— A While Ago...
"Alright, Towa and Gumi! I'm gonna introduce you guys to our new travel buddy! Here it is!"
Kraugel opened his [Inventory] and pulled out a glowing glass orb.
"A glass ball?" – Gumi
"Hold on a sec! Just wait!"
A palm-sized ant came out of the glass container, making both of them look confused (though, well, Towa still had his poker face on as usual)...
"Good afternoon. I-I'm Insectar. I was saved by Master Kraugel the other day… I hope I can be accepted into this party."
"I see, nice to meet you, Uncle." – Gumi
"I see." – Towa
"Alright then, I'll give you a name so it's easier to call you, Mr. Ant... Your name is... uuuuh~"
"?, Are you sure, Lord Kraugel? You really don't need to trouble yourself—" Ant
"Aha! Chiron. Your name is Chiron now."
In an instant, about 25% of Kraugel's magic energy got drained, and Chiron quickly absorbed that mana, making him feel a little sleepy.
"Sorry, Master Kraugel– no, Master. I'm feeling a little sleepy." – Chiron
"It's fine, you can rest... but wait a sec."
"?"
"Since when did you get this strong? I thought when you entered my Imaginary World, I just healed you with a potion..."
"Ah, if you mean that, then a few individuals helped with my recovery and development while I was in there. I believe you already know them, Master, since they talked about you a lot." – Chiron
Ahh… so the [Individuals] he's talking about must be my four Gacha Pets. I didn't think they'd be the mentoring type. I figured they'd get all territorial since they've been stuck in my Imaginary World for so long.
"Alright then, go back inside and get some rest."
"As you command, Master." – Chiron
Then Chiron went back in, but Towa suddenly spoke up—
"Master Kraugel, may I enter as well?"
"Eh? Sure, I guess. Any reason why?"
"If I'm honest, I'm quite interested in the creatures inside that world of yours." – Towa
"Hmm, alright then. Go ahead and enter."
Towa also entered the glass orb, leaving Gumi staring in shock.
"M-Master, you really have a lot of weird stuff, huh?" – Gumi
"Yeah, something like that."
The two of them kept walking deeper into the western forest of Re-Kastrize, passing a village called Canon...
After a while, since it was already close to noon and he hadn't eaten since breakfast, Kraugel took out some jerky and a sandwich from the inn lady for him and Gumi to eat.
Oh right, Towa and the others probably don't feel hunger while inside the Imaginary World. I'm pretty sure that world only has a few concepts like space, life, and power... This feeling—? Same as when I detected that Battle Saint kid's fight earlier.
[ Report ]
[ Danger Detection, Earth Sensory, and Mapping Mind have detected a one-sided battle ]
[ Nineteen attackers surrounding four individuals ]
[ Two of them are non-combatants, one's a child, and the last one's a fighter ]
Guess I don't really need to get involved. That fighter seems pretty capable...
"Master, Gumi heard a loud boom! Don't you wanna check it out?" – Gumi
"What for? Don't we need to finish our trial?"
"But~ aren't situations like this usually when we help~?" – Gumi
This kid… how does she even know the difference between types of explosion sounds...
sigh
"Alright, fine. Let's go check the situation first."
— Yep, Back to the Present.
Kraugel walked past a few trees heading a bit south and spotted a battle happening, observing from behind the tree.
A girl... with animal ears! Whoa! This is exactly what I was looking for! And she's protecting two maids behind her, who are also shielding someone else... I wonder who that is...
— From the Animal-Eared Girl's Perspective...
"Oi oi! Didn't expect someone to actually attack our carriage, y'know." – the animal-eared girl
"Hohoho, that form… You must be Edora. The Platinum Tiger, right? In human form, with a few white tiger parts still visible. You'll make a fine souvenir for him."
A man in a black robe — though his hood was down — stood at the front, leading over a dozen others whose faces and heads were completely hidden. He had black hair with some parts turned white.
"Heh~ a coward like you won't be getting anything from me!" – Edora
"Kekeke, My name is Jerga & that's not for you to decide."
The group of robed fighters charged at her. Even Edora had to admit—
These damn cowards… Their raw strength is trash, but the way they time their attacks and chain them together makes them hard to break through. Ugh, looks like I've got no choice...
"Tch! Don't underestimate me, you bastards!"
Edora slammed two of them hard enough to send them flying into the trees, cracking them apart. Then...
"Khihkhiik… [Full Transformation]!"
Edora slowly began releasing magus energy from her body and started the transformation into a 4 and a half meter long white tiger, giving off a serious threat aura to those around her.
"Khohoho, so this is your real form, huh? The one that's so famous. My original target was just the kid, but I didn't expect to find such a nice bonus here. What luck! Hahaha!"
The man pulled out a short sword with strange curves, and it was pulsing with weird energy...
— From Kraugel's Perspective...
[ Report ]
Hm? Hermit?
[ Danger Detection and Negative Effect Detection have identified strong poison applied to that man's weapon ]
Alright, well, Gumi's already watching, so I guess I've got no choice but to step in, huh?