After about five minutes, the two managed to wipe out the Little Goblins.
“Good work out there,” I said. “First Heal.” I cast the healing magic one more time on the two after they had finished fighting.
“Thank you very much for healing us! That really helps,” one of them said.
“Thanks,” the other added gratefully.
“I just wanted to try out my healing magic, so no need to worry about it,” I said. If anything, it feels awkward to be thanked.
“Well, you have been getting thanked non-stop since yesterday...” said Nemesis. Her weight then unexpectedly disappeared from my right hand, and she was standing next to me in her human form.
“Huh? What?!” one of them gasped.
“Oh? Are you...” asked the other.
The two of them appeared to be surprised, but Nemesis paid no mind to that and just stared at the imp girl.
“I see, I see,” said Nemesis. “A fellow Maiden... no, a Guardian, huh? However, it’s rare for a Guardian to look this close to a human.”
“Hey, stop staring at her, Nemesis,” I said. “That’s rude.”
“My apologies,” she said. “I was just curious about something.”
Just what that something was... well, I was curious about it, too.
“I’m sorry, my Embryo was being rude,” I said.
“Please don’t worry about it,” said the other player. “That’s amazing, though. There are even Embryos that transform!”
“That’s right. I’m Nemesis, a Type Maiden with Arms Embryo!” Nemesis introduced herself with such vigor it seemed like a sound effect should’ve accompanied her.
...This is embarrassing.
“Oh, sorry for the late introduction, but I’m Ray Starling,” I said. “I started playing Infinite Dendrogram yesterday.”
“Ah, I’m Rook,” said the other player. “I also just started playing yesterday.”
“I’m Babylon! A Type Guardian Embryo! Call me Babi, okay?” the girl announced.
“Rook and Babi,” I repeated back their names. “I have to say, though, weren’t Guardians supposed to be a type of monster?”
Other than her tail and wings, Babi looks exactly like a human. You could even say that there’s no difference, since I’m pretty sure tails and wings can be added when creating a character. If I had to say which she looked more like, between a monster and a human, I would say a human.
“That’s because I’m a succubus!” she declared. “I’m sexy and cute and everyone falls head over heels for me!”
Succubus......... a succubus?
“Babi, I told you not to be so open about that in front of people...!” Rook wailed.
“Whaaat? But I’m an Embryo that takes pride in being a succubus, so it’s not embarrassing at all.”
“It’s embarrassing for me!” he cried.
“...Rook, you’re embarrassed by me?” Babi looked at him with puppy dog eyes.
Even as someone on the sidelines, I thought that looking up at him with teary eyes was just unfair.
Rook became flustered in an instant. “You see, umm, I’m not embarrassed by you, Babi. It’s just that it’d be embarrassing if people were to start prying into my inner thoughts since you were born from me, you see...”
What is this sense of deja vu? I thought. Also, I feel like I could get along with Rook.
“Now, now, you shouldn’t cause too much trouble for your Master, Babi,” Nemesis scolded.
“You’re one to talk,” I muttered.
✦ ✦ ✦
Rook and Babi were done with their hunting, so we decided to band up and make our way back to the capital as one group. And, since we had no reason not to, Nemesis and I invited them to our little sweets party.
They gladly accepted, but...
“Peaches sure are delicious this time of year.” Despite it being her first time eating peach tarts, Nemesis spoke as though she knew everything about it and hastily sank her teeth into her seventeenth serving.
“No sweet thing is complete without this.” Babi poured chili sauce all over her strawberry parfait.
“...No, chili sauce shouldn’t even be an option,” I said.
“I think so, too...” Rook agreed. “But the speed at which Nemesis eats is also quite...”
“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean...” I said.
The scene before us was strange in many ways. For example, despite not being older than a day, Nemesis and Babi were familiar with the concept of seasonal fruit, they had their own tastes, and they expressed awareness of flavoring.
Yesterday Nemesis had told me that, despite being humanoid in form, she wasn’t really like us. But that didn’t stop the sight before me from seriously throwing me off.
“When born, we Embryos make use of our Master’s memories,” she had explained after reading my mind. “Our knowledge of this world came from the world’s system, but our knowledge of worldly affairs came from our Masters.”
Oh, so that’s how she knows about peach seasons and the like.
“Basically, we Embryos know everything about our Masters,” she added.
“What kind of girls do I prefer, then?” I asked.
“Ones like me, of course!”
“Wrong.”
“Why?!” she howled.
So, to sum it up, they didn’t know everything, but merely came equipped with common sense.
“Still, what kind of common sense would make Babi eat something so... blasphemous?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Perhaps she does it because it’s blasphemous, no?” Nemesis answered. “After all, her name is Babylon, right?”
The Whore of Babylon was a figure from the Book of Revelation, often portrayed riding a seven-headed beast as she spread depravity, adultery, and defilement, making her a sworn enemy of the martyr. I had no idea if any of that applied to Babi, but Nemesis had the name of the Greek goddess of vengeance or divine punishment, and befittingly, her ability was a counterattack. There was reason to believe that Embryo names were related to their powers.
“That aside, Babi, being a succubus, you must know many ways to express your sexuality and make men go crazy about you,” Nemesis commented.
What the hell are you saying, you damn goth loli?
“Of course I do,” said Babi.
D-Does she really?
Babi’s words actually made Rook choke on his food a bit.
“Ho ho...” Nemesis said gleefully. “Care to share?”
“Umm, there’s the shoulder massage, the massage where you lightly step on the lower back, and the best one — the lap-pillow and ear-cleaning combo! Sexy, right?!” Babi exclaimed.
“...Hm?” Nemesis asked.
Sexy? I thought. None of that goes beyond normal massage. I wouldn’t even call it “lewd.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear. Don’t you have anything befitting the name ‘Whore of Babylon?’” Nemesis asked.
“Like?” Babi looked puzzled.
“W-Well, I-I’m not one to know...”
Don’t give her a question that flusters yourself, you damn goth loli.
“Umm... I’m underage, so I think that Babi is just acting accordingly...” Rook stopped choking on his food and gave us a highly agreeable reason.
“Ahh, age restrictions, huh.” I expressed my understanding. Just like they affected alcohol and tobacco, age restrictions reduced the sexiness of succubi to the point of making it equivalent to girls giving massages to their dads.
Man is it hard to tell if Infinite Dendrogram is wholesome or indecent.
✦ ✦ ✦
Before parting ways, Rook and I — both being newbies — made a little promise to party up and go adventuring sometime.
Also, Rook didn’t have a job yet. In fact, he’d started playing without having read anything about the game, so he didn’t even know how to get one.
I let him take a look at the Suitable Job Diagnostics Catalog my brother had given me, and he quickly found a job he was interested in. To make it into a little surprise for the next time we partied up, I chose not to ask what it was.
Anyway, after Rook and I went our own ways, I walked to the northern Noz Forest.
“Shall we?” I asked Nemesis.
“Yes, let’s raise your level.”
With Nemesis already in her greatsword form, I entered the second easiest hunting ground in the capital’s surroundings.
Unlike Easter Plains, this place had a number of trees that took a toll on visibility. The forest was so dense that it was hard to see twenty meters ahead. However, I could hear the sounds of battle coming from the distance, so it clearly wasn’t completely inaccessible to us players. The sounds were probably being made by beginners like myself, who were no longer satisfied by the Easter Plains.
About two minutes after we began searching for monsters, we found some wolf-like beasts. Right when they entered my vision, the name “Teal Wolf” was displayed above them. There were three in total.
“Man, this is sudden,” I said. As in most RPGs, fighting multiple enemies right after entering a higher level hunting ground wasn’t the best idea, but I had no choice.
Quick and nimble as they were, the wolves made the first move as the one closest to us jumped and bit into me. The hit dealt 22 points of damage, and it was the first time I’d felt pain that day.
Since I would be able to take about thirty such attacks, I decided to go on the offensive.
As the Teal Wolves surrounded me, I targeted only the one straight ahead. They all began attacking, slightly out of sync with each other. I ignored the two coming from behind and intercepted the one right ahead.
The hit from my black greatsword made the wolf whine in pain. Unlike Little Goblins and Pashi Rabbits, it didn’t get split in half, but the damage I gave was great enough to make its movements more dull.
“Yeah, this isn’t anything I can’t handle,” I said.
I continued the grind.