Chapter 14 - The Second Tribulation (2)

Now, I only needed to wait patiently for this farce to end. Although the safety grounds were just a crude defense, I judged that since the fighting men did not look alarmed or fearful, everything was under control. The raiders would most likely be forced to give up and retreat or be defeated. Either way, I did not care what the outcome was, so long as I got directions to the labyrinth. I was also sure that a tall, naked, and white-haired thirteen-year-old boy asking questions at this inopportune moment would not be very welcome by the people.

That said, once again, I was at the center of attention due to the fact that I was the only naked person in the safety grounds. Being near the entrance to this place did not help at all. A few of the people even got over their fears and asked why I was naked. Most of them, however, looked at me with a bit of suspicion. The guards and fighting men just ignored me, probably thinking that I had hit my head when I was a baby or that I was naturally touched in the head. A few of the young women and some girls even looked interested in me, staring at my body and my unnaturally bright green eyes and white hair, which were rarely, if ever, seen.

I did not need to inspect myself since I had checked thoroughly when I could first transform into a human; I knew that I had skin that leaned on the pale side, a high nose, thick black eyebrows, a proud jaw, soft white hair, and lips that were made for smiling—some might even say kissing. I suppose even after my reincarnation, I still looked like a noble bastard, not that all nobles were handsome or beautiful. I was also well-endowed in a certain area, even at this age, more so than in my previous human life. My muscles were still developing, but I could certainly be called lithe and wiry—a few shades from being brawny. All in all, it was quite interesting.

I ignored all the questions directed at me and stood still, silently and calmly waiting for this to be all over. I looked outward at the nearby town, and just as I was about to concentrate on a far-seeing spell, I felt a slap on my ass.

Turning around, I found myself face to face with a woman just about my height, which was probably around five feet and a half—I was quite tall, even as a supposedly thirteen-year-old human, or so the eldest says. She had a small smirk on her face, which was, I suppose, oval-shaped. She had a little above-average look, brown hair cut short, brown eyes, and a soft brown skin tone. Her description just screamed out the color brown. I also noticed that she had a long sword sheathed behind her back, just slightly slanting toward her right shoulder.

“That's nice. You have quite a firm ass,” she said nonchalantly. “So what is the reason for your nakedness?” Her left hand made a downward gesture, starting from my chest and ending with my private part. Her face was casual, but I could sense a withheld mirth behind that facade. “And do not ignore me like you did the other people. I know you are not dumb, mute, or deaf.”

My momentary interest in her had passed, so I ignored her and turned my back to her, concentrating again to cast my spell. But once again, I was interrupted by her smooth voice.

“You should not ignore me, my good sir. I can keep on slapping your ass all day. And perhaps I might even escalate the action into shoving a sword up it.” For some reason, I could imagine this woman, who was starting to turn annoying even for one such as I, patting the hard leather of her sword scabbard behind her.

I turned back around to face her, knowing that she would go through with her intentions if I ignored her again. Seeing the nonchalant look on her face, I decided to ask nicely instead of killing her. I would have done the latter, but it would be too troublesome in such a crowded place as this—definitely not worth the trouble. “Could you please not touch me without my permission, miss? Also, please leave me alone.”

“What's that? I couldn't hear your name. You should speak louder, but I forgive you. Instead, I will tell you my name, and then you can tell me your name again.” She had ignored everything I had said. She was in her own little world, and she was the sole master of it.

So troublesome, I thought.

“My name is Elisa Ballad, and I am an adventurer. But I am pretty sure you already guessed that, seeing my leather armor and the weapon on my back. So what is your name, good sir?”

And talkative, I thought again.

“Verath.” I paused, seeing the expectant look on her face. “No last name,” I added.

“Nice to meet you, Verath. Oh, by the way, those two women right over there are also adventurers and are in my party. They are also quite handy with their respective weapons.”

I looked in the direction she pointed and saw two women wearing black leather armor. One was quite average-looking: long black hair, a small round face, small lips, a small bosom, and she could have very well been mistaken for a young child if one did not look very closely at her large brown eyes that could have swallowed someone whole.

The other one, however, was very tall—most likely taller than me—and her sleek muscles were tight against her armor. She was also extremely endowed in the breast area and had a thin, faint scar that lined her whole left cheek, marring her beautiful—no, it was more like handsome—face. Short jet-black hair was cut purposely to reveal the scar, as if she was not ashamed of it and instead proud of it.

After taking some slight observations of those two, I looked back at the woman in front of me. “Are we done?”

Once more, she ignored me and continued on. “We just arrived at this town today, and to our misfortune, there just had to be raiders coming, especially in this warm weather.” She sighed softly. “Still, we couldn't leave these people helpless, so we volunteered to protect the townspeople along with the assigned guards.” She gave me a little shrug with her shoulders. “How about you? What are you doing here, all naked and showing off your parts?” she said, looking brazenly at my private part.

She had asked me an interesting question, one for which I was hard-pressed to find an answer. I had none on my mind that could sufficiently explain the reason I was naked without giving myself away.

“Just taking a stroll,” I said.

I knew there were better answers, such as saying I was in the middle of sex with my lover or a whore, and that the warning of raiders just came suddenly, so I abandoned everything I was doing but could not find any clothing. But that would have been too long to explain, and I was impatient for this conversation to end.

Elisa raised both her eyebrows at me and gave me a small smile. “That is quite a unique answer, Verath,” she said, as if slowly savoring my name.

“So we are done, right?” I said calmly, but I was almost ready to pray to whatever entities were out there to finish this conversation.

“You know, Veeerath, the more reluctant you are, the happier I am to chase.” She accentuated the “e” in my name and gave me a feral grin that suggested our conversation was far from over.

Seeing this, I almost felt like I should just kill her and trouble be damned. It was still not worth it, so I gave up and sighed to myself inwardly, but outwardly, I maintained my usual indifferent face that showed nothing. “So, adventurer, what are you doing coming to this town?”

“Well, you see, an explorer working for the guild we are in found this mysterious labyrinth not far from here and put out a request. This labyrinth, however, was filled with strong monsters, so he could not go any further,” she said, her voice so excited I could almost see sparkles coming out of her eyes. “And we were the closest ones, so we headed out over here, way ahead of all the other adventurers.”

I was pleasantly surprised to hear the word “labyrinth.” And to think I was going to ask the townspeople for directions to a secret labyrinth of which they had no idea. This adventurer, however, knew the way to it.

“My party and I will successfully excavate and explore that labyrinth,” she declared proudly, as if it were already a foregone conclusion.

“I see. That sounds very nice. Would you and your partners mind if I tag along?” It would have been downright suspicious if I gave her a very seductive smile right there and then after she had so casually revealed such a secret place. I doubted it would have worked either way, since I was not used to doing such a thing. Thus, I stuck to my indifferent curiosity.

With her energetic brown eyes, she surveyed my body, up and down, before resting at my lower part. A slight blush tinged her face. “Well, you do look like you can handle yourself. But can you handle a weapon?”

“Yes.”

“Fantastic! But you still need to be tested before joining my party. Would you rather have me or spar with Ryia Altard, that tall woman over there?”