The bustle of people talking drowned out any other sound. Since
it was late evening, everyone was outside their homes and the
market stalls made themselves heard with every call for attention they made.
However, neither Ysera nor I were paying attention to that. Bibian had said she would
meet us at the city exit in two hours, but even after three
full hours, there was no sign of her. For my part, it wasn't a big
deal; I knew Bibian had a habit of being late. On the other hand,
Ysera seemed more concerned.
"... Do you think she changed her mind?"
I asked, repeatedly looking at the main street and the exit.
"I don't think so. Maybe she had problems with her weapon."
"What kind of problems could she have?"
Ysera's question, though innocent, brought back a flood of
not-so-pleasant memories.
I saw Bibian get into fights with blacksmiths several times when he discovered
some kind of scratch on his hammer. Given that he spends a lot of
money on it, it would be normal for them to treat it with care, but his 'obsession'
with care is incredibly intense. I remember several times when she refused
to use her hammer against low-ranking creatures because 'it deserves better than
mere vermin'. This earned her dozens of injuries, just in the time
I've known her.
As I lost myself in memories of Bibian's attitudes, she made her presence known
from afar.
"Hey, I'm here!"
She shouted from afar, carrying her shiny weapon on her shoulder.
"C-Conan, am I seeing things, or is her hammer bigger than
she is...?"
Ysera asked, looking at Bibian in surprise.
"No, you're seeing correctly."
That's right, Bibian's weapon was bigger than her. This is usually normal,
seeing blunt weapons larger than the user is common, but
Bibian's case was more exaggerated. Standing next to me, she only reaches my
chest, and even though I'm tall, this woman is taller than most of her race. If we
compare her to her weapon, it must be twice as tall as Bibian.
"You took your time. Are you ready?"
I asked her, looking at the bag hanging from her shoulder. It looked a little full,
so it seems she has equipped herself as much as possible.
"Of course. I had to buy several types of insect repellents."
...Speaking of which, I didn't buy any... Oh well, never mind, I'll ask her for some.
"If you're ready, we can go. If we leave now, we'll arrive tomorrow morning."
"If you're ready, we can go. If we leave now, we'll arrive
tomorrow morning."
At Ysera's words, we nodded in unison before following her. The exposed dungeon where the petal openers are located is not that far away.
<<>>
"This is a good place to camp, come on in."
We had been walking for a few hours, so as soon as the sunlight began to fade,
we decided to find a place to sleep. Fortunately, Bibian saw
a small cave in the distance where we could spend the night.
"All right, good night!"
Ysera said, lying down in her sleeping bag and turning her back on us.
"I'll put on some repellent. It won't scare away the high-ranking creatures,
but it will scare away the average insects."
Since Bibian had offered to do this, I decided to lie down in my own sleeping bag and sleep as much as possible. The fight against the bladeflies would be difficult,
so it would be best to be well rested.
That was my thought, but after a few minutes, certain parts of
Ysera's body began to give off small intermittent flashes. Just like
fireflies.
"......."
Even though I tried to ignore it, the small space between us and the
small size of the cave caused the light itself to bounce around and cover us.
"... I think I have an idea why everyone looked at them like
they were the plague,"
Bibian muttered, before letting out a sigh and standing up. She crouched down and
rummaged through the bag she had been carrying earlier. A few moments later, she pulled out a
large blanket, which she threw over Ysera. As disrespectful as it seemed, it was
an excellent solution for dealing with her light.
"It doesn't seem that difficult to deal with, maybe this wasn't the reason
they were avoiding us."
Once the main annoyance was taken care of, I was able to lie down once more.
But both Bibian and I stood up in an instant, as we heard
several footsteps from outside the cave.
"...This was the main reason."
Right in front of us, there were several Stalkers. These creatures looked like
wolves, but they were two feet tall, without a trace of fur, and had several extremely
sensitive eyes all over their bodies. These eyes made them extremely sensitive
to light, and thanks to the palms of their feet, they could sense the electricity around them,
including that of other living beings. These characteristics made them
silently deadly creatures.
Of course, all that was true if they managed to attack from behind. If they showed themselves
as brazenly as they were now, they were nothing more than ants.
I wasted no time in grabbing my axes and throwing one of them horizontally,
cutting a few of them in half. Following my move, Bibian shot forward,
landing a powerful punch to the face of one of these creatures, sending it
flying. They weren't far behind and surrounded Bibian, before revealing their
main weapon. A large mouth began to open, covering a large part of
their torso.
All the Stalkers surrounding Bibian lunged at her,
determined to sink their teeth into her. But most of them were pushed aside by
a strong gust of wind that appeared behind me. Leaving the way
clear for Bibian.
Turning around, I saw Ysera standing there, before drawing some symbols in the
air and attaching them to Bibian's body.
"Wow, you know strengthening magic!"
She said, before smiling at the Stalkers and starting to hunt them down one by
one.
After a few minutes, the entire group, which we counted as 50, had been
exterminated at our hands.
However, this also left a problem, and one that had the greatest potential to
cause trouble.
"I'm so sorry I omitted this information!"
Ysera now remained kneeling on the ground, her forehead pressed against it.
Although it's true that this caused us some minor problems, it could have
turned out much worse. Fortunately, we remained awake against
our will and were able to save ourselves by the skin of our teeth.
"We could have been seriously injured. An apology doesn't solve this."
The one who said this was Bibian. She didn't look angry or anything like that, but her
words made sense.
"I'm sorry! I've had this problem since I was born, and I couldn't
solve it. Even though I limited myself to joint missions, my money was
running out."
Now that I think about it, it's not time for fireflies to shine. I remember
reading a book that specified that they shone at certain times. This is not
one of those times.
"Do you always glow, Ysera?"
"Y-yes... It's a problem I've always had."
That explains it...
"If that's true, at least create a wall at the entrance. That
will prevent attracting the attention of other creatures."
"B-but I have no affinity for earth magic... I'll end up
exhausted..."
"Do it."
With no way to refuse, Ysera did as Bibian ordered. She said she had no
affinity for earth magic, but this was too much. It had taken her seven
minutes to build a thin wall that would prevent the light from escaping.
"How unfortunate..."
Bibian let her out, looking at Ysera with pure pity. This made her blush
with embarrassment, so as soon as she finished, she returned to her bag and lay down.
"Go to sleep already, if we make any more noise we'll attract other
things,"
I said, before doing the same as Ysera and lying down in my own bag.