Volume 2 Chapter 5.3

Chapter 5.3

Editor: Weasalopes

「There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask.」

The very next morning, on the day the group was planning on clearing out the path the temple, Artiem hesitatingly asserted her thoughts.

「Hmm?」

「What be the matter?」

「Can I come along?」

They all blankly stared back, completely oblivious as to what spurted on this abrupt request of hers.

「If you can make a good enough case for yourself.」

「And provide detailed info on your combat capabilities.」

They didn’t want to make an uninformed judgment, so they decided on hearing what she has to say for herself before thoroughly scrutinizing her request.

「First ya will have ta explain the cause for this sudden change of heart.」

Aranwen spoke out to me last night.

「Hmm, that sounds oddly familiar, almost like a certain somebody…」

Murmured Mio while pretending to have forgotten the identity of this certain somebody who was, needless to say, everyone’s favorite princess priestess currently responsibly carrying out her duties back over at Wulls.

「Would you mind being more specific?」

「He told me to accompany all of you to the temple.」

「No beatin’ ’round the bush with those clear cut instruction, aye? If only ‘e had the courtesy ta provide some explanation.」

「If only.」

Even the divine words of a deity were subject to the groups relentless scrutinizing. They weren’t nitpicky without good reason as there was a very real possibility of Artiem getting hurt carrying out his orders.

「He didn’t touch on that, although…」

「Although?」

「He spoke to me just now…」

The comedic timing on that was so impeccable that it momentarily left the group at a loss for words. Artiem was not to blame in this instance as it laid squarely on the shoulders of the trolly deity who was purposefully aiming for the perfect opportunity to get a rise out of them.

「Ya ain’t the guilty party ‘ere, no need ta beat yourself o’er it. Anyways, let’s just focus on what he said for now.」

「Thank you for being understanding. He said something along the lines of ‘On the off chance that you fail to comply to my demand consider your trial failed and your right to address me forfeit’」

「Are all deities over here like that or what gives?」

「Well if we go by Greek mythology they’re not that far off from how one would usually carry itself.」

Haruna responded to Tatsuya’s thoughts on the matter with lighthearted jest. Their knowledge of mythology wasn’t all that deep because if it was they’d be aware of the fact that this kind of deity character type wasn’t all too uncommon in polytheistic religions.

「What do you mean by ‘all’, if you don’t mind me asking.」

「Back at Wulls there was this Alfemina lady who made her presence much too apparent, to the point of desentization.」

「She’d find the flimsiest of reasons to pop on in and make oddly specific demands even when we had nothing going on at the time.」

「We weren’t all too pious folk to begin with and her innate lack of conventional deity characteristics certainly didn’t make matters any better.」

「Would it kill her to put on an air of divine dignity for once in her life?」

Artiem was silently befuddled hearing Alfemina being vocally berated. In her worldview it only made sense that if the goddess of space and time itself was fairly casual in her demeanor that other lower ranking gods such as Aranwen would take on some of that playfulness. Explaining this line of logic, however, was ultimately pointless to a bunch of outsiders who had different expectations on what a deity was supposed to represent.

「I don’t really see how we have a choice in the matter.」

「We’re gonna be wantin’ to reserve an appointment with the guy and that ain’t happenin’ unless we cave in to his demands.」

「There still remains the issue of your combat capabilities. How well do you think you can handle yourself in a fight?」

Getting to know this factor was essential as, depending on Artiem’s answer, their entire game plan could be flipped on its head. A complete novice would require special attention from the group and even if she was an experienced fighter they’d still need to effectively incorporate her toolset to synergize with the rest of the group.

「So long as it doesn’t get into melee range I can take on a razor-fanged jaguar just fine.」

「Speakin’ from experience, I’ll assume? Weren’t ya lucky to get off scot free.」

「I was lucky enough to be in a group at the time, so just before it got all close and personal healing spells were already being pre-cooked. If there’s anything that experience thought me is that I should probably keep a more than ample distance away from a monster as physically powerful as the razor-fanged jaguar.」

「A logical conclusion most would reach.」

「There exist anomalies such as say Chette or Janna, both old ladies who can go toe to toe with one.」

This news was nothing short of surprising to the group. It didn’t last long, however, as although elves weren’t typically associated with being particularly physically powerful the ones in this village would routinely do farm work in full plate armor, so it wasn’t too far of a stretch to reasonably believe that some of them may very well overpower a razor-fanged jaguar in a one v one scenario.

「Anomalies are, well, anomalies. Comparing yourself to them isn’t going to do anyone any good.」

「The important thing is that we now have a general gist of what yer capable of in a fight. All we need ta know now is yer preferred fighting style.」

「I’m an elemental archer capable of infusing my arrows with the might of all four core elements. I keep my enemies at a distance with cc and if that fails and my dead zone’s been breached I’ve always got my trusty kukri to fall back on.」

「So, to put it simply, a variation of Mio’s role.」

「That’s a bit redundant…」

That was their initial impression of Artiem’s self-described abilities. Role wise she’d belong to the backline lineup but unlike Mio she wasn’t proficient in close quarter combat and was more skill than basic attack based.

「How are you with traps?」

「Indoor traps I can sort of handle, outdoor traps I’m pretty good at.」

「That part also overlaps.」

「While it might overlap at least we can take solace in the fact that character type wise they’re complete polar opposites.」

「Sorry for existing…」

Tatsuya might have not intended it to come across that way but his words carried the nuance of Artiem’s character being superior not just personality but physical feature wise as well, a devastating blow to Mio’s ego. She stared at her underdeveloped chest area in defeat. She had grand delusions of it one day developing into a B cup but as it stood it was a high AA at best.

「Well anyways, we’ll need ta slightly adjust our game plan with this new information in mind.」

Hiroshi got back on topic as though nothing ever happened. The other members didn’t want to linger on an uncomfortable topic either so they all went along. Makoto, however, was gently patting Mio on the head, perfectly showcasing her high emotional intelligence through action alone.

「What do you have in mind?」

「We’ll have ta test out Artiem’s ability in a an actual combat scenario and once we’ve done that I was thinkin’ of fashionin’ her a brand new set of leather armor along with a bow.」

「Where are you going to get the materials for a bow?」

「Hunter trees’ll do the trick.」

Tatsuya and Makoto could barely hold back from audibly expressing their amusement at Hiroshi’s usual old self. That being said Artiem’s equipment was in desperate need of upgrades so this side of his would not go under appreciated.

The equipment used by elves was at the very least three whole ranks below what they had on them.

「But before alla that we should get to layin’ out the seeds first.」

「I’ll help out.」

「Me too.」

「Why don’t we all just go? There’s a lot of ground to cover either way.」

Makoto’s idea caught on so they all ended up helping Hiroshi out with the endeavor. Doing it that way made a lot more sense because they had to plant the seeds right at the roots of the man eater and in a group of two where one’s got the other’s back while they’re busy doing their thing, the whole process would flow a heck of a lot more smoothly. It would also make sure that Artiem wouldn’t get into another one of her signature troubles.

「Wowie.」

「They’re squeezing real tight, aren’t they? Gulp.」

「Some of them have begun playfully nibbling as well. Oh my.」

As such they managed to avoid any Artiem related issues by a hair’s breadth and watched on as the seeds sprouted in the blink of an eye and began to make quick work of the man eaters. The plant, which resembled a tree with vines for branches, would uproot the man eaters and either put them in a cobra lock like maneuver or begin chewing the life out of them. Upon taking care of one it itself would immediately shrivel up and die. The sight was oddly satisfying to watch since there was a slight delay between when each of them were planted, making it so that the plants shriveled up one by one in a nice, orderly fashion. What was even more astounding is how the surrounding plant life didn’t get caught in any of the crossfire.

「How on earth did you get them to grow like that, what kind of sorcery is this?」

「High end science gets mistaken for sorcery all too often, ‘Tis just selective breedin’ at work ‘ere.」

「I’m still not fully convinced that some matter of sorcery wasn’t involved in that process.」

Makoto’s comment resonated with the rest of crew who, similarly, found the whole thing to be absurd.