༺ Hassan’s Day off (1) ༻
A stick.
How could a mere stick be my reward?
To be honest, I was feeling sorely disappointed right now as I had been looking forward to this reward quite a bit.
The stick I got as a reward looked pretty solid, but it was such a common item that it would blend really with the forest and wouldn’t look out of place at all…
Of course, I couldn’t show any blatant disappointment over this reward. If I did, he might even take this stick away from me.
“I like it, but—”
“Once, one of my fellow disciples used to wield the same kind of club as this one and let me tell you, that bastard was an amazing warrior without equal. There was nothing in this world that punk couldn’t destroy with the club.”
At the mention of a famous warrior wielding the same kind of club as mine, I couldn’t help but glance down at the stick or rather club in my hand.
“So, just what the hell is this thing?”
Was it a magic club or something? Maybe if I hit the floor with it while chanting a spell, gold coins will flow out of the ground? Damn, that was way too far-fetched. No way that would be the case, right?
No matter how much I looked at it, it looked like an ordinary club to me. As I was squinting my eyes, doubting the authenticity of the weapon, Actaeon started his explanation.
“It is from an olive tree blessed by Lady Minerva herself. The tree was cut down and hammered till it was compressed to its current size. It may look light and thin, but you’re basically holding a tree right now.”
“R-Really?”
Holy shit! After listening to that explanation, the club really started to seem a bit out of the ordinary to my eyes.
Was this really a compacted tree? Honestly, it sounded like a bluff, but in this world, there were times when even nonsense could become reality, so I wasn’t really sure what to do with this information.
This was a world where magic and sorcery existed, and there were dwarfs who could build houses just in a day, after all.
Anyway, while I was still feeling surprised by this shocking piece of information, Actaeon continued his words.
“What’s even more surprising is that the tree is still alive even though the base of the root was cut off. This is most definitely because it is a tree blessed by Lady Minerva Herself.”
“Are you saying that this weapon is alive?”
“It’s just that the tree won’t ever die. It will absorb your karma and grow stronger in the future, my friend. Also, as your power increases, the club will become harder and much stronger than it is right now.”
A weapon that grew along with its owner. So, that kind of thing really existed in this world, huh?
Actually, I had thought about getting a new weapon already. Just yesterday, when I fought the Black-Armored cultist warrior, my two swords had been crushed into pieces of scraps during the fight.
I was worried as I didn’t know if they could be repaired or if I needed to buy new weapons instead.
Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
I swung the club in the air a few times.
It didn’t produce a sharp wind-cutting sound like a sword would, but I liked it because it had a rough and cool feeling to it. It was a different feeling from wielding a sword that had to be managed by polishing it with oil and taking care of the condition of the blade. Not to mention the fact that I needed to acquire skills like swordsmanship just to be able to wield the weapon efficiently.
However, I could easily control the club even if I just wielded this weapon with raw strength alone.
“You seem to be enjoying it, right?”
“It’s nice.”
“The Count’s daughter herself bestowed a name upon the club. A weapon with a name that is something even I, Actaeon, have never seen before.”
Actaeon let out a small smile and shoved the dessert — that looked like pudding or something similar — into his mouth.
After that, he stood up and muttered for a second, “Symphony, Harmony. Help me out.”
Rustle— Rustle—
Then the female servants, with the sky-colored twin tails hairstyle, waiting behind him took some clothes out of their bags and covered Actaeon’s body with them.
Soon, the pervert who only wore underwear no longer existed; now replaced with a man in a clean suit.
This sudden change in appearance gave him a strange aura, making me feel a bit intimidated. Goddamn, didn’t he just turn into a totally different person altogether?
“It’s like they say, ‘Good clothes always bring out a person’s charms’.”
“It’s a shame that I must cover my beautiful body like this, but I can’t help it. Today, I have a meeting with the higher-ups of the Mars Guild on the cultist issues. I shouldn’t show such an informal appearance before them.”
“Is that so?”
“Anyways, the Young Lady herself had given the club a name. She has a talent for that sort of thing. The name of the club is Fear Smasher. Also, that will be another nickname that will be attached to you, Hassan of Samaria.”
Hassan, the Fear Smasher?
It was a name that gave me extreme levels of goosebumps on my back. It was the sort of name that a middle schooler would be proud of and scribble in his notebook, but would never let anyone else see those scribbles in his life.
However, there was just something with the nicknames of this world that gave me the creeps. Did the people here really like this sort of thing?
Anyway, the normal-looking club was given a pretty hideous name. Honestly, I didn’t think I would ever say that name with my own mouth, but—
“My friend, I’m gonna get busy dealing with the cultist affairs, so I’ll get up first. Enjoy your meal with the lady of Ideope. And—”
Actaeon stopped momentarily as he was about to leave his seat, saying some obscure words under his breath.
“Anything else?”
“How’s Hippolyte doing? If you are in Mars Guild, you should have met her at least once, right?”
Actaeon seemed to have some sort of relationship with Hippolyte. Indeed, both were influential adventurers in Sodomora, so it was not strange if they were close to each other.
Of course, I was also close to Hippolyte. I was a victim of her ruthlessness. Someone who was unilaterally beaten by her in various ways.
“Just as usual, I think she is doing well. Should I help you send her a message when I meet her the next time?”
“No, there’s no need to do that. We’re not exactly on good terms with her per se. But, well, it wouldn’t hurt to send one or two words. Let’s see—”
After a moment of hesitation, Actaeon made a noise that sounded like he was trying to choose his words carefully. Then, he must have thought of something good to say because soon, he spoke up again in a soft tone.
“The warrior’s task is not over yet— That should be good enough.”
“What does that mean? Is that all the message I have to deliver to her?”
“Hippolyte would understand if you told her that much. Anyway, it was nice meeting you, my friend.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Luna’s eating spree was over about half an hour after Actaeon left the room.
After eating like someone with a grudge against the swamp snail species and could no longer stuff more food inside her stomach, she made an “Ugh!” sound like she was in great pain right now.
However, even after all that her belly growled as if it still wasn’t satisfied.
“L-Let’s get up now, Hassan.”
Luna put more conches between her clothes as if she didn’t want to leave any regrets behind. In the future, when I was able to make hefty amounts of money, I really needed to take Luna to a buffet every now and then.
We left the Minerva Guild and returned to Luna’s cabin just like that.
After filling the jar with the conches from my pocket and hers, Luna finally shouted as though she was feeling relieved.
“Now we don’t have to worry about eating for a few days—!”
“Yes, good for us.”
“More than that, Hassan! What is that stick in your hand?”
Luna, who had only been paying attention to the food in front of her, only now registered the presence of the club tied to my waist.
“This is the reward I received this time.”
“The reward is only this club? Aren’t they being too stingy?”
“He said it’s not just an ordinary club.”
“I think you’ve been tricked, Hassan. I think you are really prone to lies. Hmm, I should’ve been there beside you, when you received the reward.”
Luna looked at me with a puzzled and uncomfortable expression in her eyes.
Hadn’t I also been deceived by Luna a few times before? It hadn’t been long, but it felt like a really long time since that happened. It was like that back then too.
“I don’t know. Actaeon said it’s a good thing. Do you want to touch it?”
I gave the Fear Smasher club to Luna. Then Luna held it with both hands, and she was suddenly so surprised that her eyes widened prominently.
“I-It’s thick!”
“Right?”
“Also, it’s harder and heavier than I think— a-and I think it’s alive? What is it? Ah, is it just me or what?”
“No, it’s not just your mind playing games on you Luna. It seems like it’s really alive. It will absorb my karma or something like that and continue growing with me.”
“Holy shh! Then, doesn’t that mean it is like a living weapon?! This thing is super rare! Oh my gosh! This reward is really worth receiving! It feels like they gave you a rather big reward—”
Luna examined the stick in her hands. There was a strange glint in her emerald-colored eyes. It seemed like she was coveting the stick I got as a reward for herself.
Seeing that Luna, who was disappointed just a moment ago, was reacting like this, the item should be quite good, right?
“Hassan, your club—”
“The Honorable Young Countess has given it a name. I-It’s called ‘Fear Smasher’—”
I was feeling really embarrassed to reveal that name to her. Would it feel much better if I said it in English or something? How to say “Fear Smasher” in English though?
While my mind was wandering in such bizarre thoughts, Luna scrutinized the barbarian bat in her hand, turning it over and over.
“The Fear Smasher — It’s thick, hard —”
Muttering something under her breath, she soon held the club in front of her nose and took a whiff of it.
“It also has some smell—”
Then she slightly extended her tongue and licked its surface.
Smack—
“…It tastes like a tree.”
“It’s because it is a tree. Anyways, this thing is good enough to keep, right? Honestly, I thought it would be better to get the gold coins as a reward.”
“Anyone can earn gold coins if they just work hard enough for them. However, not everyone can get a living weapon like this, no matter how hard they try. So, this reward is much much better!”
“Is that so? I’m relieved then.”
Did that mean Actaeon’s arrangement was actually appropriate?
“Anyway, you have also acquired a silence totem. Now, it pairs with mine now—!”
Luna seemed more pleased that the weapon I had acquired was a club akin to the one that she wielded and called the silence totem than the fact that it was a very valuable and important item.
What the— Our first matching couple item wasn’t a ring or a T-shirt, but a weapon… This kind of thing would be impossible if this world weren’t a fantasy world.
But, of course, I didn’t feel bad about this outcome.
Whatever the item may be, I liked the idea of using something similar to what Luna wielded, as it felt like it brought our relationship closer and made it advance further.
* * * * * * * * * *
Just like that, another day turned into the night.
I said that it would be better for me to sleep with Luna because we couldn’t be sure if the persistent cultists would attack this place once again.
Luna seemed to have mused about that for a moment, but eventually, she thought it was the right decision and gave me permission to stay here for the night.
Honestly, in my opinion, I thought we could take advantage of the darkness of the night and do something naughty together.
However, we were not really able to get into the mood, so I just settled for sleeping together with Luna under the blanket.
How did couples set the mood in the first place? For a beginner like me, in the dating scene, it was quite hard to figure that out.
Should I just go ahead and touch her sensitive spots or something?
No, even if it was the carefree Luna, she would definitely dislike being touched like that out of nowhere.
If I started getting hated by her due to doing something like that and she said, “Never touch me again for the rest of your life!” I would be so sad that I would literally burst into tears. Just imagining it made me feel like I was feeling sour in my mouth from the food I had earlier.
Just like that, I started thinking hard about how to set up the mood the next time around… As I was running countless simulations in my head on this matter—
“Burp—”
Luna made a very small burping sound.
“Hmmph, hmmmph.”
Suddenly, she started humming a weird tune with her nose.
“Luna, did you just burp?”
“…I-I wuld never do such a thing like that!”
“Don’t lie. I heard it loud and clear.”
“Argh! I didn’t do that—!”
Luna suddenly became really angry at me. Was she embarrassed about burping like that? Although I thought it was cute, it might really be embarrassing from her perspective.
After everything we’ve been through together, it was refreshing to know that she would still get embarrassed due to something so small as this.
“Heu—”
However, Luna was no longer angry at me, instead, her breathing was starting to become rougher. I grabbed Luna’s wrist to check on her condition, just in case.
Ding—
Name: Luna Knoxdotty
Level: 11
Strength: 3
Agility: 6
Stamina: 2
Status: Fluttering Heart 》Bad Meals Lover 》Nocturnal Nature
Conditions: Curse of Knox 》Curse of Erebor 》Acute Congestion
Indeed, after examining her pulse, Luna seemed to have overeaten to the degree that her stomach seemed to have overloaded. Could it be that she had an upset stomach right now?
Ah, I guess this was going to happen sooner or later.
So I pressed Luna’s palm, the thick part between her thumb and index finger. This was the Hand Valley acupoint.
It was a multipurpose acupoint that solved Daphne’s indigestion earlier. If you pressed it when you had an upset stomach, you would feel refreshed and light all over.
“Ack, ack!”
However, Luna wriggled as if she was in great pain. When pressed here, some people might experience severe pain depending on the person, especially when their stomach is not feeling particularly well.
“Even if it hurts, please, hold on.”
“H-Hassssan—! I-It hurts!”
However, I found it strange that Luna felt such extreme pain as I hadn’t really pressed that point with that much pressure.
As a result, I wondered what was going on with her, so I lifted the blanket and sat up to check Luna’s palm.
As I activated my glowing hand to brighten the dark room, I noticed that some spots had appeared on Luna’s hand that I had never seen before.
Ten Dispersions Points.
It was an acupoint located at the bottom of each nail. It was also where people poked their hands with needles when they had an upset stomach.
Anyway, the tiny spots on the Ten Dispersions points on Luna’s hand, which were smaller than the size of a thumb, differed from her usual spots. What could this mean? I couldn’t think of any reason behind this strange occurrence.
“Luna, where did you put the needles?”
“H-Hassan, why do you need the needle now?”
Luna started trembling while holding onto my hand, looking like she was about to burst into tears like a frightened sheep.
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