Maken no Daydreamer Chapter 51-53 part 4

Part 4/5. There might be some differences in terms here as I can’t recall some of them and a quick google search doesn’t help much.

Also, Noel speaks in Kansai dialect, which is a pain to translate into English so I didn’t do it. The manga seems to be doing the same. If you want me to do it, comment and I’ll think about it. Otherwise, Just think of her to be speaking in similar manner to characters like Ayaka Shindou from Kyoukai no Kanata or Shuten Douji from FGO (albeit not as lewdly)

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Chapter 51-53: As the Disturbance Comes to an End, the Big Sister Makes Her Move – part 4

“…Fufu.”

“…Why are you looking at me like you wanna say something?”

After Elk saw Minato off, Sherry stared at her with an implicative grin. If we were to further describe it, she was practically beaming with smugginess.

Noticing her gaze, Elk responded with a scornful glare (not that she meant it to be) of her own, one that always made Minato break into a smile.

“Oh nothing~ I was just thinking that this seemed quite challenging.”

“Challenging? Well, yeah, travelling with a moody fellow like him is certainly exhausting…”

“That’s not it, I meant for me.”

“Huh?”

“Umm… How should I put it? It’s like I can understand the brides who worry about the discord with their mother in law, I guess?”

“…And what do you mean by that, exactly?”

Elk’s eyebrow twitched as if she had realised something, and her ‘scornful glare’ sharpened slightly as she responded to her quite calmly without much agitation.

Sherry looked quite surprised, apparently not expecting that kind of response.

“Oh? But your eyes are telling me that you already know the answer, don’t you? Hmm… Well well, you don’t seem to have any openings, huh, Elk-chan? Perhaps Minato-kun’s influence?”

“I’m not really fond of having my question returned with another question.”

“Eh, is that so? Well then, let me be blunt here… Would you mind if I became Minato-kun’s lover?”

“Lovuegh!?”

The moment she heard it, Elk’s serious disposition did a complete turnaround and she choked on her words in a fluster. Perhaps that was still a better outcome as she avoided falling on her face.

Seeing that reaction, Sherry responded in a slightly louder—perhaps just right for the occasion compared to Elk’s reaction—and startled manner.

“…Oh my? And here I was sure you already expected that one…?”

“W-Wha…!? L-Like I could ever imagine that!? I-I was sure you would say something along the lines of wanting to form an adventurer’s party with Minato or ask me or cut my ties with him as I would be a hindrance given my lack of ability or something like that…”

“No no no… I wouldn’t say something like that. It’s not like I hate you, Elk-chan. Besides, I don’t think you are such a hindrance, you know? Rather, I thought it would be you telling me, “don’t you dare come in between me and Minato, you thieving cat!!” or something, you know…”

“As if I would!? I-It’s not like me and Minato are like, uhh! Umm…we are like that in a way but it’s not really that, I mean, rather than that, it’s more like that so it’s different!”

“Sorry, Elk-chan, I didn’t understand a word you said there.”

Elk’s face was dyed in such a red that Sherry had never seen such complexion before… and seeing her panic so much, she could not help but find her adorable.

Moreover, even though her words held no meaning, Elk’s flustered conduct told her all she needed to know.

After ten seconds, when Elk finally became able to speak articulately, she forced herself to settle down and asked her in return.

“T-Then, are you… are you thinking of holding that kind of relationship with Minato?”

“Of course, I also want to be with him in adventurer’s capacity too, okay? He’s super strong and always honest. But I also want Elk-chan to be with us… I’m not trying to monopolise him. However…” She made a suggestive pause. Then she made a big grin, making sure Elk could see it and continued. “Even in a romantic perspective, I think he is a prey I don’t want to let go of. At the very least, if you were to ask me if I thought I could meet someone more ideal than him, my answer would be no.”

“Why? You… have only known him for a few days, right?”

“Oh, it’s nothing so strange. I told him earlier, but our occupation is such that we don’t know when we will die, so our meetings are once-in-a-lifetime events. When you meet the opposite gender that makes you think they are the one for you, it’s only reasonable to treasure that encounter.”

Saying so, Sherry then started to explain her thoughts one by one.

“He is very courteous and unusually humble and honest for an adventurer. But he has a strong heart. He is also my type and his strength is around AAA Rank. There really was no reason not to fall for him. Though, if only he liked drinking and fighting a bit more, even our hobbies would be the same and there would be nothing else I would want.

“Then why not just search for someone who can also cover that ‘bit’?”

“And I’m saying that I don’t think that’s possible, okay? To begin with, I was convinced that someone that convenient could not exist in this world. Try to imagine an adventurer who loves to drink and to fight, yet is sincere, modest and courteous… you can’t, right?”

“…Well, you have a point I guess.”

Speaking of adventurers, it wasn’t like every adventurer had the same standards, but you could still grasp their tendencies in their characters.

When it came to battle-loving adventurers, there were many selfish ones among them. And while this is an extreme example, there was no shortage of adventurers who threw challenges to any strong foes they found, be it humans or monsters.

Moreover, among adventurers who were filled with egoistic people, many cast some of their sincerity and modesty aside. Thus, while not everyone was an egoistic ruffian, those who would obediently listen to what others had to say were not in the majority for sure.

Among them, there were quite a few adventurers who showed the tendency to become even worse based on how high their rank or the power they held was.

But that could only be called supremacism within a fixed order, and it was nothing particularly unusual in this world that left much to be desired in some aspects.

All of that could be summed up as “Individuality”. It was a subject that was nothing more than that.

In addition to them, among the adventurers… there was a little peculiarity when it came to the romantic senses of values and relationships with the opposite sex.

Naturally, just like how it normally was with love, forming teams with the members of the opposite sex whom they often met during quests and such, growing closer and eventually becoming lovers… was one way they went about it.

However, about an equally large number of them openly held romantic relationships with a large number of companions at the same time, and in the end, they tended to take one of their lovers as their spouse.

Minato who had lived his previous life in present-day Japan was greatly perplexed about that to this day, but this was simply such a morally hazardous world.

Thus, going back to the matter in question, both Elk and Sherry were naturally aware of that, however… their case was instead a rare exception where they had found their fated one before they reached that stage.

And perhaps her personality played a factor, but this was the reason why Sherry didn’t limit her assertive advances on him alone but even to those around him.

And at the same time, she was under the conviction that the place she wanted to stand was already occupied by Elk. But instead of deciding to give up on him, she boldly suggested settling on the somewhat stimulating standing of a “Lover”.

“Well, that’s how it is. Even I think that this is a once in a lifetime encounter… So I just can’t see myself giving up on him in either sense~ So yeah, I want to get along with you guys, but I thought I’d greet my senpai first.”

“S-Senpai…”

“You are one, aren’t you?”

Sherry responded in all grins. Even a stranger could tell how teasy she was being.

Nevertheless, Elk could not respond to it.

After all, setting aside the meanness behind her words, she simply could not deny any of it.

“I will pay my respect in that regard… but honestly speaking, I’m serious here. I realise that this is abrupt… but I’m definitely not letting him get away. Ah, but I will not try to eliminate you or anything, Elk-chan, so you can relax. But I can’t say that I won’t push you aside~”

“…Oh really.”

Following that, Sherry told Elk she was going to check out the situation and dashed towards the front side of the caravan where Minato ran while waving her hand at her.

Elk who remained behind simply continued to glare at her with her scornful eyes, perhaps not feeling like saying anything… or perhaps she could not find the right words to say.

However… traces of displeasure and anxiety were present on her face ever so slightly.

☆☆☆

Meanwhile, the person in question from their gossip was currently…

“YAH…YAH…YAH…YAH-YAH-YAH-YAH-YAH…. HIIIIYAH!!”

Peeep!

“Hahaha… I already knew this, but seeing you do it in front of my eyes really leaves me speechless,” said Zally while sweating from his forehead. He had his characteristic smile that was a mix of amazement and admiration.

Before him were Minato and Alba cooperating to clear the fallen rocks, steadily making way for the caravan.

The way they went about it was quite simple.

Minato had his ‘Staff’ that looked like a laundry pole retrieved from his belt and was mowing down everything in his path into the tiniest fragments.

Following that, Alba was using magic to produce a gale that blew off those broken fragments and moved them to the roadside.

While their work was analogue, they worked in a speedy and lively manner and managed to clear up the rocks blocking the road in the blink of an eye.

“Whew… is this good?”

“Yeah, that’s enough. Good work, Minato-kun. Here’s something to drink.”

Zally held a big glass cup in his hand filled with the juice they received from the Dryad-chan’s. This was quite a blessing.

“Thanks. Good grief, using people as bulldozers…”

“I’m not sure what that ‘booldoozer’ is supposed to be, but you honestly saved us here. No, really, Minato-kun, you are such a handy guy.”

“And I’m telling you not to refer to people like they are some handy goods.”

“Sorry sorry. Oh right, it’s not really something to thank you for it, but shall I let you in on an interesting story? It happened just recently, you see… I got ahold of this information just a day before our departure, but it seems that there was a change of personnel within the army of Volka, you know?”

“Huh? A change?”

Being asked that, Zally continued his story with his natural fluent tone.

According to his story, it seemed that the personnel change was linked with the current ‘North’ incident.

The ‘North’ had their crime exposed this time, but with various other points to the story, they ended up being the pitiable ones.

Ever since they started to have hardships with their life a few decades ago, they seemed to have committed various small crimes that they could not expose to others.

According to Zally’s light investigation, there were several cases where the ‘North’ was believed to be involved when it came to the highway robbery and other related incidents.

And this was just his hypothesis, but most probably, part of their hunters also acted as robbers with survival as their just cause and attacked the nearby travellers and caravans over and over.

And they did not aim for the money itself, but materials and food instead.

Moreover, the current incident revealed that they even had connections to the kidnappers… so perhaps they were involved in various illicit matters of that kind, too.

Thus, the ‘North’ was such a self-sufficient and isolated village, getting themselves involved in such business and stubbornly rejecting diplomacy. But in reality, their limit was already in sight since a long time ago.

And then they forcibly turned the ‘South’, one they had parted with 90 years ago, into their enemy, forming a sense of solidarity and dodging the issue at hand with the excuses like “we were only following our traditional and stoic lifestyles, so we are not in the wrong”… only to suffer a failure so big that even that excuse stopped working.

Well, it would be quite impossible for them even if they sought to form relations with outsiders at this late in the game; they knew neither diplomacy nor how to make money, after all… Saying something like that wouldn’t be indiscreet, would it?

And the punishment for those hunters and the citizens of the ‘North’ was already decided, it seems.

The hunters would be normally taken away by the army and face their punishments after their trials were held.

Their charges mainly consisted of using dangerous drugs to make the monsters rampage and using them to damage ‘Nonett’… as well as the abduction of the village head’s daughter and coercion.

Oh, and there were also those various other evil deeds hidden in the annals of the history of dozens of years. It seems that even those would be taken into consideration during their trials.

Although, when it came to the (attempted) abduction of the Dryad-chans, it seems that the case couldn’t be built upon it as the Dryads were still considered ‘monsters’. However, they would still take the malice behind their actions in mind.

I’m having a little difficulty agreeing to that but that’s the way it is, I suppose.

“Well, this is just my prediction, but roughly all of the perpetrators will probably be executed. The current case is too extreme to shift the blame to others, and there are basically none who could pass it off by saying they were ordered to do so.”

“Now that you said it, I guess the sailor is the principal offender, huh. So what about the ones who can avoid the execution?”

“They would be forced into labour in refugee camps or turned into crime slaves… I suppose? Either way, it still would not end up well for them… but I guess that in itself could be a better outcome.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I mentioned it earlier, but these people have basically no ‘common sense’ to live outside. Elk-chan keeps saying that you lack common sense at every opportunity she gets, but their common sense fatally lacks with a different vector compared to that…probably.”

“So what you are saying is that they can’t step into society without a sufficient study, right? I see your point. But that’s pretty cynical if you ask me.”

“I suppose. Also, people of the ‘North’ who did not participate in this operation will probably be taken to different places too.”

“Huh? And why is that?”

It’s not like I’m defending them… but there were also innocent people involved here.

Given that it is a village, it won’t be just hunters there but powerless women, children and old people… so why would they be taking all of them away? Is this like some collective responsibility taken to extremes?”

“Hmm… It’s not like they will be punished or anything. Well, in a word, it’s something like sheltering them.”

“Sheltering?”

“Yea. I mean, you know how their village has ceased its function.”

This too was simply his prediction based on similar cases.

Just like that, when the villages fell into harsh conditions where they could not properly function or procure food, the country or region they belonged to would take measures against it.

The reason for that was simple. It would be troublesome if the villagers that had reached their limits degraded themselves into robbers and caused trouble in the surroundings.

It would still do if they could help it somehow by bettering their administration, but when the entire region where they lived was in such a bad condition, they would be half-forced into migrating elsewhere. And also, they would be treated as refugees.

They will be taken away from their familiar lands, and they would have to live under the administrative management, but their living would be supported up to a degree, so it wasn’t that bad of a deal for them.

Moreover, they would still be able to remain behind if they desired it too strongly, but in that case, the administration would cut off any and all support for them. Although if they did something problematic afterwards, then that was it for them. They would be moved forcibly from there and this time they would face the ‘punishment’. What awaited them was either slavery or the refugee camp.

Naturally, this also applied to the current matter of the ‘North’.

They had not a shred of common sense. Their economic condition was not even worth mentioning. Their environment was the worst. And to make it worse, they had criminal records. Their treatment was already set in stone, that was Zally and his comrades’ conclusion.

“Their way of living is directly linked to environmental destruction so they can’t really be overlooked. It wouldn’t be a joke if they went somewhere else and burned down a forest, so the entire village will probably be migrated in one go. Afterwards, maybe… they will be made to be a working force under the pretext of social education.”

“So the actual village of the ‘North’ will be deconstructed and gone, huh. A pity.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. Their behaviour wasn’t good, and the able men are… you get it, right?”

Yeah, its between slavery, forced labour and execution for them.

Rather, several, or rather… several dozens of them had already left this world behind due to getting devoured by monsters, slain by Sherry-san and various such factors… so the village was kinda already doomed.

“Now, we finally got around to the topic of personnel change in the army.”

“Hmm? Oh, right, we were talking about.”

“It seems that a squad has been dispatched from Volka’s army do deal with that ‘North’ matter… but the one at the top of that squad is apparently Suula-san who helped us the last time.”

“Oh, really?”

Wow, yet another familiar name popped up.

Suula-san helped us during the ‘Blood Maple’ incident.

She was on a rescue mission in the ‘Crimson Forest’ with a squad that mainly consisted of newbies, and it was there she met with me, Elk, Zally, Alba and two hoodlum adventurers whose faces I’m not sure I remember.

Things happened after that and we managed to turn the situation around together from the brink of death, after which we all grew quite closer. But I see… so she is in charge of this matter, huh?

“What’s more, it seems she is being promoted now. The administration, negotiations with the village and other parts included in this matter seem to be serving as something like a test for her promotion.”

“Test? So you are saying that if she deals with this matter without problems, she will be promoted?”

“Well, she was promoted even without it. I suppose this incident simply coincided with it, but if she performs well it would count towards her achievements, so perhaps those bigshots were thinking that doing so would give her more prestige for assuming the seat of the new company commander. She is also ranking up to a Captain, it seems.”

“Heh… So Suula-san had quite a nice success in like, huh? That’s amazing.”

If I remember correctly, a company commander is one rank higher than the platoon commander.

And a Captain was… welp, I forgot about this one. How great was it again?

Actually, thinking about it now, I don’t really know the system of ranks and such of this world’s military. I even thought that ‘platoon commander’ was a rank in itself.

But yeah, that’s not really a ‘rank’ but a ‘position’, huh. I really should study up on that later.

And so, it seems that Suula-san’s squad is heading towards ‘Minette’ and ‘North’ by a different route from us, so we wouldn’t be passing by each other. Quite a shame.

As we were in the middle of such discussion, someone from the cart called out at us to get on as they were about to proceed ahead, thus we decided to take a rest and entrust the rest to the horses.

　☆☆☆

While we were attacked by thieves and monsters along the way, we managed to safely arrive at Volka.

After we broke up, reported individual achievements to the guild and received our rewards… I sent Elk and Alba to the inn ahead of me while I headed towards a certain place.

In order to meet with a certain someone… just as Irene-san instructed.

I’ll be going back in time with this, but back when Irene-san visited the ‘Flower Valley’ with Will-niisan, listened to our story and returned back… there was one thing she told me after that conversation was over.

“…By the way, Minato-kun. We talked about it earlier… but you used quite a strange power there, right? The rumour has been going around even among the adventurers…”

“Oh, you mean ‘Dark Joker’? Well, even mom restricted using it so much it barely avoided the ban… but I feel like it could’ve ended badly if I did not use it there…”

“Oh, no, I’m not trying to blame you or anything. It’s just… I was surprised that you could use magic so powerful. Lilyn told me you were still not quite there when it came to magic, you see.”

“True, I’m not very good at it due to the problem of talent and such, but because of that, I thoroughly trained the techniques within the scope I could reach. Although…”

“Although?”

“…I got some unexpected help. And because of that, I was able to use it even better than I usually would.”

With those words, I took out a certain item from my pocket… and showed it to her.

She appeared a bit surprised, but she instantly realised what I was trying to say. I see, so rather than being… an accomplice, she realised what was going on, I suppose?

Perhaps even the fact that I also could not see the full picture of it.

“…I see. Then I suppose there’s no longer a need to hide things from you. For both me and her.”

“Then, I guess there would be no problem if I go to ask about it after this request is over? I’m not really thinking that it’s some weird scheme… but I’m still bothered by it.”

“Rather, it’s better if you go. It would be too late to do it after something happens. If you need an appointment, I’ll give her a word.”

And that was the gist of our discussion…

　☆☆☆

“So you come straight to me after arriving, huh?”

“Yup. About this, and… also because Irene-san told me there were things I should know.”

I was in the same old Malrus Association.

Right after I came back, I went to meet her – Noel Co Malrus, my sister (one of the many) and the client of the previous request.

My sister was awaiting me and she seemed to have already expected or realised why I was here for, so she skipped the needless preface and I also got right down to business.

I took out one of the key items of this topic, the ‘Black Pass’ from my pocket and placed it on the table.

“About this, I was surprised to find out that it has quite a few functions that you haven’t told me before. But it did help me, so thank you.”

During the Naga incident, she gave me this pass case with “Disposing of it is a pain so I’ll give it to you”, but it seems that it didn’t end up in my hands because of such simple reasons. I’m not really sure what it is… but I know that it isn’t simply some convenient item.

This happened while I was recuperating at the ward after I used ‘Dark Joker’.

That was quite a troublesome ability ever since the beginning of practising it. It came with a heavy burden, and it was hard to properly control it… as well as many other reasons that did not allow me to use it frequently. That’s why mom prohibited the use of it.

One of the reasons was the stagnation of the magic power and magic particles inside my body.

After using ‘Dark Joker’, my inner magical power becomes a bit harder to control for some time. It does not exactly run wild, but I can’t exhibit my full power during that time.

In plain terms, it’s called a poor operation of the ‘Elemental Blood’, and because of that, I take longer to recover from injuries and illnesses.

If it was me in my (magically) top condition, it would only take me a few days to make a complete recovery even from comminuted fractures, but in this condition, the efficiency worsens quite a bit.

That’s why waiting for this condition to subside is linked to ‘making recovery’ for me, but its symptoms can take from a few hours to a few days to heal. It changes based on how long I use ‘Dark Joker’ and how much I strain my body during it.

When I used it for as long as I possibly could, the ‘stagnation’ lasted for over a week. Incidentally, it happened when mom snapped and erased part of the forest.

That period is a fatal weakness for me who is fighting mainly by utilising the magic within the body.

Of course, it’s not that I can’t use magic power at all, I can fight more or less… but if I had to say whether I could display my usual power, my answer would be no.

That’s why ‘Dark Joker’ became a forbidden move.

I managed to settle the fight relatively quickly this time around, so I thought it would take me from half to one day to heal… but surprisingly enough, by the time I ended the battle and rested on the bed, I was already half healed of it.

And there was something I noticed during that time.

That is, when I was holding this ‘Pass’ the speed of clearing up the stagnation of my magical power was an order of magnitude higher.

This thing that was on my belt was noticeably speeding up my recovery based on how close it was to me… so as a test I tried putting it farther away and I could sense the speed of recovery gradually decreasing and finally returned to normal, slow rate.

Then I had a thought and grabbed it from the belt and slept while directly holding it in my hand… and only an hour later most of my stagnation had cleared up.

I was already familiar with this phenomenon. It was just like that time from my training days when mom brought out some unfamiliar magic item from the depth of the storehouse and healed me after I used ‘Dark Joker’.

It turned out that something similar to that was installed within this ‘Pass’.

And that chance of that being a mere coincidence… was quite unlikely.

In other words, this ‘Pass’ was… not some leftover that ended in my hands, but instead it was created with the assumption to be given to me… to aid me with its system that helped recover from ‘Dark Joker’.

After I told that along with Irene-san’s suggestion to talk with her, Noel-neesan stayed quiet for a while, then opened her mouth.

“…I see now. To think you would notice the difference in recovery speeds with just bodily sensation… Neither mom nor I expected that.”

“Ah, so mom was involved here, after all.”

“…Since Irene said that, I suppose there is no problem with telling you. Alright then, I’ll talk. After all, if you don’t fully understand what it is… even simply carrying that ‘Pass’ with you could invite danger.”

　☆☆☆