Now then, Fre-san and Dati-san. Shall we go?
“Furutsu?” Grida asked.
Ah, a long time ago, there was this old man wearing a yellow headkerchief that would call out to his two companions. He would travel around the country, defeating corrupt and evil officials.
“Wow! He’s so strong even though he’s old!”
Nah, his companions are the strong ones... No, wait, I think he occasionally fought with his staff.
“A staff? So he’s like you!”
Right, I guess you are a staff. I forget about that sometimes. Grida, I’ve said this a bunch, but I don’t think of you as an item. And I’ll definitely get you out of there and restore you to your original form. I promise.
“Furutsu...thank you.”
Datil whistled. “You guys sure are passionate, huh?”
“Heeey! Stop flirting, and let’s get a move on!”
Speak for yourself! You guys are always kinda flirting, aren’t you? Besides, how can you even tell that I’m talking with Grida right now?!
“Everyone, I’ll open the gates, okay?” Gruszka said, smiling at us.
Whoops, sorry. Go ahead. We were currently at the northern gates, one of the entrances to the village.
“They’re huge! One or two hundred of you could pass through at once, Apple-san,” Datil said.
Hey, stop that. I don’t like thinking about all those apples at once—that was traumatizing! Just looking at them makes me want to fall to the ground. Beyond the ramparts were deep moats, so I’d had to select drawbridges or transfer circles as a method to go in and out of the village. Of course I’d pick the drawbridges. If we’re aiming for a more open village, this is the way to go.
“But if we’re going to keep this drawbridge down, we’ll need soldiers to always guard the gates,” Gruszka said.
Exactly. It’s dangerous, so I want you to keep the bridges up for now. I’ll scout a strong guard soon.
“Mom! Dad! What’s the outside world?” a child asked.
The mother giggled. “I’m not even sure what’s out there. I was told that there’s a vast realm outside this village.”
“I haven’t gone outside either. But we can leave freely now,” the father replied.
The villagers, all wanting to experience the world outside of their village for the first time, lined up. The ramparts had elevated scaffolds for guards to keep watch, but we didn’t need any other watchful eyes this time around.
“If anything comes our way, we’ll wipe it out,” Datil said.
“It’s faster that way!” Fresa added.
Precisely. We’re in a rush today, and we don’t need some elegant departure. We can just brute force our way forward.
“Okay! Open the gates! Lower the bridge!”
With a clatter, the gates slowly started to open and we heard the villagers cheering and clapping.
“Furutsu, something’s approaching,” Grida warned.
Well, we’re pretty noisy, so I’m not surprised.
The drawbridge started to slowly lower with a creak.
“Datil?”
“Roger that, Fresa-san.”
Datil had already unsheathed his sword. So you guys noticed the presence too? Impressive as always. The villagers were shrieking as they saw the outside world for the first time.
“Whoa! A-A monster!”
“What is that?! Gross!”
Well, even people used to the outside world are disgusted by that thing.
“What a huge insect! I’ve never seen anything like it!”
“There’s so many of them! No! Th-They’re coming closer!”
As the bridge finished lowering, we found a giant group of insects waiting for us. They look more like scorpions than insects.
“Apple-san, those things are called scorpii. One scratch from their tails is lethal, thanks to their venom,” Datil said.
Going by the name and the tails, those are definitely scorpions. Also, just getting hit is lethal? I can’t help but think that this world is way too tough on humans.
“All right then. Datil, are we totally gonna beat them up?”
“Yeah. I’ll wipe them out just like we planned!”
Leaving things to brute force isn’t really a plan.
“Excuse me. Could you please leave this to me?” Gruszka asked, bowing his head.
Uh, I don’t mind, but are you sure? There’s quite a few of them.
“Okay, I’ll leave this in your hands!” Datil said.
“Go get ’em!” Fresa said.
Wait, really?! Are we sure, you guys?!
Gruszka chuckled. “I’ll be okay.” Instead of grabbing the whip he had around his waist, he put his hands out in front of him and chanted, “Varkha ad Martez.” His hands were enveloped in a red light as he expelled a large flame.
What?! Isn’t that Gaokerena’s magic?!
“Of course I can use his magic. I’m part Gaokerena,” Gruszka said, smiling at me as though he heard my voice. As he cast more flames, the scorpii started to burn up.
“Gruszka-sama, you’re amazing!”
“Such fantastic power!”
The villagers couldn’t tear their eyes away from the awesome sight of Gruszka. The scorpii horde started to shrink smaller and smaller.
“Thank you for your patience. We should be safe now,” he said, bowing once more.
You’re done already?! We didn’t even wait that long! In the distance, I saw the monsters surrounded by roaring flames. You’re amazing, Gruszka. Looks like we don’t have to frantically search for a guard for now.
“Gruszka-sama! Hey, please let me through!” A villager with a horse pushed through the murmuring crowd.
“I’m glad we got this horse,” Gruszka said as he grabbed its reins and brought it closer to Fresa. “Here you go.”
Uh, what? Why’re you giving a horse to Fresa?
“I’m glad you understand, Gruszka. Activate King of Apples!”
Ding! “King of Apples has been activated. Please ensure that others are a safe distance away. Activating in: 10...9... You will feel a strong shock wave, please stand back. 3...2...1...”
Wait, what? But the monsters are already dead.
“Nourishing tonic. Enhance physical capabilities.”
Ding! “All apples will have nourishing effects and enhance physical capabilities. 3...2...1... Upgrade complete.”
Ah, I see! The doping apples! Datil took one from Fresa and fed it to the horse.
“If we don’t hurry, Gruszka’s subordinates may be executed,” he said.
After the horse ate the apple, its muscles started to grow with a bubbling sound.
“I’m really sorry for forcing you to push yourself,” Fresa mumbled apologetically as she stroked the animal’s mane.
Right, once it eats this apple, it’ll tire itself out from overexertion and not be able to move for a few days.
“I do feel sorry about it, but we need this horse more than ever right now. It’s a bit faster than us, after all,” Datil said.
Only a bit faster?! No, you’re right. What’s more important than speed is conserving our strength. If his men are already under arrest, we probably need some additional physical strength for what’s to come—not to mention it’ll be pretty illegal. We shouldn’t try to run a marathon and just conserve what we can.
“Please, I leave my subordinates’ fates in your hands,” Gruszka said, quietly bowing. He most likely wanted to come along, but he buried his emotions for the sake of the village.
“Yeah, just sit tight for a bit. We’ll save everyone for sure,” Datil said with a cheerful grin. He jumped onto the horse. “Let’s go, Fresa-san.” He pulled Fresa onto the horse as well. Since Grida and I were tagging along, there were technically four people on this horse, but realistically, only two were riding it.
“Farewell. Please stay safe during your trip. I await your swift return,” Gruszka said, not budging from his deep bow. Behind him, the villagers were waving at us.
“Good bye! Take care!”
“See you all again!”
It’s kinda nice that we have a place we can call home!
“We’re off! Grab on tight! Hiyah!” Datil said.
As we left the village behind and they pulled up the drawbridge, the scene quickly shrank to even smaller than a grain of rice before leaving my field of vision entirely.
“Fresa-san, the effects of this apple are amazing,” Datil said.
“Riiight?! But we’re overexerting the horse a little.”
Ahhh! A little?! We’re moving so fast! I feel like I’m on a roller coaster!
“The horses and the carriage we left those subordinates with aren’t as fast as us, but they’re still pretty quick. They might already be at the campsite and handed over to the authorities.”
“Yeah... They’re probably already being moved over to the next toooown.”
Most likely. Gruszka’s men should’ve reached the campsite by sundown yesterday.
“If they’re already on their way to the neighboring town, it might be difficult to rescue them. We...should probably hurry, but for whatever reason, I feel weirdly at ease.”
“Oh, you too?”
Yeah. It’s really strange, but I feel like we’ll be fine. To be precise, I have this nagging sensation that the two no-good adventurers did something... Hah! I must be overthinking it! They’re really bad at their jobs, but I doubt anything happened! Right? Right?