by Ennki Hakari
***
Leibnizche, in the Holy East Revlon Empire, was sandwiched between the Siana Mountains to the west, which formed the border with the Great West Revlon Empire, and the steep, volcanic Karyu Mountains to the east.
The land between these two natural barriers mostly consisted of gentle, rolling hills. Thanks to its location in the southern part of the Holy East Revlon Empire, Leibnizche enjoyed a relatively warm climate—at least, warmer than the capital—and was dotted with rich, fertile farmland.
Viscount Drassos du Barysimon, the lord of Leibnizche, was sitting in front of a large fighting arena. The center of the arena was an empty platform surrounded by tall stone walls with massive iron gates built into them. Raised seating along the outer wall gave spectators a view of this platform.
A hulking, four-legged monster sat at the center of the platform, growling low. Five necks, moving about like snakes, protruded from its turquoise, scale-covered body. The beast was at least ten meters tall; a ferocious creature, said to be able to level an entire town all on its own.
Men and women watched the monster from the safety of their seats. Among them sat a large man with a crude grin plastered to his face as he sipped from the glass of alcohol in his hand. He wore his black hair in a rather distinctive, braided style, and sported a scraggly, unshaven beard. Swirling tattoos covered his bare chest and body.
Two scantily clad women were curled up with him, one under each of his massive arms, tracing their pale fingers along his muscular chest. One of them looked up and spoke in a lilting voice.
“Oh, Fumba. Is that terrible monster really going to stay calm?”
The man, Fumba, flexed his upper arms and puffed out his chest. He smiled confidently and gestured toward the platform.
“Of course! That hydra is completely loyal to me. I’d never let it do anything to hurt one of my sweet little ladies.” He let out a loud belly laugh and poured the rest of the alcohol into his mouth.
The second woman promptly filled his glass again, putting her arm around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest.
“Are you saying you have the ability to command even a big monster like that?”
Fumba raised his eyebrows. “Do you doubt me? Well then. Let me show you something exceptionally impressive. Heheh.”
A sinister grin twitched across his lips as he jerked his chin. Just then, a small gate leading into the arena opened and two soldiers dragged out a man bound in chains.
“Stop, please! I beg you!”
The man pleaded with the soldiers to no avail. They continued dragging him toward the hydra. The creature’s massive body rocked as it stood, its five heads hissing, split tongues darting in and out of their mouths.
The two women tensed as the man’s screams filled the arena.
Fumba, thoroughly enjoying himself, pulled the women into him and whispered.
“Watch closely.”
He kissed them each on the shoulder, then stood and stepped forward, calling out in a loud, booming voice:
“Halt!”
The hydra’s five snaking necks went taut immediately.
Taking their cue, the two soldiers dragged the chained man to a large ring attached to the platform next to the hydra and locked the man’s chain onto it, before beating a hasty retreat.
The man, now half-crazed with fear, screamed for help.
Fumba clapped his hands, the sound echoing throughout the entire arena.
“And…go!”
No sooner had the words left his lips that one of the hydra’s heads launched toward the man’s torso, its teeth sinking deep into flesh.
“Gyaaaaaaaugh!”
The man began frothing at the mouth, his gurgling scream cut short. His body began spasming as the hydra let out an immense roar. It then proceeded to swallow the man whole in a matter of seconds. Fumba grinned broadly, looking back and forth between his two companions who were desperately trying to maintain their smiles. One of them finally worked up the nerve to speak, her voice slightly shrill as she asked the exuberant Fumba a question.
“I, uh, whatever did that man do, Fumba?”
“I don’t know. He was probably a thief or something. As you can tell, that big, dumb beast down there is quite the eater, so we need to feed him a steady diet of criminals and slaves. You two better stay on the straight and narrow, or you might become a snack too. Gyahaha!”
Fumba guffawed as he pulled the women close again, sliding a hand under one of their skirts. Her face tensed immediately, and she choked back a scream.
“Come with me, and you’ll never be left wanting for liquor…or money.”
Fumba smiled lecherously as he slipped his hand down the front of the other woman’s shirt. She tensed as well but made no effort to stop him; not after what she’d just seen.
Emboldened, Fumba leaned over to kiss one of the women. However, he was interrupted by someone storming in unannounced from below.
“Master Fumba! What are you doing playing around when you still haven’t finished your assignment for the emperor? And how dare you bring such, such…debauchery into a sensitive place like this?!”
A vein bulged in the screaming man’s forehead. He had a narrow jawline and wore his reddish-brown hair neatly parted to one side, giving the strong impression that he was a stickler for details. What his clothes lacked in extravagance, he more than made up for in the way he wore them. He directed his burning gaze straight at Fumba, who still had his hands under the women’s clothing.
Fumba sighed dramatically. “Oh, Drassos. Listen old man, I just got back from my expedition to capture this monster all right? I’m sure Emperor Domitianus would want me to have a little fun.” He chuckled to himself as he spoke.
“You bastard!”
Drassos, now fully enraged, strode toward Fumba and attempted to grab him. Fumba let out a low whistle, something huge stirred in the shadows. Drassos froze.
A hulking wolf, about two meters tall, padded out from behind one of the pillars. Its body was entirely covered in white fur, and its tail gave off a faint, bluish glow. It had a shackle on one of its front legs, though the shackle wasn’t connected to any kind of chain.
The wolf stopped in front of Drassos and bared its fangs, a low growl emanating from deep wihthin its throat.
“Yeaugh!”
Drassos scrambled back, glaring at Fumba.
“No need to be so scared, old man. What do you think of my haunted wolf? He’s pretty smart. If it weren’t for my abilities, y’know, that employ ring wouldn’t be enough to hold him. But, as it is, he listens to my every command. Don’t worry. Once I’m refreshed, I’ll get back to the emperor all right? Quit being such a grump.”
Fumba grinned again. He snatched the bottle of liquor out of one of the women’s hands and took a swig from it.
“Oh, and you don’t need to worry about these two spilling secrets either. I’ve already trained them pretty good. If they say anything, they’ll be wolf food. Or hydra food. I haven’t decided yet. But you girls are too smart to let that happen, yeah?”
The two women nodded emphatically.
Drassos turned on his heel and stomped away, his footsteps echoing loudly down the hall.
The viscount stormed through the palace with a heavy, purposeful gait, his body shaking with anger. Servants hurried out of sight as he barreled past.
“That savage little… Dammit! Just because he has the emperor’s ear doesn’t mean he can just do whatever the hell he pleases in my palace!”
For the rest of that day, Viscount Drassos du Barysimon, ruler of Leibnizche, could be heard screaming throughout his castle, casting a dark cloud over all the retainers serving under him.
***
A light layer of clouds still covered the early morning sky when Ariane and I came across a town just a little way off the road.
The town was surrounded by a three-meter-wide moat filled with water from the nearby Xpitol River. A light breeze blew through the crops that ran along the
moat’s outer perimeter.
The town was Luvierte, the first town I’d visited after arriving in this world.
Not much time had passed since I’d last been here. It still felt fresh and familiar.
What had brought me back here? Well, we were off to the Revlon Empire, and Luvierte was the closest town I could teleport to using Transport Gate. However, from here, we’d need directions. I’d looked at a map of the northern continent back in Lalatoya, but it hadn’t shown much in the way of roads or towns, and none of the elves knew much about human routes.
As far as I could tell, all we had to do was head north and we’d hit the Holy East Revlon Empire. However, if we went straight north from Luvierte, we’d run into the volcanic Karyu Mountains. Given what had happened to us in Branbayna, I figured we needed to get a proper bearing first.
I pulled out the copper travel pass I’d received as a gift for saving Viscount Luvierte’s daughter and handed it to the gate guard before asking him how to get to the Revlon Empire. It was rather common in this world for most people to live their entire lives in the same town, so very few could give any sort of meaningful directions. Most only knew how to get to the next town over. The gate guard was no different.
We made our way inside to see if we could find a merchant or someone else who might know. We hadn’t gone far when a voice called out behind us.
“Arc?!”
I turned to see a familiar woman’s face staring intently at me with just a hint of surprise in her brown eyes. She looked to be in her twenties and was dressed in a servant’s uniform, her mussy red hair cut short at the nape of her neck. She was the very first person I’d spoken to when I’d arrived in this world.
“Ah, Miss Rita! Fancy meeting you here.”
Ariane eyed me inquisitively from beneath her hood.
“I met Rita here when I happened upon her being attacked by some bandits.”
Ariane’s eyes narrowed. “Are you always off rescuing someone?”
I averted my gaze. I’d always loved that old show, The Unfettered Shogun, ever since I was little. Maybe that’s where my desire to help people in trouble came from.
Someone behind Rita spoke up nervously. “R-Rita, who is this man?”
I turned to find a well-built young man looking suspiciously at me.
The man had soft blond hair and a pronounced nose. Judging by his figure, I would have assumed he was a noble, but the notched sword on his back said otherwise. Rita smiled gently as she introduced me to him.
“Oh, Giovanni! This is Arc, the knight who saved us from the bandits!”
The man, Giovanni apparently, snapped to attention and bowed deeply.
“Excuse my ignorance. I am Giovanni Borloo, a knight here in Luvierte. I am forever grateful for your kind efforts in protecting the viscount’s daughter and Miss Rita.”
I bowed in response.
“I am but a humble traveling mercenary. I simply happened upon the events after getting lost. Miss Rita here has already thanked me enough.”
Rita smiled. “Have your travels brought you back here to Luvierte, Arc?” She peered up at me, her eyes suddenly catching on something atop my head.
I felt a cottony tail swishing against the back of my helmet and realized what she was looking at.
“Ah, well, I’ve been traveling about here and there. This furball is my travel companion.”
“Kyikyiiiiii!” Ponta let out a cheerful cry.
By now, I’d become so accustomed to the fox atop my head that I frequently forgot it was there, or that it might draw attention from passersby.
Rita giggled. “Wow, it looks like something straight out of a painting.”
I assumed this was some sort of compliment.
“So, where have your travels taken you?”
“Hmm? Well, all around Rhoden. I stopped by Olav for one.”
“You went all the way to the capital? I’ve never been there.”
While Rita seemed to be enjoying the conversation, Giovanni’s face was a dark cloud.
“The capital is an incredibly lively place,” I said. “Perhaps you should go for a visit sometime, Miss Rita. With your boyfriend.”
The young knight blushed a deep red.
“It’s not like that at all, Arc. Giovanni here worries about me when I go out shopping alone. He offered to serve as my bodyguard. He’s one of the best swordsmen in town, though, so his talents are wasted on me.”
Though Rita had cheerfully laughed off my remark, Giovanni looked utterly dejected.
I rubbed my hand against my chin, trying to think of a way to change the conversation.
I suddenly remembered why we were here in the first place.
The woman in front of me was the chambermaid to Lauren, the viscount’s daughter. Next to her stood a knight of Luvierte. They were both almost certainly better informed than anyone else we might run into around town.
“Actually, we have some business in the East Revlon Empire. We came here to ask for directions.”
Rita frowned at this. “I know the way, but… Well, there have been many monster sightings along the border lately. The number of merchants coming through has dropped dramatically.”
Giovanni nodded. “She speaks the truth. It would be rather dangerous for you and your companion here to make the journey.”
Ariane and I exchanged glances.
“I have no concerns. Are you up for the journey, Arc?”
Ariane patted the Sword of the King of Lions hanging from her waist and gave a sly grin.
We were both quite powerful. Even if we came across a large group of monsters, we could always make a quick escape with Dimensional Step.
“I don’t think we’ll have any problems.”
Rita and Giovanni both frowned in response, but gave us directions to the empire nonetheless.
After a few more minutes of small talk, Rita told us where we could find an inn for the night. I told her we were in something of a hurry, so we instead made our way toward the town’s west gate.
After we’d traveled down the road away from Luvierte for a bit, the land slowly gave way to a sloping hill, which gave us a good view of our surroundings once we summited it. To our left, the Xpitol River snaked off to the southwest.
We made our way down the hill, and the road forked off in two directions: one continuing along the river; the other heading northwest. The latter path would take us to the border town of Grahd.
Once we passed through Grahd, we’d be in the Holy East Revlon Empire, though Rita didn’t know anything about the route beyond that. We’d need to ask around again for directions from Grahd to the next closest town in the empire.
The trip from Luvierte to Grahd normally took a day and a half by carriage, but using Dimensional Step, we were able to get there in less than an hour. We came across quite a few monsters in the process, but none of them tried to come near us. I could only imagine how deeply unsettling it would be for normal people—people not used to playing video games—to see so many monsters. But as we flashed past them, I almost felt like we were in some sort of drive-through safari park.
We didn’t run into any people or carriages along the way. Usually I had to be more careful about how I used my teleportation magic, since the roads were busy, but that wasn’t a problem here. We hardly had to walk at all.
When Grahd came into view, I was surprised at how small it was,smaller even than Luvierte. It was more like a large village than the bustling border town I’d expected. The town was surrounded by a thick stone wall, probably meant to fend off the constant stream of monsters.
The town was in the shape of a distorted oval, with fields spreading out from its wall. It looked like most of the towns I’d seen so far, except for the fact that the fields were completely empty. I thought perhaps I simply couldn’t see the people hidden among the thick crops, so I opted to walk into the village rather than using any teleportation magic.
“Waaaaaaugh!”
Ariane and I looked at
each other, and Ponta darted its head about at the sound.
A short distance away, among the crops, I caught sight of two young boys scrambling out of the fields. Behind them was a monster I hadn’t seen since Rata.
It looked like a wild boar covered in dark gray fur, with four large tusks sprouting from its lower jaw. A fang boar. However, this was much smaller than the two-meter-tall beast I’d dealt with in Rata, maybe half the height.
One of the boys was holding a simple wooden shield with a thin piece of metal riveted to the front in one hand and a small dagger in the other. He turned to face the fang boar. Looking closer, I could see red splotches along the monster’s body where it had been cut. It pawed the ground, glaring at the boy straight.
In their attempt to kill the fang boar, it looked like the children had managed to rile it up. Just one thrust from those tusks would be enough to snuff out their lives.
Ariane drew her sword and ran down the hill toward the children, her cloak billowing behind her. A large stone, summoned up by her spirit magic, flew through the air and crashed into the soft earth between the boys and the boar, sending a plume of dirt into the air.
The fang boar darted out of the way before turning its head in my direction and letting out a snarl. Deciding that I was its new target for some reason, the beast charged toward me, though its movements were anything but speedy.
By the time the snarling fang boar drew close, I’d already drawn my sword. I swung the Holy Thunder Sword of Caladbolg down, cleaving clean through its skull. The blade met little resistance and slammed straight into the ground, carving a deep gash into the earth.
The two young boys stared in amazement, their mouths gaping open as they sat in the dirt.
“Are you two hurt?”
I wiped my sword on the grass and returned it to my sheath. The boy with the dagger staggered to his feet. He had short, brown hair that stuck up in back.
“We’re f-fine! I was just about to give it the finishing blow, ya know!”
