The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

“Ngh, I’m too stuffed…”

Pochi climbed up my back, her voice happy, her eyes sleepy, and her breath… fishy.

“And we just had breakfast before this…”

“Don’t you know that it’s important to get some sleep after a meal, Master?”

Bah, I swear, this damn furball is always locked into her in-development age.

I carried Pochi on my back, Chappie rubbed up against my shoulder, and Bright walked beside me, smiling.

As we exited the entrance to Eddo’s, Polco greeted us with a broad grin.

“So, how was the famous Sushi of T’oued, young Shiro?”

“The best ever, sir!”

“I didn’t mean to pry, by the way – just happened to see you all eating when I passed by that street.”

Polco continued speaking as if he could see right through me, then turned to look at Bright.

“Regalia does have some of these restaurants where you eat standing up, too. It’s quite interesting to see the facets of society we don’t normally experience, isn’t it, Bright?”

“Yes, sir. I have learned something from this experience, and intend on putting this knowledge to good use going forward.”

Naturally, Polco has accumulated a great deal of knowledge through means of mundane experience.

Which is why he’s gotten to hold such a high position in the Traditionalist Faction, I suppose.

After that, Polco signaled that we should get a fair distance away from town before teleporting, so we walked for about twenty minutes, like an after-dinner stroll.

“Now then… this should be far enough, don’t you think, young Poer?”

“Your concern is much appreciated, sir… Rise, A-rise, A-rise…”

I set up the Teleportation Spell Circle. Polco, after confirming its activation, chuckled.

“Now that was quite a fast drawing. I’ve never seen a Circle be drawn this quickly before, I don’t think?”

“Oh, that’s flattering, Master Polco.”

“And you’re not very good at feigning humility, hmm, young Poer?”

I tilted my head at that last unexpected remark.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Well, actually, YOU are doing it well, but… why don’t you look at young Shiro there?”

What Polco pointed at was… Pochi, beaming with pride.

Right, of course. The doggo’s always been one to expose my weak points during this sort of talk.

She sure looks so damn happy about a compliment that wasn’t even for her, though.

“Anyway, let us hurry back to Kugg Village. We can talk more back at the mansion – wouldn’t do us good if someone were to spot us.”

“Yes, sir.”

I replied with a wry smile and quietly watched as Polco, Bright, and Chappie teleported away.

Then once Pochi, still puffing with pride, stepped into the Spell Circle, her expression suddenly took a complete change.

“Hmm?!”

As Pochi’s body was being teleported away, she turned to look at me… with quite a sharp glare.

It’s vague, but she’s definitely telling me to be on guard. The moment I looked over my shoulder, powerful balls of fire rained down from above my head.

“Whoa?!”

I barely dodged it and held up my staff, and tried to figure out where the spell had been cast from.

But before I could find out, a small group of warriors appeared in front of me.

Ones I already knew well, too – associates of the Douglas household, led by Chiquiata.

But Chiquiata herself isn’t here. She was probably hiding somewhere around here.

Dīnō appeared in the scene front and center, and in the air behind him came the Cobalt Dragon. Maybe Chiquiata is a bit further back?

Seriously though, their timing sure was perfect… -ly bad. Now my Teleportation Spell Circle’s disappeared because I was taking too long.

Hmm… for now, let’s see what pissing off Dīnō will do this time.

“What the hell, the dog and the Adams dude just vanished into thin air! The hell did you do?”

“Hey, long time no see, Dīnō.”

Pochi and everyone else has already teleported back to my room in the Adams’ mansion, so I can’t expect any help from them.

And with the enemies’ numbers, it’ll be quite hard to just run away. Guess the best I can try is to lead Dīnō away from the group and deal with things from there.

“I don’t remember being that familiar with you.”

“And Miss Chiquiata? Is she here with us?”

“Listen to me first, dammit!”

He’s getting pissed off – good.

And from what I can see, the other warriors here are being quite tense, probably because of the sheer difference between my power and theirs.

“I know you’ve gotten a bit stronger, but you really think you can survive against this many people, huh?!”

All right, now let’s try-

“Calm down, Dīnō.”

…Andddddd here comes Chiquiata. Cool as a cucumber, as always.

And her voice was so deep that I could even feel a menacing aura from it… not to mention that it instantly calmed Dīnō down.

I was going to use Dīnō’s body – not gigantic, but still larger than a man – as cover while using a flash-bang spell to escape, but now that Dīnō’s stopped moving because of Chiquiata’s words, I can’t use that strategy anymore.

What’s more, with Chiquiata stepping forward, the stare of the already mighty Cobalt Dragon became even sharper.

“I’m here, just like you asked. So what now, Poer-boy?”

“Myans isn’t with you today, I see?”

“We AREN’T always together in the first place.”

“Huh… well, I didn’t know that.”

With my gaze probably conveying to her that I haven’t forgotten how they were walking arm in arm just the other day, Chiquiata blushed a little and glared at me.

“So, Chiquiata… what can I do for you?”

“You know what I want. Where’s Bright?”

“He’s not with me, I can tell you that much.”

“Look, I hate answers that are just you beating around the bush. If you don’t say it straight and clear, someone’s going to get hurt, hmm? Hurt real badly, hmm?”

Chiquiata licked her own lips and held up her staff. At the same time, the warriors around her readied their swords.

And just as Dīnō lowered his stance and was about to leap at me, I took a long leap backward.

“Hell no, you’re not running away! SHAAAAAA!!”

Well, as if I had any choice but to run!

“Rise, All Up!”

While the warriors were shouting and closing in with Dīnō in their lead, Chiquiata leisurely began drawing a Spell Circle.

Fortunately, the Cobalt Dragon hasn’t moved yet, and is only following my movements for now.

If I were to guess, the Cobalt Dragon is probably prioritizing Chiquiata’s protection.

“Hmph-!”

I immediately invoked Fortify Strength, Fortify Resilience, Fortify Mind, Tempest, and Light Body… and then got spooked by Dīnō’s shard fangs.

I mean, really, they’re SHARP. I wouldn’t want to get close to those.

Securing my footing, I pointed my staff at the warriors on both of Dīnō’s sides.

“Pochi Pad Bomb!”

“”WHA-?!””

Caught off guard by Swift Magic, the Warriors slowed, then stopped, and then retreated.

Okay, good – they did what I expected them to do.

Dīnō, on the other hand, is still moving, weaving through the explosions and the resulting debris.

“Ngh… the invocation’s way too fast – I didn’t even see him draw a Circle! How the hell did he do that?!”

“Stop complaining and just fight!”

“I know, I know!”

“Hah! Fullspark Rain & Remote Control!”

Okay, here comes a large-scale spell… huh, it went past me?

Oh, I see. Rather than hitting me directly, she’s trying to have Dīnō knock me back, landing me inside the spell.

Which means… I’ve gotta face Dīnō head-on!

“DAHHHHHHHHH!! HAAAHHH!!”

GWOOOHHH! This thing’s tackle is HEAVY!

“W-what the hell?! How’d you… stop me…?!”

“And this isn’t even my full power yet! Now have a load of this! ORAAAHHH!!”

“Wha-?!”

“Carve your name into this world, vastus medialis! Dominate the land, deltoid! Hold it together, rectus abdominis! Fight back, gluteus maximus! Forward, forward, adductor magnus! Feel the burn, triceps surae!”

(Anna: Alright, folks. Time for some anatomy. Vastus medialis – one of the quadriceps muscles in the thigh; Deltoid – the shoulder muscle, it’s where you typically get your vaccine shot; Rectus abdominis – the one that gives people their six pack, so everyone has a so pack even if you can’t see it XD ; Adductor magnus – a muscle in the thigh; Triceps surae – muscles in your calf.)

“Impossible… how the hell is this even a thing?!”

“Agh….. crush them!! Biceps brachii!!!!!! OOOOOOOOOSSSSSSAAAAAA!!!!”

(Anna: Biceps – two heads, brachii – arm. So it’s the two headed muscle of the arm you use to flex your arm.)

Mobilizing all of my Philosopher muscles, I threw Dīnō back at Chiquiata.

“This can’t be happening!”

Chiquiata jumped backward in surprise, prompting the Cobalt Dragon to swoop in and use its body to catch Dīnō.

“Man, I love you, triceps brachii! Behold! The strongest magic of the strongest Philosopher!”

(Anna: the muscle you use to extend your forearm; it’s at the back of your arm.)

“Magic, my ass! Flare Shoot!”

Haven’t heard of that spell before… From the looks of it, it’s probably a super-concentrated fire projectile. And its power is on the level of a large-scale spell…

“Rise! Octa Boundary!”

“You can even catch that fast shot with a Boundary magecraft?! HOW?!”

Yeah, how? Now that she mentioned that, my body feels… super light. Could it be thanks to my titles?

No, that can’t be… can a handful of titles really change my parameters by that much?

It’s gotta be something else that’s helping me.

With this much power, I feel like I can actually take on all the enemies in front of me.

What’s going on? Did something happen after I talked with Kaoru and Jun’ko? Wait… could it be that…?!

I immediately invoked my Appraisal Glasses and scanned over my statistics… and from what I saw, I’m definitely convinced that I’ll make it.

…Because the ‘Holy Warrior (Tentative)’ title’s gone and evolved to ‘Holy Warrior Candidate.’

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