ACFGTTM) Shizu Part 1 (Patreon)

“I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die! I’m so gonna die, you know! Why did you have to go and poke the ant’s butt!?” A girl with a staff cried out as she hurriedly ran through the forest as fast as she could. Next to her were two men and another woman wearing a mask.

“I did not poke anything butt! I only tripped! You can’t blame this on me!” One of the men wearing a black jacket yelled back.

“You poked it with your sword. I saw you! I swear if I die, I will haunt you for the rest of my life!” The girl with the staff had tears welling up in her eyes as she said this.

“You won’t be able to haunt anything since I will be dead too!” The man in the black jacket replied.

“I will stop them.” The girl in the mask stopped running and turned around.

“Wait! No Shizu-san! Don’t!” The man with a bandanna on his head turned and yelled out. He did not want his new team member to get hurt.

“Don’t worry, I can still do it with my current power.” The girl in the mask, Shizu, drew her sword. Flames began to wrap around it as she charged forward, slicing ant after ant in half.

Not far away, watching from the sky, Tomoya sat with Remmi in her lap. “Tomo, are you really not going to help them?”

“Not yet. The current course of things needs to happen. If she looks like she is in trouble, I will jump down and save her. Remember, these people are trained by fighting with their life on the line. If I were to step in now, it would not be good for her.” Tomoya decided to steal the show so she could take over this portion of the story. 

Tomoya wanted to speak with Shizu alone and to get her to really trust her, these kinds of actions were needed. She waited until Shizu thought she had killed all the ants before suddenly dropping down out of the sky. 

“Shizu, watch ou….”

*Boom!*

A large explosion filled the air. Everyone stared at the small pit where the ant had just been crushed. “Geh…. Sticky… Clean!” Tomoya wrinkled her nose. She wondered if every time she dropped from the sky, if she would end up crushing things head. First, it was Hajime, not it was an ant.

“Who are you? A slime? And a fox?” The girl with the staff looked at the two newcomers in confusion.

“You looked like you have been through a lot. You are welcome to come to my village to take a rest.” Remmi was the one to speak. She was supposed to be the leader even though ninety percent of everything went through Tomoya first.

“Village? We….”

*Grrrrrrrr*

Everyone turned to look at the girl with the staff, who blushed and looked away. “We should take them up on their offer.” 

“Then we will do just that. Thank you.” The man in the black jacket scratched his head. He really did not know what to do. He did not feel any malice against them, and they had just saved Shizu, so he felt it would be okay to follow them.

“Good! My name is Sakagami Tomoya. Well, Tomoya is my first name. This here is Remmi, the leader of the village.” Tomoya introduced herself and Remmi. She did so to get Shizu’s attention. Shizu did take an interest in Tomoya when she heard her name. 

[Ding]

[Shizu’s Affection: +5 ]

[Current: 5]

[Affection Status Changed: Acquaintance ]

The group made their way back to the village, which was bustling with energy. The group of humans all looked at each other in surprise. “Hobgoblins? And so many?”

“They are all named and good people. They have all worked hard to make what we have going right now.” Remmi replied. She actually took the initiative to talk without Tomoya’s urging. But that was because these were Remmi’s honest words. She really did like the people of this village.

“I see… a village made by monsters. This is a first.” The man in the black jacket replied. His name was Cabal, while the man with the bandanna was named Guid. The girl with the staff was named Irene. And lastly, there was Shizu.

“Sakagami, was it?” Shizu asked softly as she held Remmi in her arms.

“Tomoya is fine, or you can just call me Tomo. Either is fine.” Tomoya replied with a smile.

“Then…. Tomo… You are from Japan?” Shizu asked curiously.

“You can say that. However, I do not know if I am from the same Japan as you. The same goes for Remmi.” Tomoya explained.

“I do not remember much about my past life. But it seems some bits and pieces are starting to resurface.” Remmi’s answer surprised Tomoya, who did not know this.

“Remmi, you are remembering your past life?” Tomoya asked.

“Just some things. I do know now I was a girl. And that I died being stabbed, but other than that, I do not know much more.”