Chapter 26: Tame and Release
“Fran! Are you doing well?”
“Oh, Dorado-san, what brings you here?”
When we came to the Adventurers Guild to sell our game, someone called out to Fran.
They seemed to be acquaintances, and Fran, looking happy, replied. They appeared to be Adventurers.
Fran, who is a head taller than me, looks like a child when surrounded by those men, and her frame seems to shrink by half.
“Dorado-san, let me introduce you. This is Shinya-san, who I teamed up with when I came to Zandra.”
“Shinya-san, this is Dorado-san, who took care of me in the village, and everyone from the Fang of Osius.”
“I’m Shinya. Fran and I have been getting along well since we registered as Adventurers.”
“Oh, is Fran useful?”
“Yes, having a magic user is enviable, isn’t it?”
“Have you improved your skills a bit too, Fran?”
“It’s been half a year since you left the village; you’re still a fledgling.”
“Eat more and get bigger, you hear?”
“Come back when you can handle large Beasts.”
“Yes! So, what brings all of you here?”
“Hmm, there have been sightings of a Brown Bear recently. We saw its tracks, and it’s a big one.”
“So we came to post a subjugation request.”
“Whoa, that’s too much for us to handle.”
“Shinya, is it alright?” Fran asked, lightly tapping her Magic Pouch.
“You want to show them your game?”
“Yeah, I want them to see my current strength.”
“Oh, did you hunt something big?”
“You, you have a Magic Pouch?”
“I’ll explain the details later, but it’s faster if you see for yourselves, so please come to the dismantling area.”
Fran guided them to the dismantling area and told the dismantler that there were 12 Howl Dogs.
“You two hunted 12 Howl Dogs by yourselves?”
“Yes, I got 9 and Shinya-san got 3. We’ll go to the training grounds later and I’ll show you my current skills.”
“It seems your Stone Arrow has improved.”
“It’s not just that, but I’ll show you later.”
Dorado carefully examined the Howl Dogs Fran laid out and discussed with his companions.
“They’re in good condition this time too. I’ve appraised them a bit higher for you.”
I received the handed-over slip and said my thanks.
Howl Dog, 16,000 Dahla x 12 = 192,000 Dahla.
When I showed the slip to Fran, she looked happy and said, “That’s a good price, isn’t it?”
We then headed to the training grounds with Fran’s acquaintances, went to the target practice area, and Fran faced the targets.
“Fran, five consecutive Arrows and just one Shield.”
“Eh? But I want to show them the Lance.”
“You’ll shoot right through the targets here, and it’ll stand out too much. Is that okay? For the Lance, just show them the lance itself for now.”
She nodded and faced the target. With a series of shouts, “Hah!” “Hah!”, Stone Arrows continuously pierced the targets.
Moreover, the continuous heavy sounds, like “Thud!”, drew gasps from Dorado and the others who were watching.
When the five consecutive Stone Arrows were done, she immediately chanted, “Shield!” and erected a shield 1.5 meters wide and 2 meters high.
“Hey, hey, you’ve improved like crazy, haven’t you?”
“Did you hear the sound of those Stone Arrows? With that power, they should be able to neutralize a Howl Dog in one hit.”
“The accuracy is good too.”
“Yeah, and the quick deployment of the Shield and the rapid fire of Stone Arrows are amazing.”
“That’s incredible improvement in just half a year since leaving the village. Do you have a master or something?”
“More importantly, you mentioned a Lance. Can you shoot Stone Lances too?”
“Yes, I can shoot about 20 of them. I’ll show you the power of the Shelter and Stone Lance outside the town.”
Saying that, she dispelled the magical power from the erected Shield and Arrows.
“Oh, to be able to dispel the magical power too, that’s amazing.”
“Yeah, I don’t know any Earth Magic User who can do that.”
“Leader, let’s check out Fran’s magic before we post the request.”
“You’re Shinya, right? If Fran’s skills are good, we’ll have her help with the subjugation, but what about you?”
“I don’t mind going anywhere. However, please don’t count me in your numbers.”
“Hmm? If you’re working together with Fran, you must have decent skills, don’t you?”
“I’ve been granted the Tamer class, but unfortunately, my ability is only 1.”
They made dubious faces and exchanged glances with each other.
“Dorado-san, Shinya-san says that, but he has the Divine Protection of the Tamer God Tina. Besides, the reason my magic improved so much is thanks to Shinya-san’s advice.”
“Well, we’ll see about that after we witness your magic.”
We received the money at the payment counter, split it with Fran, and headed out of town with Dorado and his group.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
“Are you really okay with this?”
“I don’t mind going anywhere. You want to help your village, right, Fran? There are still things I want you to teach me, but you’ve taught me enough that I wouldn’t be troubled wandering alone. Besides, if we go to your village, I feel like I could learn new things.”
“I’m always learning from you, Shinya-san, and I want to continue working together with you from now on.”
“Should we head to the place where Koo-chan and the others are? Also, don’t forget that I’m just making a request.”
“Even if I say it, you wouldn’t believe me, Shinya-san.”
On the way to the campsite, Fran demonstrated by firing three consecutive Stone Lances at a thick standing tree.
With dull thuds, “Thud! Thud! Thud!”, the Stone Lances embedded themselves into the standing tree.
“Whoa, with this, you could definitely take down large Beasts.”
“Indeed, the Guild’s targets wouldn’t last against this.”
“If it has this much power against a standing tree, it would strike a live Beast with more than double the force.”
“The speed and power are both impeccable.”
After that, she created a camping Dome and a Shelter, had Dorado and his group attack them, and received their seal of approval for its strength.
“Alright Fran, help us subjugate the Brown Bear. Shinya will have to wait in the village during that time.”
“I don’t mind, but if possible, I’d like to see the Brown Bear subjugation.”
“That’s no good. We can’t look after you as well.”
“Dorado-san, please leave protecting Shinya to me. Though, I don’t think it will be necessary.”
“That sounds like there’s more to it. Explain!”
“Since we left town, have you noticed anything?”
“What are you talking about?”
“About Shinya?”
“Yes, about Shinya-san and his surroundings.”
“His surroundings… This place has a strange number of bees, I guess.”
“Come to think of it, Killer Bees have been flying around nearby from time to time. Is there a nest nearby?”
“I told you Shinya-san has the Divine Protection of the Tamer God Tina, didn’t I? Please don’t even jokingly hit Shinya-san. If it’s considered an attack, you’ll be assaulted by Killer Bees and sent to the afterlife.”
“Have you gone crazy since leaving the village? Attacked by Killer Bees?”
“There are Killer Bees flying around here and there, but that’s not possible.”
It’s clear they don’t believe Fran’s words, and that’s only natural.
It would be pitiful if Fran were called a liar, so maybe I should call Bee-chan and the others to show them it’s true.
《Numbers 1 through 6, circle around me and stand by.》
《Yes, Master!》
《Let’s go!》
《Do we sting anyone who isn’t Master or a friend?》
《Don’t sting them. Just circle around me, and if you get tired, you can rest on me.》
《Master’s shoulder is my seat!》
“Hey! Killer Bees are coming this way!”
“Ah, don’t move! And don’t attack!”
“Get down!”
“No way!”
“Fran, you get down too!”
“It’s alright. As long as you don’t try to drive them away or attack, they won’t do anything. Thanks to this, we’ve been saved many times.”
《The rest of you, gather around me too!》
《Master is calling!》
《Let’s go!》
《Maybe I’ll try a little sting~♪》
“Hey! This buzzing sound is…”
“Isn’t that a swarm?”
“Give me a break. If we get attacked by Killer Bees in a place like this…”
“Fran, make that Shelter from before! Quickly!”
“It’s alright.”
The buzzing sound drowned out Fran’s calm voice, as Bee-chan and the others gathered around me and began to circle.
Dorado and the others, who were cowering, cautiously raised their heads when they realized they weren’t being stung despite the buzzing. They turned pale seeing the Killer Bees circling around me and Fran.
“Hey, are you serious~?”
《Thanks, everyone. I’ll give you meat later, so disperse now.》
《Alright, meat!》
《I’m gonna take a little break~》
《Hey, the shoulder is my seat!》
《The other side is free, isn’t it?》
《I’ll rest on your chest~》
When the buzzing disappeared, Fran told them, “They’re gone now.” They stood up with pale faces, and then looked startled as they saw the bees resting on my chest and shoulders.
“You see, right? The guys who attacked Shinya-san were all stung by the bees and died. There was also someone who was attacked by a swarm just for hitting us, but Shinya-san asked them to stop. Though, they had already been stung by then.”
“A Tamer commanding bees… I can’t believe it.”
“To think you can Tame bees…”
“Ah, I haven’t Tamed any bees. I’ve received the Divine Protection of the Tamer God Tina-sama, so it’s probably thanks to that.”
“But they were flying around you just now…”
“I do ask them to help or to stop, but I’m not commanding them.”
I played dumb, but they couldn’t take their eyes off the Killer Bees relaxing on my chest and shoulders.
I went to where I had hidden the Koo-chans and released the Tame on all of them.
It’s a shame, but it doesn’t look like I’ll have a use for them for a while, and taking them around is also a pain.
Besides, there was also one thing I wanted to confirm.
Time for a Skill Confirmation after a while. 《Skill》
[Shinya, Human Race, 18 years old. Tamer, Ability 1, Amadeus’s Blessing, Tina’s Blessing, Life Magic, Magical Power 10/10, Search Intermediate Mid-rank, Presence Detection Intermediate Mid-rank, Stealth Intermediate Mid-rank, Tree Climbing, Poison Nullification, Killer Bee Domination]
[Killer Bee, 50/50, Compound Eyes, Poison Nullification]
The Poison Spider entry had vanished, and Search, Presence Detection, and Stealth were all at Intermediate Mid-rank.