In the world of Golden Dawn, monsters and regular old animals had been clearly differentiated. Simply put, their colors were different.
This was a pretty common way to designate monsters in games in general. Although two models might’ve been identical, the creatures might have been colored differently to indicate their relative strength. Monsters and animals in Golden Dawn had been like that too.
Let’s consider sheep, for example.
Ordinary sheep were livestock. They looked just like they had in my old world: white and fluffy. They even made the same “meehh, meehh” sounds I recalled from Japan.
But there were also sheeplike monsters that were quite unlike the kind of sheep kept by shepherds. Mermerls, they were called. On the outside, they were virtually indistinguishable from sheep except for the fact that their fleece was yellow. True to their name, they made “meerr, meerrr” sounds instead.
As E-rank monsters, mermerls were among the weakest creatures in the Central Nations—an area already known for being newbie-friendly.
But that was if they were alone.
Mermerls tended to flock in herds. If a player encountered a large group of them, the group would be more like an A-rank or even an S-rank enemy.
And we just so happened to run into one such mermerl flock... Or rather, we were drowning in a sea of them.
I had recklessly chosen to lead us in a straight line through the pathless wilderness.
The reasons for this were threefold. First, I wanted us to put as much distance between us and the teleportation portal as possible. Next, I figured we’d throw any pursuers off by taking an unlikely plan of action. Thirdly, it would help build up the prince’s stamina.
This was all made possible by the fact that I had a cornucopia of things I had squirreled away. Even if we didn’t stop by any settlements to resupply, we could survive. There was nothing we had wanted for, and while my combat proficiency was still just a middling B-tier, I was practically invincible when it came to fighting off the monsters that nested in the Central Nations.
Thinking about it, that was probably why I had gotten a little bigheaded and had let my guard down.
Disaster struck just a few days after we’d finally reached the large river and had begun following it southward.
I’d turned in for the night after we made camp. When I woke, we were surrounded by a sea of yellow.
“Morning, Kariya.”
Prince Wald had evidently woken up before me. I found him at the edge of the barrier around our camp, observing the mermerls curiously.
This protective barrier, which I erected every time we made camp, was perfectly impenetrable from the outside.
The prince had been well aware of this from our many nights of camping, and I had felt safe as well, so I’d pulled my covers up all the way over my head and had slept like a log. That was why I had never noticed the mermerls approaching, nor heard their bleating.
I called to Wald quietly, trying to make sure he could hear me without startling the mermerls. “Your Highness, be careful not to raise your voice or make any sudden movements.”
I didn’t sense any hostility from the surrounding beasts, which was likely another reason I hadn’t noticed their approach. They must’ve come to get a drink of water at the river.
The fluffy, puffy stream of yellow continued up and over the rolling hills. Though they couldn’t pass through the barrier despite seeing nothing there that would impede them, the mermerls, overcome with curiosity, continued pressing their bodies against the invisible wall in an effort to push through.
We were surrounded.
Much like the mermerls, the prince also seemed to be brimming with curiosity as he tilted his head in wonderment.
“All right. Are these monsters dangerous?” he asked.
“Not at all, as long as they’re not provoked. But the barrier should be wearing off soon, so come here. Slowly—”
“Oh!” gasped Wald.
The barrier disappeared, and the mermerls immediately surged into our campsite.
They probably hadn’t interacted much with humans before, if at all. I couldn’t sense the slightest bit of ill will from them.
In fact, all I could feel was their overwhelming excitement and curiosity.
I’ve never seen anything like these two befooore.
They’re not enemies, riiight?
Nah, they’re not scary at all. I bet they’re saaafe.
I spoke to the prince. “Did you notice, Your Highness? Mermerls have an ability called Sympathy—it allows them to resonate with others. They can share their thoughts with us, and they’re able to sense our thoughts as well, so don’t think of doing anything violent. As long as we don’t provoke them, they’re only E-rank monsters, so they’re not dangerous at all.”
“All right... But they must be monsters to be wary of if you’ve judged them to be dangerous.”
“Huh? Do you also have the Sympathy ability?”
“No, you’ve just started speaking like you’re my bodyguard again.”
Flustered, I corrected my tone. “Uh, so just stay right there and don’t move. That way, you can keep from alerting them. The flock will eventually move on, so just make sure not to startle them until then—”
Yeah, yeah. You’re scared of us, aren’tchaaa?
Because they were crowding around us, their feelings were coming through to me crystal clear. And they were obnoxious.
Towering above the yellow sea and sticking out like a sore thumb, I explained the dangers of the mermerl to the prince. He was stuck a short distance away from me.
Mermerl wool could be spun to make shining golden thread. But even so, going after a mermerl herd was too dangerous. While they were ordinarily docile creatures, their fur would crackle with electricity when they were agitated. Because of Sympathy, if this happened while they were grouped up in a herd, that electricity would spread and multiply until it became lightning magic.
“If they strike us with their lightning while we’re surrounded like this, we’d die in an instant. There’d be nothing left of us but ash.”
“I see.”
“Ordinarily, we’d avoid getting surrounded in the first place. If I were alone, I’d use Jump to escape right about now. But that’s not a choice for us at the moment—you’re too far away from me.”
He bowed his head in remorse. “I’m sorry. This only happened because I misjudged the amount of time remaining on the barrier and approached the mermerls to look at them.”
I wasn’t exactly one to talk, but I wanted the prince to act with due caution.
I didn’t want him to rely on the barrier too much. There was never a guarantee that we could reliably Jump away from danger either—unless we were already physically touching, we wouldn’t be able to teleport together.
“Luckily for us, we’re only dealing with mermerls this time. They’re really nothing to be afraid of as long as they’re not provoked...” I trailed off as I realized that my charge had apparently stopped listening to me—he was now preoccupied. I sighed. “I was just telling you about how dangerous they are, so what do you think you’re doing, young man?”
Ahh, that feels so gooood.
Nice and tiiidy...
Clean me toooo...
For some reason or other, Prince Wald was grooming a mermerl. He was picking the crusted sleep rheum away from its eyes with his fingernails.
A wave of happy emotions from the mermerls washed over me.
And then...more of the sheepy creatures began crowding around Wald.
I’d been slowly trying to tiptoe my way to him, but now, the mermerls were packed so tightly that I couldn’t get any closer.
“Uh, Wal?”
“Sorry. I just thought they must find it hard to see, so I started cleaning one without thinking about it...”
“Well... Be sure to wear your gloves; they’re still wild animals,” I reminded him.
I couldn’t exactly tell him to stop at this point. The mermerls were crowding around him expectantly.
Well, given our current situation, it wasn’t as though there was anything else that could be done. We didn’t have a choice but to stand around in place until the mermerls left of their own accord.
Aquatic monsters dwelled in the depths of large rivers. Because of that, it was dangerous to be around a riverbank at night, so other monsters were sure to leave them by dusk. I was sure that this sea of mermerls would disperse around that time as well.
Fittingly for a warming month such as this, the last of the wyverns were flying overhead from the south to the north.