The next day, Sora takes Sura along to help in the fields as usual.  While they wait for Gorilla, he spots Yami teaching language arts to Laila.  Her daily lessons are finally beginning to bare fruit.  Thanks to them, Laila was also able to enjoy chatting with everyone at the previous night’s banquet.

My head would explode if I had to study every day without breaks.  Anyway, that Gorilla sure is taking his time.

Just as Sora has that thought, a man not far away from them leaves his house.  That man approaches while saying, “Hey, nii-chan!”

Gorilla is in a super good mood today.  Did something good happen to him?

Sora says, “You’re really late today.”

“Just a bit.  I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately.”

“I see.  Anyway, what are we doing today?”

Gorilla looks down without saying a word.  Then, while Sora is wondering about the situation, he looks up with a wide grin plastered across his face.

Sora takes a few steps back.  What the?  Did this guy eat something weird?  Ugh, he really wants me to ask what it is.  The way he keeps glancing, ‘chira chira,’ at me with that smile is almost like he’s trying to flirt with me.

Sora sighs and decides to just say, “You feeling alright?  Did you eat something strange?”

“Haa ha ha ha!  I’m so glad you asked!  Since you really want to know, I’ll tell you all about it!”

“No, I don’t really care.”

“Right!  Right!  This is actually about yesterday; let’s go to the city so I can express my gratitude and apologize!”

Hey you, listen to what other people say.  Also, city?  The heck?

Sora says, “What are you trying to pull?”

“I’m not pulling anything.  This is nothing more than me expressing my gratitude and apologizing.”

Okay, I can get thanking me, but what are you apologizing for…?  Ahh, whatever[1].

Sora says, “I see, then, can ya be more specific?”

“Yeah, sure.”  Gorilla looks over Sora’s body, jiro jiro, and then points at the weapons hanging from his waist.  “Those look like they’re in pretty bad shape… Alright, I’ll buy you some new weapons.”

Sora draws his short swords while saying, “Weapons…?”  He holds them up to the sun for a better look and spots various areas where they’re suffering from wear and tear.

Thinking about it, I’ve been using these ever since I came to this world…  Looks like I’ll need to part with them soon.

Sora says, “I’ll be trusting you to get me something good.” 

“Yeah, leave it to me!”

“So, when are you planning to head out?”

“Right now is good.”

Right now…?  I’m good to go, but those two are studying…  I’d feel bad leaving them behind.

Sora says, “Say, would going tomorrow be alright?”

“Hm?  Are you busy today?  Well, tomorrow’s good.”

“That’s great!  You’re a life saver.”

“Well, there isn’t anything that needs doing today, so you can just relax for the rest of it.”

---

Sora, not having much to do, aimlessly, bura bura, wanders around.  During his walk, the children approach him and say, “Teach us how to fight?”  It serves as a good way for him to kill time and then, somehow or another, it becomes night and he goes to sleep.

“So……ra……Sora……Sora!”

Sora struggles to open his eyes.  That’s a voice I haven’t heard in a while.  He finds himself in an endless white space.

He says, “Long time no see, Elias.”

“Un~ Long time no see~.  Ne~ ne~[2], Vera was quite pleased with you~ and sounded quite shocked~ saying to me~ ‘Dai Maou-sama, are you going so share Sora?’[3]”

“How the heck am I supposed to be shared…?  Well, that’s fine.  So, why are you calling me?  There’s no way you’d calling me for no reason, right?”

“Impossible~chan, there’s a reason~.  Etto ne[4]~ I believe you’re going to the city tomorrow~”

“I knew it!” is what Sora wants to say, but holds back.  The person he’s talking to is [That~ Dai Maou-sama after all~] and saying that might end with her saying those same words back to him.

Instead, he says, “Yeah?”

“I believe the city you’ll be going to is Nimae City~ because it’s near Nanalia Village~.  It’s there~ that a new labyrinth has appeared.  I want you to enter it~.”

“A labyrinth…?  Sounds like fun.”

“Un un~ I knew that if it was Sora, I’d hear that response~  Well, good luck~.  Ah, work hard and I’ll give you reward, kay~”

…

Sora closes his eye and drifts to sleep while thinking, A labyrinth?  The heck is that even supposed to be?  Elias’s memories aren’t really clear about them either.  All I can get is that they’re places with monsters, traps, and treasure.  It looks a bit dangerous, but really fun too.

The next day, Sora and his party finish their preparations and meet Gorilla at the village gate.  Laila, not having gone out in a long time, is in high spirits.  That’s so annoying, but she been giving it her best to study until now.  As such, Sora watches over her with a warm gaze.

Laila then stops frolicking around and looks towards Sora.  “By the way, Shujin[5], you said I could come to town with you today, but is that really alright?”

“Eh?”

“No, it’s just… I’m technically still a slave.  Even in this place, it wouldn’t have been strange for the villagers to misunderstand.  I’ve been trying to explain my situation to them… I don’t want to be a bother so maybe I should just stay here.”

Ehh?  Did this girl have this sort of personality?  Did all that studying melt her brain…?  Either way, what a stupid worry.

Sora says, “Hey, just what are you saying after all this time?  You’re already a bother.  I’ve had way too many pointless expenses because of you.”

“Uugh…”

“That’s why, even if I find you annoying, leaving you is something I never considered.”

“Eh?”

“You freely chose to join me…that’s… I mean, you’re a cherished comrade, not a slave.  Therefore, quit holding back and don’t say it might be better to stay.  Also, I paid 30 gold for you so I’d be ticked if you weren’t by my side.  At the very least, you need to outlive me.  Actually, you’re a dragon newt.  You’re lifespan—

“—Gyuuuuuu.”

“Shujin!”

This girl!  Glomping people while they’re talking!  Well, I did tell her to not hold back…  But still, her voluptuous chest is squishing, ‘muni muni,’ against me really hard.  Shit, this is too much for a cherry boy like me…

Sora says, “He- hey, let go of me already!”

“You said I don’t need to hold back.”

“I definitely said that, but… he- hey, isn’t this enough?  Any more and my Excalibur will unsheathe itself!  Aren’t you satisfied?  Isn’t this too ferocious!?”

Sora, having pronounced “Excalibur” in his native tongue, ends up raising Laila’s curiosity.  She says, “What’s that?  A new spell?  Great, I absolutely want to see it!”

“There’s nothing great about it!  Ya- Yami, help me, but don’t look!”

Yami, who has been staring, ‘jiii’ at Sora for some time now locks eyes with him for a second and then turns away.  “Raira, ganbatta[6].  So, don’t mind me.”

“Sh-shit!  Sura, save me!  You’re the only one I can depend on!”

Sura seeps, nuruu, down from Sora’s head at the request and inserts herself between him and Laila.  The two tilt their heads the mysterious behavior, but then Sura violently expands.  The sudden growth is such that the two are sent flying onto their backsides.

Sora says, “Oww… Thanks, Sura… you saved… aee?”  Somehow, before his eyes, stands a perfectly proportioned girl with lovely, long, orange hair and somewhat drooping eyes.  Over her shoulders is a white coat lined with orange trimmings similar to what an aristocrat would wear.

She’s about 160cm[7] tall?

“““Who are you?”””

“Seriously, staying quiet after all of that would be overkill.  First off, isn’t Sora’s first partner me?  You guys came after so in other words, you’re my juniors.  As your senpai, there’s no way I’ll forgive any of you getting a head start on flirting with Sora!”

She was the first partner…?  First partner, orange…  No way, this girl is Sura!?

Sora says, “Sura?”

“Yes?  What’s up?”

Uwaa!  She really is Sura.  Thinking about it, doesn’t she have anthropomorphication as a skill?  Has she leveled up enough to use it now?  Wait, this beautiful girl is named Sura… The me who gave her this name really needs to be punched.

Everyone stares at Sura’s anthropomorphed form in stunned silence until Yami says, “You’re really Suhra?”

“Of course I am.  Is it really that hard to believing me like this?

“I guess it can’t be helped, watch.”  Sura’s body goes ‘doroo’ and her head sinks inward along with the rest of the body.  The spectacle is gruesome, but everyone is convinced with it as Sura returns to her slime form.  The body then begins to swell again and Sura returns to being the beautiful girl that is her human form.

Self-satisfaction laces Sura’s tone as she says, “How about it?  Are you convinced?”

“……”

For some reason, Yami puffs her cheeks and glares at Sura.  Sora, confused, follows Yami’s gaze and realizes that Yami is only glaring at a specific part of Sura’s body.  Her gaze falls upon the area holding two plump budges, Sura’s breasts.

A wry smile crosses Sora’s face upon seeing Yami press down against her own chest.  While a depressed shobon sound escapes her, she mumbles to herself, “I lost to Suhra.”

Sura notices Yami’s shock and tries encouraging her.  “Breasts are only a decoration.”

Laila, who was still on her back, gets up and also tries to console Yami.  “Good grief…”  Her voice lowers down to point where no one else can overhear her.

Sora is watching over them with a warm gaze when Yami walks towards him.  She stares him in the eye with a worried expression and says, “Masta, do you like them big?”

“Eh?”

Of course bigger is better, but… Shit.  Calm down me.  A wrong answer might lead to Yami executing me with her jet black flames…  Should I gloss over it?  Actually, how should I even do that?

Sora looks away as he says, “We-well, you see—”

“Answer.”

Shiiit!  That failed.  What do I do, what I do?  There has to be something…

That’s when Sora notices Gorilla running towards them.  He recognizes it as the best chance he’ll get and waves his hand towards him.  “He-y, you slowpoke!”

Gorilla smiles at everyone as he says, “Ha ha ha, my bad, my bad… What the!?  Who’s this pretty young lass!?”

“Ah, she’s Sura.”

“Eh?  Sura?  She has the same name as that slime who’s always sitting on your shoulder or head?  No way…”

“Yeah, that’s exactly right.  She’s the genuine Sura who’s always sitting on my shoulder or head.”

“A-amazing… that slime turned into a beauty… Actually, why did she turn into a human?”

Sura cuts off Sora before he can answer.  “Say, why not let me explain that for you?”

“Ehhh!?  You can talk too!?  Say, nii-chan, will you give this girl to me?”

What is this gorilla saying?  You already have a wife.

Sora says, “Hey, hey, I’ll tell your wife.”

Gorilla turns blue the instant Sora’s comment leaves his mouth.

Did something happen?

Gorilla says, “Ju-just a joke…!  So don’t say that?”

“Whatever, just listen to Sura’s explanation.”

---

They all walk to the city after Sura’s detailed explanation to Gorilla finishes.  Riding a horse drawn carriage might have been more convenient, but whether the small village of Nanalia has such a tool is doubtful.

Gorilla speaks up during the as of now silent walk.  “Well, here’s a question.  Do you know the name of the city we’re heading to?”

His random question is a welcomed change to the journey’s boredom.  The name…?  I’m pretty sure Elias called it Nimae.

Gorilla says, “Come on, nii-chan, answer already!”

“Why am I being… is it Nimae?”

“…How’d you know?”

“Something like a feeling.  Intuition.”

“Shit!  The intuition of an S rank is too amazing!”

They all reach Nimae faster than they expected while having such silly conversations.  It’s a crowded place and as such, grasping a complete picture of it is impossible.  As Sora grabs Gorilla, Yami and the girls cling onto his clothes.  Sora then pulls everyone into the crowd where they force their way through.  After jostling against various people, they emerge before a brick building called Blacksmith.

Gorilla walks into the building and Sora along with his party follow.  Despite the store being free of customers, weapons and equipment are displayed everywhere.  From further in at the counter, a loud kann kann sound can be heard.

Gorilla walks up to the counter and shouts, “Father!!!”

A man walks out to the counter from inside.  The only difference between him and Gorilla is that only one of them has hair.  The man says, “What is it, son?”

“Father, today—”  Gorilla goes on to pour out Sora’s back ground and thereby thrusts him into the spot light.

I don’t want this sort of attention…

“I see, you want me to bring out that monk’s weapon… Alright, I understand.  I’ll be just a bit.”

Gorilla’s father returns a few minutes later carrying a long sword embedded with black dragon scales.  He then hands it to Sora for a test swing.  It’s light and easy to wield.

Gorilla says, “You like it, nii-chan?”

“Yeah, it’s quite easy to handle.”

“In that case, will you take it?”

“Yeah.”

“Understood.  By the way, do any of those respectable jou-chan[8] need weapons?”

At those words, Yami conjures a jet black flame on her palm, Laila flashes a right dragon’s hand, and Sura morphs her arm into a sharp cooking tool.

“O- ohh, never mind…”

Gorilla purchases the sword and Sora gives his old short swords to Gorilla’s father.  They all leave the blacksmith afterwards.

---

T/N: This took a bit longer to finish than I thought it would.  I got a bit distracted~  Not much happened in this chapter other than some preparations for the next chapter. Still, I guess we can assume Sora’s party is complete with this?  A slime/monster girl, an embodiment of magic, and a person of the races.  Well, let’s see how well they can coordinate next chapter.  Since this is party has pretty much just been put together, I’m sure we’ll see a ton of mistakes where they get in each other’s way as they learn to coordi- pffufufu~

Who am I kidding??  We all know this is that sort of novel.

~Gandire Alea

[1] あぁ、あのゲロか。

[2] “Hey, hey”

[3] 『大魔王様、ソラを少し分けてくれないですか？』

[4] Let’s see

[5] Shujin: Husband, head of family, master, proprietor

[6]Laira and Ganbatte, but mis-pronounced

[7] 5.25 feet

[8] Jou-chan kata: Those respectable girls.

<<3.1 Nanalia Village and Sora
3.3 The Labyrinth and Sora>>