Chapter 66

Volume 2 part1
The next day.
Today was the day when they would finally try taming a rimel bird. To that end, I, the four members of the duke family, Jill-san, Zeff-san, Camil-san, and Hyuzu-san walked the road toward the mines.
The ojousama and the others were donned in armor and had a weapon with them just like when we went out to train at the mines before, but in my case, I was wearing my latrine-pit cleaning outfit. Being the only one dressed like this sure makes me stand out from our group…
Incidentally, we also couldn’t use the carriage in order to train the ojousama. She might actually have quite a bit of stamina. We’ve been walking all this time, and although we might be taking breaks from time to time, I still think it’s amazing that she hasn’t complained.

Fuu… Ryouma-san, are you alright?
[Elia]

I’m alright.
[Ryouma]

You sure have a lot of stamina.
[Elia]
The ojousama was gradually getting tired, but it’s not really something to make a fuss about.
After all, we were walking up a mountain trail, and the road wasn’t paved, so I think it’s already commendable that she’s not complaining.
Camil-san seemed to have thought the same thing as he encouraged her.

It’s alright, Ojousama. You’re stamina is already amazing compared to normal children your age.
[Camil]

That’s right, Ojousama. Don’t compare yourself with Ryouma. This guy is just abnormal. Any normal child would have long been out of breath, but this guy isn’t even sweating. Sweat a little, won’t you?
[Hyuzu]

Even if you tell me that…
[Ryouma]
That’s a physiological phenomenon, so…

But seriously, boy, most people would at least sweat easily without having to be told that’s the norm.
[Hyuzu]

I know we’re not going very fast to match the ojousama’s pace, and I’d understand if you were a trained expert like us, but you’re still just a child, aren’t you? Just what kind of training have you been doing?
[Camile]

Hmm… To put it briefly, I was trained to the limits. Whenever I fell or rested, I’d get beaten up so hard to be heavily wounded, and then I’d be asked if I’d rather keep getting beaten or train. After doing that everyday, I ended up like this.
[Ryouma]

Was your master a demon from hell!?
[Hyuzu]

Can’t refute that.
[Ryouma]
When I was a child, I was really scared of my dad. So much that I couldn’t even breathe when I was in front of him.
While I was thinking that, it seemed it was time for us to set off.

We have to get moving again before Elia cools down completely.
[Reinhart]

It’s just a little bit more.
[Hyuzu]
Like that we started walking again, then after some 30 minutes of walking, the road curved and we entered into a forest. After another 30 minutes, the air started to smell really bad. So, this is the stench of a marsh.
As we continued along, the redbrown-colored marsh came to view.
We seemed to be somewhere by the very borders of the forest and the mine. We were inside a forest, but there were few trees, and the marsh felt as if the earth from the abandoned mind had collapsed and flowed into it.
The smell only got worse as we approached the marsh. The ojousama had to cover her mouth to endure it.

This is the marsh I was talking about. The smell you’re smelling comes from the fallen leaves and the rotting corpses of various organisms inside the marsh.
[Reinhart]

What a horrible smell…
[Elia]

It certainly stinks, but unless you can adapt to this, you won’t be able to explore the other regions.
[Elize]
Oh, yeah. Reinbach-sama has supposedly fixed the Jamil territory up, so it’s a lot bettor compared to the other regions… Wait, does that mean that the other regions smell like this all the time? Oh, dear. Let’s hope not.

Hmm… It seems the grell frogs and the rimel birds aren’t in this marsh yet. This isn’t the only marsh, so let’s check the others.
[Reinbach]
As such, we started walking again. 10 minuted later, we found a marsh 3 times bigger than the previous one. This time, 30 adventurers, 30 monster tamers, and over 200 birds came to view.

Those are rimel birds!
[Reinhart]

Those are…
[Ryouma]

They’re beautiful…
[Elia]
The rimel bird resembled a large parrot, but it had a tail that you could find from long-tailed fowls. Its body was blue, but its head and tail were covered with beautiful green feathers. No wonder it’s so popular. It looks so strange with the marsh as its backdrop.
They’re really beautiful, but I think the surrounding adventurers will become a hindrance.

They went that way!
[Adventurer 1]

Hurry up and catch the grell frogs!
[Adventurer 2]

Ah!?
[Adventurer 1]

Hurry! Before it gets eaten’. [Adventurer 2]
The adventurer entered the marsh and started competing with the rimel birds for the grell forgs.
Tough-looking men played about in the mud, trying to catch redbrown-colored frogs – the same color as the mud – with either their nets or their hands… It was a sweltering sight.
Meanwhile, two young men brought out their instruments by the side of the marsh.

Ryouma, Elia, look. It seems those two want to try their hands at taming the rimel birds.
[Elize]
The other man started blowing his flute. It seemed to be a recorder of some sort. He didn’t seem very skilled.

How important is musical skill when trying to tame a rimel bird?
[Ryouma]

It’s hard to say since the ones judging are none other than the rimel birds themselves.
[Sebasu]

As word says, there was even a case when a monster tamer played confidently only to be rejected, then in a fit of anger, slammed his instrument against the ground, causing a discordant sound to play, and was then able to form a contract with a rimel bird.
[Elia]

I don’t know what to say to that…
[Ryouma]
When the man finished playing, the rimel birds all started chirping out in unison.

Kera kera kera kera kera kera kera!!


Ahahahahahaha!

The man’s performance was met with the laugh of over 200 birds.
Volume 2 part2
The birds laughed in mockery.
Caulkin-san said that the rimel birds would chirp in alarm whenever they didn’t like one’s music, and it just so happens that the way they would chirp then is really infuriating.
So this is what he meant by that! …True. After hearing it it’s certainly not good on the ears.
This sort of stuff seems to be happen frequently, though, as the adventures aren’t reacting one bit. Instead, they’re using it as an opportunity to gather even more grell frogs. And even after finishing, they just ignored the guy.

I think you can tell just from the birds’ chirps, but this is how a failure looks like. Taming like this is impossible. You can try again if you want, but if you do it too many times, you might get attacked. So, at most, you should only try twice.
[Reinhart]
While Reinhart-san was explaining, the other man started playing with his flute.
This time was even worse than the guy before, as the rimel birds started laughing before he could even finish.
Getting roasted by some birds seemed to have struck a nerve, though, as the man unsheathed his sword and entered the marsh.

T-That’s not good… Be careful, everyone.
[Reinbach]

Ha!
[The four guards]
At Reinbach-sama’s words, the four guards stepped forward.
Sebasu-san and Reinhart-san also stood alert, while the madam covered for me and Elia.

Ke!
[Rimel Birds]

GUAH! E-Eek!!
[Frustrated Musician]
The rimel bird nearest to the man seemed to have sensed danger coming from him and his sword, as it chirped and attacked him.
As a shallow wound was left on the man’s shoulder, he cried out in pain.

Wind magic.
[Ryouma]
At that, the other rimel birds also looked at the man.
When the man saw that, his anger quickly cooled and fear took its place as he ran for his life.
The people nearby were caught up in the clamor, and had no choice but to also retreat.
The rimel birds casted wind cutter at the fleeing back. Their accuracy wasn’t very good and they kept on missing, but the man ran for his life regardless.

You can’t lose your cool like that. Rimel birds may be gentle, but they’re not weak. If you look down on them and try to force them into obedience, they’ll fight back.
[Elize]
While the madam was warning us, I noticed that the man was running toward us.
That’s bad!
The man managed to reach the bank of the marsh, but he seemed to have lost his focus and stopped. It was then that one of the rimel birds casted a spell and got the man by his legs.

KUAH!? AHH…
[Frustrated Musician]

Earth wall!!
[Ryouma and Camil]

Keh!!
[Rimel Birds]
Camil and I immediately cast our spells, erecting a wall made out of earth between the man and the rimel birds.
The ten wind cutters that shot for the man made a shaving sound, but our earth walls managed to hold.
The wind cutters stopped, but then in the next moment, a loud chirp resounded.

Kukeh! Kukeh!! Kukeh!!! Kukeh!!!
[Rimel Birds] [1]

Kyaaa!
[Elia]

GU!?
[Reinhart]

Is this!?
[Reinbach]

Get a hold of yourselves!!
[Reinhart]
For some reason, everyone started acting as if they were in pain. The ojousama even started shaking and tottered. Fortunately, the madam and Sebasu-san were able to quickly support her.
What’s going on!?
When I looked around me, even the adventurers in the marsh were suffering. There were even some who lost their minds and were crouching as they screamed.
To affect such a large area… Not to mention this powerful mana I’m sensing. No matter how you look at it, the culprit must be the rimel birds’ chirping.
But which bird?
I searched for the source of the sound and mana, and in a few seconds, I managed to isolate everything to a single bird. Apparently, it was using a wind magic technique similar to mine as it amplified its own chirps. Because of that I was able to quickly find it.

Silent!
[Ryouma]
I casted a spell toward the culprit bird. It was a spell meant to stop the vibrations in the air. And just as I’d hoped, the sound stopped and everyone’s expression softened.
Looks like it was effective… Unfortunately, it’s not so simple, as the rimel bird was resisting.
That rimel bird is probably using a spell similar to my Big Voice that increases the vibrations in the air.
I’m using a spell that works the exact opposite of that, but because of that, it seems this has suddenly turned into a battle of control.
If I slip for even a moment, the sound will return.
Our control is equal… No, it’s gradual, but I’m being pushed back. If I can’t win with control, then…
I’ll win with brute force!
I used significantly more mana than before and casted the spell again.

Silent!
[Ryouma]

…Kukeh!

After a few seconds of struggling, the rimel bird realized that it was at a disadvantage and flew away. The rimel birds followed it and left.
I stayed wary of any attacks from the air as the flock of rimel bids flew away.

They ran? …I guess it’s over for now then?
[Ryouma]
[1] – The bird wants a cookie. Cookeh! Cookeh! 😀
Volume 2 part3

Camil, heal that man! Jill, Zeff, Hyuzu, get those fainted men in the marsh and bring them to shore! Sebasu, how is Elia?
[Reinhart]
Reinhart-san gave out orders and then checked with Sebasu how Elia was doing, but it was the ojousama herself who answered his question.

I’m… Alright…
[Elia]

Are you okay, Elia? You’re not hurt?
[Reinhart]

Yes… I was just scared suddenly, but… that’s all. I’m okay now.
[Elia]

I see. That’s good… Ryouma-kun, thank you. That was you just now, right?
[Reinhart]

The cause was that rimel bird’s chirping, right? Well, it seemed like that, at least, so I stopped it, but what exactly was it doing?
[Ryouma]

Huh?
[Elize and Elia]
When I said that, the madam and the ojousama reacted.

Ryouma-san, you didn’t feel anything?
[Elia]

Was I supposed to feel something?
[Ryouma]
I just thought the birds wouldn’t shut up. That’s why I could leisurely look around. But everyone suddenly started acting like they were out of their minds. Now that was shocking.

You just thought they were noisy? That’s it?
[Elize]

Yep.
[Ryouma]
The madam was really confused when she heard my reply, so Reinbach-sama and Sebasu started explaining.

The rimel bird Ryouma stopped probably wasn’t just a rimel bird. That’s probably an advanced variant, a nightmare rimel bird. They can use dark magic too on top of wind magic. Their most striking feature is that they can inflict mental damage via dark magic.
[Reinbach]

This spell of theirs inflicts fear and confusion. It can also cause hallucinations and even knock people out. Just like those adventurers.
[Sebasu]
Sebasu-san pointed toward the people who’ve been dragged back to shore. Jill-san and the others had dragged them back to safety, and most of them were sitting, but a part of them were either still unconscious or crouching in fear.

That spell sure is terrifying…
[Ryouma]

That’s just how strong it is. Physical strength is different from mental strength, so even vegetarian adventurers could lose consciousness. Those adventurers are still just neophytes, so it’s not surprising that they’d end up like that.
[Sebasu]

And even if you build up your endurance, it will still hurt. You’ll just be able to endure better.
[Reinhart]
Come to think of it, I have a Mental Pain Resist skill, don’t I? Maybe that’s the reason why I didn’t feel anything.
When I asked them, the confused madam suddenly said ‘that’s it!’
Apparently, my resistance is so strong that I didn’t even feel a thing.
They say that I probably won’t be affected much by mental attacks, but I’ve never really thought up any countermeasure for them in the first place. And while it’s good that they can’t affect me, not even knowing I’m being attacked is pretty bad. I should be careful…
While we were chatting like that, Jill-san and the others came back. Looks like they’re done helping the adventurers.

What’s the damage on their side?
[Reinhart]

The guy who caused everything is the only one wounded, but we’ve already healed him, so he can return to town without any problems.
[Jill]

But what are we going to do now? All the rimel birds flew away because of that guy.
[Camil]

Shall we look for their nest?
[Ryouma]

That might be a bit difficult. When rimel birds fly, they use wind magic to call the winds and ride them. That’s why their speed is in a league of its own, but that also means the area we have to cover if we’re going to be looking for them is going to be really big.
[Camil]

Let’s wait for a bit. We came all the way out here, so I’d at least like to give it a try.
[Elia]
Because of the ojousama, we decided to wait here for a while. During that time, the adventurers gradually recovered and the fainted ones also started waking up.
 
But they no longer seemed to be in the mood to hunt or maybe it was just because the duke was around, but regardless, the adventurers all left. The only ones left were us.
I made us some seats near the marsh, and we passed the time talking idly to each other.
Apparently, the nightmare rimel bird’s mental attack was really powerful, but attacking to stop it would cause the rest of the rimel birds to fight back, so the situation would just turn into a bigger mess. As such, the best response usually is to either just endure the nightmare rimel bird’s attack or run.
I wonder if my Silent was okay since it wasn’t actually an attack, but just something meant to mute the sound. It’s a good thing that Caulkin-san and the duke’s family told me beforehand not to attack the rimel birds.
Also, it seems that the rimel bird’s advanced variant has only been spotted once in 10 years. It’s an extremely rare monster. Although things turned out pretty badly, being able to see one in the flesh is our good luck.

How did it look like?
[Elia]

It seemed darker than the other birds. Like a deep blue and green. It had a luxurious feeling to it. Other than that there’s also…
[Ryouma]
As we passed the time idly chatting like this, an intimate atmosphere suddenly filled the area.

It won’t be long before we have to go our separate ways, huh?
[Elia]
When the ojousama said that, it finally occurred to me that they came here specifically to see a rimel bird and try their hand a taming one.
Us coming here today means that they’ve accomplished that goal, so they’ll be leaving soon. We probably don’t have much time left together.
Uhh… What should I say here?
‘I see?’ That’s a bit too apathetic.
‘Don’t go!’ A 40 year-old uncle saying that is kinda gross.
I mean I might look fine on the outside, but mentally speaking it’s really not okay for me.
‘We’ll meet again’ Yeah this is the one. I’d like to say something more clever, but this’ll have to do.

But it’s not like you won’t be meeting anymore, Elia. Right? Ryouma-kun.
[Elize]
Ahh… I took so long thinking up a response that I got beaten to the punch.

Of course.
[Ryouma]

If you exchange letters, you’ll be able to keep in touch.
[Reinbach]

…You’re right! We can meet again! Ryouma-san! Please write me a letter! I’ll write you too!
[Elia]

Sure!
[Ryouma]

Idiot! If you’re a man, you should at least give her a hug!
[Hyuzu]
As Hyuzu-san said that, he hit me from behind, causing me to almost fall off my seat.

Woah! What are you doing? And what are you thinking!? Aren’t you her guard!? You should be stopping me from doing stuff like that!
[Ryouma]

Hah? But it’s more interesting like this!
[Hyuzu]
Hyuzu-san said with a grin on his face and a thumbs up.

Is that okay?
[Ryouma]

As long as it’s a hug between friends. Yeah. Between friends… Friends.
[Reinhart]

It’s nothing to fret about. Really. You’re both about 10 years-old. You’re children.
[Reinbach]
Reinhart-san was making a slightly complicated expression, but Reinbach-sama didn’t seem to mind one bit.
I guess hugs are like a greeting here? Kinda like westerners?

See? Well, come on then. If you’re a man, give her a reaalllll hard one. ‘Sides, if you don’t do it quickly, it’ll get awkward.
[Hyuzu]

…
[Ryouma]

GAHA!? Y-You…
[Hyuzu]
It was starting to get annoying, so I gave him a body blow. A realll hard one just like he wanted it.
When I turned around, my eyes met with the ojousama’s.
She seemed to be blushing a little.
But this sort of reaction makes things harder for me.
Looking for a way out, I turned to the madam again, but she seemed to be intent on just watching things go.
Scratch that. I’m pretty sure she’s having the time of her life right now…

What… are you doing… GUFU…
[Hyuzu]
Hyuzu asked as he held his stomach and crouched down in pain.

Just trying to cover up my shyness… Don’t mind me…
[Ryouma]
I can’t believe I just said that… Though I did just hit him all of the sudden. Was it that painful?

Like hell you were just trying to cover your shyness!? If I hadn’t trained this body I’d be out cold right now! …Owwww …Why does it hurt so much when I’m wearing armor?
[Hyuzu]

Oops. Sorry about that. It’s become a habit.
[Ryouma]
The blow I used is specifically meant for people with armor, so of course it hurts.
…Ah, not good. I’m also starting to become real tense.
Calm down, me!
A strange atmosphere filled the area…

…
[Ryouma]

…
[Elia]

…
[Ryouma]

…
[Elia]

Pirorororororo!!
[???]

!?
[Ryouma]

Fueh!?
[Elia]
…Only to be broken by a whistle-like sound.
When we turned around, the rimel birds had returned.