This isn’t good, yet another factor of my party screams “We are abnormal! Pay attention to us~”. I might be able to get away with Bik ranking up without turning too many heads, but if Mak and Kay rank up I’ll no longer be able to show up with them in towns. It would just seem completely abnormal for three imps to rank up so close together.

“Are you not happy about this?” The chief asks confused

“No, I’m certainly happy that our battle power went up, but… I’m keeping the fact that the Maou has already shown up a secret for the most part. I was only born yesterday, as were my Imp companions.” I say rubbing my brow

The ironic thing is the reality of the situation is even stranger than it seems. To others it would look like I managed to time, arrange, or force a rank-up on three imps at once. I don’t even know if I would be able to make others believe that I made Bik this powerful in a single day, not at least without telling them that I am the Maou.

“Oh…my. Well, we were certainly right to fear the Yuusha. If the Yuusha is a being that can slay someone like you with such ease…” The chief says losing a bit of his cheerfulness

“Indeed… that is why it is so imperative that I keep hidden. I have learned from those that have come before me that meeting him head-on will only lead to disaster…” I say disheartened

There is also the fact that my life isn’t the only thing at stake here anymore. The goblins may not be the most intelligent race in the world, but they certainly shouldn’t be hunted so thoroughly. I can’t very well rely on the Yuusha to save ‘monsters’ either. More than likely he will be the person to take down the camp… and me if I fail.

“Let’s leave that for now. My party needs to make preparations to head back to the town that contracted me. Would you happen to have a communication stone for me to contact you with?” I ask trying to get off the subject

“Hmm? What is a communication stone?” The chief asks

The curiosity and happiness over new information clearly shows on his face… I think I see why Learn gets along with him so well.

“I have one here. Do the goblins not use com-stones?” I say as I open my inventory and pull out Tea’s com-stone to show the chief

“Hmm, so that’s what this strange stone is called. We received an entire crate of them some time back but we didn't know their use. After several attempts to break them down and use them for materials, we determined they must be some kind of vanity item. I believe I can guess from its name, but what exactly do these stones do?” The chief asks as he looks closely at the stone.

“As far as I can tell, they are used to communicate across long distances. It seems that each stone has a counterpart that they can transmit voices to.” I say as the chief somewhat awkwardly looks at the stone in my hand quite closely

“These could be quite useful for the goblins. How do you make them work?” He asks, not yet looking away from the stone

“To activate them you apparently have to pool ‘magic’ into the stone… Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t know how to link two stones together” I say looking closely at the stone as well

“Sounds like a job for me.” I hear in a haughty voice nearby

Kera walks next to me in what seem to be night clothes

“However before that, it’s time for the princess’s first lesson in monster taming,” Kera says brimming with energy

Hmm… somehow I get a bad premonition from an excited Kera.

“Alright, then I will go gather the stones. Maou, I will send a few parties of goblins to acquire Ina shortly. Your companion also said that you would need an Ina, would you like for us to acquire one for you as well?” The chief asks

Who told the goblins we needed an Ina? We only discussed it when it was just me, Gero, and the imps present.

“Yes, please bring it to us as soon as you acquire one if you don’t mind,” Kera responds to my surprise

Kera was the one who told him? What need does she have for an Ina? Is she looking to replace that lion she had earlier?

“Gladly, think of it as thanks. Wild Ina tend to run in large open plains, so we have encountered quite a few since we moved our camp here. It shouldn't take a terribly long time to acquire our first catch.” The chief says turning to leave

Well, I am glad that we are getting an Ina for free. I doubted whether we were able to get a hold of a quality method of transportation any time soon. I couldn't think of a situation where we would be able to buy an Ina on our budget anytime soon. I was previously thinking of joining an adventurer’s guild to make enough for one… however, for fear of quests in the future being as difficult to resolve as this one, I think I’m going to pass on that idea for the moment.

“We’re headed to the tranin’ grounds the imps used for our first lesson… It may get a tad messy” Kera says pulling me along by my sleeve

“Messy? Why would it get messy?” I ask as I’m hurriedly dragged along

…

Silence is her response.

“Kera if you’re pranking me again I assure you it will get messy,” I state plainly as I pull my sleeve from her and match her pace

It only takes a few moments to reach the training grounds with most of the walls taken down. The training grounds were rather well set up with straw dummies, sparring rings, and target boards for archers at the appropriate locations. While mostly moved or taken away remnants of the training ground still remain.

“Okay first we’re gonna go over the basics,” Kera says pulling out a scroll

“Uvt summena” she says throwing the scroll into the air

The scroll explodes into a large puff of smoke which lingers in the air for several moments. Then to my surprise, tens of bird fly out of the smoke in every direction.

fuiiiiii

Kera makes a sounds extremely reminiscent of a pigeons call and all of the birds change direction to land somewhere nearby.

“First ya’ must acquire any information you can about the creature you're trying ta’ capture. The first step typically is to use the magic ‘Status’ on a few of the same kind a’ creature.”

Kuu!… it’s really hard to take instructions from Kera. Part of me just doesn’t trust her, and the other part is a bit too proud to admit that she is more knowledgeable than me. Regardless, I do as she says and find a collection of birds nearby and use “Status” on each of them… with surprising results

Name: Kiri

Species: Flocking Bird

Level:1

Skills:

Peck

A small window with information similar to this appeared next to the red bar above each bird’s head.

Why is this different from yesterday? If I remember correctly Kiel said this was something that people were born with, not a skill they honed. Do different rules apply to me because I’m the Maou?

The knowledge of others fills you

New skill learned: Peck

A window pops up informing me that I’ve learned a new skill as well. It seems it activated due to having observed the birds repeatedly.

“Next we further observe the cr-” Kera continues

“Shut up for a moment” I say putting my finger up as I try to understand the new system before me

“Already?!” she rebuts, but I ignore her

“Status” I say looking at nearby goblins

Name: None

Species: Green Goblin

Level: 8

Skills:

Smash

Vitality

Disgust

Aerodynamics

Like the birds, a window such as this appears next to every goblins health bar.

Wow, the goblins really didn’t need to worry about normal humans. I was told their average level was 5, but nearly every goblin here is at least level 7. Some even go up to about level 14.

Attempting to learn more about the system I continue to observe the goblins waiting to learn a new skill.

The knowledge of others fills you

New skill learned: Disgust

I attempt to hit the window that pops up when the first skill I obtained is “Disgust”. Unsatisfied with skill I acquired I continue using “Status”, attempting to receive a more useful skill.

The knowledge of others fills you

New skill learned: Vitality

I finally learn a more useful skill after using “Status” on nearly every goblin in sight. I suppose the higher level skills require more to be done obtain them. Satisfied for the moment I decide to turn my attention back to Kera’s lesson.

“Seems the magic ‘Status’ will be very useful in the future. I have the ability to see a creature's name, level, health, and skills” I say as I look over the birds again

“Ya know… I heard you and Kiel talking about this yesterday. Not that I believe in that kind of stuff to begin with, but you never said you had any of those abilities either. You really should leave pranks to me.” Kera says looking down and shaking her head

“How long were you spying on us!?” I rebuke in surprise.

I feel a chill run down my spine as I imagine Kera with a hobby of stalking.

“Forget about that,” Kera says bluntly

“No!” I rebut

“The next step is ta’ capture the creature and observe it closer to get more info. The goal is to find things that would tell us more about its life. Being sympathetic is essential for properly tamin’ a creature.” Kera continues

… I’ve been ignored… I will have my revenge for this, but for now, I suppose we can just continue.

“An injured creature is easy prey, cause sympathizing towards pain is rather easy. Finding an injured creature can be quite difficult, however. Ya’ have to carefully observe quirks in their behavior that would suggest part of them isn’t feeling well or doesn’t work. I’ll have the bird fly around for a bit so you can-” Kera explains

“No need” I interrupt her and point to a bird

She looks at me skeptically and walks over to the bird, picking it up and observing it further. Her eyes widen a bit as she seems to discover something.

“How did you know? This bird seems to have a thorn stuck under its plumage around the thigh. It’s an old wound though… there is no blood.” Kera ask as she further inspects the wound

She is being a little rough with him though, and he doesn’t seem to be comfortable

“Simple, that one’s health bar was slightly depleted. There isn’t much point in making the rest fly either, because the rest seem to be in perfect health.” I say walking over to the bird and taking it from Kera

I set him on my arm and let him perch. He flaps his wings around for a moment, but settles down and perches happily afterword.

“Woah… you're making me look bad here princess.” Kera says scratching her head

“It seems you’ve already made a ‘bond’ with him. He seems to like you as well; the odds of a capture succeeding are rather good.” Kera says in a somewhat bitter fashion

Did I make her jealous? ...I’m oddly okay with that.

“The next step is simple. Just state ‘Entwine’ while focusing entirely on the bird. You will most likely fail the first couple times, so don’t get disheartened.” Kera says with a wicked smile looking at me

I do as she says and focus my mind entirely on the bird. It may be an illusion but it almost seems as if some of the bird’s thoughts and feelings are faintly seeping into my mind.

“Entwine” When I state this a glowing chain quickly flies from my chest and into the birds

“Kiri?!” For a moment the bird is surprised and flaps about… but calms down after a brief pause

New pet: Flocking bird

New skill: Foresight

“Remind me to take you gambling someday princess…” Kera says slumping back onto a stool defeated