In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 1 Page 20

  Our target was a monster called a Wind Fox — a fox that attacked with blades of wind like a kamaitachi youkai. I thought that myth was about a weasel spirit? Why the hell is it a fox in this world?

  We had defeated the monster without any trouble whatsoever and cut off its tail for proof when we were suddenly surrounded by a group of mean-looking adventurers.

  “Hey there, brat. We’ve come to pay you back for yesterday.” Among the group of adventurers, there was one that I recognized. It was the bearded baldy who had been causing a bunch of trouble on the street in front of the bar the other day.

  Huh? Is this what I think it is? Did all of these guys seriously come here for a petty reason like that?

  “...Hmm... So basically, you were so embarrassed yesterday that you brought all your friends along thinking to teach me a lesson, is that about right? Picking on a kid I can brush off as immature, but this is just pathetic.”

  “Shut the hell up! If I just left things as they were, it’d be like smearing mud all over our reputation! I’m gonna show you what it means to pick a fight with the Steel Fangs!” The adventurers around the bearded baldy all smirked as they readied their weapons. There were quite a few of them. One, two, three, four... Nine in total. Seemed like the Steel Fangs were a fairly large group after all.

  “Bringing a whole group of people to settle a score with someone makes you a pathetic excuse for a man — no, a pitiful outline of human-shaped scum. Touya, what’s the plan here?” Geez, Yumina, even trash has feelings. I mean, look at poor old bearded baldy. Being lambasted by a twelve-year-old girl is making him red in the face. Look at the steam rising from him, I could probably cook an egg on his head! I was surprised by the backbone on Yumina. Quite honestly, I thought she’d be a bit more scared in these types of situations. I guess she wasn’t just a princess for show.

  “Well, in this case it’s justified self-defense, so I think we can afford to go a little overboard just so long as we don’t actually kill anyone.”

  “Indeed. Fellows of this sort are utterly abhorrent, they are.” Yae drew her sword and turned the blade around to face the blunt side at the enemy. Upon seeing her motion, the Steel Fangs made their move.

  Before they could even reach us, one of Yumina’s arrows pierced one man’s right shoulder.

  “Urgh!” The moment the man dropped his weapon, I got right up close and pressed my fingertip against him.

  “[Paralyze].”

  “Hrngh?!” With my magical paralysis sapping all the strength from his body, the man collapsed on the spot.

  “C’mere you little...!” A man wielding hatchets in both hands came charging at me, swinging his weapons around wildly, but there was absolutely no edge to any of his movements. Maybe it was because I had started training with Yae recently, but it looked like he was moving in slow motion.

  Finding the first suitable opening between his attacks, I rushed in and punched him in the stomach while activating [Paralyze] yet again. Just like the first guy, this one dropped to the ground with a thud.

  [Paralyze] was a great spell for rendering an opponent harmless, but it had a large weakness in that it required me to make physical contact with the target. In addition, if the enemy had a magic-defense talisman of any kind on them, then regardless of how weak that talisman was, [Paralyze] would have no effect.

  Though talismans, even the weakest ones available, sold for quite a high price, so there weren’t many who were likely to just casually have one on them.

  “Strike forth, Earth! The Fool’s Abyss: [Pitfall]!”

  “Arrghhhhh...!!!”

  “Noooooo...!” I glanced behind me to see Yumina casting an Earth-type pitfall spell. Given that the men’s voices were literally echoing as they fell, it had to be a pretty deep one... Would they be okay after a fall like that? “Hrgh!”

  “Gwah...?!” To the side, Yae had already knocked two men down with the blunt side of her sword and was busy dealing with a third. By that point, the Steel Fangs had already lost their numerical advantage, leaving us with just the bearded baldy and two other men.

  “Th-This is ridiculous...! We’re Blue-rank adventurers! Why are we struggling so much against a bunch of brats like this...?!” Again with the rank stuff, huh? I didn’t know how long they’d been running around doing guild quests, but given enough time wouldn’t just about any semi-capable person reach Blue-rank without any real trouble? With a large number of party members and accepting nothing but simple requests, you could slowly but steadily earn points and rise through the ranks that way. On the other hand, that method would only take you so far. If you really wanted to aim for Red-rank or higher, it would take forever.

  In the end, all it meant was that there was no real correlation between one’s Guild Rank and one’s actual abilities. At least for those below Red-rank, anyway. Getting to Red-rank or higher seemed like it required actual skill and ability, or else you’d likely never make it that far.

  “Mrgh?!”

  “Ugaaah!!!” Yae took out another two men, leaving just the bearded baldy facing off against the three of us.

  “What a pain. You guys are still adventurers, even if in name only, right? Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves for picking a serious fight against a group of kids?”

  “Shut the hell up, you snot-nosed brat! You’re dead for th—!”

  “Oh, shush already. [Paralyze].”

  “Gfhuuh?!” I didn’t feel like going through the same conversation all over again, so I knocked the guy down with a swift application of magic. There was no point trying to reason with thugs like him. Even if you fended them off once or twice, they would probably just keep coming back for more.

  In which case, the only way to truly drive them off was to utterly crush their spirits. Heheheh...

  “I do believe this is rather overdoing it, do you not think...?” Yae muttered a bit to herself as she averted her gaze, her cheeks flushed red.

  “Really? They go around as a group ganging up on people, so surely they were prepared for something like this to happen to them one day, don’t you think?” I had erected nine posts by the side of the highway leading toward Reflet, and dangling by the ankles from each post was a stripped-naked member of the Steel Fangs.

  To complete the display, I had put up a sign that said “We’re the adventuring party called the Steel Fangs! Currently recruiting new members.”

  “Say cheese!” I took a photo of them with my smartphone, then cast [Drawing] to transfer the image onto paper. When I showed that image to the Steel Fang losers, they started crying and whimpering through their mouth gags.

  “If you keep bothering us, I’ll spread this image all through the streets of Reflet... No, I think I’ll post it up all around the capital for everyone to see. If you’re fine with that, feel free to come pick more fights with us. I’ve still got plenty of punishments in mind, you know?” I let out a deliberately evil “Heheheh...” as I called out to the men. With that threat still lingering in the air, I smiled as innocently as possible and delivered the finishing blow.

  “...Next time you try anything like this, I’ll slice the tip right off with a razor blade.” The thought alone too much to bear, one man wet himself. As he was hanging upside down, he ended up soiling his own whole body.

  Yumina and Yae naturally found the whole thing a bit too much, and stood with their backs to the scene the whole time. Even so, they clearly understood what was going on.

  “You’re really merciless today. Did you need to go that far?”

  “Don’t you get it? The next thing guys like this tend to do is go after anything they might see as my weakness. That could mean them trying to kidnap one of you or hold you hostage. I definitely don’t want to see that happen, so I’m crushing their spirits so badly that they won’t even consider the idea.” This fight was my problem and mine alone. I didn’t want to get Yumina or the others involved any further. Anyone who would dare lay a finger on my precious companions didn’t deserve any mercy, even a
s a second thought. “When you crush someone, make sure they’re crushed utterly and thoroughly.” That was something my grandpa taught me.

  ...Wait a second. That other guy from yesterday’s fight belonged to a different party, didn’t he? The Poison Snakes, I think it was. Wait... don’t tell me...

  “[Gate]!!!” I had a bad feeling about things, so I opened up a [Gate] straight to the Silver Moon and took Yumina and Yae back with me immediately.

  We stepped out of the [Gate] and stood outside the Silver Moon.

  What we found was a group of seven unconscious men in the middle of the street.

  I recognized one of the guys on the ground. It was that stupid mohawk guy. Wait, did that mean these guys were Poison Snakes?

  What in the world...?

  “Oh, welcome back. That sure was fast.”

  “Howdy there, Touya.” Welcoming us back were the master of the Silver Moon Inn, Dolan, and the owner of the Weapon Shop, Barral. The two of them were sitting on a bench out front of the Silver Moon, playing a quiet little game of shogi with a pile of unconscious men right next to them.

  “What happened here?”

  “Well see, these guys came marching up while we were playing shogi and demanded I bring Elze and Linze out immediately. I told them the girls weren’t feeling well and to go away, but they went and barged right on into the place. I flipped on ’em and it ended up like this.”

  “We sparred with them a little an’ they just up and collapsed on us. Didn’t even put up much of a fight. Y’sure these guys’re even adventurers?” Barral muttered. I looked down at the Poison Snake guys, completely dumbfounded. I found myself pretty surprised by how strong Dolan and Barral were. Geez...

  That said, both of them were built pretty well, and they worked at an inn and a weapon shop respectively, so they were probably used to dealing with tough-guy types. If they couldn’t fit the job, then they could easily go out of business.

  “So what’s the deal with them, anyhow?”

  “Er... Well, I think they came to settle a score with me. Probably planned to hold the girls hostage or something...”

  “What, so they were a gaggle of human garbage, then? In that case, we should’ve roughed them up a little more.” Dolan clicked his tongue as he said that. Micah came out front shortly afterward. She had an annoyed expression on her face. Well, that was understandable. There was a bunch of trash outside her inn, after all.

  “Oh darn it, this is nothing but a nuisance. Touya, it’s your fault these guys are here, right? Could you do something about this?”

  “Oh, uh, sure. Just a second.” I knew instinctively not to try arguing given the situation. I used [Power Rise] to pick up all the unconscious men, then I tossed them through a [Gate].

  Back out on the highway, I strung the Poison Snakes up the same way as the Steel Fangs — bare naked and by the ankles. They came to their senses and noticed their pitiful state immediately.

  When they then noticed the Steel Fangs hanging up opposite them, they went completely pale.

  I did the whole routine a second time, putting up a signboard, taking a photo, and scaring the living daylights out of them.

  They tried to scream about something, but I didn’t give a damn. They could stay there all week repenting for all I cared.

  From what I heard later, it seemed that Dolan and Barral were both former-adventurers. Both of them reached Blue-rank, but never made it to Red. Though since they were both solo adventurers, that was still mighty impressive.

  I couldn’t get over the fact that those losers were the same rank that Dolan and Barral used to be. Adventurers really did come in all shapes and sizes.

  You couldn’t judge a book by its cover... except Dolan and Barral were both exactly as strong as they looked? One was a red-haired giant of a man and the other was built like a bear, after all...

  I ignored the hanging dimwits and returned to the Silver Moon through my [Gate].

  “Hmm, sounds like you’ve been keeping yourself busy.” Back in full health, Elze was getting a story about the other day’s events from Yae and Yumina.

  Linze wasn’t quite back to her usual self yet, but it didn’t seem so bad anymore, so she joined us at the dinner table.

  “Still, that was a sight I shall not be forgetting anytime soon, I won’t. You should have seen the look on Touya-dono’s face the moment he thought that Elze-dono and Linze-dono were in trouble.”

  “He looked dead serious, didn’t he? It was almost frightening.” Oh c’mon, haven’t you talked enough about that already? Finding myself getting all fidgety, I downed the rest of my fruit juice in one gulp.

  “Hmmmm? Did you get all worried about us when you thought we were in trouble, didja?” Elze closed in on me, no doubt to tease me about the whole thing even more. Now see here, you...

  “Of course I was worried. Felt like my heart was going to burst when I thought that something might have happened to you. Dolan and Barral saved the day this time, but if they hadn’t been here and something had happened to you two, I’m pretty sure I’d have done something unspeakable to those thugs.”

  “H-Huh? Oh, i-is that so...”

  “Ah...” Elze and Linze both turned their faces downward, red as tomatoes. Huh? Was it something I said?

  “Touya, what if it had been me or Yae in danger? Would you have reacted the same way for us?”

  “Well yeah, of course I would. Both you and Yae are my precious companions. I’d go to any lengths to save you if you were ever in trouble.”

  “I-Is that so, is it...?”

  “That’s my Touya!” This time Yae turned her bright red face downward, while Yumina shot a beaming bright smile at me. What the hell’s up with this mood...? Ah, whatever.

  “C-Come to think of it, those two parties seem to have broken up after what you did, Touya-dono. All of their members also skipped town as if fleeing from some horrible monster, they did.” Well yeah, that was a pretty natural reaction. I had pretty much expected that to happen when I went and did those horrible things to them. Though it did make me somewhat infamous in the process. That didn’t really bother me so much, since it meant that less people were likely to target us.

  Those parties weren’t particularly liked among the guild members either, so nobody filed any complaints against me or anything of the sort. As a general rule, the guild didn’t involve itself in conflicts between adventurers.

  “I never thought you were capable of such nasty things.”

  “You reduced two groups of men to tears, you did... It was quite the off-putting sight, it most certainly was.”

  “I understand that villains of that sort need to be thoroughly taught a lesson lest they try something even more foolish, but even so...”

  “I still think... that sounds like a bit much...” Linze gave me a fairly rigid little smile.

  No, see, it’s not like that, right? I felt like someone needed to teach them a lesson... No, phrasing it that way still makes me sound like a villain... Hrm... I did it so that they’d never try something stupid like that ever again...? Right, it was to protect me and my friends! I psychologically tortured them into submission for the sake of protecting my friends! I derived no sadistic pleasure from it whatsoever!

  ...I’m not lying, okay?

  Interlude II: A Day in the Capital

  “The reason why I chose Touya...?”

  “Yup, yup. I mean, you are a princess and all, and he’s just an adventurer. You wouldn’t normally picture a couple like that getting married, right? What was the one thing that made you want to marry him? Was there even any one thing in particular, or was it really just love at first sight?” In the dining room of the Silver Moon sat Yumina, tilting her head quizzically at Elze’s interrogation.

  She was able to explain, of course, but she wasn’t entirely sure she could get other people to fully understand. Sitting next to Elze were Linze and Yae, both also looking at Yumina in anticipation of her reply.

  “Let’s see...
Well, you know about my Mystic Eyes, correct?”

  “I do recall hearing from Touya-dono that you could use your eyes to judge a person’s nature, as it were.” There was a theory that the Mystic Eyes were another form of Null magic. It was supposedly one’s own personalized magic permanently fused with one of their body parts — in this case, the eyes.

  For example, were the Fire spell [Ignis Fire] to dwell in a person’s eyes, it would give them the Mystic Eyes of Conflagration, and if the Null spell [Paralysis] were to dwell in one’s eyes, they would become the Mystic Eyes of Petrification. Yumina agreed with this hypothesis and thought of her own Mystic Eyes in the same way.

  “My own eyes are known as the Mystic Eyes of Intuition. They allow me to visually perceive the corruption of a person’s soul.“

  “So, put simply... it’s basically a heightened sense of intuition? Like when we might look at someone and think ‘this person seems nice,’ or ‘this person seems suspicious to me...’ taken to the extreme?”

  “Yes. That’s the best way I can explain it.” Yumina nodded to Linze’s words. In truth, it wasn’t quite as simple as that, but Yumina decided that it would be confusing to try and explain it any further.

  “I can grasp now that you would look at Touya-dono and see that he is not a bad person. However, what we’re curious about is how that would immediately lead to a decision of marriage, you see.” This time the twins nodded in agreement.

  “Then I’ll continue. You see, it was when my father was on the verge of death that Touya appeared and saved his life as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Naturally thinking that he may be plotting something, I used my Mystic Eyes to try and sense for any ulterior motives, but I felt not a single corrupt thought in his mind.”

  “Yeah, I mean, normally in that situation you’d have the thought at least somewhere in the back of your mind that you’d be able to claim some kind of reward for saving the king’s life or something, right?”

  “I believe so too, yes. Even were it not one’s actual motive, the idea would normally at least briefly cross one’s mind, I would think.” That, in itself, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. All people in the world tended to have at least some small sense of risk and reward, some selfish desire calculating things to work out in their best interests.