TL Note: Emotional Resistance can also be read as Mental Resistance.

Edit: 2015/07/30 Fixed some naming errors.

Edit: 2015/08/01 Fixed a minor mistranslated line.

Volume 2 Chapter 25

The next day.

The time to catch the grell frogs and tame the rimel birds has finally come. And because of that, me and the four members of the dukes family, along with Sebasu-san, Jill-san, Zeff-san, Camil-san, and Hyuzu-san, are all walking towards the mine.

Elia and the others are all wearing armor just like the time when Elia went to the mine to train. As for me, Im wearing a jumpsuit. Because of that, it kind of feels out of place, since Im the only one wearing something different.

Were not using the carriage today as another part of Elias training, but, unexpectedly, Elia might actually have more endurance than I thought. Although were taking a break right now, she hasnt said a word of complaint until now.

Fuu Ryouma-san, are you ok? [Elia]

Im alright. [Ryouma]

Ryouma-san has plenty of stamina, huh? [Elia]

Elia began to feel down. Honestly, its not like I mind the fact that youre tired, you know? After all, were walking up a mountain, and because theres no pavement, its quite difficult to walk. The fact that youre not complaining is already more than good enough.

Apparently Camil-san thought the same thing, because he went to encourage her.

Its alright, Ojousama. Compared to other children, Ojousama can already walk very well. [Camil]

Thats right, Ojousama. Dont compare yourself to Ryouma. After all, this guys a little bit abnormal. Normally, it wouldnt be weird to have been completely exhausted since way back. Seriously, Ryouma, you should at least try to sweat or something. [Jill]

Even if you tell me to sweat [Ryouma]

Its a physiological phenomenon, so

Young master, a normal kid would usually perspire without being told, you know? []

Youre matching the Ojousamas pace, so its not that fast. So I can kind of understand when youve also been trained like us, but What kind of training did you do? [Camil]

If I were to put it simply, I trained to my limits. When I collapsed, Id rest. Its not weird to get wounds either, as I was beat up continuously to drive the techniques into me. And I was only given two choices, either to suffer, or to keep on training. Anyway, I kept this up every day, and in the end this is how I ended up. [Ryouma]

Is your master a demon or something!? []

Yeah, that might be it. [Ryouma]

My dad was really quite scary when I was a kid so much so, that when he was around I couldnt breathe because of the pressure.

While I was thinking that, Rheinbach-sama mentioned that its time to depart.

Its almost time for break to end. We need to start walking again before Elia completely cools down. [Rheinbach]

Its just a little bit more, so do your best, Elia. [Rheinhart]

We began walking again. And after 30 minutes of walking, the road led us to a forest and we pushed our way through. After another 30 minutes, a foul odor wafted to our noses. So this is the smell of the swamp.

As I thought that, we went even further, and eventually a reddish brown swamp came to view. It was around the boundary of the forest and the mine. And although were inside a forest, the number of trees are few, and it feels like the swamp was made from the debris of the cave after it had collapse because of the rain or something. As we got closer, the foul smell became stronger. To this, Elia covered her nose with her hand, and tried to endure.

So this is the rumored swamp. It would appear that the smell is coming from the fallen leaves and the rotting corpses of the creatures that live in the swamp. [Ryouma]

What a horrible smell [Elia]

The smell here is certainly bad, however, you also need to learn how to get used to this kind of environment. Since the towns outside of the Jamils territory have it worse. [Madam]

Come to think of it, Rheinbach-sama did take care of the Jamil Households territorys environment, so its quite better than others wait, does that mean that all the other territory aside from here are lets pray thats not the case.

Fumu, looks like there still arent any grell frogs and rimel birds around here. Well, therere several swamps, so lets go around and look for others. [Rheinbach]

At Rheinbach-samas words, we began to move again. And after 10 minutes of walking, we found a swamp, 3 times bigger than the last. Over there were 30 adventurers and slave magic users, and over 200 blue birds.

Theyre here! Those are rimel birds! [Rheinbach]

Thats [Ryouma]

Theyre beautiful [Elia]

Its appearance is close to a long-tailed c.o.c.k without a c.o.c.ks...o...b.. And its body is blue, while its tail and head are adorned with beautiful green feathers. I have to agree, its definitely the popular type. Along with the reddish brown swamp, its mysteriously pretty.

Its really beautiful, but because of that, I think the adventurers around here will get in the way.

Lets go there! [Adventurer1]

Hurry, catch it! [Adventurer2]

Ah!? [Adventurer3]

Hurry! Before it gets eaten! [Adventurer4]

The adventurers entered the swamp, and they struggled with the rimel birds for the grell frogs.

While the rough men were being bathed in mud, I saw the sight of obscured frogs with the same reddish color as the swamp, be caught by men with a net barehanded... and it felt extremely sweltering to watch.

At a time like that, two young men prepared some musical instruments by the side of the swamp.

You two watch carefully, those guys are about to try taming a rimel bird. [Rheinhart]

One of the two men began to play a flute. His instrument looked like a recorder. But, unfortunately, he isnt that good.

As soon as the music ended, the rimel birds all simultaneously sang. The noise the birds made were as if they were laughing and mocking the humans.

According to the information I received from Caulkins-san, when the rimel birds do not acknowledge your performance, theyll release a warning sound. And that warning sound is extremely unpleasant.

So its like this, huh? Certainly, its not something pleasant to hear But I guess this is something that happens often, since the adventurers who are trying to catch the grell frogs arent minding it.

I think you two already understand, but yes, this is a failure. Like this, he wont be able to tame one. You can try again as many times as you want, but if you try too many times, theyll end up attacking you, so its better to just do it once. And at most, twice. [Rheinhart]

While Rheinhart-san was explaining, the other man began to play the flute. This ones worse than the other one This time, before he even finished playing, the rimel birds already started laughing.

I guess he got mad when he heard that, because he took out a short sword that looks to be for self-defense.

As the man entered the swamp, he moved towards a rimel bird.

Not good dont let your guard down. [Rheinbach]

Ha! [The four guards.]

At Rheinbach-samas words, the four guards stepped forward. Even Sebasu-san and Rheinhart-san was vigilant. And the madam went near me and Elia.

Gua! Hi, Hii!! [Man]

I wonder if its because it felt danger to the man who drew close to it that it fired off the wind magic Wind Cutter. In any case, that attack only lightly grazed the shoulder of the man, but the other rimel birds also looked at the man. At that point, the mans anger from a while ago vanished, and was instead changed to fear and panic. The man quickly began to run with all his strength. And the people around him also began to run.

Behind the man, several rimel birds fired off Wind Cutter at his back. Their accuracy apparently wasnt that good, and they missed. But the man became desperate as he ran.

Dont be like that guy. The rimel birds are gentle, but theyre not weak. If you do something like that, youll be hated, and theyll attack you. [Madam]

Said the madam as she warned me and Elia

That guy is coming over here thats not good!

When the man got to the edge of the swamp, he relaxed for a bit, causing him to stop moving for a moment. There, a rimel bird fired off its Wind Cutter. That attack grazed the mans leg, causing him to become unable to run. When we saw that, Camil and I both casted our magic at the same time.

Earth Wall !! [Camil & Ryouma]

A wall made out of earth was erected between the man and the rimel bird. But in order to chase after the man, the rimel birds fired off several dozens of Wind Cutter. The surface of the wall was sc.r.a.ped off, but it was able to stop the attack.

At that, they stopped firing off the Wind Cutter, but in the next moment, they all began to chirp.

Kuke! Kuke!! Kuke!!! Kuke!!!!

Kyaaa! [Elia]

Gu!? [Rheinhart]

This is!? [Ryouma]

Everyone, be careful!! [Rheinhart]

Everyone suddenly began to hurt. And once Elia began to shake, the Madam and Sebasu-san hurriedly went to support her.

Whats going on!?

Looking at my surrounding, I saw that the adventurers were also in pain even though they shouldnt be able to hear this sound well. Some of them even began to crouch and scream as if theyd lost their minds.

I can also feel some magic power accompanying the voice, so I guess the cause must be this cry.

When I searched for the location of the magic power and the sound, I immediately managed to find the culprit. Looks like its somewhat similar to my wind magic, Big Voice, in that it also manipulates the air to make the sound louder in the surroundings.

Then in that case, all I need to do is stop the oscillation of the air.

Silent ! [Ryouma]

Aiming at the source, I fired off my magic. At that moment, the sound stopped, and Rheinhart-san and the others stopped hurting.

Effective but painful.

The other side was causing the oscillations to increase with magic, while I did the opposite with my own magic. Were both doing opposite things, so the victor will be decided by the one who has more control. If I lose focus, the sound will come out again.

Our control is equal? No, its gradual, but Im being pushed! Then in that case, I have no choice but to push through with my magic power! I chant the same magic again, but this time with more magic power.

Silent ! [Ryouma]

It tried to resist for a bit more, but the rimel bird quickly left after it realized it was at a disadvantage. The other rimel birds also left.

Is it over?

Camil! Heal that man! Jill, Zeff, Hyuzu! Bring the fainted adventurers to the edge of the swamp! Sebasu, how is Elia? [Rheinhart]

Rheinhart-san gave orders, then he asked Sebasu-san about Elias status. But before Sebasu-san could talk, Elia replied.

Im fine. [Elia]

Elia, are you ok? You dont feel hurt anywhere? [Rheinhart]

Yes I was just scared all of the sudden but thats all. Ive already calmed down. [Elia]

I see. Then, thats good Ryouma-kun, thank you. That was you a while ago, right? [Rheinhart]

The rimel bird was the cause, right? I certainly stopped it, but what was going on? [Ryouma]

Huh? [Madam and Elia]

Elias and Madams voice leaked out.

Ryouma-san, didnt you feel anything? [Elia]

Nothing in particular I did think that it was noisy, though. But that aside, I was quite shocked when all of the sudden everyone around started to faint and hurt. I felt strong magic power coming from that one rimel bird, so I figured that was the culprit, but I honestly have no idea what just happened. [Ryouma]

Noisy? Thats all? [Madam]

Yes. [Ryouma]

Hearing my response, the madam c.o.c.ked her head in puzzlement. At that, Rheinbach-sama and Sebasu-san explained it to me.

The rimel bird that Ryouma-kun stopped wasnt just a rimel bird. That was a higher type known as, Nightmare Rimel Bird. These type of rimel birds can use dark magic on top of their wind magic. And their most prominent special feature is that their crying voice is accompanied by a mental attack as a byproduct of the dark element. [Rheinbach]

When one hears a nightmare rimel birds cry, one will be afflicted with fear, confusion, and insanity. Moreover, there are also people who will see an illusion and end up fainting, just like those guys. [Sebasu]

As Sebasu-san said that, he pointed at the people Jill-san and the others were carrying.

Half of them were seated, while there were those who were unconscious, and then those who were crouching while s.h.i.+vering in fear.

Seeing them like this, this is quite cruel [Ryouma]

That just goes to show how strong a mental attack it is. Physical strength and mental strength are different, so its possible even for veteran adventurers to lose consciousness. And in their case, theyre beginners, so its a given that theyd end up like that. [Sebasu]

No matter how much you train, whats painful is still painful. Well, youll be able to resist though. [Rheinbach]

Come to think of it, I possess the Mental Resist skill at level 9. So I guess it must be that.

I have the Mental Resist skill so it might be because of that. [Ryouma]

As I said that, the puzzled madam suddenly went, Thats it! and was suddenly in full understanding.

So its really the effect of my skill. Apparently, my skill levels so high, I didnt feel anything.

Still, I have to be careful mental attacks cant be seen by the eyes after all. And while I didnt suffer any of the effects, its not like I have any countermeasure for it.

And while its good that there wasnt effect on me, its also not good that it was to the extent where I didnt feel it all, and ended up not even knowing that I was under attack.

After a while, Jill-san and the others came back. Looks like theyre finished helping those people.

Whats their status? [Rheinhart]

The only one injured is the one who started all this. Moreover, hes already received treatment, so there wont be any problem, and hell be able to come back to the town. [Jill]

Still, what should we do? All of the rimel birds ran away because of all the commotion. [Zeff]

Look for their nest? [Ryouma]

Thats difficult, young master. After all, the rimel birds ride on wind magic when they fly in the air. So the speed and alt.i.tude they fly at is at a different level compared to other magical beasts. Like this, the areas too wide, and it wont be easy to find them. [Zeff]

Thats why people who want to tame them wait here. I dont know if theyll come again today, so are we going to wait? [Rheinhart]

Well wait. We came all the way out here after all. So Id at least like to try taming them once. [Elia]

At Elias words, we decided to wait here for a bit more. While we waited, the adventurers at the edge of the swamp slowly recovered, and even the people who had lost their consciousness had woken up.

I dont know if its because they dont feel like hunting anymore, or because the dukes household and its guards are here, but before we knew it, we ended up all alone.

We created some stone chairs at a place thats slightly distant from the swamp, sat there, and chatted.

During that, I found out that while the nightmare rimel birds mental attack is strong, the reason its really strong is because in order to stop it youd have to attack with magic, or use a weapon. But then if you did that, the other rimel birds will attack you, at which point itll turn into a desperate situation. In order to avoid that, the only way is to resist, or try to run.

My magic wasnt an attack, and it only stopped the sound, so its ok. Its really good that I was able to hear from the dukes family and Caulkins-san not to hurt the rimel birds.

Also, the rimel birds higher type is apparently a really rare magical beast. And in fact, it was last seen 10 years ago. It seems like my lucks quite good, since it was thanks to my mental resistance that I was able to see the bird clearly and was able to properly use my magic.

That rimel birds body was slightly darker than the others. But although I say dark, its more like a strong color like deep blue and green. It feels kind of high cla.s.s.

And then, while we were pa.s.sing the time while chatting, all of the sudden the atmosphere became dreary.

Ill have to leave Ryouma-san soon, huh? [Elia]

Elia and the others came here to see the rimel bird, and try taming it. Thats why it could be said that they had already mostly completed their purpose for coming to this town. All thats left is to go home. And Elias concerned about that.

What should I say? I mean, its true that Ill also be lonely, but

If I said, Right, then thats ust too unfeeling. But then if I went, Dont go! then shell just be like, Its disgusting to be told that by a 40 year old uncle!! I mean it might be alright from how I look on the outside, but mentally speaking its really not. How about, Well meet again.? Yeah, thisll do. Id really like to say something more effective, but unfortunately

As I thought that, the madam said this.

Elia, Its not like you wont meet again. Right, Ryouma-kun? [Madam]

While I was thinking, the madam said it before I was able to.

Of course. [Ryouma]

If you send letters to each other, then youll be able to find out how each others doing. [Rheinbach]

Right! We can still meet again! Ryouma-san, please write to me, and Ill also write to you! [Elia]

Then, lets do that. [Ryouma]

Idiot! If youre a man, then you should at least hug her! [Hyuzu]

As Hyuzu-san said that, he hit my back with full strength. Because of that, I almost fell off my chair.

Uwaah! What are you doing? Or rather, what are you thinking!? Arent you the bodyguard!? Normally youd be stopping me! Not encouraging! [Ryouma]

Huh? Im obviously doing this because its interesting! [Hyuzu]

As he said that, he gave me a thumbs up along with a smile.

Guo!? Y-You [Ryouma]

Somehow I felt a little irritated, so I hit him a bit. After that, I turned around, and my eyes met with Elia. Elias face was slightly red You know its a bit troubling if you give me that kind of reaction I thought the Madam would save us, but when I took a look at her, she was just watching over us. Or rather, she looks like shes enjoying this

Hey what are you gufu [Hyuzu]

Asked, Hyuzu-san as he held his stomach while crouching because of the pain.

Ah Im just hiding my embarra.s.sment. [Ryouma]

This is crossing the line, even if I do say so myself and although it was a spur of the moment, isnt this a bit cruel?

Dont hit me just because youre shy! Ow, ow, ow why does it hurt so much when you hit me while I was wearing armor. It hurts [Hyuzu]

Its that kind of skill is why. [Ryouma]

Its a technique that allows the force to pa.s.s through inside for the special case where one needs to fight with an opponent who is wearing an armor. Naturally, itd hurt.

No good, my tensions also gotten weird Calm down, me!

In the meanwhile, the atmosphere became delicate.

[Ryouma]

[Elia]

[Ryouma]

[Elia]

Pirorororororo!! [Something]

What!? [Ryouma]

Fue!? [Elia]

That delicate atmosphere was cut apart with a whistling sound.

When we looked over where the sound was coming from, we saw a group of rimel birds headed here.