Chapter 10 ~ PersuasionOn the day that the kingdom army arrives, I have a talk with Sergeant dono in the Guild Hall. There, a lot of adventurers can be seen, making the hall noisy.
“So, our job here is done?”
One of the adventurer ask all of us from Siory town to gather around Sergeant dono. Since the 2nd wall has already been fortified by the army from the Kingdom, all of us were asked to take some time out and rest.
They said that the military strength of those armies are several times higher than us, the adventurers. That’s why our help is no longer necessary.
Not only that, since the arrival of the army, the Demon sides has stopped going for offensive.
Ahh, I want to return back to our house.
“Not yet. I have volunteered for us to partic.i.p.ate in the counter attack in our latest tactical meeting. The plan is to strike tomorrow. We will pursue the enemies to their base and finish them off.”
Finally, I can defeat monsters without worry!
“Masaru, I want you to help with the construction workers to restore the wall. Aren’t you glad, that you don’t need to partic.i.p.ate in this dangerous operation?”
b.u.mmer…
“But you see. I have a lot of powerful offensive spells in my a.r.s.enal. Don’t you think that it is better for me to partic.i.p.ate in this battle too?”
It should be fine now at the shrine clinic.
The total injured has been reduced a lot after the army arrives. Even today, I mainly sit and do some treatment here and there, but its apparent that my help is no longer necessary. The army did bring along their healers as well.
“That’s it. I have nominated your name as someone responsible for command in this mission. The guild is posting this as a mission too. I understand your feeling, wanting to partic.i.p.ate in the frontline, but someone need to stay here and take care of the wall.”
So, n.o.body can reinforce the wall properly huh.
However, the second wall is still a target for the enemies. Even if we were to start the construction work now, there is a high possibility that civilians going to get involve.
“We will defeat all the monsters that are approaching. Masaru should just stay at the back. Don’t you agree, Sati?”
“If Masaru sama not going, then I’ll…”
“Don’t worry Sati, Elizabeth will be with you. Even Sergeant dono will be with you, see.”
“Of course, you still need to be careful, okay.”
Sati should go and get some experiences. Elizabeth too, seeing that her party, Dawn’s Battle Axe going to disband soon.
Then a guild spokesperson come forward and give us the briefing.
The briefing confirm whatever Sergeant dono has covered before. Since this operation gives lots of bonusses, many adventurers are eager to partic.i.p.ate. It might also have been caused by their habits, getting accustomed to partic.i.p.ate in the defense forces for so long.
Anyway, today is a day off for everyone.
My restoration work will also start tomorrow, after the army has occupied back all the lost walls.
“What should we do today?”
“I need to inform Nania regarding our marriage.”
Nania san still don’t know about our marriage. My plan is to wait until everything has settled down first, so that she won’t get worried.
“I would like for Masaru and Sati to come together. Should we bring Angela too?”
Is this the scene where Nania san going to hand over lady Elizabeth to me?
Or maybe I need to get the blessing from both Olba san and Nania san? s.h.i.t, I’m getting nervous now.
The shrine is crowded with many people today.
Along the way, I’m giving a minor treatment to those injured for today. I can see that Angela is working alongside the other priests.
“Angela, can you get out for a while? There’s something that Elizabeth would like to tell you now.”
“Yea, she already mentions to me yesterday. So, are we going to meet Nania san now?”
“Just go ahead. I’m sure you don’t have much magical power left with you right now.”
“Thank you very much, Priest sama.”
“So, what is the story now.”
I asked while we’re walking.
“We’re going to tell her everything.” *need revision* pg. 164
“Eh, didn’t she loved Olba san. Plus, his leg condition right now…”
There’s no doubt that the feeling between Nania san and Olba san is mutual. Even I can see that they’re completely into each other. That’s why Elizabeth has worked hard all this time, to ensure that their relationship is a success.
“Rather, Olba losing his feet his actually a plus. If he didn’t lose his feet back then, Nania will not feel so obliged to follow him back to his hometown, instead she will stay here with me.”
His leg got cut off when he is shielding Nania san last time. It can be said that she feels indebted, and worried for him because of that.
“No way, why is she going that far…”
“That’s right. It was the dying wish of Nania late father. He said to be my knight and completely protect me from harms.”
So, it’s a promise between her late father huh, to become Elizabeth knight.
“Then who is doing the talking?”
“Of course you’re doing it, Masaru.”
Me!? I wonder if she will ever listen to me.
“Since you’re going to become my husband in the future, it’s a given that you’re the one that will talk with her. You’re going to replace Nania job from now on, after all. Just tell her that her service is no longer necessary. Sorry for any convenience. I hope that you will quickly go and retired with Olba san at his hometown.”
“Are you fine with that, Elizabeth?”
Elizabeth stopped and look at me.
“Of course I’m not okay! We’ve been together since I’m just a child! For me to separate with her now, it’s enough to make me sad and cry right now!”
She begins to shed tears as she was saying that.
c.r.a.p. I made her cried.
“Elizabeth…”
“All this time, I thought that there’s no way for Nania to gain her happiness, being stuck with me forever. And then I wondered, is it okay if things continue like this? Now that the opportunity has present itself, I’ll use it without any hesitation.”
“We’re doing it, Masaru! Elizabeth, please leave it to us. I’ll make sure that this persuasion is a success.”
“That’s right. Even I wished that Nania san can find happiness.”
Olba san is still a good man, even without one of his leg.
If I were in his shoes, then I will purchase a large farm and some slaves to help me run the farm. Even if some trouble happens, it will alright since I’m going to train my slave some basic combats.
I’m sure that he is capable enough to make Nania san happy.
“Un…you’re right. Nania will marry Olba…in the countryside…give birth to a child…*sob*…Nania, Nania~…”
Angela hugged Elizabeth, who has cried all her heart out.
If Dawn Battle Axe were to remain, this kind of thing will never happen. Perhaps there is still a chance, where both of them are married, and Elizabeth and the party stayed as they are.
In fact, such discussion has happened before between Nania san and Elizabeth. If she is comfortable with this plan, then…
Of course, she has the right to leave Olba san and continue journeying with Elizabeth. However, this will leave her nothing but a live as an adventurer. Elizabeth don’t want that. Besides, Elizabeth has decided that she won’t let Nania san forsake her happiness, just for her sake any longer. Pg. 166
“Everything will be alright. From now on, we will always be together.” *Angela*
“Un, you’re right. After this, we all will go back to the town and live together inside that house. Right, Sati?” *Masaru*
“Yes, I will take care of Elizabeth sama!” *Sati*
“T, Thank you, everyone…”
After a while, Elizabeth finally calmed down. As expected, Angela did have a motherly aura around her. Only she is capable of doing this.
“Ehem, Elizabeth is not in any condition to meet anyone now. Let’s take a break first, then we go.”
“That’s right. My eyes are red from crying now. There’s no way I’ll let Nania see me like this.”
“All of this happen because Masaru saying those things…”
“Urgh…my bad.”
It’s just a simple question, there’s no way anyone can simply cry from that right? I admit that my question is kinda insensitive though.
“Okay guys! It’s time to go meet Nania and convince her!”
Elizabeth, now invigorated, is walking ahead of us. Yup, this is the Elizabeth that I know.
We finally arrive at the Guild dormitory. Elizabeth knocked the door.
“Nania, this is me.”
Immediately she opened the door, and greet us.
“Why are you knocking the door, Elizabeth. This is our room, why so reserved.”
“Well, I’m trying to be considerate…how about Olba?”
“He is next door. Then everyone, do you have any business with us? Um, that person over there is Angela san, right?”
These peoples have meet before at my house, but this is the first time they properly introduced themselves huh.
“That’s right. Nice to meet you, Nania san.”
“The pleasure is mine too. Please, just call me Nania.”
“Then please call me Angela, or Anne.”
After these girls finished introducing themselves, we all help ourselves inside. Since there are only 4 chairs, Sati stand behind me.
“We’ve got something to tell you, Nania san.”
“Oh, the story from before…”
“No, today is a different topic.”
Well, it might not be a completely different topic though.
“Then what is it?”
Come on Masaru, say it! Is the feeling that I’ve got from everyone.
It can’t be helped. Where should I show my manliness, if not here.
“I, Yamano Masaru, is reporting to Nania san, that I’m going to marry Elizabeth!”
“Eh…what!? Certainly, Masaru is a nice man…but…are you serious about this, Eri?”
“True. After this mission is done, we’re going to hold the ceremony at Siory town. And during the celebration, you will see both of us stepping up to the aisle.”
“Then I’ll come to Masaru dono party and celebrate together.”
“No. I don’t want you to be with me, when I’m enjoying life with Masaru. You want to congratulate us, the newlywed? Don’t bother. You better move to the countryside with Olba, and start a new life with him.”
“But!”
“You should consider it too. I’ll be happy with Masaru after this. Sati will take care of my personal belongings. I don’t need Nania anymore.”
“Eri…but I already swore an oath with my father. I promise that I’ll protect Eri, as long as this soul still resides in my body.”
“From now on, Masaru will take over that role. I hope that you will be happy together with Olba.”
“I won’t allow it! There’s no way Masaru dono is capable of that!”
Did you seriously say that? Nania san can say cruel thing too sometimes.
“Even if Masaru looks like this, he is actually pretty strong.”
“Stronger than me?”
“That’s a given!”
Is something going wrong with the clouds today?
Nania san is staring at me. Urgh, I don’t like that look…
“Then Masaru dono, please have a match with me. If I win, then you must allow me to enter your party.”
“That’s fine. But if Nania lose, then she need to move to the countryside with Olba, and start farming.”
Oi, wait a minute, Elizabeth.
“I’m alright with that.”
No, this is not good! I won’t approve this!
You said that we’re going to persuade her. Why do I need to battle now!
“They’re only using wooden swords, so it’s fine, I think…”
“I’ll not accept it if you’re not fighting seriously. Of course, you can use whatever magic that you want too.”
Vale tudo, a battle where anything goes…
(Oi, do you know how strong is Nania san?)
I put my face close to Elizabeth and whispered to her.
(She is weaker than Olba.)
(You don’t know, isn’t it?)
(You can say that she is...o...b.. sparring partner?)
(Isn’t that pretty strong?)
(Of course, Nania is strong!)
(Then what should we do if I lose?)
(You must win. Don’t you want to marry me!?)
(Of course I do, still.)
(Then, win. Even if you lose, we can still think of other strategy.)
Maybe we can ask Sati in case I lose. Sati swordsmanship should be the highest among us. Yeah, we can go towards that direction too. It’s not like the sole responsibility to protect Elizabeth is under my hand. Plus, Sati is in the same party member with us.
Alas, it’s truly miserable for a guy to lose though, especially in the fight to gain her lover like this.
(Alright, I’ll do it.)
I raise my face, and tell Nania san head on.
“Have you guys finished discussing?”
“Yeah. Let’s do this.”
“There’s a training ground behind the guild. Let’s have our match there.”
“I need to prepare something. Can we meet there after 1 hour?”
“Understood.”
First of all, I’ll meet Olba san. I immediately go to the next room and explained the situation to him.
“I’ve got it. I’ll tell you Nania weak points.”
“How is the prosthetic leg, Olba san.”
“I can already walk using this. It’s hard to do any battle, but teaching swordplay will be alright.”
Olba san walked around the room just fine.
“I don’t have time to explain it all now, so let’s talk while going there. Nania weakness is――”
To put it simply, Nania san is a master of Knight style swordsmanship.
The knight usually boost a ma.s.sive defense, with their full plate armor and their large shield, and then striking while defending without leaving any gap. Pg. 172
However, Nania san is not wearing a full plate armor that a knight usually does, instead she wears a half plate armor. This is because she prioritized speed more. Even her shield is small, like a buckler. The reason for her style is because in Dawn’s, there is already a tanker, Leuven san, therefore she focused in offensive instead.
“She is very good with her shield too. I can vouch for that.”
That’s what Leuven san said before.
What should I do now?
“Air Hammer…?”
“She has practiced it herself before. She said that now she is capable of dodging them.”
Right, Elizabeth!
I remember that she mentions this sometimes ago. Elizabeth san, looks at what happen now…
“Is she using any kind of special shield? Something that can withstand, for example, thunder?”
“Her shield is specialized for magic defense, especially from thunder strike. Since Elizabeth rely on her for defense all the time, she decided to get one of that kind.”
This is bad. I thought my trump card, giving the sword thunder attribute, will make this simpler…I guess there is no way for me to finish this with Thunder G.o.d technique alone.
If it’s level 2 then maybe it will not be enough for this battle. I can’t avoid from casting at least a level 3 magic. I wonder if there is something that I can do…
Should I rely on the Thunder G.o.d sword technique? As long that she didn’t block it with her shield, it should be okay. The effect is quite good, and I have practice it before too. Based on the skill ranking, it should place as a level 2 magic.
There is an option where I can levitate myself, and attack her from above.
But right now, I’m only capable of using a bow and throwing knife only. That is not enough to defeat Nania san.
I don’t have any Boulder left in my Item box, plus if it hits Nania san then she might die. Fighting by dropping stuff from above…there’s no way I’ll step that low.
Opsie, whatever it is, I should increase my physical strength to level 3 first. Now I only have 1P left. Raising all my magic to high level is good and all, but then again, I should have left some extra points in the future, just in case.
On the way to the training ground, I think about what tactic I’m going to use.
“I’ll be your sparring partner. Let’s see what you got first.”
Leuven san get ready with his sword and shield.
“You’re not injured anymore, right?”
“Ah, I’ve been resting for 5 days straight now. I’m still not completely recovered, but this much is fine. Please come at me seriously.”
I have not much time. I’ll be serious from the get go. He is wearing a full plate armor anyways.
I shot him some of my magic. However, he managed to block most of it, as expected. After some time, Olba san stopped us.
“You’ve got skills. I’m sure that you can put a good fight against Nania. But without a sword, it will be tough.
“Then I will fight a melee combat with her. That should be fine, right?”
“Hmm, that should work better.”
“What’s left is to cover my attack with magic occasionally.”
“Yes, maybe that’s the only way.”
“Please wait, I’m going to equip something. Leuven san, can you lend me that shield?”
“Ah, that’s fine.”
It’s quite a dirty tactics, going for her head. Since she is good with her shield, it should be fine.
A surprise attack sounds good too.
Alright, I need to hurry.
I get can all the materials if I go to the guild now, I think. But I still need to find the storage…s.h.i.t, at this rate, this is going to take more than 2 hours. *need revision* pg. 175
Nice timing, I found Sergeant dono discussing with one of the guild staff.
“Sergeant dono! This is an emergency. Can you show me the way to material storage?”
“What happened?”
“Actually…”
I quickly explained to him the situation, including my match.
“Okay. I’ve heard about their situation too. I’ll cooperate with you as well. The material storage is here.”
I thought that Sergeant dono might stop this match, unfortunately this is not the case.
Maybe he thinks that the match won’t escalated into something worse, that’s why he is so calm. I’m sure will be happy if he intervened with the match though.
House brick, metal sheet and 10 types of sword. Alright, all the goods are here.
Next, this metal sheet will…
“My preparation is complete. I’m going back to the training ground.”
I return back to the training ground. There is 30 minutes left.
“I’m ready.”
I said so to Olba san.
“Then, let’s continue.”
Over this 30 minutes, he told me all Nania san special moves, and teach me some feints. At least, this is better than nothing.
Soon after, Nania san appeared at the training ground.
Our eyes meet.
“I see, even Olba is on that side…I’ve got it. Fine then, I will not hold back.”
“Hahaha, you see…I love you so much. That’s why it can’t be helped.”
“That enough. If I defeat Masaru dono now, then I’ll be with Elizabeth, forever. That’s why, please be prepared.”
*clanking sound*
Why are you getting more determined now!? That is bad for my heart, you know!!
“Do your best, Masaru. My happiness rest in your shoulder now.”
“That’s right. if you managed to defeat Nania here, then everyone will reach a happy end!!”
“To the ring, please.”
“I will be the referee.”
Said Sergeant dono.
Wait a moment, please!
My mind is not ready yet!
“3 minutes! Please, just give me 3 minutes more!!”
Of course, everyone give me those looks…