The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

xasperation.

Strange – hers was clearly different from how Irene sighed at everything; her eyes and face were practically warped in disgust.
Quite a surprise how such a beautiful Elf could emote this… prominently.

“Hahaha, don’t you be silly, Lylia.
We’re doing this because you lost the eating contest, remember.
We get them to our destination, we get paid.
I thought you were happy to take this job, saying it’s killing two birds with one stone… or did I remember wrong, hmm?”

Giorno grinned sarcastically, further fueling Lylia’s frustration.
The latter seemed to be reliving her bitter memories of when she had been bested in competition.

So that was their reason…

Giorno and Lylia’s money had been used up – in good part forfeited to us – which we were now using to pay for their services.

I see, I see… Money sure makes the world go round, no matter how small one’s world may be.
Ooh, that was good.
Let’s write that down in the Principles of a Philosopher.

One thing I failed to understand, though, was how Lylia was constantly glaring at me.
Why? Shouldn’t she be doing that to Pochi instead, what with her having beaten her at the contest?

“But it is true that having Poer with us slows down our progress.”

Hello? Could you at least wait for your client to leave your presence before badmouthing him, Giorno?

“Which brings me to my idea, Poer.
If you aren’t too tired, I’d like you to follow me.”

I left Pochi behind with Lylia and went for a walk with Giorno.

Once we were at the cliff side, Giorno hopped down to a ledge below, while I slowly descended using Whirlwind.
For a moment there, I’d thought he was trying to commit suicide or something… how’d he even land safely from that height?

Was it his level? Or did he just use the Fortify Resilience skill?

While I pondered it over, Giorno stopped to point at a certain location at the bottom of the cliff.

What I saw there was a sprawling forest.
Its center was an open area, not unlike a plaza, in which grain-sized figures could be seen moving about.

That’s… a pack – no, an army of Master Goblins?

I turned to Giorno.
He was grinning quite mischievously while holding up his index fingers.

“One: Master Goblins can’t fly.
Two: They have no means to climb up this cliff.
Three: They don’t have the means for their attacks to reach this high, and-“

“Now you stop right there-“

He sounded like he was having quite a lot of fun saying that.

So… he was suggesting that I terminate the army of A-ranked Master Goblins with long-range magical attacks.

Again, they were practically an army, their numbers most likely totaling over two hundred.

I’d already noticed in earlier battles, but the Fetal Stage sure has strengthened the monsters quite a great deal.

The Divine Messenger had said that all of them would have their powers elevated to a higher rank of strength, and now I understood what that entailed.
Though it wasn’t necessarily a letter rank’s worth, they were indeed quite a bit more powerful.

But that also meant an increase of EXP I could gain.

If I could defeat all these Master Goblins, each of which now possesses strength close to Rank S, Pochi and I would gain at least a few levels.
That was probably what Giorno had in mind.

“Are you sure I should be doing this? Leveling myself up without getting combat experience, I mean…? And Lylia just told me that I shouldn’t be releasing my arcane energy too much-“

“Poer, you’re on a level such that you’re not even supposed to be in battle at all.
Think of it like your mother having to feed you when you were but a toddler.”

Now I’m feeling quite pathetic, having my power level analogized to a toddler’s incapability.

“You have to hold up a spoon before you can eat by yourself.
Nothing wrong to start with that… don’t you think?”

Hmm… I have mixed feelings about this, but he did make a valid point there.

We’d probably part ways again once we reach Brunnera, so I suppose I should try to learn as much as I can until then.

So what I must pay attention to is the number level I’ll gain once I apply my points at Brunnera… huh.

“I’ll be keeping watch over the whole area, so if there’s something too dangerous for you, I’ll take care of it.
We’ll be getting paid quite handsomely, after all.
Consider this as a little bonus from us.”

“Hahaha, thanks for the help.”

I reply to Girono with a wry smile; he then urges me to do my thing.

Considering how the monsters were grouped together, it might be optimal to use the Pochi Pad Breath, but that will also cause a great deal of collateral damage.
It looks like I’ll have to focus on precision after all.

“Here goes nothing! …Rise, A-rise, All Up!”

Having first used one of my favorite ability augmentation spells, and with Giorno watching over the process, I pointed my staff at the group of Master Goblins.

Index