Omake: Lusia the Adventurer... Again
South of the Kingdom of Laptalia's Capitol, even further south than the town of Lancilia, lies the village of Lurkia. An unremarkable border village, filled with simple farmers living off the land.
However, recently, this humble town has come face to face with a problem that they could not face. That of a Dragon.
Rare creatures though they may be, it is not unheard of for a Dragon to move it's habitat, and three months ago, that is exactly what happened. A Dragon, a Green Dragon, has made its home in the nearby mountains, from where it has since raided the village once every week, feeding itself on their cattle and goats.
Without their farm animals, such a small community could not survive the coming months, but being so far away from the Capitol, no amount of appeals will bring the Army to save them.
This is not an unexpected scenario, truth be told, which is why the village sent a boy out to a larger town in order to put up a request to the Adventurers to come and slay the Dragon, even going so far as the town of Lancilia with their request, hoping that the glory of facing a dragon will appeal to someone enough to make up for the lacking pay.
They are only humble farmers, they cannot afford the usual bounty offered to slay a creature of such magnitude. Dragons are after all, S-Ranked Monsters, holding the power to bring ruin to an entire Kingdom. Just another reason why the Army would never go out of their way to slay it, even if it would be enough to simply send a single member of the Royal Guard.
And hoping for an S-Rank Adventurer to show up is nothing short of a fairy-tale. The number of S-Ranked Adventurers can almost be counted on one's hands, and they are always busy, far too busy for simple matters like this, especially with the rise of a new Demon Lord, they are fighting at the front lines of Humanity, even now.
Asking them to come all this way for a single Dragon would be an insult.
Luckily, a party of A-Rank Adventurers should be enough to kill a single Dragon, and it just so happens, that Lurkia's desperate pleas have reached enough ears that a small number of A-Rank Adventurers have answered the call.
The first to arrive was a Knight and a Cleric, answering the call but deciding to wait in the village for more to come, knowing that they could not face a Dragon alone.
Then the second party arrived, another Knight, a Ranger and a Mage. Right now, the five of them are sitting inside of the local tavern, discussing their strategy for this quest, confident that five of them is enough, especially with a Mage and Cleric present.
Nobody would dare fight a Green Dragon without someone Adept at Magic with them; doing so would be tantamount to suicide.
However, shortly after their drinks arrive, and before they can truly start getting to know each other, the quiet tavern doors are swung open, catching their eyes as a pair of women walk in.
The first woman immediately and effortlessly grabs the attention of everyone present, from her hips, clad in a strange black leather, swaying enticingly as she walks barefoot, to her vibrant red hair that flows down her back over her long, black cardigan.
Her face is a thing of beauty, as if sculpted by the Gods themselves, perfectly symmetrical with eyes of a deep forest and ruby red lips that only compliment her red shirt, cropped to show her toned stomach.
However, the unnatural beauty of the first woman does not detract from the latter's. In fact, with how opposite they are, it only compliments.
For where the red-headed woman all but exudes wild sexuality, the other has instead an air of subdued nobility, with high cheeks and fine features, her long blonde hair draped over a fancy, expensive looking dress. She walks with the refined air of one who grew up wealthy, her gait alone separating her from the rabble.
The only thing that would ruin the image would be the half-mask covering the upper-half of her face, but that is not the case, as the high quality of the mask instead only enhances the image of nobility, as if she is of such importance to the world that merely letting common folk gaze upon her bare face would be a crime.
However, the pair do not make their way over to the bar, instead, the wild one of the two immediately locks eyes with the seated Adventurers, picking them from the crowd in an instant and walking over, a slight smile on her face as she does so, with her partner following sedately from behind.
"Yo~. You guys here for the lizard?" The red-head raises a lazy arm with her greeting as she reaches the table, and the first to greet them is the Ranger, a man with dirty blond hair that goes down to his shoulders, and a lean build dressed in light leathers and bright blue eyes, who rises from his seat to offer his hand for a shake.
"Indeed we are!~ Would you two lovely ladies also be seeking the same prey?" One of his partners, an academic woman with lightly aristocratic features and soft brown hair up in a bun, facepalms at his flirtatious tone, all too used to dealing with it.
"Sure are~." The red-head takes the offered hand and shakes it with her words, "name's Lusia, and this is Eve, it's a pleasure."
"Oh the pleasure is all mine Miss Lusia, Eve. My name is Clyde, greatest Rogue this side of The Divide. Say, what is the relationship between you two? Sisters? Dating? Experimenting?" As Clyde is wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, his Mage partner smacks him upside the head with her stave, all the while his Knight partner, an incredibly well built man of darker skin with a buzzcut, wearing simple but clearly valuable armour, grabs hold of his shirt and drags him back to his seat.
"I am so sorry about him," he says as he stands himself, bowing from the waist with an embarrassed chuckle, "Clyde loses brain function when he sees pretty women, or just women in general really. I'm sorry again."
"Eh, don't worry about it, I know the feel~." Lusia gives the restrained Clyde a wink to punctuate her words, making him puff up with pride and the party of two chuckle quietly at the sigh of defeat that comes from both of his partners, quietly mumbling something about 'another one'.
"Well, I'm glad there's no hard feelings in that case. My name is Brock, and the lady with the stick over there is Nicole, our resident Sanctum alumni." Nicole gives a small wave as she is introduced, and Brock re-takes his seat as the other party of two rises, the Knight offering his hand in greeting first.
"Hello Lusia, my name is Matthews, and as you can likely tell, I am a Knight, much Like Brock over here." Matthews is polar opposite to Brock, despite having the same profession. He has skin as white as snow, with blond hair almost as fair as Eve's and armour that seems polished and ready for a parade.
Continuing, he moves his arm to gesture to the woman by his side. "And this is Julia, a Cleric of Light. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Julia nods her head in greeting, but otherwise doesn't comment.
Shaking his hand over the round table, Lusia takes the seat offered to her by Eve, who dragged a pair over from a nearby table, and sits down, with Even shortly following.
"If I may, what are your specialisations?" Nicole asks, leaning forward slightly with curiosity evident in her eyes, "it's just that you don't seem to be dressed as a Knight, but I've also never seen a Magic Caster in such... ahem, good shape." Her eyes flicker down to Lusia's abdomen, where muscle is clearly outlined, if not egregiously.
Noticing the gaze, Lusia shoots the Mage a smirk that causes a light dusting of red to grow on her cheeks, ashamed at getting caught. "Well, I guess I'm a brawler? I don't know, I fight with my fists. My skin is about as tough as any armour I could get and I can tear things apart with my hands as well as I could cut it with a sword, so I never bothered with weapons."
Her words get a round of raised brows from the others at the table, though the answer only serves to make Nicole all the more curious.
"Truly? Would you mind proving that? Not just because I'm curious, though I am, but if we are to be working together, then I'd like to be sure of your durability, if you don't mind?"
"Sure, any of you got a knife?" Lusia says with a shrug, laying her palm out on the table in front of her.
"Err, you can use one of my arrows if you want," Clyde says, drawing a single arrow from his quiver and offering it to Lusia, who takes it with her free hand, "be careful though, these things are pretty sharp."
As if to mock his words, the moment the arrow is in her hand, Lusia doesn't hesitate to slam it straight down onto her waiting hand. Clyde and both the Knights lunge forward slightly on reflex alone as her hand falls, only to freeze in place as the arrowhead hits skin and snaps.
Staring dumbfoundedly at the unblemished skin for a moment, all eyes soon fall back onto Lusia, who only gives them an impish smile and a shrug. "Told y'all. I could bend a steel sword into circle if you want further proof, any takers?" She lifts her hands as if to accept said offered swords, causing both of the Knights to rest their hands over their own swords, suddenly feeling protective over them.
Seeing this, Lusia lets out a small laugh, and the table shares a chuckle, bringing the mood from bafflement back to friendly conversation.
"What about you, Miss Eve?" Clyde says, "you've been pretty quiet, kinda like Julia over there," he points behind him at the Cleric in question with his thumb, "are you a Cleric like her, perchance?"
However, instead of Eve responding herself, it's Lusia that cuts in, answering in her place. "Actually, Eve isn't a fighter, or even an adventurer for that matter, we're just travelling together. She'll be staying here while we skin the lizard."
"Really?" Brock asks with a raised brow, not having seen a high level Adventurer travel with anyone who isn't at least also an Adventurer or student or something similar before.
With all eyes on her, Eve briefly makes eye contact with Lusia and gulps nervously from the look in her eyes. "Y-yes. I do not know how to fight at all, and I have not yet been taught any kind of Magic."
Exchanging glances, Brock and Clyde both share a strange feeling from her words, like there's something going on, but before they can voice any questions, Nicole leans forward once again. "Does that mean you're planning on learning Magic? If you want some pointers, I could help you get started? Not to brag, but I'm a pretty accomplished Mage myself."
Once again, Eve glances at Lusia before responding, speaking with growing confidence as she feeds off of Nicole's positivity. "Um, If it would not be too much of a bother, I think I would like that."
As she accepts the offer, Lusia's lip twitches down for just a moment before her smile returns. A change of expression so swift that only Clyde notices, but when she return's his look with a smile, tilting her head slightly in curiosity for why he's staring at her, he questions himself on whether or not he was seeing things.
"Aha, sorry for staring, I just got lost in your beauty~." His words cause Brock to elbow him in the ribs, though Matthews smiles pleasantly at the banter.
"Don't worry, I completely understand. I am, after all, incredibly sexy. It would be a horrible injustice to not remember me just because you felt too ashamed to stare~."
Her words get a laugh from the men of the table, while Nicole takes the invitation to look Lusia up and down and Julia simply continues to pretend that she is a statue.
Speaking up, Matthews takes the conversation back to topic with a pleasant smile still on his face. "Well, as lovely as conversation is, I believe we should actually discuss how we are going to set about slaying the Dragon. The six of us should be enough, but a little strategy never hurt, no?"
And so, the newly formed temporary party discussed their plans, learning and teaching about their foe and the land they now call home, for tomorrow, they hunt.
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A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
Haven't done one of these in a while. Tbh, I kinda forgot about it, but I was reminded so here we are.
Also, I was really tempted to change 'hunt' to 'ride' at the end there, like the 'tonight we ride' thing.
Also, this one was only 2k rather than the 3k+ of the other two omakes, the reason for this is that it's 5 in th emorning and I'm super fucking tired (big shocker)
(5+)Advanced chapters with the links below!
pat/reon.com/user?u=41732867 (get rid of the first slash or check the description)
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