2. Tutorial
Now that I knew the cause, the obvious next step was to fill the protagonists in. If I kept hiding information from them from the tutorial onward, things were only going to get more and more frustrating.
"The dimensional rifts have been loosening lately. You're aware of that?"
"...Yeah."
"It seems an outside divinity intervened back then. One... no, at least two of them. It's possible this whole affair is connected as well."
"Outside intervention?"
"Oh? You noticed that? How?"
"Let's just say I have my ear to the ground in this city."
To be perfectly accurate, it was the power of the system and the game's settings doing the listening for me, but no need to mention that.
"Th-this is bad! Aufel and Lauel are...!"
"Oh my. It's quite the battle."
"They've turned into m-monsters... There's no way we can hold them back!"
Ah, great. So trouble had already broken out. For a tutorial, wasn't this pacing a little fast?
"Guardians, it appears we could truly use your help. Will you lend us your strength?"
"Anytime."
"Leave it to us."
The Guardians and their allies kicked off the ground and broke into a run all at once.
...Wow, that's fast. In the blink of an eye they'd shrunk to dots on the horizon and vanished.
"...Shall we go help too, then?"
"Shall we, Pudding?"
Well, it *is* a problem for the city, after all.
...And I'm a resident of this city now too, when you get right down to it.
"Outsiders, stay out of this! This is our fight!"
"Ghh...!"
"We have no need of meddlers."
"Ugh...!"
Ah, no. I rushed here as fast as I could, but it seems I was too late anyway.
Aufel and Lauel, twisted into something like monsters, were pinning the Guardians down.
...Though "like monsters" was generous — it was really just a few red streaks drawn across their faces.
This part definitely felt like they'd phoned in the character models.
"Pudding."
"Shall Pudding help?"
"Yeah."
Helping was the right call. If we didn't step in here, the city would be left in ruins.
However borrowed this body might be, the attachment I'd built up toward this city over time was no small thing.
Besides, how often did I get the chance to actually help the protagonists? Given my current state, if it wasn't now, it would never be possible. So this was the moment to rack up some brownie points, right?
"It's Pudding!"
"Pudding...?"
"Eat it and you'll feel better!"
Pudding fluttered through the air and popped puddings into the mouths of the exhausted fighters. Around the Guardians' bodies, green cross symbols burst upward in a glittering cascade.
"I'm healed...?"
"Eat it and you'll feel better. It's tasty too!"
Pudding puffed out a triumphant expression and gave a proud little ahem.
That's my Pudding. Well done.
That said, I never once imagined the protagonist's party would get driven into a corner right out of the gate. Wasn't this supposed to be the tutorial?
No matter how strong Aufel and Lauel were, by video game logic they were early-game bosses. There was no way they should be this hard...
The Guardians gather Faith.
Through the power of Faith, the Guardians grant their allies miraculous, unbelievable strength.
Select a skill from your slots to mark a boss.
"I see. So that's how it works."
If putting down the earlier rampage had been the tutorial for the basic systems, then this — this was the skill tutorial. So the design was that you couldn't win without using skills.
"How am I supposed to get that across to them, though?"
Seriously, just tell the protagonists directly, will you? Why does this game keep dumping its instructions on me?
"...I guess I'll just say it out loud."
Nothing for it. I didn't have time to cook up a convenient excuse right now. So let's just blurt it out and deal with it later.
"Use the power of Faith, Guardians. This land is brimming with it. With Faith at your command, you can empower your allies as much as you please."
"The power of Faith..."
The moment he heard my advice, the Guardian closed his eyes as if something had clicked. In that instant, the power of Faith descended upon the Fire Chief's body.
"Wh-whoa...? Right now, I feel like I could smash through anything...!"
The two-meter-tall Fire Chief hoisted his fire axe high overhead and brought it crashing down. The instant it landed, the ground split apart with a crack, toppling Aufel off balance.
Skills are divided into physical and magical types, and can strike ground or aerial targets.
Some skills deal composite damage, striking both ground and air.
Use Saintess Reina's skill to deal magic damage to Lauel.
"Lauel has wings, so she dodged that last attack. There must be some way to strike her in the air..."
"Guardian, I believe my whip of Faith would be more than capable of reaching Lauel."
"..."
The Guardian closed his eyes once more. In that instant, divinity flooded into the Saintess's whip.
Crack — a light, almost delicate sound.
But the result was anything but light.
"Ugh...!"
The fierce, razor-edged whip of divinity lashed into Lauel's wing. In that instant, Lauel plummeted from the sky.
Some attacks knock flying-type enemies out of the air.
Fallen flying-type enemies can then be struck with ground attacks.
"Me next, Guardian!"
The Vigilante Captain pulled a smoke grenade from inside his coat and hurled it. The Faith-charged grenade burst, blanketing the enemies' field of vision in smoke.
The Vigilante Captain plunged into the billowing haze and... yeah, I can't see a thing.
Anyway, after a comical bout of bam bam pow sound effects, the smoke finally cleared.
"Ugh... my eyes... my eyes...!"
Some techniques inflict status ailments.
Aufel and Lauel are currently Confused. Their actions will be halted briefly.
Through sustained use of Faith, the Guardians' divinity has been temporarily restored.
Select and use the Guardians' skills.
"My strength..."
"It's back...?"
"Finish it, Guardians."
The Guardians nodded and closed their eyes once more.
The sky split open. A colossal hammer appeared as though leaping across dimensions and began its slow descent. After lingering just a moment in an overwhelming display of grandeur, the hammer crashed down on Lauel's crown like a bolt of lightning.
The earth split open. Countless spears erupted upward, skewering Lauel's wings. She thrashed and struggled, and only after her palms and the soles of her feet were pinned through as well did she finally go still.
The male Guardian summoned a giant spear and flung it with an almost casual flick of his wrist. The great spear tore through the air like lightning and pierced clean through Lauel's chest.
"...Not bad."
Aufel and Lauel were down.
Not dead, mind you.
The Guardians observe the Discipline of Non-Slaughter.
Their strikes carry the power of purification.
"Ugh... where... am I...?"
"Why... am I here...? Surely I was just... the Elder..."
"Looks like the trouble's been resolved, Guardians. Well done."
"...Thanks to you."
So that wraps up the problem, then. And here I'd genuinely been worried when the Guardians got backed into a corner.
One problem has been resolved.
Rewards granted: 120 Shinestones / 1 random Tier 1 equipment / 5,000 Gold
...Seriously, why is the game telling me this?
"...Don't we get any rewards?"
"That felt ridiculously stingy, honestly..."
Wait — the protagonists themselves didn't even get the rewards?
Oh. Ohh. Was this one of those messages that was originally meant for the protagonists?
"Thank you for saving the city. This is about all I have on hand at the moment, I'm afraid."
"...We receive our rewards from you, then?"
"Hmm, something does feel different from how it usually works..."
I handed over the items that had been delivered to me — that is, the items that were originally supposed to go to the protagonists. There was no point in my holding onto them; I had nowhere to use them. Money, on the other hand, I had coming out of my ears.
"Ugh... what even is this..."
"What on earth happened...? Why am I..."
"Ah, you're awake. My apologies, you two. I'd love to talk longer, but it seems I have quite a bit of cleaning up to do."
"Huh...? Professor...? That's strange. Why is the Professor here...?"
"Wh-why is everything around us in such ruins? What on earth happened... Ugh...!"
"Rest for now, both of you. The aftereffects will be no joke — anyone can see that just by looking at you."
"My memory... I remember now... I must stop the others at once..."
"We mustn't fight... Not now, at least..."
"Lady Saintess, most of the rampage has subsided, but they say a few areas remain unresolved."
"Goodness. It seems we shall need the Guardians' help once more."
So that's how they'd implemented the remaining stages, huh.
"I'll be counting on you. I'd rather not watch this city fall to pieces."
"...Leave it to us."
"As long as the pay is good."
The Guardians scattered across the city in perfectly restored condition. Weren't they nearly out of health just a minute ago...
"Ah. Right. They're the protagonists, aren't they."
Come to think of it, they'd probably leveled up and gained extra health. Leveling up fully restores your HP. That's just common sense, isn't it?
"Let's start on the cleanup, then. Pudding."
"Pudding will help!"
"We'll all help too!"
"I'll help twice as hard!"
"...Thank you."
The fairies who had been hiding all over the city emerged and set about tidying up the wrecked streets. Honestly, this part is so convenient. It's times like these that remind me why, even after being dropped into this body, I couldn't help loving this city.
At that very moment, in a back alley of Limadimensio.
"...Did you see that?"
"Yeah. Sounds like he's a genuinely reliable ally."
"And here I thought the game was being unhelpful."
"Lore-friendly, presumably. Probably."
The Guardians were making short work of the rampaging celestials and demons. The alleys were cramped and tangled, so they'd split off from their allies for a time.
...Though that, admittedly, was just an excuse. The two of them had simply needed some time to talk, just the two of them.
"...Maybe getting isekai'd to this place was a blessing in disguise."
"No kidding. Honestly, I was worried sick about being thrown into a game I knew nothing about."
"If I'd known this was coming, I would've spent money on it beforehand..."
"Same."
"...Big bro, didn't you say you were gonna spend money on it?"
"I bought the dollar-or-so starter pack they give you at the beginning. After that I figured I'd look around a bit first before dropping anything real."
"We're in trouble, man. For real. Are we gonna survive this?"
"No idea. But hey, at this rate, I'd say we've got a decent shot."
The two Guardians let out a long, heavy sigh in unison.
Becoming the protagonists of a game was all well and good, but they had neither information nor money. And the system, on top of everything, was utterly unhelpful.
Still... it's a good thing we have that Professor guy, they both thought.
And with that thought, the two Guardians set about toppling the rampaging celestials and demons once more.
Convinced, at the very least, that all things considered — this was a pretty decent start.