Good Seeks Its Own Kind, but So Does Evil - Part 1

Only later did I learn how scary an archer can be when you’re the target.

“Don’t blink, Michio-kun!”

But I wasn’t simply a stationary target!

Heavens no, I was fighting off my demons urging me to blink as I dashed toward Adiel, gamer senses engaged, dodging her whistling arrows!

The elf-girl gulped, then drew her bow and fired.

WHOOSH!

Right then, an arrow whizzed past my ear from the right, then another from the left, as I ran across the Dojo.

Two more arrows came, which I ducked almost too late, and they grazed past my hair as if aimed with pinpoint accuracy to brush them.

I was almost there when I couldn’t resist blinking and closed my eyes for a flash.

That was enough for trouble.

A sharp pain shot through my right arm and I instinctively winced and tripped to my opposite side. With tears in my eyes, I saw an arrow sticking in my right upper arm.

Awesome—just got shot first time in my life.

“I told you not to blink!”

“You could’ve at least shot me in the head…”

“Don’t be stupid! Come on, I’ll pull it out—”

"AARGHH!!"

Hey, don't look at me, it was Akemi’s idea to make me a target!

And regardless, I couldn’t blame Adiel for anything. We’d been practicing and she was a pretty good archer. Archery was in her blood as an elf, literally.

She was with us the rest of the training from Friday, becoming an ally without whom our plan would’ve been far duller.

I was especially happy she wanted to join, as she was on my Favorites list. It was also surprising, as so far Adiel, Emeric and Tara-sama were the only ones who were already a huge help to each of us without having to physically fight.

Yet here she was.

It was uncertain to me at first, but looking back now, if I had to guess, I would’ve guessed right away why she came to us.

Because her friend was here, and in the best of hands. She must’ve known we'd treat her no differently from Rumel.

She said this earlier when the four of us were sitting together in the study at a break as we filled her in about everything she needed to know.

“It’s not exactly the safest thing to do,” Lupa said. "We can’t refuse any help if it comes in handy, but… are you ready to help us take on a Demon? Something all of us were taught to fear?”

“Wherever Rumel goes, I go with her. If I had my bow, I would’ve tried to protect her from those knights, but…” she looked into herself, doubting deeply. “But I couldn’t, and you’re the only reason we got her back. I don’t want to make my mistake again.”

“You’re protecting each other,” I looked at Rumel and Adiel sweetly.

“Yeah!” they gave each other a fist bump.

“Then it’s all settled,” Mineruva turned to her. “Will you show us what you know?”

“Gladly!”

So it was a painful training once again, now including deadly projectiles alongside swords.

First it was Mineruva’s turn to test Adiel.

She made a magical gesture toward an empty end of the room, and a dozen painted wooden discs appeared out of yellow light, floating midair.

Adiel took her bow and in mere moments shot at least one arrow at each of them, whistling as they flew by.

Most were direct hits, but some passed and lodged into the wall.

Several rounds came out the same way.

“Maybe you’re switching targets too fast,” Mineruva said after the umpteenth round, when even Adiel couldn’t understand why she was making so many mistakes. “Even the slightest tremble is enough to miss a target.”

“May I suggest?” Akemi asked. “She needs a single target. First stationary, then moving.”

Mineruva nodded, and then only one disc remained, the rest disappearing. Adiel started shooting this one and the results were slightly better.

“Wow,” I said, walking closer. Four of five shots were around the bullseye, the fifth hit the disc an inch away from its edge.

So did that mean it was a one fifth chance she would miss?

“Michio-kun?” Akemi asked, her mind sparking an idea that I wasn’t going to like. “Would you take the chance of being Adiel’s target?”

“What?!” we both asked, startled.

“If you would, perhaps you could help each other, she could improve your movement and you could improve her aiming. Of course only if you can take some arrow wounds.”

“We’ve got plenty of medicine!” Rumel showed a thumbs up as Adiel and I sank in mutual dread.

Damn it, Rumel—why didn’t you say something else?!

Why do you want to kill me?!

You can guess what happened a couple of minutes later.

Nevertheless, the arrow’s wound was quickly iced and I downed some cups of Rumel’s painkiller herbal tea.

For the remainder of the day, I had to hold the sword with my left hand and rest the right one, which made duels taxing.

So while I was trying not to hiss in subtle pain while dodging the knight-girl and defending her slashes, Akemi took it upon herself to be Adiel’s moving target.

Needless to say, poor girl wasn’t prepared.

Akemi started slow, noticeably waiting a few seconds before jumping somewhere else, so Adiel could shoot until then. After a while, this became faster.

By the end, she was just appearing somewhere, then vanishing, leaving only a faint afterglow. And the elf-girl, meanwhile, tried to reload and be steady as best as she could, her breath quickening.

Following a bunch of misses, Adiel must've figured out in her own way, perhaps by just guessing, where Akemi would stop.

One arrow did hit her eventually, but it bounced off the tough samurai armor with a loud clang, giving Adiel a bittersweet mood.

“Don’t worry,” I reassured her. “None of us could beat her yet.”

In the few hours we had left of the day, we tried to make hits count, learning from Akemi how to distract, disarm and evade with our reflexes.

There were a few more times I was kicked, fell over or was barely pierced by an arrow, but my newly enhanced senses were hardly fooled.

By dinnertime, I was able to identify each of us relatively quickly in any situation and respond accordingly.

Akemi moved little but had a long range, Lupa moved more often and wildly, and Adiel now reloaded her bow very fast and got more accurate to the point I was glad I wasn’t her target anymore.

I began to feel we were really doing something better, because by then our ghost-samurai had stopped giving advice, and was merely supervising us with quiet satisfaction.

“You may stop now!” she announced once. “That’s enough for today, the rest of the time is yours! We’ll continue tomorrow!”

Yeah, thank goodness this was over for now.

Being worn out after a full day of training and pain, I felt much better after the bath at Ente & Ovia, as if a thousand years of worry had lifted off me.

The dinner was a blessing. For today, they mostly made soup, so we all got a big bowl of noodle soup with meat, eggs, and everything.

It was a dream to eat, while listening to Rumel and Adiel chatting, Lupa asking Mineruva all sorts of questions, and after a while, I lost track of what they were saying, and just listened.

Once we finished, the maids came over and started collecting our bowls, and in the midst of their scurrying, Tara stepped up to us, leaning against the closest table.

She was visibly uneasy and unsure how to tell us, looking distant.

“Tell me, darlings… is it true that you’re leaving tomorrow?”

“I’m afraid so,” Lupa sighed. “The sooner we find the one behind the murders, the sooner we can prevent any more danger.”

“And I can’t exactly stay in Tessal for long,” I admitted shyly. “I’m needed back home, so by tomorrow afternoon—hopefully after sorting this out—I’ll leave.”

“You all make me proud,” she let out a smile before asking a more serious question. “But still, how much can you guarantee that Rumel and Adiel will be alright? More so... are you sure you want to have them with you?”

“They’ll be safe,” Mineruva said. “While we were practicing, I was done with the plan. They will stay with me, and help from a safe distance, away from danger. I’ll take responsibility for them.”

Tara acknowledged this respectfully, but it didn’t comfort her much.

It didn’t matter whose responsibility it was. One person or a group, the point was the same.

She doesn’t want to let them go, and wouldn’t forgive herself or us if they got hurt. In that case, we’d be burned.

“I know how strong you are. That you can protect them, but… even so, to take them on yourself…”

“Michio-kun and I will protect the three of them on the front,” the knight-girl put a hand to her heart. “Not a hand will harm anybody while we’re there.”

“And you two,” Tara asked the two girls one final thing. “Are you sure you want to go?”

Adiel exchanged a glance with Rumel.

There was nothing to disagree on.

“Uh-huh! I’d be sorry to miss this!”

“We’re not only a big help to you, but apparently to them as well,” Adiel smiled. “And we’ll be back by evening anyway!”

Tara didn’t know how to handle this.

She scratched her scales and gave us one last look before standing up.

And she was right, we did make her proud, because she wasn’t sad now.

“I’m glad you care for each other this much, dears. Wish you the best of luck from my heart! And, by the end of the day, you girls do come home or I’ll for sure burn the whole city down to find you!”

Thank goodness it’s only the city, I’m a little relieved.

◆ ◆ ◆

On Saturday morning, I woke up pretty early.

This time no one had to wake me up, since training fatigue let me fall asleep on time.

It was around sunrise, but I was already sitting in bed, my mind racing, with the menu open in front of me.

I was staring at the «Quit» option.

I’d been here for two days so far, and today I had to go back to reality, where there was no such danger as in Leclaire.

But what’s stopping me from going back right now?

Yeah, nothing. And it scared me.

The option was right there, and if I pressed it, I would surely find myself safe in my own room in the sharehouse, as peaceful and quiet as ever.

No one from this world could come through with me. Neither a war-crazy Consul Magne, nor Silaghi, nor dark magic.

But if I did leave, nobody would keep order in here, not even my friends, and the guys in the Capitol would still want to kill innocent people for crimes orchestrated by Demons.

And don’t forget that I promised myself I’d stay, and the others counted on me to be present.

Plus, I wondered, would the System even allow me to come back right away if I left?

This gave me a headache, and I always felt like I was a hair’s breadth away from selecting that option and going back outside for an energy drink break or something.

Not a chance. I knew better than that.

I was about to go into a fight impossibly early just to see Sachi when I get back home.

There was no room in my head for temptations like these.

What’s the point of logging out if I miss the exciting moments?

Closing the menu, I lay back on my pillow and waited for the others to get up.

◆ ◆ ◆

And so, we had the rest of the training for today. Just a few hours to try ourselves out before executing our plan.

This time though, things were different.

Compared to yesterday’s start, when I got bonked into the wall, now I mostly stayed on my feet aside from the occasional risky moves, dashing between Lupa and Adiel, stabbing and defending, my dummy sword ringing out a metallic symphony.

My gamer sense was constantly on, and whenever I could, I watched for the sudden surprises and opportunities to attack. My feet barely touched the ground as I manoeuvred, ready to dodge.

We had only one task now. The three of us against Akemi Gozen.

In this round, Lupa started, I followed, and behind us Adiel was ready to shoot.

One blow and the samurai ducked from the knight, but I reached her from the right side, just in time to stab. She kicked, but I dove behind her with a spin and ran my sword through her backplate.

It had no effect, but it was enough for a small win. I took a lunge, barely getting to my feet as Lupa gave Adiel room for another arrow-shot.

She drew the bowstring tight and fired three arrows in a row.

Her shots were dangerously accurate, as one managed to hit the very top of Akemi’s helmet at the horn.

It rattled like a rusty bell, then bounced off.

My, it’s been hours since we managed to hit her twice in one game!

The rest of the upcoming matches were similar. Akemi didn’t hold back, but thanks to her teaching, it was one notch easier to bear.

Since there weren’t any clocks in Leclaire, I didn’t know the time, but my heart kept pounding for when we’d stop.

It didn’t take long until just as we were about to attack her, Akemi suddenly abandoned the fighting position and ordered a halt.

We froze almost in line as if we had become statues.

Our trainer gave a chuckle.

“I bet you’d continue training until you become masters! But I’m happy to say you’ve already come far in this short time. In light of that, our training is over.”

Dazed, we all bowed one after the other, hardly grasping what she just said.

“I hereby give Mineruva back her authority, but before I go, let me evaluate you, so that you’ll remember what you’re the best at.”

Wait, evaluate? Like in a P.E. class?

Akemi approached the elf-girl first.

“You, Adiel, are a Marksman, a long-range specialist whose accuracy depends not only on your aim, but on whether your senses are clear. I saw how you found your focus, but I advise you to trust not only your eyes, but your instincts too.”

Adiel almost clutched the bow too hard.

“Thank you, Lady Akemi!”

It was Lupa’s turn.

“I’m proud to have met a warrior like you, Lupa. You are a Defender, who fights as long as she can breathe under any pressure. You showed during training how you can stand your ground, and I hope you’ll stay strong throughout.”

“As long as I can protect those who seek protection, I will.”

Of course it had to be me at the very end!

I could already foresee that I was going to be given some attribute that wouldn’t fit me at all.

“Lastly, Michio-kun. You’re a Rogue. Your expertise is swift movement, and you have a sharp eye for tactical insight. You’re at your best when the world is in chaos, for that’s when you can turn chaos to your advantage.”

Rogue? Chaos and battle?!

“Yeah, that’s me through and through!”

So now we had a Marksman, a Defender, and a Rogue. The only ones missing now were a Mage and a Healer.

I glanced at Mineruva and Rumel beside us.

Set complete.

“And don’t worry!” Akemi walked between us. “The goal wasn’t for you to win against me or each other, but to exceed yourselves and be stronger than you were before. And you’ve done exactly that!”

Akemi looked at Mineruva, who pulled out the Soul Index, and it began to flash.

“So that’s the end. I enjoyed our time, and hope you’ll succeed with your mission!” she waved kindly, and we all returned the gesture.

In a moment, turning into pure jade light, she beamed back into the jewel, and the room fell silent.

Training was over, and our time was up.

◆ ◆ ◆

“So, what do we do now?” I asked.

The others exchanged unsure glances, not knowing what to say. In a way, you could tell that Akemi was keeping us going when we weren’t certain about ourselves.

With her gone, it was only Mineruva who now stood before us, gathering courage.

“We have one last step remaining. I will make each of you a gear that will complement you, following Akemi’s details. How about that?”

I completely forgot about this, as I’d been so immersed in fighting with dummy weapons. Good for Lupa and Adiel to already have their own weapons.

“What do you mean ‘gear’?” Rumel asked with wide eyes, making me curious also. “Swords, shields, all the cool stuff?!”

“Exactly.” she crossed her arms, puzzled, but trusting her ideas. “Either a completely new one, or an enhancement to an existing one.”

“But can you do that?!” Adiel gaped. “Wouldn’t it take a blacksmith multiple days to forge a good sword?”

“Normally, it would…” Mineruva then spun on her axis like a top, and the air around her began to shimmer. “But your gear will be forged with magic!”

The silence was broken by the sound of a multitude of bells chiming at once, as the lights in the room dimmed to darkness.

All the light was collectively centered around Mineruva, who was humming and moving in place as if dancing, guiding the light with her hands, when something magnificent happened.

In the darkness, a huge yellow magic circle appeared on the floor, with some familiar ancient runes swirling around it.

Those were variants of my code, serving as Leclaire’s fundamental magic system.

Four smaller circles formed around the large one as Mineruva concentrated with closed eyes, and, like a gyroscope, the whole thing started rotating for minutes, until various objects appeared in these smaller circles.

They were all made of light, so we couldn’t tell what was what, but when everything gradually stopped, the lights returned to the room and the now visible objects began to float.

My mouth was hanging open.

Four weapons were floating around our friend.

◆ An intricately ornate longsword with a swirling spine.

◆ A bulky, almost man-sized metal shield.

◆ A sleek scope made out of brass, inscribed with runes.

◆ And an awesome-looking wooden-carved staff.

This was too much. All of these looked amazing, and other than the scope, I couldn’t tell which one was meant for whom! Whichever was mine, I didn’t deserve it!

Mineruva opened her eyes and kindly called us over one by one.

“Marksman,” she began with the startled Adiel, levitating the scope toward her. “What you’re about to get is the Tactical Enhancement Skopos. It will help you aim while making the bow steadier. You’ll soon see it for yourself.”

Wow, she’s far more formal than usual.

The scope then flew to Adiel’s bow and stuck to it like a magnet, the runes glowing green as Adiel tested it in awe.

As she aimed, I caught a glimpse of her eyes turning bright green just as the Skopos did. She didn’t shoot, as there were no targets, yet was still speechless.

“Masterful…” she said quietly.

“I’m glad you like it!” Mineruva laughed, then turned to Lupa respectfully. “Defender, you’ll have the Imperial Battle Shield, which when used together with your sword, will strengthen it, even against dark magic.”

The knight admired the huge shield as she held it up. The thing must’ve been crazy light, she gracefully threw and caught it.

“Look!” she said, pointing to its mirror-like surface, and we all saw our reflections in it.

But my eyes returned to the remaining two objects and I was overcome with tears with the realization.

“Rogue,” Mineruva called, and as I dreaded, the longsword floated toward me. “Only by a worthy sword will you become who you are. By a sword as swift and accurate as its wielder. This one, the Axis Negative, is now yours.”

Holding the extraordinary weapon, I instantly found the right grip and tested it with the moves I had learned in training.

Slashing with it, I sensed a familiar connection, as if I’d known this sword for practically all my life.

I turned back in true tears.

“Thanks, Mineruva, I’ll never forget this!”

“I hope so,” she winked. “You’ll owe me a lot of Japanese recipes if you lose it!”

Uh, okay, I’ll just keep this beauty glued to me from now on…

“Finally Rumel,” she called to the excited cat-girl. “Your specialty is medicine, so you’ll wield the Staff of Akeso. It’ll amplify the effects of your medicines, but you won’t be able to use it for long at a time, so wield it wisely.”

The Staff of Akeso came to Rumel, who inspected it from all angles, lightly scratched it with her claws, and… snuggled up to it.

“Smells so nice!”

We giggled involuntarily, while I was secretly hoping Rumel won’t ever be coming close to cat-mint.

“And you?” Lupa asked our resident goddess. “Aren’t you giving yourself anything?”

“I don’t need anything. My item generation, teleportation and magical barriers are more than enough to assist you.”

She popped her knuckles, seeing our team now well equipped.

My only regret was that all this cool gear, costumes and such, would only be considered a decent cosplay in real life. However, here in Leclaire, they might just save our lives in an hour.

“So let’s proceed, shall we?” she said. “We have a Demon to find.”