Chapter 59: Rules of Survival (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 59: Rules of Survival (2)
What was the most important thing in an emergency situation? Water? Food? Health? Tools? Well, these were all very important, but if I had to choose just one, I would choose "having the right mentality."
"Nooo... I can't die like this, I can't! I went through all that for nothing!"
"Missha, calm down."
When you find yourself in a shitty situation, you need the courage to face reality instead of trying to hide from it. Only then can you gain an objective perspective. So, I pushed aside all my fears.
It doesn't matter what happened over there.
A strange monster may have appeared, or Elisa and that team may have launched a surprise attack in that brief time. Anything was possible. But that was not what I needed to be focusing on right now.
Think.
I was now separated from the group. Next to me was my beastwoman teammate, but unfortunately, she was a warrior who could only use moves that dealt physical damage. The chances of our lost comrades returning here seemed infinitely low. Yes, in a word, we were fucked.
This place, which was inhabited by monsters who were immune to physical damage, was also known as the Graveyard of Warriors. It was almost impossible to get through it with a barbarian and a beast warrior. On top of that, we also had pursuers after us.
Actually, that was the biggest problem here. If the two of us ran into them, it would be an immediate game over. But unless we planned to bite down on our tongues and take ourselves out, we needed to think. Not about how fucked up this situation was, but about what we needed to do right now. What actions should we take in the future? Even if that was no different than trying to resist our doomed fate kicking and screaming, what did we need to give up, and what did we need to prioritize for our survival?
Simply put, what was the best thing we could do in this situation?
"...Let's move."
"What did you say? Even though—"
"Even if we can't find our way, it's better to get out of here." After getting an objective grasp of the situation, I could see what needed to be done even if we were in the worst possible situation.
After organizing our options into a list of priorities, I decided to address them in order of importance. First, getting out of this place.
"It's too dangerous here."
My reasoning was simple. We had no information as to what Hikurod and the others had run into nearby, except that it was dangerous enough that they couldn't come looking for us.
"And if that bitch was the one who did something to them, she'll eventually find us too."
"But then, wouldn't she have shown up by now?"
Well, maybe we just got pushed down in her priorities because the dwarf ran away and she had to follow him, or maybe there was another explanation. I had no intention of pondering the ifs, ands, or buts in this situation. And the first things we had to sacrifice to survive were intangible things like warmth and kindness.
"So what are you going to do? The choice is yours." I had no intention of carrying dead weight around with me just because she was my teammate. You couldn't even call that a real team in the first place. So, I drew a clear line in the sand. "If you don't agree with my judgment, we'll travel separately from now on."
"W-What are you talking about?!"
"Answer me." I didn't intend to waste time arguing. It was a yes or no question.
Missha, who was wordlessly staring into my eyes, bit her lip and came to a decision. "...I will follow yourrr lead from now on. I can't do anything else as long as I'm injured anyway."
This was a great answer that showed an understanding of exactly what the person asking the question wanted to hear. I hadn't thought of her that way, but it seemed she was actually quite quick on the uptake. Despite how she usually acted, she had five years of experience for a reason.
"S-Still, you're too harrrsh!" Once my hardened expression relaxed, Missha started whining like I had hurt her feelings, but oh well. I didn't care about that as long as she followed my orders efficiently.
"Drink."
When I opened a bottle of potion and handed it to her, Missha drank it slowly, as if she were drinking poison. Then she started to moan. Not the weird kind; that wasn't something you could do after taking a potion anyway.
"Ugh!" Based on the sounds of her suffering, it was clear that the potion was doing its job, so I put Missha on my shoulders. Since it was just a sprained ankle, the pain would subside in about five minutes, and she'd be able to walk, but it would be nice to save that time. "Ah! Please, slowly! No, walk morrre gently!"
As soon as I started to properly jog, Missha started begging me to stop. Apparently, she was experiencing motion sickness. All I could say to that was, "Deal with it."
I'm sorry, but right now, I'm a coldhearted barbarian who has forgotten all warmth and kindness. As long as the survival alarms are blaring, efficiency trumps all. A little bit of motion sickness never killed anyone, right?
Sprint.
Anyway, while I was running through the forest with no particular direction in mind, Missha started smacking my back like crazy from her perch on my shoulders. "Let—ugh! L-Let me down! I-I'm all good now!"
"Don't lie."
"It's trrrue! I-I swear on the name of my clan's guardian deity!"
"Hmm, then why is your voice so weak?"
The loophole I pointed out in Missha's argument was a logical one, but for some reason, I was the one who got reamed. "How could it not be! You boneheaded barrrbarian! Let me down now!"
"Okay." If she was able to pound me on the back like that, that meant she at least had the presence of mind to move on her own, so I let her down as requested.
"Ahh, I rrreally thought I was going to die!"
How dramatic. At least she looked fine on the outside, but I double-checked just in case. "So, is your foot okay now?"
"As you can see."
"Give it to me straight. Does that mean you can fight right now?"
"Forrr now... yes! But why do you ask?"
Because we had a fight coming our way. "Good. There's a monster coming."
Missha's head turned in the direction I was pointing. There stood a gigantic tree that was planting its roots into the ground as it moved, a rank-eight monster called Snetree. It was a creepy creature that attacked adventurers with its tentacle-like branches. For reference, this guy was one of the few normal monsters aside from the Half-Troll in the Witch's Forest. In other words, it was possible to take them down just with physical damage.
"But do we need to fight that thing? Since it's slow, it won't be able to follow us... Ah! I'm not saying I won't follow your orrrders, though!"
Well, good, I was glad. Anyway, the question itself was reasonable, so I took a moment to answer it. "It may drop an essence."
Missha, who was wordlessly staring into my eyes, bit her lip and came to a decision. "...I will follow yourrr lead from now on. I can't do anything else as long as I'm injured anyway."
This was a great answer that showed an understanding of exactly what the person asking the question wanted to hear. I hadn't thought of her that way, but it seemed she was actually quite quick on the uptake. Despite how she usually acted, she had five years of experience for a reason.
"S-Still, you're too harrrsh!" Once my hardened expression relaxed, Missha started whining like I had hurt her feelings, but oh well. I didn't care about that as long as she followed my orders efficiently.
"Drink."
When I opened a bottle of potion and handed it to her, Missha drank it slowly, as if she were drinking poison. Then she started to moan. Not the weird kind; that wasn't something you could do after taking a potion anyway.
"Ugh!" Based on the sounds of her suffering, it was clear that the potion was doing its job, so I put Missha on my shoulders. Since it was just a sprained ankle, the pain would subside in about five minutes, and she'd be able to walk, but it would be nice to save that time. "Ah! Please, slowly! No, walk morrre gently!"
As soon as I started to properly jog, Missha started begging me to stop. Apparently, she was experiencing motion sickness. All I could say to that was, "Deal with it."
I'm sorry, but right now, I'm a coldhearted barbarian who has forgotten all warmth and kindness. As long as the survival alarms are blaring, efficiency trumps all. A little bit of motion sickness never killed anyone, right?
Sprint.
Anyway, while I was running through the forest with no particular direction in mind, Missha started smacking my back like crazy from her perch on my shoulders. "Let—ugh! L-Let me down! I-I'm all good now!"
"Don't lie."
"It's trrrue! I-I swear on the name of my clan's guardian deity!"
"Hmm, then why is your voice so weak?"
The loophole I pointed out in Missha's argument was a logical one, but for some reason, I was the one who got reamed. "How could it not be! You boneheaded barrrbarian! Let me down now!"
"Okay." If she was able to pound me on the back like that, that meant she at least had the presence of mind to move on her own, so I let her down as requested.
"Ahh, I rrreally thought I was going to die!"
How dramatic. At least she looked fine on the outside, but I double-checked just in case. "So, is your foot okay now?"
"As you can see."
"Give it to me straight. Does that mean you can fight right now?"
"Forrr now... yes! But why do you ask?"
Because we had a fight coming our way. "Good. There's a monster coming."
Missha's head turned in the direction I was pointing. There stood a gigantic tree that was planting its roots into the ground as it moved, a rank-eight monster called Snetree. It was a creepy creature that attacked adventurers with its tentacle-like branches. For reference, this guy was one of the few normal monsters aside from the Half-Troll in the Witch's Forest. In other words, it was possible to take them down just with physical damage.
"But do we need to fight that thing? Since it's slow, it won't be able to follow us... Ah! I'm not saying I won't follow your orrrders, though!"
Well, good, I was glad. Anyway, the question itself was reasonable, so I took a moment to answer it. "It may drop an essence."
"An essence?" Missha cocked her head like I'd just said something strange. That was understandable. If it weren't for the situation we were in, I wouldn't have come up with a plan like this, either.
"All of the monsters in the Witch's Forest have attribute-based abilities." To be more exact, all of the monsters except the Half-Troll. Well, even if one of those guys happened to come out, we would just avoid it anyway.
Soon, Missha grasped the gist of my plan and was stunned. "Is that why you want to fight this one?"
Yep—not just this one, but every single one that appeared in our path. I had to acquire a special-attribute ability somehow. We couldn't keep avoiding spirit types forever. As things were right now, I wouldn't be able to get a good night's rest in here. If we happened to find a way out of the woods while we wandered around, then that would be an unnecessary concern.
But there's no way a miracle like that would happen to me.
Of course, the drop rate of an essence was also infinitesimally small, but in a way, this was basically just a side quest. I had no intention of getting hung up on this plan. If an essence came out, great, and if it didn't, there was nothing I could do about it. That was all.
The moment that bitch finds us, it'll all become trivial anyway.
If the scouts on the other side killed the dwarf or lost track of him and came looking for us instead, then all of these efforts would be in vain. But that wasn't a reason to go gently into the night.
"Anyway, get ready to fight."
"Okay!" A moment later, Missha pulled out her weapon, raised it, and charged at the Snetree, which was using its roots to crawl across the ground.
"Glurggleggleggle!"
The number one rule of survival was this: you had to fight to live.
[You have killed a snetree. EXP +2]
***
We were walking through the Witch's Forest without a scout. If anyone asked me how I felt about that, I would answer like this: it was like walking through a house of mirrors in an amusement park all day, if the house of mirrors happened to have constant background noise.
"Just kill her! Or enjoy her! Why are you being so nice to such a useless bitch?"
"Khihee, khiheehee!"
"It's all your fault! If it wasn't for you—!"
Was I mistaken, or were the auditory hallucinations getting more detailed? No, I didn't think that was it. The visual hallucinations were also more vivid than before.
"Hansu, why are you the only one who survived?"
Unlike earlier, when the hallucinations had taken the form of mere monsters, now they were individuals from my past, people I would never be able to run into in this world.
"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!"
When are you going to kill that woman? When are you going to kill that woman? When are you going to kill that woman? When are you going to kill that woman?
Sometimes they showed up in the form of visual hallucinations and wreaked havoc on me. At some point, the visual and auditory hallucinations began to merge.
There is no way that the Field Effect has suddenly gotten stronger. Is it just that I've gotten weaker?
I calmly and coldly assessed my condition. However, it was what it was. I had stayed up all night, and in that state, I had been forced to fight a fierce battle. I was cursed not too long ago and just barely came back from death's door, and now I had found myself in a hopeless situation and was also lost. It was only natural that I had hit my mental limit. But, so what?
"An essence?" Missha cocked her head like I'd just said something strange. That was understandable. If it weren't for the situation we were in, I wouldn't have come up with a plan like this, either.
"All of the monsters in the Witch's Forest have attribute-based abilities." To be more exact, all of the monsters except the Half-Troll. Well, even if one of those guys happened to come out, we would just avoid it anyway.
Soon, Missha grasped the gist of my plan and was stunned. "Is that why you want to fight this one?"
Yep—not just this one, but every single one that appeared in our path. I had to acquire a special-attribute ability somehow. We couldn't keep avoiding spirit types forever. As things were right now, I wouldn't be able to get a good night's rest in here. If we happened to find a way out of the woods while we wandered around, then that would be an unnecessary concern.
But there's no way a miracle like that would happen to me.
Of course, the drop rate of an essence was also infinitesimally small, but in a way, this was basically just a side quest. I had no intention of getting hung up on this plan. If an essence came out, great, and if it didn't, there was nothing I could do about it. That was all.
The moment that bitch finds us, it'll all become trivial anyway.
If the scouts on the other side killed the dwarf or lost track of him and came looking for us instead, then all of these efforts would be in vain. But that wasn't a reason to go gently into the night.
"Anyway, get ready to fight."
"Okay!" A moment later, Missha pulled out her weapon, raised it, and charged at the Snetree, which was using its roots to crawl across the ground.
"Glurggleggleggle!"
The number one rule of survival was this: you had to fight to live.
[You have killed a snetree. EXP +2]
***
We were walking through the Witch's Forest without a scout. If anyone asked me how I felt about that, I would answer like this: it was like walking through a house of mirrors in an amusement park all day, if the house of mirrors happened to have constant background noise.
"Just kill her! Or enjoy her! Why are you being so nice to such a useless bitch?"
"Khihee, khiheehee!"
"It's all your fault! If it wasn't for you—!"
Was I mistaken, or were the auditory hallucinations getting more detailed? No, I didn't think that was it. The visual hallucinations were also more vivid than before.
"Hansu, why are you the only one who survived?"
Unlike earlier, when the hallucinations had taken the form of mere monsters, now they were individuals from my past, people I would never be able to run into in this world.
"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!"
When are you going to kill that woman? When are you going to kill that woman? When are you going to kill that woman? When are you going to kill that woman?
Sometimes they showed up in the form of visual hallucinations and wreaked havoc on me. At some point, the visual and auditory hallucinations began to merge.
There is no way that the Field Effect has suddenly gotten stronger. Is it just that I've gotten weaker?
I calmly and coldly assessed my condition. However, it was what it was. I had stayed up all night, and in that state, I had been forced to fight a fierce battle. I was cursed not too long ago and just barely came back from death's door, and now I had found myself in a hopeless situation and was also lost. It was only natural that I had hit my mental limit. But, so what?
I have no choice but to endure it.
That was how life went, at least for me. Persevere, persevere, persevere, and do the things you could without dwelling on the things that you could not change.
"Missha, use this instead of a dagger."
"Hmm? I've never used a spear beforrre..."
After defeating the Snetree, I took a break and rifled through my expandable backpack, handing Missha the spear that used to be Irita's. We decided earlier to sell it and distribute the payout when we got back out to the city, but now wasn't the time to worry about stuff like that.
"Just do as I say."
"Hnnng, okay..."
Out of respect for each person's preferences and years of experience, I had been keeping my mouth shut about this, but my working theory was that the longer the weapon, the more practical it was. Even when Missha had been fighting the Snetree earlier, if it hadn't been for the dagger's length, she would've been able to dig in deeper and destroy its core in one hit.
"It feels so awkwarrrd! Can't you give me a sword instead?"
No. I didn't know which was easier to handle, a sword or a spear, but I did know that a spear was a lot longer. When I made a wall with my shield, a spear would make it easier for her to help me out from behind. "You've fought with both weapons before. Just use that one."
"Hnng."
Quit your whining. I don't know what you think is going on here, but I don't consider us to be that close.
I wished she would stop complaining and ruining my mood. After all, it hadn't even been two weeks since we'd met.
This... I should use.
It wasn't just Missha who upgraded her equipment.
[You have equipped Iron Plate Gaiters. Your General Item Level has increased by +45.]
First, I wrapped Hans C's gaiters around my calves. The gear was made of leather on the inside and iron on the outside. It would've been nice if I had the part for the thighs too, but unfortunately, that piece of equipment was stored in the dwarf's bag.
[You have equipped Worn War Boots. Your General Item Level has increased by +38.]
I also changed my shoes to new ones, the ones Hans C had been wearing as well. The boots were made of quality leather, but strangely, they had iron plates on the top, and in the form of pointed spikes at that.
Adventuring assholes are only useful when it comes to things like these.
I looked around for additional items, but I couldn't find any more that Missha or I could use among the equipment I had on me. However, instead, I found something unexpected.
"Huh? Bjorn! Isn't this holy water?"
"...Looks like it."
Pieces of bad news had been piling up one after the next. Was it now time for things to slowly start to recover? This made me so much happier than finding the gear. With holy water, it would be possible to enchant our weapons.
[Sacred energy permeates the enchanted equipment. You now inflict additional holy damage when attacking monsters with the Evil attribute.]
The additional damage granted by the Holy attribute meant that even if we didn't get the attribute-type abilities we'd been hoping for, we'd be able to slaughter spirit-type monsters. Although it was limited to evil-attribute monsters, the spirit-type monsters that appeared in the Witch's Forest usually had the Evil attribute, so I didn't need to worry about that.
The problem is that there are only five bottles.
Holy water had no time limit. The effect disappeared once all of the damage the bottle was capable of causing had been done. How many monsters could we potentially fight with five bottles? I wasn't sure, but it wasn't near enough for generous use until the fifteenth day, when the third floor closed.
It would be best to use it sparingly.
Still, this was the first bit of good news in a while, which was why I continued to dig around in the bag. Earlier, I hadn't had the time to look through the exploration supplies properly. There could have been something else that was useful.
"Hmm? Bjorn!" As we were each rummaging through our bags, Missha called my name. "I found something weirrrd, do you know what it is?" It was a pendant with an unusual design. I recognized it.
Isn't that the symbol of Karuiism?
Unfortunately, that was all I knew as of right now. Besides the fact that it was related to Karui, I couldn't figure out its purpose.
At this point, I think I've checked everything I need to for now.
I put everything back into the bag and organized it. Then, since there was a new variable of the holy water to consider, I also revisited the plan I had quickly thrown together. At first glance, we had three options.
One: seek help from an adventurer we happen to stumble upon by coincidence.
The Witch's Forest was huge. Due to its geographical characteristics, it was rare to encounter other adventurers. However, if we kept looking around, we'd come across one eventually. If we promised to give them equipment in exchange for help, any adventurer would be tempted.
The problem is that we won't be able to trust them.
There were a lot of efficiency freaks among those adventuring bastards. They could just kill us and take our stuff for themselves. Why would they bother helping us on top of that? Some of them might think like that.
Besides, Missha is a girl...
As I glanced at Missha, who was currently hungrily eating jerky, I continued thinking.
Two: walk around until we reach the end of the forest or find the portal to the fourth floor.
That, however, would just mean relying on luck. Therefore, I decided that it was not necessary to set this as our ultimate goal. Like it or not, we were going to have to wander through the forest anyway. It wasn't like any amount of wishing was going to make a path appear, and no amount of non-wishing, either.
Anyway, next.
Three: Focus on surviving until the labyrinth closes.
We had enough food and drinking water. Moreover, by securing holy water, it was possible to establish a low level of immediate safety. If an elemental essence came out along the way, our odds of survival in this damned forest would increase dramatically.
That's all under the assumption that those bastards won't find us, though.
I let out a long sigh. It had only been four days since we had entered the labyrinth. There was much more journey left to go than had elapsed. When I thought of all of the things we had experienced over the past four days, it was hard to assume the rest of our time here would be smooth sailing.
I don't think an essence will appear anytime soon. If I'm going to do it at some point, might as well do it now.
So, I decided. "Missha, are you married?"
"Huh? Where did that come from?" Missha, who was chewing on a piece of jerky, was startled by my question. It was clear she was wondering what the hell I was talking about. Still, since she had agreed to hear me out, she gave me an answer. "I'm not at the moment..."
Okay. I asked another question, this time a more direct one. "Then do you hold any particular beliefs, such as one that would prevent you from showing your naked body to a strange man?"
"Uh, n-no, I don't think so..."
"Good."
"W-What exactly is good? Ah! S-Stop! D-Don't come any closerrr!"
This was an option I would never have chosen if I hadn't played Dungeon and Stone for close to ten years. A pity to use it already, but it was our best bet.
Four: Awaken Missha.
I have no choice but to endure it.
That was how life went, at least for me. Persevere, persevere, persevere, and do the things you could without dwelling on the things that you could not change.
"Missha, use this instead of a dagger."
"Hmm? I've never used a spear beforrre..."
After defeating the Snetree, I took a break and rifled through my expandable backpack, handing Missha the spear that used to be Irita's. We decided earlier to sell it and distribute the payout when we got back out to the city, but now wasn't the time to worry about stuff like that.
"Just do as I say."
"Hnnng, okay..."
Out of respect for each person's preferences and years of experience, I had been keeping my mouth shut about this, but my working theory was that the longer the weapon, the more practical it was. Even when Missha had been fighting the Snetree earlier, if it hadn't been for the dagger's length, she would've been able to dig in deeper and destroy its core in one hit.
"It feels so awkwarrrd! Can't you give me a sword instead?"
No. I didn't know which was easier to handle, a sword or a spear, but I did know that a spear was a lot longer. When I made a wall with my shield, a spear would make it easier for her to help me out from behind. "You've fought with both weapons before. Just use that one."
"Hnng."
Quit your whining. I don't know what you think is going on here, but I don't consider us to be that close.
I wished she would stop complaining and ruining my mood. After all, it hadn't even been two weeks since we'd met.
This... I should use.
It wasn't just Missha who upgraded her equipment.
[You have equipped Iron Plate Gaiters. Your General Item Level has increased by +45.]
First, I wrapped Hans C's gaiters around my calves. The gear was made of leather on the inside and iron on the outside. It would've been nice if I had the part for the thighs too, but unfortunately, that piece of equipment was stored in the dwarf's bag.
[You have equipped Worn War Boots. Your General Item Level has increased by +38.]
I also changed my shoes to new ones, the ones Hans C had been wearing as well. The boots were made of quality leather, but strangely, they had iron plates on the top, and in the form of pointed spikes at that.
Adventuring assholes are only useful when it comes to things like these.
I looked around for additional items, but I couldn't find any more that Missha or I could use among the equipment I had on me. However, instead, I found something unexpected.
"Huh? Bjorn! Isn't this holy water?"
"...Looks like it."
Pieces of bad news had been piling up one after the next. Was it now time for things to slowly start to recover? This made me so much happier than finding the gear. With holy water, it would be possible to enchant our weapons.
[Sacred energy permeates the enchanted equipment. You now inflict additional holy damage when attacking monsters with the Evil attribute.]
The additional damage granted by the Holy attribute meant that even if we didn't get the attribute-type abilities we'd been hoping for, we'd be able to slaughter spirit-type monsters. Although it was limited to evil-attribute monsters, the spirit-type monsters that appeared in the Witch's Forest usually had the Evil attribute, so I didn't need to worry about that.
The problem is that there are only five bottles.
Holy water had no time limit. The effect disappeared once all of the damage the bottle was capable of causing had been done. How many monsters could we potentially fight with five bottles? I wasn't sure, but it wasn't near enough for generous use until the fifteenth day, when the third floor closed.
It would be best to use it sparingly.
Still, this was the first bit of good news in a while, which was why I continued to dig around in the bag. Earlier, I hadn't had the time to look through the exploration supplies properly. There could have been something else that was useful.
"Hmm? Bjorn!" As we were each rummaging through our bags, Missha called my name. "I found something weirrrd, do you know what it is?" It was a pendant with an unusual design. I recognized it.
Isn't that the symbol of Karuiism?
Unfortunately, that was all I knew as of right now. Besides the fact that it was related to Karui, I couldn't figure out its purpose.
At this point, I think I've checked everything I need to for now.
I put everything back into the bag and organized it. Then, since there was a new variable of the holy water to consider, I also revisited the plan I had quickly thrown together. At first glance, we had three options.
One: seek help from an adventurer we happen to stumble upon by coincidence.
The Witch's Forest was huge. Due to its geographical characteristics, it was rare to encounter other adventurers. However, if we kept looking around, we'd come across one eventually. If we promised to give them equipment in exchange for help, any adventurer would be tempted.
The problem is that we won't be able to trust them.
There were a lot of efficiency freaks among those adventuring bastards. They could just kill us and take our stuff for themselves. Why would they bother helping us on top of that? Some of them might think like that.
Besides, Missha is a girl...
As I glanced at Missha, who was currently hungrily eating jerky, I continued thinking.
Two: walk around until we reach the end of the forest or find the portal to the fourth floor.
That, however, would just mean relying on luck. Therefore, I decided that it was not necessary to set this as our ultimate goal. Like it or not, we were going to have to wander through the forest anyway. It wasn't like any amount of wishing was going to make a path appear, and no amount of non-wishing, either.
Anyway, next.
Three: Focus on surviving until the labyrinth closes.
We had enough food and drinking water. Moreover, by securing holy water, it was possible to establish a low level of immediate safety. If an elemental essence came out along the way, our odds of survival in this damned forest would increase dramatically.
That's all under the assumption that those bastards won't find us, though.
I let out a long sigh. It had only been four days since we had entered the labyrinth. There was much more journey left to go than had elapsed. When I thought of all of the things we had experienced over the past four days, it was hard to assume the rest of our time here would be smooth sailing.
I don't think an essence will appear anytime soon. If I'm going to do it at some point, might as well do it now.
So, I decided. "Missha, are you married?"
"Huh? Where did that come from?" Missha, who was chewing on a piece of jerky, was startled by my question. It was clear she was wondering what the hell I was talking about. Still, since she had agreed to hear me out, she gave me an answer. "I'm not at the moment..."
Okay. I asked another question, this time a more direct one. "Then do you hold any particular beliefs, such as one that would prevent you from showing your naked body to a strange man?"
"Uh, n-no, I don't think so..."
"Good."
"W-What exactly is good? Ah! S-Stop! D-Don't come any closerrr!"
This was an option I would never have chosen if I hadn't played Dungeon and Stone for close to ten years. A pity to use it already, but it was our best bet.
Four: Awaken Missha.