With no further questions asked, Ren and Erizora were asked to show their adventurer ID cards to confirm their ranks and classes so that he’d have a report of the updated participants in my party who’ll act as Lady Krauss’ escorts. He’d include Kalline’s info, of course, and being her uncle, he’s well aware of his niece’s current rank and class.
Just a reminder, our current ranks are me as black, Ume’s red, Erizora’s blue, and Ren’s green. With Kalline, also a blue rank, now added into our party, our current party rank would now be red. I guess there’s a system where a party’s rank is the average from the number of people in it and their own adventurer ranks.
Once Eugus had everything written down, he said we could use the meeting room for Lili to take the girls’ measurements in before he dismissed us, stepped out of the meeting room and called out for the nearest Harpy to deliver the report to Lady Krauss.
Surprisingly, it was Dorora, the same one who has helped me a number of times today, who happened to be standing nearby in the hallway. Once Eugus handed the report to Dorora in an envelope and instructed her to get the message to Lady Krauss in Palocaesy before the end of the day, he took his leave for further business.
Instead of going to do her job right away though, Dorora somehow approaches me with her bird talon-like hands holding the envelope behind her back. She’s a little shorter than me, so she had to look up a little, somehow giving her a child-like, innocent aura like a kid talking to an adult of curious interest.
“Can I help you with something?” I ask her while the others watch in.
“I just wanted to give my congratulations on winning your duel against Guild Master. It’s not very easy to win over him in a match-up like that, you know, so I thought you handling him the way you did was very impressive. Oh, and I know it’s a bit late but my name’s Dorora, by the way. You can call me Dodo.”
“Oh, well, uh … thanks? And it’s nice to meet you, Dodo, I’m Jinma.”
Dodo then giggles. “Well, of course I know who you are, silly, but it’s nice to meet you, too!”
Nyra says in my mind.
… You’re not seriously suggesting?
“So~, I know I’ve been handed with an important task all of a sudden, but we Harpies who have taken long-distance delivery missions can finish their work days early. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m kind of one of the fastest Harpies for these sorts of things,” Dodo continues.
“That’s impressive.”
“Right? So, I was wondering, do you … have any plans for tonight? I know a nice restaurant that serves good chicken. Maybe we can get to know each other over some nice food?”
“That sounds good, but I’m afraid I already have plans with someone else for tonight.”
For the record, Dodo here has light-blue feathers on her wings and they’re the same color as her hair tied in a short ponytail. They actually look more periwinkle on closer inspection but Nyra’s nickname for her seems on point.
“Well, darn, I guess it can’t be helped if you already have plans. Maybe some other time like, say, tomorrow night?”
“I’m afraid I’ll be out of town starting tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
I don’t recall ever making a plan like that. Besides, do you even know why she suddenly started talking to me now like this of all times instead of earlier?
Perhaps you forgot how the total amount of money in my adventurer’s account was blatantly revealed to everyone in the coliseum? Come on, Nyra, surely you had at least a friend or two who were gold diggers?
With that whole mental exchange happening within a few seconds with my ‘Hyper Thought Processing’ skill, Dodo’s disappointment is apparent in her sigh. “I get it. It’s one of those long-term quests you gotta do, right? Well, it can’t be helped,” she says while shrugging. “You gotta do what you gotta do, but hit me up whenever you get back. I wanna hear about your adventures with your friends soon.”
Did you just speak English?
… Oh, that’s likely one of my aunts, and the ‘monster’ in the box is her pet cat. She worked as a mangaka and I helped out with her manuscripts while cooking her a decent meal from time to time. We were probably dicking around and making fun of the cheesy romance stories that normies would eat up at the time. Her cat never liked me though, so she had to put her in that box to avoid me getting scratched. It’s a shame, because she looked so cute that I wanted to pet her.
‘Happy’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. Mametama might not have been a familiar I was expecting at first but I know I was going to have a lot of fun spoiling her when I have the chance.
Just as Dodo was about to leave, seeing her wings reminds me of something. “Actually, Dodo, before you go, can I ask you something?”
“But of course!”
“You’ve been to a lot of places, right? Seen a lot of flying, feathered creatures in bright colors, maybe?”
“Hmm, I do get around and see the occasional bird but I think there are more bright-colored Harpies out there than there are flying feathered monsters. Why do you ask?”
I take my MIB and reach into one of the pouches to pull out the light blond-colored feather Ume found for me this morning. “Do you happen to know anything about who or what owned this … feather?”
As soon as I held up the feather in front of Dodo, her face turns very pale that’s unfit for her character.
“W-Where … d-d-did you get that?” Dodo stutters.
“Uh, Ume found it for me while we were in the fields?”
“I thought it looked really pretty so I had to pick it up. Don’t you think so?” Ume asks the others to which most of them agreed. Only Kalline strangely had a serious expression.
“May I see that, Master Jinma?”
With a quirked brow, I handed the feather over to Kalline and she checks it with close inspection. “Hmm … yes, I do believe this is a Harpy feather. Judging by the sheen and color, I am positive this belongs to—”
“Don’t say her name!” Dodo practically screams, scaring us.
“Whoa, Dodo, what’s the matter—”
“Stay back!” she yelps, jumping back and hides behind the wall, trembling so much that some of her feathers start to fall. “Jinma, if you know what’s good for you, you get rid of that feather! Toss it, burn it, or whatever! Just keep that away and don’t come any closer! In fact, don’t talk to me ever again! I don’t want anything to do with the ‘Terror of the Skies!’”
“‘Terror of the Skies?!’” “Did somebody say ‘Terror of the Skies?!” “No! Not the Terror!” “Is she nearby?!” “Don’t just sit there like a Gluck! Everybody, fly!”
““AAAAAUGH!””
A chorus of screams sounded through the guild follow by many ruffling feathers. Looking outside of the window, we see Dorora and many other Harpies flying away from the guild in panic as fast as possible. I think I even see Imps and Arch Imps among them, too.
“The heck was that all about?” Ume asks.
“Are you asking about how all of the Harpies in the guild suddenly flew off or how that Dorora girl told Master to stay away from her so rudely after she tried to seduce him? If I even see that damn bird again, I’ll show her my own brand of terror for disrespecting Master,” Ren says while pulling out both of her daggers with a darkened expression.
“The ‘Terror of the Skies’ … I feel like I might’ve heard that name before,” Erizora says.
“‘Twould not be surprising if thou did, Erizora, for this Harpy goes by the name of Tyvera, and just like Ms. Gabriella who was mentioned earlier, this one is with the ‘Duke of Demon’s Disciples’ as well,” Kalline says. “I have only seen her a few times but I certainly could not forget those golden feathers like the one we have here.”
“What makes this Tyvera chick so much of a ‘terror’ that would scare off the Harpies here by mentioning her title?” Ume asks.
“Well, thou art all aware that most flying monsters are weak against Storm-type magic and attacks, yes? Well, the same can be said for flying races like most of the Harpies, emphasis on most.”
“Are you saying this Tyvera can resist Storm-attribute attacks?” Ren asks.
“Forget ‘resisting,’ she can harness the power of Storm, add its attribute to her attacks and skills, and can recover her strength while growing even more powerful from it when used against her. Add in the strong Water-attribute resistance and she would not slow down from her feathers getting wet as the liquids would just slide right off. Hence, becoming the dreadful adversary that we know as the ‘Terror of the Skies’ today. Now, keep in mind I only know this much from hearsay, but if what I had heard were true, I can imagine those feats were only made possible by a special ability that she was ‘blessed’ from birth.”
“Ah, you mean she’s one of the Gifted,” Tenaka says.
“Precisely. Now, was this feather always this clean and pristine when it was found in the field?”
“I used magic to clean the feather before giving it to Jin but it was more or less the same condition as it is right now,” Ume answers.
“Then that means she was at that same field fairly recently before the two of thee showed up. I do not know what Ms. Tyvera’s intentions were when she passed over that field, it would be optimistic to say this was only pure coincidence, but since another disciple, Ms. Gabriella, was around a fair amount of distance from her, I believe we should proceed in our travel to Palocaesy with caution.”
“Wow, it all makes so much sense, you’re turning out to be a better advisor than what we could’ve hoped for!” Ren exclaims.
“Indeed. The skills you’re displaying right now would make you a good Huntress,” Mametama adds
“Th-Thou think so? I only came to that conclusion with circumstantial evidence, but what dost thou think, Master Jinma?
“…”
“Master Jinma?”
“H-Huh? Oh, yeah, I also think we should … stay cautious.”
“Jin, are you all right? You’re looking kind of … distant,” Ume says.
“I’m fine …” Or I will be once this nostalgia of feeling dead and empty from getting royally rejected by a girl I barely made acquaintance with passes.
With no further questions asked, Ren and Erizora were asked to show their adventurer ID cards to confirm their ranks and classes so that he’d have a report of the updated participants in my party who’ll act as Lady Krauss’ escorts. He’d include Kalline’s info, of course, and being her uncle, he’s well aware of his niece’s current rank and class.
Just a reminder, our current ranks are me as black, Ume’s red, Erizora’s blue, and Ren’s green. With Kalline, also a blue rank, now added into our party, our current party rank would now be red. I guess there’s a system where a party’s rank is the average from the number of people in it and their own adventurer ranks.
Once Eugus had everything written down, he said we could use the meeting room for Lili to take the girls’ measurements in before he dismissed us, stepped out of the meeting room and called out for the nearest Harpy to deliver the report to Lady Krauss.
Surprisingly, it was Dorora, the same one who has helped me a number of times today, who happened to be standing nearby in the hallway. Once Eugus handed the report to Dorora in an envelope and instructed her to get the message to Lady Krauss in Palocaesy before the end of the day, he took his leave for further business.
Instead of going to do her job right away though, Dorora somehow approaches me with her bird talon-like hands holding the envelope behind her back. She’s a little shorter than me, so she had to look up a little, somehow giving her a child-like, innocent aura like a kid talking to an adult of curious interest.
“Can I help you with something?” I ask her while the others watch in.
“I just wanted to give my congratulations on winning your duel against Guild Master. It’s not very easy to win over him in a match-up like that, you know, so I thought you handling him the way you did was very impressive. Oh, and I know it’s a bit late but my name’s Dorora, by the way. You can call me Dodo.”
“Oh, well, uh … thanks? And it’s nice to meet you, Dodo, I’m Jinma.”
Dodo then giggles. “Well, of course I know who you are, silly, but it’s nice to meet you, too!”
Nyra says in my mind.
… You’re not seriously suggesting?
“So~, I know I’ve been handed with an important task all of a sudden, but we Harpies who have taken long-distance delivery missions can finish their work days early. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m kind of one of the fastest Harpies for these sorts of things,” Dodo continues.
“That’s impressive.”
“Right? So, I was wondering, do you … have any plans for tonight? I know a nice restaurant that serves good chicken. Maybe we can get to know each other over some nice food?”
“That sounds good, but I’m afraid I already have plans with someone else for tonight.”
For the record, Dodo here has light-blue feathers on her wings and they’re the same color as her hair tied in a short ponytail. They actually look more periwinkle on closer inspection but Nyra’s nickname for her seems on point.
“Well, darn, I guess it can’t be helped if you already have plans. Maybe some other time like, say, tomorrow night?”
“I’m afraid I’ll be out of town starting tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
I don’t recall ever making a plan like that. Besides, do you even know why she suddenly started talking to me now like this of all times instead of earlier?
Perhaps you forgot how the total amount of money in my adventurer’s account was blatantly revealed to everyone in the coliseum? Come on, Nyra, surely you had at least a friend or two who were gold diggers?
With that whole mental exchange happening within a few seconds with my ‘Hyper Thought Processing’ skill, Dodo’s disappointment is apparent in her sigh. “I get it. It’s one of those long-term quests you gotta do, right? Well, it can’t be helped,” she says while shrugging. “You gotta do what you gotta do, but hit me up whenever you get back. I wanna hear about your adventures with your friends soon.”
Did you just speak English?
… Oh, that’s likely one of my aunts, and the ‘monster’ in the box is her pet cat. She worked as a mangaka and I helped out with her manuscripts while cooking her a decent meal from time to time. We were probably dicking around and making fun of the cheesy romance stories that normies would eat up at the time. Her cat never liked me though, so she had to put her in that box to avoid me getting scratched. It’s a shame, because she looked so cute that I wanted to pet her.
‘Happy’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. Mametama might not have been a familiar I was expecting at first but I know I was going to have a lot of fun spoiling her when I have the chance.
Just as Dodo was about to leave, seeing her wings reminds me of something. “Actually, Dodo, before you go, can I ask you something?”
“But of course!”
“You’ve been to a lot of places, right? Seen a lot of flying, feathered creatures in bright colors, maybe?”
“Hmm, I do get around and see the occasional bird but I think there are more bright-colored Harpies out there than there are flying feathered monsters. Why do you ask?”
I take my MIB and reach into one of the pouches to pull out the light blond-colored feather Ume found for me this morning. “Do you happen to know anything about who or what owned this … feather?”
As soon as I held up the feather in front of Dodo, her face turns very pale that’s unfit for her character.
“W-Where … d-d-did you get that?” Dodo stutters.
“Uh, Ume found it for me while we were in the fields?”
“I thought it looked really pretty so I had to pick it up. Don’t you think so?” Ume asks the others to which most of them agreed. Only Kalline strangely had a serious expression.
“May I see that, Master Jinma?”
With a quirked brow, I handed the feather over to Kalline and she checks it with close inspection. “Hmm … yes, I do believe this is a Harpy feather. Judging by the sheen and color, I am positive this belongs to—”
“Don’t say her name!” Dodo practically screams, scaring us.
“Whoa, Dodo, what’s the matter—”
“Stay back!” she yelps, jumping back and hides behind the wall, trembling so much that some of her feathers start to fall. “Jinma, if you know what’s good for you, you get rid of that feather! Toss it, burn it, or whatever! Just keep that away and don’t come any closer! In fact, don’t talk to me ever again! I don’t want anything to do with the ‘Terror of the Skies!’”
“‘Terror of the Skies?!’” “Did somebody say ‘Terror of the Skies?!” “No! Not the Terror!” “Is she nearby?!” “Don’t just sit there like a Gluck! Everybody, fly!”
““AAAAAUGH!””
A chorus of screams sounded through the guild follow by many ruffling feathers. Looking outside of the window, we see Dorora and many other Harpies flying away from the guild in panic as fast as possible. I think I even see Imps and Arch Imps among them, too.
“The heck was that all about?” Ume asks.
“Are you asking about how all of the Harpies in the guild suddenly flew off or how that Dorora girl told Master to stay away from her so rudely after she tried to seduce him? If I even see that damn bird again, I’ll show her my own brand of terror for disrespecting Master,” Ren says while pulling out both of her daggers with a darkened expression.
“The ‘Terror of the Skies’ … I feel like I might’ve heard that name before,” Erizora says.
“‘Twould not be surprising if thou did, Erizora, for this Harpy goes by the name of Tyvera, and just like Ms. Gabriella who was mentioned earlier, this one is with the ‘Duke of Demon’s Disciples’ as well,” Kalline says. “I have only seen her a few times but I certainly could not forget those golden feathers like the one we have here.”
“What makes this Tyvera chick so much of a ‘terror’ that would scare off the Harpies here by mentioning her title?” Ume asks.
“Well, thou art all aware that most flying monsters are weak against Storm-type magic and attacks, yes? Well, the same can be said for flying races like most of the Harpies, emphasis on most.”
“Are you saying this Tyvera can resist Storm-attribute attacks?” Ren asks.
“Forget ‘resisting,’ she can harness the power of Storm, add its attribute to her attacks and skills, and can recover her strength while growing even more powerful from it when used against her. Add in the strong Water-attribute resistance and she would not slow down from her feathers getting wet as the liquids would just slide right off. Hence, becoming the dreadful adversary that we know as the ‘Terror of the Skies’ today. Now, keep in mind I only know this much from hearsay, but if what I had heard were true, I can imagine those feats were only made possible by a special ability that she was ‘blessed’ from birth.”
“Ah, you mean she’s one of the Gifted,” Tenaka says.
“Precisely. Now, was this feather always this clean and pristine when it was found in the field?”
“I used magic to clean the feather before giving it to Jin but it was more or less the same condition as it is right now,” Ume answers.
“Then that means she was at that same field fairly recently before the two of thee showed up. I do not know what Ms. Tyvera’s intentions were when she passed over that field, it would be optimistic to say this was only pure coincidence, but since another disciple, Ms. Gabriella, was around a fair amount of distance from her, I believe we should proceed in our travel to Palocaesy with caution.”
“Wow, it all makes so much sense, you’re turning out to be a better advisor than what we could’ve hoped for!” Ren exclaims.
“Indeed. The skills you’re displaying right now would make you a good Huntress,” Mametama adds
“Th-Thou think so? I only came to that conclusion with circumstantial evidence, but what dost thou think, Master Jinma?
“…”
“Master Jinma?”
“H-Huh? Oh, yeah, I also think we should … stay cautious.”
“Jin, are you all right? You’re looking kind of … distant,” Ume says.
“I’m fine …” Or I will be once this nostalgia of feeling dead and empty from getting royally rejected by a girl I barely made acquaintance with passes.
