I hate being wed in a fantasy world!

Meldorn follows the feeling in his mind, which draws him to his quarry, which is currently Princess Katarine. The loss of the mounts has turned this to a forced march in rain, however, as they're following Meldorn's quarry, all of them move faster and show more stamina than usual.

They already found their last camp earlier, which means that they aren't acting like cornered animals and that there will be another confrontation today.

Sir Gottfried seems to be resolved and while he's usually hard to talk to, he now emits an aura of no-nonsense, which makes it impossible to strike a conversation with him. He's focused on the task and his target.

Young Rotfeld looks like he wants to be the same, but even though he has presence and sharpness, being next to Sir Gottfried makes him look rather pitiful. He also seems to be much more tense.

The pontiff is just walking, letting his snot and moans out freely. For him, this is just a task he wants to be over with, and Meldorn believes that Pontiff Kassus is just thinking about the warm room with a glass of wine he will enjoy later.

However, this may need to wait. Meldorn takes his bow, as he has just noticed that they're about to be attacked. By kobolds, no less.

Kobolds are canine humanoid monsters, blessed with the tiniest spark of intelligence, but with no empathy. They're ruthless and cunning, and as they can't craft anything but the simplest of structures and tools, they're usually found in caves and ruins, often taking weapons from battlefields or farms.

Like many monsters, there is no reason for them to attack people, but they do so nonetheless. They also don't speak, so for natives like Meldorn, who don't even understand the concept of having multiple languages, there is no room for doubt that kobolds are monsters in the truest sense.

Strange though. It would have made sense for the kobolds to use their small frame and the high grass to ambush them, but instead they're running through it, lifting their bone and wooden clubs, farming tools, and rusty weapons above them.

Kobolds are usually smarter than that.

Meldorn holds three arrows between his fingers and shoots each in quick succession, three shots, three dead kobolds. Others in his view are also shot, but not by arrow or magic, but bloody white fragments, as Sir Gottfried is not only dismembering them, but shattering their bones and using them as projectiles. It's apparent that he wants to be over with this quickly.

This skirmish takes less than a minute, and Meldorn picks up the few arrows he had a chance to shoot. All of them are still usable, so he quickly wipes the blood before returning them into his quiver.

“Beware!” Young Rotfeld shouts, as he swings his staff several times, unleashing air blades at airborne monsters, yellow-furred puffballs. Acopps are mostly made out of air, but they can release acid rain when they get over their prey. Their glands are valuable, same as the skin under the fur.

Them being here makes sense, Acopps usually attack when their target is distracted by other monsters, yet the numbers are too big, as they usually hunt in packs of three to eight. These are two dozen at least, yet Rotfeld's magical wind tears through them easily enough, and their acid drops far away from Meldorn's group.

These are far from the only attacks that the pursuit party will suffer today.

―○●○―

It's afternoon and time for a snack and short break, which become more and more important as we have picked up the pace more and more. I turn to the girl next to me: “Rine, would you taste-test please?”

Kyou-san moans in displeasure: “Come on, I didn't poison that! I'm sorry, alright!”

“I trusted you!” I've cooled down a bit since this morning, but I want her to know how betrayed I feel! I may forgive her in a few days, but until then, I will use every opportunity to drive it home!

“Momo, Kenta-kun, could you calm down?” Ara-san nibbles on a jellied twig. It's an alfr snack called zuckie, tastes sweet and nice, though I like them best after leaving them in the sun for a while, though in this rainy weather it's impossible.

I break something off my own twig and give it to Rine, who looks at me sadly, but then eats it. “It's OK, Kenta. Now could you please reconcile with Kyou again?”

“Meh.” I take a bite off myself and the sweetness makes me feel a bit better.

“Kenta,” Rine suddenly takes the top of my head, and I feel her fingers digging into my hood and hair, as she forcefully turns my head around to Kyou-san: “We have to work together and Kyou said that she's sorry, so now you accept the apology and if you don't-”

I'm 100% sure that Rine has no idea what she will do if I don't, but I also have the feeling that I don't want to risk her trying to figure it out, especially given that my body still hurts about everywhere.

Rine used to have a short fuse whenever Kyou-san and I fought in the past, it just got paused recently. So maybe it's back? Is it a sign that she's growing or has she made a step back to deal with the current stress? How was it called... retardation?

“Phew... sorry for--- for what exactly?” I ask my blackmailer, as I don't really know what she wants me to say.

“For being rude and blaming Kyou for poisoning your food.”

“For being rude and blaming you for poisoning my food,” I speak as dryly as possible to Kyou-san, then I try to look back at Rine, who still holds my head much too tight: “Something else?”

“Yes, you want to make up with her.”

“I want to make up with you.”

“Now put some heart into it.”

“Phew... listen Kyou-san, I'm absolutely pissed about what you did, but I'll eventually get over it in time. So I won't speak about it anymore, and you tell Rine to let me go.”

Kyou-san looks at me, as if I were a puppy that finally learned to react to its name. “That's the most sincere apology I can expect from you, Ken. And as I said, I'm also sorry, but I will do it again, if you're that reckless again.” Well, at least she's honest about it? “Let him go, Rine-chan. It's alright.”

While Rine's fingers have released my head, I can still feel them painfully on my skull. However, now Rine stands up and gets closer to Kyou, and even I feel how much weight each step has: “You will do it again? Did I hear correctly? You dare to take away all his choices, rendering him helpless, instead of putting time and effort to convince him?” Rine then takes Kyou's hand before she has time to pull it back.

This is a rare sight. Kyou-san gulps audibly, as she's most likely picturing herself being put into a handhold for a change. “Rine-chan, don't be hasty, let me expla-”

“No. This is not how we're supposed to act towards each other. I can imagine that you thought that this was the best course of action, but!” She suddenly barks while fixating Kyou-san with her eyes so much that the skin of the Asian girl becomes pale-white: “I will not stand by these actions anymore. Understood?”

Usually, Kyou-san is able to avert Rine's anger, mostly by finding some excuses, but this time she can only meekly nod. “Yes, Rine-chan. Ken, I'm sorry. I--- I shouldn't have done it at all.” She gives me a small bow.

Then Rine pulls her hand, Kyou-san shuts her eyes close, clearly expecting pain, but then Rine takes my hand as well and leads it and Kyou-san's into each other, so that we have something like a handshake.

Kyou-san slowly opens her eyes and looks me in the face. She doesn't say anything, she isn't looking away, she just looks at me.

...awkward. I slowly shake her hand until Rine nods and sits down again.

You gain 1 WP.

The wonderful aspect of having several wives is that when you're fighting with one, another can act as a mediator.

Mediator? More like a blackmailer. Well, I guess I somehow made up with Kyou-san, that's at least how it feels, though it's rather strange.

I look at Ara-san, the only wife who isn't involved in it and I see how she licks her lips, but not like she's licking up jelly stuck there, it was more... well, not sensual, rather exploring. “Ara-san, is something wrong with your lip?” She has repeatedly touched it since... well, 'that'.

“I’d like to know myself,” Rine adds curiously. Yep, it was so plain as day that even our dumb princess noticed.

“When I respired you, we interlocked our lips. Mine became very sensitive, and I think it felt good? I try to stimulate them, but I tend to believe that this is similar to when we ear-plugged earlier, when your ears also became an erogenous zone. What is different, however, is that our spirits didn't mesh, maybe because this kissing is a human behavior?”

OK, I asked, so I got an answer. I just don't like it. Rine, however: “Kissing is an expression of love.”

“While what Kenta-kun and I did should not be considered kissing, I can now believe why you humans are so eager to exchange germs: It's rather addicting.”

“So your lips aren't that sensitive anymore?”

“No. I believe that the curse may have laid the groundwork for Kenta-kun and me to indulge ourselves in sexual intercourse, and it has changed how my menstruation works, but maybe smaller changes are dormant until a need arises. It would make sense, as if Kenta-kun and I had the sensitive spots of two species, we may be unable to lead a controlled life. Kenta-kun would pop a boner at the tiniest stimulation, while I couldn't even eat--- how can you humans even eat anyway, if your lips are that sensitive?”

I look at Kyou-san, and she gives me a glance. 'Now we're back to our stupid days.'

'Yep.' It's like they don't even care about Gottfried anymore, but maybe that's a good thing?

Suddenly, Ara-san takes her staff and it grows its branches to catch an arrow that almost hit me in the shoulder. Without a shred of hesitation, I jump up and look at the direction where the arrow was shot with my [Farsight].

Meldorn! Next to him the mage and the priest, but where is Gottfried!? And how could they follow us that quickly? Some sort of travel magic? Or a [Skill]? “Wizard is chanting!” I realize how little [Farsight] does to detect dangers, especially as I can imagine that the wizard's spell will soon complete.

I hate being right.

He unleashes a ball of air, clearly visible by the rain it pushed aside, and as the ball flies, it grows more and more into a long twister, directly heading towards us.

Well, we have our own kind of magic. “[Crescent Moon]!” Rine's flying slash is much bigger than usual, most likely because of the danger of that twister. It rends through it, and while it reforms, it also changes its course, missing us by a big margin.

“[Watershield]!” For some reason, Ara-san engulfs us all with her shield, but then I see why... there is something in the rain, something blurry and hard to notice.

It lifts a sword and drops of rain are hurled at Ara-san's spell, which may be great against these kinds of attacks in theory, but the sheer force blasts it and us away. Luckily, I can break my fall into a roll and get back on my feet immediately, while Ara-san, who isn't in [Acrobat] right now, and Kyou-san both lie in the mud.

On the other hand, Rine never even left her feet, instead she slides through the mud on them, then swiftly uses [Swiftstride] to close the gap between her and Gottfried, who became clearly visible again. If not for Ara-san's keen senses, we may have been doomed!

*Clank, clank, clank, clank-clank-clank-clankclankclankclanclanclaclacla* Again, this speed of attacks, low, high, from every angle imaginable, though I can see that Rine's speed has improved since last time. Still, this is clearly a standstill at best, I guess the flurry of attacks is just to keep Gottfried in the defense for a while

With Meldorn so far away, I won't hit him with my bow, it's way too easy to dodge. Guess it's Gottfried, after all. “Ara-san, chant! Kyou-san, buff!” With short and sharp instructions, I grab into my belt pouch.

Like I said Rine before, I have some ideas on how to deal with Gottfried or at least keep him busy enough for us to escape or surmount a counter-attack on Meldorn. I reach for my belt pouch and take out some smoke bombs.

In this rain, the smoke won't billow as much, but it should be enough to create a smokescreen between us and Gottfried's party, so that they won't do any reckless attacks. Then Ara-san will flush Gottfried and Rine, and even if Gottfried somehow can deal with the massive water from [Tidal Wave] in a way that leaves him unharmed, this will create a window for Rine and me to deal some damage to him.

“[Protect]!” I feel how Kyou-san's empowered buff cushions me, as I create the smokescreen.

This- “Argh....” After a second of shock, I realize that I got hit with a drop of water, which Gottfried has launched from his blade. It was an attack that pierced [Protect] and my armor and I'm not sure if it hit my lung or not...

“KENTA! STOP, INSTRUCTOR! I'M YOUR OPPONENT?”

“You're flattering yourself, Hu—Stupid Disciple #1.” With the tip of his foot, Gottfried sweeps Rine's leg, but the princess uses this momentum to her advantage and launches a somersault attack, but the old man just catches her arm before it can swing and with a swift yank, he throws her into the mud. “Give up.”

“NEVER!” Rine jumps back to her feet, but then jumps back.

Ara-san has finished her rain-accelerated chanting: “[Tidal Wave]!”

“Wa-wrrrr!” Sadly, it didn't hit Gottfried, who somehow deflected the whole spell towards Kyou-san, who has no way to defend herself against that and is just flushed away.

“KYOU!” Rine tries to [Swishstride] to her, but she lands on her face, as Gottfried trips her up effortlessly. “Srraaa---”

“[Entangle]!” Ara-san uses the large grass to grasp Gottfried's legs, but that geezer is too swift, dancing between the strands easily. This looks exactly like Rine, so I guess we made him actually put a little bit of work into it?

...shit... SHIT!

I throw a smokebomb directly at Gottfried, and he deflects it back at me. YES! The smokebomb hits the [Protect]-cushion, engulfing me with smoke, but with held breath and closed eyes, I charge towards Gottfried. I can still feel him with [Wild Eyes]!

If he can't predict my movements, I may land that- AH! My teeth! I just got kneed under my chin, why would that bastard even do that!? How can he still bend his old knees that much! Shit! I didn't account that Rine can also react to dangers she can't see!

No, take your hand from my head! I can already picture in my head what will happen, only going by that motion I feel on my skin: He will drag my head lower, make a backflip kick into my stomach and use that circular movement to smash me into the ground.

Then it happens. “Uhhhh...” I hear a clank above me, a sign that Rine has just intercepted the finishing blow with her own weapon.

I roll to the side, out of the smoke. “[Heal]!” A chunk of my HP is restored, as Kyou-san throws her heal even before standing up, that's what a healer is supposed to do! Commit to make the party survive, even if it's inconvenient!

OK, we can't flush Gottfried, and even if we take his sight, it won't make him drop his guard in any way. If we can't flush him, we won't not be able to drown him, and we have no trees here for actual powerful plant-based attacks, which I assume would be even more useless.

The smokescreen is about to cease, so I throw some more smoke bombs and switch to fire bombs. Rine's armor is resistant to fire, and the hero-system seems to extend that to Rine, as according to Kyou-san, she doesn't even faze when coming close to a specific pipsqueak's [Oni Fire].

I throw one at Rine, who instinctively deflects it to her enemy, Gottfried, who then returns it back, and then Rine... god, what is that? We're not in Zelda! I thought this may startle Gottfried, seeing a bomb deflected at him, but oh well, this is also good. With both of them in a tennis match, there is enough space for me to throw more fire bombs close to Gottfried, though not exactly at him, to not cause more deflects.

The flames may not hit him, and he's certainly not paying them any heed, but maybe the heat and the flashing lights may do something.

YES! The 'ball' of the match ignited as well and now burst open, the burning liquid is... SHIT!

Like with the water before, Gottfried somehow deflected the burning liquid, this time his target is me! “[Watershield]!” Ara-san, thank you! This was scary! “Any bright ideas, Kenta-kun?”

Rine immediately charges in once more, her speed increases again and this time, she and her mentor are more like a whirlwind of blades and Gottfried even blocks her unarmed strikes with his own limbs, clearly a sign that we're cornering him!

We can win this!

Time to use a power surge! I only have three, so I have to put each of them to good use. I change to [Pikeman]. “[Speedthrust]!” I charge at Gottfried, who is currently on one leg, as he blocked a kick of Rine's with his armored shin. The speed and power of my attack is incomparable to what I mustered before, I feel like I'm about to break the wall of sound!

If I'm at sonic speed, Gottfried is at lightning speed. I see him suddenly disappearing, no, he jumped up and spun around his own axis, just so suddenly that I couldn't follow, only to use that spin to hit the behind of my back with his heel. I hit the ground, and it feels like my head is splitting.

...he will come for another: “[Rising Point!]!” Combined with my second power surge, I create a strong wind-current around me, which catapults me at where I guess Gottfried is. YES! This will hit him!

Unless he just hits the side of my spear with his sword, deflecting my weapon to the side. Why is my upper body so... ah, that's why. Seriously, I never thought that blood would gush out of me so movie-like. My armor has been cut at two points, the shoulder and the side, as Gottfried parry was at the same time also a flying slash.

I have to have my armor repaired. Why do I think of something so random? Oh, our stools are still there, together with a tarp.

Absolutely non-related thoughts flood my mind, as I see how the actual metal of his sword is about to cut me into two.

Ah, that's Rine's sword. She tries to parry Gottfried's deathbringer, but he just twists the blade slightly, to bounce hers off. It's like everything is in slow-motion, but she and Gottfried are still moving way too fast for me to do anything...

I can see Rine's face, how she cries out, trying her best to protect me. Seriously, you're always trying too hard for me.

No, what the fuck are you doing, you idiot! Are you seriously trying to punch that sword away!? At best, it will slice your hand in half!

*Zzrrrrrrinng*

Instead of that, the sword glides with a strange sound alongside Rine's hand, and is deflected, while Rine's fist is moving towards Gottfried's face, whose expression tells how unexpected that outcome was for him.

Not that Rine's punch connected, he blocks it with his palm, but the force behind it lets Gottfried—who is still as airborne as Rine and I—fly back a bit, though he will nimbly land on his feet.

“[Quagmire]!” Right into a bog Ara-san decided to just place there, which makes Gottfried sink into the mud to his knees.

Well, one thing to do. I throw a special bomb. I usually only use three kinds of bombs: Fire, smoke, and stink. Each of those bombs are affordable and easy enough to use. There are tons of other bombs, that either are too expensive or too complicated to work with for my liking.

One of those bombs used to be the flash bomb. It's a bright flash that blinds someone, which sounds like a great thing. The problem is, that it even dazzles you when you close your eyes during impact, and that I, who has the [Perception]-ability and hence enhanced senses, even suffer more from it.

This has changed. Since my last visit at an alchemist, I got the [Penetrate Light]-skill, and recently I learned how it actually works: Whenever there is light that's too bright for my eyes, the [Skill] activates, drains some SP, but makes me see through that light as if it were not there with a bit more violet in all colors during that duration. So I bought one for emergencies in racist city.

There are still a bunch of problems with flash bombs, like how my [Skill] does nothing for my party-members, but in this moment, if I'm able to blind Gottfried for some minutes... The bomb detonates close to him, while I change to [Ranger] to actually have access to my [Skill] and grab Rine's hand...

! So that's how she did it! How she deflected Gottfried's blade! She has the cursed ring on her left hand, and uses the sword in her right! His sword hit the ring, which we couldn't even scratch before, and even now it looks as always: Copper-like and picturing a lioness, no scratch, still at the same place on her finger as always.

Well, while I'm fine with just some purple in my eyes, my small fortune explodes into a blinding flash of light. Rine and Gottfried have covered their eyes, damn these instincts, but both of them are also groaning. Guess this is enough.

Kyou-san is definitely the worst off, as she holds her eyes while crying out in pain. Strangely enough, Ara-san squeezes her eyes, but quickly runs to Kyou-san and pulls her by her hand. “Kenta-kun, what to do?” These alfr-eyes are way too good in most ways!

The smokescreen may have been still too thick, and it may be too far for Meldorn and the other two, who are most likely still far away, to be subjected to the flash. Therefore, mounting an attack would be a poor choice, given that at least Rine and Kyou-san are blind as well... Yet this may be our best chance.

Then I see something that chooses for me. There is a horde of monsters coming at us from the side. Let's call them needlesheep, as they look like sheep with deer faces and needles instead of wool. They're running at us like mad, so I guess their strategy is too just run through their prey with numbers and meatgrind them.

I guess that's bad or good timing, depending on what you want to accomplish, but they will act as the perfect distraction. “Retreat.”

Ara-san's ears move quickly, most likely catching where I'm running, and follows me. I guess with her superior hearing and spirit senses, she can basically overcome any visual impairment.

We just have to run! Even if they have a [Spell] to follow us quickly enough, we need to get to the forest. There we have home advantage, there we can ambush them. It's close enough!

“Ken, you bastard! Give a warning next time! It hurts!” Kyou-san complains, so she's alright.

“If I did, he would have also been warned! I also don't plan to use them often. Why are they even produced!?” They're way too strong!

“They're used by hunters for specific monsters, and for mercenaries for retreats,” explains Rine, who has a surplus of actually interesting knowledge she just never shares, because she thinks it's common knowledge!

“Kenta-kun, what is happening behind us?”

“Monsters are attacking Gottfried, and I guess he's dismantling them.”

“Do you think Correo has sent them?”

“The timing would have been very inconvenient, if we didn't immobilize Gottfried just then.” Even if it may only hinder him for some seconds, I guess Rine's [Luck]-stat is showing its worth here, as often convenient things happen around her. “So maybe. [Share Senses]! Careful, we're going up a hill, but if we're over it, we come to a small wood. Ara-san, I need some [Quagmires] behind us!”

“This will drain my MP quite a bit.”

“Let's be honest, you can't do anything to Gottfried in the first place, when he can even deflect your [Tidal Wave]!”

“That's an unfair claim, and I feel offended by it!”

“Be that tomorrow!”

“Fair enough.” Alfr can just shut down their emotions whenever they need to, so they can be led by logic alone. That's something I want to do as well, as I'm basically pissing my pants now.

Ah, it's just the blood running down my calves. I'm so pumped with adrenaline that I can't even feel the pain right now. “Kyou-san, can you throw a heal?”

“Maybe if you touch me somewhere, I can't see you!” Well, I have my spear in one hand, Rine in the other, so I stick my weapon between my head and shoulder, which is really awkward with a spear, and put my hand on Kyou-san's shoulder, so she can aim her spell at it and in extension to me. “[Heal]!”

The wound is closing, stopping the bleeding. Not sure how deep that cut went, most likely not too much though, as otherwise my armor would be only trash right now... the armor I have made from the red bear's fur...

While I bemoan the damage to a piece of equipment that's supposed to be damaged instead of me, Ara-san makes quick work to temporarily change the terrain behind us. However, we're in the rain, so [Quagmire], a spell whose duration and power largely depends on environmental conditions, may hold long enough to make them following us really nasty.

I really wish I could take the time to trap them as well, but we need every second.

Over the hill, into the woods. The girls are slowly regaining their eyesight, and Ara-san comes closer to me. The plants around her warp away, another alfr trait I'd love to have. “Have you noticed?”

“Yes.” There are people hidden here. Not too shabbily hidden, but with [Wild Eyes] I can clearly see the strong spirits of people contrasting the weak spirits of the animals and even weaker spirits of the plants. Well, no need to act like we don't know that they're here. “Are you bandits?”

After a small pause, I hear a man calling: “GO AWAY, RANGER! WE DON'T MEDDLE WITH YOUR KIND!”

“Sure, we're just passing through.” Have we just entered a wood that contains bandit winter camp!? Well, seems like the hood has proven useful this time, I'll absolutely take it.

I feel a strange tinge inside me... If Gottfried comes after us, and these bandits get into his way, he will definitely kill all of them in a matter of seconds, as they don't have the luxury to be taken alive. So I should warn them...

Wait, they're clearly bandits, so how does a bandit come by in these lands? By raiding farmsteads and villages, that are barely holding their own against monsters. Yep, my moral conflict is overcome, no guilt whatsoever, let these assholes reap what they sowed.