A Dwarf Attempts Casual Conversation

The briefing continued, but the goddesses directed their attention to the nobility, as they were Glynn's World's citizens and had to live on this corrupted plane. Their faith in the goddesses had to be preserved.

That information could be ignored, though. For the protagonists, it was all about game plans and optimization as they formed into their own organic cliques. Some groups were going to hunt the Demon Generals head-on, while others would level up further with assistance from the adventurer's guild. The intention was to get strong as fast as possible. Dige watched and listened as best he could, absorbing every piece of knowledge available.

“Hmm, I have no idea what they're saying,” Dige mumbled. “I suppose they're speaking that Japanese I heard about...Well, I know English now, so maybe I should…”

The dwarf wandered over to the group with the elf, and while his ancestral blood told him to be wary of the magic user, he decided to ignore her and go for the blonde priestess. Less offensive. She also had a bubbly, cheerful expression, so Dige could feel the sisterly vibe radiating from her.

He held out his hand. “Excuse me, lass, may I-.” 

"Stand back," the elf intercepted. “You’re not going after us again, are you?”

Dige retracted. “N-No, I have no grudge against-.”

“If you ever try to go at us like that again, I’ll use more than a water bubble on you, half-man.”

Such immediate hostility. What did Dige do to deserve such poor treatment?

“Oh, c’mon, Vel, don’t be so hard on him.” The priestess said. “I’m sure he was angry for a good reason.”

"Fura..."

"Deep down, I think there's kindness in this little half-man."

Dige smiled. “Thank you, lassie.”

“Don't thank her. Her sympathy is worthless.”

“Nonetheless!” Dige shouted so loud the girls’ hair stood up. “Before you insult me again, I want to move ahead of you to say that I know nothing.”

"How surprising."

“I don’t know where to go or what to do. I can blacksmith, but nobody needs one in this city as far as I know. I also haven’t slept in three days. Can I sleep in your bed for the night?”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!” Shige marched in between Dige and the girls. “What's going on over here!? Are you trying to move in on my turf!?”

“Am I able to sleep on it?”

“No!” Shige was a twitch away from pulling the magic circles on this dwarf. “That's disgusting! I never expected a dwarf to be the perverted type.”

“Wait,” Fura blinked. “Are we your turf now?”

“That's very creepy of you, Shige.”

“It’s not like that. I'm protecting my teammate. Fura, back me up.”

The yellow priestess scratched her head. “I mean, yeah. We’re all a team, right? We should protect each other, yeah?”

“That’s right,” Shige nodded. “We’re close friends. Very close friends. I’d do anything for you girls.”

Vel grimaced. "I don't want you to."

“Ah, I see.” Dige nodded as well. “So it’s like a brotherhood. I mistook you, Japanese man.”

“Well, thank you." Shige dropped his guard. Hard to stay angry after a compliment.

“I thought these two were part of your harem. Seeing that everyone else here has ladies following them, I figured that you Japanese derive your status from collecting groups of women and fornicating with them, like the orcs do. I mean, your eyes were staring at the blonde one's breasts just now, and you blush when the elf talks to you, so I assumed you harbored lustful feelings toward them, but I was mistaken, so I apologize. I hope I can join your brotherhood one day as well.”   

There were no words that could describe the sheer discomfort everyone within earshot felt about that paragraph. The girls weren’t sure if they should be ashamed, angry, or embarrassed. Shige, however, was all three.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING!?” He roared. “Are you calling me a pervert!?”

“Oh, was I wrong? Well, why didn’t you say so, lad! You’re a slippery one, aren’t you?”

“Yes, very slippery,” said both girls.

“Shut up!” Shige stomped. “What’s wrong with having a party made of only cute girls!?”

Dige stroked his beard, seriously contemplating. “Hmm, it does make you look like a pedophile.”

“WHAT!?” Now they were all screaming.

“But that’s almost all humans. You’re so…thin, puny. You need real muscles, like-.”

Dige was interrupted by magic circles, propelling him through the arena and several parties. Luckily, he was built for blunt force and landed in the arms of a tall, 2 ½ meter-tall wolf girl. Dige observed his landing spot and blushed.

"Oh, hello, fine lady."

“Kick his ass!” Shige yelled, running at full force. “He attacked my friends!”

“Yeah, kill him!” Vel and Fura yelled.

Dige was dropped like a bag of bricks, and the area around him quickly vacated. Confused, the dwarf pulled his head out of the sand just in time to dodge a blast of wind that whipped past him. Soon enough, a flurry of spells was hammering him from half a stadium away, the fury of a knight and his compatriots going all out.

“Oy, was it something I said!? Ah!” A blast of pure magic knocked him in the chest, leaving a serious scorch mark on his breastplate. If it hadn’t been there, he’d be cooked. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Dige reached for his axe, but his stature and clumsiness left him open to further attacks. He was too far away for a bubble, but the elf would rather deal with him from this distance. Her intuition was right. There was something wrong with this creature. Every fiber of her being told her to destroy this enemy and protect her hero. That felt odd. This spring of emotion did not feel natural, and going by Fura's expression, she was uncomfortable with this amount of rage, too. Curious.

That didn’t reduce the amount of projectiles, and the dwarf, like a delicate ballerina, barreled his way through the magic circle beams in a way only a rotund man could. He took some hits, as those couldn’t be avoided, but he came out the other side burnt and alive as he circled the arena.

“Dammit,” Shige grumbled. “This DPS is way less than it should be. We’ve been one-shotting mobs at his level for weeks now. What kind of defenses is this dwarf running?” 

His question would have to be answered later as a haymaker made its way across his nose, not from Dige, but from another protagonist. 

“Watch where you’re shooting!” he yelled. “You almost hit my friends!”

The arena of heroes quickly devolved into a brawl of disgruntled factions. Most of them didn't know who was throwing magic around. The crowd was too dense to tell, but they were eager to protect their own. The kingdom's nobility got the opportunity to see how powerful and immature the goddess's chosen really were.

“Everyone, stop fighting!” Marine yelled. “We’re all friends here! Please, stop!”

“Kick his ass, Shige!” Rani cheered. “Show 'em who the top champion is!”

“Show those Raniites who is superior, Kensuke!” Elbeth joined.

“You guys! We shouldn’t encourage this!”

“Why not?” Rani asked. “We can revive them afterwards. What’s the big deal?”

In the mounting confusion, Dige found the opening he was looking for and threw himself at the enemy, itching to get some payback.

“Shige! Prepare to die!”

“Wait! I’m not Shige!”

“Oh, pardon me. Excuse me…Shige!” 

The magic knight pushed his colleague off in time to block the oncoming axe blow. His sword was a magic item, enchanted by one of four great fairies of the lake found throughout Glynn’s World, and had intense magical power. Dige’s axe chipped through a third of it. 

“How is this happening?” Shige grunted, his arms buckling under the dwarf’s arm strength. “This dwarf, is he using anti-magic?”

With a step, Shige parried the blow and stood ready for the counterattack. Dige’s swings were large and took time to recover, but his ferocity kept him going. The girls were distracted, and the brawl was ever more encompassing. It was just him versus Shige. Though exhausted, the dwarf's determination was unflinching. Dige made his move, and Shige swung to riposte.

They clashed blades, but not with each other. Rather, a black cloaked figure with two swords stood between them. His sudden presence brought about a change in aura that halted all magic users in their tracks, and those few who were without noticed the eerie silence. The goddesses felt their spines tingle.

“That’s enough,” the swordsman said. “We’re on the same team. There’s no reason to fight.”

Shige backed off, his eyes twitching from the pressure. “Who the hell are you?”

Team Akira:

Leader: Akira Kasuga (26M) Paladin, Lv MAX