Chapter 32: Human, Rabbit, and Bird-Head
Through cooperation with Emul... no, honestly, about eighty percent of the credit goes to Emul, and though I was practically a parasite player in my shameful state, we somehow managed to defeat the area boss Mud Digger. Two things I learned: first, from here on out, solo-killer and specific-build-killer enemies will likely appear regularly. Second, it reconfirmed that Emul is way too strong. If you think about it calmly, chipping away its HP to the special action threshold with just two spells is insanely overpowered. And the fact that after all my bravado, I ended up completely carried... it stings quite a bit. Yeah, I'll let Emul stay as the mascot, at least until I reach her level.
Sunraku: "Let's head to Thirdrema for now... ugh."
My body is incredibly heavy. With only 1 HP, if I got into a fight right now, I'd definitely die. I pull out a bundle of medicinal herbs from my inventory and munch on them, trying to recover my health, but as expected, it won't fully recover right away. Still, recovering health the moment you eat—that's an absorption rate that can only be called miraculous... No, if the recovery item were the type you stick on a wound, I'd have to expose the ridiculous sight of plastering herbs to my butt, so I can't complain.
Emul: "A-Are you okay, wa?"
Sunraku: "I'm fine, I'm fine. Collateral damage, just collateral damage."
Emul: "To me, it looks like a fatal wound, wa..."
Heh... That's exactly right. But anyway, with this I can enter Thirdrema, and the fact that I'm near death is a trivial problem. Well, as long as that wolf doesn't show up at this exact moment...
Sunraku: "..............."
Emul: "What's wrong, wa? Looking around like that."
Sunraku: "Nah, I was just thinking I might've set off a flag..."
Emul: "?"
...Well, it's not the kind of monster that would appear over and over like that. If I've come all this way only to get sent back to Secondale, I'll cry. I'll cry openly.
Sunraku: "Looks like it was just needless worry. Let's quickly update our checkpoint in Thirdrema and then head to Rabituza."
Emul: "Wah...! So we'll be staying in Rabituza for real, wa na!"
Sunraku: "Well, yeah."
Depending on leveling efficiency, we might prioritize the area beyond Thirdrema, but that's just hypothetical, so I'll keep quiet about it. With a drunken stagger, I walk with Emul toward Thirdrema.
Emul: "Ah, wait just a moment, please, Sunraku-san."
Sunraku: "Hm?"
Thirdrema—a great city just as I'd heard—has a line of people, apparently NPCs, waiting at the gate. It seems if I line up there and pass the gatekeeper's inspection, I can officially enter Thirdrema... but just before that, Emul calls me to a halt.
Emul: "If we go like this, I'll be attacked, wa."
Sunraku: "Hm...? Oh, right. You're classified as a monster, after all. But when I first met you, you were just walking around town normally, right?"
Ah, right, she had teleportation magic—I realize after saying it myself. But maybe because she's in a party with me, entering a city with me wouldn't mean a monster would be allowed through. If a monster appeared before NPCs, it wouldn't be strange for them to cut it down without question. Then I need to hide her somewhere... but where can I hide her on my half-naked, no-guard body? As I'm groaning, Emul touches a bracelet on her arm and starts mumbling something.
Emul: "This is the secret art of us Vorpal Bunnies! Sunraku-san, please keep it to yourself, wa... [Metamorphose]!!"
Poof! With a very fancy... no, to be honest, a really silly sound effect and a smoke effect, Emul is enveloped. But since we're outdoors, the wind blows the smoke away, revealing Emul's figure...
Sunraku: "Huh?"
Emul: "Fyuii... No matter how many times I do it, I can't get used to the change in bodily sensation, wa..."
...That's strange. I'm currently playing the full-dive VR game that Japan boasts to the world—the divine game that shattered every record held by countless MMORPGs, with the catchphrase "Pioneer the World, Enjoy the World"—that should be Shangri-La Frontier.
Emul: "Fufuhn, thanks to this magic, we can go about our business in human cities too, wa!"
Sunraku: "Ahh, well, anthropomorphized animals... opinions vary depending on the degree of it, so I can't really comment..."
Emul: "What do you mean, wa!?"
It's not like I was playing gal games where you flirt with anthropomorphized animals or anything... The little rabbit is nowhere to be seen. In front of me, a girl, still acting exactly as she did as a rabbit, puffs out her chest and grins like a child who successfully pulled off a prank.
Emul: "So this way we can enter the city without drawing suspicion, that's the plan, wa! Well, it's really tiring, so if I stay transformed for a long time, the magic will wear off, wa..."
Sunraku: "I see. So once we get inside the city, you'll cancel it behind cover. So that's why Vorpal Bunnies could be in towns... But Emul, you've made one fatal—yeah, a truly Vorpal-level oversight."
Emul: "Hohe?"
If Emul is puffing out her chest, then I'll thump my own chest—yes, the one completely exposed to the open air with no covering at all—to convey the truth.
Sunraku: "The moment you're with a half-naked bird-head, the suspiciousness is already maxed out."
Emul: "Ah."
In fact, I think staying as a rabbit might have just labeled me "a pervert with a rabbit" and limited the damage to me alone. But no, if I had a monster with me, they probably wouldn't let me into the city normally. This way, we just get labeled as weirdos, which is ultimately more reliable. Sorry, Emul, but you'll have to draw the short straw.
Sunraku: "From now on, you'll be bearing the label of 'the woman who brought along a half-naked bird-head for whatever insane reason,' but well, do your best."
I deliver that line with a lukewarm gaze to the human-form Emul, who has crouched down holding her head.
And right at that moment, at the very spot where Sunraku and Emul got covered in mud, a battle began between the respawned Mud Digger and a single player.