbs while Herc and I worked on the meat and fire.
Breakfast was simple rustic cooking which I could tell from her look Raisa was disappointed clearly expecting another knock skill bought meal.
Once breakfast was done Kurama, Ruby, and Heracles started the cleanup of the camp site prepping it for pack-up, my job on the other hand was to lead the still stock-still girls who just barely made their way through breakfast from the campsite so it could be packed away.
I lead then away to the edge of the forest where we would be setting up and mounting the carriage before heading off on our new journey.
As I was pulling the carriage out of my storage and was prepping myself to summon some beasts we could use as carriers.
The silence of the plains was broken.
"Umm.. Satou?"
"hmmm?"
This tiny voice that was barely audible but the voice definitely came from Raisa, Prim meanwhile was still shocked or scared as she hid almost all of herself behind Raisa.
"That man, is he like the one woman from last night?"
"Who… Oh you mean Heracles?"
"Y… Yeah"
"Yup I spent the night perfecting my spell so the summoning would succeed, sorry if I scared you guys but Heracles is safe I promise he'll protect all of us, you can trust him as if he was an extension of myself"
"But… I mean he's not gonna you know… die"
"Not unless someone kills him, but as he is now he's the picture of health or better even, I could setup a practice fight between me and him, or even yourself if you want to confirm that?"
After that brief exchange and quick denial of the fight request the two visibly loosened up and even offered to help with the prep work on the cart, but once our travel companions had returned they did stiffen up once again in the presence of Heracles but not so much as before, since this time they both introduced themselves but did opt to work on packing up away from him. I guess they just need to get used to him.
We all boarded the covered wagon, which I had modified slightly by giving the frame an overhaul to separate out the frame from the passenger compartment, and coachman seat this aided in my second improvement which was independent wheel suspension cleverly hidden inside the frame so even if someone was to take a look at it, they'd never know it to be a modification of the actual technology.
And the final upgrade was a simple addition of some tailoring creations, some removable cushions these are all superfluous creature comforts that will surely be appreciated by all the parties.
This is what makes me thankful for my cheat abilities, with the use of blacksmithing I could fashion simple chassis, and suspension to make even these medieval dirt roads seem smooth and reduce that god awful shaking, and cushions to remove the discomfort of sitting on raw wood.
Once we'd gotten everything setup I helped the ladies into the back of the wagon, they all started rejoicing over the fact that there were cushion which they could sit upon.
I meanwhile walked over to the front of the wagon and spoke to Heracles at the coachman's stand.
"There's a spear hidden here, the beasts are summons so no worries about needing to tame them. Just make sure if anything happens you unhitch them before we send them off to battle, no sense dragging the cart into battle since it can get damaged, and I don't know if we can easily get a replacement."
"But of course Sir Satou, as for priority as you indicated before, my job if it comes to combat is to protect the young miss's yes?"
"Unless I instruct otherwise, I might leave their protection with Shenron, while you help me out instead but that's should the situation get out of hand where I cannot deal with it myself"
"I'd be honored to fight alongside you"
"If you feel your equipment needs an upgrade let me know, but we are trying to not stand out to much at the moment so do your best not to draw attention but also remember at the moment you are only Level 1 so we'll need to do some hunting to bring you up to par"
"I shall do my best to meet or exceed your expectations… As for our current journey what is our destination?"
"Well we've made quite a bit of noise here in Bobel so I'm thinking we head north find a small village close to the border where we can sell off some of the goods I'll make along the way claim they are goods we bought in the city. Nothing wrong with a little rustic hideaway, and well if we're found out we can choose to resist, or just jump the border where they cannot legally pursue us"
"Understood, shall we set off then Sir?"
"Yes, I'll keep an eye on the summons stamina so that we'll know when breaks are required, but otherwise we'll let you know if any of us needs a break"
Walking round the cart I pulled myself up joining the other four in the passenger compartment, taking the seat furthest toward the front, allowing me a good view forward.
'Hyah'
With a crack of the reigns Heracles set the trip underway
Casting my gaze forward watching as my summon the iron lizard Gojira set off towing our cart behind.
"Uwah such an amazing cart you gave to Mr. Satou, Lady Raisa not even the Count's carriages run so smoothly."
"Uh… yes of course thank you, but I have a feeling I can't accept your praise for this cart"
Finishing her statement her eyes bore holes into me inquisitively.
"Ok ok ok, it was me I made a few adjustments to the cart I just figured we'd all enjoy the travel a bit more with a few… lets say otherworldly changes"
"Whawhahaha, a luxury carriage, S-Class food, adorable animals, and cute travel companions if I knew this was what life was like in the world I would've run away from home sooner!"
"Don't joke like that Primrose, you know this situation can only happen around Satou, life would be much more extreme and dangerous if you'd have left any other way"
"Yeah I know, he's just that amazing isn't he"
Please stop I can see the sparkles in your eyes.
"y. he. zing"
"Huh?"
"No… It's nothing"
_________________________
We halted our trip north a couple times for breaks to eat, and some minor collections along the way, when it reached the afternoon; we stopped the cart for the planned final time of the day.
Raisa and Prim are still nervous around Heracles so I elected to leave them with the cart to setup the tent, and gear for the night.
Of course Shenron stayed behind laying down a barrier to protect them, and they'd get to keep the Kobold pair as well for further protection.
Heracles, and I meanwhile set off into the distance our task to hunt nearby monsters both for materials to boost my skills, but more importantly to boost Heracles, and Prim's levels since both of them are considerably low level compared to Raisa, and Myself.
As we set off at a quick walking pace, I performed a quick summon for some birds and scattered them to the wind informing them to report back when they locate any monsters.
They had only flown off for a minute before one bird returned to us.
"How many?"
'Piru Piru'
"Two huh, well that should be a good, start for you huh?"
"Should be a good workout milord"
_________________________
'Graaaaah Huah!'
The perfectly leveled spear thrust its way into the chest of the goblin, offering up no resistance from it's tough hide, the bones of its chest cracking as the spear forced it's way inside the chest cavity, blood shot out from the entrance wound while at the same time a 1/3 of the creatures back exploded being carried on by the momentum of the spear which had completely penetrated all the way through with blinding speed.
'Schlict'
Withdrawing his spear from the now limp lifeless body, taking a guarded stance watching as the body teetered before falling to the ground with a thud, blood spilling out from its wounds.
I walked over while staring down at the pair of goblins both killed in a single hit; the first was decapitated up a precision sweep of his spear, which stopped masterfully before the thrust which ended the second goblin's life.
"Well done, perhaps I overestimated these goblins I figured they'd offer up more of a challenge for you"
"Do not worry Sir Satou, any form of training is a method of gaining strength to serve you better"
'Pipuu'
Looking up to the sky another of my summon birds returned.
"How many?"
'Pirurururururur'
"Good, lead Heracles there, I shall follow soon after I cleanup here"
"As you command"
Kicking off the ground gouging out a small hole of upturned dirt as he rocketed off in the direction my summon flew as fast as it could.
As for me, my cleanup was to simply dispose of the bodies, while I could dig a grave for them it's totally unnecessary since aside from their ears there's nothing of value to take from the bodies.
[Fireshot]
'Fwoooom'
The ball of fire shot from my palm engulfing both goblin bodies the acrid stank of burning flesh filled the air, but lasted only for a moment until the flames died down leaving behind nothing but small piles of ash that blew away with a gust of wind.
Turning in the direction indicated before I kicked off gouging a sizeable hole along with creating quite a dust cloud, I amused to myself as I looked over my shoulder seeing the shrinking cloud of dust, already a good distance away after only one step.
In only three steps I arrived at the scene of what probably would've been a ferocious battle… at least that would be the case were Heracles not being the opponent.
In a pile before me was about 5 Orc's, along with some form of Kobold like creatures there are quite a few of them too so they must be either pets of Orcs, or in conflict/fleeing from them.
"Just enough to get a light sweat going!"
As I walked closer at a regular pace, Heracles jubious statement resounded.
But I knew the truth he wasn't sweating from exertion, if anything it's the effect of Level-up sickness since once hit by it your stamina becomes drained until you rest.
Checking on my menu I could see his level had jumped quite a bit, going from 1->10 his stamina bar was only about 1/3 full now, on the other hand Prim who also had risen to level 10 now had a Sleep status condition which I took to mean she'd fainted from leveling up to fast.
"While it might not quite fulfill a full workout for you, but I think we should head back for today, the ladies might get worried were we to continue and result in me having to carry Heracles back after fainting himself."
Before setting off I collected the Orc corpses, along with the drops present, before sending off another fireshot at the Gnoll bodies in the field.
Rather than running back at full speed we jogged at a general pace, I dispelled my five summoned birds as we set off, as we ran back I pulled up my inventory and started to sort through the new items recovered by Heracles from his newest fight.
Collected:[5 Orc Common Cards, 35 Gnoll Common Cards, 1 Gnoll Uncommon Card]
"Oh Satou! Glad you're back Prim collapsed for no reason, you've got to help her!"
Once we were within earshot of the camp Raisa voice echoed across the plain, we kept on running until we'd come before her.
"Oh um yeah that, I forgot to mention this is the same thing as what happened to you before when we were at that Goblin village"
"Huh, wait what! You mean it was cause of you that I collapsed that time!"
"Um well yeah, it's not like I was hiding it from you, but you know about my skill right, well I can share experience I gain in combat with members of my party, well those I deem apart of my party"
"Huh wait just what do you mean?"
"I can't really say until Prim wakes up, but when she does you'll both understand, otherwise how are things here?"
"… uh well camps setup for the most part, we kind of stopped once she collapsed"
"Ah yes, well in that case we'll help out and get dinner started"
The last of the prep work was done, and it seems the last vestige of Raisa's nervousness against Heracles was gone as well the two worked seamlessly setting up the second tent, while I finished off the fire pit, and had started prepping the ingredients for tonight's meal.
Thanks to my cooking skill it increased my cutting speed allowing me to fully prep for three different dishes in almost no time at all.
First up a simple Meat skewer dish that we can roast over the open campfire flame, second a simple salad with a basic vinaigrette, and lastly a potage of Onions, Potatoes, Milk, and cheese.
Igniting the fire with a quick firelight spell and placing the skewers onto the mesh rack, and the cast iron skilled on the separate rack below that so that the fat dripping off would be caught to further add flavor to the side dish.
While waiting for the food to cook, I pulled up my menu once again. I quickly removed Riasa, and Prim from my party.
[Prim's level has become much higher, and since I don't need to get her into trouble by casting to much attention it's safest for now, while Raisa's re-addition was for an experiment to see if an increase of party members meant a decrease in exp distribution. The only evidence I had to compare against was the pace at which I myself leveled up, but with this simple comparison it seems that every party member earns the same amount of experience regardless of there's no decrease for the increase of members]
After only a little bit of combat however one this I did notice is that my own level did increase not as drastically as Heracles, and Primrose, but I did rise from Lvl: 1->3 by my reckoning it should take much more experience for me to level up since my overall level was actually 31 to start with, until I saw I had gained a new title.
With this new title I earn 50% more exp if a monster is killed by a summon under the masters command.
Thanks to this, not only did my level rise, but the capacity of my summons also increased my new limit is 6, which means I have more breathing room even with Kurama being summoned, not only that but it would seem that the non-player summons still count as my own since the only summon doing combat were my birds which were the lowest rank possible, and Heracles.
'Sizzle'
"Mmmm that smells so good Satou"
Closing down my menu I focused solely on the meal before me cooking on the open flame.
The skewers were a nice brown shade fat dripping off into the licking flames, the potage bubbling in its skillet.
Raisa had taken a seat on the stool to my left, her mouth hanging open and a line of drool could be seen, but I knew better than to point it out, or make it known that I had seen.
Heracles on that other hand had gone to retrieve Prim from the tent.
Once he'd placed her on the ground, and taken his own seat across from me.
Raising my palm towards the unconscious Prim I cast a silent spell.
[Shadow Magic: Counter Curse: Awaken]
In a snap her eyes shot open but even with that her movement was sluggish, and she needed help just to sit upright.
Once she'd taken her seat I started to dish out the food, passing bowls of salad, and then a plate with scoops of potage, and a couple skewers to each member.
The meal progressed rather surprisingly to me, since this was my first attempt at campfire cooking using freshly harvested materials from the orcs we hunted, but while it still paled overall when compared to Yggddrasil food but still when compared to food in the city my own cooking far surpassed, and while I could claim that was due to my access to a multitude of spices but even still the salad itself was greater than any normal salad should be.
Perhaps this is the result of ranking up my cooking skill, all the meals I made back in the city were either hum drum, to just meh when I was level 2 but more recently I moved up to level 3 which I would have to say is the cause of the increased flavor.
Once all the food had been polished off, I quickly made my move before the already fading Prim could fall back asleep.
"Prim can you please summon your ID card for us?"
'Uwah 'Yawn' Why? You just saw it a few days ago"
"Trust me it's really important"
"This'll be the second time though, that'll only leave me with a single use left this month, but whatever"
꙰ ꙲ ꙲ ꙰ ꙱ : Reveal
The bronze card rose up from out of the single white line that appeared on her hand, taking the card in hand, she lazily extended her arm towards me
"Reveal"
Once she'd said the word I took the offered up card from her hand, giving it a quick glance before passing it along to Riasa.
Once it reached her hands though her eyes shot open!
"Level 10! But she said in the cart her level was only 3 and you confirmed that too so what's... up… wait is this what you meant before?"
"Yes, in my world we call it power-leveling when a strong person quickly allows someone else to gain strength without trying or doing anything themselves"
"And you can do it to anyone?"
"Well anyone I want to, but I don't like this method, since strength gained without effort can lead to disaster, but at the same time on a trip or in a foreign town being level 3 poses certain other risks so giving a small boost to allow for a slightly stronger level than the average should provide adequate defense."
'Thud'
While we were talking Prim once again passed out falling to the ground.
I chuckled a little bit before taking the card back and placing it into her hand.
After which I carried her into the girl's tent returning quickly thereafter.
The rest of the night conversation passed in relative harmony, as Raisa continued to question me on what things were different from my world to this one.
I did my very best to answer the questions without revealing just how different they are.
But when it came to the topic of religion I outright lied since she already knew the name of the god I claimed to worship, which was not 'The One' that was the only remaining god of earth at least mainstream one that is.
At the topic of gods, Heracles joined in to learn more about the gods of this world, but went off on a wild tangent extolling the virtues of Zeus whom he worships, thankfully he did hold his promise of not describing his relationship to the King of the Gods.
From Raisa I learned about the Core Gods worshipped in this world.
The God Of Creation/World - Iknos
The Goddess Of Life/Light - Inreus
The God Of Death /Darkness - Siorr
The God Of Fire - Ignis
The Goddess Of Terra - Terrane
The Goddess Of Water - Eella
The God Of War - Kroddiaone
In exchange we gave a brief overview of contrasting gods of Olympus and their structure as a family, thankfully she didn't ask to many questions on this structure since I didn't want to have to explain the Titans as well she instead was enraptured by the concept of a family of gods rather than the existing system of independent gods who hold few ties to one another.
Our sharing went well into the night explaining the basics of the big Three: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades followed by Hera, Demeter, Ares, Hephaestus, Hestia, Athena, Apollo, Asclepius, Aeolus, and Hermes.
The last thing mentioned before we all turned in for the night was a request from Raisa to one day create reliefs of our gods so she could compare them to the gods of this world since she'd seen numerous statues on her travels around the continent. While I wasn't exactly thrilled by the concept it would give me an excuse to practice my woodworking skill.
In the end I agreed since to refuse would draw further suspicion, but since the Greek gods have been depicted quite differently in every age so the real question would be which one I would chose when the time came.
Morning, the warmth of my covers trapping in my body heat as my consciousness stirs while keeping my eyes closed.
'rustle rustle'
[Uhm…]
As I lay there the sound of movement close by sounded.
[I am so afraid to open my eyes right now]
I lay their eyes clamped shut practically shaking in fear of knowing the unknown when I realized that the warmth I felt wasn't just from my own body, as i could feel independent movement against my arm as something nuzzled into me.
[Sh… Shenron I need you to tell me something… Did Heracles invade my bed in the night?]
Having obsessed about Ancient Greek mythology in school I knew full well that Heracles was bi-sexual and from what I've learned about my summons each gains access to my own memories depending on their ranks, while Shenron seems to have gained a complete copy, I'm not sure exactly how much the 'Demi-God' Heracles received since his race at present is still only 'Human' but just the thought of my bed being invaded uninvited by the large statured older man.
[[No Master, he was not the one]]
'Phew'
Letting a very large sigh escape my lips as I pushed all the air I held inside my lungs out, I can't begin to explain how relieved I was.
But right when I was about to replace the exhaled air from my lungs the corresponding thought ran through my head.
[Wait but if it's not him, and this is the men's tent then just who…]
Cracking my eyes open while turning my head to the side to take a look at the invader.
There lay the calm sleeping face of Primrose resting on my shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around my arm, the warmth I felt before enveloping me was the feeling of my arm being engrossed in the young ladies chest.
A quick cold sweat broke out across my body once again.
As thrilling as this might be, this is a young girl from what I know there's no such thing as Megan's Law here but that doesn't matter all that's running through my mind right now is to get away as soon as possible before everyone gets the wrong idea.
My escape plans are limited since to move away would most likely result in her waking up so my only other option is a currently untested skill of a conjurer Substitute Summon from what I remember it was a skill used to retreat displacing the summoner with one of his summons swapping their positions creating an opening to retreat.
[Shenron, just a heads up but I'm going to have you replace me here]
[[Understood Master, I shall return to my full size and prepare to assume your position]]
[Substitute Summon]
'Fwooop'
In an instant the warmth I felt disappeared as I was washed by the cold morning air, now standing at the place I previously saw Shenron floating in my place Shenron now lay under the covers his wings delicately folded up so that they would not intrude on Prim's slumber, which now looked like she was sleeping while hugging a body pillow.
Accessing the menu I quickly switched out of my nightwear and into some new travelling clothes, for today I chose a set of brown cargoish loose pants, and a green golf style polo shirt.
Once changed I walked out of the tent greeted by the sight of the rolling greenery before me and peaky sky with colors changing every minute as the pair of suns started their rise into the sky.
Heracles followed me outside shortly afterwards after taking his time dressing, it seems he was awake at the same time I was but had feigned sleep so as not to cause me to awaken. Thankfully though he chose not to elaborate or berate for the 'incident'.
The pair of us worked together on prep and creation of simple breakfast that would be filling enough to last till out lunch break.
Raisa exited her tent stretching her arms out to the sides while yawning furiously. Taking a seat she rubbed her eyes to drive the last of her sleepiness away.
'flap'
As she watched the pair of us who were working between the sitting place and the tents her eyes widened, before she shot up and over to the tent desperately dragging Prim off and back into their own tent.
I couldn't exactly hear what was going on but it sounded like she was giving a rather detailed lecture, while that was going on Shenron likewise exited before shrinking back down and taking his place as my adorned accessory.
Once the lecture had finished, Kurama and Ruby walked out of the tent hand in hand with Prim, and Raisa.
Breakfast continued on with the discussions of the previous night, or rather a quick overview followed by the follow-up since Prim had passed out before she could process anything.
Upon hearing her new level she was shocked but then to learn further about mine and Heracles faith seemed to draw her attention further. Even going so far as to ask about whether there were more gods than the ones Raisa managed to remember from the night before. It was a good attempt but more than half the names were slightly wrong.
We politely corrected her, before answering the onslaught of questions.
Oddly enough the pair seemed devoutly drawn in by our descriptions of Hera, and her accompanying domains (Marriage, and Childbearing) so much so that the pair began interrogating us as to whether there was another goddess like her.
To which I responded with the only one I could think of would be the lesser Goddess Aphrodite whose domain is Beauty and Passion.
When we mentioned that the two leaned in even more but still questioned why there was no goddess of love, to which I simply responded that the gods have no concept of love since it's a human concept derived from emotions.
Lastly the pair questioned what the differences were between the Gods, since referring to them as core, and lesser gods sounded close to the tier system operated by this worlds own gods.
Keeping things simple I just explained that the 'Major' gods as it were are the parents, the lesser's their children, and what they would call the servile (Minor) are the ascended children between gods and humans.
This claim seemed to shock the pair to their very core, it seems the belief that one can ascend isn't part of the mythos here, or perhaps it's the god's taboo written down among their doctrines to prevent competition or their own usurpation.
The days passed in general relativity as we proceed onward towards the fringes of Joquet, during the day we'd travel only coming to a final stop later in the afternoon at which point, Heracles and I would go off to train, Prim demanded on numerous occasions to be allowed to join us which we only just barely managed to deny.
Heracles level increased enough we could even perform a rank-up for him, moving him from being a Novice -> Fighter and still winding up as Level 3 (33) afterwards. As for myself i leveled up to 10 (40) which increased my available number of spells, along with increasing my number of available summons being increased to 7, while my
Our travel from Bobel took an entire week until we reached the frontier village of Ilinto the northern most village of the Meritocracy with a regular horse you could cross the border into three different countries of your choosing from here, making it the perfect base of operation while we're hiding out.
The rumbling of the wagons wheels slowed to a halt, climbing out from the opening and into the coachman's box, what stretched before me was a cheap wooden fence that encircled the village.
A man wearing tattered leather armor holding a spear approached our cart from the village gate which was little more than a wooden lattice.
"Oh you lot your adventurers as well yeah?"
"As well?"
"Huh so you're not here for the event then I take it, well no harm I'm sure you'll get involved in the end, just don't go fighting in town got it"
"Understood"
With that brief exchange we were granted entrance into the village, this will be a true culture shock I think for Prim whose the former daughter of a Count.
Camping was one thing but now being surrounded by country bumpkins who don't even know how to spell the word 'manners' When we found a place to park, I exited the cart before explaining to everyone I'd be back shortly after finding a place we could stay in the village.
My search was rather quick actually thanks to my AR I was able to locate the village elder in no time at all, and after almost no negotiations I was able to rent a house on more than favorable terms when compared to the cost of renting a place back in Bobel.
The elder also gave me the same information but better detailed as mentioned by the gatekeeper.
The village is currently playing host to a large gathering of Adventurers since they sent out a state of emergency to the capital due to large monster encroachment into the surrounding lands, and scouts recently have reported that a stampede is imminent.
Normally speaking the knights and soldiers are responsible for the defense of the realm however when it comes to monsters Adventurers are generally more versed in how to deal with them, and the profit to be gained from harvested materials will be a great boon.
Leaving the elder behind I regrouped with everyone at the cart.
Explained what was going on, and when I finished was assaulted with requests from Prim to take her around town to do some exploring.
Reading the mood Heracles offered to escort Raisa, and the others to the rented home along with the cart while I walked off with Prim.
As we walked along down the dusty street she kept reaching over trying to hold my hand but I'd always pull my hand away.
"Uwah, you want me to get lost don't you!"
"Huh, whatever makes you say that?"
Replying as I turned around seeing her having stopped to stand still.
"I keep trying to hold your hand so we won't get separated in this weird scary place, that I know nothing about"
Huh so she actually had a purpose for that well alright then.
"Oh ok"
Raising my hand out towards her offering it up.
She cracked a sly smile like it was all part of the plan as she took my hand and we carried on walking together.
She fawned over everything, earthenware vendors, food stalls offering up food that even a starving person wouldn't happily eat, and worst of all were the souvenir shops she had the eyes of a child who'd buy up one of everything if she could, and as she was looking over the items she kept glancing over at me.
'Sigh'
"You can pick out three ok? And get something for Raisa as well ok?"
"Guwah! Thank you Satou!"
"So did you hear Bruno, theres gold in the hills someone said they had seen a spotted tremblay the other day."
"Believe that do you? From what I heard it's just a bunch of trash running away from Mire due to those inconsiderate heroes"
"Bah those summoned heroes are a joke, why even bother all they ever do is cause problems"
"You said it; it's a good thing those ritual spells take 100 years before they can be performed again to let the world recover from the mayhem they cause"
"Oi heard what you said, so does that mean the season of carnage has begun anew, Mire's the first which can only mean the other countries are bound to perform it soon too?"
"Satou... Satou"
"Oh uh sorry i drifted off in thought there"
"Ugu how rude, out on the town with a beautiful girl and you can't even focus"
'Flick'
Her comment prompted me to produce a single finger flick to her forehead a read mark appeared.
[Em perhaps i didn't hold back my strength enough]
"Wah Mr. Satou's so mean to me"
Her face now looking like that of a puppy about to cry.
"Ok... Ok, ok I'm sorry as an apology I'll buy you something else alright? But in exchange stop making weird comments?"
"Umu what was weird about it"
'Sigh'
"Fine, how about stop making comments with hearts in your eyes"
"I don't know what that means..."
"Fine! Just the apology gift then"
"yesss I win"
I just barely heard that, but knew at this point I had lost the fight with no avenues left that wouldn't make me look bad.
The rest of the shopping trip was rather uneventful; as we wandered I kept hearing more rumors about the monsters on their way, and the activities of the Mire Heroes who are being blamed fully for the oncoming stampede.
Seems due to their desire to level up they've over hunted and pushed the monsters to the brink as they are running away from them in fear.
There is some light speculation that this is all a ploy from the kingdom since an army of knights is supposedly aiding the heroes.
Maybe they are there to attack following the stampede, or perhaps they are just overly protective of the newly summoned Heroes.
Well we should head back and decide what we're going to do, if the stampede is true it'll be a perfect opportunity to raise mine, and Heracles levels to better secure our own safety in this world.
Once I've had a chat with my multiple personalities (My summons who share my own memories) I'll decide whether to include Prim, and Raisa in the event.