Paridiots {VOLUME 1}: How to Survive a Fantasy World with a Party Full of Idiots

[6] But Then, Koemi's Ex Appears

"Can someone please explain why this woman needs crow beaks?"

Seiko, Blair and I were all in the midst of a wheat field, each with our weapons bared and ready to fight at any moment. Before this, we had completed our usual morning routine of eating breakfast, getting lectured by Blair, and heading out to the Guild to scout out any potential quests worth taking. During that time, Seiko discovered a well-paying job (four silver per person) from a lady who desired precisely fifteen crow beaks, and, upon deciding the request was worth it, accepted.

But seriously, what the heck does one do with fifteen crow beaks? It's not like feathers, which you can make coats of. They're, like, completely useless! What even is this woman planning??

Blair breathed a confused sigh, shoving long stems of budding wheat aside with her greataxe. It was generally around summertime, meaning that the wheat was nearly fully grown, ready to be harvested any day now. What a sum those farmers must make off of that wheat. Hey, maybe I should drop the harsh, risky life of a hunter and become a farmer! Days filled with nothing but peace and cash... yeaaaah, that sounds like the life.

I spat out a strand of wheat I had apparently inhaled mid-thought, my body shaking in response. Although this stuff is pretty dang annoying. Maybe I'll just stay a hunter.

"I believe there's a common site for crow-spotting up ahead. We should be able to capture our targets within that zone."

"Is there a requirement for how many we need, meow?" Seiko queried from beside me.

"No, so I think it would be best to stay safe and gather as many as we possibly can. Are you two both ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Alright, then here we go," Blair shoved aside a few more stalks of wheat, revealing an open area filled with crows. The wheat in which had once been growing here had been severed and cut short, only the black animals left behind in their shadows. "Party, commence!"

Under Blair's order, I readied a wind spell. Similarly to the scenery in the toucan forest, it would be of great danger to the crops should I accidentally set them on fire, so it would be best to stray away from that element. Additionally, a water related spell would just drench the plants and lower their price on the market, leaving wind as my safest bet. "Tornado: x1 Size Increase!"

Tornado was one of the more common wind-classified spells, it's multipliers allowing the user to make it bigger or smaller, depending on the danger of the predicament. Since I didn't want to ruffle the crops too much along with the fact that we were hunting mere crows, a giant land-crushing tornado wasn't necessary in this situation.

The ferocious winds I had summoned hustled towards the crows, picking up a few of them and entangling them in the brewing storm. With the trap in place, Seiko and Blair hacked and slashed at the wind current, plucking a few birds off the mix. With that, I flung another tornado in the direction of a different cluster of crows preparing to fly away. "Seiko, split!" I called out, and the girl nodded, dashing off towards the second group.

Unfortunately for us, a majority of the crows were flopping around in a desperate attempt to escape the winds. One of the pests whopped Seiko in the face, slamming her to the floor. "O-ouch!"

"Ah shoot, not again," I murmured, dashing over to Seiko. "It's always the birds with you, isn't it?"

"I guess s- meoww, Koemi, look out!"

As the words slipped out of her mouth, I felt a large impact on the back of my skull. "Heyy, manners?" I cried, lashing out with my staff to no avail.

"Oh, goodness. It appears there seems to be more of them," Blair wiped a few feathers off the tip of her greataxe.