章 39: A daily life
In a dark room illuminated by torches, sat opposite each other Arthur and the headman of the Fuchsvolk; around them were Livia, Schnellana, and several beastmen.
"First of all, I would like to introduce myself: my name is Zornwald, and I am the leader of this tribe."
The old man introduced himself with a slight nod.
"A pleasure, Zornwald; you probably already heard, but my name is Arthur.".
"So, Mr. Arthur, I know I've asked before, but I'd like to confirm."
Zornwald said as he stared at Arthur.
"Do you really have a way for my people to stop being hunted by those wizards?"
"Yes, I have a way; I can't make you believe me, and I understand that, and that's why I'm willing to take an oath."
"...Good."
As they spoke, from some stairs descended two beastmen, carrying with them a boar that had an arrow stuck in its side.
"Looks like we're all set."
The beastmen laid the boar down between Arthur and Zornwald, and one of them carefully grabbed the arrow embedded in its body and pulled it out, causing the boar's blood to start flowing.
After that, a woman approached Zornwald and respectfully handed him a ceremonial dagger.
"The tribute is almost done, a freshly hunted prey; all that remains is for you to add some of your blood and take the oath."
He said as he extended the dagger to Arthur. The latter, without much thought, took it and, after admiring it for a few seconds, made a cut on his palm. His blood began to flow, mixing with the blood of the boar. With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and began to chant his oath.
"By the sacred name of the goddess Artemis, I swear that I will never harm any member of the Fuchsvolk tribe until I fulfill my promise to help them with the problems that plague them. If I ever break this oath, my only punishment will be death."
Woosh-!
Suddenly intense blue flames engulfed the boar, and these took the form of a woman.
The beastmen in the room quickly dropped to their knees and began to pray.
The woman looked at Arthur, and reaching out her hand caused the flames to engulf him. He closed his eyes but realized that the flames did him no harm, and after a short time they dissipated. When he opened them again, he noticed that the boar was completely burned, leaving only ashes.
"Young master!"
Livia approached him with concern and began to check him over.
"Are you all right, you didn't hurt yourself!?"
"Yes, don't worry, I'm completely fine."
Arthur reassured her, but as he did so, he noticed that the cut he had made on his palm was gone and instead had a symbol of a bow and crescent moon engraved on it.
"This is..."
"Looks like the ritual is finished."
Zornwald said as a smile graced his face.
"Sorry for putting you through all this; my tribe has long suffered from the attack of humans, and so they have generated distrust; I have to say I am no different."
"Don't worry, I completely understand that it must not have been easy with everything that has happened; the simple fact that you let me perform an oath is enough; thank you very much."
"Thank you for understanding."
Zornwald bowed, showing his gratitude. Normally he wouldn't do this, but with the oath now done, almost all his worries were gone. In fact, the assembled beastmen also seemed less tense and no longer eyed them warily, Schnellana included.
However, he quickly pulled himself together and spoke of the main topic.
"So, what is this plan you have in mind?"
***
"You want us to ally with the Elchvolk?"
Schnellana asked with surprise. They switched places again and were now at a table full of food discussing the plans Arthur had.
"Yes, we think it's the best way to stand a better chance against the Schmetterling."
Livia said as she drank the tea the beastmen had prepared for her.
"In fact, not only the Elchvolk, we would also like you to talk to all the smaller tribes scattered throughout the territory. The Schmetterling are not only a powerful family of mages, but they also have the support of one of the Empire's shields."
"I understand that, however, not counting the other tribes, the Elchvolk will not be such a pushover."
Zornwald voiced his concern.
"That's something we've thought about as well."
Arthur finally joined the conversation.
"The Elchvolk, though they may not look like it, are a pushover.
The Elchvolk are a tribe of Elk beastmen. While the beastmen have humanoid forms and are able to act in a civilized manner, they still have the more primitive instincts of their race; depending on the race, these instincts may be more or less present.
Moose are solitary animals that do not usually come together except to procreate, and even after that, they separate and return to their solitary lives. But now, because of the Schmetterling hunt, they were forced to come together to survive.
This clearly caused many problems. At first, the conflicts were constant, and it seemed that they would not be able to hold out for long. But then a former leader of the Elchvolk implemented a simple but very effective rule.
The strongest member of the tribe would rule.
Since then, the Elchvolk has managed to prevail thanks to the guidance of strong leaders who were able to control them. Making them a tribe that valued strength more than anything else.
"We just have to show them what we are capable of."
"That's fine, but how do you plan to do that?"
Zornwald asked.
"I don't want you to be offended, but beastmen are usually at least 5 times stronger than humans, and that's depending on their race. The Elchvolk, having spent so many generations fighting, are already much stronger than that."
The Elchvolk base their combat on melee. If you wanted to challenge them, you had to follow their rules, so I couldn't use any weapons or equipment to enhance my abilities.
"I understand your concern."
However,
"Let's just say that I'm also much stronger than an average human."
Not only because of my training for all these years and my increased mana reserves. Ever since I awakened whatever it is inside my body, my physical capabilities have escalated tremendously, and after conditioning with Professor Lucius, that strength increased even more.
"I wouldn't be lying to say that I would currently be the strongest first-year student in the academy. I could even deal with the second and third years."
Not counting those three, of course.
"You guys just have to prepare and gather as many people as you can; I will also grant you resources through my contacts so that you can be as prepared as possible."
"Hey, I know you took the oath and promised to help us, but if you don't mind me asking... Why are you doing all this?"
Schnellana suddenly asked with a curious look.
"Why am I doing this?"
"Yes, do you have a grudge against the Schmetterling, and that's why you want to destroy them?"
"Schnellana, that's not very polite of you."
Zornwald reprimanded him.
"I'm just curious; sorry if I'm bothering you."
"Haha, you don't have to worry about that if I had to say a reason for doing all this."
Arthur looked Schnellana straight in the eye and replied with a smile.
"Let's just say they're in my way."
"I see..."
She replied dryly. Schnellana wasn't one to pry into other people's personal affairs. She only asked now out of curiosity. She didn't care at all what Arthur did as long as it didn't harm her tribe.
"Well, leaving that aside, how about we start eating?"
"You're right, the food started to get cold; eat as much as you want, please."
"With pleasure."
On the table were plates full of meat and various local dishes. The food was very plentiful; it would be enough to fill several normal people.
But unfortunately, Arthur was not a normal person.
"Ha~ This beer is amazing; it goes great with meat; another plate please!"
Schnellana and Zornwald watched in amazement as Arthur finished his sixth plate of food. Though not only Arthur, they also looked in awe at Livia, who was drinking her thirteenth tankard of beer and still showed no signs of drunkenness.
Since Livia is Arthur's personal maid, this one had to be ready to serve him at any time, so she went through arduous training to be able to withstand large amounts of alcohol and other types of substances so as not to become indisposed.
"Who the hell are these guys?"
Schnellana asked herself in disbelief.
"Well... at least they seem pretty tough."
Zornwald added with amusement as he watched them eat.
"I guess..."
The two stood watching those two enjoy their meal. By the end of the night, Arthur had eaten a total of twelve plates, and Livia had drunk a total of a barrel and a half of beer, leaving with only a slight blush on her face.
***
"Maybe we went a little overboard last night."
"I admit I got carried away with the atmosphere."
The next day, Arthur and Livia were opening their tailor shop while wearing their costumes.
They were both feeling a little embarrassed about the display they put on the night before. They couldn't entirely blame them, though.
Arthur, with his voracious appetite, was unable to eat anything before leaving, and the oath and discussions about the plan had left him very hungry, and finding the dishes prepared by the Fuchsvolk especially delicious, he couldn't stop eating.
Livia, for her part, although she did not like to admit it, was a great lover of alcoholic beverages, a taste that was instilled in her by Arthur, who always treated her to his high-quality wines and beers.
The craft beer brewed by the Fuchsvolk's, while not as high quality as what she was used to, had a strong and pleasant taste that made her especially addicted and craving for more.
"Maybe we should apologize the next time we see them."
"Yes, we should, but let's save that for later; we have business to attend to."
Once they finished talking, they got to work. They had two orders to place for the next week. Arthur's hands were quick and precise, so they could finish even sooner than that.
The dresses they had to make were Victorian-style ones with ruffles on the sleeves and bottom, a plunging neckline, and some decorative designs to give it more personality.
"It's an appropriate dress to attract attention at parties."
It would seem that the women who visited him the day before were already thinking about getting a date, a common occurrence at their age.
Ding~
The store bell rang, indicating that a customer had entered; this time, as Arthur was busy, it was Livia who went to attend to the customer. Despite being her first time in a job of this style, she was doing very well.
Time passed quickly, and Arthur already had the dress half done.
"Let's take a short break."
He got up from his chair and stretched his back.
Clack-
He heard the sound of something being placed on the table, and when he turned, he could see a cup of hot tea along with some snacks.
"Good job."
"You did very well serving the customers too."
They both sat down at the table and began to drink the tea along with their snacks.
"You know, I heard about a bakery not too far from here; they say their chocolate cakes are especially delicious, although they are somewhat expensive and sell out in no time; if we go now we might be able to get one."
"That sounds good to me; we have some money saved up so we might be able to treat ourselves."
"And it also looks like the Rose Festival is coming up shortly."
"Really?"
The rose festival was the most important festival in the city of Rosenheim. When the roses were fully ripe and at their brightest color, the city was decorated with picturesque decorations, and the ladies and gentlemen wore their most extravagant and colorful clothes. A beautiful festivity filled the city with color.
"Would you like to go?"
"Although we should hurry to deal with the Schmetterling."
"Well, yes, but if things go well, we could do it before the festival, and even if we didn't make it before then, the Reclesia family currently has their movements restricted, and I doubt they know our exact position, so we can take things relatively easy."
Taking a day off wouldn't do us any harm.
"Well, that sounds good to me; although I don't have any appropriate dresses, I hear it's the norm to wear a very colorful one covered in flowers."
"Do you want us to go look at some after we buy the cake?"
"No, I want to pick it out for myself... It will be a surprise."
"Well, though I'm sure you'll look good no matter which one you choose."
"Well, I'll pick one where I look so good it'll burn your eyes out."
"That sounds scary, but if you're the last thing I see, I wouldn't think it's so bad."
"Haha, silly."
They chatted animatedly as they enjoyed their tea.
Livia seemed excited thinking about what kind of dress she would wear to the festival; meanwhile, Arthur watched her with a smile on his face and couldn't help but think that...
If they had a few days as relaxing as these, it wouldn't be bad at all.
A daily life where the biggest worry would be what they were going to have for dinner that night.
"Well, I'll have to work hard to make something like this happen."
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット