Chapter 28: Twisted Truth
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"Training, huh? Good thing you're still maintaining your shape and skills."

"It's nothing much, sir," Aeden replied.

"Yes. We don't want our skills to get rusty, after all!" Völun added.

Alguis turned around in Soru's direction, who was running around the training grounds.

"And... would you care to explain that to me?"

"Ah, err..."

Aeden explained everything to Alguis. She told him that Soru wanted to learn the Phantom Combat Technique from her, and she was training him when there was free time.

"I see..." Alguis murmured. "But to think he chose a restraining type of body art and not offensive ones..."

"Strange, right? At first I was surprised, knowing that Mister Soru wasn't interested in learning any offensive techniques..." Völun said.

"Indeed..." Aeden replied.

A brief moment of silence between them ensued. Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke behind Alguis.

"I've completed the task."

Aeden noticed the voice and saw Soru standing behind Alguis.

"Ah, y-yeah. Good work, Mister Soru," Aeden replied.

"Are you alright, Mister Soru?" Alguis asked him.

Soru simply nods his head as a reply.

"T-That's good to hear then..." Alguis said.

While they were having a discussion, Völun looked around the area, acting like he was looking for something.

"Hmm... I wonder where those goblins went off to. I haven't seen them ever since I woke up."

"I already escorted them outside the settlement, and they went back to their village..." Alguis replied.

"Eh? But, sir, if I remember correctly, you entrusted me to escort them back to their village," Völun said while confused.

"Some unforeseen events occurred, so their departure was earlier than planned."

"Unforeseen events...?"

Alguis told Völun about the incident that happened earlier this morning.

"Hmm... It's truly unfortunate for them. Prejudices between races are common in this world, after all. Good thing they could cope with those rude remarks about them..."

"Indeed. And also, Miss Reika helped and mitigated the conflict in time, or else the matter would even get worse," Alguis added.

Alguis observed Aeden and Völun and noticed their heavy breathing. He knew they were trying to hide their exhaustion in front of him. 

"You don't need to hide your exhaustion from me. You two should take a break."

After hearing his words, Aeden and Völun took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly. 

"Puhaa! Thank you, sir! My muscles are aching right now. I couldn't hold it anymore!" Völun exclaimed.

Alguis and the rest headed towards a log and decided to take a rest there. Upon their arrival, the two of them immediately sat on it while looking exhausted.

"You seem very exhausted. How long did you train?" Alguis asked them.

"About 30–40 minutes, I guess? I really didn't know the exact elapsed time," Völun replied.

"Not an hour or more? It's only a few minutes, yet you feel that exhausted?"

Since dwarves have superior stamina, the buildup of their fatigue is slower compared to humans. Both of them looked at each other.

"Sir Alguis, the truth is..."

Aeden explained the situation, which made Alguis' eyes widen in surprise.

"What? Why would you...!?"

Alguis remembered that Soru was still with them, listening in silence. Alguis drew closer to Aeden and whispered.

"Why would you do such a thing as exploit Mister Soru's powers?" Alguis whispered softly.

"I-I apologize, Your Ma—Sir Alguis. I just acted on a whim due to excitement, and I didn't expect for him to agree..."

Alguis looked at Soru with a worried look.

"Mister Soru, I apologize for my subordinate exploiting your abilities for personal reasons. Perhaps we should stop—"

"I don't mind, as long as we benefit each other from the agreement between us."

Alguis fell silent for a moment. Unable to argue with him, Alguis simply accepted the situation.

"As you wish, Mister Soru..."

Alguis scratched his chin for a moment. His actions show hesitation, yet he couldn't mutter up his intention to him.

"Say, Mister Soru..."

Soru listened in silence and simply waited.

"If you wouldn't mind, may I partake in that "setup" of theirs?"

"You should ask her instead, since she's the one who came up with that idea. I am simply fulfilling her request."

Alguis looked directly at Aeden with a serious look.

"Ah, yes! Sir could also join!" Aeden quickly replied.

Suddenly, Alguis stood up.

"Since you've taken a break already, the training must continue with me included."

"But, Sir Alguis, my muscle pain is still there; perhaps we should—"

"Is there a problem, Völun?"

Unable to argue with Alguis, Völun simply accepted the order and stood up. Aeden followed afterwards.

"But first, I would like to change the setup. If I may, Mister Soru, is it possible to..."

Alguis whispered to Soru, telling him what he should do. Soru simply nodded his head and agreed. Afterwards, Alguis faced Aeden and Völun.

"For the next thirty minutes, you two will fight against me. And to spice things up, Mister Soru will use his ability by transferring my fatigue to both of you."

Aeden and Völun were surprised by such a revelation.

"Huh?!"

Völun stepped up and tried to talk out with Alguis.

"B-But sir! That means your stamina...!"

"No more complaints."

Alguis cracked his knuckles.

"This should serve as a punishment for defying my order."

Völun's face went pale, and his body shriveled.

"T-This is your fault, Aeden!"

"S-Shut up! I didn't expect this, you know?"

Alguis arrived at the center of the training grounds and stood still.

"Let's get started!" Alguis exclaimed while grinning.

Unable to dodge the situation, both of them slowly walked towards Alguis as their enthusiasm slowly faded away.

Soru stepped back as the three of them started. He simply watched in silence, as he used his powers to transfer Alguis' fatigue to Aeden and Völun.

...

Not far from the training grounds, the villagers who were entrusted to take care of the planted crops could be seen tending the field. They were busy pulling out the weeds and collecting scattered leaves from the ground.

Three female villagers could be seen carrying several dried and fallen leaves. As Reika's instructed them to do, they gathered those fallen leaves and dumped them in a pit. They were told to let it decay there over a period of time, and once it decomposed completely, it could be used as fertilizer for their plantations.

"This "vermicompost" that we're doing right now, is it really efficient?" One of them asked while placing the leaves in the pit they created.

"I don't know. We'll see the results after a few weeks anyway. All we have to do is just wait." The other one answered.

"Hey. We'll need to gather worms around and place them inside the pit. We should hurry up before the sun sets," the other one said.

"Yeah, right."

They went to the forest, not far from the plantation, and arrived minutes later. One of them was carrying an empty wooden bucket. They looked around the area.

"So... how should we find those worms?"

"I don't know. Knowing that worms like to hide under rocks and leaves, looking for them will be tough."

"Ugh. We should've brought many people instead of just the three of us..."

Suddenly, a familiar individual flew in front of them. It was Veylir.

"Hmph. You seemed troubled, humans. Need my help?"

The three of them were surprised.

"Y-Y-You...!"

"You're the familiar that Miss Reika introduced on us just this morning...!"

The third one looked around the area.

"If you're here, that means Miss Reika is also—"

"No. Master Reika was busy at this moment."

Veylir flapped her wings and flew higher.

"Instead, I will help you low— err... humans—with your task. You should be grateful!" Veylir exclaimed.

The villagers show no signs of reaction.

"Is that so..."

"Did Miss Reika instruct you to help us?" One of them asked Veylir.

Veylir paused for a moment and lowered her body slightly.

"Uh, not exactly..."

"D-Does that mean you're helping us in your own volition?"

Veylir twitched.

"Y-Yeah, I guess so..."

The three of them looked at each other and nodded.

"We are grateful for your assistance, kind familiar!"

Hearing that they accepted her request, Veylir nods her head.

"Umu. That's the response that I want to hear."

Veylir turned around and looked around the area.

"So, what's the task that I should help you with?"

One of them told Veylir that they were instructed to gather several worms in the vicinity.

"Hm. That sounds like an easy task."

Veylir flew higher in the air. She began to close her eyes, feeling the surrounding aeon in the area. While Veylir was floating up in the air, the three of them observed her.

"That familiar of Miss Reika is strange; what is it doing anyway?"

"I don't know. Perhaps it is looking for worms?"

"Silence. I am concentrating right now," Veylir said to the three of them.

The three of them fell silent for a moment. Just then, Veylir opened her eyes.

"Found them."

Veylir extended her small arms widely.

<Light Wind>

Suddenly, a gentle wind blew past the three villagers. To their surprise, all the worms in the vicinity floated up in the air. They were in awe upon witnessing such an event.

"What are you standing there for? Go gather those worms!"

"A-Ah! Yes, we will!"

The three of them began to gather the worms that floated in the air and place them in the wooden bucket. The task that was supposed to be tiring was made easier thanks to Veylir's ability.

They repeated this process three times until the wooden bucket was filled with worms.

"Phew! We finished faster than we expected!"

"It is! And it was all thanks to Sir Familiar!"

Veylir heard them as she flew towards them.

"I believe we are done here," Veylir said to them.

"Yes, Sir Familiar."

"Thanks for the help, Sir Familiar."

Veylir twitched upon hearing their words.

"I-If that's all, then I shall depart."

All of a sudden, Veylir turned around and paused for a moment. The three of them was baffled by her action.

"Let me remind you that I am not a male familiar, but a female one."

After she said those words, she flew away from them.

The three of them were left speechless as they watched the dragon fly away.

"To think that we addressed her wrong..."

"I-I mean, her voice was kind of misleading. Mistaking her for a male is pretty reasonable."

"Now that I think about it, do all familiars have the ability to talk?"

The other two looked at her.

"Now that you mentioned it, it is my first time seeing someone familiar that could converse with us."

"Of course, since it is also our first time seeing one personally."

Suddenly, one of them chuckled.

"Pft! You're right!"

"Probably all familiars could talk, since Miss Familiar could as well."

The three of them laughed as they went back to the plantation field.

After that, Veylir wandered around the field. Following Reika's advice, she tried to interact with humans by helping them. 

She helped them by carrying buckets of water, pulling weeds, and cleaning the area using her abilities. With her help, their tasks were finished earlier than they had expected.

"Thank you, kind Familiar!"

"Thanks for your help!"

"Thank you very much!!"

Veylir received an ample amount of gratitude after she finished helping them. After the villagers thanked her, Veylir left without saying goodbye.

That's enough interaction for today...

As the dragon flew away with gracefulness, the villagers watched her with a smile on their faces.

"That familiar was very kind."

"Indeed, Miss Reika was a lucky one, possessing such a helpful familiar..."

The atmosphere around them changed upon hearing someone mention Reika's name. They remembered the event that happened earlier this morning.

"W-Well, both of them were kind to others, so their personalities are alike... right?"

All of them didn't respond and simply looked at each other's faces. They could tell each other that they made Reika upset somehow and wanted to do something about it.

"S-Should we apologize to Miss Reika?"

"Of course we should!" All of them answered in unison.

After they finished tidying up the tools they used in the field, they went back to the settlement with the intent of apologizing to Reika.

On the other side of the settlement, Völun, Aeden, and Alguis were still in the middle of their hand-to-hand combat training. 

"Come on, Völun! We're the ones suffering from your fatigue, yet you couldn't keep up!" Aeden exclaimed.

"What would you expect in a two-versus-one situation? Even both you and Sir Alguis are exhausted, and I am not experiencing fatigue—"

He couldn't finish his sentence when suddenly Alguis launched a heavy fist and directed it towards him.

"Enough with your excuses, Völun."

Luckily, Völun managed to defend himself by directing Alguis' fists away from him.

"I wish I could just sleep all day long instead of fighting like my life's at stake..." Völun murmured.

In the distance, Soru is observing them while constantly transferring Völun's fatigue to Aeden and Alguis.

Earlier, Alguis added a new suggestion that, after the time is up, Soru will use his power on Aeden and, lastly, on Völun. In that way, the three of them would have a fair chance to fight themselves back with ease.

Veylir was flying around the settlement when she noticed Soru sitting on a log. She also saw the dwarves fighting each other. Curious about what she saw, she flew towards Soru.

"Hello, Master Soru."

Soru heard a familiar voice and looked around. He saw Veylir hovering in the air. Seeing that it was just her, he simply looked back at the fight and didn't utter a word at all.

Veylir was stunned by Soru's response to her greeting.

Urk...!

"W-Well, what makes you here, Master? Are you observing them?"

"Yes," Soru abruptly answered.

Veylir fell silent as she couldn't find a way to lengthen their conversation due to Soru's short responses. Soru took a glance at her once.

"I am also here to fulfill their request."

"Request?"

"They suggested that I'd constantly transfer his fatigue to them while they train."

Veylir was surprised upon hearing his answer.

"How long have you been transferring his fatigue?"

Soru paused for a moment.

"More than an hour or so."

Upon hearing his answer, Veylir widened her eyes in disbelief.

D-Didn't you feel tired at all? I mean, constantly using your ability for more than an hour seems pretty exhausting."

"It's fine. It doesn't bother me at all..."

Veylir fell silent, trying to sort out her thoughts.

How could that be!? Using your ability for such a long period of time will wear you out, yet here he is, using it without breaking a sweat...

Veylir noticed something unusual, and a thought passed through her mind.

Now that I witnessed him using his ability up close, I am starting to wonder what ability he possesses... 

An ability capable of transferring damage and teleporting people and objects in a blink of an eye—is it some sort of spatial-type ability? But I don't feel any spatial fluctuations every time he uses it. It doesn't make any sense at all!

Determined to know the truth, Veylir stared at him with a serious look.

There's only one way to find out...

<Appraisal>

Suddenly, Veylir was surprised at what she saw in her vision.

Race: Dwarf

Gender: Female

Abilities: <Heat Resistance> <Extrasensory Perception> <Physical Enhancement>

Status: Exhausted

"Huh...?" 

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