Once Zelos and the coccos had sparred to their satisfaction, they switched to lighter exercise that resembled tai chi chuan.
This too was part of their daily routine, and they did it after every morning sparring session.
While Ukei was the hand-to-hand combat specialist, Zankei and Senkei joined too. They knew they couldn’t beat every enemy with swordsmanship or assassination alone, so they made sure to train for every potential combat situation.
They were devoted martial artists.
“What are you three training so hard for, anyway?” Zelos asked them.
“Bok.” (“For what our instincts tell us we must do.”)
“Bo-kawk, ka-ka.” (“Yes. Someday, we must go there.”)
“Ca-caw-ca...” (“To the land that humans call the Green Depths...”)
Like all monsters, their survival instincts drove them to seek out strong foes. To fight those foes, devour them, then set out on the search for other, even stronger opponents.
“Ba-ka-ka-caw!” (“I promise you, Leader—one day, we shall return with news that we have defeated a dragon!”)
“A dragon? I don’t know exactly what kind of dragon you have in mind, but let me warn you: You’ll have to become demon lords yourselves if you want to put up a fight against something like a dragon ruler. They’re the strongest creatures out there, and they pride themselves on their strength.”
“Ca-caw. Bo-kaka!” (“Hah. You only make my wings itch for combat all the more!”)
“Bok-a-caw, a-keck-kah!” (“Challenging the ultimate foe is what makes a man a man. Just you watch, we will scale those lofty heights!”)
Zelos had only fired them up. And these three, he thought, might actually be able to do it. The realization scared him a little.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but he could swear he saw the flames of the trio’s resolve burning behind them.
“Well, then, how about we get breakfast ready?”
“A-bok.” (“We shall pick bugs from the fields.”)
“Ke-caw ca-caw!” (“May we find the juiciest of earthworms!”)
“Bu-keh, cack...” (“Or snakes, or lizards...”)
With that, the coccos rushed off into the fields, intent on filling their bellies.
As they left, Zelos had a realization: Ah. I was wondering where all the bugs around my farm went. Guess that explains it...
Zelos was unaware, but wild coccos were akin to slimes: They were Mother Nature’s janitors. They scavenged corpses and preyed on insects, which made them beneficial to humans.
“Wonder if I can borrow the kitchen?” Zelos muttered, turning to open the door to the mayor’s house.
The place had been such a mess after last night’s chaos, but thanks to Lisa and Shakti, it was much cleaner now.
“Good morning, you two.”
“Morning, Zelos,” Lisa replied.
“It’s the first thing in the morning, and you’re out fighting like your life’s on the line,” Shakti said. “Don’t tell me you train like that every day?”
“Well, yes. The little things have been getting tougher and tougher lately. Can’t let my guard down around them anymore, I can tell you that! Aha ha ha!”
How is he so nonchalant about it? He’s training those things to be the perfect human-killers! both women thought.
And they weren’t wrong.
Zelos was probably far stronger than anyone born in this world, so it was hard to believe any normal human stood even a remote chance against the ridiculous monsters he’d raised.
In fact, there was zero chance.
The coccos had started evolving in strange ways too, and if they ever reproduced, they could very well become a threat worse than a monster stampede.
Together, they could slice, shoot, and strike, and each of them had mastered skills for close-quarters combat.
Not to mention, their obsession with battle meant they’d only obey the strong. The more you thought about it, the more trouble it seemed they might cause.
“Good morning, everyone. Oh? It’s so much cleaner here now!”
“Well, if it isn’t Uru,” Zelos said. “Good morning. Coming back from the fields, are we?”
“Yes—I was just planting some wheat. And some potaroes.”
Uru was carrying an empty basket on his back that he’d probably been using for some early morning farmwork.
A potaro was like a cross between a potato and a sweet potato. They were sown in the winter and harvested in early summer. They grew well in open fields too.
The only problem was that these root vegetables attracted all sorts of hungry monsters, especially megamice, fangboars, and dommoths, which were like small elephants. Mercenaries appreciated the work they got out of it, at least.
“We’re sorry about what happened,” Lisa said. “It’s, like...we showed up and immediately turned your house into a mess...”
“Yeah. Really—we apologize.” Shakti nodded. “We can’t fix what’s broken, but we’ve cleaned up as best we can.”
“Oh, no, no, it just goes to show how much Yui loves him,” Uru said. “Honestly, I’m kind of jealous. Besides, it was old junk anyway. My grandfather has a hobby of collecting weird curios, that’s all.”
What a forgiving guy... the other three thought.
A lot of the broken objects had been hard to identify, but they had looked like they were from native tribes: a wooden mask that seemed like it’d be used for some mysterious ritual, a wooden rod with strange carvings, and so on.
It would’ve made sense for a scholar of folk traditions to own things like this, but it was hard to say why the mayor of a small village had all these strange items.
Everyone had their hobbies, sure, but most of these were things your average person wouldn’t even think of buying. They looked like the sort of stuff you’d find in the clearance bin of a souvenir shop.
“Oh, you’re all up! Good morning,” Yui said as she entered the room.
“Good morning, Yui,” Uru replied. “Did you sleep well last night?”
“Like a log!”
“You’re pregnant, remember, so please don’t push yourself,” Uru said, taking Yui’s hands into his own and peering into her eyes. “This is an important time—your child should be your top priority.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa... Hold on a minute! the other three thought. Is he seriously just worried about her?! Or is this...
Perhaps it was their imagination, but something about the way Uru was looking at Yui felt passionate.
Zelos, Shakti, and Lisa exchanged a look and started whispering.
“Surely not, but does he... Does he have a thing for her?”
“I could see it. He might just be in love...”
Uru looked like the very picture of a lovestruck man as he spoke to Yui.
And the more the trio thought about it, the more confident they became: Ah... Yikes. This is going to end in blood, isn’t it?
At that moment, Ado, with the worst timing imaginable, staggered inside with a yawn. “Jeez... My whole body’s killing me. And the sun seems so bright...”
He looked unusually exhausted, and a quick glance at him gave Zelos an idea of what had happened.
Ado had seemed perfectly okay when they parted ways yesterday, but now he could barely stay on his feet. Zelos had seen the same thing happen to one of the guys he managed back on Earth after the fellow had stopped at a lover’s house overnight.
Of course, Zelos didn’t think Ado was the sort of scumbag who’d get down with his wife when she was this far pregnant. Most likely, then, he’d poured everything he had into calming her down, especially after their emotional, rage-inciting reunion.
He’d probably spent the entire night coming up with line after desperate line of sweet nothings, each saccharine enough to rot teeth. It must have been a romantic night—well, for Yui, at least...
As a matter of fact, Yui was in great spirits this morning, while Ado seemed as exhausted as a soldier returning from the battlefield.
It must have felt like a life-or-death mission for him. After all, one wrong word and kitchen knives could’ve started flying again.
That was how Zelos read the situation, at least. He forced a strained smile at the thought.
Uru called out to Ado, oblivious to the look on Zelos’s face. He gave a quiet laugh.
“Well, if it isn’t our good friend Ado? It seemed like you were having a grand old time last night, hmm?”
Ado wasn’t sure how to respond—but that wasn’t the problem here. “Huh? Uh... Sorry?”
Uru knew exactly what had gone down between Ado and Yui last night.
The mayor’s house hadn’t exactly been built with privacy in mind. Uru, in the adjoining room, had overheard every last passionate word through the thin wall.
If he really was in love with Yui, it must have been torture for him.
And Ado, unfortunately, was slow to notice the change in Uru’s demeanor.
Ordinarily, he would’ve noticed, but he was too mentally exhausted to register the black aura of spite oozing out of the mayor’s grandson.
The other three, however, could very clearly tell that Uru had just turned to the dark side. They had a feeling this was going to end in violence.
Fuuuuuuck...
“My word... You really must be a carefree man, leaving your wife all alone as you gallivant around the world, hmm?”
“Carefree? C’mon, man. I’ve fought in some huge battles. I’ve nearly starved to death...”
“That’s no excuse. You’re about to be a father. Don’t you think you should’ve been caring for your wife instead?”
“If you’ve got a problem, take it up with the Four Gods. They’re the ones who put me— Urgh, that just reminded me how annoyed I am that we didn’t get to finish them off.”
“Not much we could’ve done,” Zelos reminded him. “That bug-hero guy was just too strong. Honestly, if we’d gone for the gods there, we might’ve just gotten in his way.”
Despite his words, Zelos felt the same as Ado. He regretted becoming so enraptured by the heroic figure that he’d turned into a mere spectator.
He still felt like he should’ve gone straight for his targets and finished them off the moment he had the chance, and he resented his otaku spirit for making him miss the opportunity.
“The Four Gods?” Uru repeated. “You hate the Faith, then. I’m a mage too, so I get it—but what do some gods who may or may not even exist have to do with what we’re talking about?”
“It’s not just us two,” Ado said. “Lisa and Shakti over there, and Yui as well—we’re all victims of the Four Gods. It’s their fault we got split up in the first place. Most of us were dropped into the middle of nowhere.”
“He’s right,” Zelos said. “There might’ve even been others who died, but it’s hard to know for sure. Now, we’ve got our sights set on exterminating the gods responsible. Who knows how many people they’ve caused hell for...”