Future Direction
One week into our search, even Lammis seems to have grown fairly accustomed to things, and now she can fight monsters other than corpse fiends. Given their visual appearance, I don’t blame her for hesitating to use her fist to crush them.
I have an attachment to corpse fiends after that incident, so I appreciate not having to watch her smash them to pieces up close.
“Captain, you did think of a plan for when we do eventually run into the King of Souls, right?” asks Hulemy, poking her head out of the cart. Since there’s no place for her in battle, she’s been rustling around in the cart all the time lately.
“Hmm? Oh, right, well. This might be rude of me to ask someone as smart as you, but do you know what kind of monster the King of Souls is?”
The captain, who’s been walking leisurely next to the buar cart, turns his head and answers her question with one of his own.
“He’s that one, right? Basically a mega-size skeleton wearing a pricey-looking robe, right? Real snobbish kind of getup? I’ve heard people say he’s the shade of a formerly great magician.”
“Well, they’re not wrong. He can use lots of elemental magic, and he apparently has a ton of mana, so he can fire multiple spells in succession. This might not be much of a consolation, but his body is pretty frail, apparently.”
That makes him a completely magic-specialized type. We could probably win by hitting him with something huge, but it’ll come down to how we get around his magic and get in close.
If we need brute force to fell this opponent, Lammis or Mishuel fits the bill.
“So what do we do against the magic? We don’t have any shields or walls in this group. And even if we did, magic isn’t physical, so they wouldn’t help.”
The “shields” and “walls” Hulemy mentioned aren’t meant literally—they’re apparently roles hunters can have. In other words, teammates specialized in defending allies by drawing in an opponent’s attacks and withstanding them.
“Well, we do have someone suitable in the Fools, but there’s no point quibbling over someone who’s not here. But we have someone here who we can rely on to defend all kinds of attacks, don’t we?”
Winking, making a mischievous expression, and casting a glance over in my direction is a certain stubbly old man.
Oh, I see how it is. I just realized why you were so persistent in taking me along on the search.
“Wait, do you mean Boxxo?”
“That’s right, Lammis. His Force Field is an almighty shield that can even protect against magic. You can push right in to take the King of Souls down—or just draw his attention for us. Either way works.”
“That’s rather… Well, maybe it’s not so dangerous. Boxxo has already proven he can withstand a stratum lord’s attack. I hear he defended against the magic the guys after Mishuel had used, too… Maybe it’s possible…”
Hulemy seems to be thinking things over, tapping her forehead with a finger in a steady rhythm.
I have plenty of points to spare, so I’m confident I can protect against his attacks. As for the concern of a high-power strike blowing me away, since Lammis will be carrying me, she can deal with it by keeping her footing.
Wait, this is a surprisingly well-devised plan, isn’t it?
“Boxxo, what do you say? If you don’t think you can, we’ll rethink it. Can you do it?”
In terms of whether it’s possible or impossible, it’s possible. It would expose Lammis to danger, but that just means I have to protect her. She chose the dangerous life of a hunter, so she’ll never progress by avoiding things just because they’re dangerous.
“Welcome.”
“Hah, should have expected that, Boxxo. What a man.”
“If Boxxo is okay with it, then I’ll do it.”
Lammis has absolute faith in me. A man has to respond to those expectations. I may have become a vending machine, but I must always have spirit.
“Since the King of Souls is called a king, he’ll probably appear with several other monsters in tow. You can leave the small fries to us.”
I don’t even have any room to doubt the Menagerie of Fools’s abilities. The same goes for Mishuel. I think the Band of Gluttons would have difficulty fighting corpse fiends, but they’re quick and light on their feet, so they won’t get captured. And they’re stronger than the skeletons, so no problem there.
The more I hear, the more I feel like we can do this.
“But this is all just theorizing. The fundamental rule is to adapt to any situation. If things get bad, we run away as fast as our legs will carry us. Make sure you’re listening for my instructions.”
I don’t hate his style of saying it’s okay to run away instead of pressing the attack even if people die. No matter what you might say, the Menagerie of Fools care deeply about their comrades’ lives. That’s probably why his members like him, despite their complaining.
“Can I ask one more question?”
“You can ask whatever you want, Hulemy.”
“I don’t think it’s a bad plan, but how did people before now defeat the King of Souls?”
Oh, right. He formulated this plan around my Force Field, but I’m interested in how other hunter groups beat him before now.
Still, after putting this strategy together, the other members haven’t talked at all, as though they were in the dark about it. Normally, the vice captain would be here, but Hulemy’s position is unchallenged right now.
“Other people? As far as I know… They bulldozed through him with numbers, regardless of the sacrifices. I also heard some challenged him with perfect countermeasures against magic. Our plan is closer to the latter.”
The former type made the worst choice. I can’t say it’s a mistake to rely on numbers if you don’t know how strong something is, but how many fell in sacrifice to that?
“I’ve got all the detailed data on his traits and methods of attack, so give that a look-over. Lammis, you give Boxxo the rundown, too.”
“Okay, I will. Boxxo, let’s have a study session later.”
“Welcome.”
I can’t read letters, so I’m relying on you, Lammis. I’d like to finally learn how to read this world’s language soon, but I can’t even think of a way to get someone to teach me.
Literacy doesn’t seem low in this world, and among the people living in Clearflow Lake, at least, I’ve never seen someone having problems because they can’t read letters. The letters look kind of like a broken version of the English alphabet, but without real learning resources or someone to teach me, it’ll be too hard to learn it on my own.
“There you have it. I want all of you to know it like the back of your hand.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Fools and the Band of Gluttons raise their hands. A soul-soothing sight, as always.
I’ll commit everything to memory later, too. If I can get information on this enemy, I might be able to think of countermeasures based on my features.
“That about wraps it up. Get all that?”
“Yes, Teacher!”
Hulemy, wearing glasses for some reason and holding a pointing stick, finishes her detailed explanation to everyone as they hold their copies of the document. Her tone is rough, but she’s actually a very nurturing person, so everyone likes her.
I’ll go over the information in my mind.
When the King of Souls appears, several monsters also materialize around him. The number is random, and apparently, close to fifty once sprang up. I’ll have to remember that we’re withdrawing right away if there are any more than thirty.
The King of Souls uses mainly magic attacks, freely able to cast the four major elements—fire, water, wind, and earth—and is also skilled in dark magic. He seems weak to light magic and doesn’t like brightly lit places, either. It might be possible to shine my light at full brightness to scare him or something.
He’s weak to physical attacks but strong against magic. Magic barely affects him, so we’ll be taking a direct approach.
Also, Lammis and I will be ignoring the small fries and going after the King of Souls. Ideally, I’ll repel his magic with Force Field as we get close, then we’ll destroy him right off the bat. If we can’t, though, we’ll just have to draw his attacks. It seems simple when put that way, but unlike me, Lammis is an actual person. I’ve been entrusted with her protection, so I’ll defend her with all my might.
In other news, everyone gets some healing medicine as well. Apparently, sloshing it over smaller wounds is enough to heal them. There’s one thing this world has in common with fantasy games.
Now, if we find the King of Souls and it comes down to a fight, it’ll be my third time fighting a stratum lord, won’t it? What do you think of a vending machine getting such good results as a hunter?
It might be the ideal development for stories where people get transported to other worlds, but a vending machine is… No, I shouldn’t think that way. That I’m living a fulfilling life in another world despite the fact that I’m a vending machine is something I should consider happiness.
And I’m not just luggage, either—I’m helping out. That’s something I can be proud of, right?
“We got the important role, but let’s do our best!”
“Welcome.”
Of course, Lammis. I ended up snatching the kill on the last stratum lord, so let’s treat ourselves to a group stratum lord beatdown. In my opinion, Lammis’s abilities deserve way more praise.
After all, my personal goal is to become a famous duo with her.
Now that she’s gotten accustomed to this stratum, and her fear has waned, I can expect Lammis to perform well, too. We can’t let arrogance get the better of us, but the more active we are, the less danger our comrades taking part in the battle will face. That’s something both Lammis and I want.
“Lammis, don’t get too worked up,” says Hulemy. “If worse comes to worst, and one of us dies during the fight, it’s nobody’s fault. Everyone’s here because they agreed to be here. Don’t forget that.”
She puts a hand on Lammis’s head. She has zero combat ability, but she’s absolutely indispensable for providing both information and moral support.
The other members all give deep nods as well. Nobody wants to die here, nor do they plan to. I guess they have to be prepared, though.
I don’t want anyone to die, either. Even bad people have rights; killing is wrong no matter the reason— Yeah, I don’t believe that for a second. It’s not like it affects me when people I don’t know from places I’ve never been to die.
But I still don’t want anyone who has used me even once to die. I know that’s an unreasonable wish when it comes to those in the hunting profession, who are always face-to-face with death.
Even so, I hope from the bottom of my heart that we can return to the settlement with nobody missing so they can buy things from me again.
“Well anyway, all that only happens when we find the King of Souls. Let’s cheer ourselves up with some of that fizzy drink.”
“I had some during the eating contest, too, and I’m hooked,” says Hulemy.
With that, I start selling cola until everyone has one.
“All right, why don’t we all have a toast?”
“Agreed! Let’s open the lids, and… Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
Everyone forms a circle and clinks their plastic cola bottles together, then drinks, smiles on their faces.
I feel like I’m watching a certain cola company’s commercial. After this search is over, it wouldn’t be so bad to get everyone together again for another toast over cola.
