Soul Art Online

- Arthas -

Rose was surprised and looked at Kuroka with shock, but Veena herself wasn't phased in the least.

Kuroka, while surprised, regained her calm immediately and replied in a calm tone.

"You will have to thank your son for that. The reward he put for people to come in here and save you and your daughter was just too good to give up. I just wasn't expecting to be the first one to find you, is all."

While they were discussing this, my mind was reeling with the fact that I had encountered another character from novels.

They, however, continued, unbothered by my thoughts.

"I don't recall you having a younger brother. Your sister, however..." Veena spoke, and my mind quickly recalled the history of this girl, and I winced. That was personal…

As expected, I noticed the slight narrowing of Kuroka's eyes at the words.

"I think you might know him. After all, he is also a peerage member of your daughter, a friend of my cute little sister." She replied with a sly smile.

Was she putting up an act even now…

Sigh.

Her words, however, cleared the fog over my mind.

Peerage member of her daughter.

Girlish voice.

Shut in.

It was that discount Dio Brando of Rias' peerage, Gasper Vladi.

No wonder I felt I was missing something. It also explained the reaction from Veena earlier in the inn.

As expected, even Veena was surprised but immediately gained her calm afterwards. "Then what do you intend to do now?" She asked Kuroka.

"Since I have taken on the job, I will complete it." She shrugged. "After all, I did take a very big risk coming into this... world. I won't let it be for nothing."

"I see. Saving Gasper is enough to show your sincerity. No… entering this world alone is enough to show your sincerity since you were free, unlike most of the other people sent inside. Tell me, did you save Rose because you knew she was with us too?" Veena asked.

"Well obviously… why else would I go out of my way to help someone I didn't even know? Risking myself against T5s at my level is suicidal, you know. Not something I would do." She answered with a laugh.

…this girl… just what was she trying to do?

I knew for sure that she was lying.

Why was she putting up that act of hers?

Or was she just doing it to show a strong front?

That was completely unnecessary. But then again, in her situation, I doubt she could survive long if she didn't show such a front. Especially when being a part of an organisation like Khaos Brigade. It's just that her words were unnecessary.

I looked at Rose, and as expected, she was looking hurt at the revelation.

Sigh…

Veena turned towards me. "It looks like we will have to postpone our hunt."

I nodded as we headed to the Blacksmith's shop to meet the trap vampire, Gasper.

________________________________x__________________________________

I sat in the corner of the room watching a boy… who would easily be mistaken for a girl, sit in Veena's lap, crying his eyes out while she calmed him down.

Kuroka was standing in the other corner of the room, watching them with bored eyes, but in between, it was easy to catch the hints of worry in her eyes as she looked at the boy.

Rose stood behind me, looking at everyone.

We went to the Blacksmith's shop directly after discovering everything, and what resulted was the scene in front of us.

The boy told us the story of how he had lived after he was caught up in this world.

By some stroke of luck, he had been picked up by a blacksmith in the starting village, where he did chores for the man at night when everyone went to sleep. The Blacksmith was impressed by his work and took him as an apprentice, teaching him basic tinkering.

It turns out that just like a Forager Class, the one picked up by Veena, Gasper had gained a Choreboy Class at the start. This class later opened up the Tinker Class, then the Apprentice Blacksmith Class, and finally the Blacksmith Class.

From the start till finish, he hadn't stepped out of the home until he met Kuroka, who identified him and then basically dragged him along with her.

She did, however, treat him well, as was evident from the way he talked about her.

I think they seemed quite close too; from the looks of worry, she sometimes sneaked in his direction.

Feeling awkward in the room with all the crying and tension, I got up. "I will go and cancel the carriage we hired. I almost forgot about it. The guy must be waiting for us." I said, suddenly recalling an excuse.

"That… won't be needed. You three can go on the hunt. I will remain with Gasper for now." Veena interrupted.

"Are you sure?" I asked, surprised at her words.

"Yes. Levelling is important right now. Especially for Rose. We don't know when the next World Quest might come in, and we will be in trouble if we are underleveled."

"I… alright. Take care then."

Rose also nodded while Kuroka looked at us hesitantly.

"You should join them too, Kuroka. With your current strength, let alone rescuing us from this world, you might find it harder to save your own life. Get levelled up." Veena added calmly.

The girl, however, just rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I know how to take care of myself. I won't drag anyone down."

I took one last look at Veena and the kid in her lap and left the room.

________________________________x__________________________________

We walked through the forest, following the tracks described in the mission details. The enemy seemed to be some kind of mutated Black Fang Wolf, which had recently evolved and was causing trouble in the area.

It had injured several teams of adventurers, and the commission was finally given to the Knight's Academy.

The journey took us two hours by the carriage we had hired. If I was being honest, it was the longest two hours in my life. The sheer tension in the carriage was not something I was used to.

Kurumi had been silent the entire time, completely different from her usual behaviour. Rose was still a bit awkward to say anything. So I did the only thing I could do… close my eyes and ignore everything.

I didn't know Kurumi that well to say anything in this situation. I could maybe talk to her after we got to know each other a bit better. But damn if breaking the ice wasn't hard.

Thankfully, both the girls were quite professional when it came to work.

As soon as we got down from the carriage, they were completely in work mode.

Kuroka was the one with the lowest level in the group, but she was skilled. It was easy to see in her movements.

The past few months of training, especially in Shingen-ryū and Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, had given me a decent idea about what the difference between a trained and an untrained person was. Just like Veena had been able to identify Elaine as a part of the Supernatural world from her movements alone, it was possible to see how trained someone was from their movements.

On the other hand, wasn't Kuroka and Elaine working together with Arthur Pendragon? That meant she would know her and possibly about her past too.

I will have to take her to Llyne or bring Elaine into the conversation to see if she opens up.

Still, the fact that she had reached T4 in such a short time alone was a testament to her skill. Her speed was actually better than mine.

As I was thinking of these things, I sensed something in the distance.

"Enemies, prepare." I instructed, and both of them got in action.

Just an instant later, several black-coloured wolves stepped out from the bushes in front of us.

T5 Black Fang Wolf Alpha and four T4 Black Fang Wolves.

A quick look told me that there were around five of them.

One in the lead was Level 31, while the rest were in their twenties.

Rose and I took the lead, while Kurumi took cover behind us, looking for an opportunity to attack.

I didn't hold back and directly used Chidori, Armament Haki, and Touki to rush in and slash it down, trying my new Skill Divine Sword Escanor.

The wolves were fast and quite flexible, but endurance was not their strong suit, as the leader wolf was thrown back from a single slash from me, losing a large part of its health. One more hit could probably end it.

But Holy Crap... this Skill was absurd. Sure, it was almost midday, but still, this was a Mini Boss of sorts, and it was thrown into the red zone with just one attack.

Even Rose and Kurumi paused at the scene, but their experience showed as they quickly reacted.

Rose used one of her Skills, stunning the remaining four for three seconds.

I took this opportunity to launch an attack on another one of them; the second wolf buckled under my attack, its legs giving away under the force of my blow as it lost most of its HP. I kicked it into another wolf, finished it, and sent the other wolf tumbling away.

Kurumi wasn't resting either, as she jumped and stabbed another wolf directly into its eyes and then its neck before jumping back. It was finished by Rose, who directly stabbed it through its head.

Just like that, three wolves were seriously hurt or out of commission.

I went after another one while Rose and Kurumi teamed up to finish up the last wolf, leaving only the half-dead Black Fang Wolf Alpha alive. I was about to go and finish it up too when it howled loudly.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, four more wolves came out of the bushes.

…

I didn't sense them at all.

Was it some kind of skill?

Still, four more normal Black Fang Wolves were no big deal.

We finished them off quickly; however, this time instead of finishing off the Black Fang Wolf Alpha, I waited.

"Umm… Arthas?" Rose called out my name, but I just raised my hand, asking her to wait. I wanted to check something, and sure enough, after waiting four minutes or so, the Black Fang Wolf Alpha howled again.

Four more wolves came out of the bushes.

A wide smile lit my lips.