Chapter 12: Good things come around, Cause of the Strife

Kousuke was currently alone heading towards St. Beria.

It’s already been four days since the three of them left Ricardo and arrived at Alice’s home.

The three of them were together until yesterday but currently Horun and Alice were headed towards the western harbors of Sebus.h.i.+k continent to find a s.h.i.+p scheduled to head to Karuhode continent.

Vants’s request required them to travel from the continents Sebus.h.i.+k to Karuhode to Hunsing. There were s.h.i.+ps in the northern harbors of Sebus.h.i.+k that can directly travel to Hunsing, but the northern counties are currently at war with each other so Alice suggested a detour to which Horun agreed.

Kousuke wasn’t travelling with Alice and Horun for the following reasons.

The client from this ancient clan was extremely strict with societal protocol. If one’s position is low then informality is acceptable, but as the position gets higher the importance of formality will increase. And the client this time around was among the highest positions.

Apparently, Vants is also someone of power, but when he was speaking with “Yui” he ignored the status difference since he was in a different country. Vants was dispatched because of his lenient personality.

“When in Rome, do as Romans do” he adopted this motto to use for his own country and for other countries. It was unclear whether or not they’ll allow any form of informalities in Hunsing.

So Alice gave Kousuke a suggestion. Follow them or wait for them to pick him up. If he followed them he would be stationed alone for some time in a nearby country besides the ancient clan’s country. If he wanted to be picked up, Alice will find him in Ricardo or St. Beria later.

Hearing this Kousuke chose the latter. He didn’t want to be alone in an unknown country so he chose to stay near people he knew.

Staying at Alice’s place was out of the question since she had dangerous objects in the house that she didn’t want Kousuke to touch.

So due to his choice he was heading to St. Beria alone.

Taking three days to prepare for this journey was considered too much by most people. Unlike Earth, there was no need to prepare anything specific to board a s.h.i.+p since as long as their luggage is ready, they’re set. They would need to explain their reason for travelling, but Horun and Alice weren’t worried about that and within a day they finished packing. The last thing they did before leaving was erect the barrier around Alice’s home. Even that required very little time.

The reason why it took them three days to prepare was because they were giving Kousuke various information and techniques. A reward for working as a maid for a month. They were originally going to pay him for his work, but since Kousuke “infiltrated” of his own volition, they subst.i.tuted the reward with various information that they believed would be useful for him.

Alice taught him three magic incantations. The first was a small barrier he can create on or near himself, the second one was a short distance teleportation and the third was a penetrating light beam.  Horun taught him medical treatment techniques that involved some use of magic. 【TL: So “Guard” “Blink” and “Beam”  -> I’ll use these names in the future】

Due to the small size of《Guard》it could only protect one person at a time and its strength can easily prevent a Lutz Monkey’s attack.

《Blink》can be used to travel over a decent distance instantly, roughly a three days walk worth of distance. Kousuke actually used《Blink》to travel to a spot about an hour away from St. Beria.《Blink》has three more ranks above with the highest rank allowing the caster to teleport to any point on the world. Unfortunately, no human being can cast it as they lack the required amount of mana. Even《Blink》required a magical apt.i.tude of D+ to cast, most people can only dream of being able to cast it. 【TL: From earlier chapters, having an apt.i.tude over D in any category is considered great】

《Beam》is well.. Just a light beam. A light beam with a thickness of a finger shot forward about fifty meters. It pierced through a boulder, it seemed to be useful. It’s nice to learn, but Kousuke preferred to avoid violence so he wondered if he will ever find a use for it in the future.

The walls surrounding St. Beria slowly came into his view.

He was happy to see how much his travel time shortened compared to walking.

「A place I’ve seen before huh. It’s a useful magic but unless I’ve been there before I can’t use it so it can be considered a somewhat limited magic」(Kousuke)

Feeling his confidence rising too much he placated it while continuing forward.

When he reached the gates and the scene confused him. 『Is it a s.h.i.+ft change?』Thought Kousuke as he saw no guards near the gate.

He decided to wait a bit, but he started to feel uneasy after looking into the town.

Compared to a month ago he saw a lot more people moving around. He wasn’t told about any big events so why?

The unusualness of the situation didn’t end there. When he observed a bit more carefully there was an big peculiarity before him.

The clothing the townspeople were wearing had no sense of unity. It wasn’t aesthetically displeasing or anything, but it was obviously off season. No sleeves, short sleeves, long sleeves. There were even some that were completely topless and some that were bundled up with thick coats. Even weirder, some wore their clothes backward or had mismatched b.u.t.tons.

The animals were exhibiting unusual behaviors as well. The dogs were trembling, the cats were gathered and singing in the middle of the street and the birds were lined up neatly along the entire wall while chirping loudly.

「That carpenter is making some weird things now and the food stalls are giving out burnt food… Just what in the world is going on here! And how come no one is noticing all of this!」(Kousuke)

The number one weirdest thing was definitely that no one in the town noticed any of this!

The coat wearing man complained that it’s hot while the topless man agreed with him. No one is complaining about the burnt food from the stalls either.

Everything seemed calm as if this was completely normal!

Kousuke was speechless for a moment there thinking he’s the only crazy one.

「… I should check out the inn」(Kousuke)

He entered the town in order to find someone normal among this insanity. Unfortunately, everyone was not normal.

「He.. h.e.l.lo」(Kousuke)

Reaching the inn, Kousuke prayed for this place to be normal.

But he ended up falling on the ground after seeing a man hysterically laughing on the floor and a woman trying to stand a couch up.

「This place too huh…」(Kousuke)

Noticing that someone entered the inn, s.h.i.+di came out to see a perplexed Kousuke on the floor.

「Welcoー It’s Kousuke-san! You came back a lot earlier than I expected」(s.h.i.+di)

「Long time, no see.. Sort of. It’s only been a month so… Well, I came back due to a few reasons」(Kousuke)

「I see. Are you planning on staying here again?」(s.h.i.+di)

「I would like to, do you have a spare room?」(Kousuke)

「None are open at all! It’s okay though, you can just sleep in the halls like the other guests!」(s.h.i.+di) 【TL: What….】

「No no no! That’s not good at all! As a business how could you make your guests sleep in the halls!?」(Kousuke)

He rebuked s.h.i.+di and felt his wit’s falling apart when he thought that she was also crazed too.

「The guests seem to be enjoying themselves though」(s.h.i.+di)

「I see, none are dissatisfied huh」(Kousuke)

「Dissatisfaction? None at all! It’s our inn’s motto to do our best to accommodate! There’s no way anyone would be discontent!」(s.h.i.+di)

「The fact that they’re not is weird you know」(Kousuke)

Still doubtful about the customers’ satisfaction, Kousuke glanced at the various customers sleeping on the floor. Every single one of them had a happy expression plastered on their face.

Trying to figure out what’s going on Kousuke questioned s.h.i.+di.

「Have there been any strange occurrences recently?」(Kousuke)

「Strange occurrences? The increase in customers maybe? This time of the year there aren’t any festivities planned so the amount of customers we have right now is very large」(s.h.i.+di)

「I already figured that out. There were a lot of people walking around in the streets. I figured there wasn’t an event happening.. so why?」(Kousuke)

「I wondered why there are so many people around too. I’m happy that there are more customers coming to our inn though. I have to work harder! I was thinking of decorating the place with more flowers to improve its atmosphere! That way the customers’ mood would be better!」(s.h.i.+di)

「You should probably hold off on that thought until you get a bed for every customer first」(Kousuke)

s.h.i.+di ignored Kousuke and headed out to get the flowers.

「She left without checking me in… Forget it, there’s no vacancy here anyways. I wonder if the other inns have a room」(Kousuke)

He didn’t have much expectation, but thought to at least try his luck.

It was fruitless though, the three nearby inns were also full.

There were some people who had tents set up around the inns and it implicitly showed that there were no inns with vacancies in St. Beria.

「Is my only choice to sleep in the halls back at s.h.i.+di’s inn….」(Kousuke)

He truly wanted to sigh.

「Hmm, I wonder if the Adventurer’s Guild allows us to stay? I should check it out」(Kousuke)

He changed his destination and headed towards the Adventurer’s Guild.

Entering the guild he noticed that all the adventurers were gathered in one spot. The adventurers turned their heads around to see Kousuke. Within that crowd, Borudosu called out to Kousuke.

「You came back!」(Borudosu)

「Long time nー Wait are you normal Borudosu!?」(Kousuke)

「You make it sound like I’m normally a freak」(Borudosu)

「Sorry, didn’t mean it that way. I’m just a bit confused since I came back to see that everything was a bit.. Off」(Kousuke)

「I know how you feel. I’m also confused by all of this」(Borudosu)

「Borudosu, do you have any clues why this is happening?」(Kousuke)

「Yes」(Borudosu)

Kousuke asked without any hope, but hearing that unexpected answer gave him a shock.

「WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!」(Kousuke)

「It’s a distortion」(Borudosu)

Kousuke mind raced trying to understand and recalled something he was told before.

「I heard it’s something that comes about when someone uses magic」(Kousuke)

「That’s right」(Borudosu)

「Distortions only appear when mana is rampant in the area right? Aren’t distortions usually restrained with the proper channeling of mana?」(Kousuke)

「When anyone uses magic there’s always a little mana that leaks out. This small leak creates a very tiny distortion. If the distortion acc.u.mulates enough it brings about terrible consequences. Just like right now. Still, this is a rare thing. This normally only happens once every hundred years. Nineteen years ago it happened here so we should have had at least seventy more years before it occurred again」(Borudosu)

「Is there any way to resolve this?」(Kousuke)

「There is. Distortions usually attach themselves to something. So the fastest way to resolve this is to find the object or living being it’s attached to.. And destroy them. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple this time around」(Borudosu)

『Not so simple? I guess he found out what it was attached to and tried to break it, but failed』Kousuke thought.

「Why can’t we use that method?」(Kousuke)

「It’s.. Attached to a human being. If it was someone evil I wouldn’t have hesitated, but it’s attached to an innocent person」(Borudosu)

The victim here didn’t do anything wrong so there was no way he could kill that person.

There were some that wanted to kill the person to resolve this quickly, but it was instantly rejected.

For now, at least. The current state of the town isn’t terrible yet, but if this isn’t settled soon their conditions might worsen and cause the town to be flooded with numerous deaths.

「I’ve become unable to leave this town since ten days ago. We need to resolve this as soon as possible before it becomes worse. If nothing else can be done then we’ll have to kill the person to end this」(Borudosu)

「I see, so you’re currently looking for a different method to fix this.」(Kousuke)

Kousuke asked if Borudosu was close to a solution, clinging onto the idea of a peaceful resolution.

Borudosu’s response shattered that.

「The distortion escaped. We’re currently searching for it again」(Borudosu)

「Escaped?」(Kousuke)

「This is the first time we encountered a distortion you see and our carelessness caused it to notice us. We’re at a loss now trying to find it, it’s as if it became more cautious after our first encounter」(Borudosu)

「How did you find it the first time? Is there a specific way to track it?」(Kousuke)

「We had someone powerful a.s.sist us. Even with that help though we couldn’t find the distortion today」(Borudosu)

「Today? It’s not even past noon and you stopped the search already?」(Kousuke)

「That child doesn’t have much stamina so we can’t exactly drag out the search」(Borudosu)

「So that person.. is a child?」(Kousuke) 【TL: Borudosu said “Anoko” which implies a child, Kousuke is just confirming it】

「Yes. I think you’ve met the child before as well. It’s one of the child from the orphanage」(Borudosu)

「The orphanage Viare’s at?」(Kousuke)

「I figured you would know」(Borudosu)

Hearing it was a weak bodied child from an orphanage the only image that appeared in Kousuke’s mind was the eye patched child from the second floor.

「I’ve met the child once before. But we’ve never spoke to each other. Never knew that child had such an ability」(Kousuke)

Kousuke nodded in admiration.

「The child has the “Demon Eye of Truth”. The child can’t control the “Demon Eye” and it’s constantly being used. It’s the cause of the weak body」(Borudosu)

「I see, gifts drains a person’s stamina. Now I understand why that child’s body is weak」(Kousuke)

「The child’s resting in the back room. Viare is there as well. Ah, the distortion was originally attached to Viare by the way」(Borudosu)

「… Really?」(Kousuke)

Borudosu nodded.

「Is she hurt?! Is there anything wrong with her?!」(Kousuke)

Kousuke had connections with only a few people in this world and he became fl.u.s.tered hearing she was in danger.

「From what I observed there’s nothing wrong with her. When the distortion was attached to her.. Her personality was.. amazing」(Borudosu)

Borudosu’s face was distorted as he repeated how “amazing” it was.

「How was it amazing?」(Kousuke)

Kousuke gulped nervously, Borudosu expression became serious.

「She became.. A very competent worker!」(Borudosu)

「You call that amazing?! You scared me into thinking she went berserk or something!」(Kousuke)

「No no, it was definitely amazing.. And very weird. It was too big a of gap from the normal Viare. She was the only one in the guild that was able to work and she did every by herself you know! To the people who knew Viare, they can’t help but feel awkward」(Borudosu)

「That’s true, even I would doubt my eyes」(Kousuke)

Imagining the unbelievable, Kousuke couldn’t help but to agree.

「The direction her personality changed could be considered a miracle instead of a disaster though. At least I thought that.」(Borudosu)

「She was that amazing I see」(Kousuke)

Kousuke laughed dryly.

Viare who was caring for the child came out of the back room. Seeing Kousuke, her body trembled. For a brief moment her eye showed signs of fear. But as she approached Kousuke the signs of fear faded and she showed a happy expression instead.

「Kousuke-san! You came! Thank you so much!」(Viare)

「I’m not sure if can help much but I’ll do my best. Anyways, it seems you were possessed by something unusual before right? You must have had a hard time」(Kousuke)

「Mm.. Even if I’m told that I don’t remember what happened. I just remember doing things normally」(Viare)

Hearing her cheerful response, Kousuke knew that she didn’t suffer.

「I see. I wonder if the other people are like that too」(Kousuke)

「Most likely」(Viare)

「The rest of us will become insane soon though」(Borudosu)

「Really?」(Kousuke)

「Besides you, Viare and the Tato with the “Demon Eye”, the rest of us only have two or three days left. We figured this out from seeing the others’ personality changing. It’s a guarantee, no doubt about it. Since this is the case only you and Viare can solve this. Unless someone comes in from outside again. When I become a victim please take my journal, I wrote down various methods to fix this」(Borudosu)

「I want to solve this before that if possible. It’s better to have more manpower for this. We can’t take too long since I’ll eventually fall victim too」(Kousuke)

「That’s right. Let’s get this wrapped up as soon as possible」(Borudosu)

Kousuke suddenly recalled why he came to the guild in the first place.

「Is there a room I can stay in here? s.h.i.+di’s and the other inns were full」(Kousuke)

「We just bundle up with blankets and sleep on the floor」(Borudosu)

「There’s not much difference from sleeping in the halls huh. Is there a s.p.a.ce I can sleep on?」(Kousuke)

Since it’ll be the same anywhere he figured it would be best to just sleep among the sane.

「No problem」(Borudosu)

「You’ll have to prepare your own meals but the other necessities we can provide you」(Viare)

「Then I’ll be in your care」(Kousuke)

Kousuke bowed towards the two.

Securing a place to sleep, Kousuke unpacked his things and spoke with the other two about what happened so far.

The incident began five days after Kousuke left the town. The first to become affected were the children, the sick and the old.

The parents of the children affected just thought it was a new game they were playing. The caretakers of the elderly thought they were just going senile. The nurses and doctors thought that the patients were just becoming scared of their conditions.

The townspeople’s life went on as usual, not realizing the odd behaviors were caused by the distortion. The situation exploded and leaving the town became impossible leading to where they are now.

Borudosu was not in St. Beria at first. He was dragged into this after returning from his request. Thanks to the limited time he was being influenced by the distortion he was able to keep his sanity until now.

Tato came to this guild to get help for the people in the orphanage despite having a weak body. Tato saw that everyone was acting weird while heading to the guild, especially Viare.

Tato’s “Demon Eye” was able to see the progress of the distortion. The more erratic a person’s behavior became the eye showed a deeper aura coming out of the person.

The people from the orphanage were affected by Viare’s strong possession so Tato didn’t realize just how bad their conditions were. Tato realized the severity of the situation while heading to the guild.

Normally a child like Tato would be ignored by the adventurers, but seeing the situation and Tato’s “Demon Eye” they couldn’t ignore the request.

Tato and the adventurers worked together and were able to corner the source of the distortion once. During this time, Borudosu and the rest did not know the cause of all of this was due to a distortion. The source of the distortion escaped because of their negligence.

Next day, Kousuke came along to a.s.sist in the search.

Tato was being carried by another adventurer to ease some burden. Even so, Tato’s body could only hold out for about four hours.

The search for the source continued like this for a few days, but Borudosu and the rest fell into insanity. Kousuke, Viare and Tato were the only ones left to resolve the situation.

「This must be the journal」(Kousuke)

Kousuke grabbed the journal from Borudosu’s pocket. Borudosu didn’t even notice his pocket being rummaged through, instead he kept repeating meaningless movements.

「I wonder what’s written in this」(Kousuke)

Kousuke sat down on a sofa and began reading. The journal had records of his income and plans scrawled all over it. He flipped past those pages to find the relevant ones.

「Found it」(Kousuke)

Kousuke began reading the relevant entries.

It detailed on what to do after finding a distortion.

It seemed there’s one necessary thing to remove a distortion. That was the knife Borudosu has. That knife was enchanted with magic to seal the distortion. 『He must have enchanted it using the guild’s resources』Kousuke thought.

The knife wasn’t necessary if the distortion possessed an object though. The knife was only useful if the possessed target was a living creature.

Kousuke recalled that Borudosu told him killing the possessed person would fix this as well. With this knife you wouldn’t have to kill anyone. Kousuke just needed to stab the distortion after drawing out of the person and speak a specific “keyword” to fully seal it.

There were also various ways to draw the source of the distortion out of the body. The best way, it seemed, was to scare it out of the body. Shaking or shocking the possessed target enough will expel the source.

Physical trauma will not work well though, it has to be a strong mental shock to draw it out. Giving the possessed victim a strong punch wouldn’t do anything besides harm their body. The victim would have to be beaten to the last inch of their life to draw out the source this way.

The methods to draw out the source was very ambiguous at best. The fact that Borudosu and the adventurers drew it out before was probably their best chance to seal it.

Finished reading, Kousuke took Borudosu’s knife from his pocket and headed to Viare and Tato.

「We’re the only three left now」(Kousuke)

「We lost a lot of manpower with this… Do you think we’ll be able to save everyone?」(Viare)

「We have to. If we don’t this entire town will fall」(Kousuke)

Kousuke said in a depressed tone. He was suddenly bearing the fate of the entire town and it felt too heavy for him.

「We have to try harder then! You too Tato, let’s do our best okay!」(Viare)

「Mhmm」(Tato)

「Anyways, let’s patrol through the town like before. Can you help Tato get on my back?」(Kousuke)

Kousuke, with Viare’s help, carried Tato onto his back.

The three headed out to search for the source.

Tato removed the eye patch and began observing the town. In Tato’s eye, the dark aura caused by the distortion was thicker than before.

「You found it?」(Viare)

「No」(Tato)

To Viare’s question Tato could only say no.

「Would it be okay to end today’s search here?」(Viare)

Viare suggested seeing Tato’s worsening condition. Kousuke saw that Tato’s breath was uneven and considered heading back as well.

「Are you okay, should we head back?」(Kousuke)

「I can keep going for a little more」(Tato)

After searching for a little more the three headed back to the guild.

Kousuke left Tato’s care to Viare and headed out once more. Even if the chances are slim he wanted to see if he can find something.

So far there’s no danger despite the fruitless search for the source. The ruffians in this town were affected too and their personalities did a 180 turn. There was absolutely no crime being committed. This town became ridiculous, but he couldn’t deny that it was peaceful.

Kousuke understood how a distortion was made, but he kept wondering what it really was. What’s its goal? Its purpose?

In the past he was told “A distortion is just a distortion, nothing more, nothing less”. The truth was, no one had a definite answer. Even the G.o.ds have no idea why these distortions exist so there’s no possible way a human would know.

Suddenly, Kousuke heard someone singing out of tune. The singing could be heard from all around the town. It was disharmonious and out of tune but it was definitely a song.

「Is this a new song?」(Kousuke)

Kousuke stopped listening and headed towards the town’s exit

He came to check if leaving became possible.

The scenery outside of town showed no signs of abnormality. He took a few steps forward to leave the town, but without realizing it he was walking back towards the town. He attempted this a few time with the same results, even flying didn’t change anything.

He even used《Beam》but got no results. The beam would just bend downward as it approached the border and disappear into the ground.

It seemed people who were still sane could not leave, but those that fell victim could come and go as they pleased. The concern about the food supply running out disappeared when he noticed this. 【TL: Who’s getting the food…】

The people who leave seem to become normal again but since they can’t remember that anything was wrong they simply return without bringing help.

「No changes again today」(Kousuke)

He didn’t feel discouraged by the situation and continued to walk along the border.

When he was about to finish his investigation he suddenly felt something’s gaze on him. While working as a maid he trained his perception to a higher level. He had plenty of opportunities to train since many men would stare at “Yui’s” beautiful appearance constantly.

He continued to walk while confirming that the gaze was following him. Kousuke turned his head towards the direction of the gaze quickly.

It seemed like there was nothing there, but in Kousuke’s eye he saw a slight disparity. A portion of the scene before him was warped. Noticing Kousuke’s stare the source of the distortion escaped.

「Didn’t Borudosu tell me that you can’t see it?」(Kousuke)

『Wouldn’t Borudosu and them be more experienced in sensing the source?』Kousuke felt.

「How come I could sense it but they couldn’t? I understand if it’s just Borudosu alone but they were so many adventurers together so that seems unlikely…」(Kousuke)

He was convinced that they should have been able to sense it. 『That gaze, it was obviously not hiding its presence, it was like an amateur trying to peek』Thought Kousuke. There was absolutely no way a professional like Borudosu would miss something like that.

「Is there a reason why it was monitoring me?」(Kousuke)

Unable to resolve this doubt, silence ensued.

Kousuke decided to be more vigilant next time around and headed back to the guild.

The next day and the day after, besides sensing the gaze from time to time there was no change in the situation. Kousuke was frustrated and weary from the lack of progress.

Unknown to Kousuke was that the source of the gaze was afraid of him.

「Welcome back, did you find anything today?」(Viare)

Viare greeted Kousuke as he returned to the guild.

「Same as usual. Is Tato alright being alone?」(Kousuke)

「Yes, Tato is currently asleep. I need to get some seasonings, do you want to come with me?」(Viare)

「Sure」(Kousuke)

The two purchased the necessary things from the store and decided to take a light walk together.

Viare turned her head towards something and slowed her walk. Kousuke didn’t worry too much thinking she was just staring at something.

When the two’s position became farther apart Kousuke suddenly felt an immense pressure behind him.

「WHAT!?」(Kousuke)

Kousuke dodged Viare’s suddenly lunging hand. Her hand was covered with a dark haze.

Viare once again thrusted her hand towards Kousuke, he dodged once more. He kept on dodging her relentless attacks.

The attacks were very simple so Kousuke was able to dodge with ease as he tried to figure out what’s happening.

『There’s not much point in trying to figure this out since I have no idea where to begin! I can only a.s.sume that Viare was possessed again, just like a criminal who returns to their scene to see the results. Still though, I have no idea what this distortion is trying to do to me. Why did it suddenly appear like this now? And that dark haze, what is that? Seriously, it’s just a chain of unknowns! The only thing I can deduct from this is that its afraid of me』(Kousuke)

The moment Kousuke realized it was afraid of him, Viare’s face was warped with fear.

The distortion, through Viare, displayed its deep fear of Kousuke. It was afraid of Kousuke because… He’s a DRAGONSLAYER.

Seeing such an overwhelming foe in front of it, its instinct told it that this human will be the cause of its death.

The sudden monitoring and this ambush, it lost control due to extreme fear. Before this it was able to control itself, but the rising fear inside wouldn’t stop growing.

Wanting to suppress its fear it decided to slam the distortion directly into Kousuke.

It never occurred to Kousuke that the reason why it was afraid of him was because he’s a dragonslayer.

This was something Viare would tell him later.

Kousuke stopped his deep thinking about things he has no idea about. No point over-thinking it so he planned on what to do now.

『I have to seal this distortion now. Should I confirm with Tato first if Viare is still possessed? So I should bring her to the guildーーOh c.r.a.p!?』

Viare looked like she lost her temper and summoned numerous b.a.l.l.s of the dark haze and threw them at him.

While dodging desperately he headed towards the guild. Those dark haze looked dangerous even if it just grazed him so it made him even more desperate.

With the guild entrance in sight, Kousuke increased his pace and dashed towards Tato’s room.

Tato was shocked awake from the door slamming open.

「Sorry for waking you up! Viare seems to be possessed again! I need you to confirm!」(Kousuke)

Despite being in a state of shock, Tato managed to nod.

Kousuke carried Tato up and listened carefully for noises outside the room. Confirming there was no one outside they left the room.

They snuck around slowly and spotted Viare before she found them.

Viare was guarding the guild’s front entrance. Around her were numerous dark haze b.a.l.l.s, she most likely wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t miss. Compared to before the b.a.l.l.s were smaller, quant.i.ty over quality it seemed. Still though, there were over 300 of them.

Seeing the situation outside, the two whispered to each other.

「Is she possessed?」(Kousuke)

「I can’t tell, those things around big sister Ui is making it hard to see」(Tato)

「I see……」(Kousuke)

Kousuke wanted to sigh hearing Tato’s response.

He steeled his resolve knowing that there’s only one thing left for him to do.

「Well then, I’ll go get rid of some of those dark hazes ok? Once you can confirm if she’s possessed or not just yell alright? I would feel better if you hid in the back room afterwards, but if you can’t then stay still」(Kousuke)

Tato nodded. Seeing his nod Kousuke casted《Flight》on himself and flew out towards Viare at high speed.

He stopped on a spot mid-air that’ll prevent Tato from being hit by a stray ball.

Viare raised her arm and pointed at Kousuke. At the same time some of the dark haze b.a.l.l.s flew toward Kousuke.

Kousuke began dodging them in mid-air. The b.a.l.l.s that smashed into the ground and buildings vanished but the ones that didn’t hit anything returned to Viare.

「It disappeared when it hit something! Then I’ll use my sword!」(Kousuke)

He unsheathed his sword and swung at a nearby ball. With no resistance, the ball scattered and vanished.

He took up a “guts pose” since his plan worked.

「I can reduce them reliable now!」(Kousuke)

Most of the b.a.l.l.s circled around Viare so he began to chop at outlying b.a.l.l.s. The backlash from his sharp turns and dodges were painful but he didn’t stop. If he stopped at all he would be instantly surrounded.

Clothes fluttering, soaring like the wind, Kousuke would dodge and weave but was never hit directly once.

Viare seemed to panic as she gathered the remaining 200 dark haze b.a.l.l.s around her and launched them at Kousuke. As expected, she was able to control all of them accurately.

Kousuke could only dodge now seeing the overwhelming number of dark haze b.a.l.l.s flying toward him. While dodging, Kousuke heard Tato yelling “Big sister Ui is possessed”. The moment Viare launched the rest of the b.a.l.l.s Tato was able to clearly see the distortion possessing her.

「Only thing left to do is to seal it. AH… Not good」(Kousuke)

Kousuke made a careless move… He was completely surrounded.

Viare made a gripping motion with her hand. The dark haze b.a.l.l.s at the same time collapsed toward Kousuke.

Kousuke concentrated and stared at the incoming threats. He then dashed toward them.

If he stayed still he would have to face all of them at the same time. Seeing that it was impossible to win that way he chose to breakthrough them instead.

Flying and swinging his sword at an incredible speed, one dark haze ball after another disappeared. But there were too many and a few managed to smash into his body.

Luckily, the intensity of each dark haze ball was low so the ten or so that smashed into his body only made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

「I BROKE THROUGH!!!」(Kousuke)

Escaping the enclosure he flew down to the ground. Right before he landed he suddenly flew back up quickly. He groaned a bit at the backlash.

The dark haze b.a.l.l.s that chased him were unable to follow his sudden change of direction and most of them crashed into the ground.

Losing confidence, Viare absorbed the rest of the dark haze b.a.l.l.s and tried to escape.

「Trying to run?!」(Kousuke)

Kousuke cuts off Viare’s escape path and landed in front of her.

「There’s only the sealing left, there no way I’ll let you escape!」(Kousuke)

He shouted as he pointed his sword at Viare.

He promptly took out the sealing dagger.

Kousuke’s movement suddenly stopped after that. 『I have to shock the source out.. How do I do that now?』Kousuke thought.

Feeling rushed to end this he shouted the first thing that came to his mind. Later, when he recalled this, he had no idea why he screamed that.

「I fell in love when I first saw you! Please marry me!」(Kousuke) 【TL: O_O】

Kousuke’s shout resounded throughout the town.

「………」(Viare)

Viare’s movement suddenly stopped.

The two stared at each other for about a minute.

『Was that a miss?』Kousuke thought as he began to feel more and more embarra.s.sed.  He hurriedly tried to think of another method to cover up his embarra.s.sment.

Another two minutes pa.s.sed and Viare suddenly shouted.

「Umm.. Ahh.. REALLY?! I um.. umm I know we’ve taken care of each other a lot… bu.. bu.. but… it’s too soon to get married, RIGHT!?  So.. so.. um… is something in between.. a friend and a lo. lo.. lover oーoーoーkay instead!?」(Viare)

Her face was flushed red, Viare’s body was releasing smoke as she flailed her arms around.

The smoke was gathering into one ball above her.

「Did I succeed??」(Kousuke)

Kousuke’s stared at the smoke ball in the air with a shocked expression, not noticing that Viare was flailing about.

「Ah, I should seal this」(Kousuke)

He took out the knife once more and flew in front of the smoke ball.

He glanced at Viare, who was still saying something, to confirm that there was no more smoke coming out of her. He stabbed the smoke with the knife and spoke the “keyword”.

Kousuke didn’t understand what the “keyword” meant, most likely because he needed to study magic more.

Still though, the “keyword” worked and the smoke got sucked into the knife. The knife began to tremble once all of the smoke was absorbed. It looked like the distortion was struggling to get out. He suppressed the trembling knife and sheathed it. The scabbard had a similar sealing enchantment so with this the distortion would be double sealed. The knife quieted down after being sheathed.

「It’s done, but I don’t feel like anything changed at all」(Kousuke)

Nothing suddenly scattered out and the atmosphere didn’t change. Even the dark haze b.a.l.l.s inside him that’s causing him to feel uncomfortable didn’t disappear.

Thinking Viare might know something he landed near her.

Viare didn’t notice Kousuke approaching her nor did she respond to his call.

He gave her head a light chop to get her attention.

「How much do you have in your savings!」(Viare)

「Savings? What are you talking about?」(Kousuke)

「We need to buy a place if we’re to get married! I don’t mind if it’s a small place as long as it’s not a shack!」(Viare)

「Ah… hmm. I apologize, I’m really sorry」(Kousuke)

After he apologized he explained to her why he suddenly proposed.

「….Eh? You needed to surprise the distortion out of me, is that right?」(Viare)

With the reason sinking into her mind, Viare recalled what she just said earlier and became bright red again in embarra.s.sment.

She cupped her red face and crouched down.

Seeing Viare’s reaction, Kousuke clapped his hands together and apologized once more.

「I’m terribly sorry for the misunderstanding! It was the only thing I could come up with to surprise the distortion out of you!」(Kousuke)

「Nーno, I thought that the sudden proposal was weird too! I’m so embarra.s.sed about how I was just now!」(Viare)

“Should we both work or should I be a housewife?” “How many children should we have?” These various thoughts were floating in her mind earlier.

Viare couldn’t look at Kousuke without turning red for a while because of these thoughts.

「You don’t have to move, but could you listen to what I have to say?」(Kousuke)

「Wah! Okay!」(Viare)

「I managed to seal the distortion, but the town didn’t turn back to normal. I’m not certain if it’s really resolved or not. Viare, do you know anything about this?」(Kousuke)

Viare took a deep breath to calm herself down and stood back up. She calmed down a bit, but her face was still bright red.

「There’s some influence left. It’ll probably be like this for another two days」(Viare)

「The sealing was a success though right?」(Kousuke)

「Yes. There’s nothing to worry about. Most of the distortion was inside me before you drew it out and I can sense its presence in that knife」

「Its presence? You’re able to sense it now? Is it because you were fully possessed by it?」(Kousuke)

「Probably. I’m sure in time I won’t be able to sense it anymore. But I can apparently do this until that happens」(Viare)

Viare held out her hand and gathered the remnants of the distortion in the town onto her palm before she scattered them.

While the two were talking, Tato approached them seeing that it was safe.

The two took Tato back to the guild to rest. Once Viare and Tato settled down Kousuke headed out to patrol the town.

He observed the town from mid-air and proceeded towards the border to try to leave. The direction he was flying at changed a bit, but he successfully left the town.

Kousuke returned to the guild and spoke with Viare about what happened to her while she was possessed.

The first thing he asked her was about his initial doubt about the distortion’s existence. From what she explained it seemed that the distortion didn’t have any real goals. The feelings the distortion gave Viare was to cause ma.s.s insanity in the town, after that it had no real plan. Not having a goal, distortions were just like natural disasters.

So why did this distortion appear though? It was because the seal on it broke. Even Viare didn’t know the exact details of how that came about. The only thing she understood was that the seal broke two months ago and it was absorbing the small distortions caused by people using magic to regain its strength. Once it regained enough strength it possessed Viare and spread its influence to everyone.

Viare was just arbitrarily chosen it seemed. Yes.. A coincidence. Distortions cannot expand its influence on its own. It has to possess something first and through that object or creature’s interaction with others it spreads. The reason why those influenced were just weird and ditzy was because Viare’s a klutz and her personality was spread. Still, if someone that’s cruel and brutal was possessed then this entire town would have been a bloodbath.

Originally, the source of the distortion buried itself deeply in Viare and waited patiently for her to spread it to everyone.

When she was possessed her mind was heavily influenced, but not fully controlled, by the distortion, now though she’s completely back to normal.

There was only two times the distortion took full control of her body, when they it first met Kousuke and the fight earlier.

The distortion, through the possession, knew everything about Viare and what she knew. This was why it was afraid of Kousuke. Viare’s prior knowledge of Kousuke being a dragonslayer planted the seed of fear in the distortion. If she didn’t know about this then it would stayed quiet inside Viare for the entire time. Overwhelming power would not be enough to terrify it, but it thought that Kousuke knew its ident.i.ty and ended up making a terrible mistake with a direct confrontation.

If another mistake had to be pointed out then it would be because the distortion possessed a living being. Distortions do not have a strong sense of ego, but by possessing Viare, her personality and ego were implanted into it. It ended up possessing human emotions, fear being among them.

By the way, Kousuke is also at fault for the distortion resurrecting. The request to move the rocks on the lawn, that rock was the seal.

That rock was there before the town was built so the townspeople had no idea that the rock there was a seal. The client for that request too had no idea.

In the end though no one could really be blamed.

Two days later, just as Viare stated, the town was beginning to recover.

With the people recovering, those who were only visiting the town immediately left and the total population of the town gradually decreased.

The town was extremely lively as if no one left though. To make up for the lost time while they were all insane everyone was extremely busy.

The leaders of every adventurer party who a.s.sisted in resolving this distortion case were gathered and explained about everything that occurred. Each group was given a reward for their a.s.sistance by the town’s n.o.bles, though it was a bit small.

With this the cleanup for this incident was mostly done.

There was just one thing left so the Guild branch’s head, Kousuke, Borudosu and Viare were currently in a meeting.

On the table, for the purpose of this meeting, the sealing knife was laid.

「So.. how should we deal with this」(Branch head)

The branch head was at a loss with what to do. Seeing him like that Viare was giving an apologetic look.

The issue lies with Viare, but she wasn’t the cause of this problem either.

「I’ll ask again, you don’t sense it disappearing correct?」(Branch head)

「Yes」(Viare)

Viare nodded.

「Borudosu, do you know anything about this that could help?」(Branch head)

「No, I’ve never heard of this happening before. The distortions influence remaining.. This is the first time for me」(Borudosu)

The issue is the remaining distortion inside Viare.

Everyone in town returned to normal but the distortion in Viare hasn’t disappeared yet.

The remnants of the distortion in town are all gone so she doesn’t have the ability to manipulate them anymore. After some testing though Viare showed she could manipulate and use the distortion in the knife if she held it.

They thought of sending it to the capital or to Ricardo to strictly safeguard it so that Viare cannot use the distortion, but there was a possibility something terrible could happen if it was left alone.

「What’s going to happen to me?」(Viare)

Viare asked as she trembled nervously.

「I would normally have to contact someone from the temple or the capital, but if I do that then you wouldn’t have a pleasant life afterwards. I would prefer to not destroy the livelihood of one of my own. I feel this way and the others working here too. But, I can’t just leave this as it is either」(Branch head)

One of the suggestion was to allow her to continue working while being monitored, but it was immediately rejected.

The guild is an important organization in this town and they would do everything to prevent another distortion outbreak.

「For the mean time you’ll have to temporarily resign until the distortion in you is gone」(Branch head)

「I’m fired!?」(Viare)

Viare stood up and shouted as tears began to form under her eyes.

「Calm down. I said its temporary right? Once it’s gone you can immediately start working again」(Branch head)

Saying that the distortion inside her is gone would just be her word, but everyone in the guild believed that she would never lie just to get her work back.

「If you’ve already planned that far ahead why are we holding this meeting?」(Kousuke)

「I need help in deciding who will monitor Viare during her retirement and to act as a buffer against another possible outbreak」(Branch head)

At Kousuke’s comment the head revealed the main points of the meeting.

「Therefore I was hoping to one of you two would accept this request. I want one of you to stay with her and if anything occurs to solve it yourself or report it to a nearby guild branch. I understand that monitoring her isn’t an ideal thing, but leaving her alone and possibly allowing this to occur again is even more problematic」(Branch head)

「Then I will recommend Kousuke. Viare and I have a bad first impression of each other so I wouldn’t be able to stand staying with her. On the other hand, Viare is close with Kousuke, to the point that he would accept her direct requests」(Borudosu)

「「What?」」(Kousuke + Viare)

Kousuke and Viare simultaneously raised their voice.

「I see, then let’s go with that. He was the one that resolved this issue so if it were to occur again he should be able to easily fix it again from experience. Best regards and good luck, Watase-kun」(Branch head)

「Hey!? I can’t do this suddenly!? It’s not like I will be staying in this town for that long!」(Kousuke)

「Well, I’m not asking you to constantly monitor her. Just visit her frequently enough. If you’re leaving the town we’ll take over the monitoring for the time you’re gone. If you plan on travelling together we’ll pay for the expenses」(Branch head)

Kousuke was befuddled and before he could collect himself the head lowered his head and requested once more.

It was the first time someone more senior than him bowed to him. Rejecting at this point would make him feel like a villain so he nodded in agreement.

Even if Kousuke’s apt.i.tude is abnormally high, his personality was that of a normal boy his age. He was weak to being complimented by the head and Borudosu.

The head and Borudosu left the room with a cheerful expression since the case was closed and Kousuke and Viare’s situation was settled.

For Kousuke and Viare, they recalled the sudden proposal from before and only glanced at each other a bit before leaving.

They head to the orphanage together to explain everything to Wei.

While explaining everything to Wei he gave an incredible comment「Do you want to live together then?」and left the other two completely speechless.

While the two were dealing with this turmoil the rest of the town returned to its peaceful self.