Vol 1 Chapter 16 (1/2)
LEVEL 1: A Whisper, an Aria, a Prayer, an Awakening
Chapter 16: Ai for the Top
shi+horu suddenly cae the next day “I—I’ht it was for sure that kind of relationshi+p… I’ to conclusions…”
Although the apology was all well and good to Haruhiro, he kind of wished that she hadn’t zo in earshot
“Relationshi+p?” Ranta’s nostrils flared as he brought his face close to Haruhiro’s “What kinda relationshi+p is ‘that’ kinda relationshi+p’? Relationshi+p betho, hmmm?”
Haruhiro leaned away from him “None of your business”
“That ain’t true Tell me C’mon! Spit it out!”
“Like shi+horu said, it was just a ”
“I want to know about every single detail and exactly what sort of ‘’ it was”
Yume cut in “You see—”
Haruhiro, afraid that she was going to say ain, hoped beyond hope that his fears would turn out groundless But it was just as he thought
“Yesterday,” Yuht and shi+horu walked in on us And—”
Mogzonoise and his eyes ide
“What?! What the hell, Haruhiro!” Ranta’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets “Are you serious?! Are you frickin’ serious?! Since when did you get to second base?!”
“What do you mean by ‘second base’—” said Haruhiro, and stopped hiet it I told you, it’s not like that—”
“How’s it ‘not like that’?! You were gonna do it but panicked and stopped because shi+horu walked in on you! You had to hit the eency brake!”
“But Haru was crying…” said Yu to explain
“Yume,” said Haruhiro, “you didn’t have to mention that…”
“Crying?!” Ranta looked back and forth from Haruhiro to Yuh his already et it now So that’s what it was all about In other words… You got rejected Yume rejected you, then she felt sorry for this eeeeediot and tried to make you feel better I see It’s all so obvious now”
“You’re co, but whatever I don’t feel like explaining it to you anymore”
“At any rate…” Yu Ranta It was an ability Haruhiro was rather jealous of “Yu with Mary-yan shi+horu said she’ll try too”
shi+horu was hugging her staff, her gaze doards “…I don’t think it’s going to work, but I’ll do the best I can”
“Get along? With Mary?” Ranta frowned “Not gonna happen That girl doesn’t have any intention of being friends with us”
Mogzo hung his head “But—but we can’t keep going the e are now We have to at least try convincing her to heal us in fights…”
It was just as Mogzo said The proble the rest of them She wouldn’t heal thenore theht when they asked her to heal, no nore’, and ht reject’ She would only heal them if it was an injury that i
Her attitude towards teammates ere in hurt and in pain was unacceptable Manato used to heal theht the injury Even if it wasn’t a wound that needed attention, hiht
With Mary, there was no such peace of mind What if one of them was badly injured and she suddenly refused to heal them? Everyone was afraid that she would ditch them the moment they needed her the most
“As a start…” Haruhiro began to speak, looking at each of the others in turn Each except for Ranta “We need to build up trust with her We won’tthat first Who knows? Mary etting along with her because we don’t knohat she’s thinking”
Ranta scoffed “You sure it isn’t purely because she’s a horrible person? It’s gotta be soical disorder Chronic Innately Horrible Personality Syndrome With no known cure”
“But we have to have a Priest…”
“In that case, Haruhiro, you becooodbyeeeeeeee forever to Mary! It’s settled, then! BEST IDEA EVER! daood!”
Haruhiro had already considered it, but changing his class was best left as a last resort Going off to scout alone, always positioning hi a Thief suited hi his skills as one
Also, he had realized so with Yume yesterday
“Ranta,” said Haruhiro
“What?”
“Me, you, and Mogzo decided to invite Mary to join the teaht?”
“Yeah, and it was a hugewe should kick her out ASAP”
“But she became one of us, our teaht?”
Ranta see, but then shut his aze doards He looked almost ashamed
Haruhiro continued, clasping his right wrist with his left hand “Mary is who she is We can’t suddenly discri who she is If she always feels that it’s us five versus her, she’ll never feel comfortable around us even if she wanted to It’s not like she’s amachine”
“True,” Yu “Mary’s been treating us coldly, buther the same-yan”
Mogzo nodded his head slowly and gave a grunt of agreement
“May—maybe…” shi+horu said hesitantly as if she didn’t have very much confidence in what she was about to say “Mary’s actually a good person… on the inside”
“NO WAY!” Ranta immediately turned his back to them “No frickin’ way! There’s no way in hell that’s even possible She’s a stinkin’ hell-spawned harpy to the core I don’t care what you guys say, I’et rid of her and eeeeediot Haruhiro should become a Priest”
“If I become a Priest,” Haruhiro said, “then I won’t heal you no ht The dark God Skulheill is the eneh to heal my enemies’ wounds”
“Disqualified! You’re disqualified frozo’s a… wait, we can’t not have a Warrior so… Yume! You become a Priest!”
“Yu a Hunter,” Yume stated
“damn it! Selfish brat! shi+horu! What about you?”
“I… I don’t think I’ets hurt, I’ll panic and…”
“Useless! All of you are seriously useless! You’re a good-for-nothing bunch, the lot of you! Because of that—” Ranta coughed “Because of that, it’s… better to have that girl around than not Just pray that she’s just an ice bitch on the outside… But what if she’s a true ice bitch and suddenly, she falls for me and wants to become my bitch and…”
“Uonna happen…”
“Shut up Mogzo! Mogzo?! I was just told off by Mogzo of all people?! No waaaaaay…”
At any rate, their course of action had been decided They would treat Mary as one of their own and, hopefully, she would begin to feel like she was part of the teareeing on the first step was indeed a start Without clearing this first hurdle, there wasn’t any way they could advance
However, it wouldn’t be an easy path ahead by any means
Mary aiting for theht it was best to start off by greeting her properly, so he cheerfully called out, “‘Morning!”
It was just a noraze at hi down on hi to hio rot, ash
Only after she finished piercing hi, absolute-zero eyes did she finally reply “Morning,” she said brusquely “Hurry up and get going I’ll follow”
So, that’s the way she’s gonna be, huh, Haruhiro thought
Even so, Yue Mary in conversation while they went to Damro’s Old Town Where in Altana did she live? What did she usually have for breakfast and dinner? How long has she been a member of Criive any sort of answer
They endured terse replies such as “Who knows” or “Whatever I feel like”, but when Mary’s temper flared and she replied with “Why does any of that even matter?” both Yume and shi+horu fell silent
A formidable foe, she was Well, not really a foe because she was actually their teammate But even if a normal conversation with her proved impossible, at the very least Haruhiro wanted to improve their teamwork
Luck ith theoblins Haruhiro steeled hie If they could work together as a teae for the better
“Mogzo, Ranta, you guys take one each Me and Yuzo and Ranta froe!” Haruhiro commanded
Even though he had tried calling Mary to support the was that she just stood there, staring conteoblins with [SHADOW ECHO] and [MAGIC MISSILE] She pretended not to notice Ranta’s wild shout of pain when his left arhtly cut
When Mogzo lost his nerve after being grazed on the temple, she berated hi off just because of that?!”
“da there not doing shi+t!” Ranta kicked his goblin with all the strength he could muster
It went flying backwards, but Ranta quickly closed the distance and thrust his longsword straight out “[ANGER THRUST]!”
The goblin h its throat It struggled violently for a few
Apparently a Dread Knight’s sword techniques and fighting style were based on avoiding true close quarters fighting It favored ht would close in only to attack while staying just outside striking range at all other ti that what Ranta just did wasn’t exactly the perfect picture of a Dread Knight, but in the end it worked out okay
With Ranta’s kill, it meant only two more enemies left
With a grunt of exertion, Mogzo locked blades with his opponent, then used [SPIRAL SLASH] tohe followed up with his bastard sword down onto the goblin, giving a shout The blow split the goblin’s head open and it cruround
One o
“Malik elyph with her staff
A beaoblin square in the head, eliciting a howl Being hit by [MAGIC MISSLE] was about the saoblin was stunned for only the briefest of s, Yume stepped in
“[SWEEPING SLASH]!”
The goblin yelped and leapt diagonally back to avoid the attack It now had its back to Haruhiro Now! Haruhiro thought, and his body moved on its own He inhaled and held his breath as he used [BACKSTAB] The dagger pierced the goblin at precisely the right point and the blade slid easily through the goblin’s back and exited through its abdomen
Haruhiro knew for certain that that was the result when the technique was properly executed The goblin staggered about, as if all its strength had been drained frooblin, then swiftly pulled it back out The goblin toppled over and didn’t ain
“Muwahahahaha!” Ranta stripped a claw froh-pitched all the while “Teamas shi+t, but because of s wouldn’t be interesting if everyone got along perfectly from the start My arm hurts! Mary! Heal me now!”
Mary thoroughly ignored hizo instead
“Sit,” she said
“Yes e of a pet dog
Mary examined his forehead as well as the back of his skull, then touched the cut on his terimaced and Mary replied in voice too low for Haruhiro to catch
Mary then forht, under the divine grace of Lord Luminous… [CURE]”
“She’s perfectly happy to heal after the fight’s over…” Haruhiro oblin pouches
The contents cas Depending on the value of the stones, Haruhiro guessed that the total came to around four silvers
“Hey, lady! Enough with Mogzo, get over here and heal me!” Ranta demanded
“Your wound’s nothing but a scratch”
“That’s not true! Look! I’ve been bleeding all over the place! It just… sorta kinda stopped though…”
“How about putting some spit on it then? And don’t call me lady It really does try my patience”
Ranta backed off And he was left unhealed with that Haruhiro had to adhtest of cuts, razes
To put itof everyone on the team and he could never completely feel at ease unless everyone was in perfect condition at all tiht about it… was it really necessary to use healing ic on every little scratch and cut? It did see it just a bit Especially where Ranta was concerned, the kid had been spoiled rotten by the coddling
After they had disposed of the goblins’ corpses, Haruhiro approached Mary
“Could we be the ones that are going about this wrong?” he asked bluntly “As a healer, it sees Maybe… Is that the norm for other parties?”
“What?”
Haruhiro winced That ‘what’ alone was alh tothat
So, really, but… isn’t there, you know, different types of Priests or so like that? It’s just that… I really don’t know anything about you guys Call it lack of experience, or so like that”
Mary looked as if she was going to reply, then let out a long sigh as if answering would be too bothersome
“Why ask me” She crossed her arms over her chest and purposely turned away
And there it was The ‘why ask ain Haruhiro felt hirow irritated
“Can’t you just… just tell me? I’m a Thief, so I don’t know much about Priests I’ll never know at this rate, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to not know anything…”
“That’s your opinion My opinion is that it’s perfectly fine”
“It’s not fine—” Haruhiro cut hi teet the better of him
He needed to stay calm But as up with her and that attitude? It pissed him off