Chapter 146
"I see... You want me to turn you into a jiangshi. If that's what you meant, you should have said so from the start."
"I'm sorry for phrasing it so confusingly."
Kanna's request was for me to use my 【Necromancy】 to turn her into a jiangshi. Originally, we were a group formed when the few monster players gathered together after a series of twists and turns, so there wasn't a single Human among us. As the only Human, she said she felt like she was the only one being left out.
Everyone I'd recruited was a monster too, so she certainly did stand out. I didn't mind, but I suppose the person who was "the only one" couldn't help minding.
Why she knew about jiangshi transformation was that in Huaguo, in the Aquaria Archipelago, apparently there was a custom of specially powerful people becoming jiangshi and serving as guardians of the nation. She had actually met some jiangshi with Iris and the others. They had apparently transcended the 【Fire Attribute Vulnerability】 and 【Light Attribute Vulnerability】 that had long been the weaknesses of jiangshi, becoming almost strictly superior versions of themselves from when they were alive.
In exchange, the SP required to acquire new Skills doubled, and Skills acquired after becoming a jiangshi required more experience to level up. Apparently, becoming a jiangshi made it harder to take on new things, but overcoming the weaknesses would undeniably make one stronger. Since she could become both stronger and a monster, it was a stroke of luck for Kanna.
"Ah, but I don't mean right away."
"Oh?"
"Apparently, if the person becoming a jiangshi isn't high-level, they just become weaker. The minimum is level 50. I'm still two levels short."
"I see."
"Yes. But apparently there was once a religious sect that knew this and used jiangshi as its soldiers. It seems they were wiped out a very long time ago. After that, people who could perform jiangshi transformation in Huaguo were strictly controlled."
Hmm? The reason I learned jiangshi transformation was an Undead Mage hiding in a cave, but his diary said he had come from Huaguo. If people began being controlled after the sect was wiped out, then some of them, including him, must have escaped.
But if so, some things didn't add up. His diary never mentioned anything about a sect, and if I remember correctly, it went on to say that he had been exiled because of a political upheaval. What was the difference? It was common in real-world history too for accepted theories and facts to differ, and this reeked of conspiracy or information manipulation. Had something shady happened?
Investigating that in detail would be interesting, but for now, I'd keep it to myself. If I poked at it, I had a feeling I'd stir up a hornet's nest and take a painful hit. If we were going to get involved, we should wait until we'd grown stronger!
"Then let me know once you reach level 50. Until then, I'll raise my 【Necromancy】 and 【Talisman Arts】 levels as much as possible."
"That would help a lot. Thank you."
"Then I'll go greet the other member."
"Ah, we're coming too."
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"Oh... what's this...?"
We went down outside Birdie Perch as a group of five and headed toward Kanna's husband, Ragaa, and Karu. What caught my eye was Karu chasing a white horse through the sky at high speed, its golden mane streaming behind it.
From the outside, it looked exactly like Karu was hunting the horse. Were they really just playing? This wasn't bullying, was it?
"Apparently, they're just playing tag normally, but..."
"To be honest, it really looks like someone is being attacked."
Iris and Ruby put my feelings into words. Neither of them had facial expressions, but if they had faces, they surely would have been wryly smiling.
"Gwooh!? GRAAAAAAAR!!!"
"There, there. Good one, Karu. Sorry I left you behind."
"Grrrrrrrr..."
Karu had been flying energetically around the sky, but the moment it spotted me, it came rushing over in a single bound. After landing directly in front of me, Karu rubbed its head against me. Heh heh heh, what a lovable fellow. Look at it, coming over to be pampered!
"Ah, so you're Izam-san."
As I held Karu's head and stroked it repeatedly, the horse that Karu had been chasing came running over. It was considerably larger than when I'd seen it in the tournament recording, and its mane had turned golden as well. The player must have changed appearance through several evolutions. Judging from the player name, I could more or less guess what it wanted to evolve into.
"Yes. I'm Izam, the leader. It's nice to meet you."
"How very courteous. As you know, I'm Ragaa."
Ragaa's voice was gruffer than I expected. Was he around forty? He was unquestionably older than me. We couldn't shake hands, so the two of us bowed to each other instead.
"My wife and I look forward to working with you."
"Not at all. Having the tournament champion join us is a powerful addition. And thank you for playing with Karu."
"Haha. We enjoyed it too, actually. Running around in this avatar is exciting enough on its own, and being chased by a dragon was quite a thrilling experience."
Ragaa laughed cheerfully as he said this. He really did seem to have enjoyed the situation. In that case, it was fine, but despite his appearance, he sure had a bold personality to enjoy being chased by Karu.
"Izam-san, please feel free to speak casually with my husband too. He's a grown man, but he gets depressed when people treat him like a stranger."
"Oh, is that so? Then, Ragaa, once again, I look forward to working with you."
"Haha. Likewise."
Even though he was older than me, we were companions playing together here. If he preferred casual speech, it was best to accommodate him. As I deepened my friendship with Kanna and Ragaa, Karu stopped rubbing its head against me and raised its head to look into the distance. I followed its gaze and saw a shadow climbing the cliff of Birdie Perch.
"All right! I'm gonna be the first one here!"
"How frustrating that this body has wings yet is no good at flying!"
"Gahahahaha! I lost!"
Then, just as two more shadows came climbing up, several Birdians flew up after them. I recognized those voices.
"Huh? Hey, brother! You got back before us?"
"Yeah, just a moment ago. Glad to see you look well too."
The ones who had climbed up from the edge of the cliff were the duo of Jigorou and Genzourou, along with the people who had gone with them to an island different from the one Iris and the others had visited. Had they had exhilarating adventures of their own?
"Good to see everyone is well. Is that the new companion?"
"Yeah, that's right. Well, you must have a lot to catch up on. Why don't we head back home?"
"Sure thing. Later, old man! Thanks for everything!"
"No problem! If we get the chance, let's go together again!"
Thus reunited, we said goodbye to the Birdians and returned to the clan house once more. Now then, let's share what we'd learned with one another!
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First, let's discuss what Iris and the other two girls had been doing. After arriving in Huaguo, they began traveling with Kanna and Ragaa, whom they had hit it off with as fellow players.
After that, just before Shio set out to undertake the 'Trial of the Azure Moon' with several Birdians, Iris and the others accepted a quest to defeat a certain monster. Its name was 'Heaven's Mercy.' Every few months, Twin Dragon Island was overrun by large numbers of various snake-like monsters, and the main objective was to hunt the ones that had built nests on the outskirts of town.
Why had the client chosen Iris and the others for this quest? The reason was the Title 'Friend of the Water Dragon Lord' held by Iris and Ruby. The person who came to commission them was an official from Huaguo, but apparently the true clients were none other than the two Dragon Emperors who stood at the top of Huaguo.
Not Lords, but Emperors. They were an even higher Race than Lord Agnasrerim, whom I had seen. The Title's effect meant that intelligent dragons thought highly of us, and apparently the request had come through that connection. You never know what will set a flag.
After completing the quest, everyone apparently acquired the new Title 'Acquaintance of the Wind Dragon Emperor.' Their stats hadn't changed, and its effect was apparently almost the same as 'Friend of the Water Dragon Lord.' Still, if the effects stacked, things could get interesting.
Next were the battle-junkie duo, Jigorou and Genzourou. Apparently, those two had spent all their time fighting on Heavenly Spirit Island, one of the two large islands in the Aquaria Archipelago. Most of the time, they sparred with various youkai at dojos, and occasionally they fought powerful youkai to the death.
Afterward, Jigorou acquired the new Title 'Direct Disciple of the Great Tengu,' while Genzourou got 'Heavenly Spirit Island Swordsmanship Instructor.' On top of that, both of them had evolved their weapon-based Skills.
No, I have to say this much. Aren't they all doing more event-related stuff than the actual event? My Japanese is getting weird, but I can't help it this time!
"I understand pretty well how everyone spent their time. Next, I'd like to decide who will come with me to pick them up."
Well, whatever. When I said I'd picked a fight with a goddess, she burst out laughing, so I should still have plenty of impact. More importantly, now that we'd finished sharing information, the question was what to do next.
The very first thing I needed to do was bring Eiji and Toji here. Unlike everyone else, they were far too far away. We needed to go pick them up, which meant I had to choose who would come with me.
There were several reasons we absolutely had to limit the number of people. Most importantly, Base Teleport couldn't be used to bring along a player who had never been to that location. So we needed to somehow get the two of them to Vetus Floating Island.
I was definitely going, and Karu, who would serve as our transport, was unquestionably necessary. Adding Eiji and Toji, whom we were going to pick up, made four. Since a party could have six people, that left two slots. The question was who would fill them.
"I'm coming with you! I'm interested in desert enemies!"
"A nation of warriors... How intriguing."
"There might be new production technology!"
"It's nice going to all sorts of places, isn't it?"
That's right—the four veteran members were all raring to go. I understood how they felt, but couldn't any of them yield? Especially the two adult men!
"I'm gonna pass. I want to level up, and there are lots of flying enemies around here that make good practice."
"I want to run around the area here."
"So, we'll sit this one out too."
It seemed Shio, Kanna, and Ragaa had no intention of going. They clearly told me they each had things they wanted to do, but without a doubt, part of it was also consideration for us. Well, "I'm gonna pass because I want to level up."
"I want to run around the area here."
"So, we'll sit this one out too."
It seemed Shio, Kanna, and Ragaa had no intention of going. In Ragaa's case, his body was so large that taking him along would put too much strain on Karu as our transport, so I had actually been planning to talk him out of it. It was a relief.
"Huh? Shii-chan isn't going? Then I'm passing too."
"Hmm. If Ruby isn't going, I suppose I'll stay too. Even though we're playing the same game, it's lonely to be apart again and again."
"Grandpa!"
Ruby lightly smacked Genzourou over and over to hide her embarrassment. The sight of a grandfather and granddaughter playing together was heartwarming even though they were an Insector and a Slime. With the two of them withdrawing, the two people accompanying me were decided.
"The first three, then, brother?"
"Looks that way."
"Somehow, it's been a while since the three of us acted together."
Iris was right. It was unusual for the original trio who had first banded together to go adventuring alone.
In any case, the members were decided. Next time I logged in, I'd go pick up Eiji and Toji!