by Okina Baba
“Let’s go find them, quick!”
Snapping orders at Ael and company, I look down at where the avalanche led.
“In a hurry, are we?”
A telepathic voice from above stops me in my tracks.
Looking up, I see ice dragon Nia, the ruler of the Mystic Mountains.
She descends to the ground near us, landing with far more grace than you’d expect from her giant form.
“Yes. So why do you need to bother me right now?” My tone comes out harsher than I intended, but I’m pretty annoyed right now.
“Oh dear. You seem to be in a foul mood.”
“If you’ve got no business with me, I’m going to head out now, okay?”
“If I had no business with you, surely I would not have shown myself like this.”
Nia’s teasing tone just annoys me even more.
“Oh my, how frightening.”
Recognizing my frustration, Nia smirks even more infuriatingly.
For half a second, I consider killing her on the spot, but that time could be better spent looking for my lost friends.
“Come now—wait a moment.”
As I start to turn away, Nia stops me again.
Honestly, talking to her stresses me out so much that I want to ignore her.
“I would not have spoken were I simply passing through, but I do wish to raise a complaint or two about all the destruction you’ve just caused in my domain.”
“…What’re you getting at?”
“Dear me. An apology following wrongdoing is the natural course of things, is it not?”
Damn her!
Is she threatening me at a time like this?!
“I don’t think I did anything wrong, actually. It was just an accident. Not our fault.”
“Alas, think of my poor kin. With all these powerful outsiders wreaking havoc in my domain, and right under my nose at that, surely they will be unable to sleep soundly for all their terror. What a cruel fate.”
The ice dragon shakes her head with exaggerated lamentation.
I’d almost forgotten.
It’s been so long since I saw her that I almost forgot which of the dragons was the most obnoxious!
“Want me to relieve them of that terror by putting them to sleep forever, then?”
I’m half-serious with this threat, but Nia seems unbothered.
“Are you quite certain? I doubt my lord would sit idly by as you slaughtered my kin.”
It’s awfully petty of her to name-drop Gülie right now, if you ask me.
I guess when the god’s away, the dragons will play.
That being said, the god really would back her up in this situation, which only makes it even more obnoxious.
“Besides, I do not think to ask anything so dramatic of you. The liquor you have in that carriage, for example, would be more than enough.”
Yeah, I guess that would be a small price to pay for her to leave me alone.
But it was a bad idea to piss me off even more at a time like this.
“I’ll pass.”
“Hrmmm?”
Nia looks surprised; she must not have expected me to say no.
If she thinks mentioning Gülie is enough to get everyone to do whatever she wants, she’s dead wrong.
“Are you quite certain?”
“That’s my final answer. You sure you wanna keep pissing me off? ’Cause I will end you. Don’t think I won’t.”
Nia becomes flustered, probably sensing that I’m dead serious.
“Wait, wait! If any harm comes to me, my lord will be truly cross, you know!”
“Yeah, well, it’s too late for that. I’ve already killed Gakia. Do I have to spell out the rest for you?”
Nia freezes. “What did you say?”
“Earth dragon Gakia’s dead. I killed him. The wheels are already turning; you just don’t know about it.”
Earth dragon Gakia.
The leader of the earth dragons, who protected the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
He was one of the major dragon powers, just like Nia here.
With him gone, big changes are already underway.
Knocking off one more dragon won’t change that now.
“Well? Your move.”
“All right! I’m sorry!”
Nia hurriedly apologizes, always quick on the uptake.
“If you’re sorry, could you stop this stupid blizzard already? You don’t normally make this much snow, do you?”
“O-of course. But could you not wait a little longer first, please?”
“Say what?”
“All right, all right!” My glare makes Nia quickly withdraw her request. “I’ll stop! Just quit looking at me like that!”
Petty people like her sure change their tune quickly when they realize they’re in hot water.
“However, controlling the weather is no small feat. I shall cease my technique at once, but it will not immediately improve, you see. Please understand.”
“Fine.”
I guess even Nia can’t change the weather this fast.
“I’m in a hurry, so bye.”
“Please leave at once. Honestly. First that little brat, and now you? What a horrid sequence of events.”
I need to start looking for White and the others right away, but something about Nia’s comment makes me pause.
“Little brat? Was it an ogre, by chance?”
“Hrmmm? No, it was an oni. At any rate, since it returned to my domain, it has caused nothing but trouble, running about and killing everything in sight. In fact, it was on such a rampage that I had to give it a stern scolding.”
Oni… An advanced evolution of an ogre.
I’m guessing that infamous ogre must have evolved, then.
But what does she mean by returned? “Is it originally from the Mystic Mountains, then?”
“Indeed. Once, it was but a mere goblin. Who knows what possessed it to evolve into an ogre. Well, I suppose it must have been because of the events that forced it to leave this place, most likely.”
A goblin?
Now, that’s odd.
Goblins technically can evolve into ogres, but that means giving up being a goblin, so I’m pretty sure they usually don’t do that.
Goblins take a lot of pride in their species. It’s unthinkable for one to evolve into an ogre, unless something crazy happens to give them no choice.
“What happened?”
“To put it briefly, humans attacked the goblin village and destroyed it. I believe that particular brat was then forcibly enslaved by the humans, who led it away.”
Ah. Well okay, then.
I guess that’d be a good reason for a goblin to evolve into an ogre.
Putting this story together with the ones we heard in town, I’d be willing to bet that goblin was taken to that now-abandoned village at the foot of the mountains.
Then it must’ve broken free of their control somehow and exacted its revenge.
Afterward, it ran into those adventurers and turned the tables on them, I suppose.
“Gotcha.”
“Truly, those humans do the most despicable things. No wonder that poor little brat flew into a rage.”
Hmm?
Something about Nia’s words strikes me as strange.
Is this pompous jerk actually feeling bad for someone?
“They didn’t just destroy its village?”
“I can say no more, for it is too repulsive. All I shall say is that it may be in the brat’s best interest for it to die here.”
I guess they did more than just wreck its village, then.
“Wait, you said you scolded it, but you didn’t kill it?”
“Indeed. I cannot kill it directly, by order of our lord. As such, I simply arranged for it to die of its own accord with a little help from this blizzard. The creature stubbornly clings to life, however.”
…If it dies from a blizzard that you caused, wouldn’t that still be killing it directly?
&nb
sp; I just don’t understand dragons’ logic.
And wait, why did Gülie tell her not to lay a hand on it anyway?
“Incidentally, were you not in a hurry?”
Something starts to click in my head, but Nia interrupts before I can quite grasp it.
“Oh yeah, that’s right.”
I have to find those four who got swept away by the avalanche.
The other three might be fine, but White’s weak right now.
If I don’t find her soon, it might be too late.
In fact, she might be dead already, for all I know…
Can a normal person survive getting caught in an avalanche?
Somehow, I have the feeling White wouldn’t let something like that kill her, but I don’t have any grounds for that.
Either way, I should really find her as soon as possible.
“Ael.”
I nod to the puppet taratect who’s carrying the carriage.
Ael understands what I mean right away, produces something from the carriage, and places it in front of Nia.
“What is this?”
“We’ll just call it payment for the information.”
Pushing the barrel full of alcohol toward Nia, I head in the direction of the avalanche’s end, for real this time.
“Many thanks.” Nia sounds pleased.
Waving her off without slowing down, I begin my search.
I’M IN A BIND
Mr. Oni comes charging at us with a roar.
It’s just the baby bloodsucker, Mera, and me.
But I’m a normie now, so I don’t even count as a fighter.
I guess the baby bloodsucker is probably the strongest of the three of us, but even she isn’t as strong as Sael and the other puppet spiders.
And since Mr. Oni was an even match for Sael, I doubt our little vampire will be able to take him on.
So what am I supposed to do now?
That’s obvious. Ruuuuun!
I turn away from the charging oni and flee for my life.
Vampy did a little Healing Magic on me earlier, so while I’m not at 100 percent, I can at least manage to run.
For as long as my shitty stamina holds out anyway!
But it’s better than doing nothing!
It’s not like I’m running away because I’m only thinking of myself, okay?
To put it bluntly, I’m nothing more than a burden in battle right now.
Aside from my total lack of strength, my defense is disturbingly low, too, so just getting caught in the middle of a battle could get me killed.
So the bloodsucker duo won’t be able to fight to their fullest potential if they have to worry about me being nearby.
Look, if I would be any use at all, I’d be fighting right there with them!
But this is the reality: I’m not just useless, I’d actually make things harder for them.
It’s in everyone’s best interest if I hightail it out of there so I won’t get in the baby bloodsucker’s and Mera’s way.
So no, I’m not just running to save my own hide.
I’ve run out of options! Get it?
Behind me, I hear a loud, roaring boom.
I guess the battle has begun.
And it’s waaay too close to me, too!
I can actually feel the air crackling from close behind me.
Like, real close.
Yeah, I guess with my pathetic physique, even a full-speed dash doesn’t amount to much.
Besides, we’re talking about a beast whose stats probably rank in the ten thousands who moves too fast to follow with the naked eye.
It was stupid of me to think I could get away in the first place.
I can hear all kinds of ridiculous battle noises right behind me, like POW! and KABOOM!
Time out, time out!
Can’t you at least wait until I get a safe distance away, please?!
I’m kinda super-serious right now!
But then my wish gets granted, kinda: The shock wave from one of the attacks impacts my body, sending me rolling far away.
Phew. Guess I’m just blessed with good luck as a reward for being so good all the time!
Never mind the fact that I looked really silly in the process or that if I’d rolled any farther, I would’ve fallen right into a seemingly bottomless crevasse.
Yikes, that was close!
I stand up and edge away slooowly, taking care not to fall in.
If I panic and try to run away, you just know the ice’ll crack beneath my feet and I’ll fall in anyway.
As it stands, I’m already hearing some unsettling cracking noises, so I have to be really careful with how I take my distance here.
Finally, I make it far enough away from the crevasse and check that I’m not too close to the battle. I’m safe for now.
A battle like that could easily shift a mile in any direction, so this distance can help me only so much, but it’s better than nothing.
Ideally, I should keep moving to get even farther away, but…sorry, I’m kinda pooped already.
I’m wheezing like crazy, and my shoulders are heaving.
Nope. I can’t move anymore.
Not to mention, the air is so cold that it hurts to breathe.
You’d think running at full speed would’ve warmed me up, but it only made me colder.
Right. Mr. Oni isn’t the only pressing concern here.
This freezing cold is just as bad.
If I stay out in this cold much longer, I’ll probably turn into an ice sculpture before you know it.
I’ve gotta do something, and fast.
But the best way to deal with Mr. Oni is to wait for Sael to make her way back.
Even together, I don’t think the bloodsucker duo can beat this oni, so it’s best if they just try to buy time.
We have to hurry or I’ll freeze to death, but we have to buy time to defeat Mr. Oni. Talk about a dilemma.
Hey, why is Mr. Oni attacking us anyway?
“GRAAAAAH!”
Oh right. As far as I can tell, he’s lost his damn mind.
It kinda seems like he’s just attacking anything in sight at this point.
I mean, when he first attacked us, we were hidden inside an igloo, so it’s not like he even knew who we were before he came after us.
I guess he must’ve seen the signal Mera sent up, figured someone was there, and just came over to attack for no other reason?
Maybe it’s best to assume that he’s nothing more than a beast in humanoid form at this point. Although even a beast might be better at choosing its battles.
Hrmmm.
Something about Mr. Oni’s current condition kinda rings a bell.
He’s lost his mind.
But he has stats high enough to compete with Sael.
Is this a Wrath skill?
The Wrath line of skills, like Anger and Rage, raises your stats. And unlike Magic and Mental Warfare, it doesn’t even cost SP or MP.
Sounds great, right? But there’s a major catch.
Like they say, nothing in this world is free. Wrath doesn’t seem to cost anything, but there’s actually a very high price.
The loss of your sanity.
When you activate a Wrath skill, it makes you frothing mad, forcing you to go off the rails.
Then you give in to the anger and go on a rampage, but the scariest part is that if you don’t turn the skill off with your own will, you’ll just keep rampaging forever.
And the longer you leave the skill active, the more the anger eats away at your mind.
Lose yourself to the rage, and you’ll eventually lose the self-awareness to turn off the skill entirely.
In the end, you’ll become a berserker, indiscriminately attacking everyone and everything.
It lines up perfectly with Mr. Oni’s current state.
This is just an educated guess, but I’d bet money that I’m right.
Ahhh, if only I could use Appraisal, I could prove that my theory is correct!
/> Oh, Vampy learned Appraisal, come to think of it.
I’m the one who suggested it to her.
But I don’t have time to tell her that now.
And I definitely don’t wanna stick my nose into that crazy face-off.
“Oof!”
Just then, the baby bloodsucker lets out a cute little cry as she gets blown away and crashes right into me!
Of course, I can’t catch her in place, so the impact just sends us both rolling along the ground.
Ow.
I think I’m gonna cry.
“Hff! Hff!”
Vampy wheezes, quickly jumping away from me and standing up.
Her body’s covered in cuts and scrapes, but the wounds are closing up even as I look at them.
Now, that’s some speedy self-healing there, missy.
Don’t suppose you could spare a little healing for the person you just crashed into and injured?
Oh, you don’t have time?
Right, since Vampy got blown over here, that means Mera is holding the front lines by himself.
His sword is broken in half, so he’s fending off Mr. Oni’s barrage of attacks with the handle and tiny stump of a blade.
Obviously, that’s not enough to block all of the oni’s attacks, since he has two not-broken katanas, so Mera’s slowly getting more and more wounded.
And Vampy’s in an even worse situation. She doesn’t have any weapons at all.
She’s still just a child, so her body’s too small to hold weapons in the first place.
And it doesn’t help that her favorite kind of weapon is a big ol’ broadsword.
It’s way too hard to lug something like that around all the time, so her broadsword is usually in the carriage.
And we don’t have the carriage right now, which means she doesn’t have her sword, either.
It looks like she used magic to make herself an ice sword on the spot, but a single attack from Mr. Oni shatters it.
She’s pretty much fighting with her bare hands.
It’s crazy to take on an armed opponent like that, magic or no.
But after catching her breath for just a second, she’s already trying to charge back into the fight.
I grab the hem of her clothes to stop her. Since I’m still on the ground, that means her pants.
“What?!” she snaps angrily. “I’m busy!”
Yeah, I guess I can’t blame her for getting mad when I’m literally holding her back.
But I need her to listen to me for a second.
