Micchi Versus the New World - Chapter 114

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Chapter 114

After beating the shit out of Owyn Medir and the nobility of Ash'tar in the Lannarkis Ring, I had their children brought down next. Some of them were babies, still attached to their mothers' tits. A handful were older than me for sure. Of course, all of them reacted strongly after seeing their parents' faces fucked up.

Emerging from the booth where Owyn had sat during the Lannarkis Ring tournament was Loraine. She was flanked by Prince Kain and Kaoru, among other soldiers.

"From this day forward," Loraine began as she walked to the edge of the booth, "the head of each house shall have their estate passed to the next of kin. Those that lie before you will remain arrested until the end of the war. Stay your hand from aiding Sultan Yusef, and I shall let them free once the war is over. However, there remains one problem that must be rooted out: the Ramaleiks. Confess yourself now, and we will show mercy. Otherwise…"

I cracked my knuckles, and everyone's attention turned back to me. They gulped at the same time. However, no one spoke up this time or gave themselves up.

It wasn't until Cavalry Captain Pino led a giant dark elf into the arena that a few among them went slackjawed. Shackled by his wrists and ankles was the mountain of a man who was with Sultan Yusef when they attacked Cynderace. 'Ramaleik's personal problem solver' was what they called him.

Kawa, who held the chain leash in her fangs, reeled the elf up to them.

"Good girl." I patted her on the head and took the chain. One hard yank sent him tumbling face first into the ground.

"This elf is allegedly in service to Sultan Yusef and the Ramaleiks. We would appreciate any information pertaining to that family," Kain said to the citizens of Ash'tar in particular.

"Even as far as Taiq'ae, they are a thorn on my side." Kaoru glared.

Whoever the Ramaleiks were, they had been a bitch and a half to deal with. Their ties to Sultan Yusef made them stick out, but no one's really connected the two with anything solid.

Owyn stood up. "A-As a gesture of good will, please allow me to—"

"Get the fuck on with it already," I said.

"The Ramaleiks is no real family!" he hastily exclaimed. "They are Sultan Yusef's creation. His personal enforcers… to keep us in check. In all honesty, I would be glad if you rid the likes of them entirely."

Big guy started growling. The chain in my hand pulled taut as he lunged for Owyn, who fell back onto his ass in fear. I yanked the giant to the ground again, then kneed him in the stomach to keep him down.

"You telling me a bunch of two-bit thugs got the whole of Amarinth scared shitless?" I asked Owyn.

"You would think they are simply an organized group of ruffians backed by a powerful sovereign… The truth behind them is much more sinister than you think," Owyn said, cowering under the big elf's glare.

Kaoru suddenly leaped into the arena and walked up to the chained dark elf. Her eyes were fixed on the tattoos.

"You figure something out?" I asked.

"The ink is similar to Anya's in that it contains magic. They can be disenchanted. Allow me." Kaoru summoned Kamigoroshi from a bolt of lightning, then brandished the spear over the elf's tattoos.

They lit up and began to bubble away like water in a saucepan on max heat. As the tattoos vanished, the elf struggled and groaned. His skin turned from a chestnut brown to red, horns grew from his head, and his feet morphed into hooves.

People around us screamed and ran away in terror. The dark elven and beastling nobility of Ash'tar started praying, and a few outright passed the fuck out. Up on the balcony, Kain drew his sword and pulled Loraine away from the edge.

I whistled sharply. "Ain't that a sight."

"A demon." Kaoru sighed. "We should have guessed as much, given the sultan has aligned with—"

"My demon lord will be the end of you all, and I'll be the one to present your battered body to her!" The demon giant clapped me with two meaty hands like trying to squish a fly.

"Micchi!" Loraine cried from above.

The attack didn't so much as tickle me. I pushed his hands apart, kicked his leg and knocked him to the ground, and then walked over his barrel of a chest.

"Chika didn't teach you any manners. Grunts and fist fodder don't open their fucking mouths!" I laid into him with fists alone until blood poured out from every hole on his face. "Ah, shit. Now he's unconscious. Throw him into a cage and interrogate him when he wakes up."

The wintery chill of Ash'tar was a lot worse than in Cynderace despite it only being the afternoon. Guess that was deserts for you. We seized control of Owyn's residence and hunkered down for the rest of the day. Too bad there was no rest for most of us.

"Still at it?" I asked by the doorway.

"It might not have seemed the way, but Owyn was a very busy man to take care of so much." Loraine pushed aside the stack of papers and laid her head down on the desk. She let go of the quill pen and rested a hand on Kawa, who had curled up behind the desk.

Politics. All that shit got pushed to Loraine when we overthrew Owyn. There would probably be a lot more work if she became the ruler of Amarinth.

Loraine continued, "I have to renew the Ash'tar Branch after it was dissolved and its members conscripted. Out of work guild members mean monsters have grown out of control, and a gargantuan sand worm problem has popped up again. If that wasn't bad enough, famine has spread across remote countrysides of Amarinth, and villagers are asking for food relief. Ash'tar itself is running low. I had no idea my country is in such dire straits."

"Well, you don't get strong by having shit handed to you all the time. If they really wanna survive, then those that can will," I said, walking up to the window behind the desk which overlooked the city.

"Oh, you don't really think that. You were there for Yui when she was getting bullied. Chika and Anya were there for you two when you were little. Most people don't need to have their hands held forever. They just need a hand to help them up." She flashed a teasing smile that I could see from the window's reflection.

"You didn't have to bring up my past to get your point across… Fine. Tell me where the giant dildos are, and I'll go take care of 'em."

Loraine collected a couple of papers that looked like quest notices. They even had tack holes on the corners. I stuffed them into my jacket and was about to head out until Loraine extended her arms to me.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Come here!" Loraine urged me.

Sighing, I returned to Loraine for her to wrap both arms around me in a squeezing hug. My cheeks started getting hot. It was fucking embarrassing even though we were alone. But whatever made her happy… made me happy.

Two warm hands suddenly cupped my cheeks.

"Thank you for helping me return to my home." Loraine smiled.

"Y-Yeah… Come on, those worms ain't gonna kill themselves," I stammered under her gaze.

"Okay~ Stay safe out there! I just went through a couple of reports about obelisk sightings. It might not be anything for you to worry about, but be careful nonetheless." She wished me good luck as I left the office.

Strolling through Ash'tar, it surprised me that the citizens weren't unhappy with enemy forces occupying them. Guess we were allies until a little while ago. To them, it just looked like another day. Which was weird. Whenever I conquered a school, upstart little punks would crop up everywhere trying to bring me down.

"Get back here, you little runts!"

Some merchant was chasing down two dark elven boys, who pretty obviously pinched a paper bag of freshly baked bread. The one in front taunted the guy, and because he wasn't watching where he was going, ran right into me and fell to the ground. The second kid looked up at me and cowered. His legs must have gone numb, because he dropped to his knees and froze.

When the merchant caught up, he turned to me with a thankful demeanor.

"Glad you came out when you did. These damn thieves think they can take whatever they want. Now hand it back or it's to the guards with you," he said.

"No, this is ours! We're not giving it back!" The first kid who ran into me was defiant. He shoved the bag into his accomplice's petrified hands and urged him to run, but the other kid was too scared to. "Get up! Take it and go. I'll distract them!"

"Oh, no. You two aren't getting—"

"How much?" I asked the merchant.

All three of them stared at me in silence.

"What?" was all the merchant could muster.

"I gotta rip some gunk out outta your ears or what? I asked how much these bread were," I said.

The merchant told me that it only cost one gold, so I tossed him a coin and told him to get lost. He did so begrudgingly and returned to his stall.

Meanwhile, the two kids stayed where they were.

"I-If you're expecting thanks, then you have another thing coming… My family's starving because of you and this stupid war!" the bratty one shouted.

Reaching down caused them to flinch. I picked up one of the loaves. They were half the length of my bat, still toasty from being fresh out of the oven, and smelled sweetly of caramelized brown sugar. I broke off a piece for myself and placed the longer half back into the bag.

"You were about to take the fall and let your buddy go scot-free. Respect, kid. Next time you wanna steal something, here's some advice: make sure the street you're running down is packed. You can squeeze through legs, but a fat dude can't. Now scram," I said, taking a bite of the bread.

The kid with guts grabbed the bag and his friend's hand, then took off running. The other glanced over his shoulder back to me and waved.

"They were cute," Kaoru said, eyes fixed on their backs as she stopped next to me.

"Keep your shotacon hands off 'em. You already got three eating off your palms. Anyway, shouldn't you be commanding your army or whatever?" I stood up and stuffed the rest of the bread into my mouth.

"As a member of the UKD, that makes Prince Kain the supreme commander of our united forces. Besides, your beloved dark elven paramour has asked me to help you slay gargantuan sand worms."

"First Anya, now you… Loraine worries way too much… Whatever. Let's just get this done."

We hitched a ride on sand striders, two-legged lizards with a beak. Or maybe they were closer to velociraptors. They crossed the desert in strides, covering a mile every few minutes without tiring.

The sand worms were a piece of cake. It used to be that I had trouble properly fighting one even with Yui's help. Anya nailed the fucker dead in a single shot. Now, however, I could do the same with my bare fists alone, too. With Kaoru here, it was like squishing bugs in the park on a hot summer day.

It was getting dark by the time we got to the last one. However, as we reached the village, the place was dead quiet. Some of the cabins looked broken into, and the doors with broken hinges slammed to an occasional breeze that blew in. The only life around were

"You think the sand worm ate them all?" I asked.

"Then there would have been signs of destruction. Don't be stupid." Kaoru scoffed.

"But some of the doors are— Wait, stupid? Bitch, you wanna run that by me again?"

Kaoru stretched her arm out to stop me from walking any farther. She steeled her gaze at a strange monument in front of us. It was jet black in color, the surface was rigid like stone, and stood no higher than the tallest house in the village.

"That's a fucking demon monolith," I growled, pulling Sacchan from the sling.

A deep groan like earth grinding against each roared through the night. The monolith split open, revealing a portal. Both of us prepared for a fight, but we waited up to a minute and nothing came out.

Kaoru inched forward, and I followed close behind. We were only a few feet away when a flying imp emerged while glancing down at a clipboard in his hands.

"Alright… That makes two villages today, and…" The imp stopped just inches away from bumping into us. "Oh. Close the gate! Close the— iiee!"

I grabbed the demon by the throat and brought him right up to our faces.

"What gives? You invited the villagers in, but you don't wanna give us an invitation?"

"Looks like we'll have to let ourselves in and crash the party. Won't we, Micchi?" Kaoru asked.

"Hell yeah." I nodded, smirking at the sweating pipsqueak of a demon. "Time to pay the demons on the other side a little visit."