Mob Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni
Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #136
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 136: Kintama (2)
[Combat
Power] 650
[Inborn
Skills]
・Solomon's
66th Great Devil: As Kimaris is a Marquis of Hell, Kimaris can utilize
authorities over language, sea crossing, and treasure hunting.
・Ruler
of African Evil Spirits: Can summon C-rank equivalent devils with Subordinate
Summoning ability. Up to 20 entities, once per day.
・Warrior's
Aura: Kimaris's released fighting spirit aura can transform even the most
cowardly individual into a brave warrior. This is an Advanced Class of
Equipping Skill. By blessing other cards or the master, Kimaris's Combat Power
can be added to theirs, and one of Kimaris's inborn skills (other than the
Equipping Skill) and all Kimaris’s acquired skills can be shared. This skill
also partially nullifies mental negative skills like Cowardice or Timidity in
the equipped target, enhances their will to fight, and grants them Warrior
Skill.
(Warrior:
Contains the skills necessary for a warrior. Includes Martial Arts,
Swordsmanship, Spearmanship, Archery, and Riding Skills.)
・Subordinate
Enhancement
[Acquired
Skills]
・Pride
of the Great Devil: Possesses the pride and arrogance of a high-ranking demon.
As long as they do not recognize the other party, their servitude requires a
price. Paying an additional cost can increase status and skill output.
・Maiden's
Heart: Possesses the heart of a female, regardless of physical gender. Cards
with this skill are treated as female in terms of attributes, and in the case
of races with characteristics such as asexuality or hermaphroditism or
transformation skills, the physical body is fixed as female. Status increases
or decreases depending on the level of favorability towards the master.
・Good
Wife and Wise Mother: Possesses all the ideal skills of a wife and mother...
but only as long as that love is not betrayed. Includes Cooking, Cleaning,
Childcare, and Sexual Skills.
・Farmer:
Possesses skills necessary for a farmer. Includes Cultivation, Horticulture,
Animal Husbandry, and Group Activities.
・Intermediate-level
Wizard
・Advanced
Auxiliary Magic
.........The truth was, I had
considered leaving this Kimaris to Ai, along with the normal Kisshouten and
other cards.
The reason being that Kimaris,
with her blessing-type Equipping Skill and her Legion Summoning Skill, was a
perfect card to serve as a bodyguard for Ai.
And, above all, with
[Warrior's Aura], even a complete amateur like Ai would be able to fight.
In terms of pure ability,
there was no reason not to give her to Ai
What stopped me was a major
issue that had nothing to do with her abilities.
The devils1
race, as a whole, tended to have strong peculiarities, and many devil cards were
difficult for amateurs to handle.
They’re also skilled at
exploiting loopholes in a card's protection. So, no matter how excellent her
abilities might be, I had no choice but to admit that she was unsuitable to
entrust to a novice like Ai.
And so, Kimaris ended up
staying with me.
...However, I had once let go
of a Kimaris due to a lack of compatibility.
There was a concern that the
same thing might happen this time... but somehow, I felt that I could get along
with this Kimaris.
There was no particular reason
for this feeling. No particular reason, but...
"........................"
I took another long, good look
at the illustration of Kimaris on the card.
She
had luscious dark skin and alluring, loosely fluffy strawberry blonde long
hair. Her chest, wrapped in a leopard-print bustier, was so full it looked as
if it might spill out at any moment.
I won't know for sure until I actually summon
her, but this 'combat power'... it might even rival Näkki-Neito, who has
just jumped to the top of our party’s highest 'combat power'.
She is a stark contrast to the previous
Kimaris, who’s as flat-chested as Oribe, despite also being in female form. Truly
outrageous.
...No, of course, that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
to do with me letting go of the previous Kimaris and keeping this one by my
side, none at all...
"Yeah, right. One hundred percent, it's
because of the breasts. "
"Wh, what are
you saying, Usagi-san?2"
I was flustered by Renge's
cold tsukkomi3, which was as if she had read
my mind.
"It must be that, isn't it? It’s because
of the [Maiden's Heart] skill, un."
The [Maiden's Heart] skill is
a negative skill that fixes certain skills, such as transformation, to a female
form only. But, at the same time, it has the advantage (for me, at least) of
fixing the attribute of cards with hermaphroditic or asexual characteristics to
female.
There was a subtle discomfort
with the previous Kimaris since there was male attribute mixed in within the
Link, making us feel incompatible, but with this Kimaris, there wouldn't be
such a problem.
Well then, I better summon her before I get
poked at any more than this.
"Come forth! Kimaris!"
Responding to my summon, a
Great Devil of the 72 Pillars of Solomon appeared.
A tall figure, nearly two
meters in height, with gentle, almond-shaped eyes that were uncharacteristic of
a devil, and–
――――G-GIGANTIC……！
I had thought she was huge
from the illustration, but the real thing was far, far bigger than I had ever
imagined!
Following Näkki-Neito, she was
on the level of Kishimojin-Renge.
"Hiiiii, nice to meet
youuu. Are you my summoner?"
While my eyes were captivated
by her magnificent melon, or watermelon-like breasts, Kimaris spoke to me in a drawn-out, languid tone.
"Ah, ah, yeah, I'm your master, Utamaro
Kitagawa. Nice to meet you."
" Okayyy. Nice to meet youuu toooo. So,
what do you need me to dooo?"
"I want you to use
your Authority of Treasure-hunting to search for Carbuncles and Vouivres."
If she can find Carbuncle, she should be able
to find Vouivre, its superior counterpart... hopefully!
"Ooooh, I seeee. Understooood. Then, as
compensatioon..."
Kimaris then observed me
intently with her golden eyes.
A high-ranking devil, like
those among Solomon's 72 Pillars, required a price for their service until they
acknowledge their master.
The price can vary from
straightforward things like money or valuables, to more devilish demands like a
portion of your lifespan, though Magic Stones can be used as a substitute.
Well, simply put, it’s like a god
with [Pride of Deity] whose card can be put in action with a Magic Stone.
The fact that it costs
something to use was also one of the reasons I didn't give her to Ai.
"U ̄ nnnnn, I think I'll take one D-rank
Magic Stone, or something equivalent to ittt~."
"Hm......"
One D-rank magic stone, huh? The previous
Kimaris had asked for a C-rank Magic Stone for locating Carbuncles...
I'm curious as to why the price is different,
but I'll set that aside for now.
I took out the Pied Piper of
Hamelin Magic Stone and said,
"D-rank equivalent energy is fine,
right?"
"Ooooh? What's thisss?"
At this, she widened her
somewhat thin eyes for the first time and stared at the extra-large red Magic
Stone.
" Hmmmm, hmmmm... How wonderfulll. You
splendidly defeated those guys in perfect condition, didn't you~? ...Did you do
this alone?"
"Yeah, I defeated them with just my cards
and me."
"Mmmm, mmmm, I seeee, I seeee."
Kimaris nodded many times with
a happy expression for some reason.
Each time, her enormous
breasts jiggled. No, they undulated.
" Okayyy. I have certainly received my
payment. From now on, you don't need to pay me anymore~. You can command me as
you wish, Master."
No more payment? Does that mean I've already
been acknowledged by this Kimaris? Just by showing her a Magic Stone from an
Irregular Encounter?
"...Is that alright?"
"Yes~. It is one of a devil's greatest
joys to be able to serve an excellent master~."
For some reason, Näkki-Neito
nodded vigorously at Kimaris's words.
Wait, you're not a devil, are you?
I inwardly quipped, but
instead, I made eye contact with Suzuka.
『…Suzuka.』
『She's not lying, hmm. Well,
it's possible that it's just not a lie, but... more importantly...』
『More importantly?』
『If you plan to make that one a
companion, I'm against it, Master.』
『Oh? Why's that?』
At those unexpected words, I
narrowed my eyes slightly.
Did she sense something from this Kimaris?
It was true that her quick
acceptance of me felt a bit suspicious, but so far, I felt we had good
compatibility.
This Kimaris had a certain
‘quirky character’ vibe, similar to the one our other members gave off.
Something I hadn't felt from
the previous Kimaris.
Näkki-Neito, who had just
joined, gave off a similar vibe.
However, if my cards were
against her joining, I had no intention of overriding their opposition and
welcoming her into the group.
I felt a sense of obligation
to Suzuka in particular, as I had once ignored her advice and paid the price.
Therefore, I was willing to
respect her reason even if it was just a hunch...
But when I asked for her
reason, Suzuka said with a deadly serious face,
『Because… this one, her
character overlaps with mine.』
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………。
『………………Is that so?』
『If it’s just about being busty
and sexy, that'll be one thing, but on top of that, she's a gentle, healing
older sister type? Our characters totally overlap! If this one joins, my
already faint presence will become even fainter...』
A gentle, healing older-sister type?????????????????
Not just me, but everyone in
our party tilted their heads at Suzuka's words.
『A healing older sister? Was there anyone like that? Oh, maybe you mean
me?』
『How are you a healing
type? Being a healer doesn't make you a healing type.』
『This maggot... how much can
your self-awareness be distorted for you to have such a skewed self-assessment?』
Renge, Mea, and Athena said
this one after another, and even Yuki, Dress, and the Celtic Trinity Deities
followed, chuckling,
『I'm sorry about this,
Suzuka-san, but your character isn't really the 'gentle, healing big sister
type.'』
『If Suzuka-san can be a healing
type, then I can be a healing type too!』
『Or rather, isn't Eliza-dono
the one who fits that description best? What do you say, Morrigan?』
『Indeed. There's no way that
gloomy goddess is a healing type.』
『Isn't this bullying…?! I just
made a little joke a the boke, you know! 』
Under a barrage of total
denial from all sides, a slightly teary-eyed Suzuka howled.
It didn't look like a joke to me, though...
I thought, then turned back to
Kimaris.
"Got it. In that case, I look forward to
working with you."
"Okayyy~. .. And, was it to search for
Carbuncles and Vouivres?
"Yeah."
"Hmm... as far as I can sense, there are
no Vouivres, but there are about a dozen or so Carbuncles."
Hmm... so there's no Vouivre, as expected.
But, well, finding even
one secret dungeon is a great success.
This
will let me get a steady supply of Garnets every day.
The
amount of Garnets I use has doubled since Hope Diamond disappeared.
Although
the drop rate for B-rank cards has also doubled since Angolmois began,
considering when I drew Selene, there's a high possibility that ‘the drop rate
increase during Angolmois does not apply to Lottery card drop rates.’
If I want to get a B-rank card using Luck
Manipulation, I'll probably need about 30 Garnets for a drop, or 40 if I use
the Lottery.
It's always been this way, but now I want to
get as many Garnets as I can.
With such thoughts, we began
our Carbuncle hunt.
The Garnets were accumulating
smoothly, but our expressions gradually grew more grim.
“...Hey, how many is this now?”
As I asked Eliza, my gaze was
fixed on the remains of a Ghoul that we'd just dealt with along with a
Carbuncle.
The Ghoul, its head crushed after
being struck with holy light magic that kills the undead, didn't vanish to
become a Magic Stone. Instead, it remained there.
"This is the third one."
"I see."
So, this is the third Ghoul that doesn't vanish
even after being taken down, huh?
"Suzuka, can you
trace this Ghoul's tracks with your Vision of the
Past4? I want to know where it came from."
Suzuka held Daitōren and
Shōtōren in her hands and closed her eyes for a moment, but then she shook her
head slowly…
"No good. An Intermediate-level Divine
Power Skill can only see a day's worth of a trail. It only wandered around the
city all day, so I couldn't find out where it came from."
"Is that so… Have we collected all the
Garnets?"
"Yess~. There are no other reactionss~."
At Kimaris's answer, I nodded
and said,
"Alright, let's go investigate the
stairs."
These stairs lead to five different areas. If
my gut feeling is right, the source of these strange Ghouls must be in one of
them.
The first one: A C-rank Drake5.
"Not it."
The second one: A B-rank Bifrons6. A necromancer of the 72 Pillars of
Solomon... Is it the one?
"No, it's not."
The third one...
"Here, huh?"
It was a domain resembling a
nighttime graveyard. Innumerable Ghouls wandered around a mansion standing at
its center.
The moment I saw them, I was
certain this was the source of the strange Ghouls.
I became aware of my
expression hardening as I noticed that most of the Ghouls had Japanese features
and were dressed in modern clothes.
It’s true that Ghouls can have
Asian features or wear modern clothing.
However, it's rare to see so
many only of that kind gathered in one place.
Normally, they would have a
mix of different ethnicities and clothing styles from various countries.
Yet, here, they were all
Japanese-looking and dressed in modern clothes.
What's more, dozens of them
were wearing what looked like the same high school uniform.
This was something that could
never happen with Ghouls from a dungeon.
This meant these Ghouls were
created outside of the dungeon, and if something like that was possible...
"A Vampire?"
Normal Vampires don't possess
the ability to turn those they bite into a Zombie or a Ghoul. If they did,
Vampires would surely be on the prohibited card list.
However, if a Vampire had
gained such abilities true to its legends through a True Skill evolution...
then this Vampire had to be defeated at all costs.
As we approached the mansion,
the Ghouls noticed us and attacked.
Naturally, Ghouls were no
match for our current strength, and we easily annihilated them, but...
"...... Still won't disappear, huh?"
Even though we had crushed
their heads and cast Judgment7
magic that negate undead's immortality, the Ghouls' bodies remained.
"What do you think?"
Athena answered my question,
"…I can only assume, that it's because
they have a physical body."
A physical body—that's why they don't disappear
even when they're defeated.
This confirmed that my worst
guess was correct.
I looked around, found a Ghoul
that was still ‘alive’, had Eliza restrain it, and brought it over.
"Renge, try using [Rain of Amrita]."
"...Okay."
At the command, Renge looked
like she wanted to say something for a moment, but she chose to obediently followed
my instruction.
Rain of Amrita poured down
around us, but there was no change to the Ghoul or the corpses all around.
"…Let's go."
With Eliza still restraining
the Ghoul, we advanced into the mansion.
"Welcome, o uninvited guests."
When I opened the door of the
luxurious but old-fashioned mansion, its master was waiting for us in the
lobby.
He was a handsome middle-aged
Vampire with combed-back dark blonde hair, dressed in lavish, aristocratic
clothes...
The gate he guarded behind him
was clearly too large to fit within the mansion compared to its exterior
dimension.
But that didn't matter right
now.
"Now then, what brings you to my territory
today? If you wish to pass through this gate, you will have to pay a
toll――――"
“Those Ghouls outside, did you do that?"
I said, interrupting the
Gatekeeper Vampire's preamble.
"...... Good grief, you are a rude guest.
Or should I say intruder now? And if so, what of it――"
"I see. Die."
"?! Wa――"
Before the Gatekeeper could
finish speaking, we unleashed a barrage of Judgment magic which obliterates the
undead.
Under the rain of holy light
swords, the Vampire was wiped out without a trace, utterly helpless.
Soon, the gate emitted a
light, signaling its Gatekeeper's demise.
I turned back to look at the
Ghoul Eliza was restraining, but there was no change.
I tried using [Rain of Amrita]
again and, after confirming once more that nothing had changed, I had Eliza finish
off the Ghoul. I squatted down with a deep sigh.
"Haaah-----. Seriously?! True Skills are
way too messed up!"
I can't believe that a Vampire could gain the
ability to turn humans they bite into Ghouls through True Skill evolution...
This is beyond dangerous!
The threat they pose might even surpass a
B-rank monster horde.
The fact that humans can become monsters is
just that dangerous! And on top of that, there's no way to turn them back!
Right now, the domain acts as a confinement,
but when they start roaming around all over the surface... it'll be the start
of a real-life zombie movie.
Some people might say that in a world where
monsters are already rampaging about, it won't make much difference, but the
story is completely different when the threat comes from ‘inside’ rather than
‘outside’.
A Vampire that looks almost indistinguishable
from a human can turn other humans into monsters… it would incite suspicion
within closed communities.
If things go south, that suspicion alone could
cause a community to collapse.
"But, I guess it's pointless to worry
about it now…..."
As long as they’re trapped in the domain, a
Vampire only has two options for feeding: humans who arrive from outside, or
humans abducted by its minions.
Coupled with the spatial isolation, there
likely won't be a horrifying, explosive spread of infection like in typical zombie
film.
All I can do is to defeat any Vampire
Gatekeeper I find without question.
It looks like other monsters with legends of
turning humans into non-humans have probably gained similar abilities.
"Haaaaahhhhh..."
Sighing deeply once more, I
stepped through the gate.
There's a Gatekeeper
protecting every gate that separates the different areas.
To pass through a gate, you must
either negotiate and pay a toll or defeat the Gatekeeper.
Gatekeepers have enhanced
stats beyond the Dungeon Bosses, and the restraints on their skills are also removed
(True Skill evolution).
Gatekeepers have a unique
trait: they will be replaced if they are defeated by another monster. They
almost never allow monsters of their own rank into their domain, but they can't
prevent monsters from other areas from entering the moment someone passes through
the gate. Therefore, opening the gate is a risk for the Gatekeeper as well.
As such, paying the toll
doesn't guarantee passage; a Gatekeeper would likely choose to fight if the
opponent is clearly weaker than them.
***
Notes:
1 悪魔 (akuma). Reminder, we translated this into ‘devil’ since we translated Oni as demon. It’s to make things less confusing.↩
2 This saying sometimes appears in manga or anime. It comes from the lyrics of a children's song called 'Usagi to Kame', which means 'The Rabbit and The Turtle'. The ending song of the anime 'Patalliro!' titled 'Cock Robin Ondo' also incorporates this lyric. In this song, the "What are you saying, Usagi-san?" part plays a major role in completely changing the flow of the lyrics. Although there is a subtle difference in the particles 'nani ossharu' (the popular one) and 'nanto ossharu'(the one in Usagi to Kame), it is safe to say that this children's song is the source and origin of this "What are you saying, Usagi-san?". ↩
3 'Tsukkomi' is a Japanese comedy word. In Japan, two people perform manzai (comic chat). In manzai, there are two roles: boke and tsukkomi. Boke is the person who says silly things, and tsukkomi is the person who denies or corrects what the boke says. ↩
4 The raw used the term 過去視 (kakoshi) instead of Shukumei-tō↩
5 Drake means dragon, but in RPGs, their stats are usually lower than those of normal dragons. Drake in many instances, is also often described four-legged and wingless. ↩
6 Literally means 'two-faced' in Latin ↩
7 The raw is ジャッジメント (jajjimento). This translation actually clashed with the translation of 見切り (mikiri), the skill to read the enemy’s movement, so we will change the one for 見切り (mikiri) to ‘Sharp Eye’ when it appears again in the future.↩
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