Question. Enhance Ultrasonic Wave to evolve the extra skill Sense Soundwave?
Yes
No
✦ ✦ ✦
Ah. Good job, Sage. Just what I was hoping to hear. I thought “yes” to myself, and with that, I opened up a treasure trove of information—the movements, temperature, smell, sound, and everything else related to the magicules surrounding us. Now there was nothing that could escape my senses.
That gave me an extra jab of confidence as I took on Hakuro, his sword casually lifted up to his chest. The next thing I felt was a dull blow to the crown of my head. It couldn’t have been a cleaner strike—no pain, no damage. He didn’t put any force into it at all. Still, though… That was skill, not speed. We were on completely different levels.
“What was that?”
“Hoh-hoh-hoh! I call that Haze,” he explained with a smile. “It is part of my Formhide skill set, and the more magic I invest, the more I can dilute the presence I project. I believe you have the ability to obtain it for yourself, too, Sir Rimuru.”
It didn’t sound very likely. It apparently took him a good century or so to learn, so I didn’t like my chances that much.
“Yeah, I… I’d sure like to, sometime.”
Hakuro nodded approvingly.
It hurt my feelings a little, but I couldn’t do much about it. Arts weren’t skills, after all. They took time. And whatever advantage I had in skills—and I had a big one, I was sure—it was nothing compared to what Hakuro could do.
I didn’t think I was acting all high and mighty, but he sure humbled me there. And maybe I could just cast a Flare Circle and be done with him, but that wasn’t the point. This was a swordsman. One born as a nameless ogre, tirelessly practicing his skills in the shadows, away from public sight. No wonder he was the strongest in his tribe. I doubted he had shown a full effort yet, and I was sure his newfound youth only made him tougher.
In an ideal world, he’d be known across the land for his talents. That’s what I honestly thought.
“Right,” Hakuro said, smiling like a doting grandfather. “One more time, then.”
Before we could make another move, though, we heard the sound of a large bell ringing. Something had triggered Soei’s alarm system. Thank heavens for that. I had no chance of beating Hakuro, and I was ready to call it a day. So we headed for Rigurd’s residence instead.
✦ ✦ ✦
He ran right up to us once we were in sight. He tended to do that a lot. Maybe my mere presence stressed him out a little.
“I have news to report, Sir Rimuru,” he said, half in a panic. “A lizardman envoy has come to visit!”
Lizardmen? I was expecting that unwelcome visit sooner or later, but I guess they’re here, huh? Ahead of the orcs, no less. Well, I was ready to deal with either. Let’s hear this one out.
✦ ✦ ✦
I headed for the town’s entrance to greet this envoy. They hadn’t arrived yet, instead sending an advance messenger who told us to bring everyone in the village out front. I asked why the guard didn’t just shrug him off, but he was riding a hover lizard, a fairly large mount reserved only for the knight classes, and I’m sure that must’ve made Rigurd pee his pants.
If this was a troop of knight-level lizardmen, no goblin village would stand a chance. They’d be ripped apart. And if a knight was first to greet us, I could only imagine what the main outfit looked like. We’d need to mind our manners.
There were four of us there at the entrance—me, Rigurd, Benimaru, and Hakuro. I made sure everyone knew to tread carefully. “Absolute politeness, unless I say otherwise,” I said.
“Yes, my lord,” Rigurd said, the rest nodding with him.
“Hmm? Where is Shion?” Benimaru said. Apparently, the word politeness reminded him of something.
“Oh, I think she’s been cleaning my place since morning, but…”
“Wh-what?!”
For some reason, Hakuro appeared shocked at my reply.
“Um, is that a problem?”
“N-no… Not at all…”
“Indeed,” Benimaru added. “She has grown. It should be all right…”
This was starting to concern me. And as it turned out, I should’ve been alarmed. Shion was soon there at the entrance, providing tea. Working hard as my secretary, I figured. I wanted to compliment her on it—and then I took a sniff.
Um… This is tea, right? There were these weird, seaweed-like leaves flopping over the edge of my cup. It could not have been any potable beverage.
I looked to Rigurd, seeking out a possible explanation. He averted his eyes. What the heck? Benimaru, meanwhile, had his eyes firmly closed, not giving me a second glance, and Hakuro had vanished, using his Arts to become one with the wind.
They knew, didn’t they? And all the time, as I hesitated, Shion was looking right at me, waiting for my praise.
How am I supposed to heap praise on her for this? My instincts were screaming at me to dash the cup against the ground, but was I doomed to this fate all along…? Why the hell did I have to be human right now?! It would’ve been a lot easier to deal with this as a taste bud–free slime. Just use Predator to take it apart, and I’d be perfectly safe.
Too late to curse my bad luck now, though. Steeling my resolve, I slowly reached out for the cup in Shion’s hand. Just as I did…
“Ooh, some tea? I was just feeling a bit thirsty!”
Gobta, freshly back from his patrol detail, grabbed the cup and emptied it in one gulp.
Nice one, dude!! Perfect! A warm round of applause for the man!! Shion’s face was now a mask of pure anger, but Gobta didn’t bother noticing. Or to be more exact, he was in no shape to notice. When a small plume of foam escaped his mouth, he immediately collapsed, twitching in a spasm. Yeesh. That could’ve been me, man.
Shion looked on quizzically, apparently not expecting this. It was a cute piece of body language with her looks, but I wasn’t fooled. From now on, she was banned from any work involving food or drink.
“Uh, Shion,” I said, “next time you make anything you want people to eat or drink, make sure to run it past Benimaru first, all right?”
Benimaru shot me an icy stare. Like I cared. You’re the boss, man, I silently replied. You handle it.
He joined Shion in staring awkwardly at the ground.
I still felt vindicated. If anyone had actually gotten hurt here, what would they do then? …Oh right, I guess Gobta did, kinda. But… Ahh, he’ll be fine. I’d have to thank him later for serving as my inadvertent taste tester. And I’d also have to count on Benimaru to keep the body count from rising any more.