Sigh

All I can do is let out a sigh as I realize that I’m going to need to be the one to do something about this.

What should I do though? It’s not like my going in there and pulling them out of the crowd is going to work, and it will certainly draw way too much attention. I would like to slip out of here without making myself known... maybe one of my skills could be of use?

I open my skill menu to see if there are any useful skills I’ve forgotten.

Bind: The earth entangles a target for a short duration.

Force entwine: The earth makes creatures bend to your will

Earth Manipulation: The earth bends to the will of the user.

Fireball(s): Creates a ball of fire proportional to the amount of magical power of the owner.

Fireball(m): Three balls of fire are created and moved by the will of the user.

Haste: Makes whatever is targeted 15% faster than before. (Caution advised)

Clear: Makes target harder to perceive. Activated automatically when one wants to hide.

Restore: Restores an object to a previous state by undoing the ravages of time.

Restora: Uses magic to restore something to its preferred state.

Perception (Passive): Grants further knowledge of one’s self and what exists around them.

Born Leader (Passive): Raises growth and stats of monsters and allies.

Nature's Knowledge: Ability to communicate with any intelligent monster/animal.

Battlefield overseer (Passive): Calms the mind, and gives it the capability of comprehending the status of a battle.

Sharpen: For a time, augment an edge to become sharper.

Peck: A repeatable thrust that uses mana to increase damage.

Ram: A powerful charge forward, use with caution.

Disgust: An illusion that makes one unattractive in many aspects.

Intimidate: Once active, mana translates directly into fear within your foes.

Vitality (Passive): Enhanced regeneration powered by mana.

Night vision (Passive): Ability to see better in the dark, and an increased resistance to "Darkness" status.

Leader's Howl: Call your allies and intimidate your foes.

Long run: Run quickly for long periods without running out of stamina.

Golem form- Give will to earth and it will obey.

Regenerate (M)(Passive)- Use mana to accelerate the healing of wounds.

Forward Rush: Charge forward and pierce your enemies.

High Jump: Increases jumping ability by twofold.

Would intimidate work? Eyes would certainly be on me, however. Perhaps I could-

“Mano-sama!” I hear interrupting my train of thought

For a brief moment I panic.

Sigh

I quickly realize that I simply have to accept the situation as is.

Gero and Mana are coming towards me and because of this, all eyes have shifted to me as well.

“-sama?”

“Is she his master?”

“Does that make him a slave?”

“Isn’t that kind of amazing?”

The murmurs all turn into things along this line.

I certainly don’t hear that honorific often, but is that really because it’s used between master and slave? I need to put a stop to that right away if that is the case.

Gero gero “I am pleased to see you, Mano-sama. I have managed to locate and return Mana to you.” Gero says presenting the hand that he is holding

When I look at Mana to question why it is that she had wandered off again, she just looks up at me and shrugs. I’ll need to get them to explain the situation in more detail to me later.

“I already realized my mistake of sending you out without a method of retrieving you, so I suppose you aren’t at fault. Good job on following my orders.” I say as I try to think of the proper action to take

Punishing him is out of the question because his wondering off for so long was certainly my fault. At the same time, I have difficulty just letting something like this go, since every time one of us becomes lost some kind of disaster seems to follow.

“Did you hear that?”

“She is so nice to him…”

“Maybe he’s not her slave but rather her l-”

I lose my patience at the crowd that has been listening in on our conversation and blocking our path. As if something snapped in my head, I decide to send them a message.

I toggle Intimidate on for a moment.

“To all the kind people who have gathered, I regret to inform you that this is not a street show. I apologize greatly for the inconvenience.” I say in an annoyed tone

Coupled with intimidate, those gathered around seem to have taken the message quite well. Many of them seemed relatively un-phased by the skill but still seemed to understand the need to back away. Within minutes, the guild has returned to its normal state bustling with sounds of laughing and cheering as the many adventurers enjoy their meals.

“I don’t know what scares me more… The fact that you just made a room full of mercenaries, adventurers, and would be hero’s follow your instructions out of sheer intimidation, or the fact that they seem to be so used to dealing with monsters like you that they moved on so quickly.” Kiel says with a worried expression as he looks over the room as well

“I suppose all that I can really say to that is… welcome to the club.” I say as I pat his shoulder

Kiel still seems to be the most taken aback by suddenly becoming a part of this world of monsters. I guess I can’t blame him, as he didn’t really know what he was signing up for.

“Shall we go then?” I say as we move again towards the door

For now, we decide to go back to the Inn. After making a call to Kera and making sure everybody is present, we decided to gather inside of Kera’s room for a small meeting.

“An orc?! In the northern forest, no less!” Kera yells out in surprise upon hearing our new target

“Are orcs bad news? I heard that we needed to be pretty powerful to take one down, but I figured with my magic involved that we would be more than strong enough” I explain as she has a small panic attack

“Bad news?! Even a normal orc would be a grand accomplishment to defeat, and you certainly wouldn’t do it with just one party! We are talking about a northern forest orc! Orcs are territorial so at any one time there are only a few in an area, to begin with, but the orcs towards the north are especially aggressive! They monopolize huge hunting grounds and kill anything, even other orcs, that enter it!” Kera explains in her ensuing panic

She is pacing around the room now and pulling her frog hat over her face.

“We have no choice anyway. We only have a short period before the tournament, and there isn’t nearly enough time to buy a proper card without some kind of dramatic measure.” I say to defend myself

I have a distinct feeling that if we don’t do something about it, eventually it’s going to come around to bite us one way or another anyway. I want to play it safe too, but the city is currently crawling with the country's strongest fighters and the Yuusha, all of which want to kill me. We are a far cry from safe on our best days.