Gumihou
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Vending Machine - 116 - Secret
🕑 Added 2023-06-08 14:49:25 +0000 UTCStarting from the day after the end of the banquet, the village began to recover its previous liveliness.
Non-combatants who had gone to Clearflow Lake level have decided to settle down on the starter dungeon level. Right now, carpenters, armourers and weapons craftsmen are working together to strengthen the barricades.
“I have adjusted the teleportation array between here and Clearflow Lake, making it more stable. I have also made some adjustments so that monsters can’t use it for evil purposes. So, you can stop worrying about it,” said Hyurumi.
From what I could glean from Hyurumi’s explanations, monsters born in the dungeons have a unique magical signature. That she had tweaked the teleportation array so that it would not react to individuals that emitted even small amounts of this signature magic.
There were a lot of other technical terms which I barely understood, but I think that’s the gist of it.
“Oh, you've worked hard. How impressive,” said Leader Keryoil in his typical carefree voice. The Whimsical Fools had been given the responsibility of interrogating the Commander, but the information they obtained was nearly the same as the one Clearflow Lake has. It seems there was no new or valuable information.
“When things settle down here, let's go back to Clearflow Lake Level,“ said Vice-Leader Felmina. “There’s really no need for us to stay here anymore,” she added as she pushed her hair back
Ever since I realised that she is actually older than the Leader, my view of her has changed. Her being from a mixed-race was negligible to me, but it really bothers me that she still looks like she’s in her twenties. Is this another one of those ‘Other World’ mysteries?
“Leader, we’re done with our patrols. Fuaaahhh… I’m tired…”
“Looks like there are no remnants of those monsters in the village, how boring.”
The Red & White Twins appeared, yawning and looking bored from around the rubble that passes for the makeshift barrier.
Recently, the two of them had been put in charge of patrolling the grounds and keeping an eye out for danger. Though the two of them tended to complain a lot, they did their jobs properly and no one complained around them.
“Leader, why did you put me with this pervert?” Shui, who had also returned from her patrol, is now storming over to complain to the Leader.
“I did not even use any illusion magic, why are you calling me a pervert?”
Looks like Shui has a lot of accumulated frustration at being paired up with Hevoy for the past few days.
“Somebody has to keep an eye on things. Please be patient,” said Leader.
“No, no, no need to worry, it is a gentleman's duty to watch over tender weak women,” was Hevoy’s nonchalant answer. Shui glared at him with eyes that looked like she would gladly shoot him to death.
As for everyone else, their eyes all shouted, ‘You are the one we have to watch out for most!’ however, no one actually said it.
“Both Leader and Vice-Leader had been disappearing together a lot lately. Please take over some patrols!” Shui pleaded, her tone becoming increasingly urgent.
Wow, she sounded so desperate that she did not even add her characteristic -ssu at the end of her sentences. She is also clinging to the Leader’s clothes.
“What's wrong, Shui-san? If you have any troubles, you can always come and speak to me about it. I am used to hearing confessions and, love confessions as well, of course,” Hevoy said as he gently places a hand on her shoulder. The smile on his face was very pure and tender.
“Uggaaaa–!!!”
Shui grabbed Hevoy by the neck and shook him violently. Looks like she had accumulated a lot of frustrations these past few days.
“C-calm down, Shui. Since he’s been on patrol duty with you, surely his perverted activities would have been… reduced?”
“Re-du-cedddddd—-!!!?? Reduced?! Every time... every time we found a collapsed house, he would go to the entrance and start digging. He’d dig up all the shoes there and line them all up and stare at them! Then, he would make this weird face and start sniffing them. Then, he would disappear to look for more shoes. It’s seriously super creepy!”
Looks like Shui had had a hard time. I must give her lots of sweet things later.
Everyone had a conflicted look on their faces, including Leader as they tried to console her.
“She appears to be emotionally unstable. The poor thing,”
Hevoy sounded very serious. I had no idea whether he really believed what he said or that he was just messing with the rest of us… anyway, I hope he doesn’t die.
It’s not a casual thought, because Shui, in a fit of anger, is now shooting arrows at Hevoy. The pervert is avoiding her attacks with a smile on his face. The arrows are literally raining down on the man, some of the arrows were so fast that my eyes could barely catch them. However, Hevoy was just dodging the flying missiles with just his footwork.
It was like looking at a high-level battle, unfortunately, the trigger and context behind the fight was too horrible.
“Well, at least she could release her stress this way, let’s just leave her alone,” said Leader.
“It has always been like this,” said Felmina.
“That's right, that’s right,” agreed the others.
Nobody appears to be panicking, so, I guess this is a familiar sight? Is it really alright to leave it alone? Did they just not care at all?
However, when I looked at the purely smiling Hevoy among the rain of arrows, I think, I sort of get it. Let’s ignore them too.
“Oh, I almost forgot because of them. Is Hakkon free after this? Ramis, Hyurumi and Mishael too,” said Leader.”
“Ye-s”
So, he’s calling the three of them, too? I have no idea what’s going on, but since there are fewer people on this floor, there are less jobs too. So, it should not be a problem.
“That's good. I’m thinking of having all of you gather at the Whimsical Fool’s headquarters with us,” said Leader.
“E-h, th-is le-vel?”
“Ah, our headquarters have always been here.”
That was unexpected. So their base is actually here? So, when everyone hurried over here at the news about the King of the Underworld’s attack, it was not just to support Shui but also about their own base being attacked. Well, that makes sense.
“Even though you guys are temporary members, it’s about time to return to base,”
“Yes, I suppose it is best… to let them know…”
Did a shadow happen to cross Vice-leader Felmina’s face just now? Why do you look so serious about visiting your own base?
Even the atmosphere around Red & White Twins has changed. What’s going on?
“Oi, stop fooling around there, you two. Are you not coming back to the base?”
“Hold on! I nearly nailed that thing in the head!”
“Goodness me, I seemed to be hearing things even though I didn’t use any illusory magic~”
“That’s right, it’s all an illusion. So just stand there!”
It looked like the battle was far from over. Leader Keyroil’s shoulders drop as he sighs and walks away from the two of them. The Vice-leader and Red & White Twins followed him.
“Apologies, Hakkon. Do wait with Ramis and the others. When those two idiots have calmed down, you can come to the headquarters with them. Hey! You two! Take Hakkon and the others to the base later!”
“Very well.”
“One of us will be carrying a corpse back!”
A-ah, the leaders have already left for the base.
As for these two, it looks like we’ll be sitting here for a while…
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About ten minutes had passed since then and I was joined by Ramis and the others. Having run out of arrows, Shui has officially lost the ‘battle’ against the tenacious Hevoy.
Still, she appears to be in a better mood after having shot all the arrows she wanted at him.
“I had no idea that the Whimsical Fools had their base here.”
“We try to keep it low-profile. I got to know them basically because their base is here.”
Did Shui join the Whimsical Fools mostly because their base was on the same level as the orphanage?
“Shui, how long have you been with the Whimsical Fools?”
“Barely two years.”
“That means Hevoy-san is your senior, right?”
Ramis’ simple question caused Shui to bite her lip and glare resentfully at Hevoy.
“Indeed, I am technically the senior. Even so, the Whimsical Fools don’t practice troublesome senior-junior hierarchical relationships. Otherwise, I would have to acknowledge Red and White as my seniors.”
The twins are clearly younger than Hevoy. How could they be the seniors?
“That's surprising. Those twins are younger, aren't they?”
“Indeed, Hyurumi-san. The founding members of Whimsical Fools are Leader Keyroil, Vice-leader Felmina, and the twins Red and White. These four were the original members.”
Warrior, warrior, warrior, and mage. What an unbalanced combination. If this was a game, this party would never advance past the early stages.
“I was recruited and joined as the fifth member. By then, the four of them had been working together long enough to develop splendid coordination. It appears that they have been good friends for a long time.”
“Is that so? I didn't know that.”
Shui seems surprised and genuinely unaware. Even though they belong to the same group, they don't seem to have shared many personal stories.
“Come to think of it, they do seem to have a rather deep relationship.”
“Indeed. Although they sometimes complain about certain things, it doesn’t feel like there is any serious dispute between them.”
If they had been friends together for a long time, it’s natural for them to be together most of the time. Even now, the four of them set off for the base together, leaving the rest of us to follow.
Well, it could be that they were tired of the two troublemakers.
“If you're curious, why don't you ask them about it later at the base?”
Personally, I don’t plan on prying too much into their personal business. I’ll leave the prying for others.
I had poked my nose into other people’s business before and it… did not turn out well. So, this time, I’ll make like a vending machine and just listen from the side.
Speaking of which, Mishael had been quiet this whole time. He appeared to be lost in thought, as he stared into space with one hand under his chin.
“Wh-at is-it”
Good, he should understand my question.
“Ah, apologies. I was just thinking about something. That conversation just now made me think about something that had been bothering me for a while.”
“Ye-es”
[1] It’s difficult to make a questioning inflexion, but hopefully, I am able to convey what I am thinking.
“I thought it might have been my imagination, but I sensed something from Red and White that… never mind, Master Hakkon, it is not good for me to speak on mere speculations.”
It's frustrating when someone stops speaking at that point. However, now is not a good time to pursue it. I’ll just have to make time to listen to his explanations later.
After walking for a little over ten minutes, we came across a wooden framework house with no walls, roof, or furniture. The wood appeared to have deteriorated and turned black, as though the project had been abandoned mid-construction.
“This is the Whimsical Fool’s base.”
“A well-ventilated house,” commented Hyurumi to Shui’s rather proud tone.
If this was their idea of a ‘base’ surely any open space would be fine?
“Ah, that is, the actual base is behind this hidden door,” said Shui as she knelt down and lightly tapped at one of the flagstones. The seemingly immovable stone rotated and revealed a staircase leading down.
[Gumihou: Oooh, a secret base! How exciting~!]
[1] Adjusted details for clarification
Comments
Leo Tong
Thanks for the chapter
