[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 92 – On the Road Again II

The dinner was delicious, though a little tense, as this was their first meal together in over a week. The Countess didn’t know what to say, and she could sense that Shrubley was in a dark mood.

Why, she could not say, and it did not seem right to ask.

That, in and of itself, was alarming. The Countess was not one to bite her tongue simply to make nice, but she realized she cared for Shrubley, for all the little monsters.

Monsters who, if she were being honest, would not normally pose a threat to a child and yet had managed not only to Awaken themselves, but to save an entire region.

She still didn’t know where they found the strength. If she had been in their shoes all those years ago, she would have been killed.

Despite her strength dwarfing theirs, she was determined to find out how they managed to surpass their limits. She was absolutely convinced that would be the secret to breaking through Steel and into the Noble Stage.

Her familiar, Sose, didn’t seem to mind the atmosphere. He noisily ate a puff pastry stuffed with that sweet bean paste he liked.

The Countess, or perhaps the castle, understood everybody’s dietary needs. Slyrox had a vegetarian platter, Smudge had a smorgasbord of food, Cal had his milk-based meals, and Shrubley had a huge roast all to himself.

Once the meal was over, Miranda showed them to their rooms. Each was larger than the collection of rooms the Adventurers Guild gave to them. They were so large and spacious that after a few hours, Cal came knocking on Shrubley’s door, followed by Smudge, and then Slyrox.

They all camped out in his room, which had more than enough space for them. The comfy couch pulled out into a bed, there were cushions aplenty, and everybody felt much more comfortable being so near one another.

Miranda had Sose peek in on them to see how they were settling in and decided to just leave them to their own devices.

“They have been through a lot,” she told the oppa who took mild offense to not taking the full advantage of his mistress’ hospitality. “They are bonded closer than most people. They were ostracized for what they were, and then lauded for what they were and what they accomplished together. Most people would never understand that feeling.”

Sose snorted but didn’t bring it up again.

When Shrubley and the others woke up the next morning, they found the room had been reorganized around them. Instead of a single large bedchamber, there were multiple. Each connected to a central room for lounging, much like the Adventurers Guild rooms had been but on a far more opulent scale.

“Was it the gargoyles?” Cal asked nervously, looking around for any sign of them.

“I did it!” Sose said, coming out from behind a painting of the Countess hung up over the fireplace. “The Countess wanted you to be comfortable.”

Shrubley folded his hands atop his bushy body. “That was very kind of you, Sose.”

“Yeah… well, don’t get used to it, okay?”

Shrubley, as always, resisted the urge to pet the small oppa as he scampered past. He enjoyed pets from his mistress, but from others? Not so much.

As he did nearly every morning since Cal and Slyrox had told him what happened to Cluckley, Shrubley took out the small house egg and checked on it.

He kept it tucked away inside his [Verdant Inventory], where it received plenty of sun and warmth. It had only been a little over a week, but Shrubley was undaunted by its static appearance.

He held faith that one day his friend would return in full chicken house glory.

[Verdant Inventory]: A grassy subspace and personal pocket dimension for Inventory that is the birthright of a proper Soul Shrub like you. Overabundant with Life mana, no items spoil or reduce in quality while within your pocket dimension. Additionally, this subspace is capable of growing larger if cultivated.

Placing the egg back where it came from, Shrubley hopped off the couch and followed Sose out of the room.

They ate breakfast together, discussing the plans for the day ahead.

“Once we’re at the pass, travel will grow more hazardous and difficult. All of you must be prepared for it,” Miranda said, giving each one a sharp look. “While my castle protects us while we rest, that is not so during travel.”

Cal raised a shaking hand. “Forgive me for asking, but…” He trailed off.

“Out with it.”

Cal swallowed a lump past his non-existent throat. “I do like sunlight. So does Shrubley. But why are we traveling during the day? Isn’t the night more suitable for you?”

Miranda half-lidded her ruby eyes. “Perhaps that’s true. However, I don’t require darkness, while Shrubley needs sunlight to be at his peak. Additionally, we’re traveling to human areas, which are most active during the day.”

“Putting… us first?” Smudge asked, slowly finding the unfamiliar words. He blinked out of sync. And unfortunately drooled a little bit.

Miranda looked over at him. She struggled not to tear up a little at the hope and awe in the little slime’s voice. My cold dark heart beats again, it seems, she thought to herself.

To Smudge, she said, “That is what a good teacher does. I am an adventurer now, too.” She pointed to the badge. “However, that is just to be able to join you on your excursions. The Guild does not like people butting into Guild affairs.”

Smudge slow-blinked, one eye after the other out of sync. He looked at the Countess’ green, G-Grade badge, then Shrubley’s orange, E-Grade badge.

While lacking a brain, the young slime knew on some level that there was a difference between the grades. He wasn’t colorblind. What exactly that meant, or more precisely, the massive divide between the grades, was beyond his comprehension.

“Oh, what grade are you, Mistress Haalften?” Shrubley asked with keen interest. He was too polite, and too excited, to look at the badges and make a direct comparison.

Miranda would have throttled him if he was anybody else.

From any other soul, that would have been tremendously insulting, but Shrubley was not like that. He was as kind as they came, and he was unfailingly, frustratingly, interested in everything.

It was hard to fault him for genuinely caring. Even when it meant she had to admit that, despite being an immortal vampyr that far outstripped his power, she was technically his junior.

“I am G-Grade,” she said with a haughty sniff.

“Oh, hm,” Shrubley said thoughtfully, with a twiggy hand to his leaf-shrouded face.

“Doesn’t that mean Shrubley can tell you what to do?” Cal asked, and immediately regretted it. The Countess loomed over him, standing up from the table.

He shook so terribly one bone popped free, then Cal’s right arm fell off at the shoulder joint.

“I think it’s time we depart,” the Countess said through gritted teeth. She leaned over Cal. “Unless you would like to keep enquiring along this line?”

“N-no!” Cal squeaked out. “I’m good. All good.” He was trying to keep himself from falling to pieces, catching one bone after the other and plugging it back into place.

“I might just steal one of those,” Sose threatened teasingly, eyeing Cal’s hand twitching on the ground.

“Please don’t,” Cal immediately begged, then whispered. “Not again.” He had lived a second life tormented by the skeleton gang, the Rattle Rousers. He did not wish to endure such treatment any longer.

That caught the oppa off-guard, seeing how seriously Cal took it. “Ah, well… Didn’t mean anything by it, alright?”

Shrubley looked disapprovingly at Sose. “That is not a nice thing to say.”

From anybody else, that was Shrubley’s equivalent of swearing and cursing up a storm.

Sose stared at Shrubley, then lowered his head in a bow to Cal. “I am sorry.”

Miranda plucked Sose up from the table and set him on her shoulder. “Mind your manners, Sose. We are all friends here.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

She scratched his chin, just like he liked it. To the others, she said, “He did not mean anything by it. He is a bit rough on the outside but he’s a soft cuddly oppa at heart.”

Once outside, the magical castle shrank down into a snow globe containing the opulent turrets and spires of glittering black stone in the clear morning light. Mist swirled around their feet as they took to the road again.

“You have been westward of here?” Shrubley asked, scanning the thickening mists.

Miranda had changed her outfit considerably.

For some reason, Shrubley still associated the wide floppy brimmed hat and dress with the Countess, but she was no longer the Countess. She was Miranda Haalften, adventurer.

Just like him.

And that meant she looked different, though Shrubley still struggled with concepts of clothing.

He was a shrub, his body was his clothing.

Miranda, tall and statuesque with pale ivory skin, now wore a series of dark overlapping cloth armor with leather reinforcements worked with intricate tooling. At her waist, beneath a surplus of belts, was a red sash that matched the inside of her black cloak.

From head to toe she was covered in both light leather armor and cloth. She looked so unlike her former self that Shrubley would have hardly recognized her if he met her on the road.

On her sash she had pinned the green adventurers badge. With her hood up, no part of her body was directly exposed to the sun, except the tips of her fingers from her fingerless gloves.

Somehow, the most surprising thing of all was the lack of a weapon at her side.

Shrubley did like the armor. He wondered what sort of armor he could ever wear, though he had difficulty imagining it. How would that work with my leaves? Or would the sort of magic shell that Smudge has be my only option?

Miranda caught the stares. “What? You did not think what I was wearing the mirror realm was by choice, did you?”

Nobody said anything but Slyrox.

“I’m new,” Slyrox once again pointed out.

“Pah! I was trapped there,” she tried to explain. “This is something I have not worn in a long time, but it is appropriate. It would not do to be out of place.”

Sose dooked from the hood of her cloak. “You mean any more than you already do.”

Miranda snorted. “Yes, I suppose that is true. But I do look the part.”

Shrubley looked at her, noticing that at the very end she had altered the pitch of her voice, turning the statement halfway into a question. “You look fantastic,” he told her, wholeheartedly supportive.

“Muchly,” Slyrox agreed.

“Of course I do!” Miranda said, but there was a delay in her response, as if she had to remember what she was meant to say. Shrubley thought she looked a little taller, a little more confident than she had a moment ago.

“What do you think we’ll find in the pass ahead?” Shrubley asked.

Miranda watched him curiously as the road pitched slightly upward into the peaks. “Monsters and beasts, mostly. And not the good kind. The very first thing you’ll need to learn is how to tell an Awakened monster from a feral monster. They are not the same, and if you must question each before you make a decision, they will kill you.”

Howls trailing from the pass punctuated her point.

“Feral monsters are little more than rabid animals, conglomerations of mana that create a semi-sentient creature. Before either of you were Awakened, you were not entirely born. Like a newborn still gestating, you did not have all of your senses. It is my duty to bring those senses to the fore, so that not only will you be able to sense the danger of monsters around you, but also those who might be saved and brought into the fold.”

Shrubley liked the sound of that.