Mebius World Online – Mari’s VRMMO Diary, Embarking on a Laid-back Adventure as a Novice - Chapter 37
Man, I’m really stressed out of RL thingie, just my usual rant, no biggie.
37. Mari-nee and the First Official Event (The White and Scarlet Impact)
I summoned Cougar and immediately created two saddles with the ?Thread Manipulation? skill once I mounted it.
“Mareus-san! Kanna-san!”
Confirming that the two responded to my call and were now straddling the saddles, I ate a jerky and, with the cooking buff enhancing AGI, informed Cougar.
“Let’s go, cougar!”
“Gaoo!”
With a roar, Cougar burst forward explosively. Despite the rapid acceleration, I managed to endure it, perhaps due to the improved ?Ride?skill.
As we left the surroundings behind at breakneck speed, I noticed adventurers who had stopped in their tracks, unsure how to react to the surprise attack of the named monsters. They all wore expressions of astonishment as they looked at us.
Come to think of it, there might not be many things to ride, so is it rare to see someone mount a ride? Ah, but it’s not a horse ride, so is it a bear ride? So if a cowboy rides a horse, what is it called for riding a bear?
We might end up getting along well. (To someone who have the same mindset as her)
Cougar quickly approached a group of monsters, effortlessly knocking them away one by one without slowing down even in the face of small fry.
“Cougar is amazing!”
“As expected, since we raised it.”
“Like trash compared to small fry. The wording is similar, but the meaning is subtle.”
When we praised it, Cougar seemed to snort proudly.
Thanks to it, we can cover the shortest distance!
Ahead, there was a group of rear guards desperately defending against the attacks of the named monsters. However, the rear guards alone were not enough in terms of defense, and despite their desperate resistance with staff and magic, several had already suffered damage and fallen to the ground.
In the midst of this, there was an adventurer with a mage job trying to lure the attention of the named monsters by casting ranged magic away from the group.
While it did successfully attract the attention, the consequence was being surrounded by multiple named monsters.
Deciding to resist with determination, a strong-arm of a named monster in the form of a bear-like creature swung down towards the adventurer.
But I won’t let that happen!
Understanding my intent, Cougar deployed a wind shield, ?Wind Roar?.
“Get down!”
Whether there was a time difference between when I shouted, when the mage job adventurer instinctively crouched down, and when Cougar attacked the surrounded named monsters from behind, it wasn’t clear.
The charging attack with Cougar’s Wind Roar not only blew away the encountered named monster but also engulfed all the monsters along its straight path, creating a blank space of several dozen meters.
At the very edge of the blank space, there was the cautious figure of an adventurer with a mage job glancing around.
“Great job, Maria! I take back what I said earlier. You go wild with Cougar!”
“We’ll manage with me and Mareus-chan, so you can relax!”
As Mareus-san and Kanna-san jumped down from Cougar, they said that, but wait a moment, what do they mean by going wild!?
“Wasn’t my role to attract them!?”
“After showing that much power, what’s the point of saying that now? Besides, the attention of the surrounding monsters is already on you. Either way, if you don’t go wild, you’ll die.”
“Mareus-san, you’re ruthless!”
“Don’t worry, Maria-chan! There’s a child who gets completely obsessed with this kind of ‘obvious situation,’ so it’s okay!!”
Being prompted by Kanna-san to look back, I turned around to witness an unbelievable scene.
“Huh?”
A vacant voice seemed to leak from my own mouth, but that was the least of my concerns.
A woman, whom I should have been familiar with, was running through the path cleared by Cougar.
Despite being on foot, her speed was abnormal, and I was first surprised by the fact that our distance wasn’t that great.
But that was still manageable. What was even more abnormal was that every monster trying to obstruct her path disappeared without a trace, leaving behind the phenomenon of HP depletion.
Just before the monsters vanished, I felt a slight waver in her body, so she probably was attacking.
However, the nature of that attack was completely invisible.
The woman who accomplished this had, for some reason, no trademark spiral glasses on her face.
The gentle smile that used to float on her face, drawing subtle curves, had now transformed into a ferocious grin, baring her fangs.
“Roulette…san?”
“It’s not wrong to be the head of the Sewing Federation, but it’s not everything. Since the name and appearance have changed from Beta, there are many people who don’t notice.”
“In the Beta era, Roulette-chan was the top of the pugilist category. And besides her real name, she had another name.”
“Another name?”
To my question, both of them answered simultaneously.
“”Higan no Joou (Scarlet-Eyed Queen of Massacre).””
As if she had been waiting to be called by that name, Roulette-san lifted her face with a slightly downward gaze, and her eyes were eerily colored with the scarlet light represented by the epithet.