C59-Spooked Snails

〔 Aizel Kadashi 〕Level: 47Age: 19TitlePlatinum-rank Hunter (SU)Health Power540/560Soul Energy0KinCrimson Were-Dragon〔 3 Bonded Souls 〕+〔 1 Bonded Servant 〕+

Ledvira's Northern Wilds — Temporary Camp.

「 Morning, his 44th day on Geas. 」

The team had been following the large caravan with the same routine, training during the day, catching up during the night, and ignoring Misty. There had not been any more attacks from what Geas people called 'Sub-Humans,' only from monsters.

One or two goblins always showed up. They were quickly dealt with; the group of humans that once followed Misty had been tied up and forced to walk with the leopard's party at the front.

Since they did not have the title of 'Wanted Criminal,' they could not be traded too badly, for medieval standards anyway. But that would probably change once they were delivered to the Hunter's guild and judged by the Temple. They were not cute girls, so Aizel really did not care much about their treatment. He had accepted that he was a biased man.

Based on the speed at which they were moving, the caravan would reach Ledvira by sunset. They had cut two entire days from their travel time, according to the girls, who were the ones with experience in the matter.

So. They were waiting for Valerie to cook breakfast. Just getting ready to fly to the town and wait for the snails. Their escorting mission the dogs were doing would still last for another week, give or take a few days, but they would wait for them at Pops City after they met in Ledvira.

"~Hey," Neine said as she took a seat beside Aizel. During the last couple of days, she was slowly getting used to him and the crazy women surrounding him.

"Good morning. Sleep well? Valerie will have the food done in a bit."

"~Yes, I did. Thanks. Why are you sweating?"

"I went to The Death Valley to hunt an Orc before sunrise; Valerie got tired of deer."

'Or she's fattening up… Yeah, Valerie wants to get fucked to sleep.'

"~Oh, I didn't hear you land."

"We only land like that to train, have fun, or send something running; we don't need to. So, he landed softly to not wake us up when he came back." Vanessa said.

Neine turned in her seat and got closer to him.

"What?"

"~I hadn't seen you sweat so much until today. Not even when we moved, or you fought Misty's old gang."

—Sniff— Aizel shivered as she sniffed close to his neck.

"Fighting, she says, he had to put more effort into not killing the idiots," Vanessa said.

"You are actually not wrong, (Shōmetsu) wanted to blow them up."

"Have you ever used that skill since you got it without… holding back? …or it?" Vanessa asked while turning her head to the side as she thought something. Misty began to shiver the moment he said what could've happened to her, but they ignored her.

"No, not really. I wanted to first acquire the skill from the signal scroll and then try that one, but I get distracted or simply forget. Something tells me that it's similar to (Spectral Missile), but without a limit on the amount of energy it can contain. And I never used that skill much to begin with."

"You ended up buying another signal scroll? I thought you only got the spear." Lisa said as she finished changing and sat at Vanessa and Misty's side, in front of him and Neine.

It was a welcome distraction. One of the meanings that the skill name carried came too close to something he would rather not remember. Or worse, put in Valerie's mind by accident the image of what a mantle cracker could— 'Stop it. The scroll, answer her.'

"Yeah, I also got a signal scroll when I bought Neine's spear. They are like a silver?"

"That is actually pretty expensive, love," Lisa said.

"Really?"

"It's a day's wage for a commoner, Aiz," Vanessa said.

"Fuck. I should've haggled more."

Neine was still staring at his neck, and for the first time he could feel her nervous system doing something different.

'Is she getting aroused?'

"Probably," Valerie said.

"Why?" He asked.

"~Why what?" Neine asked, her raspy and sultry voice almost in his ear.

"…"

"~If you girls could sense his hearts right now." Vanessa whispered.

"~What about hers? " Valerie asked.

"~She's super calm, relaxed even."

Lisa got up and motioned for Vanessa to follow her, probably wanting to give Neine a window.

Unfortunately, that had the opposite effect, making Neine get out of her trance and return to face the table to wait for their food, and even worse, he was now pretty riled up and not thinking straight.

"Hey, Neine. Can I ask you a question?" He said.

"~What?" She said plainly, her alluring voice making his brain shut down further.

"Is kind of… personal."

"~If I have a raspy tongue?" She said, and now he was panicking.

"Not you too…"

"~Me what too?" She asked in broken Geas.

"How did you know what I was going to ask?"

"~Because. All the males I've ever met always ask that, eventually."

"Fuck. I'm sorry, I'm just another horny individual in the end." He fucked up this time; he had lost the cat. Why had he not played dumb?

'Lisa would have said "LiE" in the end.'

He chuckled; the girls were the ones playing dumb, helping Valerie with imaginary tasks over the grill without looking at him or Neine, with Misty trying to turn herself invisible by not moving for who knows what time now.

It turns out, (Focus) and (Detect) do not trigger on their own if you don't perceive what is happening around you as a threat. It happened before: When Valerie jumped into his arms after she learned to fly, that time he had to use his skills manually.

This time, something rough and wet moved fast on the side of his neck. It took him a moment to understand what had happened.

Had he known that Neine would lick him, he would have overcharged (Focus). No. He would have pushed it to the absolute limits and then some, to make that sensation last for a day if he could.

"Neine, I think you broke him," Valerie said.

"~Why?"

"I saw his mind go white and then… nothing."

"Did your trait cut off?" Lisa asked.

"No, it was still working, and his mind just… How do I explain this? Like when you cover your eye, not close it, but cover it with one hand."

"Oh, I see… or don't?" Vanessa said as she covered one eye.

"~Well, does that answer your question, Aiz?"

"…"

"See. Well, how hard can it be to find another Were-Dragon?" Valerie teased.

It was not until food was put in front of him that his mind returned from wherever it had been a second ago. Or had it been a day, a year? Aizel did not know. It turns out, Fight, Flee, and Freeze were not the only primal things your body can do.

Because soon there wasn't any food in front of him. When had he eaten all of his food? Had someone placed a used plate in front of him as a joke? Aizel did not know.

— — —

"~So," Neine said as he was staring into the distance at the edge of the hill.

"Hmm? Oh. Zup. ~So?"

"~Are we training with gobos?"

"No, we will break camp and head straight into Ledvira, find some nice Hostel or inn, and wait for the rest of the team to arrive. Like a rest day; if you need anything, just ask the girls, since we have not really made much silver right now. Like the canvas thing you are using as a sheet to cover yourself at night."

"~Okay!"

Aizel finally broke out of his trance and remembered that he had not investigated the scroll. He took it out of the ring and opened it.

It was similar to the contraception one, only bigger, no larger than his index finger, and this one already had all the mana it needed inside of it, and once the small flap was pulled, it would release a colored spark in the air, like a tiny flare.

"Hey, team. Break camp, Vanessa. I will go into the air; can you activate this under me?"

"Sure, give."

Vanessa took the scroll, and Aizel hovered on top of her. With a puff, a spark trapped inside an ethereal hand shot into the air.

He used his skills to see how it stayed in the air. The mana hand could not float by itself and needed something to make it do so. At first, he thought it was an (Anchor) like the ones the Oni used; the problem with that hypothesis is that not only did the aura around the trapped spark move differently, but the spark itself did not behave in the same way.

(Anchor) did just that; it locked things in place. However, one could still move around; it reminded him of how a superconductor locked a magnet in place: the magnet could still move, but it was locked in one axis.

The spark almost moved around like a flare; it spent mana to rise, and then it floated around like a balloon.

Instead of lines that attached themselves to the air, like a sea urchin, this one moved the aura under it like (Mist Stream) or (Fire Stream); he would not break any speed records with it. But it would be the perfect aid for movement or hovering.

The spark died out, and he descended. Just as he was about to touch the ground, he reduced his speed with his normal technique and then used (Infuse) and (Condensate) to make a stream of his aura break the last bit of his fall.

System:_〔 Basic Active Skill (Float) acquired. 〕

"Hmm."

"There was something different about that landing. Did you get it?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes, it's good for taking off and landing softly, maybe hovering; it consumes a lot of energy. It's like a discount (Telekinesis), but like (Push), (Pull), and (Twist); it will make the rest of the skills more efficient."

"Nice. Well, not nice, since it is another skill I need to learn."

"Haha, yeah, but there is no rush, love," Aizel said and embraced Vanessa.

She stared into his eyes for a bit before losing herself on his lips.

"We are ready to move, guys," Valerie called.

Neine came closer to them. Vanessa gave them space like the cuckquean she had become. Neine was glancing around but then moved closer to him.

"~So, can you carry me?"

She had never asked that before taking off, so he quickly understood her meaning, got on one knee, and sure enough, the blonde kitten allowed him to prince-carry her.

He was not going to ask her why or what had changed, and started lifting off. The girls materialized their wings and assumed their 'V' formation behind them. Lisa took Misty with her since he had forgotten about her and only remembered until he felt Lisa's (Swarming Grasp) behind him.

Aizel slowly moved forward; thankfully, the air rushing by them made her smell wash away, or he would be going crazy.

Maybe it was the century and then some of pent-up lust, or the way his girls seem to all be into him collecting women, but all he wanted to do at this moment was to start devouring the woman in his arms.

She was staring at him and not the landscape; he did not need to glance at her to know where her eyes were looking; (Detect) made sure of it.

His sanity was slowly fading as she hugged him tighter; her breath might not reach his nose, but it warmed up his neck and sent blood away from his head.

— — —

Ledvira — Northern Gate.

The team arrived in 20 minutes, not because it was far, but because his brain was being controlled by his desire to hold Neine for a while longer; he doubted the others even felt a benefit from their formation at that speed.

As they landed, he slowly placed Neine on the floor with care.

"~ It's way more fun that way."

'Shut up, woman.'

"He said: S—"

"Let's move, team!"

"Hehe." The little Shinigami laughed.

—

He led them by walking in front; his mind was going wild, just fantasizing about adding Neine to the Legion, and he was praying to every god in two realms that Valerie could not see the lewd imagery rushing through his mind.

"Halt! Ident— Oh! Hello, Hunter Lord, please come in."

"At ease, Hunter. Thank you."

"So this is it, huh. The last town before actual civilization." Valerie said.

"Hm. What do you mean?"

"Well, this is the last town sitting on 'The Wilds.' The city in the south is supposed to be safer from crazy people like the ones who attacked the caravan. No offence." Valerie said, and added the last part once she remembered one of the crazy weirdos was now under their care.

"None taken," Misty said in a respectful tone.

"Makes sense. I just expected it to be safer; that is why we are not following Blaze and Silvia from here."

"So. What now, ~Hunter Lord?" Lisa said as she grabbed his arm.

"Now to find a place to spend the night. Then whatever; I honestly do not like the smell of towns. I hope the city will be better. Since I already bought Neine's spear, I don't know what else you girls need."

"Give me the rings, go find us a place to stay, and we'll meet at noon wherever, since you can find us," Lisa said.

Aizel took off the rings and just kept some coins to reserve the rooms; they probably wanted some girl time, so he was not going to object.

"Just don't empty our savings on a hammer." He said with a loving smile; she smiled back and gave him a long, loving kiss.

— — —

"Yo. Zup, clerk." Aizel said to the male clerk who was at the front desk of the Hunter's Guild. He was probably the most average man he could imagine; the only detail that stood out to him was the fine clothes he wore.

"Hello, Hunter…"

"Aizel," He said, and flashed his tags.

"Hello, Hunter Lord Aizel. This is the first time I've seen you around these lands. What can I do for you? Do you need to register in the Guild, maybe help with your taxes, or are you just looking for something to kill?"

"I'm only staying a night, so I just wanted to see if you could recommend a place that is comfortable; silver's not an issue."

"I would imagine. Even our own Hunter Master is the same rank as you. Do you require something with some comfort of the female or male variety?"

"No, thanks. I'm staying with my wives while we wait for my party."

"I see. Then the best I have seen in Ledvira is just in front of us; right across the cobbles is an actual inn, not a hostel. It might just be what you are looking for. After that one, I can only recommend the pleasure houses."

"Thanks, clerk. Bye."

Aizel had not even spent a day inside the town and was already missing nature. Last time he came with Lisa, the shock of having to deal with Misty's (Bind) had him on edge; besides, he had two women with him; now that he was relaxed, the smells and sounds were becoming obnoxious.

'Fuck. The girls help me take the edge off; are sewers so much to ask? Not even Redvelia smelled this bad.'

He crossed the cobbled road, and the 'Inn' was just a step above the shitty hostel they had stayed at last time. A white building made of stone with rough wooden floors that smelled like some weird chemical that he would bet a royal was not good for health.

"Hello… Hunter, what can I do for you?" A clerk with a fancy shirt and loose trousers called from behind a tall wooden desk.

'I guess Neine was right; only the craftsmen and butchers speak as if they had half a tongue.'

"Zup, I need your largest room and bed, and a separate one for one person, from the best you have to offer. I also need another room for one servant, of any kind, not too shitty but also not your best."

"Will you be requiring a crystal of muffling?"

"It depends. Does it muffle sounds coming in or out?"

"It creates a field where sound is trapped; it makes it harder for sound to come in or out."

'I could just ask Neine to borrow hers, but she might need it in case other rooms are too loud, or in case they are not isolated from the outside, since this shithole is in the middle of the town.'

"Sure. How much for one of those crystals plus the three rooms for just one night?"

The man went behind the counter and pulled out a book with ledgers that seemed to be written with graphite or coal, but not as shitty as he had seen others like Blaze use.

"Hey clerk, what did you write that with? It's not the fancy quill kind, or the shitty charcoal on a rag."

"There is a store in the city of Dranelida that sells this."

The man pulled something that looked like a piece of graphite or coal sandwiched in two planks of wood, like a proto-pencil, handmade like everything he had seen so far, not counting the Joint stores.

"Well, it's something at least. Thanks, clerk."

"The total comes to forty silver, without food or drink, but we have access to a well in the back."

For him, that was nothing; for the average snail, that was luxury. To charge luxury prices for a single night, in a shitty town, without food, was theft. But he had come to accept these kinds of things from the snails, and it was literally in the 'best' part of town, where the roads had shitty cobbles, and the Hunter's Guild was across said shitty road.

"Do you take plat?"

"Yes."

Aizel placed the platinum coin and was returned twelve gold coins as change.

"Here, this is are the keys for your rooms. I will need you to take your information from your Hunter tags; after that, you can go upstairs. The rooms are yours for a full day cycle." The clerk said and glanced at the shadows coming in from the 'window' next to him; that was just a hole in the wall with some wood to close it down.

Aizel gave the man his tags, and the clerk took them with wide eyes, probably thinking something like: I should have charged him double.

He left the shitty inn and walked on the cobbled road to look for a tavern to pass the time. They had arrived quite early, and the snails were probably running towards the town.

"Hello, handsome, what can I get you?" A pretty wench asked.

"He will have only your best, on my silver." A known voice sounded from the other side, as a group of males approached his table.

"Argo. Long time, zup."

Argo, the old leader of the large brotherhood of the same name that Aizel helped return to Redvelia. He extended a hand towards him; they shook it like old friends even if Aizel barely recognized the man.

"They gave you gold for that one, huh? You led them as one, so it does not surprise me."

Argo nodded to the wench, and she went back to bring him whatever the fuck was considered the best in this place.

"Yes. I was given gold some time after that fiasco. And to think it was almost for nothing; fucking nobles could have just sent an Airship to look for a dungeon if they thought there was one in the first place."

"That's… Well yes, true. Fucking thing was filled with musketeers, and they could just go back and forth for weeks." Aizel said.

"But look at you, Platinum. Does not surprise me one bit. Especially after that raid, it was something out of a legend."

"You were there? I did not see you."

"I was at the south gate. I saw your 'Legion squad' converging over the North side from time to time, so I guess you were there, and I was not a party leader, so…"

"You came here pretty fast. The caravans ran away almost immediately after the raid; they joined in a massive migration. They have not reached Ledvira yet, and they are coming fast."

"Yeah, we left on heavy horses, escorting a merchant that got everything on rings of holding, and bolted as soon as the raid ended. They wanted to leave the moment the guards arrived, but all hunters worth the silver were staying for the raid."

"He and everyone, me, and my team left when the Airship landed; the last thing I need is a leech telling me to teach him how to do the formations we used, just to fuck it up, and then blame me."

"A smart lad."

"This your new party? I do not recognize them from the brotherhood."

"Yeah, we used to hunt together back in Pastorvil, but then one of us got married, and we all went our own ways. The recent call to arms brought us together once again."

"How's Pastorvil? I have not really been paying much attention, but the new dungeon had a lot of aerial monsters and predators; since they are not from the area, I assume they left the plains." Aizel asked.

"Pretty fucked, there's no other way to describe their situation. They would not be so bad if people had not decided to leave Redvelia; that town will be fine. They kept enough to last them to the next season, but not enough to trade with Pastorvil."

"Yeah, I came to that conclusion, but had no confirmation of it."

"By the way, have you heard what they are calling your raid?"

"Not really, I've just been calling it 'the test raid,' since it was supposed to be just a way to train."

"To train, he says," Argo chuckled, and the rest of his crew started to laugh amicably.

"I've also been calling it 'the siege-raid.' Why? What have you heard?"

Another man came from the side, placed his large arm on Aisle's shoulder, gave it a little shake, and revealed the name people were calling the raid.

"Lad, they are calling it: Goblinpurge."

They spent the rest of the morning in the tavern, mostly eating. They drank a little, but just enough to give them a buzz. Argo and his crew that is, Aizel just drank one for the entire morning; he needed something that did not make him stand to take a leak every few minutes just to achieve the same.

— — —

「 Noon, his 44th day on Geas. 」

"~Aizeel!" Vanessa called and waved from the other side of the road; they had probably assumed that he would not leave the 'fancy' part of town.

'And here I was thinking about camping inside a town… I just want to throw up.'

"Hi, my loves. How did shopping go?"

"We got a lot of stuff, mostly useless stuff," Valerie said with a smile.

"Here, we used like half a royal on useless things," Lisa said with pride as she returned the rings.

They had their own small rings now, so he could not spy what they had spent a winter and then some on. But he did not really care; his nose was healing.

Aizel embraced the trio and just started to breathe in deeply.

"We haven't even been gone half a day, love. What got into you?" Lisa asked.

"This place smells like shit." He said, almost crying.

"~It smells the same as Redvelia," Neine said from behind the group.

Aizel let go of the girls before responding. "Yeah, like I said, like shit. I had gotten used to always having one of them by my side, and I can just ignore the stink with one of them around."

"Ow~" Vanessa said and hugged him tighter.

"So… I got us three rooms in the 'fanciest' inn, the best ones. They are still shitty, and I'd rather camp outside, but they are ours in case we want to stay the night, because I assume that everything will get filled in once the snail migration gets here. I even found Argo in the tavern; he and his new party took off even before the caravan, on horses with a merchant."

"Yeah, we also came across some hunters on the run. I feel a little bad for the town." Vanessa said.

"Is not like they will be in danger. This town is probably more in danger of monsters than Redvelia for at least a winter." Valerie said.

— — —

「 Dusk, his 44th day on Geas. 」

The giant caravan arrived about an hour before sunset. Everyone was tired and filled with mud; the closer they got, the faster they moved. Some of them even continued south without stopping. That included the leopard's wagons, or what was left of them.

The party was together with their two snails in the same Inn he had found Argo in the morning. Waiting for nightfall and catching on. Misty had gone to her room early, not wanting to be a burden on them by having to explain to the other hunters from the caravan why she was not dead or inside the Guild's dungeon waiting to be auctioned off. It was probably an excuse to have some time to herself.

Blaze and Silvia's Alliances would spend the night in town. Thankfully, their wagons chose to rest after almost jogging for days. They managed to get the silver from the captured bandits, and now they all had 'Convicted criminal' as their title, marking them as sub-humans, ready to be sold; since they did not kill anyone, none would be executed or sent into forced labor right away.

Blaze and Silvia would depart in the morning. Just as Aizel predicted, all the hostels and Inns got filled up, even the 'fancy' one.

There was quite a lot that happened during their travel. However, there was one detail that reached the caravan in the morning that stood out.

"They are Idiots," Aizel said.

"Why do they even want to do that?" Valerie asked.

"Probably to control the Dungeon. They want to pick and choose what monsters will be available to be hunted; they can control the type and even their rare combinations, based on the ones that enter it. If they do not want Medusas, for example, they can just kill the Serptilod Kings, so their kin will not mix inside of the dungeon." Blaze explained, like the scholar he was becoming.

The caravan had gotten word that the baby leeches—also known as the son and daughter of the Duke—were taking their airship over the White Shield and heading towards the Dungeon.

"~That thing was filled with musketeers," Neine commented.

"I have seen the muskets; they cannot be effective at more than half a click away, and that takes an exceptional marksman on stable ground; the fucking Oni can (Teleport), at least five times that distance, and there were seventeen when I left, and the call has just intensified since then."

"…"

"Can muskets even kill an Oni, Love?" Asked Lisa.

"The musketeers I have spoken with, like Seth and the man in Argo's party, claim that it is only capable of killing up to Orcs. Oni are two whole tiers above that, Love.

– And that might be just because of the aiming difficulty, seeing how one overcharged musket bullet killed Arch healer Zarnandier, and he was a Were-Dragon of 'Arch' level, healer or not. If even half of what is in his book was true, he was hundreds of winters ahead of me when it comes to magic.

– But. And it's a big ass but. You need to hit the fucking shot in the first place. Neine remembers how fucking fast a single Ogre is. Now give him a few boosters, combat tattoos, shaman skills, some friends, and a purpose, like a female on top of the fucking ship, and…"

"And they are idiots," Vanessa said.

"Besides, that is if they do not wake up the horde," Silvia added.

"…"

"…"

"How fast is an Airship anyways?" Aizel asked.

"~About as fast as we flew this morning, Aiz," Neine said, all happily.

"So it's a fucking flying snail that carries leeches around, great."

"Pff. Hahaha!" "Ha!" Vanessa and Lisa were losing it.

"What happens if they die?" Valerie asked, looking at Aizel.

"I have no idea, Val. I'm not familiar with the politics of this place. I know how they act in general, but it could be good, or it could be disastrous. We can move around, so it's not our problem; however, the entire region could be destabilized so much that it would be better to be in the northern towns than in the ones closer to the Duchy Capital."

"~The Airships also carry large weapons like muskets. I do not think they will die, but if they fight the Oni, they will end up having to run… fly away." Neine explained.

"You've been on one, right?" Aizel asked.

"~Yeah, it's quite fun! But not as much as flying with you, though."

'Did this woman just blush?'

"Yes, she did," Valerie said.

"…"

"Well, we will camp outside the town, since all the fucking places are filled up, so we will take our leave; the sun has set already," Silvia said, looking at Blaze with lust in her eyes.

'I really hope I misjudge her, for Blaze's sake.'

"Why don't we give them the other room you rented, Love? Neine can just sleep in ours. The bed can fit even two more people; it's an Emperor size." Lisa said to Aizel.

"I didn't see the room, so I don't know. If it's okay with her, sure. Bu—"

"~Yeah! Give them the other room. We've been comfortable while camping; they've barely slept." Neine said, sending Aizel's mind into a frenzy.