The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Why’d she even use fake names, anyway?!

And this ‘Poer’ name… I think I might’ve heard it from somewhere…?

“Poer? Quite an unusual name. Whatever are you doing here?”

The cold steel tip pressed into the base of my neck. Ouch… I must’ve bled a bit there.

Oops, no time to worry about that now.

“…Truth is… we got lost on our way… hahaha…”

“Lost? Here? You expected me to believe that? Lylia, what do you say?”

Well, then… that’s another name I recognize.

And that just hammered down how bad of an idea it was to use Poer’s name. Damn it. I sure hope that this woman doesn’t share her race with the Lylia I know…

Nope, better not. I could only see things getting worse and worse now.

Giorno and Lylia, and me… posing as Poer? Hahahaha, they’re all names I’d heard from kids’ bedtime stories!

It doesn’t seem like Pochi has realized the direction we were going in. She probably hadn’t even thought things through at all when she’d brought up the names.

And just look at her – it was like she was asking me whether her ‘genius plan’ had turned things around. Man, I sure would love to break myself out of this situation right about now. And pinch that triumphant look right off her face. And stretch her cheeks wide.

“All right, if you say so. Now, you… step away from your staff, put your hands on the back of your head, and sit down on your knees.”

“…Like this?”

I did as I was told, and Pochi followed suit.

The sword was no longer touching me now, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still pointing at me. ‘Giorno’ circled around to our front, revealing his appearance as a blonde, well-groomed young human male. Ahh, what a close resemblance to the descriptions I’d read.

And ‘Lylia,’ who’d been hidden in the shadows, was now standing beside Giorno… wait-

“…Seriously?”

I muttered with a voice so low that only I myself could hear. Almost breathless, but it seemed that Pochi had noticed me, what with her having good ears.

Pochi was surprised, too. One of the people in front of us was a Dark Elf – no, straight up an Elf. One with a face I recognized, at that.

She did seem a little younger, though, at least from my memory. I’ll remember to double-check that later.

Now, the main question is… ‘where’ have we gotten ourselves to?

“You said you were lost. Where were you headed to?”

Relying on ‘Shiro’ in this situation could be the death of us two, so I suppose I’ll have to try and wing this myself.

If my guess is correct – well, I can’t think of anything other than that, anyway, so – hmm… right… should be around here-

“We’re currently on our way to T’oued.”

“Huh?”

Before Giorno and Lylia could even say anything, my oh-so-competent Familiar ‘Shiro’ questioned what I’d said.

Please, for the love of God, keep your thoughts to yourself.

As much as I’d like to shoot a Telepathic Call to Pochi and explain why, it surely wouldn’t be good to do so now. Who knows how it could mess up the situation. For the time being, I’ll have to prioritize getting us free from here.

“T’oued… isn’t that a town to the far north-east of here?”

“It is. We’re headed to Brunnera, so it’s a long way off from our destination, too.”

“Poer, was it? …Tell me, where do you hail from?”

Giorno asked while combing up his bangs.

Damn it, would you look at that handsome little gentleman… Reminds me of a certain someone I’d heard of that was supposedly super popular with the girls. And his age… a bit older than Adolf, I suppose – didn’t look quite twenty, but pretty close.

Now then, what answer should I give? …Not that I had any viable choice in the first place. We have to get out of here. Whatever it takes to get out of here.

“We’re from T’oued, actually.”

“Really now? What were you doing out here in the frontier, then?”

Ngh… he seems quite used to interrogating people, despite his age. I’m not seeing any easy way through this.

“We’ve heard that there were sightings of rare monsters… oh, I think we really should run away from this area. We just saw a powerful-looking golden Dragon monster nearby. It was wounded, but still…”

“Oh, the Dragon. I was the one who killed it.”

It was YOU?!

There’s absurd, and then there’s this guy, solo’ing one of the strongest Rank SS monsters.

Ugh, it’s just one surprise after another today.

If possible, I’d like to loot any remaining materials off the Kiryu, too. Gotta get away from here, then find my way back there-

“Say, Master… why are we going to T’oued, again?”

Good God, this dog just can’t ever keep her mouth shut.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“When exactly?!”

“When we get out of whatever we’re in now!”

“I knew it! You’re lying! Why would you do that?! Aren’t you supposed to be honest and get them to trust you?!”

“Excuse me-“

“Shut up! Integrity ain’t gonna keep us alive, you idiot!”

“It’s the one who calls others idiot who’s the idiot, you damned fool!”

“Attention, you two-“

“You know what?! I’m always having such a hard time because you keep running your damn useless mouth, stupid dog!”

“What?! Didn’t you use to say that there’s a reasonable cause for everything?!”

“Stop whining and listen to them, damn it!!”

“”…………””

“I totally meant what I said! If you hadn’t insisted that you needed to go investigate your old cave, none of this would have happened!”

“You’re saying that NOW?! Besides, shouldn’t we shut up and hear what this lady has to say?!”

“Ah – apologies for the interruption, miss! Please, go on!”

“…Seriously, arguing between yourselves with Giorno’s blade against your faces? You both are not right in your minds, I say. Now listen up… I am Lylia. I can see through your lies quite easily. You will not hide anything from me. Have I made myself clear?”

Pochi turned to look at them, while I glared at Pochi and nodded.

Come to think of it, there used to be this ability called the ‘Mind’s Eye’ among the Elves. Lylia seemed to possess it as well, though apparently different from what Tūs had.

“It’s quite rare to see a Master and his Familiar quarrel between each other in this day and age… Not to mention, it’s been a while since I last saw Lylia having trouble reading someone. Oh, I’m called Giorno, by the way. Since I’m sure now that you two don’t pose a threat – and not a spy or an Apostle – do feel free to stand.”

Pochi had a strong reaction… Should I be worried about that?

“Apostle… what’s that?”

“You don’t know? …Was that supposed to be a joke?”

Giorno turned to ask Lylia. It seemed that he was confirming with her whether or not Pochi was lying.

But of course, she was in fact telling the truth, so Lylia responded by shaking her head.

“Haha… now this is a surprise. Listen well, Shiro – it is a known fact that exceedingly high-ranking monsters are able to take on a human form. To see through their transformation, one must possess the Mind’s Eye, like Lylia here. And Poer, judging from the look on your face, it seems that you are completely aware. Have you neglected to inform your Familiar of this?”

“Sorry for the trouble. I’m still in the process of teaching her various things, so…”

“A recent contract, then? Perhaps I should have expected that.”

Pochi froze up, seemingly in the middle of sorting her thoughts.

Hmph, took her long enough to realize. Giorno, Lylia, ‘Poer,’ Elves, Apostles, Mind’s Eye, Kiryu and a human man who could kill one so easily, and a large herd of the supposedly near-extinct Grand Centaur. It would be strange for one not to realize what was up when presented with such information.

Now Pochi turned at me with a horrified look in her eyes. That’s right, it’s exactly as she thought.

Now I’m certain…

“Those of the Devil King’s army have been lurking among the populace, you see. We weren’t about to take any chances.”

NAME: GIORNO

TITLES: Iron Heart; Wind Deity; The Strong; Sword Saint; Dragon Slayer; Holy Warrior Candidate

LV: 201

HP: 50,431

MP: 39,882

EXP: 451,938,512

SPECIAL SKILLS:

• Support Magic (Advanced)
• Recovery Magic (Advanced)
• Fortify Strength
• Fortify Resilience
• Fortify Mind
• Blinding Speed
• Flight
• High-frequency Blade
• Earth Splitter
• Flash Thrust
• Brave Blade

-This place we’d been brought to…

“We’ll be departing shortly. Would you like to follow us to a nearby town?”

NAME: LYLIA

TITLES: Iron Heart; The Swift; Diamond Senses; Sword Deity; Dragon Slayer; Holy Warrior Candidate

LV: 200

HP: 69,210

MP: 18,741

EXP: 430,217,281

SPECIAL SKILLS:

• Fortify Strength
• Fortify Resilience
• Fortify Mind
• Tempest
• Light Body
• Earth Splitter
• Smash-slash
• Aerial Dancer
• Smiting Flash

…It was in the distant past. Way back in the era of the three Holy Warriors.

Please, for the love of God, real Poer… please come join them soon.

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