In Another World with JUST MONIKA 92 So Easy because It's True

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Yumina stared at the inside of the Adventurer's Guild with undisguised fascination. They stared back at her with equal interest. While she was wearing common clothing there was no disguising the poise by which she walked, and the careful grace in every movement.

Sue's gaze said {'You! You are interesting! Tell me about you!'} while Yumina's gaze implied {'I appreciate the fact that you exist'}.

("Wait, is that him?")

("That Purple bastard, now he's letting a girl that young work for him?")

("Heard he couldn't even be bothered to turn in the quest, that leech. He just sits around and makes girls earn money for him!")

Okay that last one I can't even object to, because it was true that without Aer's girls the Chickenjoy franchise wouldn't even be taking half as much in revenue.

And so while Yumina filled out the form and we waited for the order of Guild fried chicken to arrive, we set out theories on new battle formations using some of the toys included in the Happy Meal Buckets.

We were a five-man band now. Generalist. Mage. Archer. Punch. Sword. Three melee, two ranged. So we could go around in three-two double line, or something like an X formation, or two frontline three backline with Yumina at the center because archery is much faster than casting but better done while standing her ground. Unlike magic however, arrows cannot guarantee a lethal hit on the first hit.

Then we simulated an attack with some loose pebbles. Elze and Yae could kill on a hit, that was no problem. Linze's affinities were [Fire] [Water] and [Light], while Yumina had [Earth] [Wind] and [Dark].

Could we combine Fire and Wind for a stronger flame attack? Was frozen rock wall stronger than a regular rock or ice wall? It really bugged me that this magic system didn't allow for element combination like say, the Naruto system. And DnD at least had the decency to separate spells by effects into tiers.

We had a couple of days to get into the groove before going up against a group of more experienced adventurers. The tricks we were using made us powerful, but the slightest mistake could destroy our fighting ability – we had awesome attack power, but we all still remained just as squishy as any other person.

I still had no idea why we had to take this hassle in the first place.

"The Zenovie Family… they just like to fight." Yumina paused to emphasize, "A lot."

The Princess explained that the House of Zenovivi is actually distantly related to the Royal Family of Regulus, but were trusted as the most loyal among the nobles of Belfast. That was because they were so prickly that they were not worth the hassle trying to make them part of your conspiracy. All they really cared about was the security of the Zenos Marche and were willing to fight anybody that tried to mess around with the Belfast-Regulus border.

"But… Zanac. Zanac isn't like that."

"How old do you think Mister Zanac is?" Yumina asked.

"I dunno. Late thirties? Forties?"

"That means he was of fighting age twenty years ago. He doesn't have a useful combat power." The Princess sighed softly and looked away. "He must have seen most of his family die. The Zenovis almost made themselves extinct as a noble house fighting Regulus. Zenfield is just a cadet branch of the family, and imagine how that feels like for Mister Zanac's wish to be known as a King of Fashion. Twenty years ago… he must have been just starting to earn his fame."

I thought about Zorah. If she is younger than Zanac but actually his aunt… why is she obsessed about protecting him? I thought back to Zanac's easy generosity, his rapid trust in people.

"Huh. Zanac is her Sue, isn't he? As long as someone bright and boldly optimistic like that exists in the world, it proves that all the suffering you've done to keep it turning was worth it all."

"Oh." Yumina's gaze softened and she looked away. "I guess…"

I chuckled and put a hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair. "I don't fight for nations. I fight for people. You're adding to the reasons Belfast is worth protecting."

She sighed softly. "Thank you for that, at least."

"But still, that lady be craaaaazy."

"I'm sorry, Sir Zah. If you entertain her challenges, she's just going to keep coming back. But if you don't she's going to keep coming back but twice as annoying. You /could/ try to be such a worthless person that she would give up in disgust…"

Monika peered at me from the edge of my vision. /"Do you dare…?"/

"Please do not bring in outside food, dear customer," a passing waitress warned.

"There no food here, see?" I replied, while wiggling a carved wooden action figure. "The Guild's restaurant and request handling businesses are supposed to be separate things, right?"

The waitress just snorted as she moved on.

Yumina looked up from her form and asked "Umm, excuse me Sir Zah, but are you perhaps… disliked?" She looked very incredulous at why I took no offense at being so blatantly maligned by so many people while I fearlessly drove a marchioness-heir to frothing rage for much milder insults.

Yae pursed her lips and stared at some laughing adventurers nearby. They were men garbed in leather armor. "Truly, the frog that lives in the well knows not of the world outside, it does not."

"It's just simple jealousy." I shrugged. "I knew I would have to deal with heavy stares when traveling with such pretty girls."

"Eeeeh?!"

"Wwwhat the heck, Playa. What are you saying that for?!" Elze hissed, blushing. Fortunately she was sitting across the table from me and thus outside of punching range.

"Um. Please don't be embarrassing me, Mister Zah," Linze cringed.

"I'm not cute!" Elze insisted.

"Well *of course* not-"

"Oh good."

"Elze, you are *beautiful*."

"Dang it Playa!" Elze growled and slammed her fist down on the table again. Though more softly compared to her antics inside the Silver Moon Inn. Elze had some idea of public propriety too. "I'm a crude sort of woman, my mouth is a little too wide, and… um…" She glanced down.

"Elze, you have the same face as Linze, the only thing that's different are your hairstyles and your habitual expressions." I laced my fingers together under my chin. "And Linze *is* devastatingly cute."

Elze eep'ed and blushed so hard she was almost ready to set herself on fire. Yumina paused from writing down on her form and stared at me with a faintly disbelieving expression.

"And only the truly blind would not appreciate Yae's exotic beauty."

Yae had a blush on her face, but only nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you."

"Um… me? What about me?" Yumina asked softly.

I put a hand to my chin and thought about it. Then I waved nonchalantly. "Eh. Eight out of Ten Sues."

"Oh…" She looked downcast.

Monika looked stunned, and whispered /"What is this? Is this negging? Player, are you negging?!"/

I grinned and reached out to fluff the top of Yumina's light blonde hair. "Just kidding. You're a pretty little princess, ten out of ten."

"Ehehehehe…"

"Mister Zah, please…" Linze was hiding her face in her hands. She was not as embarrassed for me but more embarrassed *of* me. "How could you even say these things out in public…? Won't Lady Monika… be angry?"

"It is because you know who holds my heart," I tapped the thing on my face "That I can say these things so easily. Because they're simply the truth."

"… One… one of these days, you're going to go too far and I'll have to feed you your own liver," Elze mumbled.

(JUST DIE ALREADY, YOU FILTHY GOOD-LIFER!") I heard someone scream with clenched fists from behind me. My trollish grin only intensified.

Hur hur hur.

"May that day come soon," sighed Elze.

-.

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The door to the Silver Moon Inn slammed open.

"THAT WAS NOT A METAPHOR!" Zorah screamed into the room. "WHERE IS HE?!"

It was almost sundown and because her father was out traveling, Micah decided to just open the chess club section of the Inn during the mornings. Now she was alone, mopping up the floor.

Micah, no matter how much she was willing to heap complaints on her business partner, was still just a commoner. She only had some mild magic, and had little real combat experience. She quailed under the burning gaze of a member of the high nobility.

-.

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"ZANAC ZENFIELD!" I kicked open the doors and screamed into the room, "KING OF FASHION, I NEED YOU!"

"Oh goddess of mercy, I understand why Lady Zorah hates you so much now," Yumina moaned.

-.

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Chapter end