Chapter 15: Road to the Capital

I awoke the next morning feeling refreshed after eventually getting to sleep. I knew it would be difficult to get used to the sound of a roaring monster sleeping near me, but somehow I would manage.

I decided not to get up, yet, because I heard the sounds of Rose putting her armor on.

I raised my hand to let her know I was awake.

"Good morning, Mizik! Let me just finish here, and you can get up. Sorry!" She said.

"It's okay. I still don't mind, but I respect you, so I won't look," I said.

"Thank you, Mizik. You're very kind and considerate," Rose said.

Her voice sounded so much more gentle without a helmet.

Although, Rose also had a very refined way of speaking. As if she had been well educated. She might've been a lady of high class...

It made sense because of how her father supposedly acted. It wasn't surprising since she was from the capital.

"How did you sleep?" She asked as I heard the sound of clanking armor.

I don't want to be rude...but honestly...

"I slept...okay... Hey, are you aware of..."

"My snoring kept you awake, didn't it? My apologies... I don't know why I snore so loudly..." Rose said dejectedly.

"N-no! It's okay! Really, I'll get used to it, I promise!"

"You're too nice..."

After that, we ate breakfast and I collected my traps. Then we were on our way.

We followed my map and continued onward just like this.

We did this for several days and kept a routine.

Eventually, I decided to hunt something for the two of us to eat instead of using the food we had in our inventories. I sort of just wanted to impress Rose.

And it worked.

She was surprised at how capable I was at hunting, preparing meat, and cooking.

Rose and I also talked about many things while we traveled together.

She told me a little bit about her family, surprisingly.

Just that they had a lot of influence and that she wanted to get away from everything. She just wanted to live the simple life of an adventurer.

She didn't have the luxury of it, of course.

Still, she loved her family.

I also learned that Rose had a younger sister that got on her nerves a lot. But Rose still cared for her.

Things were going quite well.

Until I made a mistake...

* * *

I awoke in the middle of the night at one point and realised that I really needed to use the toilet.

I hesitantly looked around our camp and noticed that it was quiet.

I wonder where Rose is...

As curious as I was, it wasn't really my business.

Although if she was in danger, I wanted to help her.

Still, I had other things to worry about first.

I made my way into the woods surrounding our camp when I noticed that we were near a rocky area. It felt warm.

Upon closer inspection, I could see that it was a natural hot spring.

Huh. I didn't think I would see something like that out here. I wonder if the water is still hot despite the cold weather...

Unfortunately, curiosity got the better of me after I finished, and I wandered over to the hot spring.

In the moonlight, I saw someone sitting in the water.

I narrowed my eyes and saw that it was a woman.

She had long and beautiful pink hair with icy blue eyes.

I couldn't see any other parts of her body, but I knew one thing for certain.

This woman was absolutely gorgeous.

I was stunned silent by her beauty.

Then I came to a realization...

Oh no. Is this what my dad called peeping? I don't know who this woman is! I need to find Rose and let her know someone is...

Then I realized something else.

Wait...Rose wasn't in the camp. Is that woman...? Oh no...

I panicked and tried to run away, but stepped on a twig... Which snapped loudly. Then I slipped on a rock and fell.

Immediately, the person in the water looked at me and let out a shriek.

"AAAHHHHHH!!!"

She covered herself in a towel and glared at me.

"Who are you!? SPEAK!!!" She shouted.

I'm dead. I'm a dead man!

I covered my eyes and sat up.

"I...I'm so sorry..." I said.

"Wha...MIZIK!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Rose shouted.

SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!!! THIS IS A MISUNDERSTANDING, I SWEAR!!!

"I CAN EXPLAIN!!! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!!" I shouted.

"Shhhh!!! Keep your voice down!" Rose said suddenly.

I opened my eyes and saw her looking around while still wearing her towel. She had moved closer and now stood at the water's edge near me.

From this perspective, I could see that my suspicions were correct.

Rose was absolutely gorgeous. By far the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. So much so, that I began to feel myself almost enter a trance as I stared at her.

She had a slender figure with...a rather large chest...

Then she looked back at me, immediately.

"Stop looking at me!" She said angrily.

I looked away again.

Well, dad. I might come to see you, soon...

Then Rose sighed.

"Alright...first of all, you have a lot of explaining to do. But before that, I need to put some clothes on. So, if you want to live, keep your eyes shut!" She said menacingly.

"Yes ma'am," I replied obediently.

I heard her step out of the water.

A part of me begged to sneak a peek, but I wasn't ready to die tonight.

After I heard the light rustling of her putting clothes on, she tapped my shoulder.

"Is it safe to look?" I asked.

I wasn't taking chances.

"I...guess...?" Rose said.

I opened my eyes and glanced at her.

She was looking at me like I was some kind of common pervert.

"Start talking."

"Is it okay for you to not wear your helmet...?" I asked.

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"You just saw me naked and that's all you have to say!?" Rose said angrily.

"I'm sorry! I swear I didn't see anything!" I said helplessly.

"Wait...really? You didn't see anything?"

"No... Just your face and hair. It was too dark and you were in the water. I didn't know who you were! I...woke up because I had to use the bathroom... I came over here and saw someone in the water and when I looked to see who it was, I slipped and fell!" I said.

"Hmmm...is that true?" Rose said as she leaned really close to my face.

I could feel myself getting really nervous. My heartbeat began to speed up.

Her eyes were gorgeous...they radiated a mystical light.

"Th-that's the truth!" I said.

She remained close to my face for a while until she just sighed and pulled away.

"You're not lying, then."

Phew...

"But...you've seen my face, now... I don't know how this is going to work, then. Obviously, I can't tell if I'm in danger or not with you..." Rose said.

"Danger? Why would you be in danger with me?" I asked.

"I mean...you're an Iratus. You know..." She said.

"Know what?"

"Don't play dumb! You're an Iratus from Noir, right?"

"Rose...my family is in Lorelei. I was born there. My mother was a waitress at the Sleeping Dragon and my father was from Noir."

Rose paused for a moment.

Then she put her hands over her face.

"GAH!!! How could I be so stupid!? That's why you called them your family!" She said angrily.

I was really confused.

"Is there some kind of problem between you and my family in Noir? I've never met them, so..."

"Of course you haven't! You've never left Lorelei... Ugh...I've never felt to stupid in my life... Look, you must keep my identity a secret. Do you understand? No one can know about this," Rose said.

"I don't understand! Are you someone important!? What identity!? You're Rose, right!?"

What are you talking about!?

"N-nevermind that... Yes, I'm Rose. An adventurer. Ugh...I can't believe this happened... I was so careful, too..."

"Please forgive me... It wasn't on purpose, I swear..." I said.

"I know..."

"We can still be friends, right? I don't want to lose my only friend..." I said sadly.

"Wait, what? You still want to be friends?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I want that? You're the best friend I ever had. The only friend I've ever had. Other than Aria, of course, but she's my aunt. Even if you're...really pretty...we can still be just friends," I said.

"D-don't say it like that!"

"I don't know what the big deal is! Although, if I had to guess, your father doesn't want you to get harassed and makes you hide your appearance, right?"

"Something like that...but you're saying you still want to be friends?" Rose said.

I looked her directly in the eyes.

"I do."

"Then...you're not going to treat me differently?" She asked.

"I'll still treat you just as I always have. Although...you don't have to eat with a helmet on if you don't want to, Rose."

Suddenly, she smiled.

I kind of felt my heart skip a beat when she did.

"Most men act differently around me because of my looks. They prefer to see the person I look like instead of the person I am. You're not lying to me, are you?" Rose said as she leaned close to my face again.

She stared intensely into my eyes as if she were trying to detect any hint of lying.

It was nerve-wracking...

"L-look...my dad told me that just because a girl is pretty, doesn't mean she'll make a good wife. I wouldn't lie to you."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Rose said angrily as she pulled away.

"It's just an example! Although...if I ever got married, I would want someone nice like...you..." I said as I looked away.

"A-alright! I get it! Now then...I guess it should be okay as long as you don't tell anyone what I look like. Understood?"

"I promise not to tell anyone!" I said.

Rose seemed satisfied and nodded.

"Well, since you've seen my face, I suppose I don't have to eat with a helmet on anymore. But...only when we're not in public," Rose said.

I slowly got up and brushed the mud and dirt off of my clothes.

"Oh, do you need to bathe, too?" Rose asked.

"It doesn't sound like a bad idea, but I think it would be better if I just went back to sleep..." I said.

I had no intention of being up so late in the first place.

"Understandable. I will also get ready for bed," Rose said.

After that, she went back to the camp and I quickly changed my clothes.

After laying back down, I sighed to myself.

I really messed up...but at least we're still friends!

Shortly after that, I fell asleep.

* * *

When I awoke, I got up and found Rose packing up the camp. She had her armor on, but her helmet remained off.

Her hair was up in a ponytail.

And by the gods, she was even more gorgeous in the daylight. This was going to be difficult. I didn't have experience around girls and I was probably 'at that age' as my father was fond of saying in the past...

She noticed I was awake, immediately.

"Good morning, Mizik. Sleep well?" She said with a smile.

I felt my heart skip a beat when she did that.

I took a deep breath and sighed.

"Yes. I slept well," I replied.

"Good. I'm almost done getting everything together. We can eat after that," she said.

"Before we eat, I might take the opportunity to go bathe," I said.

"Feel free, to. And don't worry, I won't peek," she said.

I wasn't worried.

I quickly made my way back to the stream and got in the water after undressing.

I did my best to get ahold of myself as I cleaned up.

I really screwed up...I hope she isn't secretly mad at me...

Eventually, I sat down in the water and lowered my head. I was still angry at what I had done, but I wanted to make it up to her, somehow.

Once I finished bathing, I went back to camp and found her sitting down and enjoying a sandwich.

I approached and sat down near her with the determination to not be bothered by how she looked.

The two of us ate as usual and she smiled.

"I'm actually relieved that I can trust you, Mizik. Thank you for being so kind," she said.

Please don't smile at me like that.

I seriously had no idea how to act around such a pretty girl. But still...Rose was my friend.

"Thank you for not abandoning me out here..." I said.

"Of course not! I would never do that! That would just be cruel," She said.

"I'm glad. I don't think you'd survive without me, out here," I said.

"H-hey! I can survive! Mostly..." Rose said.

"How about this, keep protecting me, and I'll make sure you don't starve."

"Deal! You have really good cooking skills, Mizik!"

We finished eating and packed up the rest of our things.

"I'm really glad I met you," I said as I smiled and looked at Rose.

"Hm? Did you say something?" Rose said.

"Nothing. Just talking to myself."

* * *

Several days later, we were becoming worried about why we hadn't come across any towns while walking.

"It's weird that we haven't seen any people..." Rose said.

Currently she was wearing her helmet again.

Good thing, too, because looking at her face made me nervous.

I wasn't sure how to behave around her when the helmet came off. I felt safe when it was on because I wouldn't be caught staring.

"Yeah, it's been just over a week and we haven't seen anyone at all..." I said.

As I spoke, we emerged from a path in between trees to see a hastily thrown-together wooden stronghold.

"Hey, Mizik? That looks like a bandit stronghold," Rose said.

"Should we go around?" I asked.

"That might be a good-"

"HALT!!!" A voice shouted.

"Here we go..." Rose said.

Several people rose up out of the grass and bushes around us and ran forward.

Within moments, we were surrounded by bandits wearing low quality iron and leather gear using worn-down weapons.

"Well well...looks like we got a couple of marks! And a one of em' is a lady, too!" One of the men said.

There was jeering from a few others.

"Why don't you take the helmet off, sweetheart? I wanna get a good look at your face!" The bandit said.

"Absolutely not. I would never do such a thing for you filthy bandits!" Rose said angrily.

"Aww...you hurt my feelings! Well then, we get to do this the hard way. Hey, boy. That's a nice sword you have there. Why don't you hand it over? Leave the girl and the sword and we might spare you," he said.

I couldn't help but laugh at his demands.

"What's so funny!? You wanna die, you little shit!?"

"No. It's just...why do you think I'll do as you ask?" I said.

"This little brat... Get him, boys!"

I unsheathed my sword and pointed it at the closest three bandits.

"CHAIN LIGHTNING!" I shouted.

A bolt of electricity shot from my sword and fried them where they stood. They collapsed.

"Iron wall!" Rose said.

She moved close to me and blocked the attacks from another couple of bandits at my side.

Then I turned and dashed over to them.

"LUNAR SLASH!"

I sliced two of them to pieces with ease.

This sword is amazing!

Once five of the bandits lay dead, several more began to gather.

"Oh boy...they're stronger than I thought..." The one from before said.

He turned and ran back to the stronghold, but I held out my sword again.

"Fireball!" I said.

I shot a fireball into his back and he fell to the ground. Although, the force of the impact as well as the explosion from the spell caused a few of his limbs to fly off.

The remaining bandits looked fearful.

Then I saw the stronghold open up.

Several more men came out of it, followed by a man wearing old steel armor with a greatsword on his back. They charged straight towards us.

"Don't worry, Mizik. I'll protect you!" Rose said.

She stepped in front of me and I smiled.

"You two are causing a lot of problems," the large man said as he stopped in place.

"Let us pass and we won't kill the lot of you," Rose said.

"Tch...you show up here, kill my men, and threaten me. Then you just expect me to let you go? You stupid or something?"

I was tired of this, already.

"Rage of Iratus!" I shouted.

Rose looked over to me as I charged at the bandit leader. Before he could draw his sword, I decapitated him.

The other bandits panicked as I began taking them down one by one.

I used magic, along with my sword abilities.

In the process, I noticed that Rage of Iratus seemed to add special effects to my magic. The magic became mixed with the green aura around my body and did more damage.

Once it was done, I felt the effects of my skill run out.

I leveled up five times from that.

"Oh my goodness..." Rose said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"That was amazing!!!" Rose shouted.

"Wait...what?"

"You were so cool! Like a legendary sword user! Or a real adventurer!"

"Rose...I'm both of those things. Remember?" I said.

"Oh! Right! Sorry, I just got caught up in the moment! Ehehe..."

Regardless, we began the task of looting the bandits.

Once the both of us had taken everything of value, we burned the stronghold to the ground after looting it and killing everyone inside.

Actually, it was just one really old guy with an eye patch. He wasn't a problem.

Rose wasn't thrilled about killing people, but they were bandits, so she didn't mind it too much.

Humans gave a lot more exp than monsters, too. We both leveled a few times. Although Rose didn't technically kill anyone, herself.

Using the extra skill points I had obtained, I upgraded a few skills.

I changed Lunar Slash into Full Moon Slash and Magic Arrow into Arcane Ballista.

Regardless, when everything was said and done, we were surprisingly not bothered by all of the killing.

Although, they had been the only people we saw for a week, we still had eachother's company, so it wasn't terribly lonely.

* * *

About five more days passed and we became annoyed at why the compass was leading us around the towns and rest stops.

I pulled out my map and we had a look at it.

"Why haven't we encountered any towns? I stopped by a few on my way to Lorelei! We should have seen them by now!" Rose said angrily.

"Umm...it looks like the compass has been leading us around them for some reason..." I said.

"Stupid compass! We want to visit towns to rest! We can't just sleep in the wilderness all the time! It's cold out here..." Rose said.

Suddenly, the compass flashed. The needle changed direction.

"Are you kidding me...?" I said.

"That's all it took!?" Rose said.

We looked at each other and immediately followed the compass to the next destination.

After a few hours of walking, night was falling and we finally discovered a town.

As soon as the town came into view, we ran towards it. By the time we entered it, the sun had already set.

"Should we find a place to sleep? Or should we get dinner first? I can't decide... I want to eat, but this place looks a bit...run-down..." Rose said.

I wasn't feeling too hungry and we had food in our inventories that I had made for the both of us. Thankfully so, because I wasn't sure I trusted this place.

"Let's just find a place to sleep. We have food, right?" I said.

Rose nodded and we entered the nearest Inn.

There was an older man with a dead look in his eyes standing at the counter.

"One room, please!" I said to him with a smile.

He looked at the two of us.

"A hundred gold for two people," he said.

The price was fairly steep, but I decided to just pay it.

After I gave him the money, he slid an old key over to me.

"Third room on the left upstairs."

"Thanks!"

We went upstairs and found the room quickly.

Once we entered the room, we stopped for a moment.

"That was a bit expensive..." I said.

"You didn't have to pay for all of it. I would have helped. Let me pay you back!" Rose said.

"Don't worry about it, Rose. I have plenty of money saved up from working at the Inn," I said.

"Well...let me make it up to you somehow!" She said.

I shook my head.

"Thank you for being my friend, Rose," I said.

"You're impossible..."

I walked over to the bed.

There was only one.

The room was really old, too. There were cobwebs in the corner and it was lit with a small lantern on an old desk.

The bed was old and dirty. There were stains of an unknown substance that might've been blood on it and I thought I saw a bug in the sheets.

"This bed is...disgusting..." I said.

I heard a quiet gasp from Rose.

"Ewww...I think I would rather sleep on the floor..."

I decided to check the bathroom after that and found that it likely hadn't been cleaned thoroughly in a very long time...

This room was absolutely disgusting.

"I'll just sleep in the corner," I said.

"I might sleep close to you as well..." Rose said.

We walked close to the corner and saw spider webs with a few spiders moving in them.

Rose got behind me immediately.

"Uh...Rose?"

"S-sorry... I'm...umm..."

"Don't tell me... Are you afraid of bugs or something?" I asked casually.

She slowly nodded.

As fearless as you are, I find that hard to believe. But I guess everyone has their weakness...

I smiled at her.

"Don't worry, then. I'll get rid of any bugs that get near us, okay? Just relax!"

"You're too kind...really..." She said.

There was a tone in her voice I hadn't heard before. A quiet relief mixed with genuine happiness.

I spent the next few minutes killing the spiders, getting rid of the webs, and searching around on the floor for more of the bastards.

Luckily, aside from the corner and the bed, there didn't seem to be any around.

We slowly got ready for bed after that and chose not to use the shower.

I laid down with my blanket near the wall and Rose got into her sleeping bag. She was between me and the wall, but scooted closer to me.

As if she were depending on me to be a shield or something...not that I minded.

She seemed to be a lot closer to me than normal...enough to make me really nervous...

I could still see her face and all.

And wow...even up close, I was made speechless by her beauty. Rose was gorgeous beyond words.

I considered myself lucky just to have the opportunity to be her friend. And because of that, I was determined to protect her.

As uncomfortable as she was not wearing her armor in this place, I promised not to let anything bad happen.

Despite the fact that we could hear a man and a woman yelling at eachother in the next room, we did our best to relax.

Then the arguing stopped.

Moments later, we could hear...moaning...

"Ugh...really...?" Rose said quietly.

I was already bothered enough by being so close to Rose when she didn't wear her armor. I didn't need to hear people going at it like animals.

"Let's just try to sleep..." I said.

Rose nodded and despite being uncomfortable, she managed to sleep fairly quickly.

And then the snoring began again...

However, I had become accustomed to her snoring and found it to be somewhat calming.

I allowed myself to fall into a light sleep.

Unfortunately, I woke up in the middle of the night and had to use the toilet.

When I came out of the bathroom, I heard someone walking close to our door. I heard the knob being fiddled with and decided to wake Rose up.

I quickly reached over and touched her shoulder to wake her up.

Although, I hesitated somewhat. I didn't feel right about just touching her without permission.

"Nnn...huh...?" She said.

"Shhh. Be quiet," I whispered.

She looked at me curiously and I turned towards the door.

"Enemy detection, nightvision," I whispered.

I saw a red outline appear behind the door.

Moments later, it opened and a hooded figure walked into the room.

Based on the shape of the body, I could tell it was a man. He wore a mask over his face as well.

He had a dagger in his hand and moved quickly up to the bed.

The figure didn't seem to notice us huddled in the corner. Rose grabbed my blanket and pulled it over herself to hide her appearance.

I snuck up behind the man as he pulled the sheets on the bed back.

He paused as soon as he realized that no one was in the bed and I held my sword up to his throat.

"Drop it," I said.

He let go of the dagger and it fell to the floor.

"Turn around and take off the mask."

He did as I asked.

When the mask came off, I realized that it was the man at the counter from earlier.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rose sneak into the bathroom and shut the door.

Good. Get your armor on.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked.

"Thought you were just some stupid kids. I was only gonna take your sword, I swear!" He said somewhat fearfully.

I'm going to start putting this thing in my inventory...

"What was the dagger for?"

"In case you resisted..."

The bathroom door opened and a fully armored Rose emerged with her sword out.

She approached the man and pointed it at his throat.

"I think you owe us a refund. We'll be leaving this filthy place," she said.

The man nodded and led us back downstairs while we held our swords to his back.

He went behind the counter and counted out the hundred gold I gave him.

Then I had a thought...

"I think we deserve more for the trouble at this hour, don't you think?" I said.

He nodded and counted out fifty more pieces of gold.

I took the money and we left.

After we made it outside, I could already tell Rose was unhappy with what I did.

"Was it necessary to take his money?" She asked.

"No...but think of it as payment for his crimes. He caused us trouble and paid the price. Hopefully, he won't do it again," I said.

[I approve.]

Not now. Who are you!?

[Vengeance. We will speak later.]

Okay...

"That's an interesting way of looking at it. I think I can accept that," Rose said.

I shook my head to get out of the daze I was in as a result of speaking to the voice in my head and nodded to Rose's words.

Currently, the sun had yet to rise.

We quickly made our way out of town as I saw several more people eying us from the shadows. They were outlined in red since enemy detection was still active. Because of this, I tapped Rose on the arm.

"We need to get out of here. The longer we stay, the more danger we're in," I said.

"Agreed...some of these people look really questionable."

More like we might be in a village of criminals or something...

Once we made it out of town, we walked for a while until the sun came up.

As the light began to shine on the new day, Rose walked up beside me.

"I think I recognize this area. If we hurry, we might be able to reach Albatross by the end of the day," she said.

"Then let's get moving."

And just like that, the two of us were moving again.