Chapter 275
A toast to celebrate the defeat of the World Monster, Jerry Cloud Rainy!!!
"Cheers!!!!!!"
Jerry Cloud Rainy, commonly known as the Rainy Devil. Its defeat is a raid monster premise designed to be tackled by leading many NPCs in the game.
Its stats are vastly different from a regular boss, making solo defeat unrealistic. It's not something achievable with just ordinary effort.
Humans and spirits are alike in wanting to celebrate after successfully defeating such a monster.The group, already drunk and raising their glasses for what feels like the umpteenth time, are the macho men who performed well in the battle against the Rainy Devil.
Spirits are fundamentally a bunch who love a good, rowdy party.
After accomplishing such a great feat, simply saying "Good job, thanks for the hard work" like gamers and then disbanding is unthinkable.
A massive banquet on a scale of hundreds of people.
All the spirits who participated in defeating the Rainy Devil are here.
Of course, the supporting spirits are also present, and you can see spirits busily serving food and drink there.
"Wow!! Magnificent!! To think you defeated that Rain Devil so easily!! As expected of Liberta!!"
Amidst the highly excited spirits, I am in the seat of honor, or perhaps what you'd call the birthday seat.Given that the Spirit King is sitting next to me, the location practically screams 'you can guess where I am,' and as I eat the food the serving spirits bring, the Spirit King shows his joy by slapping my back hard. *Thump, thump* - open-handed blows that resonate to the core of my body.
His slightly red face makes it clear he's drunk.
"Well, to be fair, we only won because we had the cooperation of the spirits for more than half of it. Honestly, if it were just our party, we probably couldn't have found a path to victory."
"Thou wouldst have likely found a way to win eventually. But thy humility is also good!"
Ah, truly, all hail stats.If I had been hit with this much power back when I first arrived in this world, my body might have been blown to smithereens.
The wine aroma wafts from the glass in the Spirit King's hand, and about three empty wine bottles are already lying next to where he sits.I knew the Spirit King drank alcohol and got drunk, but this might be the first time I've seen him this cheerful, including in the game.
I've seen him cheerful in a different way at Amina's live shows, but this feels more like the familiar distance of a relative's uncle, wouldn't you say?
"Humility? From my perspective, the conclusion of this battle is that it proceeded smoothly precisely because of the spirits' efforts. The ballista firing control was perfect, they descended from the sky without hesitation and slammed the Rainy Devil into the ground, and they dropped all the bombs accurately without missing their targets."
That's what the Spirit King said, calling me humble, but I think of myself as a greedy human.If I'm going to do something, I want to win perfectly with zero casualties.
From the perspective of someone who knows the reality of the battlefield, isn't that an arrogant, greedy pipe dream that would rightly be called such?
When we actually challenged the Rainy Devil, everyone understood the danger.If we failed, we would die, no joke.
The spirits who fought alongside us on that battlefield are now all here, without a single one missing, participating in this victory celebration, cheering in front of the stage where Amina is singing.
We weren't completely unhurt, of course, but the injuries were only to the extent that recovery magic could heal them.Thanks to that, everyone is happily waving their glow sticks and having fun.
"The spirits' cooperation really saved us."
"That may be so, it is true that my brethren are excellent. But the one who undoubtedly brought out that excellence was thou, Liberta."
If even one person had been missing, we wouldn't have been able to frolic so innocently like this.The spirits who worked hard to fight, and the spirits cooking the feast for them, probably wouldn't have smiles on their faces either.
Back in the game era, after finishing a raid battle, I would frolic with my comrades like this.Immersed in that nostalgic atmosphere, I drink the fruit water I'm holding in one hand.
"I never thought thou couldst make such boring, harsh training not tedious, but rather make them acquire the results proactively.""I simply incorporated fun elements. I focused on being serious during the task, and having a fun review session after it was done."
Only Nel is out of place in this atmosphere, burying her face in Ingrid's lap.The reason Ingrid is comforting Nel, patting her head, is probably because Nel saw her bank account balance.
I said 3 million Zeny was fine for the Last Attack bonus, but fearing they might fail to kill the Rainy Devil at the last moment, Nel added an extra 2 million Zeny on her own judgment.
I don't blame her for that.In a life-or-death battle like that, telling someone to save more money is a comment that could directly lead to death.
That's precisely why I didn't mention it, but she used her Bank skill herself, saw the reduced balance, was stunned, went into shock, and is now in mental recovery mode.
"Hmm, I would like thee to compile that teaching method into a book. It may be useful for protecting the spirit world in the future.""Gladly. The spirits helped me after the Rainy Devil battle too.""Ah, gathering the Mimic Armors?""Yes. Thanks to that, I got some good scrolls."
Averting my eyes from her, the Spirit King said he wanted to know about the training method I used on the spirits this time, and I readily agreed.
That method can only be used with the spirits, and the Spirit King has helped me in many ways, so if I can repay him even a little here, I'm happy to offer it.
After the battle defeating the Rainy Devil, while the effect of Inviting Fortune and Blessings remained, I asked the spirits to dive into the neighboring ancient ruins, Madalda.
Now that the Rainy Devil is gone, monsters should be respawning normally at the monster spawn points.
I had the spirits spread out throughout the ancient ruins to search for Mimic Armors.Then, using spirit corridor communication, they told me their locations, I secured Memory Stones, and dashed to the Mimic Armors.
I had spirits guard the Mimic Armors so other monsters wouldn't kill them, I used the Memory Stones on them, and then defeated them, repeating the process.
The ancient weapons that appeared were collected by the spirits, and we remained light to move on to the next hunt.
By utilizing my Class 8 physical abilities, I could fully use the remaining time of Inviting Fortune and Blessings to collect ancient weapons.
I was tired, sure, but that's the fault of the Mimic Armor that respawned right in front of me right after defeating the Rainy Devil.
Thanks to that, we were a little late returning to the spirit world.
"And so, thou return to Rendell tomorrow, correct?""Yes. I need to take the information obtained here back and report.""Hmm, I see."
I had already reported the completion of the subjugation to the Spirit King beforehand, so he wasn't worried, but he was astonished that I went hunting Mimic Armors right after a life-or-death battle, saying it was a waste of the Inviting Fortune and Blessings effect time.
And thus, the final day, the day we leave the spirit world, has finally come.
"I shall be lonely."
For better or worse, these two years must have been a stimulating daily life for the spirits as well.A look of loneliness appears on the Spirit King's face, which was cheerful until just now.
"That said, I've requested the production of equipment from the Rainy Devil materials, and I'm having you prepare weapons for the decisive battle against Azidahaka. I'll drop by now and then, okay?""Hahaha! That's true!""Yes. Besides, this place has no troublesome human relationships, so it's the best sanctuary for us. We'll come and go until we're banned.""Kukuku, how about settling permanently in the spirit world? Wouldn't that be acceptable?""Maybe when I'm retired. But well, right now I have many things I want to do.""Then, I shall leave that house as it is. So it's ready for whenever thou comest."
It's a lonely smile, like a child whose fun time has ended.But it's not an eternal farewell.
If I promise to come again, his cheerful smile from earlier returns.
"Thank you. Besides, if I don't come regularly for live shows, a riot might break out, and I need to check on the clan's situation.""Indeed, that is so!"
After all, having established the "Amina Fan Club," a clan with a ridiculous membership number from the start, I have a responsibility to manage it.Starting tomorrow, the time adjustment in the spirit world will sync with the original world.
So, I need to drop by now and then to alleviate the spirits' dissatisfaction.
Firstly, it's really great here because there's little trouble. Interpersonally, I can relax, so frankly, I'm considering making the spirit world my base.
But doing that would make gathering information over there quite troublesome, so it's still under consideration for now. Also, I have a meeting with His Grace the Duke tomorrow.
"After returning, first I have to report and explain the situation to His Grace the Duke. Sigh, it's a heavy burden.""Liberta, is something wrong?""Probably worrying about how to explain the sound of the bombs used on the Rainy Devil."
As we were having that conversation, Lady Esmeralda and Claudia, who were chatting nearby, joined in.
"That's exactly it. I'm aware I certainly didn't have the leeway to cover that up during that battle, and that I produced an tremendous explosive noise. I don't know how far it was heard, but it definitely reached nearby villages and towns."
What I'm concerned about is the noise from the numerous bombs used in this battle.Especially the simultaneous use of the bombs made with abundant Class 8 magic stones was bad.
I'm aware that I made a noise so loud I don't know how far it reached.
I'm worried it might be considered an abnormality with a single blast, or even called the end of the world.I don't think it was heard as far as the royal capital, but the information has certainly reached His Grace the Duke's ears.
It's very possible they used the crystal magic tool I saw during the Stampede, citing an emergency, so I'll probably be asked for an explanation when I meet the Duke.
"You can leave the meeting with my father to me. I will take full responsibility to explain that Liberta has not done anything wrong.""I'm counting on you.""Yes! Leave it to me!!"
It's a real help to have family as allies at times like this.Although, this time, that very family, Lady Esmeralda, is also a factor increasing what needs to be explained to the Duke.
"Is something the matter?""No, I was just thinking you've become more beautiful.""My, I'm glad to hear that."
Her level increased, and her beauty increased too.Seeing that change in Lady Esmeralda, that Duke definitely won't say nothing.
I was staring at her face like that, and she seemed to think something was up, so when I honestly told her the reason I was looking at her face, she gave me an elegant, gentle smile.She must be used to hearing such words in noble society, but she still replies with a happy smile.
Somehow, her expressions feel very natural.
"How sweet.""It is sweet.""I have some rather spicy liquor here; would you like some?""I'll have some. Excuse me, could I also have some of that slightly salty dish over there?""Order some for me as well."
The Spirit King and Claudia are enthusiastically drinking, but it's a celebration. There's no need to say anything, and I doubt the king who rules the spirit world and a human with Class 8 stats would get sick from celebratory drinks.
"Guild Master!! Come over here and let's discuss muscles!!""No, Guild Master should come here and talk about new tactical theories!!"
So today, let's enjoy ourselves to the fullest.For now, I'll excuse myself to everyone here and accept the spirits' invitation.