“Then, see you later!”

The next day, I waved goodbye to Maria and Mili, as they left the inn. Today, the Dusk Hunters were going to function in two groups. Well not just today, but for a couple days.

After bidding them farewell, I head up the stairs, after greeting the landlady. The landlady is a cheery type of person, who turns not-so-cheery if you don’t pay the rent.

The stairs creaked as I climbed them, and entered my room.

As usual, Saki was on the bed, bored. Her sullen mood had improved, but she was still very much bored. It hadn’t been even an hour since Mili left and Saki is already at a loss on what to do. It’s quite cute to see her nervously look around the room, trying to find something to do. They really do get along well huh.

I headed to the study, and took out the same old parchments.

I stare at the triangles and the circles, the extremely difficult language of Jlikonrit.

Jlikonrit is a language from the ancient times that Master taught me. She tried her best to teach me the wordings and the alphabets. Speaking the language is too much for me, since I can barely enunciate the hard to pronounce words of the language. Reading on the other hand, is possible for me. But, for such important notes, where I need it to learn a skill, it’s not enough to vaguely understand the meaning.

For example, the line “Jkiyil kinfasri myouikwra”, literally means “To see the unseen”. For me, that’s a really vague description, and I have to work out various possible explanations and test them in order to find it.

The day was really bright, with clear white clouds floating in the blue sky. The noises of people walking around in the bustling streets, bargaining, arguing, laughing, everything can be clearly heard by me. It kind of reminds me about when only I was to study, but the other kids could go and play. I didn’t study a word that day.

But now, I ignored all the distractions and single mindedly focused on the wood of the de- I mean, the Chaos slayer notes.

“Yaaaawnn…”

I wipe my heavy eyes, and get up from the desk. Somehow, I had read up on the basics of the technique. Trials, corrections, and perfection are only what are left.

I put the notes back in my ring, and then decide to check my inventory, just in case. A recap, so to speak. I had to get back to revising all that I had learnt soon, so this was good as a break.

I head over to the empty bed, and pat it. Ah, soft. Maybe lying down for a second might be ok? Saki was already snoring lightly on the other board, so it’s fine I guess.

Just a light nap, and then I’ll get back to—

“—ya!”

Nn?

“”Yuuya!””

The sound enter my ears and I open my eyes, feeling well rested. On my chest, Mili was jumping up and down, presumable trying to wake me up. I turned my head to the right, and I see Maria’s face.

Close. Too close.

Her face turns red, and she pushes me away, falling onto the adjacent bed, screaming cutely. Haha~ I guess she was yelling in my ear, and was shocked when I turned suddenly.

I prop myself up , and stare out the window.

It was dark. Yup. The sun had set, and it was almost time for dinner. A light nap was a bit longer than I thought I guess.

“Yuuuya!”

Mili calls out to me, pulling on my cheek.

“Today, today, I killed loots of monsters! I used my fireball, and it went fwaaah—“

After the incident at the cavern, Mili had become a lot more open with me. I smiled wryly, looking at her acting like a little child. When I first met her, she was like an aloof adult, exuding an aura of maturity.

And now, looking at her describe the magic she used with sparkling eyes, I couldn’t help but rub her head.

“Is that so, that’s amazing Mili”

“Un~”

She narrows her eyes, seemingly pleased with the action.

Today, the plan was different. Maria and Mili would go and attempt low ranked quests, to train Mili with magic, and Maria with her currently developing Freeform magic.

Right now, Maria can create a small ball of mana. But it was still a long way to go from what she needed to get. She trained constantly, waking up early in the morning just to develop it.

Mili would roam near me, seemingly hoping that I would ‘accidentally’ leave some books out. She was like a dog that hoped for some treats.

Now that I think about it, Saki was the only one who was not doing anything. Even I had started studying the training techniques, so Saki was pretty much doing nothing all day.

Alright! Tomorrow, I’ll need to start helping Saki too. She might feel like she’s deadweight. I won’t allow that.

“Saki, be ready tomorrow. We’re going on a trip”

“A t-t-trip?! Just the two of you?!”

Maria replies, flustered. Even Saki turns red, averts her eyes. Eh? What?

“I-I-I-sn’t that a d-d-d-date?!!!”

Maria yells, super flustered. Oh. A date huh. Is it that much of a big deal?

The me from before would probably have had a similar reaction from such words. Forget reacting, I would never even speak it. People change, huh.

“We’re gonna do some training, Saki!”

“Oh… It’s that huh..”

Maria sighs, and resumes tending to her bow, as if she had lost interest. Geez, was it just for gossip or something? I seriously don’t get girls.

But Saki had a completely different reaction. I could almost see flames burning in her eyes, with determination. Haha~ I guess she really wanted to get stronger.

“So then, Mili, what spells did you learn today?”

“Um, I learnt Fireball, Water stream, Fire vortex and every elementary magic!”

Uoooh! That’s three intermediate magic spells! And Fire vortex is a higher level intermediate.

Even within the spell classes, they are divided into three levels, the higher, middle and lower levels. Higher levels consume ridiculous amounts of mana, and the power is no joke. The Flame Vortex Magician 1 and 2 used was a sync magic, and the aim was pretty much trash. I don’t remember their names, wait, I don’t even know them, so Magician 1 and 2 is fine.

By the way, I can cast one middle level intermediate spell, Water Pulse. It’s like condensed ball of super hot water, that’ll explode on contact. It’ll exhaust almost all of my mana, so it’s something I’ve used only once, and that was when I learned it.

I stretch my arms, since my body was feeling kinda stiff.

We keep talking late into night about stuff, and before we knew it, we were deep asleep.

“Stealth mode, activate!”

I whispered it since it kinda sounded cool. I creep out of bed, and gently place my feet on the floor.

It was past midnight, and our party is deep asleep. Maria is lying on the ground, her bow still in her hands. Mili was on my bed, hugging Saki and sleeping. Saki looked peaceful with a small smile on her face.

They were pretty tired today, I guess.

I lift Maria in a princess carry, as delicately as possible so as to not wake her. I place her on the adjacent bed, and cover her up with the blanket, tucking her in. The night wind was cold, so I did the same with Mili and Saki. When I was pulling the blanket on top of Saki, she suddenly moved, as if she had woken up. But thankfully, it was nothing, as she immediately asleep again.

Alright, tending to teammates is done.

Next, for some much needed practice.

I walk out into the desolate street, pulling my coat around me, trying to get as warm as possible. Thankfully, our inn was near the outskirts, so I didn’t have to walk far to get outside the city walls.

I walked towards those humongous walls, trying to keep out the chill as much as possible. There were a few people out, but they generally paid no heed to me. In a few hours, it would be sunrise, so I had to move quickly and finish up before the girls wake up.

As soon as I get near the gate, I tread more cautiously. Heading out of the city after hours, there would be a lot of unnecessary questions. I avoid the guards, and at about 10 meters from the gates, I glance at the forces there.

There were almost fourty soldiers near the gates, with a lot of them patrolling. Archers were also placed above the walls.

Outside the gate, a few caravans were present, and they were talking with the guard captain. I need to dash out as quick as possible.

I release the Dragon slayer energy, feeling the familiar heat spreading through my legs, making my blood boil. I crouch down, and ready my self.

At an invisible signal, I kick off, aiming for outside the gate. This would be good practice too, in order to get past tons of guards with stealth and speed.

My speed was dangerously high, as I whizzed past the astounded guards. Slowly, they noticed my presence and began shouting, alerting the others. Doesn’t matter. Need to get out.

In a flash, I had passed the gates, and was running across the plains, accelerating away from the city walls. My first successful dash. But I was lucky, since they sure didn’t expect my arrival, or my speed. Next time won’t be so easy, I figured.

I slowed down, as soon as I was sure that I was out of danger. I walked through the Ihilka plains, a wide expanse of tall green grasses. They almost reached my waist, and the thicker parts would go above my head. This place was dangerous, since it’s obviously a sweet spot for ambushes.

I quickly move past the tall grass area, and head towards the mountains.

I moved quicker, so as to finish it up quick. It had been a long time since I self practiced, and I might have been getting a little rusty. Master told me to practice swordsmanship at every possible moment, along with the endurance training. But, thanks to the girls, I’ve been mostly busy, running around and travelling. I haven’t got much time to train, and at this rate, I might meet a really powerful opponent and die, just because I couldn’t get enough time to train.

Nearing the mountains, I used Detect, in order to ascertain whether there were any secluded spots good enough for me to practice.

As I used my Monster slayer energy to search the field, I silently admired the beauty that was before me.

I was standing on the side of the mountain, my vision expanding across the plains.

The cold winds of the night gently brushed past the reeds and grasses on the wide plains. They swayed,ever so slightly, as if in a trance. They were bathed in a silvery moonlight, shining with a soft sheen, intensifying the simple beauty of this natural scenery.

I looked up at this world’s moon. Just like on Earth, there was only a single moon, but the size of it was what made it mesmerizing. It was a pure white ball in the sky, unblemished by dark marks like on Earth’s moon. It was like a jewel, that seemed so close, yet so far. I felt like I could grab it, if only I extended my arms.

“A fantasy world huh…”

Looking at the undeniable beauty of this world, I once again came to terms with the question I had stowed away in the back of my mind.

To return.

Certainly, I didn’t belong here. A foreigner, an alien entity. Even the summoned heroes were brought here because they had a purpose, and to do that, they could belong to this wonderful world.

But, I was not a summoned person. I was not reincarnated. I was brought here, by a third party. Not the cliché summoning, but kidnapped. Literally kidnapped. No powerups, no cheats.

I was kidnapped and brought to this world. But why?

As I detected the presence of a very perfect cave in the bosom of the mountains, I began heading towards there, and adding to my objective list to find why I was summoned here. A purpose? No. The reason is what I want to know.

Can I stay here? Can I live here?

On earth, I couldn’t say I belonged somewhere. The orphanage, I was there because it was the old lady’s responsibility and kindness. Even if I wasn’t there for a couple years, soon enough, I’d be forgotten. My origins in itself are non existent.

The only reason I’d have to return would be… Shizuka.

But even she, even if she was an airhead, even without me, she’d manage right?

Because, in this world, I have people I can call my comrades. A village full of people I can call family. People I can trust, people I need to protect.

Even if it meant using up my last breath—

No. What am I thinking? I keep forgetting why I want to protect them. Because I enjoy being with them.

If I started my resolve to protect them by using up my life as the first idea, then isn’t that just because I’m weak? My death for them would be the last straw. Until then, I have to do everything I can.

But, the weak have no right to say such noble ideas. That’s right. I’m weak. I got full of myself just because I’m stronger than average. In the end, if I want to protect them, and survive with them, what I need is—

Strength.

Absolute strength. So that I can protect them. No, what am I thinking up now? They aren’t little kids. To fight with them. We’ll get stronger together. Because we’re comrades.

I need to get stronger.

Much, much stronger.

Thinking that, I stepped into the dark cave, clenching my fist in order to renew my determination.

(Well then, let the Ugras arc officially begin! Special chapters imminent, or so I think!)