Nozomu widened his eyes, "Or someone like me that can be used as a shield for the Monsters! Yeah, better to hide my ability, or I may be kidnapped and forced to enter one of those caves!"
The Priest spoke with a worried look, "Another good reason why I told the Guild Master to take you in. No one messes with a Guild of Adventurers, unless they want to die. They have a saying, ‘mess with one, you get all of us’, and they always protect their members against another Guild, any kind of Monster, an army or a foreign country."
Nozomu got up and when he was about to leave the room, he asked, "What about the Unicorns? What do we do with them?"
"You can keep them. The Guild Master will for sure be impressed, but you may have to come up with a cover story, instead of saying what you really did to catch them. Unicorns are very low maintenance, they can eat grass or Magic. Suna might need to take care of that, because if it is going to depend on you, they will starve."
Nozomu made a slight smile and went for the door. He then looked back with a puzzled face and Taisetsuna said, "Second door on the right."
Nozomu winked and opened the door. As he was walking along the corridor, the Priest asked, "Suna, do you think he is pretending?"
"I don’t think so. You didn’t notice that he didn’t say one of his stupid jokes? Even his eyes seem different, they have a strange glow, as if he is continuously amazed and surprised by everything. I like him as he is now, he looks more mature and serious than he ever was."
The Priest slowly nodded and cleaned the remains of Nozomu’s treatment. As for him, he was seated on the chair in his room, reading a book and looking at the map of the World. At least, the known part, because there was a big blank space up North and another on the right side of the mainland, as if no one ever went there.
Nozomu was thinking for himself, trying to put his thoughts in order, “||... What happened to me? I got reincarnated or transported to another World? And I am now inside a teenage boy? I hated my teenage years, and I have to do it all over? My family… How much time went by since I passed away? My wife, son, daughter, how are they? I was supposed to get Mia from School! I must learn more about this World if I am going to live here from now on. They use Magic, shields and swords. There are Monsters and Magical Beings. I need to find out how is the technology they use, if any. Let me see, a book about Magic, this one is History of the World, and it has maps. …|"
Nozomu spent the rest of the afternoon reading in his room, and he only came out when Taisetsuna called him for dinner. He sat at the dining table and stared at the food on his plate. Roasted manioc and some kind of meat. He touched the meat with his fork, and the Priest frowned, "What? Too fancy for your taste?"
"No… I don’t know this kind of meat. It’s yellow, what’s this? It’s not chicken, I suppose."
"That’s fish, not meat. You caught it early in the morning. You really forgot everything, didn’t you? Not even the slightest memory?"
Nozomu shook his head while munching a piece of the yellow fish, "Nothing, but this fish is tasty. I read in the History book that there is a theory claiming that the World might be older than what everyone thinks because there are remains of different civilizations, some more advanced than others. While one civilization was better with Magic, another was not and created several devices that could do many things that are now made with Magic, but no one knows why they disappeared or when. We are in the ‘Principality of Khiz’, right? It’s a peaceful country at least, or the Emperor of the ‘Infraluan Empire’ is always trying to increase the borders of his country by conquering the neighbouring countries?"
The Priest shook his fork in front of Nozomu, "My boy, it’s never a good idea to voice out things like that, you never know who could be listening. To answer your question, despite the several tries some years ago, the Empire has fixed boundaries and the countries around made an alliance to prevent further invasions to enlarge the Empire. If their army gets their hands on you, who knows what might happen, maybe the Empire will try again, and succeed. In a Guild of Adventurers, you will always have someone to protect you, just in case a spy of the Empire tries to kidnap you."
"I see. What about you, Priest? After we leave, you will be all alone, right? You won’t be lonely?"
The Priest tilted his head, "You think I will miss your craziness around here? It will feel like I am on holidays! Don’t worry, I have plenty of things to keep me occupied. I have service at the City’s Church, and there is always someone in need of Healing Magic. I may find a new orphan to raise now that I will have two rooms available when you and Suna go live in the Guild. There are two rooms for both of you on the upper level, but you will have to pay the rent for that, of course."
Nozomu nodded, and Suna asked with a worried look, "That means we will live at the Guild? We can visit you sometimes, right?"
"Of course, my dear. My door is always open for you, but you have to learn how to live and earn money for your expenses, like every adult. I did my best to teach you two, and I think everything will be alright."
Taisetsuna Kawa slowly nodded and glanced at the distracted Nozomu Shinchaku, who was eating the fish and the manioc with a puzzled look. He noticed her looking at him, and asked, "What? Do you feel nervous about living all alone? I will be right there, remember? I am not going anywhere."
"Yeah, thanks. We have to do our best, right?"
Nozomu Shinchaku made a big smile and nodded, making Taisetsuna feel more at ease.
...
After finishing and cleaning the plates, Nozomu went to the stable with Taisetsuna, and watched as she made a Fireball for the red Unicorn and a Wind Tornado for the white one, to feed them.
While brooming the white Unicorn's mane, Nozomu asked, "Did you think of a name for your guy?"
"I thought of calling him Furnace. What about yours?"
Nozomu looked at the curious white Unicorn that was staring at him as if he was waiting, and said, "I suppose Pikachu would be a stupid name. Maybe Rampage would be more appropriate, considering his bad temper. Or White Virus. What do you think, you crazy Unicorn?"
The Unicorn vigorously nodded, and Nozomu repeated the names, watching his reaction. He then smiled and said while facing Taisetsuna, "Rampage it is. You said they could be sold for a bunch of money, are Unicorns that valuable?"
"Yes, they sure are, and yours is the most valuable one, because Lightning Magic is very powerful and rare. If you sell him, you won’t need to work for the rest of your life, and you can have a very pleasant life if you buy a farm."
Nozomu caressed the snout of the frowning white Unicorn, "I am not going to sell him, he is my friend aren’t you, you cute little thing? Yes, you are! Stop frowning at me like that, geez! Mind your temper, will you? You look like you are about to pierce me with that horn, and we both know it will only give you a headache. Suna, you said that Dragons can also be tamed, maybe one day we can catch two of them, and we can use them to fly around. That would be cool."
Taisetsuna Kawa answered while holding the stable door for him, "It sure would, but it is also a lot more dangerous. There are always Adventurers trying to catch one, and some of them don’t return from that kind of Quest. Maybe with you we could accomplish it, but we may need a few years to get a chance of joining one of those Quests."
"Maybe one of these days we will get lucky, and we are attacked by two Dragons like what happened with the Unicorns."
Taisetsuna Kawa answered while entering the main building, "I will pass. Dragons are extremely dangerous and scary for just the two of us to go against one, not to mention two of them. Are you going to your room to read those books? Do you want some company? It’s still early."
"I wouldn’t mind, maybe I have some doubts and you could enlighten me."
Taisetsuna Kawa opened the door to her room and said, "Go ahead, I will go in a moment. I am going to grab a book as well about herbs and medicines. I want to make another Healing Potion just in case you get hurt again."
Nozomu Shinchaku nodded and went to his room while thinking, "|... She is still worried about what happened, I could see in her eyes. She got quite a scare, I bet. No wonder, if she and Nozomu grew up together, she cares for him and probably sees him as family. Me, as her family, I mean. This is a little confusing. ..:|"
When Nozomu was studying the World Map, Suna knocked on his door and entered, going straight to the table where he was and sat on the empty chair ahead of him.
She pointed at the drawing of one plant and said, "See this? This is a very difficult plant to find, but the Priest once told me that he found one in the forest from where the Unicorns came. Maybe we can show this to them tomorrow and ask them to help us find one. We have three days before going to the Guild, that will give us little time to get the plants, let them dry and make the Potion."
She then asked while Nozomu was looking at the recipe for the Healing Potion, "You… are not nervous about leaving the Orphanage? We went to the City several times with the Priest, and we visited the farms around with him, but this time we will be all alone. I am a bit scared."
"I am, but what can we do? We have to leave this nest and find a place for us in society. We can visit the Priest from time to time, but I am sure everything will work out."
Taisetsuna bit her lower lip and said, after a few seconds of silence, "I may need your help with that. Except for you and the Priest, I never had any patience for anyone else. I get easily annoyed and people tend to think that I am rude and mean. You never had problems with talking with people and making friends, but I always preferred to be left alone. Like any other Cat-kind, I guess…"
"Maybe I used to be like that, but I think I am not so amiable right now. I guess I also prefer to be left alone, instead of being surrounded by a bunch of beings that I don’t know. Besides, with your cute face and pretty smile, I am sure you will be just fine."
Taisetsuna stared at him with a red face, "You know, this is the third time today that you said I am cute, and you never said I have a pretty smile. Are you mocking me? Because if you are, I will slap you!"
"What are you talking about? Did you look in the mirror lately? You have a nice and sexy figure, a cute face, big and round breasts, an amazing hair colour, not to mention those yellow eyes of yours! I could stare into your eyes for hours! If I never said that, then I was too stupid for my own good! You may need to be careful out there in the World, you can’t be naive. I bet there are a lot of men that will try to gain some kind of advantage over you or fool you to get you into a bed."
Taisetsuna swallowed and answered with a slight smile while showing him her fingernails, sharp as claws, "The first one that tries anything pervert against me, will lose both eyes. These are not only for show, you know?""Ok, as long as you are aware that you are too sexy and tempting for a hot-blooded male. Now, do you mind putting away those things? They are scary and I need to concentrate on this book."Taisetsuna grabbed her book and buried her face in it, hiding her redness and embarrassment. She said in a low voice, and Nozomu almost didn’t hear her, "Thanks for saying that I am cute and sexy, I really appreciate that."
Nozomu smiled, "I know, it’s to change the taste and effects of some drinks, mostly wine. Better than a branch from a tree, we could use leaves from black tea, because those kinds of leaves have an excess of tannins.""We have that type of tea! The Priest is always drinking it, he says it keeps him awake during the day when he stays up late, reading.""Yes, that’s also the effect of the tannins, they give a stamina boost, and you don’t feel sleepy."Taisetsuna slowly nodded, "It makes sense, because the book says that if a few steps
Nozomu looked to where Taisetsuna was pointing, and on the right side of the door, there was a small shelter with logs. He grabbed as much as he could carry and went to the kitchen.In there, Taisetsuna was already pouring water from a big bucket into two pans.When she placed the ten leaves on the table over a metallic tray, she pointed at the stove, "Put the wood inside and light the fire, I am going to dry these leaves.""Wait, let me take another look at those leaves, first."
Taisetsuna made a forward jump with a downward slash aimed at Nozomu’s head. Before he even had the time to think about something, his body moved. The buckler went up to stop the sword, and the left fist went straight at Taisetsuna’s face, taking her by surprise. A kick in her left leg ruined her balance, and the buckler went straight at her neck.She stopped it at the last minute with her sword and made a big smile to the surprised Nozomu with her nose all red from his punch, “See? What did I tell you? Muscle memory! Another round?”Nozomu backed away with a puzzled look plastered on his face, and for the next ten minutes, he reacted without
During dinner, the Priest took one deep breath before speaking, “Nozo and Suna, tomorrow I will take you to the Guild of Adventurers to meet the Guild Master. After that, a new chapter in your life will begin, and I hope I didn’t make too much of a bad job while raising you both. Nozo, try to avoid returning to your silly pranks and misbehaviour. Suna, you need to keep your bad temper under control, because I won’t be around to take you out of trouble if you go on a rampage because someone annoyed you. Nozo, I am trusting you to keep her away from trouble.”Nozomu glanced at the embarrassed Taisetsuna and said, “Last time I heard, I was the one that was always in trouble. Suna is very kind and peaceful, I don’t understand why you say I have to watc
The Guard spoke with a frown, “I will be seeing him in the pit if he annoys someone!”Before the surprised stares of the City Guards, Nozomu tilted his head and spoke, “You know, that is not a very polite way to address a new citizen. I might start to think that you have something against me, when I didn’t do anything yet, I am just riding here. Or perhaps you have a thing for young boys, and that would be a very serious crime if you abused your power as a City Guard to force me to do something.”The Guard turned bright red in anger and answered, “You a
Nozomu gently held the woman’s hand and kissed the fingertips. He spoke as she was gasping in surprise, “If you consider hitting my head against a rock and losing my memory completely as a nice change, then I guess I am indeed a different person. I have no idea if I ever met you, and that pains me because forgetting your amazingly beautiful face should be considered a crime. I don’t know if I ever treated you badly or if I was rude to you. If I did, I apologize and I hope you can forgive me for that. I will do everything I can to atone for my rudeness if I ever angered you.”The woman gulped and felt her heart skipping a beat. She spoke after an awkward silence while Nozomu was still holding her hand, “I am
The Guild Master opened the door for them and followed them to the outside. After smiling at his new two employees, he went with the Priest to the stable, while Nozomu and Taisetsuna went to the upper floor, to check their rooms.Taisetsuna opened the fourth door on the right side of the corridor, and Nozomu opened the fifth door. When both of them entered, they took a look around the room. A bed, a closet, a table, and a chair. There was also a small bedside table with a candle holder on top, and several new candles inside the drawer.Nozomu tested the softness of the bed, and when he was bumping on the edge, Taisets
Raluth WorldEvery map has a big blank space to the north and another on the right side of the mainland, as if no one ever went there.Some people have a theory claiming that the World might be older than most people think because there are remains of different civilizations, some more advanced than others.While one civilization was better with Magic, another was not and created several devices that could do many things that are normally done with Magic, but no one knows why they disappeared or when.Those civilizations left behind several things. There are abandoned Cities, Magical Circles that allow for travel between them, and many mines with hidden relics from the past. Those are very profitable, at least the ones that still work or that people manage to understand how to use them, but most mines are infested with Monsters and it is very dangerous to go inside. Only a big and strong Party of Adventurers dares enter a mine, and even they lose a few members in a Quest to one of thos
“With this, ends the adventures of Nozomu Shinchaku, The Amazing Sidekick, as he would be known in the Raluth World. His sacrifice saved everyone, and his friends remembered him forever. As for Taisetsuna, don’t feel sorry for her because she has three men that love her and, with time, were a good replacement for her lost love. The End!”The three children with their eyes glowing were smiling at their mother, Mia Snyder.Her youngest daughter, Susan, asked, “Mother, do you think all that really happened to Grandpa Jack?“What do you think, de
The crowd first began to walk backwards, but then ran towards the City, trying to keep as much distance as possible from the nightmare in front of them.Among that group, Taisetsuna noticed a few people with pointy ears and dressed in brown and dark green clothes, and she mumbled, “All this time without seeing an Elfian, and now a bunch were almost going inside Raluth. But they sure ran fast!”At the edge of the trench, Tomiga and the others were telling people to get back to the Magical Circle and to travel to another country, while Chujitsuna was raising the people from inside the trench and telling them the same thing while carrying Tresuria on her right shoulder.None of them could hear, because the screams from Raluth made it impossible, but they all easily understood what they needed to do. R
In front of Raluth’s mouth, Draiky and Oaky were facing him, waiting for further orders.Then, sensing something, Draiky signalled to Oaky, and they both stuck their hands on the soil.A deep hole appeared that sucked them in, and under Taisetsuna, her group, each Teacher, and student, a hole appeared as well, which took them to a few meters underground.Taisetsuna looked around and saw a few vines bound to form two small hands with four tiny fingers.The hands signalled her to wait, and she frowned as she said, “What is the matter, Draiky? Is that you, right?”Both hands gave her a thumbs up and signalled for her to wait again. The others inside the holes received the same signals, and they
Chujitsuna raised her head, stopping making the trench with her Magic for a moment to look at where Taisetsuna was pointing.She half-closed her eyes and said, “No, those are horses, cows, ‘Scaraar’s, and chickens. Do we need to stop them?”Taisetsuna frowned and answered, “Might as well. It will serve to test our defence! Everyone, make a line! Let’s do this! Chuji! The trench!”“Sorry boss! On it!”Taisetsuna looked at the City again and saw a big group of people coming from the gates with soldiers after them, shooting arrows and Magic. Two people in that group stayed behind to fight the soldiers by creating walls made of rock or throwing Wind Pushes against them, and the rest continu
The resurfacing of Raluth was felt all over the World, but it was the ‘Ifranluan Empire’ that suffered the most because it was in the mountain range in the north of the Empire that Raluth’s head appeared. Or better yet, the entrance to his massive body through his enormous mouth.Raluth’s went deep down in circles, from the head to the rest of his body, creating a never-ending spiral that occupied almost the entire Empire’s underground.When he resurfaced, the tremors lacerated the land, and at the Capital, the Castle cracked, unable to resist the trembling gro
Before they had time to say anything or see that he was crying, Nozomu ran out the door and helped Koyaga wrap the blankets around the piles of bags with chocolates near the Dragons that were waiting for him.When Draiky brought the last bag and Nozomu tied the last knot, he gave the wrapped blanket to Mizukonta, and he said to the worried Koyaga as he was giving her a dagger, “Go to the Princess. Tell her that Raluth is emerging and that he will control everyone with his Magic. All over the World, no one will resist him, and they will go to him to be eaten. This dagger is coated with a Sleeping Potion and you just need to scratch the Princess with it and you as well. Maybe if you are both sleeping, you have a chance. Trust no one, Koyaga, because the moment Raluth controls them, I don’t know what they will do.”“An
Everyone turned to where Mizukonta was pointing her clawed paw, and they saw it. A bright beam of pure magic was being shot straight into the sky. Something terrible was happening, judging by the pressure they were feeling in their bodies as if suddenly, they all weighed more than they should.The trembling diminished but didn’t stop, and Mizukonta stared at Hinotsume, who was looking at the beam of energy in silence.He then faced Nozomu and said, “It is time. We need to act fast. The Dragons know what to do, and by now, they are all flying to the Academy to meet us. We must go as well.”Nozomu looked at Taisetsuna, who was completely pale and staring at him. She immediately understood what Hinotsume meant, and despite the others being puzzled by his words, she was not.<
Nozomu scratched his head and said, “I need to be extra careful with those vials, then. And I am going to need a place to put all this money. I wasn’t expecting it to be this much already!”“The nectar doesn’t explode that easily, you know? As for the money, you need to decide where to spend it. You can’t have all these coins, or the country will have a shortage of coins very soon if the sales keep on increasing! We are already getting orders from other countries, and I need to hire more people to help our Cook. And the other Guild Masters are facing the same problem! Lack of staff for so many orders of pizzas, chocolates, and chewing gums! You are going to be filthy rich in no time, Nozomu! Together with your Baronet title and the lands the Princess promised, you will be a very interesting bachelor for every single woman out there. I would be very surprised if you don’t have a girlfriend already!”