Micchi Versus the New World - Chapter 132

Alt link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pk_r-fKlutHsZHz7tsDifK5lbQ7t2J_M0Yb8VyoPT_0/edit?usp=share_link

Chapter 132

The city of Menagerie surrendered pretty easily. Most of the demon citizens inside didn't want to fight to begin with. They were just ordinary cityfolk. Those that did though, a couple of more beatings put them in their place. Any resistance left vanished when their leaders came out to discuss terms of surrender.

But they weren't what I expected.

Three imps dressed in suits groveled on the ground before me with a mountain bulging bags of gold, silver, and jewelry tossed to my feet.

"P-Please, take it all! We won't send anything else to attack you anymore!" the one in the center exclaimed.

"What are we even gonna do with this?" Yui asked while untying one of the bags.

The glimmer of riches shone like the sun as soon as she opened it. Citizens were drawn in by all the money. Some of them gulped hard when she plucked a coin out. Krolins, they called it. Probably the name of the currency up here.

"This ain't what we came for," I said, stepping over the pile of wealth and looming over them.

"It… It isn't?" he asked.

"Nah. Vermin's little zoo. Bring us the chunkiest monsters you got. The ones that can be made a stew or roast out of."

Their jaws dropped.

"You mean to tell me, you attacked our city because you wanted to eat?!" the three screamed at the same time.

"Did I stutter? Get going!" I growled.

They scrambled away towards the arena. I kicked over the bag pile and scattered money on the ground. Demon citizens lunged all over the place for them.

We eventually returned to the outpost with dozens of wagons, carrying big monsters that would feed us for weeks. Kain and Kaoru, however, didn't look like they were staying for lunch. They were getting ready to head out. Their flagship and two other airships were powered on, engines humming with magic.

"Leaving already? Was about to butcher these for a feast." I patted a giant red boar reminiscent of the very first thing I killed coming to this world.

"With Menagerie defeated, there's no sense in wasting time. The Kartolan Badlands is much farther than Roila, so we're taking a head start. I never imagined we would come so far in putting an end to the demon menace, and it's all thanks to you. Good luck, Lady Micchi." Kain shook my hand before ascending the flagship.

Already on the quarterdeck, Kaoru nodded to me as the flagship lifted off.

"Chances are, we will be facing Chika together when we next meet. I expect you to not hesitate like before," Kaoru said.

"Count on it," I assured her.

A burst of cold air rippled through the outpost. The engines glowed more brightly as the airships lifted higher than the trees and began advancing towards the Kartolan Badlands.

"Getting cold feet?" Ririko asked from the outpost palisade.

I ignored her and headed back inside to join the others.

Over the next two days, my group prepared to head out. We left behind a crack team of soldiers and guild members led by Oaks to defend the Miterhask outpost. The rest of us boarded three airships bound for Roila.

On the third day, disaster struck.

"Commander, the 3rd and 7th company have also all fallen ill. The mages powering the airship are bearing through the sickness by will alone, but their exhaustion is showing. At this rate, we may have to land until it passes," my airship's yeoman explained, the strain in his voice was also showing.

"Tell them to find a place to land. Make sure the other ships know, too," I ordered.

The yeoman saluted, then hurried out of the captain's quarter to relay my orders.

This sucked. Something gnarly got a hold of everyone last night. A demon's attack, sickness, or whatever… we were all falling victim to it.

I stumbled over to Loraine's side of the bed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her breathing was hoarse. She was as pale as a ghost. Even Kawa came down with something. The wolf laid at the foot of the bed whimpering, and her head nesting between Loraine's legs.

Now it was getting to me, too.

"Lilim. Where the hell are you?" I asked into the room.

"I'm here, Master!" Lilim opened the door and poked her head into the room. She looked fine. Not at all affected by whatever was making us sick.

"Any idea what's causing this? You're the only one doing alright."

"If I had a guess, it might be a demon-borne sickness. That would explain why I'm okay, and why surface-dwellers who haven't faced it before are having a difficult time," she explained.

"Great. I swear, if we got this far only to get done in by a flu or cold… Whatever. Get in here and use your succubus voodoo to make it easy on these two, will you? I'm gonna go check on the others," I said.

Lilim swallowed her hesitation entering the room because Loraine made it obvious she wasn't welcome. As the succubus placed a hand on both Loraine and Kawa, their demeanors immediately lightened up. They stopped turning in bed and breathed easier.

I left the room and ran into people slumped against the hall. Some of the doors were open. When I peeked inside, folks were bedridden and not looking so hot. It wasn't until I got to the canteen did it dawn on me how bad things were getting. No one was eating. They were strewn on the ground or lying on the table. Not dead but might as well be.

"Rugal! Rugal, where the fuck are you?" I shouted with what little strength I had.

A giant ball rolled up to me. It uncurled just enough for me to see Rugal inside.

"Not… feeling too hot. I'd rather pass out," Rugal groaned.

"Where's Yui and Ririko?" I asked.

"Check the… cargo bay," he said and rolled back to the corner.

I went down to the cargo bay and found Ririko, trying to feed porridge to Yui who was lying in a hammock.

"Hey, come on. You need to eat, kid. I know you don't like me, but curb that rebelliousness until you're better. Open up." Ririko waved the spoon in Yui's face to no success.

"Uu… No… Just let me die," Yui begged.

I was about to call out until a wave of dizziness hit me. The next thing I knew, I crashed into some crates and passed out.

When I next woke up, I heard the sound of boiling first. Ririko was sitting on the floor across from me, stirring a steaming and bubbling pot with a ladle. Her eyes were so laser-focused, she didn't realize I was awake until I tried to get up.

"Whoa, whoa. You lie back down." Ririko pushed me back down onto the cot that was just a bedsheet and pillow laid on the floor.

"What happened?" I asked.

"What do you think? You passed out. It's only been an hour though. Lay tight. I'm almost done with this hot pot," she said.

My gaze fell to the pot sitting on a metal trivet. Ririko had one hand on the ladle and the other pressed to the side of the pot. Her fingertips were lit up red, likely controlling the heat. Guess she had more than just cold magic under all that makeup.

However, as much as I'd like to lay around and do nothing, we didn't exactly have that luxury. I tried to get up a second time, but Ririko shoved me down again.

"This is stupid. I gotta make sure everything's alright on deck," I said.

"Airships landed behind a hilly outcrop. We're fine. You, on the other hand, gotta get some rest. Don't worry. Ririko's old fashioned hot pot will get you back on your feet in no time!" Ririko grinned as she scooped the contents of the pot into a bowl and handed it to me.

It was filled with chopped pieces of meat, potatoes, and mushrooms. Smelled of lightly-sprinkled salt.

"Not sure how I feel about eating something you made. How do I know it ain't poisoned?" I asked.

Ririko glanced over to Yui, who was snoring in her sleep. An empty bowl sat on the ground beneath her hammock.

"Poisoned or not, you'll live." She began to scoop some for herself. "But you won't live or get better on an empty stomach though. It's good, I swear! Used to make this all the time in high school, you know? Gets pretty damn cold up in Hokkaido, especially when you go to a shitty school without proper heating. All us girls would use the steam to exfoliate our pores, then head to the bathroom to do our makeup after eating."

My stomach rumbled aloud. Ririko heard it and smirked.

"Wipe that smile off your face…" I started digging in so that she would shut up.

With every savory morsel I ate, my body got warmer. The fact that the ingredients were only lightly salted brought out more of their natural flavor. The earthy taste of mushroom, harsh gamey meat, a little bit of dirt from the poorly-washed potatoes, and the broth that combined it all together… It felt like I was fighting off the sickness the more I put in my mouth.

"Motonari didn't have heating either. Cold as hell every winter. We had to just grit our teeth through it. Now that I think about it, hot pot in class would've been nice." I cleaned the bowl, including the misty dirt at the bottom.

Tasted like home anyway.

"There's no way you're satisfied after that. What say we grill some fish?" Ririko asked, removing the hot pot from the trivet and pulling out a weird fish from a bucket behind her.

"You're joking," I said.

Ririko wasn't joking. She doused the fish in animal fat collected from the monsters we killed back in Menagerie, sprinkled salt over it, placed the fish on the trivet, and grilled it on there with magical heat. The fish was pink in color and had spikey fins all over its body, but they were nothing a little tug couldn't pull out. Soon, the body took on a charred and reddish tint.

"Here. Pinched this off one of Kaoru's people." Ririko handed me a pair of ornate brown chopsticks with a dragon coiling up the top half of each stick.

The chopsticks' design reminded me of Anya, and Anya reminded me that Ririko was the reason she was missing.

"What the hell is this?" I asked, putting the chopsticks down. "I'm not here to be buddy-buddy with you. We're not friends. Just allies outta convenience."

"Convenience that's supposed to benefit both of us. I didn't forget, Micchi. Look, you can hate me all you want for what I did to Anya and tried to do to you guys. I'm not going to waste my breath on apologizing because I know you won't accept it. This, me feeding you, who says you can eat at the same table as someone you hate? Now eat, grilled fish is best right after you grilled it," Ririko insisted as she pulled out another pair of chopsticks to pluck meat from its bones.

Sighing, I grabbed one of the pieces Ririko cut out. The smokey taste and tender texture made me tear up immediately.

"You're crying? Great. I'm not Anya or Kaoru, so I dunno what the hell to do about crying munchkins," Ririko complained.

"Fuck you. Fuck if I know. It's always been like this ever since Chika and Anya took me and Yui in. They're always telling us to eat more, eat more. Like shit, I can only eat so much. Why the hell are you guys always telling us to eat more?" I asked as I wiped my eyes.

She shrugged and continued carving into the fish with her chopsticks. "Isn't it obvious? How else are you going to grow up strong?"

I was reminded of a memory. The four of us were at the usual park in the middle of winter. The playground was covered in snow. Anya bought sea bream from the local grocer, and Chika brought a bag of charcoal and grill mesh. Now I knew why they didn't eat. They went through the trouble just to feed us. It tasted a little burnt, but damn did it hit the spot.

"How come you ain't feel like shit like the rest of us?" I asked.

"Pft. I got Hokkaido blood in me. We're hearty people. Hell will freeze over before a little bug gets me sick," Ririko said as pulled out another fish.

After cleaning up and grilling the second fish for when Yui woke up, Ririko and I climbed up to the deck to check things out. It was deserted, except for a group of four mages sitting together at the base of the mast. I couldn't see shit past the outcrop, so I hopped off the airship and made my way up incline.

I slipped on the wet grass. Ririko threw an arm around my shoulder and helped me the rest of the way. When we got to the edge, however…

We were on a cliff, overlooking what was most likely Roila. The city was larger than any I'd seen so far. Cynderace, Kajar, Taiq'ae… none of them compared. An octagonal wall surrounded the city, but buildings continued to stretch beyond the boundaries. That wall was probably made of the same anti-air obelisks around the continent. A river forking into two smaller streams cut through the city. At the very center was a palace, taller than the spires in Cynderace, with pointed steeples and towers extending from the castle.

"Geez. What a huge fucking city," I muttered.

"I wonder if they sell lotion down there? My skin has been drying out because of this stupid atmosphere," Ririko said.

Something suddenly flew past us. A gargoyle landed to the side. I was about to break it with Sacchan until it spoke.

"You must be Micchi," a feminine and proud voice said that didn't match the gargoyle's burly appearance at all.

"Yeah? Who's asking?" I eyed the stone monster.

"Lady Katrine, ruler of Roila. I understand you wish to lay siege to my precious city, but you have no need to attack. I humbly announce mine and the city of Roila's surrender. As a gesture of good faith, I offer you what you seek. The key to the demon lord's palace."

The gargoyle's jaw unhinged. Its mouth contained a ring similar to the one Vermin had, except the inlaid jewel was blue in color. When I took it, the mouth snapped shut.

"This smells like a trap," Ririko said.

"I'm catching the whiff, too. What's your game? You're not loyal to the demon lord?" I asked.

There was a restrained laugh before she answered. "Against the strengths of you and your armies? I wouldn't dare! I have given you the ring and you may simply move on, but perhaps there is more to be gained here? My obelisks have been de-powered. I would like to extend to you an invitation to the great city of Roila. What do you say?"

"Hoh? Saves me the trouble of bulldozing through to get to you. Alright. I accept. I got a few questions that apparently only you can answer anyway," I said.