Chapter 205: The Voice Calling Longdagger 5
I met Jenniferlin Pantile right after I enrolled in the academy in Faltar.
At the time, I was already an apprentice of “Kind Barbara”, and on that day too, I had just been beaten half to death by my master during training.
I met Jenniferlin… that’s long, can I just call her Jen? Yeah? I met Jen when she was being attacked by thugs.
By saving her from those thugs, I got acquainted with Jen, and we became friends.
For someone like me, who lived in a world where women were divided into ‘Erika’ and ‘everyone else’, she was one of my few female friends.
…No, wait, maybe not ‘few’, but the only one?
I already have few friends as it is, and when it comes to friends of the opposite sex, I can’t think of anyone else…
Let’s stop this. There’s nothing more pointless than making myself feel miserable.
Anyway, Jen and I became friends, and I ended up getting dragged into all sorts of trouble.
If I told you that the reason my name is known among some rather unsavory characters in Faltar’s Royal Capital is mostly Jen’s fault, you’d probably understand just how troublesome the trouble I got dragged into was.
According to Erika, the Pantiles are known for overturning everything with a single gold coin, but from my perspective, using a gold coin is still within the realm of common sense.
After all, this girl—
“Finding you and shouting was worth it, Shin.”
Jen said, groaning ‘Gueh!’ from the impact of landing.
“Things certainly took a dramatic turn, didn’t they?”
After all, this girl can overturn things with just her words.
I immediately swung my Sword down on the head of a Monster that tried to attack during the landing’s opening, kicking its corpse away before it could turn into a Magic Stone.
The area is filled with dust clouds, making visibility poor, but my Presence Detection Skill tells me we’re surrounded by Monsters on all sides.
“The place things moved to is the middle of a horde of Monsters, you know?”
I cut down four Monsters leaping out of the dust cloud. They’re four-legged Monsters, but I don’t have time to check their type.
“Isn’t it easier than ‘usual’, since you don’t have to worry about not killing the opponents?”
She’s got some nerve.
I tripped an Ogre that tried to strike me from behind, then lopped off its head.
But well, it’s true that compared to the times I got dragged into things in Faltar, this is easier.
No, hmm? Can I really call this easy?
A Monster with a hard-looking head charged at us, so I tossed Jen into the air and gripped my Sword with both hands.
“Hahaha, it’s been a while since I’ve been thrown,”
Jen laughed, sounding strangely happy for some reason.
As expected of a Pantile. Pantiles are troublesome.
With a satisfying Pakan! sound, the Monster split vertically.
“Still, the visibility is terrible!”
I grumbled unintentionally as I caught the falling Jen under my arm again.
It’s incredibly hard to fight like this.
The moment I thought that, my eyes caught a golden light.
The entire surroundings were enveloped in Golden Magicka (Erika’s Magicka).
Eh? You can’t be serious, Erika-san?
“Jen! Maximum strength!”
I quickly warned Jen to maximize her Physical Enhancement.
The Magicka all around us shimmered.
In other words, it’s an area-of-effect attack.
For some reason, Jen looked at my panicked state and laughed cheerfully.
*
I braced myself to be engulfed in flames or blown away by an explosion.
Erika’s Magicka was just that dense.
The moment the magic activated, I truly prepared for death.
So, when an unexpected gust of wind blew, I mistook it for a precursor to an even more intense spell.
Would it be an explosion or flames? Squinting and bracing myself, what appeared in my vision was Erika, somehow with Shara clinging to her waist.
My understanding caught up with the cleared view.
Erika and the others must have distanced themselves to avoid getting caught by the collapsing castle wall and used Wind Magic to blow away the dust cloud to secure visibility.
I’m curious why Shara is clinging to Erika’s waist, but that must be it.
That’s right! Erika wouldn’t do something like blow me away along with everything else like my master would!
“Is it over yet, my friend?”
Jen, still tucked under my arm and covering her head with both hands, asked.
“Sorry, looks like I was being an idiot.”
Replying to Jen like that, I felt relieved, thinking all that was left was to kick aside the surrounding Monsters and regroup with Erika and the others.
Even though the castle wall had collapsed, it was only a section, and Monsters would have to climb over the rubble to get inside. There was no one here who would allow such a thing.
This was what you’d call a guaranteed win.
“I’m well aware that you’re an idiot.”
Jen said this as she uncurled her body, and then, for some reason, she sighed.
“No, really, you are an idiot, aren’t you?”
What does she mean? Tilting my head