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

[7] Oddly Enough, They Hallucinate

Seemingly not learning from her one bad experience with the toucans, she grabbed a fistful and continued forth. "I fear for the safety of that woman," I sighed to Blair, the dubious tank nodding in agreement. With our doubts in tow, we had no choice but to continue after her.

We walked for quite some time on our odd berry-picking adventure, with Seiko holding the fearless leader role, Blair bracing herself and her weapon, and me, lingering behind with an uneasy feeling circling throughout my body. I don't get why we can't just go buy some packaged goods... then again, I don't really wanna spend the money, so I guess this is the cheapest way out. These better be some dang good berries!

We came across a variety of color-speckled bushes, some of them holding the same red berries we'd discovered earlier while others contained blue, purple, and black hued objects. "None of them seem considerably poisonous," Blair pointed out on our walk.

"Actuallyyyy, that might be because I've seen some of these in grocery stores before. I didn't know they grew on wild bushes, meow. Maybe it's some kind of farming magic?"

I let out a faint wheeze. "Farming magic? The heck is that?" At Seiko's puzzled expression, I stated, "Don't you mean Earth magic?"

"Meow... whatever!" She snapped, spinning around and grabbing a handful of purple berries. "Let's just keep going."

Our journey was mostly silent from that point onwards until Seiko pulled up ahead with a small "oh?"

"Found something?" Blair's curiosity had been piqued as she followed the child. "Or is it merely a small inconvenience?"

Blair and I both stopped behind Seiko, who had her gaze fixated on a spot far up in the woods. "Look up there, meow. A rare specimen!"

I craned my neck up, covering some of the light filtering out between the trees with one hand. Perched atop a branch and peering straight down at us was a male, slightly tall, equipped in what looked like heavy tank-type armor. "Seiko, that's a male."

"Did I stutter? A rare specimen. Y'think he's of importance?"

Seiko and her weird humor, I swear... I sighed, clearing my throat. "Excuse me, what's the hubbah? Do you mind?"

"Sorry, was I staring? How rude of me." He hopped down from the branch, barely making a sound as his feet hit the grass below. "I offer up my sincerest apologies to the three of you."

"It's not that big of a deal, meow..."

"Who might you be, I wonder?" Blair scoffed, folding into the natural Blair pose- arms crossed, head slightly lifted, back straight as if to assert dominance. Yeesh, must suck being on the opposing side.

"Formalities, of course! I really am quite astray today, ha." The male held out a gloved hand, brushing aside his short black hair with the other. "You may call me Yakeru."

If possible, Blair's eyes narrowed even further. "Yakeru, you say. Hm."

"Hey, what's up with the suspicious tone, meow?" Seiko leaned forwards to cast a look at the tank, but Blair merely turned away with a small snort. "It is nothing of your concern."

"She's just being ticked over air again, isn't she?"

"As usual!"

"Tch, you both are the bane of my existence."

The male in front of us, Yakeru, shifted uncomfortably as we discussed amongst ourselves, his hand still outstretched in an unfortunately one-sided greeting. "You know, formalities are typically exchanged, and not one-sided..."

"Manners are an avant-garde concept to these two, I must say."

I shrugged it off. "Yeah yeah, whatever. You can call me Koemi, and the little yapper there is Seiko. And this here is-"