novelraw Chapter 47: Damsel in Distress
Chapter 47: Damsel in Distress
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"Damsel in Distress "
Objective:
Save Roselyn D’Aubigny and eliminate her pursuers.
Rewards:
+5 free stat points
Message Card
300 Myrr
Penalty for failure:
+1 Corruption
___________________________
In line with the situation, a mission came up, as was common with all our clients.
"..."
The situation was tense and dangerous; she looked at me for help—she was clearly scared. Whatever those men were planning to do to her, it didn’t look good.
Now I had to help her according to the mission, but I didn’t know how strong that group of men was.
Here, I can’t simply rely on outward appearances. Even the woman who seems intimidated and scared by the group of men could be stronger than me.
I haven’t improved physically one bit since I reincarnated, so my obvious thought was to stay out of it and just urge them to go settle their business elsewhere.
I didn’t want this to drag Iris and me into a dangerous situation, but what was holding me back was the mission and the fact that corruption was once again the penalty.
So no matter how pleadingly the woman looked at me, I had to first figure out how to resolve the situation without compromising our safety.
There had to be a way; the system said the missions are within our capabilities, and the more...
"Damsels in distress!"
Just as I was thinking of a solution, I heard Iris’s voice from above.
Bang!!
She had woken up, and before I could react, I heard another loud thud.
The cause was her leaping down the stairs from the second floor with great momentum, instantly reaching the first floor and causing the wooden floor to creak loudly.
"Wait, no—"
"Blood Frenzy, Unstoppable Charge"
At that moment, I wanted to step forward to stop her, but she had already moved.
She said something and, surrounded by a sort of reddish aura, ran toward one of the men.
The man was armed, and when he saw Iris charging at him, he didn’t hesitate and swung his sword—which was surrounded by a strange greenish aura—at Iris.
"Art of Lethargy, First Stance"
I don’t know what the hell she was saying, but she didn’t stop, and Iris’s hand collided with the sword.
One thing I noticed was that before the impact, the man’s green aura seemed to vanish, making him look very surprised.
Clank!
The sword bounced off Iris’s hand, and a sound like two metals clashing echoed through the room.
Bang!
Not only that: the man was immediately sent flying backward, crashing into the window. It sounded loud, but the only thing that seemed to be broken were the man’s bones.
Swoosh!
At that moment, an attack from another of the men was directed at Iris; it truly made me feel like my soul was slipping away, but she, as if it were second nature, dodged it by mere centimeters and counterattacked with a fluid movement.
"Rage Strike"
Iris landed a solid blow to his jaw and knocked him out.
"Rage Strike, Rage Strike"
There were two more blows after that, and two more people fell. What they all had in common was a look of bewilderment on their faces, as if they didn’t understand what had just happened.
Iris had always been physically gifted, and with her boundless energy and curiosity, she had signed up for many athletic activities such as swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, and more, but also for things like self-defense classes, boxing, kickboxing, judo, and all kinds of martial arts.
Although she reached a high enough level in many of those disciplines to compete internationally, she did not do so. There was no particular reason; she was simply bored because it was too easy for her, or perhaps something else had caught her attention.
She has always been very competent and stronger than even a man who also trained in martial arts.
But that was by the standards of our previous world. In this one, I thought it wouldn’t be the same, but there she was, beating up armed guys, and even before I could get there, she had already taken down half a dozen men.
She didn’t stop there; on impulse, she went over to the bewildered girl, grabbed her, picked her up, and said:
"The damsel has been rescued!"
"..."
The woman looked at Iris in bewilderment, and so did I—not because of what she’d just done, but because now that I was looking closely at her face, I noticed something.
"Hey Iris, did you do that while you were half-asleep?"
"Call me ’love’! Huh?... What did I do? Oh! Oh!"
I noticed that Iris’s face looked half-asleep, as if she hadn’t fully woken up yet.
It was confirmed when I spoke to her; aside from the fact that she corrected me almost instinctively, I saw how something finally clicked inside her and her eyes snapped open from being half-asleep.
She finally began to look around and take in the scene, and she seemed surprised to find a girl in her arms.
Although she sometimes moves around while half-asleep, this was the first time she’d fought while half-asleep.
I could understand that maybe the first thing she heard after waking up was the mission, and without thinking, she lunged and attacked.
"haaahh~First of all—"
"Ah! Honey, can I keep her? I’ll take good care of her."
"..."
Iris came up to me saying something that I assume she did because she hadn’t fully woken up yet.
I actually wanted to understand how the previous scene happened, but I think I have an idea.
"Come on, honey, say yes. I feel like there’s gold here... no, pure platinum! She’s a MILF!"
"I told you to watch your language; she’s a client, not a pet, so first of all, put her down."
I asked Iris to first bring the woman down; she seemed very flustered. She was a woman who, just by her appearance, screamed "noble"—dressed in a deep red Victorian-style dress with curly blonde hair; she also had distinctive purple eyes with red pupils.
"Oh, right, ahem... I’m sorry about that, lovely lady!.. Oh!, are you a vampire?"
"Uh... y-yes, I am."
Iris finally set her down. Looking at her face-to-face, Iris seemed to notice that she wasn’t human, as she had slightly pointed ears and clearly visible fangs.
Iris couldn’t help herself and asked, which the woman confirmed.
This is another thing to keep in mind. Same goes for elves and beastmen. It’s curious how the names align with our knowledge.
I don’t know if it’s because of this translation feature—which I still don’t understand how it works—or if there’s something else, but that wasn’t my current priority.
"Don’t make the customer feel uncomfortable... the situation is a bit peculiar, and there will probably be many questions and thoughts, but first of all, may I ask you something, dear customer?"
I have to ask because I need to understand what situation Iris and I have gotten ourselves into
"...Yes, of course."
"If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me what rank you’re at? And do you know what rank your pursuers are at?"
"Huh? Well, you’re my saviors. I can tell you that I’m in the fourth rank, and those men—I think most of them—are in the fifth rank... huh? Wait—"
"I see. Iris, go ahead and take care of this client."
"Oh, it’s my turn! Okay, honey, I’ll show you how to provide excellent customer service."
"..."
Iris, excited, without waiting for me to say anything else, took the woman’s hand and practically dragged her into the massage room.
’love, tell me something—what rank are you?’
I spoke to her telepathically, since I had some questions and warnings to share with her.
’hehue~, looks like I can’t hide it from you anymore, honey. I’m at rank two, so I’m not that impressive.’
’Did you use the stats they gave as rewards?’
’Yeah, honey, it’s our cheat, so we have to use it... was that wrong?’
’...No, it’s good to be strong.’
’It sure is.’
I can see she’s really been busy, and not only that, but she’s already starting to master the art of combat.
I don’t think she did anything wrong, since there really isn’t a "right" way to do this. Still, as always, I think she was a bit too hasty, but putting that aside, I have to warn her.
’Listen, the situation right now is a little delicate.’
’Why?’
’Because you just did something that makes no sense by this world’s standards. Listen: just treat her like a client. If she asks, tell her and confirm that we’re just a massage parlor. If she keeps insisting, stick to your guns and say you’re a massage therapist—got it?’
’Yeah! honey. Watch closely how well I do this; I might even put a ’lethargy stigma’ on her, huehue~.’
’That’s my other point, love, calm down a bit.’
’Huh?’
’Ever since we got here, you’ve been way too excited about the harem thing. I know you very well, and I know you’re a highly sociable person who finds it easy to get along with people, but lately you’ve been so excited that you’re making everyone else uncomfortable.’
’Really?’
’Yes, love, I trust you and believe you can achieve whatever you set your mind to, but first you need to calm down and, above all, stop and think.’
She’s been too excited, it’s more than clear how she made Bianca uncomfortable and then the vampire woman.
If she weren’t thinking of that woman as a potential harem member, she could handle the situation better.
Rather, she may be chaotic and a possible reincarnation of an evil goddess, but she has extremely high emotional intelligence.
Under more normal circumstances, she would first have shown empathy, asked about the woman’s well-being, and even reassured her.
That’s the kind of person she is. It’s no wonder she had so many friends in her previous life, despite being the way she is, so she’s more than capable of handling the situation well if she calms down and thinks things through before acting.
’Hmm... I think you’re right, honey.’
’I’m glad you understand.’
’I’ll do my best, but honey, did you notice?’
’Notice what?’
’She looked at me the way Lys looked at you—she was blushing so much, and I could even feel her heart racing. I think she likes me; it was love at first sight, huehue~ I’m quite the heartbreaker now.’
’...’
I think that reaction was due to the intense harassment she had just gone through, but I feel that if I bring it up, we’ll end up arguing, so I’d better not say anything and let her believe whatever she wants.
’It’s crystal clear she’s a lesbian MILF, which is a huge stroke of luck since that’s my area of expertise. I’m an expert at dealing with them. ’
’How the hell can you become an expert at—haah~ Whatever. Just go and remember what I told you.’
’Okay.’
Well, now it’s up to Iris. She still seems excited, but I hope she takes my words to heart.
More importantly, I have things to do on my end. I looked at the fallen men; upon closer inspection, none of them were human. I suppose that’ll make things easier, but first.
"Hey, System, answer me a few things..."
*****
"Hmm, I wanted to thank you again for earlier, and I’m sorry your massage parlor got caught up in it; I’ll make sure to make it up to you."
"uh? don’t worry about it, I just did what a Prince Charming would do for a beautiful damsel in distress."
"Prince Charming? Damsel?"
"Ah, never mind, just minor details. By the way, what’s your name? My name is Iris."
"My name... my name is Rose."
"Oh, Rose is a pretty name."
This world is really great. Everyone who’s come in has been a beautiful girl. The system must understand our tastes, which is why it brings us such excellent clients.
I like pretty girls; Honey likes voluptuous MILFs.
Everything fits perfectly.
"I appreciate the compliment, and I also appreciate what you did earlier. If you don’t mind, can I ask who you —..."
"Oh!, wait, first we need to talk about something important. Rose, do you want to be part of the ’harem Initiative’?"
"Huh?"