/monster/ - The Last Bastion of Romance★

I sure cannot wait to get fucked by centaur steppe bandits.

>>271931

In hindsight we are even more fucked if we come across whatever the female version of Sea Raiders would be. At any rate we should stay the fuck away from desert, steppe and coastal areas.

>lizardman sea raiders

>>271842

>>271864

>>271933

>>271950

>>271950

As you drink your ale you turn to the bartender and inquire about jobs and weapons. The overly excited oni explains in detail how to get to the guild master and the weapon smith, offering to go with you, saying she knows them, but a quick glare from the fox lady cleaning the tables makes her retract her statement. As soon as you mention you can sing, she halts her silence.

"You can sing? Why don't you sing here? You have a beautiful voice, so I really want to see you sing. It might not look like it right now, but this place gets filled to the brim at night! Right now, most adventurers are either yesterday's booze off or have already gone off into the woods, but when night comes, trust me, this place will be full! You'll earn quite a bit of coin, so there's that!"

You thank her and walk out towards the guild master's hall. On the way you spot the weapon smith and walk in.

The simple but large place looks like any other from the outside, but it's insides are filled with tools and weapons of the most varied kind. The blacksmith is a red-skinned oni with two short horns, she is wearing nothing but a binding on her breasts and a simple knee-height cloth, leaving her muscles and sweat, which reflects the fire of the forge, in plain sight. As you walk in she gives you a smile and a small nod, as to acknowledge your entrance, and continues beating on a red-hot sword with a large hammer. You look around the store and find various kinds of weapons, from the normal axes and swords to large thin swords specifically made to cut through skin. There isn't any ranged weapon in sight, only melee ones and pure iron shields. A rock with a rudimentarily carved number rests near each weapon, displaying it's price. You inspect each weapon and it's price, noticing you can afford any weapon in the shop. You give the weapon smith a small nod as you leave, preferring to get a task before choosing a weapon.

From the weapon smith to the guild master it's a short walk, and you quickly arrive. You enter the long hall and the old man sitting at the end of it notices you instantly. He beckons you on and you walk to him.

"I haven't seen you before, are you new here? Anyway, are you here to post a job or to take one?"

"I want to take a job, with a party, if possible."

"With a party, huh? Well, you might be in luck. There's a Kitsune-bi rampaging by a nearby village and there's money for anyone who manages to stop it. A party already took the job, but they mentioned they wanted more people. They'll leave tomorrow morning, so you can still join in. Aside from that, there are some collection jobs from alchemists and craftsman, but I reckon you aren't one for that kind of work."

It's noon.

What weapon do you buy and what job do you take?

>>272001

I want to avoid going into Druid tbh. As cool as it sounds I picture MC as this later on.

>>271994

>>272027

>>272063

>>272103

>>272817

You walk back to the blacksmith, taking a look around town as you do so. You've only been here hours, but it feels as though you'll never stop being impressed by this new sight. As you think about the town you arrive at the blacksmith.

Not hearing the metal pounding sound of before, you take a peek inside to make sure it's open. The faint smile of the blacksmith invites you inside. You call out to her and ask about the weapons. She looks up at you from the axe head she is cleaning with a wet rag.

"Yes, I have those. Just give me a second."

Her muffled rough voice feels weird when taking her strong body in consideration, and yet it's oddly fitting.

You watch as she sets the axe head aside and walks through a dark door in the back. After a few seconds of metallic sounds she walks out of the room with the weapons you requested and sets them on a table. She looks around her armors a bit before taking a gambeson out. She calls out to you before handing it to you.

"Here, try it out while I clean your weapons."

You wear the gambeson and move around a bit, it feels surprisingly easy to move in. It's not as thick as you'd expect, but it provides enough protection for it's cost.

The oni blacksmith sharpens your dagger and short sword on a grinding stone before cleaning them with some unknown oils. The shield is already sparkling cleans, she probably cleaned it in the short time you messed around in the gambeson.

Before long your weapons are clean. You thank the blacksmith and pay her for your items. The price is so surprisingly cheap you can't muster the courage to negotiate. Strapping your sword to your side, your shield to your arm and leaving the dagger in an easy to reach place inside your gambeson, you walk back to the inn.

As you walk in the bartender oni calls out to you excitedly. You thank her for the blacksmith and she remarks how comfy your coat looks.

Your small talk continues throughout the whole afternoon. Eventually the sun fades away and adventurers flood in. The oni proves to be surprisingly good at her job, serving multiple people at once while still talking to you. Eventually you're getting ready to sing, so you call out to the bartender and make a small bet on whether she'll like your singing.

"If you don't like my singing I'll do anything you want."

"What if I like it?"

"You'll give me a kiss, how about it?"

Your reply leaves the oni flustered. Her cheeks shine bright red and she hesitates for a while.

"S-sure"

She quietly replies and goes back to her job. You chug your ale down and go sing in the middle of the travelers and adventurers.

After a couple songs you asks the bartender for an ale. As she's handing it to you you almost kiss her ear and whisper to her.

"So, how about it?"

She averts her gaze and tries to say something, but settles for a quick kiss. The adventurers enthusiastically cheer.

"Bartender, do you have a sister to bring me some ale?"

"Bartender, bring me some of his children!"

Their comments quickly chase the bashful oni away.

After singing a bit more you settle down and look over your earnings, you've earned a part of the weapons' cost back. If every day was like this, and everything was as cheap as those weapons, you could probably live here on singing alone. As you think that to yourself female arms wrap around your neck from behind, a fluffy tail gently brushes against your leg and you can feel her breath tickling your ear.

"You know she's 14, right?"

The kitsune asks you.

It's late evening.

What do you reply? Do you wake up early to join the adventurers or go for some other job?

Sorry for the late post. Shit happens and so do hackers.

>>277958

"What's wrong with being a nice guy?"

You reply to the kitsune while looking back. The ale you're drinking hides your smug smile. You see a familiar kitsune, the one who generally cleans the inn.

"If that's all that's fine… but do remember she's like a daughter for me. If you ever do anything to her, I'll make you take responsibility."

The kitsune says with a menacing smile before leaving. That kind of smile explains her words better than the words themselves.

You finish your ale and head up to your room, putting your coins in your bag before going to sleep. You usually take a long time to sleep in calm days such as this, but somehow you manage to sleep after just a few minutes of tossing around.

A knock on the door wakes you up. The normally cheerful voice of the young oni sounds surprisingly meek as she goes from door to door, only waking up the ones who asked to be woken up this early in the morning.

You get quickly get dressed and walk down to eat something. The kitsune is serving food, instead of the usual oni, she acts normal around you, any and all anger she had towards you yesterday seems to have disappeared as she just treats you like a client. You silently eat and drink as you listen to the talks of those around you, something you learned to do as a merchant. The walls don't have ears, so you make do.

You hear a rumor about a pillar of shadow going up to the skies in the Demon Land, but it's met with general disbelief.

After a while the adventurers sit around a table and start eating and talking about the quest. You go up to them and present yourself, telling them you wish to join them in the quest. As with most adventurers you know, they're surprisingly nonchalant about trusting a stranger to join them and you quickly get used to the party. The party is composed of four adventurers.

Utkor - A berserker bare except for his ragged leather pants, a belt around them holding various weird looking potions and a wolf pet on his back.

Wen - A wendigo. She's married to Utkor, apparently her name was chosen by him. Her specialty is "sneaking up and tearing others appart" according to her husband.

Freiya - A redheaded badger. According to Utkor's remarks, she's almost as small as the wendigo under the coat. Despite being small, she uses a huge greatsword whose size slightly surpasses her own. She wears a light leather armor, a small bow around her torso and two quivers, one on each side of her hip. Unknown to the group.

Yuri - A human priestess, a "miko" according to herself. She excels on enchantments, exorcism and certain kinds of buffs, but her combat ability against anything that isn't a complete monster, ghost or demon is negligible. Apparently she knows the two married adventurers.

You talk with the adventurers for a while to learn more about each other while eating breakfast. There's no way to reach the other village in a single day, so there's no reason to rush. You decide to meet for lunch then leave and camp midway.

It's early morning.

What do you do until lunch?

>>278513

>Priestess named Yuri

Pic related

We should talk to the Oni, let her know that she's a qt but we didn't realize she was so young, and it would be irresponsible of us to hook up with her since we're planning to leave for dangerous adventure. She's got a nice thing going here and she shouldn't throw it away for the first bard to flirt with her, no matter how incredibly sexy his singing voice is.

It's possible we stole her first kiss, if so we need to take responsibility, get her some flowers or something

>>278526

>>278893

>>279716

You walk around town a bit, seeking a place to practice your sword and buffs before going into battle. You spot a plain a short walk away from town and walk there, looking around town as you do so. You reach the plain, it is desolated except for a single tree amidst all the short grass. You unsheathe your sword and start practicing. Your arms swung high and low, using muscles you've never used before and trying techniques you've only seen others use. As the time of dinner approached your arms were tired and your throat dry. You sung and buffed yourself, but you noticed your sword somewhat resonated with the sound of your voice, maybe you could learn how to buff weapons, instead of their wielder, should you choose to practice this approach more. As you returned to the inn you came upon a flowery field. After picking some flowers to give to the young oni, you walked to the inn.

As you open the doors you see the mostly empty hall in the first floor of the inn. The kitsune is reading a book in a chair in the back and the oni is cleaning, but there are no others in sight. You approach the oni with a friendly smile.

"Hey."

Your calling makes her flinch. She looks around with a flushed face and, after a bit of stuttering manages to reply.

"H-hey"

You give her the flowers and apologize for taking her first kiss. After a short monologue you're done explaining to her the reasons why you can't and shouldn't be together. After blankly staring for a couple seconds she opens her mouth and stutters once again.

"Y-you thought that was my first kiss? I-I'm sorry but I already kissed a hundred like you before, sorry to ruin yours dreams. Don't worry, I won't be sad. I quite liked you so I will think about you sometimes but I knew it wouldn't work out in the end. Try not to cry too much though, you'll make me sad. A-anyway, I have to cleans upstairs so I'll be going. It was nice knowing you."

Before she turns around you decide to give her a small memento. Your hands reach for the soft hair behind her horn and quickly stroke it.

"Yeah, bye."

You say, sporting your normal smile, instead of your merchant one you usually wear. The oni runs up a pair of starts while you plop down on a chair. You see a hand place a glass of ale in front of you and look up.

"Thanks. She'll be sad for a while, but it'll be better in the long run. Have this, it's on the house."

The kitsune says a brief sentence as she returns to her table to continue reading her book.

After a bit of waiting your companions arrive. As you eat and talk with your party, you notice how desolate this place feels during the day. After a bit of lazing around everyone agrees it's time to go.

You try to get up but a pain in your left arm makes you fall back down in your chair. A superficial examination shows there's nothing wrong with it and you can still use your arm fine, so you pass it off as a slip and get up once again.

You walk up to your room and pick up your things, staying fully ready for the path before you.

It's noon.

Do you do anything before leaving?

I had some free time and I remembered I had promised to post before, so have a midweek update.

>>279825

>>279939

You quickly get ready and go down to the dinning hall. Your party still hasn't arrived, you're alone, safe for the kitsune. You decide to get some information before heading out on some unknown land. Most adventurers are either still sleeping or have already left, leaving only locals left. It doesn't look like anyone else would know anything from the outside world, so you try asking the fox.

"Anything you should know? Well, the miko probably knows enough about the surroundings, so there isn't much else I could tell you other than be careful… Oh yes, that's right, be careful of how you handle your weapons, don't just act hostile because of any rustling you hear. There are rumors that there's someone living in the woods you'll pass by, he's attacking anyone that points a sword towards him, but for some reason he just ignores anyone else."

You wait a while and see Yuri and Freiya coming down. You call Yuri aside as casually as you can and ask her about your arm. A quick examination shows there isn't anything wrong with your arm, but there are signs that a monster sucked a bit of mana out of your body.

Utkor and the Kitsune go get your horses while you and the others wait. The two girls get up and start walking to the front of the inn, you get up to do the same but something holds you back. It's not hard to guess who with the single horn rubbing against the back of your head.

"Don't die."

Says the oni hugging you from behind. She gives you a quick squeeze before running back upstairs. By the time you look back she's already gone, so you just walk out with the others. As you walk out you hear Freiya's and Yuri's voice.

"I don't have a horse, so I'll walk. Badgers are fast, I won't hold you back."

"We can't have that, you'll get tired!"

There are three horses for five adventurers. Utkor's, Wen's and yours. Upon seeing you, you hear Wen's quiet yet clearly audible voice for the first time.

"New girl with new guy. Miko with me."

"Then it's settled!"

Utkor's enthusiastic voice declares the issue settled before anyone could think.

Freiya hugs you tightly from behind as you both ride on the same horse. You can't help but wonder how it would feel without your thick gambeson. That's not to say it isn't helping you. As you rode away from the town the air got colder every minute, eventually turning cold enough to freeze the water into snow. The island you lived in got really cold during winter, but never this cold. You probably wouldn't be able to stay awake, were it not for the gambeson.

As the five of you ride, the only sounds that can be heard is the trotting of the horses and the voices of the three adventurers, yours, Utkor's and Yuri's. Wen's voice, however, was never heard again since the inn, and the already quiet Freiya was even quieter during the travel.

After a few hours of travel you hear footsteps approaching. Utkor and Freya instinctively draw their weapons. The footsteps suddenly stop and a figure appears in front of you. Her movements are sluggish enough for you to see, but the surprise prevents you from acting. As her sword advances towards you your shield suddenly moves and blocks her attack. She falls to the ground. She tries to raise her head and lets out a single word with a week voice before letting her head go and staying there unmoving.

"Master…."

The figure appears to be a human girl, but her rotten right arm shows she's not. The girl wears a damaged armored dress and a binding around her large breasts. Her arms and torso are unclothed, showing her toned and scarred body. The weapon she used to attack you appears like one of the curved blades you saw on the blacksmith, but hers has an ominous feeling.

"What was that?"

"An ochimusha, an undead warrior. Seems she's just died recently, but her will to protect something has brought her back to life. Her soul is not yet bound to this undying body, I could try purifying her. "

The priestess answers your question.

It's late evening, you'll have to camp soon.

What do you do?

>>280498

>>280305

>>280498

You simply nod in answer to the priestess, the silence of the others shows no disagreement.

Yuri puts her hand forward and starts purifying the undead girl. Her chants bring forth magic circles which embrace the area in a bright white light. Yuri normally looked like a normal innocent young girl, but as she did her job as a priestess she looked serious, divine even. The unconscious ochimusha couldn't even resist as her life left body, taking any and all demonic essence with it. After a while the process was done, leaving you with her lifeless now human body.

"Found."

The quiet voice you thought you'd never hear again resonated within your eardrums. Wen stood near an object in the ground, as you got closer the object got clearer. There laid a young girl on the ground adorned with fancy clothing, her body was already starting to decompose, but it seemed to be still human, unlike the one that attacked you. It didn't take much to notice the ochimusha died protecting her master's lifeless body. The priestess looked down on the body with a sad look before once again fulfilling her duty. After purifying the body to make sure it wouldn't come back to life, you buried both of them. The girl was buried with a single stick marking her grave, the stick had a paper with strange letters written on it. According to the priestess, that would be enough to make her happy. The ochimusha was buried next to her master, with her sword marking her grave, as was tradition with fallen warriors.

After a bit more of traveling you decided to stop. The trees already blocked enough sunlight during the day, making the night completely pitch black.

Your camp was formed by a single campfire, a charm to keep monsters away and five blankets to prevent you from freezing to death. After dinner everyone was quick to sleep. You had to wake up early tomorrow, or else you'd spend another day traveling.

You open your eyes. It's pitch black. You hear a quiet humming and decide to follow it. After a while your eyes get used to the darkness, allowing you to see the cavern walls that surround you. As you walk down the unknown cave, the humming gets louder and louder until it eventually stops.

"There you are!"

A voice you've never heard before says. You look back, towards the voice, and see the tall figure of a woman. Her skin is a light brown, almost looking like dirt, and her silver hair shines like metal. The voluptuous women towers above you, her plentiful chest right in front of your face, you need to look up to look her in the eyes.

"You took your time, huh? Anyway, I kind of liked you, so I gave you my child, seems she even helped you already, what a nice girl! Have you given her a name already? Give her a nice one! Oh my, I kind of got off track here, this is the question I wanted to ask, what do you value more, attack or defense? She already helped you with defense, so I guess that's be the wise choice. You could always have both, but it wouldn't be even as half as effective."

The sudden barrage of questions disorient you.

-

What do you answer the mysterious women? What do you name her child? Do you ask her anything?

>>280697

>>280709

"Is the kid mine, I swear I didn't know."

You instantly reply. After a couple of seconds a smug condescending smile forms on her face, a childish smile of a kid who thinks she knows more than you.

"Well, no. She's your girl now, but not in that sense. I gave her to you."

"Then, do you mean the shield? I, uh, I guess I haven't named her yet."

"Nooo~pe."

"I'm out of ideas. I'm sorry, but what is this child you are talking about? In the first place, why are you even asking me this?"

"I asked you questions first!"

You sigh. Not even your little brother was ever this childish.

"I guess I choose defense then. Now that I answered your question, can you at least explain what is going on?"

"Hm…."

The girl ponders for a while, putting her finger up to her lip and looking far into the horizon, as if she was thinking really hard. After a while she finally snaps out with a single

"Nope~!"

You sigh once more. This is not going anywhere.

"Well, seems like it's time for you to go now. Don't forget to name my child, she'll probably answer all the questions you have, she might even actually know the answer to some!"

"Wait I-"

"Lucius, wake up."

A gentle voice calls you, causing you to open your eyes. The sunlight floods, signaling the coming of the morning. You look to your left. A badger's face stands near you. The bridge of her nose covered in freckles and the eyes in her face covered in tiredness.

"Wake up. It's morning."

Unlike the eventful first half, the path to town is calm and without peril.

As the sun meets the horizon, you finally reach the town. The architecture is pretty much the same as that of the town before, this one, however, shows no people in it's streets, only slow, dread, and an ominous feeling creeping along. Utkor leads you to the door of the local inn, then goes off to search for information. With no knowledge of the town, there's nothing to do but wait for him. You walk in with the three girls. Not much time goes past before he return with information.

-The kitsune-bi has not been consumed by rage yet. She's close to turning feral, but as of yet she's still sentient

-She usually stays by a cave, but she wanders in the woods around the village at night

-The villagers want you to leave quickly

You are in the village of Kero. It's dusk.

What do you do?

>>281513

>>281595

>>281599

It's almost night, so setting up a trap would be a good idea. You talk with the group and everyone agrees, all that's left is waiting for the night. The dream is still fresh on your mind and you want to get that sorted out beforehand.

The first idea that comes into your mind is that her 'daughter' is actually your magic. You can't think about anything else, so you decide to try making an ode to your own magic. You rush it a bit, not wanting to hold everyone back. As soon as it's done you try singing it. You catch the badger watching you, she seems to be enjoying the song, but it is embarrassing to be seen singing a half-finished song. The song is short, you quickly finish it and wait a while. It seems nothing has changed, so you quickly notice it has not worked.

After a bit of thinking you remember that the horse was also given to you. You put your hand in the horse's mane and slowly pet it. After a bit of thinking you finally say

"Eimhir, your name is now Eimhir."

You wait a few seconds but the only reply is a confused neigh. You give up on it and go back to your room to wait for the others.

"Cyrene… Cyrene is a good name. I name you Cyrene."

You say in a last attempt. You aren't sure if it has worked, but a knock on the door tells you it's been your last attempt.

The soft snow gets compressed under your body. You're laid down, covered only by a single white pelt. The pelt is enough to camouflage and heat you, so there is no room for complaint. You watch the trap, paying as much attention to it as possible. There's no guarantee the monster will fall in your trap out of the five of them, that is, if it even falls into one at all, but even so, there's still a chance.

A loud noise resonates within the woods, the lack of words after it shows it wasn't just a rabbit that wandered into the trap. You get up and quickly run towards the source of the sound. As you get closer you spot the others and slow down. Everyone is ready to attack. The trap worked well enough for a ghost, but it seems like it won't last much longer. If you want to do something, you better do it well.

You're in the woods around Kero. It's night.

What do you do?

>>282910

You tell everyone your plan, ambushing the spirit while it was stuck and capturing it. As soon as you said it, the priestess started rummaging through her bag before finally taking a piece of paper out.

"Alright, I still have one of these! It's possible to capture her if I have this!"

The wendigo did a small nod, her husband acknowledged her act with a brief 'alright'. All gazes fell onto Freiya, the only undecided one.

"W-what? I don't know anything about ghosts, I'll go along with whatever you choose."

And with that it was settled.

Utkor positioned himself in front of the ghost while everyone else went around it. A quick rustling in the snow is your only reply to Utkor, confirming you are ready. He steps out, marking the beginning of the plan. The ghost looks at him with an aura of hostility around it. You start singing as quietly as you can to buff Yuri. She starts chanting as well as she buffs her charms, hopefully those will be enough for the ghost. By your side stands Freiya. Her wooden bow is adorned with a couple charms, as is her arrow. You hope she won't have take part in the plan, but she's still there in case anything goes wrong.

As Utkor taunts the ghost, it gets less and less aware of it's surroundings, until it starts focusing solely on him. Freiya notices this and signals it to Yuri, whose chant is almost over. You stop your song, and so does Yuri. She hands the charm that glows a faint white to Wen, she takes it and completely disappears.

Before you can notice what has happened, the ghost falls down, you can only the the charm on her head and wen who has suddenly appeared behind her. You all walk closer and form a circle around the ghost. Freiya puts her bow around her small frame and keeps her hand near the handle of her sword, just in case.

"So, what now?"

She asks.

It's night.

What do you do?

>>284636

>>284669

Triumphantly, you drag the unconscious ghost back into town. You can't help but notice how eerie the town looks, even when compared to the ghost. The idea was yours, and you want to take it to the end, so you take the ghost into the town elder's house. Yuri goes along with you, to keep the ghost from doing anything.

You walk inside and close the door behind you, calling out to the elder. He rushes in and his eyes widen when he sees the ghost.

"Hey, we brought it alive."

"You fool! What have you done? Why did you bring it here? Get out! Get out and take the ghost with you."

You find his reprimands rather unthankful.

"Hey relax, it can't do anything."

You say as you put your arm over his shoulders, keeping him close so Yuri won't have to hear.

"Relax!? How can we-"

"Hey old man, we worked hard for it, we even brought it alive. Wouldn't you say we deserve a better bounty for bringing him alive? If you give us proper pay we'll take the ghost and leave your village to life out it's peaceful days. Don't force me unleash it again, after all the trouble we had to capture it."

You say, directly into his ear. Your voice was quiet enough for Yuri not to hear, but loud enough to get to him.

"You rascal! Scoundrel! Here, take your damned money! Now leave, never come back!"

"I quite like this country. This village however, not so much. They recruit adventurers then act hostile to them. Still, a job's a job."

Utkor says as he mounts his horse. You follow his gaze and see a hooded man watching your group from a window. Even your brother could figure out this was a message from the elder, and that message said 'leave'.

"So, where are you going now? The three of us are going back to Kurawa, but if you're going somewhere near, we could help you get there."

"I want do to more jobs. I might go with Lucius."

It's early morning.

Where do you go? What do you do with the ghost? Do you take Freiya with you?

>>285164

>>285205

>>285276

>>285348

"I'd appreciate the company, but I'd like to sort things out with this ghost beforehand. Yuri, could you help me talk to the ghost?"

"Sure, but it's better not to do it here."

You leave town and take the ghost to the woods. Utkor, Wen and Freiya decide to keep watch while you and Yuri take care of the ghost.

"I've been thinking, considering how the town is hostile to strangers, isn't it possible someone created the ghost on purpose?"

You ask Yuri.

"Well, yes. But I've also seen cases where powerful monsters create spirits merely by existing. I've heard there was a youko that lived around here, so that might not be the case."

You try to talk to it, but the bounded ghost shows no sign of wanting to cooperate.

"It doesn't look like it wants to talk. Anything else you want to try?"

"I guess I'll try this. Hey."

You turn to the ghost.

"I name you Cyrene."

You hear a voice coming from your arm.

"But I am Cyrene, master."

From your shield sprouts the bare torso of a small girl. Her long dirt-brown hair contrasts with her pale metallic-looking skin.

"Oh, you have an elemental?"

Yuri asks you.

"I…. I guess? Wait, are you the daughter of that brown giantess?"

"… Yes, I am my mother's daughter."

It says in it's monotone voice.

You try to get information from your elemental, but, despite her serious looking face, she shows little to none knowledge. Yuri manages to discover that it's a metal elemental, but that's all.

You join in with the others and ask Freiya about nearby village with libraries, hoping to learn more about monsters and your elemental.

"Well, there's none. You'll only find a couple books, and they'll be outdated. Your best bet is leaving Kurawa and going to mainland."

You ask the others about nearby places.

-Shima

The port town you came from. The safest place to leave the island.

-Kuruji

A nearby monastery from a minor religion. You'll probably manage to get a job or two here.

-Monster town

An unnamed town mostly inhabited by monsters. The pay is good, but the jobs aren't exactly the kind for an adventurer.

-Duki

A village full of merchants. There are various kinds of jobs with various kinds of suspicious sounding rewards.

-Toukei

A strange town inhabited by automatons and various robots. Rumors are the founder was the daughter of a local and a dwarf. Little is known about it, but that's what attracts adventurers. (This town is quite far, Utkor and the two girls won't accompany you.)

It's morning.

Where do you go? What do you do with the ghost?

>>286319

Duki sounds like a place where heavy purses jingle, let us see if we can lighten the load of those sacks with a little gambling or by doing some of the merchants favors.

As much as I hate undead the ghost is here for a reason try to get her to cooperate with you by offering her food and treating her as if she was a living soul again, ask her about her past life and what lead up to her death, and if treating her nice doesn't work just buy a silver dagger at the next town then torture her. I mean she's undead its not like it's evil, were just sending her to the eternal light very, very slowly

>>286328

>torture ghostpussy

no.

>>286319

Will Freiya come with us to Toukei? If so I vote for that, robots are cool.

I dunno what we should do with the ghost if the villagers don't want her. We should ask Yuri, she knows about this sort of thing.

>>286328

You pack up and get ready to leave for Duki. As a merchant, you feel that place might be good for you.

"Where do we put the ghost?"

"We could place her behind Utkor. He's big, but there's still space on his horse."

"Ghost with anti-ghost."

Wen says as she jumps into Utkor's horse. The giant coat opens and partially covers Utkor, the two wouldn't fit on the horse otherwise. You can see Wen's pale arms coming out of the coat and embracing her husband.

With a bit of help, Yuri manages to ride the horse with the ghost behind her.

The trip is mostly uneventful. You spend your time talking with your familiar and trying to do the same with Freiya, though those don't last as long.

As you exit the area around Kero, the snow slowly disappears, giving place to the dirt beneath it.

Past half way the road to Duki you find an old shrine. It's going to be night soon. so you all agree to camp there.

You try to feed the ghost during dinner, but it refuses to eat.

You're close to Duki and it won't take much to get there, there's no rush in sleeping right now, you can take your time and do whatever before sleeping.

You're in the woods, it's night.

What do you do?

>>287042

>>287057

>>287106

"Hey"

You call out to Freiya.

"Since it's night and all, how about some ghost stories?"

While confused, she appears to have understood your 'trust me' face. She replies with a simple 'sure'.

You make a small bonfire and sit around it, leaving the ghost conveniently placed close enough to hear you.

"He begged for his mother, but her mind was already taken over by the doctor, just as the priest's had been. 'This is for the best' the doctor reassured his mother. She set fire to the coffin and the priest began his chant. As he burned alive he cursed them with all his might. Legends say he still haunts the place of his dead, an abandoned land hidden deep in the woods, a land such as this."

"As the candles began to burn out one by one they decided it was time to sleep. They did not saw the shadows on the wall coming alive, neither did the girl ever see the light of day ever again."

After various types of stories the ghost still hadn't reacted in the slightest, so you decided on one last over the top story.

"After that, the ten had been reduced to eight. They ran and ran, but never enough. They all ran inside a house and began blocking the doors and windows with all means available. Little did they know they weren't keeping the ghost out, they were keeping themselves in. The ghost maimed and sliced and killed and diced. First their limbs, then their organs. It was going one by one, taking it's time and enjoying the the despair of the remaining. Soon the room was dyed red and the ghost had disappeared once again. Just waiting for the next victims."

The ghost had retained it's normal expressionless face, but it appeared to have gotten into a sad mood after the last story. You couldn't help but feel bad for the ghost. Almost instinctively, you reached for the ghost's head with your hand, making it flinch. As you gently caressed it's hair with your hand she let out a quiet 'stop'.

"Feel like talking now?"

The ghost doesn't reply, so you keep petting her. After a couple minutes of resistance you decide to take more drastic measures. You stop petting her and wrap your arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Stop."

"You're going to talk?"

"…"

You hug her tighter and after a couple seconds the ghost finally gives up.

"Yes."

It's night.

What do you ask the ghost?

>>287883

>>287899

"Do you have any unfinished business?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're a ghost, is there some reason why you're here, like something you want to do?"

"…married."

"What?"

"I… I wanted to get a man."

"So, getting caught was part of your plan?"

"….yes, just…. not like this."

"I see. Anyhow, I'm going to sleep now, if you want to eat or drink anything, just wake me up."

"…okay."

You wake up and head to Duki, arriving there in the afternoon.

The merchant town is smaller than you expected, but still quite large when compared to the previous places you've been to. The town has the same style of the others, but some stores are adorned with what you assume are rare items from other countries. The merchant calls and general chatter almost drown out your conversation as Utkor, Wen and Yuri accompany you to the inn.

After a quick good bye the three start packing up and getting ready to leave. The priestess approaches you one last time before leaving.

"What will you do with the Kitsune-bi? Will you keep it or do you want me to care care of her?"

Yuri asks you in the gentle tone she uses when talking about spirits or anything related to her job.

>>288245

>>288329

You tell Yuri you'll keep her and you'll help her find true love. She entrusts the ghost to you and leaves.

You take the ghost into a bar.

At first you try leaving her alone, thinking some man might approach her that way.

Whilst watching her from the corner of your eye, you drink and talk with Freiya. You end up learning about her past.

Friya used to live in a small island north of Yofine, a land plagued by harsh snow most of the year. Her parents had a farm, but the farming seasons are short, so most of the food was earned through hunting. By the time she grew older her two sisters were already managing the whole farm, leaving little to no work for her, so she decided to travel and earn money to help her family some other way. About a year ago she arrived in the Meteli Peninsula and started doing jobs alone, eventually she came to Kurawa and got that job with you and the other adventurers, that being her first job with others.

After quite some time has passed and only the waitress has approached her, you decide to look for men in her stead.

Most men around here are merchants interested only in money, they look like they wouldn't even be here, was this not a place where they could get the other party inebriated enough to sign their shady contracts.

While looking around you hear someone talk about a tsunami that hit the north of Kurawa and how the emperor started sending a suspiciously large number of ships after that.

Eventually you find a normal-looking man in a corner, he's drinking and cursing under his breath, probably just another adventurer who signed a contract he shouldn't have.

You're in Duki. It's afternoon.

What do you do?

>>289455

>>289476

"Hey."

You approach the man with one drink in each hand, you put one in front of him and continue.

"You seem troubled, friend. What's wrong?"

"Everything in this fucking town, that's what's wrong. You can't take a step without some money slut making you pay for stepping on his lawn, literally."

The man seems stupid, innocent and honest, but not bad.

"Go ahead, drink. I won't even make you pay for it!"

Soon enough the man opens up to you. You can see how he got tricked, but at least it makes things easier for you.

The man was born in the Empire, where he used to be an adventurer. He usually stayed in his country, but his parents, also adventurers, made him leave the country to experience the outside world. Eventually he reached Kurawa and took a job from a merchant. The merchant led him here then scammed him out of most of his money. After that he had quite a few run ins with other merchants and eventually ended up with almost nothing, only his sword and a few coins.

"Say, you ever wanted to fuck a ghost?"

"Fuck?"

"Dick a ghost, fornicate with one, have sex with it. You know, getting into a relationship and all that with a ghost girl."

"If it's cute, and it won't trick me out of more of my shit, I'd be fine with anything short of an elf."

It's late afternoon.

What do you do?

>>289810

>>289822

Seeing the solution to your problems right before you eyes, you decide to take him into your party.

"Say, what do you think about working for me."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry, you won't be bound by a contract, I just want a helper. You can leave whenever you want. Plus, I have a ghost friend that's looking for a man."

The man ponders for a while, but his face shows he had accepted it even before starting to think.

"Ah"

Suddenly his face is covered in grief once more, like as before you approached him.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. That's a good offer, but I'm bound by a contract. I can't leave town without paying him."

You try to talk with him more, but he refuses to talk.

You give up and get up, seeing some guy watching the two of you. He has a face of a merchant watching his goods.

You approach the ghost.

"So, did you like him?"

"Who..?"

"The guy I was talking to, you think he's cute?"

"….sure."

It's night.

What do you do?

>>291005

>>291006

"I want to rid him of his contract, but I need someone to keep an eye on him in the meanwhile, can you watch him?"

"…watch?"

"Just sit on the table with him, make sure no merchant swindles him while I'm out."

"…alright."

You approach the merchant who was watching the adventurer.

"Hey, I was looking for a job and I heard you were looking to hire."

The merchant is not in the least wary. What he does is legal, and he is well aware of that.

"I don't know, do you have what it takes."

"I haven't been an adventurer for long, but I'm confident in my abilities and I'm eager to learn. I'll do whatever you need me to!"

You say, trying your hardest to sound like the kind of adventurer that falls for his tricks.

"Alright, wait here."

He goes and talk with a guy laid back in a chair, probably to tell him to watch the adventurer.

The badger approaches you while the merchant is still away.

"Want me to watch your back?"

"Please do."

The badger walks away and keeps her distance before the merchant returns.

"Follow me"

The merchant says as he leaves the inn.

You follow the merchant through the dark roads dimly illuminated by the moon. Soon enough you arrive at what looks like a shop.

You sit on a chair facing a table in the back of the shop, he sits on the other side facing you and rummages through drawers. While he searches for something he explains the job to you, it seems like a really good deal, he finances you and you go do jobs for him or for others and pay him back little by little until you eventually pay everything back, freeing you from the contract. He eventually find the contract he was looking for and places it on the table.

You read through it.

The contract is really well made. Anyone who would read it would think the merchant was either a philanthropist or simply crazy, except the contract was worded well enough to leave no room for debate in court. You would do what the contract said you would do and he could do what the contract said he might do.

"You just have to sign it and you'll start working for me right away. Do take your time though, I'm sure it's not easy to make such a choice."

It's night

What do you do?

>>291300

>>291330

Pretending to be unsure about the contract, you milk him from every drop of information you could obtain.

He talks the truth, albeit in a confusing way. The contract seems pretty fair and cheap for the few days, but then the prices quickly rise up to exorbitant rates, catching the adventurer by surprise. If the adventurer hasn't signed his contract that long ago, there might be a way for you to pay it for him.

You try to ask him about his current employees, but he simply dodges the question by claiming they all have left the town, ready for 'harsher challenges', thanks to their earnings, almost instantly after getting into a contract with him.

"So, will you sign the contract? It's a magic paper, so you only need to sign once and it'll automatically create another two equal copies. One copy will be yours and the other mine, the original will be kept in the city archives as an official document, that way you'll be able to easily ask for another official copy, should you wish so."

You tell him you're in a party and you'd rather tell the others before getting into a contract. The man simply accepts that you're not going to sign the contract, maybe because he hasn't noticed you were never going to sign it, maybe because he simply doesn't care.

You walk out and Freiya waits a while, making sure you're alone, before walking to your side.

"So, how was it?"

You briefly explain what happened to her in the way back to the bar.

You walk to the table where both of them are and talk a little before asking their names.

The ghost doesn't have a name.

The adventurer is named Mikail.

"So, tell me, Mikail, how long have you been on your contract."

"It's been over four weeks now."

It's night. You are tired.

What do you do?

>>292553

I guess if we want to name her something that sounds dead, we should name her OP

>>292520

You decide to give to give the ghost a name and you name her Beatrice.

You go to sleep, paying for two rooms, one for you and the badger, the other for the ghost and her soon-to-be husband. You offer the badger to get her a separated room, but she refuses, not wanting to spend more of your money.

You wake up and decide to see how the couple is faring before looking for a way to get money.

The man rather enjoys the ghosts' company.

Beatrice is quite fond of Mikail, although she doesn't show it much.

You and Freiya try to search for a job, but to no avail. It seems like merchant families here have just enough heirs to take care of the family business, just like yours. The few that would be willing to hire you pay just barely enough to be able to survive the rest of the day. Looking for more adventurer-type jobs, you get just about the same pay. It seems merchants have an specialized army, so only newer or poorer merchants need to pay adventurers, and those are even more stingy with money.

You find an empty area and sit down in a bench, wondering about what to do next.

You can't think of anything and neither can Freiya. so you decide to ask your elemental.

"What do you think I should do, Cyrene?"

"That guy signed a contract with the fat one, that contract is bad for you but the guy can't do nothing about it because of the contract. That's the problem, right?"

"Yes."

"Master is strong, not in strength, but in words. Not only that, that fluffy girl that follows master makes up for master's lack of raw power. If the problem is the contract, all you need to do is make the fat guy sign another contract. You could use your words for it and, if that fails, get the fluffy girl to make him. It's okay if the contract makes him keep quiet. If you don't want that, you could just burn the three contracts, the guy should have one, the fat guy the other and the third is with that archives guy."

Her words about intimidation and fraud deeply contrast with her serious looking face and her monotone voice.

It's morning.

What do you do?

>>294187

"As appealing as burning the city hall to the ground sounds, I think the first options is good enough."

"How about dressing up as manhunters? We could just wear a cloak and cover our faces. He wouldn't recognize you and he wouldn't ask questions."

With no better idea, you decide to go with Freiya's suggestion.

You buy a red cloak for you and a black one for Freiya, along with masks for each. Your's is a simple neutral-looking face, whereas Freiya's is a simple rabbit one. You're not sure if it's just the mask itself, the robe, or the sword on her back, but there's something unsettling about her appearance. Thankfully, that's just what you need.

You nonchalantly stroll to the merchant's shop. Luckily, he's in.

You open the door and walk up to the merchant. Freiya walks in behind you and closes the door, staying a bit far form you, near the wall.

"You have an adventurer, goes by the name of Mikail. I want you to end your contract with him."

You say, trying your best to disguise your voice without being too obvious.

"Listen buddy, I don't know who you are or why you are here, but you have no say in my business. He signed a contract and now he'll stay working under me until he pays back his debt, plain and simple. Why the hell do you want that good for nothing anyway?"

He replies, his words rash, but deep down he's shaken by your appearance. These manhunter must be quite infamous.

"Exactly as you say, he's a good for nothing. The business you conduct is quite unprofitable, even more so with one such as him, but I won't meddle in your business just as you won't meddle in mine. I need him and your contract is in the way, that's all. He won't earn you much, but I am willing to pay a small sum of money to cover for his costs."

"Small sum!?"

He says getting up and slamming his hands down on the table, making a loud noise. Freiya instinctively turns her head at him, causing him to sit back down in fear.

"I-I mean, he makes quite a lot of money for me, a small sum wouldn't cut it! My business is in accordance with every law, I have every right to keep him!"

"I've watched him for a few days, I can't imagine he makes a lot of money drinking in the inn. Now, you could either accept my offer or keep spending money on that man."

You say as you put a pouch of gold on the table.

"The choice is yours."

The merchant ponders a bit before asking.

"He doesn't make me much money, how are you going to get your money back!?"

"I have my ways."

As the courage in the merchants' body finds it's end, he finally agrees.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll take up your offer. So, we'll sign a contract?"

"I don't need a contract for someone like him. Just sign a document voiding your previous contract."

He promptly signs it and goes to take a copy to the city archives.

You go back to the inn and take the ghost out, just in case she'd do anything to mess with your plan. You walk around with her for a couple hours then go camp outside of the town. About a hour passes before Freiya comes disguised in her cloak dragging the panicked adventurer.

You explain what just happened to him as the two girls get ready to depart.

The adventurer doesn't have a horse, you won't travel as fast.

It's afternoon. You are low on money.

Where do you go?

>>294594

You settle for Kuruji and quickly depart, getting as farther as you can from the town before being forced to camp.

Your trip is uneventful.

As you get closer to the town you eventually pass by pilgrims, their destination being the same as yours.

You arrive early morning on the fourth day. Kuruji is a small town built around a monastery, hopefully the rumors about jobs are true.

You allow you and your companions some rest at the inn before searching for a job.

You wake up by noon after a quick sleep and take Freiya with you to explore the town.

As you walk the town you talk with it's inhabitants to find more about the place.

-The town has a martial arts school, anyone is free to go and leave. The pay is simple menial tasks.

-The monastery is owned by a married priest couple. The temple inside is open to anyone.

-There's a small building near the entrance to the monastery where anyone can post and take jobs.

-The town used to be a small monastery where monks would live secluded from the outside. Eventually as more and more people came, it became open to the outside.

You head over to the monastery entrance to look for jobs.

Most jobs are simple fetch jobs, you could take a bunch and hopefully earn a lot in a single trip.

It's afternoon.

What do you do?

>>294855

>>295029

You take a bunch of jobs that are roughly around the same area and set out to complete them.

The jobs are mostly pest control and fetch tasks. The enemies you fight aren't in any way a threat, but it still allows you a quick overview of your party.

You are turning into the leader of the party.

While by yourself you're not much of a threat, you are getting better at ordering others around and making the best out of their skills. Your sword and shield skills, white not great, allow you to fend for yourself. You can hang back while ordering others and buffing them with your songs and they won't have to worry about your safety.

Cyrene is somewhat of your helper.

She's a spirit of nature, but she's still young. While she can control the earth to protect you, that's not something she can reliably do yet. She's still helpful as an extra pair of eyes.

Freiya is a ranged tank.

She boasts a great defense thanks to her fur, something which really helps for someone who wears armor as light as hers. You haven't seen her use her greatsword yet, but the fact she carries it around nonchalantly shows she's used to it. She uses her bow to kill enemies from afar.

Mikail is a novice swordsman.

As of yet he isn't very strong. His sword skills are better than yours, but that's not saying much.

Beatrice is the ghost of the party.

She's really protective of Mikail, but that helps considering how inexperienced the adventurer is. As soon as an enemy gets close to touching him, she kills him. You don't quite understand how she did or even what she did, but she did do something. You aren't sure if she doesn't know what she did or if she's just bad at explaining things.

It isn't long before you've completed all of the quests. The sun is still up when you arrive back at the town.

You send Mikail and Beatrice to go deliver the items and take Freiya to take a look at the martial arts school.

The entrance is quite simple, but you can see it's a good place.

You enter the temple and talk with a woman sitting behind a desk. The woman's lower half is that of a snake and her upper body is that of an well-endowed young woman. Despite her young appearance, the woman talks and acts as if she has been alive for centuries, something you don't really think you should confirm.

You danced around the subject a bit, not quite going into it, but it seems the teachers here have lived in this monastery for years, it is quite unlikely they'll leave now. The students, however, are quite mixed. Some are foreigners, some locals, among those there are quite a few eager to lean about the outside world.

You look at the paintings in the wall besides the woman. Various paintings of monsters of different races adorn the wall, each of them looks stronger than the other, each of them a teacher here.

It's afternoon.

What do you do?

>>295786

>>295817

You decide to join the afternoon class taught by a lizard swordsman. There's still some time before the class, so you wait for your two companions to arrive.

After a while Mikail and Beatrice return with the money. You tell them about the classes and they quickly agree to go with you.

Weapon racks with various types of wooden swords furnish the room. You'd think that the number of swords is quite excessive, but when the teacher tells the advanced students to pick a sword and spar, the number quickly dwindles.

The teacher is an old lizard woman, though she doesn't look older than 20. Since she was a little girl, she sworn to marry any man that beat her in battle. Her skill with the sword proved far too great, however, making it an impossible task. As of now she's still single, or at least that's what the snake woman told you.

You stay in the half of the room with the other new students. After a quick test, the teacher separates the more experienced from the others. Luckily, you were just good enough to barely pass into that group.

As of yet, Freiya is someone skilled with a one handed sword, though she's still the best one in your party. Mikail is quite good, but not as good as freiya. You are a bit far behind Mikail. Beatrice, however, doesn't have any idea how to properly use one, thus she's doing simple exercises with the beginner group.

The teacher tells the students to spar with the veterans and picks Freiya to spar with, apparently she always does that to the better of the new students. Mikail pars up with another adventurer and you are left on your own.

Three veterans catch your eye, an older man and two lizardman girls, one's hair is a bright gold-like color, the other's is a simple black. Were it not for that, they'd look the same. You caught them having fun fighting each other before, maybe they are related.

It's afternoon.

What do you do?

>>314600

Alright.

http://archive.is/iKfJt

See you in a few weeks/months if I don't forget about it.

>that ad

Fucking aras.