Red Comet

Tonight, I wasn’t able to test Enhanced Vigor skill of s.e.x Maniac.

For Roxanne is on her period.

After cancelling s.e.x Maniac, I made love with Sherry many times over. Because I kissed Roxanne a lot, she wasn’t dissatisfied.

Finally, after giving Roxanne one last kiss, I lay on the bed.

I turn to Roxanne, and extend my arms out to pull her into my embrace.

Right when I try to calm my breathing down, Sherry gets into the bed.

She has changed into negligee.

Sherry lies down next to me.

After a while, Roxanne speaks to me in a low voice.

“Are you going to retire for tonight?”

“It seems so. Master is exhausted after all.”

‘No, I’m not.’ — that I want to say.

I read in some magazine that you have to put effort in both foreplay and afterplay in order please a woman.

Therefore, I always hug Roxanne like this, after kissing her.

And when I wake up in the morning, I always find myself clinging to her.

Hmm…

I should probably not deny it.

It’s wise to go to sleep now.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Thank you, Sherry. Sorry for pus.h.i.+ng you more than last night.”

“Ah, no. Umm… it’s not like I hate it.”

You don’t hate it?

That’s great.

‘Not hating it’ is only one step away from ‘loving it.’

“Is that so? Fufu”

“I-I was really surprised earlier.”

She tries to dodge it.

Sherry tries to change the topic.

“It’s not like I doubt master, but is Sherry really a Master Smith now?

“Well, you successfully fused the Monster Card.”

“I did, I guess.”

Do you still not believe it?

“Because Monster Card Fusion mostly fails, I was worried.”

“Worried?”

“Yes, because I have heard of many tragic accounts.”

I knew it would come up.

“Is that so?”

“If they keep failing, Master Smith slaves are shunned away. It’s also not rare for them to be punished, and resold.”

Even to the extent of physical abuse.

Wh.o.r.e punishment.

“It’s alright. Master is not such a master.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Somehow, it’s difficult to tell whether a person is amazing or terrible, don’t you think?

Are they talking about me?

“Master is an amazing person.”

They are indeed talking about me.

Roxanne lifts her head up.

And turns her face to Sherry.

These two would now talk between them like last night.

During daytime, they are both with me all the time.

Therefore, opportunities to talk to each other are rare for them.

They were able to talk to each other in the clothing store, but it was probably not enough.

Well, it’s better to be talking friendly like this than being on bad terms with each other.

Ladies’ talk.

It would be silly of me to step in.

So I fall into dreamland by myself.

It’s morning now. I wake up clinging to Roxanne.

Roxanne is so good a body pillow.

Soft body. Smooth hair on her back. Supple chest.

The feeling of embracing her is splendid.

My legs, however, are entangled with Sherry’s.

Lower half of my body is awkwardly twisted.

Because there’s no pain in my muscles, however, I’m not feeling uncomfortable.

After confirming the state of my body, I kiss Roxanne.

Although she went to sleep after me, she woke up before me.

Roxanne always gets up before me.

Perhaps it is easier for her to wake up.

While kissing her, I tighten my embrace, so I get to taste both her mouth and chest.

I feel her tongue around my mouth, so I invite it in.

Roxanne moves her tongue around in my mouth.

After my heart was content, I let go of her mouth.

“Good morning, master.”

“Good morning.”

“G-Good morning.”

Sherry seems to be up too.

I release Roxanne from my arms, and pull Sherry close.

I kiss Sherry.

I have my tongue entwine with hers.

After giving her that Mana Pill mouth-to-mouth, Sherry seems to have become responsive at kissing.

I slowly move it around in Sherry’s mouth.

“Good morning to you too, Sherry.”

After tasting it fully, I separate my mouth from hers.

Today, we intend to move to floor 8 of Quratar town labyrinth as well.

After readying our equipment, I Warp us to Quratar town labyrinth floor 7.

“At boss level, Slow Rabbit turns into Rapid Rabbit. It moves quickly, so it’s a troublesome monster. Magic attacks are not effective, for it can dodge magic attacks with ease. It’s likely to be a drawn out battle, so we can’t afford to be careless.”

On our way to the boss room, I ask Sherry for information on the boss.

“Would it be difficult to surround the boss with us three?”

“It would probably be. I think I should use spear this time. Hammer is too large and slow to use, so it can be dodged.”

We confirm the location of the boss room.

And mark it on the floor map.

When we arrived at the waiting room, there was no one in queue.

I was concerned about long waiting line, for the battle is supposed to be drawn out. However, there were not many people around this early in the morning.

“For now, we will hunt Slow Rabbits. Then after breakfast, we will go to the Imperial Capital. Roxanne, search for Slow Rabbits in this area.”

“Understood.”

Because Sherry is borrowing Roxanne’s negligee, we need to buy one more.

We can also sell rabbit fur to the clothing store in the Imperial Capital.

However, that was only half the reason. My actual concern was Sherry being Master Smith Lv1.

“Because you just became a Master Smith, you don’t have to overdo it.”

“Okay.”

“Slow Rabbits here can’t be taken out in one hit. If you don’t feel like it, we can move to lower floors.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Because ‘Medium Increase in HP’ and ‘Medium Increase in Endurance’ effects of my Hero job are also effective for Sherry, her defence can’t be weak as a paper.

Because I changed her job from Villager just yesterday, it’s better if her opponent is only a Slow Rabbit.

What would she do in this state against a boss level monster?

There’s another option of changing her job back to Explorer Lv10.

We hunted Slow Rabbits around for a while.

“How are the monster attacks?”

I ask Sherry.

When we were facing groups of three, Sherry received attacks.

“I’m fine.”

“How is it compared to yesterday?”

“As you would expect, it was better with Explorer yesterday.”

It is needless to ask something obvious.

However, she was a Villager yesterday, not Explorer.

“Would you be fine with the boss battle?”

“I think I’ll be fine. I’ll do my best.”

It seems risky.

Because ‘I’ll do my best’ situations are most of the times impossible situations.

Even if it’s worth a try, if we fail in the labyrinth, what awaits us is death.

Because the boss this time moves quickly, we should expect to receive attacks.

“Let’s go to the boss room then. Just to be safe, I’ll revert Sherry’s job back to the original.”

“Is such a thing even possible?”

“Of course.”

I change Sherry’s job to Explorer Lv10.

It’s good that I had changed her job earlier from Explorer to Villager.

Had I not, she would have leveled up to Explorer Lv12 or more yesterday.

And she would have noticed it from the size of her Item Box. It would have turned into rather bothersome situation.

After I prepare Durandal, we enter the boss room.

Rapid Rabbit Lv7

It’s body was slightly red in color.

It was no different in size compared to Slow Rabbit.

I raise Durandal, and rush forward.

The moment I swing it down, the monster escapes to the right.

Fast.

Roxanne runs after it to the right.

While running to the right, Rapid Rabbit suddenly kicks the ground, and takes a 90-degrees turn, intending to attack Roxanne.

Roxanne s.h.i.+fts her body, parrying the attack with her s.h.i.+eld.

“Sherry, watch out.”

The rabbit flicks out, and runs toward Sherry.

With a spear in her hands, Sherry waits for it.

The moment the rabbit comes within her range, Sherry thrusts her spear.

However, at that moment, Rapid Rabbit flies to her side.

In but a moment, it jumps diagonally to dodge the spear, and attacks Sherry.

Sherry staggers.

Changing her job back to Explorer Lv10 was a correct decision indeed.

The red monster comes after me now.

Fast.

I hold Durandal up and wait for it, but it changes direction in the nick of time.

“Ugh! it’s quick.”

I make a quick slash, but still miss.

In that moment, it rams into my body from the side.

Guah!

That was quite an impact.

For a Master Smith Lv1, it would be really bad.

The rabbit then runs toward Roxanne.

In the meantime, I cast Healing and Plating on Sherry and myself.

The monster jumps into the air to launch another ramming attack.

Roxanne repels it with her Scimitar.

I see.

That timing.

That precise timing. Such a precise timing.

I can only hope of pulling it off.

If it launches a ramming attack on me, I’m not confident in dodging it like she did.

Rapid Rabbit flips over, and rushes to me next.

While it approaches me, I cast Firestorm.

It’s an Area of Effect magic. Dodging it is impossible.

Amidst the sparks, the rabbit comes to a halt.

Even if it’s a monster, it would falter upon receiving an attack.

I can’t miss this chance. Durandal!

Kuh!

It dodges again. d.a.m.n it!

Only Roxanne has been able to successfully land physical attacks on it.

Can it only be killed by magic attacks?

However, I have no idea how many magic attacks it would take before it dies.

Normal Lv7 monsters take 5 magic attacks before they die. Boss type monsters take three times as much.

Pan even took several strikes of Durandal.

Do I have to keep using magic attack until it dies?

That’s not feasible. I might run out of MP before it dies.

The rabbit comes to attack again.

This time, I draw him in even more.

Only to receive the ramming attack with my body.

I cast Healing and Plating again.

I have to reserve my MP for Healing and Plating too.

Rapid Rabbit charges toward Roxanne in zigzag.

Is it even possible to move like that?

It flies from left to right, approaches from the right, feigns it, and then jumps back to the left.

Roxanne sways half a step down, avoiding the charge lightly.

When they pa.s.s each other by, Roxanne slashes with her Scimitar at its lower body, knocking the rabbit over.

Roxanne’s movement seems superior to Rapid Rabbit.

Roxanne is shutting it out all on her own, blocking it completely.

How long will it take? I have no idea.

Knocked over rabbit now lands on the ground.

Sherry was there in waiting with her spear.

The rabbit receives a diagonal swipe on its side, and rolls over.

“I did it!”

“Wow, great.”

“I thought of trying this.”

Knocked over by Roxanne, it was unable to change its trajectory.

Even if it’s Rapid Rabbit, it can’t change its course in midair.

If you can attack in that instant, it might land successfully.

A spear would be better for such an attack, with its long reach.

Sherry is smart.

The monster stands up immediately, and starts running toward me.

Following Roxanne, Sherry landed an attack too.

I won’t be the only one to keep missing.

I draw Rapid Rabbit in.

Until the last moment.

Until the very last moment.

Close enough to receive its ramming attack with my body.

After I confirm it has jumped to launch its attack, I call for Overwhelming in my mind.

The movement of the demon suddenly becomes slow.

In the slowed down s.p.a.ce, I move to the side to get out of the course of that attack.

Time to teach this rabbit that running speed isn’t decisive factor in a battle.

“Chest!”

I thrust Durandal into the rabbit.

Rapid Rabbit vanishes.

It flicks out again. d.a.m.n it!

Regrettably, we have only one such sword.

With every attack, I can recover a fraction of MP expended in casting Overwhelming.

Because of this, the cost of casting it gets significantly reduced.

I approach it again, swinging Durandal from directly above this time.

To slam it onto the rabbit below.

I swing the sword down.

Rapid Rabbit flicks out and rolls over.

Rather than dodging, it felt more like defending.

Pretty close.

However, two consecutive strikes might not always work.

Ugh! It has never been this difficult to connect a hit.

Because I can recover a fraction of MP with every attack, however, I patiently repeat the same pattern over.

Currently, we have the rabbit cornered.

Again and again, it flicks out and falls over in the vicinity of Sherry.

Sherry doesn’t miss those chances, and pierces it with her spear.

Rapid Rabbit comes at me again.

It charges forward in zigzag.

Has this monster recognized me as a formidable enemy?

However, no matter how much it jumps around, it’s not my concern.

I would simply wait for it to fly at me with ramming attack.

Fu~ how wise of me.

The instant it leaps, I cast Overwhelming.

The movement of Rapid Rabbit slows down.

Because it’s right in front of me, however, dodging it would be difficult. I calmly wait for it.

I hold Durandal up.

It deflects Rapid Rabbit.

The monster rolls over on the ground.

Because I had no choice but to receive its charge from the front, I wasn’t able to direct it toward Sherry.

The rabbit stands up, but doesn’t charge at us.

It seems it has run out of fuel.

Rapid Rabbit turns into smoke, and disappears.

Rabbit meat.

What remained was rabbit meat.

Even for a Slow Rabbit, a normal monster, rabbit meat is a rare drop.

“Is this Chest skill? It’s different from what I heard.”

Sherry picks the item up, and brings it over.

“No, it’s a different skill.”

“I couldn’t see your movement at all.”

“It’s called Overwhelming. Do you know about it?”

“No, I don’t. But it seems to be an amazing skill.”

I can see respect in Sherry’s eyes.

A master’s life is 25 years. I’m not happy about this. (TL: Not sure about what he means here. My guess is that it’s default term of slave contract.)

“Because people don’t know about it, it’s a secret.”

“Ah, okay. I understand.”

I warn Sherry about it, so it’ll be alright.

Did the first emperor not have Overwhelming skill?

Or was the information not pa.s.sed down?

“As expected of master.”

Roxanne praises me.

“Thank you.”

“It was tremendously quick movement. Even I almost lost sight of you.”

You almost lost sight of me? So you didn’t lose sight of me.

It seems Roxanne was able to keep up with my movement under the effect Overwhelming.