“Camil, heal that man! Jill, Zeff, Hyuzu, get those fainted men in the marsh and bring them to shore! Sebasu, how is Elia?” [Reinhart]
Reinhart-san gave out orders and then checked with Sebasu how Elia was doing, but it was the ojousama herself who answered his question.
“I’m… Alright…” [Elia]
“Are you okay, Elia? You’re not hurt?” [Reinhart]
“Yes… I was just scared suddenly, but… that’s all. I’m okay now.” [Elia]
“I see. That’s good… Ryoumkun, thank you. That was you just now, right?” [Reinhart]
“The cause was that rimel bird’s chirping, right? Well, it seemed like that, at least, so I stopped it, but what exactly was it doing?” [Ryouma]
“Huh?” [Elize and Elia]
When I said that, the madam and the ojousama reacted.
“Ryoumsan, you didn’t feel anything?” [Elia]
“Was I supposed to feel something?” [Ryouma]
I just thought the birds wouldn’t shut up. That’s why I could leisurely look around. But everyone suddenly started acting like they were out of their minds. Now that was shocking.
“You just thought they were noisy? That’s it?” [Elize]
“Yep.” [Ryouma]
The madam was really confused when she heard my reply, so Reinbach-sama and Sebasu started explaining.
“The rimel bird Ryouma stopped probably wasn’t just a rimel bird. That’s probably an advanced variant, a nightmare rimel bird. They can use dark magic too on top of wind magic. Their most striking feature is that they can inflict mental damage via dark magic.” [Reinbach]
“This spell of theirs inflicts fear and confusion. It can also cause hallucinations and even knock people out. Just like those adventurers.” [Sebasu]
Sebasu-san pointed toward the people who’ve been dragged back to shore. Jill-san and the others had dragged them back to safety, and most of them were sitting, but a part of them were either still unconscious or crouching in fear.
“That spell sure is terrifying…” [Ryouma]
“That’s just how strong it is. Physical strength is different from mental strength, so even vegetarian adventurers could lose consciousness. Those adventurers are still just neophytes, so it’s not surprising that they’d end up like that.” [Sebasu]
“And even if you build up your endurance, it will still hurt. You’ll just be able to endure better.” [Reinhart]
Come to think of it, I have a Mental Pain Resist skill, don’t I? Maybe that’s the reason why I didn’t feel anything.
When I asked them, the confused madam suddenly said ‘that’s it!’
Apparently, my resistance is so strong that I didn’t even feel a thing.
They say that I probably won’t be affected much by mental attacks, but I’ve never really thought up any countermeasure for them in the first place. And while it’s good that they can’t affect me, not even knowing I’m being attacked is pretty bad. I should be careful…
While we were chatting like that, Jill-san and the others came back. Looks like they’re done helping the adventurers.
“What’s the damage on their side?” [Reinhart]
“The guy who caused everything is the only one wounded, but we’ve already healed him, so he can return to town without any problems.” [Jill]
“But what are we going to do now? All the rimel birds flew away because of that guy.” [Camil]
“Shall we look for their nest?” [Ryouma]
“That might be a bit difficult. When rimel birds fly, they use wind magic to call the winds and ride them. That’s why their speed is in a league of its own, but that also means the area we have to cover if we’re going to be looking for them is going to be really big.” [Camil]
“Let’s wait for a bit. We came all the way out here, so I’d at least like to give it a try.” [Elia]
Because of the ojousama, we decided to wait here for a while. During that time, the adventurers gradually recovered and the fainted ones also started waking up.
But they no longer seemed to be in the mood to hunt or maybe it was just because the duke was around, but regardless, the adventurers all left. The only ones left were us.
I made us some seats near the marsh, and we passed the time talking idly to each other.
Apparently, the nightmare rimel bird’s mental attack was really powerful, but attacking to stop it would cause the rest of the rimel birds to fight back, so the situation would just turn into a bigger mess. As such, the best response usually is to either just endure the nightmare rimel bird’s attack or run.
I wonder if my Silent was okay since it wasn’t actually an attack, but just something meant to mute the sound. It’s a good thing that Caulkin-san and the duke’s family told me beforehand not to attack the rimel birds.
Also, it seems that the rimel bird’s advanced variant has only been spotted once in 10 years. It’s an extremely rare monster. Although things turned out pretty badly, being able to see one in the flesh is our good luck.
“How did it look like?” [Elia]
“It seemed darker than the other birds. Like a deep blue and green. It had a luxurious feeling to it. Other than that there’s also…” [Ryouma]
As we passed the time idly chatting like this, an intimate atmosphere suddenly filled the area.
“It won’t be long before we have to go our separate ways, huh?” [Elia]
When the ojousama said that, it finally occurred to me that they came here specifically to see a rimel bird and try their hand a taming one.
Us coming here today means that they’ve accomplished that goal, so they’ll be leaving soon. We probably don’t have much time left together.
Uhh… What should I say here?
‘I see?’ That’s a bit too apathetic.
‘Don’t go!’ A 40 year-old uncle saying that is kinda gross.
I mean I might look fine on the outside, but mentally speaking it’s really not okay for me.
‘We’ll meet again’ Yeah this is the one. I’d like to say something more clever, but this’ll have to do.
“But it’s not like you won’t be meeting anymore, Elia. Right? Ryoumkun.” [Elize]
Ahh… I took so long thinking up a response that I got beaten to the punch.
“Of course.” [Ryouma]
“If you exchange letters, you’ll be able to keep in touch.” [Reinbach]
“…You’re right! We can meet again! Ryoumsan! Please write me a letter! I’ll write you too!” [Elia]
“Sure!” [Ryouma]
“Idiot! If you’re a man, you should at least give her a hug!” [Hyuzu]
As Hyuzu-san said that, he hit me from behind, causing me to almost fall off my seat.
“Woah! What are you doing? And what are you thinking!? Aren’t you her guard!? You should be stopping me from doing stuff like that!” [Ryouma]
“Hah? But it’s more interesting like this!” [Hyuzu]
Hyuzu-san said with a grin on his face and a thumbs up.
“Is that okay?” [Ryouma]
“As long as it’s a hug between friends. Yeah. Between friends… Friends.” [Reinhart]
“It’s nothing to fret about. Really. You’re both about 10 years-old. You’re children.” [Reinbach]
Reinhart-san was making a slightly complicated expression, but Reinbach-sama didn’t seem to mind one bit.
I guess hugs are like a greeting here? Kinda like westerners?
“See? Well, come on then. If you’re a man, give her a reaalllll hard one. ‘Sides, if you don’t do it quickly, it’ll get awkward.” [Hyuzu]
“…” [Ryouma]
“GAHA!? Y-You…” [Hyuzu]
It was starting to get annoying, so I gave him a body blow. A realll hard one just like he wanted it.
When I turned around, my eyes met with the ojousama’s.
She seemed to be blushing a little.
But this sort of reaction makes things harder for me.
Looking for a way out, I turned to the madam again, but she seemed to be intent on just watching things go.
Scratch that. I’m pretty sure she’s having the time of her life right now…
“What… are you doing… GUFU…” [Hyuzu]
Hyuzu asked as he held his stomach and crouched down in pain.
“Just trying to cover up my shyness… Don’t mind me…” [Ryouma]
I can’t believe I just said that… Though I did just hit him all of the sudden. Was it that painful?
“Like hell you were just trying to cover your shyness!? If I hadn’t trained this body I’d be out cold right now! …Owwww …Why does it hurt so much when I’m wearing armor?” [Hyuzu]
“Oops. Sorry about that. It’s become a habit.” [Ryouma]
The blow I used is specifically meant for people with armor, so of course it hurts.
…Ah, not good. I’m also starting to become real tense.
Calm down, me!
A strange atmosphere filled the area…
“…” [Ryouma]
“…” [Elia]
“…” [Ryouma]
“…” [Elia]
“Pirorororororo!!” [???]
“!?” [Ryouma]
“Fueh!?” [Elia]
…Only to be broken by a whistle-like sound.
When we turned around, the rimel birds had returned.
Tl Note: Fairly long chapter, but it’s done at last. Next chapter on Monday. PDfs and ePUBs to be uploaded maybe tomorrow.
Also, shoutout to a LUIS F. R. A. for donating to the TMPG queue this week. Thank you so much for donating. Always a pleasure to have your support.