True Vorpal Bunny (Danmachi SI) Ch.26 (Patreon)

Chapter 26:

The sun shone harshly over the Kaois Desert. It was a harsh region divided between multiple kingdoms, most of them centered around great oasis.

It led to many clashes between warrior bands to control the water points. And the kingdoms had no choice but to hire mercenary Familias, those led by gods who preferred to wander Genkai instead of being confined in Orario. Between wars and fending off the monsters inhabiting the desert, this kind of harsh lifestyle created many famous warriors on the surface.

There were many Level 2, and a few Level 3, those precious warriors who leveled up a second time the desert kingdoms called them Kavirs.

Well, nothing compared to the adventurers of Orario, but it was still something to be noted.

Currently, a ship was gliding along the sand as if it were the open ocean.

Freya leaned on a rail, looking over the passing scenery, ignoring how the passengers were mesmerized by her appearance.

The goddess had changed from her usual stripperific dress into something that actually covered her front, though it did still show some side-boobs and was cut quite short at the thighs. Above that she wore a light, hooded cloak to lessen the effect of the sun.

Horn also earned her fair share of looks. With lighter travel clothes that her usual attendant robes, she certainly cut a lovely figure.

Iru was also wearing a cloak , though it was less for the heat, as his Level 6 body was far too tough to get a sunburn, and more for not getting sand everywhere.

And then, there was Bofman Fazoul, a fat merchant that had proposed to pay for Freya’s trip when she revealed herself in a tavern.

When Freya asked about the Desert Ship they were on, Bofman explained it was an invention from Altena, a country specialized in magic, and that it used the wind and magic power syphoned from slaves to move through the desert.

When Bofman said that slavery was accepted in Kaios due to the harsh conditions and lack of resources, Iru made a face of disgust but held his tongue.

This hurt his sensibilities, but he couldn’t just blow up the ship and free the slaves while they were in the middle of the desert.

And then, Bofman had to open his mouth once more.

“I am of course footing the considerable bill for your trip, when you achieve what you wish for in this journey, I would certainly love to receive your favor.”

Lust was basically oozing from the merchant’s face as he gazed at Freya like fresh meat.

He barely had time to blink before a dagger appeared in front of his eyes.

“IIIiiiiiiih!” Bofman cried in fright and backpedaled until he fell on his ass.

“Tch!” Horn clicked her tongue, her wrist held in Iru’s hand, having prevented her from sinking her knife in Bofman’s skull.

“Chill. We still need the pig to pay since someone left without money.”

Freya responded to the pointed comment with her tongue poking out of her mouth and a knock on her head accompanied by a “teehee.”

“Swines that lust after Lady Freya’s flesh should be dismembered and left to dry in the sand.” The zealot attendant’s gaze seemed to pierce Boofman like needles, the bloodlust of a fanatical Level 2 reducing the merchant into a wreck.

And then, Iru stepped in front of Horn with a gentle smile on his face.

“Please? For me?”

Horn blushed.

“Only because it would bother Lady Freya to make her walk in the desert.” She sheathed her weapon and went back to her place at Freya’s place.

Freya looked at Iru with a raised eyebrow.

Yeah, he knew it was kind of manipulative of him to use Freya’s soft spot for him and her shared feelings with Horn to make the maiden do what he wanted, but he also didn’t want a murder on the ship, so cut him a break.

“A-ah. Thank you, young sir.” Bofman quickly got back to his feet and simpered at Iru.

The Hume Bunny looked at the merchant like he was trash.

“Be happy I’m here, you swine. As you saw, the other members of my Familia are quite quick to draw their weapons.”

“Yes, of course. I’m thankful for your pres-hmph!” Bofman’s reply was cut by Iru’s hand grabbing his jaw.

Crimson eyes like fresh blood met Bofman’s black beady ones. The only thing the merchant in those pupils was his death, devoured by a great beast he didn’t know he let on his ship.

“But let me be clear, Freya does what she wants, that’s her problem. But, if you try to force her to do anything, I will turn your insides into your outsides and make you eat them. Understood?”

A shaky, tearful nod was his answer.

Iru smiled and released him.

“Good, then there will be no problem.”

Letting the poor merchant recover from his close shave with death, Iru was going back to lean on the railing when his ear twitched.

Moments later, Horn turned her head toward a patch of sand just before it started to move.

The sand rumbled as a great shape disturbed a dune and rushed toward the ship.

The other passengers caught sight of it as it got nearer and started panicking.

“Monster!”

The giant desert worm jumped out of the sand, maw wide open and big enough to rip a third of the ship out in one go.

Amidst the screams, Iru hopped, clearing the distance between the ship and the monster quicker than anyone else on the ship could realize. Bored eyes locked on the monster. With a twist of his hips, he kicked the beast’s head off.

The monster’s corpse still had momentum and would have crashed onto the ship. Iru bent his knees, put the soles of his feet on the barrelling dead meat and pushed.

The corpse was pushed away from the ship while Iru flew back the way he came from. With a flip, he landed back on the deck.

He smirked to himself when he saw the corpse he kicked be sliced to pieces, the blood falling onto the other executives of the Freya Familia who had been tailing them since they left Orario.

Allen had been that close to rushing in and dealing with the worm, as if Iru wasn’t more than enough for this kind of weak mob.

“Bunch of worrywarts.” He huffed.

“Oh my. After I told them to stay.” Freya’s smile became ominous as she also saw her children from afar. “Maybe I should punish them when we go back.”

The passengers all had a chill going through their body at the spectacle.

It took a Kavir, a Level 3, the best the Kaios Desert had to take care of a desert worm one on one. Those tended to be impressive battles.

The young man before them took one down in a single blow, looking like a bored teen who had been told to do his chores.

And they realized this was an adventurer blessed by Freya, otherwise called Vanadis the Goddess  of Love and War. This was a glimpse of the Familia whose claim was to be the strongest and the wealthiest in the world.

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Without further accidents, the ship arrived at Leodo, a merchant city in Israfan, a kingdom situated in the West side of the Kaios Desert.

Freya made sure to put her hood back on, so that her beauty wouldn’t stun the crowd of people coming and going.

Freya in her hooded cloak, Horn, Iru and Bofman didn’t make for a weird group in this city. From the outside, it must have looked like a merchant trying to curry favor with a noble lady, her attendant and her young bodyguard/bedwarmer.

Then, they saw the large arrival of new slaves.

Bofman explained that it was due to the recent invasion of the kingdom of Shalzad by the neighbouring country of Warsa. Shalzad had been overwhelmed thanks to Warsa gaining the aid of a powerful mercenary Familia.

With their country defeated, many citizens of Shalzad became slaves and reached this city after exchanging hands between slave traders.

And then, a gust of wind threw Freya’s hood off. Iru groaned and ran a hand down his face

All movement in the street ceased, everyone from the wealthiest merchant to the lowliest of slaves enraptured by Freya’s beauty.

Aside from Iru who was immune to godly charms, only a single slave girl turned her head aside.

It took a minute or two for the slave handler to get his senses back, but then he turned toward the unmoving slaves and raised his whip.

“keep moving!”

Something cracked through the air, but it wasn’t the whip. No, the handler cradled his wrist which had been struck by a pebble.

Iru, hand still smoking from the flick, took a step forward, ready to do something about the scene in front of him, but Freya put a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you seriously going to try and stop me?”

Freya ignored the glare Iru threw at her.

“Please, give me some credit.”

She advanced, catching everyone’s attention once more. With a glance, she easily identified the slave trader due to his expensive clothes.

“The scenery of despairing slaves is unpleasant. I’ll buy them all.”