Yelloy Barrier Fortress (5)

Yeon let out a long breath, sword in hand. Three Level 21 Kobold Warriors stood before her. The pack had originally numbered six warriors and two archers, but Choco's fox-fire had roasted the rest, leaving only these three.

Quite some time had passed since the hunt began. In that span her level had climbed two ranks to 20, and following Choco's advice through swing after swing, she had even picked up a skill called Swordsmanship.

The part about swinging a sword better manifested as something remarkably intuitive. The moment she lifted her blade and settled into stance, a sword path unfurled across her vision like a thread of blue light. Choco called this Skill Assist.

Skill Assist, put simply, was a guide that helped you draw a skill out to its full potential. Follow the blue path laid before your eyes, and you would receive Swordsmanship's effects at their most efficient.

"Grrrr..."

The kobolds snarled, voices thick with threat, as she raised her sword.

Yeon surveyed the situation with darkened eyes. Three of them. The level gap was a mere single rank, but three at once still felt like more than she could handle.

Could she do it? All that hunting and all that swinging had gotten her to the point where she could take two on her own, given a little time. But three was a first.

She turned her head to look at Choco. True to the girl's warning that this game-turned-reality would leave you exhausted if you moved too much or burned through too many skills, Choco was in the middle of a long, languid yawn. Any moment now, those small murmuring lips would probably spit out a suggestion that they head back to the fortress.

As if sensing Yeon's gaze, Choco — mouth still stretched wide — blinked, then tilted her head.

"Why do you look at this one instead of fighting?"

"No, it's just... three still feels like a bit much."

"What of it? Even should you fail and perish, you may log in again after six hours of real time."

"Don't you think that's a little cold?"

Yeon grumbled, but Choco only stretched her arms overhead and let out a drowsy sigh. That serene, utterly unbothered air was just starting to sting when—

"Well. This one shall help if it truly seems dangerous."

"Seriously... you could've just said that from the start. I would've been a little hurt if you hadn't."

"If anyone should feel hurt, it is this one. Did you truly believe this one would stand idle while you faced death?"

"Uh... huh?"

Caught completely off guard, Yeon stammered and stared. Choco's expression had gone bitter.

"That reaction tells this one you truly thought so. You cling to this one at every turn, claiming affection, yet you have not trusted this one at all."

"N-no, that's not what I—"

"Enough. This one understands your feelings well enough..."

Watching those shoulders slump and that face fall, Yeon forgot the monsters standing right in front of her. She spun around and hurried over.

"Ch-Choco, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I just— mmph."

"Got you."

Yeon blinked. The gloom had vanished as if it had never been, replaced by a wicked little grin as Choco pinched her nose.

Wait. Was that an act?

Choco caught the look and beamed.

"Well? Did this one fool you?"

"Y-you really... you scared me..."

"You were overthinking so much, this one thought to startle you."

Still brimming with mischief, Choco gave the captured nose a light tug before letting go, then looked Yeon in the eye. The gesture was strangely practiced, as if it were something she had done to someone often.

"Why do you think three of them is too much?"

"Why? Well, because..."

Yeon started to answer as if it were obvious, then realized she had nothing concrete to say.

There had been no clear reason behind the judgment. She had simply felt, in her own estimation, that three was too much — and so it had felt like too much. There was no way to put that into specific words.

Nothing, at any rate, beyond it's too much.

Watching Yeon fidget in silence, Choco spoke in a light voice.

"This one said it in jest, but you need to trust this one a little more. And restrain yourself from clinging just because you find this one cute."

A private motive had slipped quietly into the words, but Yeon failed to notice, hanging on every syllable.

"You are more than capable of handling those creatures. In this one's eyes, you are the sort with no small talent."

"Talent...?"

Yeon muttered, making no effort to hide how dubious she felt. In her entire life, no one had ever told her she looked talented at anything.

Choco shrugged.

"Well, why not try fighting them first? As this one said, if it truly seems dangerous, this one shall take care of it."

"Mmm... alright. I'll give it a shot."

"Good. Ah — once you finish those creatures, we shall return to the fortress to rest, so do try to wrap it up quickly."

"Got it. I'll finish fast."

Yeon said it with a small smile, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠watching Choco stretch into another languid yawn. The girl was clearly starting to fade.

Yeon returned to her original position. The three Kobold Warriors were still waiting, rooted as if they had been planted in the earth, not having taken a single step. A closer look at their feet would have revealed the soil risen up and clenched tight around their soles, pinning them in place — but Yeon's head was too full of other things to notice. She drew a deep breath and raised her sword.

The optimal sword path bloomed in blue lines, crowding her vision.

I have talent?

Honestly, she couldn't believe it. She had never stood out at studying or sports — anywhere. She had fallen short of even average, and people had called her slow for it. The withdrawn personality she carried now had grown, in part, out of that inferiority.

And now she was supposed to have talent... inside a game.

Yeon closed her eyes, opened them, and looked at the kobolds.

Fine. Even if I can't believe in myself, I should believe what Choco says.

I have talent.

"Kraaagh!"

As if they had overheard that resolution, the kobolds that had been standing still charged all at once. The Five Elements Daoism holding their feet had just worn off — but Yeon failed to notice that either, and ran to meet them.

The distance had never been great, and they collided almost immediately. Three flashing blades came in from three different directions.

Skill Assist traced intersecting paths against those swords — but instead of swinging, Yeon dropped low and drove a tackle into the kobold at the front.

Choco had told her not to swing along the sword path that Skill Assist displayed. The underlying Swordsmanship skill was, quite literally, only the minimum condition required to trigger the assist, and following the path as shown often meant getting blocked. It offered situational responses without any regard for the wielder's stats or level, she had added, which was why plenty of people turned Skill Assist off entirely as they climbed higher.

Of course, Yeon was not yet skilled enough with a sword to need it off — but she had also been told not to lean on it any more than she had to.

"Kraagh!"

The tackled kobold hit the ground with a shriek and tried to rise. Yeon did not let it.

She discarded the arming sword without a second thought, ripped the Black Wolf's Fang from her belt, and drove it straight into the creature's chest. Then she faithfully followed Skill Assist's advice to twist the dagger.

A wet crunch. The kobold's thrashing limbs went slack, and its body washed over with gray. There was no time to stand there watching. Yeon rolled hard to the side, and swords punched down into the fading corpse she had just left behind.

"Kraagh!"

The remaining kobolds howled with rage. Yeon snatched her discarded arming sword back up.

A dagger in one hand, an arming sword in the other. Dual-wielders. Hard pass. Unaware that Choco, watching from behind, was thinking exactly that, Yeon broke into a run.

Holding two different blades split the sword path into two as well. Yeon did not hesitate. She hurled the dagger with everything she had at the kobold in the rear.

A clear, ringing clash — the dagger struck the blade of a kobold that had thrown up a frantic guard. Its charging feet stopped dead, which was a bonus.

That left Yeon facing a single sword instead of two. With an enraged bellow, the remaining kobold hauled its blade back over one shoulder and brought it crashing down — a swordsman swinging like an axeman.

Yeon followed the sword path she could see and swung.

A descending cut against a rising slash.

It was the kobold's blade that bounced away. Ogle's Masterpiece, true to a set piece, was sturdy, and it granted Yeon additional stats besides. She was Level 20, but in raw numbers she stood equal to a 23.

Talent or no talent, she had already been crushing them on gear alone. Yeon, who simply did not know games well enough, had been the only one thinking three was too much.

Well. Good equipment alone doesn't let just anyone pull that off.

Watching Yeon cut down the kobold in front of her and sprint to finish the last one, Choco let out a long yawn.

The yawns kept coming. Her eyelids kept sinking. She genuinely felt as if she could drop off at any second. Was there even an inn on the fortress side?

"Hm?"

Choco pricked the ears she had hidden with her transformation. Something noisy — a party hunting nearby, by the sound of it.

Ordinarily she would have called Yeon over and steered them clear of another party. But they were heading back to rest anyway, so she was about to ignore it.

...It went quiet?

The clash of steel vanished as if it had never been, and the sudden hush made her head tilt on its own. A silence that fell in under twenty seconds suggested exactly two possibilities.

Either the hunting party was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠absurdly strong — or the monsters were.

She listened a little longer and decided it was closer to the latter. Even so, she did not dwell on it. They had probably been unlucky while looking for a hunting spot, run into something like the Kobold King's royal guard, and gotten wiped.

"See? Did you not handle them well enough?"

That was what Choco thought as she called out to Yeon, who had already finished all three kobolds and was catching her breath. Yeon considered something for a moment, then grinned goofily and flashed a V-sign with her fingers.

Choco snorted a laugh, slid down from the rock she had been sitting on, and started toward her. She was just about to offer a word of praise when—

"So you— urk."

"Haaaah... I'm so tired—"

The instant Choco came within reach, Yeon reeled her into her arms with a speed that bore an unfortunate resemblance to a Venus flytrap.

Choco opened her mouth to protest, then let herself go limp, resigning herself to being held for a good long while.

"Okay! Let's head back!"

Appetite thoroughly satisfied, Yeon chirped it in a bright voice. Choco shook her head and started walking.

The road to Yelloy Barrier Fortress was strangely quiet. No monsters in sight, and not a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠single person either.

The people, she supposed, had logged out because it was time to sleep — but the absence of monsters was odd. Both of them were a little worn out, though, so they went straight inside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the fortress without lingering on it.

They found Roiman at once and handed over the kobold fangs they had gathered on the hunt. His face lit up.

"Just how many did you take down to bring back this many? Thanks to you, we should be fine for a while."

"But who is this young girl?"

"She's my companion. By the way, is there somewhere here we can rest?"

"Companion? This little girl? Well... there is a place to rest, I suppose."

Roiman gave Choco a faintly dubious look, then turned back to Yeon in a brighter tone.

"The old soldiers' barracks have plenty of empty rooms, so pick one and use it. Anyone who's cleared out this many kobolds has more than earned the right."

Lucky break. Choco muttered it inwardly.

This barrier fortress had nothing you could honestly call an inn. She had only told Yeon to ask in case some other resting space had appeared in the meantime — she had not expected to be treated like this.

A soldier Roiman assigned led them to their quarters. Yeon stepped inside and looked around. The room was so small that a single bunk bed was enough to fill it.

Choco scrambled up to the top bunk at once, poked her head over the edge, and looked down at Yeon.

"This one shall rest now, so you should log out as well."

"That's so cold!"

"Cold? Hardly. You need to eat, do you not?"

It was an eminently reasonable point, but Yeon just stuck out her lower lip and stared at her.

Choco had no intention of playing along with a staring contest. She pulled her head back and spoke toward the wall.

"In any case, this one is going to sleep, so you should rest as well."

And truly, it was not long before the sound of even breathing drifted down. Yeon sat still for a moment, then climbed the ladder.

"Choco. Are you actually asleep?"

No answer came, not even to that quiet question. Choco was lying with her back to the outside, facing the wall. Yeon carefully climbed onto the mattress, then inched sideways until their backs were pressed together.

Choco had told her to log out. Yeon did not want to. She would much rather fall asleep here, together, until Choco woke up. She could not eat real food in here anyway — and she did not need to.

"Good night."

Yeon murmured it and closed her eyes.

Choco, hearing her voice, closed her eyes as well.

And when they opened their eyes again, the atmosphere of the fortress had changed.