Chapter 32: Chapter 32 – I Am on the Road

It turns out that the slang I was used to from back home didn’t translate very well in this world sometimes. 

Back when I was first transported to this world, one of the first things I checked was the [Transmigrator] skill, and among its many features was the ability to translate languages that my race knew.

Naturally, this meant I could read, write, and speak in every derivative of the human language in Paresica. However, if I wanted to learn the native tongue of the shurai, I’d have to really start studying.

I was planning on learning it during our journey to the Fissure, but a whole load of things happened and I never really got the time to actually ask. 

I suppose now was the best opportunity seeing as Antenora was highly interested in my “unique diction” as she calls it. I spent a good ten minutes trying to explain to her the meaning of “Peace out” before she finally understood.

It was kind of weird though. Ever since I supposedly “affirmed my allegiance,” Antenora was treating me with far more respect than she ever had. To put it frankly, it gave me the chills. I was already used to the rude and brusque Antenora, after all.

All in all, it was pretty entertaining and it became a popular phrase between her, Lucrezia, and Priya for some reason.

Anyway, after a rather refreshing night at the Yasterton Inn, we found ourselves back on the road. True to his word, Cyrus didn’t even meet us for a farewell. Instead, he simply slipped a letter under the door of our room which I suppose was in-character for an intelligence officer.

“How much longer is it until we reach Juryez?” Priya asked.

I glanced over at her with a grin. Priya and Lucrezia had been having nightly talks ever since we departed from the late Count Oswald’s fief. 

I wasn’t exactly privy to them, but they bonded over it and it was clearly helping them soothe their wounds. The fact that Priya was willing to speak to us more often was more than proof of that.

“Antenora says around three days more of travel. The trip was gonna take five days and we took the third to rest in Yasterton.” I looked at Antenora for confirmation, prompting her to nod.

“Aww... I wanna sleep in a bed again...”

I laughed and gave Priya a pat on the head as we continued trekking toward our destination.

The day’s journey passed without incident. We came across a few beasts who came out of the woods to investigate, but they were more curious than hostile.

Eventually, we found a nice forest glade to set up camp in as usual.

After setting up the fire, I intended to go spend some time with Lucrezia, but she apparently had something important to discuss with Antenora, so I decided to see how Priya’s training was going for once.

The plan that Antenora and I had devised for her was pretty simple and based on a natural progression of techniques coupled with some light sparring, but she never actually had a serious match with any of us.

“Hey, Priya! How’s it goin’?”

“E-Eep!”

After recovering from her surprise at my sudden appearance, Priya made her way over to me with a nervous expression.

“Um... Have you come to check on my progress, Lady Ryuuko?”

“Mhm. And don’t you go calling me ‘Lady Ryuuko’ too. It’s already creepy enough when Antenora does it.” I laughed.

“B-But...” Priya hesitated as if she was going to protest further before shaking her head and giving me a gleaming smile. “Mm... Okay, Ryuuko!”

I gave her a good scratch between what I assumed were her horns before asking her if there was anything she was having trouble with. 

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I should’ve been treating her like an animal, but she seemed to enjoy the headpats and head scratches, so I thought it should be fine.

“Not really... It’s just that I’m not really sure how to deal with ranged attackers like Lucrezia. Most of the techniques that Antenora taught me are for dealing with melee attackers.”

Truth be told, I didn’t have much experience there either. I mean, the cultists had tried to shoot magic at me before, but I either just straight up tanked it or dodged one or two shots using my enhanced reflexes.

It didn’t take me more than a few seconds to close the gap between myself and a caster either, so I suppose that was the only advice I could give Priya.

She paid quite a bit of attention to my words, but I didn’t really feel like I was the best teacher. I mean, I really just depended on my boosted stats at the moment coupled with a bit of martial arts experience I picked up back on Earth.

In the end, she decided that it would be much better for her to focus on avoiding projectiles and closing the gap rather than simply tanking them like I did. It was a pretty good decision as far as I could tell since she was small and agile.

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Of course, I wished that I could’ve given her better input on this stuff, but I just wasn’t cut out as a teacher. Instead, I offered to help her practice.

Priya and I ended up spending the rest of the night working on her projectile dodging capabilities. At first, she suggested that I shoot fireballs at her, but I quickly figured that it wasn’t such a good idea since we were in the middle of a forest.

Instead, we settled with a few small pebbles that I found back out on the dirt path. There was no way she could’ve dodged anything that I threw at full power, so I ended up holding back quite a bit.

“Uwaaah! That was way scarier than I thought it’d be!” Priya plopped herself down on the cool grass, lying down as her labored breathing slowly eased up.

“Really? I’ve seen Antenora throw her daggers at you before, though. Pebbles can’t possibly be scarier, right?”

“Right!? But... I dunno. It was just way scarier when you were the one throwing stuff at me. Maybe it’s ‘cause I know you’re way stronger.”

“Hm... Is that why your movements were so stiff? ‘Cause you were scared?”

Priya nodded. “I think so, yeah.”

“Are you scared of me right now?”

Priya shook her head.

“And why’s that?”

“Well... You’re really nice. I mean... I guess you can be scary sometimes like when we were walking through the town, but... You’re always trying to think of others when you do things even when you say the opposite. A-And um... Well, nevermind...”

Whoa. I wasn’t expecting her to say something like that. I mean, I always thought I was just a piece of shit up until Lucrezia started making me change for the better.

And that just made me all the more curious about what else she was going to say.

“C’mon now, you can’t just stop there!”

“W-Well... I don’t know if it’d be okay for me to say this but... I feel like you’re always trying to take everything on yourself. It’s like you just blame yourself for everything that happens, even if you might not be in the wrong... And then everything comes crashing down around you.”

I frowned.

What the hell? This is the first real conversation she’s had with me and she talks like she already understands me. Am I really that easy to read?

“What makes you say that?”

“Because you are easily manipulated by others. All they need to do is tug on your heartstrings.”

Priya’s eyes were clear and serious. I quickly realized that I had been treating her like a kid all this time because of her physical appearance. She might’ve been small and cute, but I realized that really was no indication of her age. 

Hell, the races of the eastern tribes could live for even a thousand years, so it was pretty difficult to tell how old they were unless you asked.

“I’ll... I’ll keep that in mind, Priya. And, uh, good to see that you’re recovering so quickly.”

I stood up from my sitting position and headed off to my tent for the night, but Priya’s voice stopped me mid-stride.

“Even though they perished in the end, they were still given a chance to fight for what they believed in. Their freedom was still returned to them, and they could choose how to live and die in their final days.

“The one who gave them back that freedom was you, Ryuuko. You saved them, even if it was only for a few days. And... You saved me. So no matter what happens, I’ll always be by your side.”

I turned back to look at Priya. My vision had decided to become blurry from the tears that I was trying hard to keep back. I didn’t want to look pathetic right now, especially not after what Priya just warned me about.

“...Thanks.”

That was about all I could manage. I quickly whirled around and made a beeline for my tent.

Is it... really that easy to touch my heart? Just a few fucking words and here I am, about to cry like a goddamn child. Just... How starved for affection am I?

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