Day 361-370/Day 361

Day 361
He is the chosen of the【God of the Sun】, the 【Hero of Sunlight】. The village in which he was born and raised was destroyed along with all the villagers that had been living there, including the one he dearly loved, leaving him with nothing but a vow of vengeance.
His real name, Sigurd Ace Sven. The first time I met him was in front of his murdered lover, and we ended up fighting when he was in the grips of his rage and need for vengeance, but I was able to escape without being totally swept up by it. His eyes were dyed by hatred at the time, so that all around had been seen as the enemy. 
Once he reached the state of【Mad Warrior Berserker】he mounted an attack, targeting anyone, regardless of their being friend or foe. Even though I was already an Apostle Lord at the time, I was attacked by his runaway rage. 
However he was dominated by feelings of anger and his movements were monotonous and linear, but they were certainly faster than normal because he was running at full power, with no thought of the consequences. It was a simple matter to deal with him, because his movements were so easy to read and, with only speed going for him, the fight ended with his defeat, with barely any struggle as a result. 
Afterwards he returned to his senses, and asked for the power to get his revenge, signing on as a subordinate with me. 
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After that he trained from day-to-day, along with new companions who he met through many twists and turns, leading to the battle against the enemy【Insect Hero】in the previous Holy War. 
After he prepared his part of the battlefield, hiring on a huge number of magicians, up to the last minute, while wounded along with my companions, they killed the【Insect Hero】that had become a variant of a huge Insect demon, letting his revenge play out brilliantly. 
After finishing the [Holy War], he departed alone in order to visit the tomb of his lover and, separated from his colleagues, a couple days passed. This morning, he returned to the Great Forest base with the sunrise. 
Coming back along with that sunshine, he seemed to have become a different person. Before, he had worn a constantly gloomy atmosphere, a man who was honest a wet blanket. In his eyes dwelt a light stained with revenge and madness, a consciousness honed towards the targeted revenge, but still sharp enough to hesitate in approaching the evil. 
While greedily seeking power, in a certain field of battle there had been a day-to-day heated discussion led by the Rusty Iron Knight . He was a man who lived for just that purpose, constantly pushing towards his revenge.
However, after returning home he had no such purpose left, the【Hero of Sunlight】had become a good young man who welcomed the fresh morning sun. Honestly, I cannot hide my surprise in the transfiguration of that first sight. 
Who is this guy? 
"Good morning, master. It seems that today will be a nice day." That was delivered with a refreshing smile, and I reacted defensively. Wow, what is this bad feeling? There was a sense of discomfort that left me with goosebumps. 
Eyeing the person in front of me with suspicion to figure out whether or not he is a fake, I observed him thoroughly and in detail, listening to the various stories surrounding him leading to the conclusion that, apparently, this is how he originally was. 
This means that he is no longer the Avenger, who had only focused on revenge, you could say that he has regained the original appearance as the【Hero of Sunlight】chosen by the【God of Sunlight】.
But it is still a change, and not a fake. If he was, the minute body【Parasite】would be missing inside Avenger. The level of darkness in him has returned to a more stable balance.
There is also a dark atmosphere around him at the moment, it can be seen that the existence of his Ying and Yang balance is formed from the dark part along with the newly formed light. Like the two sides of a coin, there are two sides to anyone. If you do believe so, I am convinced that it's that kind of thing. 
I was surprised even in the morning but, taking care, tried fighting his new balanced self in the morning training. Defeating the【Insect Hero】seems to have further raised his base level ability, letting him become even stronger in the future. 
After completing the training, and enjoying lunch from the sisters who carefully crafted the taste, I later changed location along with Kanami-chan using the【Demon Howl Gate】to reach【Holy Seafoods Cavity Of The Fierce God】. 
Using the【Demon Howl Gate】, we exited in a submerged cave, a certain room that I've created. Here, members can leave the【Demon Howl Gate】 which is installed in the center of the room. It is a square room of about thirty meters and the entire area was prepared in order for them to move freely through the water filled【Holy Seafoods Cavity Of The Fierce God】. 
Since, basically, only clan members can access this place, there is no road that leads directly here so that an outsider cannot wander in by mistake, so there is no way to enter or exit the room except through the warp gate.
Kanami-chan and I came here, through such a secret room, after preparing for a day out by ourselves. Kanami-chan's race does poorly underwater - there's a danger that she will unconsciously freeze the surrounding area with her cold - so, after receiving it earlier and letting it remain in my item box, we decided to go with【Vesper's Outer Shell: Octorp】. 
This is an 【Ancient】 class magic item that we received by clearing the previous 【Frontier Psalm〔Vesper Octorp〕】, with an effect that seems to cover the wearer in an exoskeleton in the shapes of a High Octorp. 
This is a transformation that can work without problems in the water, but this time it was very much different from before, creating a different shape.
When I used it, it was shaped nearly like a High Octorp, but now it fit closer to the female body for Kanami-chan to use it. The head comes with something like a coronet tiara made ​​of shark bones, it grows tentacles like an octopus and moray eels from the back, and the lower body is spread casually like a dress in the shape of a sea anemone. 
Although the upper body does not change much, Kanami-chan gained a kind of atmosphere such as a queen that rules the ocean, which I don't mind at all because that is little different from the everyday, but it is more of a thicker presence. 
I tried thinking of my options for a moment but as I couldn't come up with a better idea, I have settled on wearing【Thundershark Dragonlord's Scales】that was already part of【Equip Exoskeleton】. 
Even if we were spotted by men and women from any age range there would be no problem, they would have only seen two people using strange magic items. 
In addition to this, we triggered the ability【Aquatic】, and started moving with Kanami-chan using a Warp Gate. Our destination is quite a ways towards the back from the original entrance, where pillars of rocks made a compartment that created a shadowed overhang.
You should be careful when using a warp gate, as to being cautious so as not to be seen, just because there are people who could take advantage of any opening they can get to.  Thinking so, we moved around quickly to confirm no one else was around. 
There was no sign of any other people around, and it seems we were not seen by anyone either. Being filled with peace of mind, I looked at whether Kanami-chan felt the same, but she seemed a little surprised by a strange feeling that suddenly appeared in the water. 
Using 【Vesper's Outer Shell: Octorp】 she was able to breath easily, as well as being able to swim faster than a fish using the lower body part. Still, after practicing with the 【Vesper's Outer Shell: Octorp】, we went on to collect several food items while enjoying our sea dating.
Since I've been here before, I know the different types of food-based items at hand, the number of fish-based monsters that swim around are more than enough, such as seaweed and shellfish. The amounts and variety are also in abundance.
We spent a large amount of time as a result of continuing to collect the noticeable items. About two hours, so the item box was stuffed with a large amount of food. In summary, I thought it would be good enough to spend our time like this: an elaborate, fancy, and normal underwater date for us. 
As a small school of fish swam by flashing their beautiful scales, it created an interesting sight to watch, leading to a good atmosphere. After that, Kanami-chan and I returned to land and spent the rest of the day relaxing.
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PLACE TRANSLATIONS ABOVE THE BAR. THESE ARE THE RAWS, LEAVE THEM HERE UNTIL SOMEONE DOES A REAL TRANSLATION (NOT JUST A GT OR RUSSIAN TRANS). CLICK EXPAND TO VIEW THEM.
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　“三百六十一日目”
　【陽光の神】が選んだ【陽光の勇者】であり、自分が生まれ育った村を破壊し、そこで暮らしていた村民と、何より心から愛していた恋人を殺した仇を討つと誓った復讐者。
　本名、シグルド・エイス・スヴェン。
　彼と初めて出会ったのは恋人を目の前で殺され、その怨敵と怒りのままに戦い、仕留めきれずに逃がしてしまった時だった。
　あの時の彼は憎悪に染まり、周囲全てが敵に見えていたのだろう。
　一度暴れ出せば敵味方問わず攻撃をしかける【】のように、暴走するまま当時だった俺に襲いかかってきた。
　しかし怒りという感情に支配され、動きは単調で直線的だった。後先考えない全力で動いていたからこそ確かに速かったが、ただそれだけなので対処は比較的簡単で、結果として苦戦せずあっさり倒す事になる。
　その後正気に戻った彼は、心から復讐するための力を求め、とある契約を結んで俺の配下となる。
　それからは日々自分を鍛え上げ、紆余曲折ありながら出会った新たな仲間と共に、先の【聖戦】にて仇である蟲英と戦闘に至る。
　そして俺が用意した決戦場を埋め尽くすほど膨大な数の魔蟲を薙ぎ払い、仲間共々傷つきながらも最後には異形の巨大魔蟲と成った蟲英を殺害し、見事に復讐を果たした。
　そして【聖戦】を終えた後、仲間と別れて恋人の墓参りをするべく一人で出立し、数日が過ぎた今日の朝、陽光と共に彼は大森林の拠点へと帰還したのだが。
　陽光と共に戻ってきた彼は、以前とはまるで別人のようになっていた。
　以前の彼は常に陰鬱な雰囲気を纏った、正直ジメジメとした男だった。
　目には復讐と狂気に染まった光が宿り、その意識は復讐対象に向けて研ぎ澄まされ、下手に近づくのは躊躇うだけの鋭さがあった。
　力を貪欲に求めて焦がれ、こと戦闘という特定の分野では鈍鉄騎士などを筆頭に日々熱い議論を交わしていた。
　ただただ復讐する為に邁進する、その為に生きているような男だった。
　だが帰還した彼にはそんな面影など既になく、まさに【陽光の勇者】とでもいうような、清々しい朝日の似合う好青年となっていたのだった。
　正直、その変貌ぶりには驚きを隠せない。
　誰だコイツ。
　爽やかな笑顔と共に『おはようございます、マスター。いい一日になりそうですね』などと言われた瞬間、俺は無意識のうちに身構えていたほどだ。
　ウワ何これ気持ち悪い。
　鳥肌が立つほどの違和感があった。
　目の前の彼は偽物なのではないかと内心疑いつつジックリと細部まで観察し、色々話を聞いたところ、どうやらこれが本来の彼らしい、という結論に至る。
　つまり復讐を果たした事で彼は復讐者ではなくなり、【陽光の神】の選んだ【陽光の勇者】として本来の姿を取り戻したと言う事だろう。
　しかしこれ程の変化だ。
　復讐者改め陽勇に分体が【寄生】していなければ、化けた密偵ではないかと疑うレベルである。
　ただふとした瞬間に見せる暗い雰囲気もあって、爽やかな部分も暗い部分も合わせて陽勇という存在が形成されているのが分かる。
　コインの表裏のように、誰もが持つ二面性。
　そう思えば、そういう事なのだと納得できる。
　朝から驚かされたが、気を取り直し、朝の訓練で陽勇と戦ってみた。
　蟲英を倒し、更に一段階実力を上げたようだ。今後はより一層戦力となってくれるに違いない。
　一通り陽勇との訓練を終えた後、姉妹さん達が作ってくれた昼食をじっくりと味わってから、カナ美ちゃんと一緒に【鬼神の尊き海鮮食洞】へと【鬼哭門】を使って移動した。
　【鬼哭門】を出た先は海底洞窟に存在する、とある一室だ。
　ここは部屋の中心に設置されている【鬼哭門】から出てきた団員達が、全域が水中となる【鬼神の尊き海鮮食洞】で自由に動けるよう準備する為に用意した、縦横高さが三十メートル程の四角い部屋である。
　基本的にここを利用するのは団員達だけなので、何かの間違いで部外者が迷い込まないように直接外部と繋がる道は存在せず、ワープゲートを使うしか出入りする術が無い。
　そんな秘密の部屋とでも言うべきここで、今回同行したカナ美ちゃんの準備をしていく。
　カナ美ちゃんは種族的に水中が苦手――無意識に纏う冷気で周囲一帯を凍結しかねないという危険もある――なので、以前手に入れて、アイテムボックスに入れられたままだった【水妖外殻：オクトルプ】を使ってもらう事にした。
　これは以前【辺境詩篇〔水妖オクトルプ〕】をクリアして手に入れた【遺物】級のマジックアイテムで、その効果はオクトルプ・ハイのような形状の外骨格を装着する事だ。
　これで水中でも問題なく活動できる訳だが、しかしどうも以前俺が使った時とは形状が違うらしい。
　俺の時はほぼオクトルプ・ハイのような形状だったのだが、カナ美ちゃんが使うとその女性体のようになったのだ。
　頭部には鮫の骨で出来たのような何かが備わり、背面からはウツボのような触手や蛸のような触手が生え、下半身はまるでドレスのようにふわりと広がる逆様になったイソギンチャクのような形状となっている。
　上半身はさほど変化はないものの、そんなカナ美ちゃんはまるで海洋を支配する女王のような雰囲気があり、普段とはまた違う色っぽさがあるので俺は一向に構わないのだが、これは一体どういう事だろうか。
　しばし考えてみたが結局分からなかったので、気を取り直して俺も【強化外骨格】の一つである【雷鮫龍侯の楯鱗】を纏う。
　これで老若男女幅広い他の攻略者から目撃されても、そういうマジックアイテムを使っているんだ、と思われるに違いない。
　その他にも【水棲】などのアビリティを重複発動させ、カナ美ちゃんと共にワープゲートで移動する。
　移動先は本来の出入り口からするとかなり奥の方にある、無数の岩の柱が乱立している区画だ。
　ワープゲートは見られないように用心しておくべきであり、ここなら攻略者が滅多にやってこないので丁度いい。
　そう思いながら移動して、素早く周囲を確認する。
　辺り一帯に他の気配は無く、誰にも見られていないようだ。一先ず安心しつつ、カナ美ちゃんはどうかと見てみると、突如水中に出現するという不可思議な感覚に少し驚いたようだ。
　だが【水妖外殻：オクトルプ】によって呼吸は出来るし、下半身の部分を使った特徴的な動きによって魚よりも速く泳げるので、特に問題ないようだ。
　それでも少し【水妖外殻：オクトルプ】の使い方を練習してから、俺達は海中デートを楽しみながら食材系のアイテムを回収していった。
　俺が手に入れてからはより食材系アイテムに力を入れていただけあって、以前よりも周囲を泳ぐ魚系モンスターの数は多く、海藻や貝なども種類も量も豊富にある。
　取りあえず二時間ほど目に付くアイテムを収集し続けた結果、アイテムボックスには大量の食材が確保される事となった。
　一先ずこれで良いだろうと思い、それからは普通に水中デートとしゃれ込んだ。
　綺麗な鱗を持つ小魚の群れが泳ぐ様など、見ていて面白いし、いい雰囲気になった。
　その後は陸に上がってからもカナ美ちゃんと色々出歩き、ゆったりとした一日を過ごした。
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Category:Novel
Category:Re:Monster Volume 9