Leave a comment

On the day we were scheduled to help Perla and her party, I ended up coming to the guild during the time when there’s a lot of people, a habit I got from working together with Brass.

『Even with the previous party, I didn’t particularly think that there’s a need to come early.』
『During that time, I did it so that Brass wouldn’t complain about us arriving late. If we were even slightly late, he might have used that as a reason to gripe the whole day after all.』
『Really?』
『Really.』

As we walked and chatted, we reached the entrance of the guild. Upon entering, I was hit with a wave of heat, particularly emanating from the direction of the bulletin board. So, I quickly moved to the opposite side to escape the heat. As I waited for the others to arrive, 「Umm.」 someone called out to me. When I turned to look, I saw that everyone who would be in my party for the day had already arrived.

「You’re all here quite early today.」
「Rather than early, this is the usual gathering time.」
「Brass comes in much later, you see.」
「Ahh…」

Ilda, who replied to my words, seemed to remember something and showed a seemingly convinced but exasperated look. Ilda and Terencio were really formal at first but after telling them that they don’t need to worry about the way they talk, especially since it could make it harder to communicate, both of them became much more casual. As for Perla, she said that she’s fine as is, hence she’s keeping the formal speech.

While there were a lot of people in front of the bulletin board, we just ignored them and occupied a table in the lounging area to discuss for a bit.

「Today, we will be accepting a D-class monster subjugation request, but which monster do you think would be best for this?」
「I guess the giant spider?」
「True. Considering that any monster we choose is still higher ranked, the slow-moving solitary giant spider is best choice, right?」
「I agree with that.」
「If it was only the three of you, then that would indeed be the correct choice. The cautiousness you all have is very important.
However, today we will be hunting orcs.」

Hearing my statement, everyone tilted their heads in confusion. Well, they’re probably confused about us not going for the giant spiders after I just told them that it’s a great choice. Since cautiousness is important, it’s only normal that they take the safest route even though they have a D-rank hunter with them. Still, this is something I just can’t concede.

「Why?」
「It’s because I hate spiders.」
「You hate…」
「It’s not that I hate them to the point that I can’t defeat them, I hate them so much that I instantly annihilate them when I see any. To the point that not a trace of their body would remain. It would be lucky if any magic stones are left behind. So, with that considered, this would undoubtedly go against today’s objective. And since we won’t be able to harvest the evidence parts, the request would not be considered a success.」

It wouldn’t serve as a good battle training for them, much less an opportunity to practice dismantling monsters. I will absolutely never accept any spider-related requests of my own free will. If I’m ever asked to do so, I’d definitely have the guild find some other way to prove that I subjugated them other than the parts and magic stones. If by any chance we encounter a spider that can withstand Ciel’s attacks, we’d probably burn the whole place to the ground.

「With that said, we will be subjugating orcs.」
「G-got it. Still, will there be any orc subjugation requests left for us?」
「I’m relying on the Hunter’s Guild for that matter, so we’ll manage somehow. This is a request from the guild after all, so if they don’t accommodate for this much, I won’t accept it.」

Terencio doesn’t seem to be that convinced but even so, there’s nothing I can do about it.

「By the way, have you decided on what to do with your fighting style?」
「Yes, Ms. Cielmer. We’re planning on trying what you told me. If it doesn’t go well, we’ll go back to our old fighting style.」
「Then in that case, let’s work today with that in mind.」

As we continued our light chat, the reception desk became available, and I went to accept a request. Usually, I’m assisted by Celia, but for Ciel’s benefit, I decided to try going to a different receptionist. However, it may have been a mistake on my part, as Celia always processes my requests smoothly, and I can’t thank her enough for her help.

After completing our tasks at the reception desk, we left the town through the gate located near the Hunter’s Guild. As we passed through the gate, I noticed that Terencio and the rest of the group appeared to be more cautious and tense. It seems they are following the fundamental rule of staying alert outside the safety of the town’s gates.

That in itself isn’t a bad thing, so I said nothing about it and entered the forest. It’s a bit lonesome that they’re only keeping the conversation to the minimum, but since it’s not like we came here to have a picnic, they likely intend to avoid unnecessary chatter until we guarantee our safety.

Though, since I know where the monsters are, they don’t really need to be this cautious. As we got deep enough to encounter D-class monsters, I stopped walking for a bit.

「From this point on, D-class monsters will start to appear. With that in mind, let’s have a short break for now. I see that you’ve been on your toes up until now, you should be feeling tired, right?」
「But, we’re in the middle of the forest, you know?」
「There aren’t any monsters around, so don’t worry about it.」

After hearing my words, the three of them looked each other in the eyes, nodded to each other, and immediately relaxed their bodies. It seems like they believed me.

「Since we have the time now, we’ll be discussing what to do during combat, alright? You will be fighting an orc. If other monsters come for us, I’ll take care of them so please fall back when that happens. If you stay in front, to be blunt, you’ll just get in my way.」

Even after I said something that would’ve likely angered Brass, they simply nodded to my words without any signs of being offended.

「In case more orcs come along, I’ll decrease their numbers until only one of them is left, so Terencio, please go in front while Ilda attacks from the backline. During this time, don’t worry about the backline and only prioritize your safety, alright?」
「What should I do?」
「Perla, simply observe us for now. In exchange, I’ll be disrupting the orc.」
「Understood.」

They seem somewhat nervous but will they do alright? In case anything happens, I’ll ask Ciel to stay prepared.

◇

While we were having what felt like a 10-minute break, I detected what seemed to be the presence of monsters. There were three of them. Speaking of orcs for a moment, they are pig-faced, bipedal monsters armed with weapons. The weapons they have are different depending on the individual and they’re considerably tougher than goblins and kobolds, so they’re pretty resilient against attacks. They generally act in groups of two or three, so it’s highly probable that what I detected are orcs.

「Now then, let’s move.」

After saying that, we approached the three presences that I felt. Although there were other presences around us, they were too far away to notice us, so we ignored them. By chance, the three presences were also moving towards us, so we should meet up with them soon.

「We will encounter monsters any moment now, so please stand back.」

As I issued instructions and waited for the monsters to appear, they suddenly increased their speed. They must have noticed us, but they seemed faster than Ciel in her normal state. Ilda, with her light gear, might outrun them, but it would be tough for Terencio with his heavy equipment, and Perla, not being the physical type.

As the monsters came into view, I saw three orcs lowering their bodies as they charged at us. They were wearing what appeared to be brown leather armor. I had already switched with Ciel, and as soon as they entered our sight, two of them were swiftly eliminated with whirlwind blades. The remaining orc stopped in its tracks and began observing us. If our target were animals or humans, they might have run away by now, but with monsters, it was easier in a way.

「Now then, please proceed as planned.」
「Y-yeah. Ilda, let’s go.」
「Roger!」

As Terencio charged towards the remaining orc, the monster stopped observing and prepared its spear. It was unclear what weapons the two defeated orcs had, but they may have had a sword and a spear like the remaining one. Terencio moved with agility, swinging his sword down towards the orc. However, the monster was able to deflect the attack with its armor and counter with a thrust of its spear. Fortunately, Terencio’s armor protected him from the attack, but he lost his balance and fell onto his back.

The orc prepared to finish off Terencio, but before it could attack again, Ilda quickly shot an arrow to keep the monster at bay.

『Use only simple water spells, was it?』
『And please try to keep the magic power consumption as little as possible.』
『That’s a quite difficult request.』
『Should we switch? It’s not really combat sorcery, so I should be able to handle it as well.』
『Even Ain isn’t allowed to take my role away, you know?』

Terencio rose to his feet and began parrying the orc’s spear while carefully targeting unprotected areas with his sword. Despite his efforts, he was unable to deal any significant damage. Ilda was also shooting arrows at the orc, but her attacks were having little effect. Frustrated with Ilda’s constant barrage, the orc turned its attention to her.

Just as the orc was about to charge towards Ilda, Ciel’s voice echoed through the air, uttering the incantation, 「Wotro (Water), Jilara (gather) Grahoul (to the ground).」

The orc was quickly immobilized as the ground beneath its feet transformed into mud, causing it to trip and fall. Terencio was momentarily taken aback, but quickly resumed his attack and managed to deal a heavy blow to the monster. However, the orc became even more enraged and charged towards Terencio in a fit of fury. Just as it was about to strike, a large ball of water was hurled towards its eye.

As the water hit the orc’s eye, it shook its head vigorously to rid itself of the liquid, but the party seized this opportunity to resume their attack. After observing their success in disrupting the monster’s movements, we decided to focus on preventing the orc’s lethal attacks while leaving the fighting mostly to them. From their performance, it seems like they are close to promoting to D-rank. While Ciel’s disruption abilities are helpful, the two seem to have a solid foundation in combat. If they can increase their overall firepower, they should be able to handle even multiple enemies with ease.

While I was deep in my thoughts, the final blow was struck. As the orc blocked Terencio’s slash with its spear, Terencio’s sword instead broke the spear in half and landed a strike on the monster’s body.

「We did it… We did it!」

After winning a fierce battle, Terencio shouted out loud, seemingly unable to hide his excitement. It’s not quite a good thing to do in this situation, but he probably just couldn’t help himself from doing so. More importantly, I’m curious about his final blow.

『In that last slash, magic power was flowing into his sword, right?』
『As I thought, it was his Job’s power.』
『From what I see, it seems like he was only able to do it just now. That’s quite a rare thing to see, is it?』
『I guess it is.』

「Good work. Perla, did that help?」

Since there’s no point in staying silent, I said so and turned my eyes towards Perla, who was staring at me while blinking in wide-eyed surprise. No sooner, she replied 「Yes!」 with a delighted expression.

「If it’s just that, then I should be able to do it too.」
「While that might be the case, it’s not really something you can master immediately, so please don’t be in a hurry and do your best.」
「Of course!」

Thus, their D-rank trial run has now ended. After this, we encountered a spider and Ciel immediately turned everything but its magic stone into dust. It felt like the others were taken back by that, but I decided not to think about it too much.

Hiya~! Party adventure time for our princesses today it seems! New interactions with new characters and Ain once again showing her age, lol. Which isn’t much of a problem.

First of all, just a small notice. Monsters are now ranked in ‘class’ rather than rank. Hunters are D-rank while monsters of the same rank are D-‘class’. Just a small change, since rank and class are from the same kanji and the author just used ‘Class’ for the orcs in this chapter. The hunter ranks are called by the kanji for rank *and* the English word ‘rank’ so I translated the Japanese word for rank/class as Rank for all of them. Until the author used Class, which is now!

Anyway, today’s chapter was once again more tutor Ain and the Brass victims association’s orc hunting adventure. It was a nice tidbit that Ain and Ciel just went early out of habit, but the others were already there. Also the little traces of Brass’ legacy… I was just kidding about that, but it’s just impressionable of him, lol. Ilda just having an exasperated sigh after having a flashback from what Ain said, lol. Also, it’s pretty nice how the party has acquired what’s basically the only thing Brass has contributed to them, extra firepower. While I can’t be sure how consistently Terencio can use his new power compared to the thoughtless yet strong Brass, just the part that they can properly plan is already a big thing, now they have a lethal finisher to make things easier.

Ain was pretty funny today too. Spiders. Lol. I imagine that Ain and Ciel instantly sync and just fuse together every time they encounter a spider. Unanimously burned to ashes. And since Ain was talking in the last part, they actually switched instantly just to burn it to the ground. Definitely on sync. Also, you can just imagine how serious Ain was about hating spiders, like Terencio and the others was probably like, “Uhhhhhhhh”. Also, just a few AinCiel moments today, but definitely still fluffy as usual. Ciel just asking Ain “It’s a rare thing right?” and Ain just “I think?”, lol.

Also, I didn’t realise how small Ciel is compared to Perla. I mean, Ain needed to look up to Perla… Smol…

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay clean, stay safe, and have a nice day~!