½ Prince

Chapter 6: A Normal Mage? – translated by Erialis

Upon returning to Star City, I headed straight for the inn where the team had agreed to meet up. As soon as I entered, I discovered an extremely somber atmosphere. The other members of Odd Squad were seated about a round table and all of them wore stiff expressions that seemed to suggest that they were actually seething inwardly.

As soon as they saw me arrive, everyone gave me a brief nod, and Wolf-dàgē indicated for me to sit down. I quickly pulled up a chair, not daring to fool around.

“Everyone, what do you think of the letter of challenge sent to us by the Dark Emperor?” Wolf-dàgē said, first asking for the team’s opinion on the matter.

“…?” Confusion was written all over my face. What letter of challenge?

“Prince has only just returned, so he still doesn’t know what happened, right?” Lolidragon had noticed my confusion and quickly explained. “We just ran into four members of Dark Emperor at the rebirth point and they… That Ming Huang in particular really deserves a verbal thrashing…”

“No, a PHYSICAL thrashing, for actually daring to call me a pervert.”

You mean you aren’t? I asked silently in my head. Gui’s icy expression surprised me though. He actually looks pretty cool…

“Yeah, and they even said that Doll was a weird necromancer…waaah!” Doll said, teary-eyed.

That…seems to be the truth as well, I thought. *Sweat*

“…We began to fight with them again at the rebirth point, but this time, the city’s NPC guards came rushing over. We had to stop and flee,” said Wolf-dàgē, hammering his fist on the table in indignation.

“Hmph! If not for the guards, we would have killed them all the way back to level one.” Gui had clenched his fist so tightly that his knuckles were cracking.

“After that, Dark Emperor PMed Gui, sending him a letter of challenge. They’re setting the date for our face-off as next month’s Adventurers’ Tournament.” As she finished speaking, Lolidragon too pounded the table a few times with her fist.

Looks like while Wicked and I weren’t present, the conflict between our two teams sparked into a blaze! It was as Wicked had said – we had become sworn enemies. Sigh! It’s all the fault of the word “girlie”… (It’s not MY fault!)

I considered sharing what Wicked had told me earlier. Would it help to lessen everyone’s negativity towards Dark Emperor? I wondered.After all, it was all a misunderstanding…

“Sigh! All that hard work that we put into fighting those dragons has gone to waste now – we didn’t even manage to get those dragon XXs! That fight probably cost us at least fifty gold coins,” Wolf-dàgē lamented, heaving a deep sigh. He thought, To think that after everyone fought so hard that they were bone-weary, something like this would happen and leave us without so much as half a piece of loot…

My dragon’s XXs… We didn’t manage to collect them? I thought. My mind went blank for three seconds. Then, I rose to my feet. With two loud thuds, I created two holes in the table with my fists.

“DAAARK EMPEROOOOOR, EVEN IF IT KILLS ME, I’M GOING TO DESTROY YOU GUYS!” I roared, livid.

“…Well then, we’ll accept their letter of challenge and train extra hard this month. That way, at the Adventurers’ Tournament next month, they’ll be able to see for themselves just how strong we – Odd Squad – really are,” said Wolf-dàgē.

“What’s the ‘Adventurers’ Tournament’?” I asked, looking at Lolidragon uncomprehendingly.

As usual, Lolidragon rolled her eyes and began to explain. “Twice a year, Second Life will hold an Adventurers’ Tournament. Through PvPcombat, the most outstanding team will emerge. Each team must have six members and the reward is a piece of land.”

“Not only must we defeat Dark Emperor, we must also emerge as the champions. Then the whole of Second Life will know who Odd Squad is,” Wolf-dàgē added in a mighty voice.

“Prince, do you still remember our promise? We’re going to create a legend!” Lolidragon PMed me. “This is a good opportunity. Besides, by creating a legend, I didn’t mean simply becoming the top player, but…”

“I know. After all, if it’s just a matter of becoming the top player, then I wouldn’t have picked the current training method. Lolidragon, I no longer want to create the legend of “Prince” alone. I want to work hard alongside every member of Odd Squad and create a legend together,” I said, fixing her with a resolute look.

“Right!” Lolidragon replied with a smile.

“Let’s all work hard together, to create our own legend in Second Life.” I stretched out my right hand.

Lolidragon immediately placed her right hand on top of mine. In turn, Wolf-dàgē stretched out his large wolf paw, which was followed by Doll’s small hand, and Gui’s long and slender hand.

“Create a legend!” we roared.

Shortly thereafter, Doll suddenly held out her small hand. Counting on her fingers, she said, “Prince-gēgē’s one, Lolidragon-jiějie’s two, Wolf-gēge’s three, Gui-gēgē’s four, and Doll is the last one. That’s five! I don’t think we have enough people in our team to take part in the competition!”

…!

“Let’s find a mage!” Wolf-dàgē suggested. “Were it not for Dark Emperor’s mage, Ming Huang, we would have won a complete victory over them this time. Unfortunately, his Wrath of the Nine Heavens left our side pretty badly off as well. Therefore, I strongly suggest that we find a mage.”

“Agreed!” Everyone approved of the idea, but I thought darkly, The last time we looked for a mage, we found a necromancer like Doll. Then, when we were looking for an archer, we ended up with Gui, a bard… This time, what will our search for a mage yield? What other strange class/race combination do we not have yet?

“Let’s go search at the Adventurers’ Guild then?” Gui suggested.

“Objection!” The other four members replied simultaneously.

Gui tapped his nose with a finger. “Then how are we going to find one?”

“Hmm…” Everyone looked troubled. With only a month left, it would be best to find a mage quickly, so as to build up the camaraderie between members.

Just as the members of Odd Squad were knitting their eyebrows together tightly enough to squash a mosquito to death…

“Excuse me, but are you looking for a mage? I was standing nearby, so I overheard…” A gentle voice reached our ears.

We turned our heads to look as one and a lovely young woman immediately entered our view. She reddened unconsciously under the scrutiny of five pair of eyes. Stammering a little, she said, “Um… Le-let me introduce myself. I’m called Yu Lian and I’m a human mage. My primary element is fire, secondary element is earth…and I’m level thirty-eight.”

We were all astonished. A human mage? Such an ordinary class and race? That’s not possible.

“You are female?” Lolidragon demanded, her gaze fixed on the girl’s chest. Yep! And it’s pretty substantial too.

“Yes…”

“You like men?” I asked sternly.

“…Yes.”

“You like love and justice?” Doll inquired, her face shining with love and justice.

“…?”

“You’re not allowed to snatch the beautiful and noble Prince from me!” Gui exclaimed, his expression anxious. A flying kick from me sent him soaring out the door. I thought he’d become cool, but looks like his damnable personality hasn’t changed one whit.

“Why do you want to join us?” Wolf-dàgē asked in an extremely serious voice.

Yu Lian’s expression revealed her admiration. She replied, “After witnessing your conversation, I was very envious of your camaraderie and I wished I could be a part of your team.”

For such a normal reason? The members of Odd Squad wondered, Could it be…?

“Have we…found ourselves a normal…teammate?” I asked, stuttering.

“What spells do you know?” Wolf-dàgē inquired in a level-headed manner, not yet giddy with happiness.

“I know Flame Arrow, Fireball, Pillar of Fire, Wall of Flames, Flame Surge and Meteor Shower. I don’t know as many earth spells, only Jaws of Hell, Earthquake, and Armor of Earth.”

Wolf-dàgē immediately stood up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Yu Lian. We’re Odd Squad, with five members. Prince, warrior; Lolidragon, thief; Ugly Wolf, priest; Doll, necromancer; Guiliastes, bard – but just call him Gui. We welcome you to our team.”

Without delay, we dragged Yu Lian to the valley to practice, and to see for ourselves just how great the benefits of having a mage could be…

I leapt back, even as a pillar of fire seared the centaur. I carefully blocked the centaur from the rest of the team, so as to prevent the mob from charging off and attacking our mage Yu Lian. In a short amount of time, there was a line of flame-seared centaurs lying dead on the ground. It actually took no longer than five minutes for us to defeat a centaur, which was even more powerful than a small dragon. Just so you know, it took me ten minutes to kill a small dragon. Having a mage is a pretty good thing after all!

“It’s been tough on you, Yu Lian,” Wolf-dàgē said. He patted the mage on the back.

“Not at all, this is what Yu Lian’s supposed to do, after all,” she replied bashfully, blushing.

“We finally have a normal teammate. I’m touched!” I was overwhelmed. After all, there’s finally a NORMAL person in Odd Squad. How can I not be thrilled?

“Beautiful and noble Highness, you are also very normal.” Gui, who had recovered his irritating personality, had once again begun to address me with all those revolting terms of endearment.

“He’s the most abnormal person of us all, since he is the only tranny in the whole of Second Life,” Lolidragon muttered under her breath and I shot her a glare.

“Doll is very normal too!” Doll said with an innocent and uncomprehending expression.

…That’s actually debatable.

“But in any case, Prince, you’ve got it wrong,” Lolidragon told me.

“I got it wrong? How?”

“Basically, if someone can remain unaffected by your or Gui’s looks, then that person can’t be considered normal!” Lolidragon replied critically. “I initially thought that she might have joined because of you or Gui. However, ever since we left the city, she has spent a far greater amount of time talking with Wolf-gē than she has looking at you guys.”

The four of us turned our heads as one to look at Wolf-dàgē and Yu Lian, who were talking animatedly.

No matter how I look at it, it appears that Yu Lian is…blushing? And a little shy? And her expression when chatting with Wolf-dàgē seems rather girlish… It can’t be, right?

The four of us looked at one another. Then, with an expression which said that she was determined to uncover the truth, Lolidragon marched over and dragged Yu Lian back. With the excuse that it was a private chat between ladies, she forbade Wolf-dàgē from following or eavesdropping. She then grabbed my face with her right hand and Gui’s face with her left, and shoved our faces in front of Yu Lian.

“Yu Lian, what do you think of Gui’s looks?”

“…?” Yu Lian was taken aback, her confusion clear on her face.

“Just say what you think,” Lolidragon replied firmly.

“Gui’s looks are…very neat!” Yu Lian hesitated, as though she was fishing for the right words to say without hurting anyone.

…Very neat? What sort of description is that?

Lolidragon then asked, “And what do you think of Prince’s looks?”

Yu Lian smiled cheerfully and patted me on the head. “Prince is very adorable!”

Adorable… That was the first time I’d heard anyone describe me like that. You’re describing this incomparable handsomeness – which nearly left me a narcissist – as “adorable”?

“Then what do you think of Wolf-gē’s looks?” Lolidragon asked, her tone cautious.

Upon hearing Wolf-gē’s name, Yu Lian actually turned bright red and stammered, “Wolf-dàgē’s looks are ve-very unique, and also mature, and composed.” Saying that, she seemed to be caught up in some kind of fantasy… “Even his fur is a beautiful silver, my favorite color.”

Silver? We turned to look at Wolf-dàgē’s very messy gray fur…

“…He is the most handsome, most masculine man I’ve ever met,” Yu Lian said, her face filled with loving admiration as she looked at Wolf-dàgē. She then turned back to look at Gui and me and spoke in an apologetic tone. “Don’t worry, your looks are pretty okay. Some girl will definitely like your looks, so don’t give up!” She said encouragingly in her gentle voice.

“What a mystifying sense of beauty!” I said in realization.

“As expected, it is impossible for Odd Squad to have a normal member,” Lolidragon concluded calmly.

[½ Prince Volume 1 Chapter 6 End]

Footnotes

 PvP: This is an acronym for “Player versus Player” and is used to describe in-game activities in which players are in direct competition with another real player (the Adventurer’s Tournament being a prime example). On the other hand, PvE (“Player versus Environment”) involves competition against AI-controlled monsters or other elements that are built into the game itself.