01.10 - .hack//WIN

The still more than twenty remaining slimes zeroed in on my position.

The first few tackled me. Without much effect.

You see, my Stats were bigger than their Stats.

Simple as that.

The aftermath of the non-fight with the horde of rainbow slimes would have left me with 37 freshly cut portions of royal jelly.

But I’d be a fool to waste a golden ticket like that.

I slashed another couple of them to show them who’s boss, then repeatedly used ‘Steal’ on all of the remaining rainbow slimes to extract their royal jelly without killing all of my golden geese.

After they had all fled back into the forest, I joined Tia and the adventurer girl that was rescued by us, before we slowly escorted her back to town.

I took a closer look at her during the march back, as we filled the dead air with smalltalk.

She was short, looked not much older than me, but claimed to be seventeen.

“Thanks for saving my ass,” she said while bowing her head. “I’ve been culling slimes for months now, but I never ran into a stampede, let alone one made up of rainbow slimes. I am Reiko by the way, Reiko Ryusei.”

“You're welcome,” I said. “I am Grey. Grey Morgenlicht. That was quite the prey you lured out for us.”

“I am Tia. Why were you hunting alone? Don’t you have a party?” Tia asked.

“No. I mean, yes. I mean, no.” She stumbled over her words.

Which was it now?

“I mean, I do have a regular party,” she said. “But they were both busy today, so…”

“You went on your own?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “My uncle wanted to help me out, but he didn’t show up. I only expected regular slimes, so I ended up going alone.”

Her uncle waved at her from near the gates, slowly approaching us.

He was humongous.

It was ‘Big Boy’ from back at the guild.

He thanked us for our intervention and introduced himself as Kentaro Ryusei.

Apparently, Reiko was his niece. He wanted to show up earlier but a guild mission took priority.

Both seemed a bit out of place, but I was too focused on his missing arm and eyepatch to notice his more Asian features when we met him the first time.

“You are not from here, are you?” I asked.

“We are very much from here,” he said. “But my grandfather was an Otherworlder. Hence our names and appearance.”

“An Otherworlder?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

“Never heard of them?” he asked.

I shook my head. Better not to reveal my cards.

“They are actually not that uncommon,” he said. “They usually come in two flavours. Rebirth or Teleportation. My grandfather was one of the latter.”

If he tells the truth, I might need to look out for my fellow heroes. Not that I had much interest in following the goddess orders anyway. That ‘Seth’ dude could lead a long, happy life, for all I cared. As long as he left us alone that is.

She did mention ‘heroes’ though. Plural. This shouldn’t surprise me, I guess…

“Well, thanks again,” he said. “If there’s anything I could do to repay you, just ask. Oh just one last thing: Were the two of you flying back there?”

I thought about denying it, but his niece would just tell later anyway.

One thing came to another and…

“Wait, you're an actual dragon?” he asked. “That’s so cool.”

Tia blushed slightly. Guess she wasn’t used to compliments.

“You know, I’ve been around,” he said. “Had my fair share of women. A few blonds, some redheads, a demi human or two, an Elden Lady… even a Succubus… but I never heard of anyone laying a dragon.”

Did he mean ‘slay’?

Nah. Didn’t look like it.

Tia went bright red.

Her tail swung right into Kentaro’s face.

That impact would have cracked the average adventurer's skull, if it didn’t outright behead them.

“D-d-dummy.” Tia stuttered, then flew off, still colored less like a chaos and more like a fire dragon.

Reiko looked at her uncle. “I think he’s out cold.”

His eyelids twitched.

“Or not,” I said.

“Was that a ‘no’?” Kentaro asked with a muffled voice from the massive swelling on his face.

I returned to the adventurers guild to turn in the fruits of our hunt and make an additional request for the day of the upcoming Evaluation Ceremony, then met up with a still flustered Tia back home.

—

The day of the Evaluation Ceremony followed.

Dawn, Alfred, Tia and I left the house early.

Our ’mother’ refused to join us, claiming to feel unwell, but probably just dreading any further embarrassment.

This time, the ceremony went without any big surprises.

I had to try my best to refrain from excessive use of ‘Know your Enemy’.

My Level after the rainbow slime mass slaughter had risen to 21.

It went back down to 19 during the ceremony, but despite my minor relapses, I managed to pass this second evaluation of mine.

As for Dawn, she passed her first evaluation with ease, given her Level of 27.

Celebrations were due, and I knew just the place for it: A small cafe on a hill, with close ties to the adventurers guild.

We sat down at a medium sized table with a great view of the bay and harbor.

Then my prearranged order arrived.

“Are those?” Alfred asked.

“Five big servings of rainbow jelly parfait,” the waitress confirmed. “Ordered for ‘Morgenlicht’. Is there a problem?”

“No, everything's fine,” I said.

Dawn and Tia dug in without a second to spare.

“So sweet,” Dawn said. “I wish I could eat this every day.”

“That would be quite a problem,” Alfred said.

“Why?” Dawn asked between two bites.

“The required ingredients are exceptionally rare,” Alfred said. “This must have been quite pricey. It’s surprising they had any at all, let alone enough for 5 servings.”

“Really?” asked Dawn.

“I might have a bit of a monopoly on the royal jelly market right now,” I said with a chuckle. “We lucked out on one of our recent quests. This arrangement was part of my deal with the guild. But I am afraid we might not be able to make this a regular thing, so enjoy it while it lasts.”

Dawn and Tia split the spare portion originally intended for my ‘mother’, while Alfred inquired me on the details of our recent quest.

“If you’ve taken down a whole stampede of rainbow slimes on your own, I am sure the Officer school will give you a second chance, even without the lord's letter of recommendation,” Alfred said. “There must have been something wrong with your first evaluation after all.”

“I am actually not that interested in joining the military,” I said. “Especially given the current war.”

“What else do you have in mind?” Alfred asked. “Adventuring in your youth is all fine and good, but it isn’t exactly a valid career choice. As the saying goes, there aren’t many old adventures, and not for a lack of trying.”

“True,” I said. “I had actually thought about finishing a few more quests and trying my luck at a more stable calling after that.”