Chapter 10. Arh? Pretty sure the first strike wins in a brawl.
Come morning, and as expected, Gusu-oyake still hasn’t woken up. You have no intention of waking up on your own. Don’t blame me for what comes next.
Me and the chibi use leaf sap to draw a kabuki pattern on her face.
Such a shame.
Gusu-oyake says, “Uhehehe, this is noo good. I cannot contract with soo many spirit-san. Please make a line and come to me in order.”
She’s still half asleep. Whatever, I guess I can just make some grub as she rouses herself.
“Hey, Gusu-oyake, wake up. Breakfast.”
I shake her shoulder, but nada. Yare yare[1], being gentle is pretty tough.
“Gusu-oyake, get up or you’re gonna oversleep again. You’re drooling all over the place.”
“I am not drooling!”
She’s awake. She woke up like a spitfire. It was actually a bit scary…
“…Ahre, ah, good morning.”
“Ye- yeah, morning.”
She greets me with a refined smile, but her face is just like a kabuki actor’s. That contrast gets me to accidently snigger.
Gusu-oyake says, “Why are you turning away? There is no need to worry for I refrain from meeting your eyes!”[2]
“Fo- for now, how about washing your face before eating? Kus, kus, kus.”
“?? I suppose I should. I shall go wash my face. Please excuse me for a bit.”
Score, get a good look of your face.
— — Tens of seconds later, needless to say, Gusu-oyake’s shriek echoes throughout the forest.
“You are terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible.”
Gusu-oyake is wailing again even though all I did was give her a bit of makeup.
I say, “Well, that’s one way of looking at it. Are you that bothered?”
“Is that something the person who did it should say!?”
Gusu-oyake has become Guchi-oyake. How seriously annoying.
I say, “Anyhow, we can consider you goal of contracting with a spirit done, right? What comes next?”
“Are you trying to change the topic? I absolutely will not forget this! …Well, I shall leave that there for now. I plan on returning to the royal capital.”
“Vomit?[3] You not feeling well? You might feel better if you lie down.”
“That was not what I meant! The royal capital! Of the kingdom!”
Royal capital? The royal capital… Eh?
I say, “The royal capital? Ha? That place with the castle?”
“Very much so. That place is the royal capital after all.”
Sweet, I’m getting to see something like a castle? I can’t wait. I probably won’t be able to go in for a tour though…
“Sa- say, you mind if I go to the royal capital too?”
“Ah, that would be great. Here I was worrying over how to invite you.”
“Invite? Do I need a reason to come along?”
“This place, for all intents, is the heart of the continent. As I am unaware to Zero-san’s plans from hereafter, I believed this to be a good point to discuss our future plans. Although if you do accompany me to the royal capital, I will fully be able to express my gratitude.”
Gusu-oyake has been thinking about a lot of things too. I’m a bit touched.
“Ah, although, you ain’t gotta thank me. It’s was no big deal and besides, your gratitude sounds more scary than anything else.”
“Scary!? What do you mean by scary?!? Zero-san, are not your eyes what are scary?!”
“Argh!?”
“Please don’t look this way!”
Che, you saying you got used to these exchanges or something? Has this become just a game or something?
Still, the royal capital…?
“Oh yeah. Yo, chibi, mind if we do something like go to the royal capital? If not, I’m totally cool with staying in the forest.”
They’re already packing. Dang, they’re more excited than me.
Gusu-oyake says, “How did the spirits respond? If they are against it, we must not force them…”
“No, they look pretty excited. Actually, they already finished packing.”
“Ehh!? Muuuuuuu, I want to see! Even though I am unable to see the spirits, that is too sneaky.”
“Eh? You can’t see them? Don’t you have a contract?”
“Only contracted spirits can be seen. Even if someone has a contract, said person will not be able to see another’s contracted spirits unless allowed.”
Hee— Sounds complicated. Well, whatever, don’t care.
I say, “So, we’re off to the royal capital? What should we do now?”
“Allow me to explain, I believe we should head to town and search out a stagecoach.”
“Like a horse drawn wagon? Never ridden one of those before. Sounds fun.”
“Eh? You’ve never ridden on a wagon? Zero-san, how did you travel in your world?”
“I’ll explain on the way to town. Alright, let’s go!”
“Wa- wait, please!!”
We go to the highway we took to get here and follow it back to town. We talk about a ton of stuff along the way. Well, it’s mostly just me talking about myself. Gusu-oyake seems pretty interested in things like cars and electrical appliances.
That’s when I notice something move in the corner of my eye.
Gusu-oyake says, “I see. That topic worried me, but Zero-san, a spirit’s body…[4]”
“Come here, Gusu-oyake.”
I pull her into the shadow of a tree. I’m positive they’re those guys from…
“No! You beast! I knew you would try something like this! I was a fool to believe in you! I— don’t take me for an easy woman!”
“Shut up! Turn around and look over there!”
“Eh! Is something there?”
Seriously, the heck goes on in her stupid brain? Can’t you be more alert? How did I notice, but someone from this world failed? She’s just like an ojou-sama.
Well, the tree’s shadow should hide us just fine.
Gusu-oyake says, “Those, could they be the goblins from yesterday?”
“Did you say goblins? How annoying, there’s three of them.”
Che, dealing with them is too annoying. If anything, we should just avoid them. Ain’t look like we can though…
Gusu-oyake says, “Fuu fuu fu, please leave this to me! Allow me to show you just how contracting with a spirit has affect my mana… Zero-san!?”
“Stay down.”
I ignore Gusu-oyake and rush the goblins before they can notice us. They hear me before I can reach them.
Not good. Oh shit, is that a bow?
They look at me and laugh.
“Oraa!!!!”
I don’t hesitate and hurl my pipe…
They probably never thought I’d let go of my weapon.
They’re unable to do anything about it. The pipe whirls around and smacks all three of them in their faces.
Haa, lining up side by side. Amateurs. I’m just about there.
“Guu, gugii.”
I’m there in a flash, “Sshaa!!” One goblin is energetic enough to stand up, so I drop kick him. Ooh, he’s flying off like a rubber ball.
Now, for those two. The remaining goblins are squatted down, holding their faces.
I pick up my pipe and… beat them!
“Ora ora ora ora! Tiime to die!!”
““Gugii gugyaa gugiiiiiiiiiiiii!!””
“Awawawawawawawawa.”
Hm? I get the feeling I heard Gusu-oyake’s voice during the middle of all that… Well, back to beating the shit out of them!!
There, after getting wailed on for a couple rounds, the two goblins stop moving. They won’t dare stand against me again after this.
I say, “Fuu, I worked up a good sweat.”
“Wo- working up a good sweat isn’t the problem!? Why did you charge ahead for again?!?”
“Aah? Whoever strikes first in a brawl wins.”
“Stilllllllllllllll!”
Che, only amateurs instantly scream out like that. She’ll never win at this rate.
That’s when the three goblins are engulfed by light.
I say, “Oh? Woah!? Hey, Gusu-oyake, what’s going on!?”
“Eh? They are merely vanishing.”
“Vanishing!? Did they die!?”
“Etto, for now, please watch.”
Hey, they’re vanishing! Guh, that, what!? And Gusu-oyake isn’t even phased! Uwah, they’re seriously breaking into particles of light and vanishing. What’s going on?
Gusu-oyake says, “Just like this, monsters vanish after being defeated and dealt a certain amount of damage. Afterwards, items like gold will appear.”
“Hey, hey, what are saying without any hesitation? Weren’t you scared?”
“I was terrified of you beating up those monsters, Zero-san!?”
No way, I was wrong about Gusu-oyake being an amateur. Her calmness as she watched them disappear, this girl’s a certified hitman. I better keep my distance from now on.
I say, “Hm? Those guys picked something up? Gold? Close, but it’s not? A gem?”
“Eh? A goblin’s gem… Is that not a magic stone!? That is extremely valuable!?”
“Ehh, really? Then, you can have it.”
“Ehhhhhhhhhhhh!?”
What’s with this person? Crying out for each and everything thing.
Gusu-oyake say, “Did I not just mention this is valuable!? This is extremely valuable, even worth a fortune!?”
“Yeah, so like I say, it’s yours. You’ve helped me out with a ton, like with food and other stuff. With this, I can put all that behind me.”
“No, that amount of money is not…”
“It’s fine already.”
“I, no, Zero-san, anything more would be lost to you… Haa, then for now, I will hold on to this.”
“Great.”
Not getting something is just dandy. I have other stuff to think about. And if I run into trouble for not having any money, then I can return to the forest and live with the chibi.
Huh? Do the chibi think the same?
I look at the chibi and they nod.
Hehee, no surprise, they get it… Wait? Are these guys able to read my heart?
I look towards them one more time. This time they are tilting their heads.
Was it my imagination?
Gusu-oyake says, “We shall be arriving at town shortly. If we go now, we will be in time to catch a stagecoach. Shall we do so?”
“Really? Then let’s do it.”
We head into town. Our timing is great and we’re able to get on a stagecoach.
So, this is a horse drawn carriage… Our destination is the royal capital. My tension is absolutely going to spike once the castle comes into view!
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