The village was near a swampy area and a strange fog was covering the area. What a shitty place to live…

  My shadow clone got caught by a swamp siren and got drowned. Why are my shadow clones so clumsy?

  Sirens shouldn’t be an issue with Giana and marshes are no problem with Noelle but avoiding it would still be wise, unfortunately this village is hard to reach without avoiding swamp.

  So, 1 day is how long we can stay out of trouble, eh? Actually impressive.

  Some goblins approached our camp, but they got scared off when they got close. I wonder whose presence they’re scared off. Probably Greg, as he’s the only one radiating some strange energy. It’ seems similar to the black fog enshrouding the demons. Maybe Greg is half demon? I can’t remember his mother or brother having an aura like that.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if he was half demon. Unfortunately, we would need another demon to confirm that, which is a terrible idea. Let’s use Greg as a scarecrow until he catches on and addresses his edge aura.

  A beautiful new day dawned upon us. The morning would be seeded with trouble, as the forecast would be swamps and sirens. Next up would be a village that’s placed quite strangely, surely nobody normal lives there.

  And this is only day 2. At least the idols will get a taste of what it would be like, traveling with us.

  One problem though… this village has no walls. How did they survive the fairy invasion? Unless the inhabitants are fairies, this is extremely fishy. It could be worse than fairies, and something even they don’t want to mess with.

  The father came out of his hut and stretched for a bit.

  Hey, I was thinking, visiting that village might be a terrible idea.

  “Nonsense! We’ve visited it 5 years ago, and it was a lovely place, I’m sure nothing has changed.”

  You are aware that just 2 years ago, a swarm of those abominations eliminated almost any small village that didn’t protect itself adequately, right?

  Realization set in that his lovely village might be gone.

  “Even more reason to go! We need to find out what happened!”

  Well, the citizens are either fairy dung or the new citizens are fairies themselves. Great start team Hourai! And as usual, I’m the only one that notices. Or am I overthinking again? Maybe they lowered their defenses like Gittrian, as they don’t need it anymore….

  Who am I kidding?! It’s time to prepare against bullshit. I hope I will get surprised and it’s a normal village.

  Team Hourai woke up. Raishin had spent a night with Noelle but it didn’t seem as if it was anything exciting.

  Greg was concocting potions in front of his hut and Giana and Yv were chatting. Noelle stepped out and stomped. My body got heavier and I fell out of the tree.

  “Come here lil’ bro, my mood is terrible, cheer up your big sis’ for a bit.”

  How selfish…

  Half the family was still sleeping so we couldn’t leave anyway.

  I actually don’t know how to cheer you up; I can make you worried though!

  “I don’t doubt that you can make me worry… just tell me something interesting.” Noelle seemed as if she barely slept. What would cheer her up?

  I told her about the underground palace of Boshi town and what I could remember from it. She asked me questions of why it would be down there and I gave the best answer I could as I didn’t know.

  She had me describe the interior by memory, as she hadn’t visited it when she did the Nightmare dungeon which seemed to improve her mood.

  “Thank you, I will ask you to tell another adventure when my mood hits rock bottom.”

  But you were more interested in the palace’s structure than what we did there…

  “Doesn’t matter…” Noelle got up and kicked in the door of the family. “Rise and shine sleepyheads! We’ve got a long day in front of us!”

  Noelle is probably the only one that could kick in a door she had made. These huts could embarrass several fortresses or castles.

  Yv and Giana had cooked for us, and we were all enjoying breakfast.

  Raishin reached for some fruits, but his hand bumped into something invisible.

  What’s this? It feels like a rock! We don’t need rocks between our fruits!

  Raishin got up and tossed the ‘rock’ behind him.

  The conversation went to the village we would be visiting. The father told the rest that the village that they knew might not be anymore.

  “Hey, where did my crystal papaya go?”

  So, the funny thing about this situation is… Those crystal papaya’s are invisible to anyone that isn’t a 9t or a 7t, and it only looks like a fruit to 7t, for anyone else it will feel like an invisible rock.

  Didn’t Raishin toss an invisible rock minutes ago?

  “Seriously Raishin? Do I need to kick your ass every 10 minutes?”

  Wait! I didn’t know! How was I supposed to know?! Someone help!

  The family was spectating them fighting again, but the rest of team Hourai treated as a common occurrence.

  We cleaned up and headed for the village. It doesn’t seem as if it’s going well between Noelle and Raishin. Not sure who is at fault, Raishin for his idiocy, or Noelle who is unable to fully adapt to his antics. Maybe both need to compromise a bit.

  Ugh, Noelle’s punches hurt.

  Raishin said as he rubbed his arm.

  Then don’t do things that piss her off, I will see if I can cause her to relax a bit. They just joined a team of people don’t know well, try to be a bit more accommodating.

  Ugh, I’ll try my best.

  As long as you understand. They might be stressed by just being in this situation.

  It made Rashin think, at least that’s how it seemed.

  We got stuck in the mud 3 hours later. I thought that Noelle might be able to do something about it, but she couldn’t stomp on mud. Even worse, Noelle was sinking into the mud and Greg was doing his best to counteract it.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  What a clown fiesta. Raishin, what do you have in your backpack?

  Sexy mag… uhh research materials!

  I facepalmed, froze the mud under his feet and swapped Noelle with his backpack. Noelle used a strange crystal to adjust her weight.

  “Thank you lil’ bro.”

  Noelle didn’t seem extremely dissatisfied with the situation. How long do I need to be the wingman? I sighed and pulled as much water out of the mud as I could and froze the rest, trapping whatever marsh sirens that attempted anything.

  Greg, you’re up. Anything earth related is yours. Raishin, focus on not sinking into anything. Don’t follow Giana or me but follow Greg.

  Giana and I were the only ones that didn’t sink into the mud, Yv also seemed to have an easy time with the mud. The rest had mud stains up until their knees.

  Can’t you just freeze the whole march?

  I can, but I think it’s better for team Hourai if I don’t.

  We left the frozen patches of mud and Noelle directed Raishin to spots that were the most stable.

  Please let this work.

  “Ugh, there’s mud in my tail! Deca help!” Giana had dragged her tail behind her and it was all muddied. I was in my human form, so I didn’t have any issues.

  Dragging your tail is a bad habit… I can’t help you now, I will brush your tail later after we get out of this muddy mess, is that fine?

  Giana seemed happy with that response. The humans were complaining about the mud. Yv and Greg were the only people that weren’t being difficult.

  Ugh, not sure what I prefer more, sand or mud.

  I don’t mind mud.

  I said as I jumped around.

  It’s because you don’t weigh anything!

  Might not want to step there. Better focus on Noelle.

  Noelle steered Raishin away on the last second.

  I don’t mind the mud at all…

  You like sand, so your opinion is invalid!

  Greg was getting tired as he was the one responsible for getting the wagons through the mud. We rested, and I took the chance to tell the team about the suspicious village.

  So, there’s good news and bad news.

  I hate it when those words come out of your mouth. What is the good news?

  We’re almost at the village! We can almost use our pitstop!

  Guys, if that’s the good news, we need to get out of here…

  “Let’s hear it, it can’t be worse than this swamp!” The mother of the family said, which is strange, as the father suggested that they’ve been here before.

  How did you come here the last time? Your husband suggested that we’ve been here before.

  “Huh? Joey, why did you tell them that? We’ve never been there before.”

  “Remember when we went to visit my sister?”

  “Joey… you don’t have a sister…”

  The couple started quarreling and I scooted over to Giana.

  Hey do you sense deception? I got nothing/

  Giana grabbed my hand and poured charm magic in me. “No deception, but I pick up traces of Joey being charmed.”

  Wonderful… so Raishin has to sit this out then. Greg you’re up!

  Huh what? Are you going to tell us what the bad news is?

  Greg’s edge aura was a bit weaker. Is it because he’s tired? Is his edge aura tied to his energy levels? It had almost disappeared when I knocked him out in our duel.

  Right, after talking to our health specialist, another problem has entered the building. Let me summarize this concisely as possible.

  Raishin put up his hand.

  What does consizely mean? The size of what?

  It means that I will put it in a way that even you will understand, Noelle educate him please. Anyway, problem number 1! We all know that our continent had suffered an invasion 2 years or so ago which wiped out nearly any unprepared settlement, those that survived had erected walls or great defensive measures, this village has none of this.

  The chicks were shocked and Greg rubbed hsi forehead as he realized that we were in deep shit.

  So, we get to problem 1a; the inhabitants are all dead, Problem 1b; the inhabitants are those that invaded. Or problem 1c; all of the above.

  A human hand went up. “How can the inhabitants be the invaders and dead at the same time? If the new invaders are now the inhabitants, then 1a, shouldn’t apply, right?”

  That’s a good point!

  I said as I pointed at the observant human.

  So, I’ve recently realized that out of the many strange things we need to encounter, ‘zombies’ are still unchecked. I don’t believe we’re dealing with zombies, but you never know. So now to problem 2 that Giana just brought up. The couple seems to disagree on whether they’ve visited this village before, and Giana sensed that the husband has traces of charm on him. So, while not real zombies, ‘lovestruck zombies’ comes quite close!

  Is this why you told me that ‘I’m up’?

  I nodded.

  Gogo! Show us why you’re named the ‘Oblivious Prince’!

  You’re sitting this one out Raishin.

  Eh? What about you?

  I have my secret weapon!

  Which is?

  I pulled Giana closer.

  You’re looking at her.

  Then I have one too!

  He pulled Noelle closer.

  “Uhh, let’s stay behind Raishin, I don’t know any good measures against charm magic. How about you tell me more of your wonderful adventures?” Noelle gave a sign that she has the situation under control. How reliable.

  Giana, I’m relying on you to tell me when it becomes hard for you to keep me charmed.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t lose as long as it’s not a succubus or vampire!” She said as she puffed up her chest.

  Great way to jink it... I suppose succubus or vampire is on the menu… Greg is our vanguard; you humans stay here with Raishin and Noelle while we check out this village. Yv, can you be the scout? I might get rekt if there’s a charm trap.

  Team Hourai got into motion. Giana advised the wife to keep an eye out on her husband, as she couldn’t determine what effect the charm had on him. According to Giana, he’s acting on residual charm magic, so she couldn’t dispel his state.

  The second charm-based adversary after the idols joined, is this coincidence or deliberate? I have no reason to suspect Giana, but our race is known for being cunning.

  follow if the story is interesting enough.

  Ayaru Mistflower