Chapter Nine: Are There Acupuncturists Who Can Use North Star Divine Fist Technique On Their Clients?
"First, I’d like to confirm something. Rin, can you fight? Basically, you won’t be fighting, but just in case…”
"Oh… Not just fighting, I’ve never even been in a quarrel, so I’m completely useless in combat, yup…”
"…I expected as much. Well, that’s how it is…”
Mr. Ville nods his head as if he has anticipated this.
I’ve had a senior physical therapist at work teach me massage techniques, and during practice breaks, he jokingly taught me throws and defensive moves. But if you ask whether it’s useful… well? At best, all I can manage is a catfight. Besides, unlike the mandatory judo in the physical therapy department, acupuncture is purely in the realm of liberal arts! It feels like all I did was diligently memorize Meridian points: the Twelve Primary Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Vessels, all 361 points…
…By the way, though I get asked a lot, there is no such thing as “secret points”! No one screaming or writhing in pain when needling!
Meanwhile, Mr. Ville’s demi-dragon race called dragul specializes in both physical and magical attacks, and his role in the party is mainly cutting down enemies with a sword, or using magic-imbued slashes. In exchange for their high physical abilities and magical power, they have an extremely energy-consuming metabolism to maintain those capabilities.
…Ah, I see. That explains very well why Mr. Ville’s stomach rumbles so frequently…
In this day and age where fuel efficiency is highly praised, it must have been quite tough…?
"If you don’t mind, I could teach you some simple combat… more like self-defense techniques. What do you think?”
"I’ll take you up on that offer. Even though a city’s security might be okay… it’s not guaranteed, and I want to take care of my own safety.”
"Got it. Then I will teach you later.”
Even if I’m with party members in dungeons, if I get caught up in some dispute during free time I’d be helpless… At the very least, I think it’s crucial to ensure that I can escape alive if something happens. I remember a line in an anime saying "The one who will protect you is you yourself," and that’s so true!
And besides, even though he is saying “You don’t have to fight in a dungeon,” I think if I can at least defend myself to a certain extent, it would reduce the need for the party members to dedicate their attention and combat abilities to protecting me. Well, in the worst case no matter what happens I want to be able to flee to Campy, yep.
Muscles are organs that can be trained even at the death door! They respond if you train them! Let’s practice until my cerebellum automatizes my movements!
…
…Yup… As I always tell clients, from now on I’ll also work hard to move my body…
"But it’s reassuring that you understand the importance of protecting yourself too. From what I’ve heard from you, you have decent skills, but no matter how powerful the skills are, skills themselves are not omnipotent.”
"…Yeah. I kind of understand that…”
"That’s why it’s important to fully utilize your skills and to understand what your skills can and cannot do, what they can cover and what they cannot. The chances of figuring things out on the fly in a real situation are quite low.”
Well, that’s painful to hear, but thinking about it calmly, his words are painfully true!
The very capable Survival isn’t an almighty skill. It just helps me survive… that’s all. It’s not something like, “With Survival, you’ll definitely survive!”
For example, even if Survival tells me “Fight or you’ll die!” is it really possible for someone like me, who has never engaged in actual combat before, to defeat an opponent with bare hands? No matter how hard I try, wouldn’t someone more accustomed to life-and-death situations have the upper hand?
Here’s another example. Even if Survival told me “That person is dangerous, run away!” can someone like me who hasn’t participated in sports properly before really manage to escape? If it’s a matter of physical stamina, I could probably overcome it with Campy at worst. However, if it involves navigating through power struggles or massive conspiracies where wisdom and knowledge are crucial, what then? That would probably still be difficult to flee from. With no understanding of the circumstances, common sense, or anything about this world, I can’t imagine being able to flee. Most likely I’ll be surrounded and the escape routes will be blocked off, leaving me with no way out.
…That’s right. No matter how capable Survival is, if I’m incompetent at using it, there’s nothing to be done. Because in the end, combining, judging, and making final decisions based on the information and knowledge Survival provides is up to “me”…!
And besides, Campy… even the camping car has its limitations. Being outdoors is a basic requirement, and there needs to be a certain amount of space to deploy it. Moreover, even if you want to drive it, you need a reasonably wide road.
…In the end, I need to not just rely on skills but also train and polish up myself. The direction is different but whether it’s old world or this one, honing my abilities is important…
"Anyway… if I were to bring you along, Aria probably wouldn’t let you go easily…”
"Ms. Aria… You mean the thread user woman you mentioned earlier?”
"Yeah. I’m a big eater, but Aria eats a lot as well. But above all, she wants a companion of the same sex.”
Ms. Aria Mr. Ville mentioned is one of the members of his party.
A beauty with nice body proportions, who skillfully manipulates threads in combat… She is from "spider people" and a "married woman" with many attributes… it is an image I have of her at the moment. Even though they are called spider people, they are completely human in appearance and have almost no insect-like features.
By the way, her husband is also a party member, magic alchemist Ed. He’s head-over-heels for his wife Aria, and constantly flirting with her. They have a loving intimate relationship.
Normies should explode. No mercy.
“…No, it’s not just Aria. Ed and Xenon also eat quite a bit.”
“Ah… I’ll do my best as the one in charge of cooking. Don’t worry. I’m used to preparing plenty.”
Xenon is an elf priest.
An elf priest… typically, one might imagine a delicate appearance, a love for nature, and a diet consisting only of vegetables and fruits. However, from Mr. Ville’s description, it seems Xenon is quite the wild one, not hesitating to hold roasted boned meat with both hands and bite into it.
I kind of want to see that now… an elf vigorously eating roasted meat holding it with both hands!
I wonder how much Mr. Ville’s group can eat. But I’m sure it’ll work out somehow! If I run out of ingredients, we’ll hunt as much as needed, right? My experience as a kitchen maid at my parent’s place, which can accommodate as many as eight people, will come in handy!
What worries me is Engel’s coefficient… In other words, how much will be earned, and how much of that amount will be spent on food?
“By the way, where does the food budget come from?”
"We allocate a certain percentage of the money earned from completing quests or selling dropped items toward the expenses for food and medicine… The remaining amount is split evenly among us as individual rewards.”
"I see… so the amount for shared expenses like food and medical supplies fluctuates depending on the actual earnings.”
"So, about your individual reward… is it okay if, in the beginning, we split it into 5 and you get 60% of that portion?”
"…Understood, that’s fine. Just having payment guaranteed is more than enough.”
60 percent of one-fifth…
After completing a quest, the reward will be divided among the five of us, excluding shared expenses—let’s call this a principal reward. From my share, I return one-tenth to each of the other party members… is that how it is?
The pause between what Mr. Ville said in an apologetic tone and my response was not very long, and yet I sensed him breathe a slight sigh of relief.
I think it’s best to be prudent about money matters.
If the principal reward doesn’t increase, the more it’s split, the more each person’s amount decreases… Since we can’t predict how much my joining the party will raise the reward… it’s difficult to decide my portion, or so I think.
Also, while I heard from Mr. Ville that they already wanted a dedicated baggage porter for the party, he hired me without consulting everyone. So, I wonder if the other members would readily accept me…
If I think of it as a probationary period then I understand not receiving full pay. And considering that I’m entrusting the life-threatening “combat” part to everyone else and in a position to be protected, it’s balanced in a sense, I think.
By the way, with the method proposed by Mr. Ville, let’s say the principal reward was 50,000 yen. If we divide it among five people, each person’s share would be 10,000 yen… From there, I give an additional 10% or 1,000 yen to each of the four people, so after subtracting 4,000 yen, I would have 6,000 yen left.
The calculation might be a bit annoying, but the amount is more than 10% of the principal reward, which would be 5000 yen.
If we represent a principal reward as n (where n is a positive integer), it can be expressed as [n/5 - (n/5 × 0.4) > 0.1n].
Can I accept the amount calculated by this [n/5 - (n/5 × 0.4)] formula…?
…Well, I have to survive too. When it comes to living, having money is certainly better.
To be completely honest, I want to return to Japan immediately. I really want to, but I don’t know how… Or rather, I don’t even know if there is a way back, so, I believe I need to mentally prepare myself to spend some time in this world until I figure out if there’s a way back or not.
… Though, I’m not sure if I’ve truly mentally prepared myself.
"Hey, Rin, if you don’t mind, want to explore the area a bit? It might help you understand your skills in action while moving around, don’t you think?”
"Eh? Is that alright?”
"Yeah. I want to know the extent of your stamina too… How much you can actually move. It’ll make it easier to plan when we explore dungeons.”
"I see. Is it like planning for a march? That’s indeed crucial… things like stamina and mobility are important factors for sound decision-making.”
Certainly, when making an exercise plan for a patient, it’s important to set small, achievable step-like goals based on their current condition.
If I ignore current reality and craft plans, it can lead to setbacks.
And the chance to know my current condition and understand my skills is right before me now…
"I’m sure I’ll cause you various troubles, but please take care of me, Mr. Ville!”
"Alright then, let’s go. Let’s walk a bit and see if you can gather anything from that forest.”
I store the cooking tools and camping gear Mr. Ville used in Campy, then pack a water bottle, candies, and towel for quick access to the sling bag I always use…
Now, charging into the fantasy world!
"Oh, wait! One moment.”
"What is it?”
"A few years ago, I don’t recall encountering particularly strong magic beasts when I came here, but just to be safe, wear this. It’s a black deer leather mantle. It might be a bit hot, but it adds to your defense.”
"Hwhehh!?”
When I wonder why he stopped me, Mr. Ville suddenly wraps the mantle he was wearing around me…
Whaddya mean so casually doing this!? Super gentlemanly!
My heart’s pounding!!!
…To the extent that my chaotic personality within resorted to using inexplicable Kansai dialect, I’m quite flustered.
In fact, for something called a leather mantle, it’s surprisingly soft and flexible… This is actually a really high-quality item, right? Moreover, when Mr. Ville wore it, it reached about knee-length, but when I put it on, it goes down to about ankle-length…
Guh! I’m not short! I tell you! I’m properly over 150cm! Calm down… my inferiority complex!!!
"Well then, let’s go, Rin. Take it at your own pace.”
"…O-Okay…”
I wanted to scream “Stop it! My life points are already at zero! They can’t get any lower!” That’s how dazzling this brother oni’s smile is.
…Brother is caring and handsome, a super nice guy, but my heart can’t take being close to him!
Handsome guys are scary!!!
The translator’s notes
I watched Fist of the North Star, but a long time ago and not to the end, so I might not have gotten the reference right.
PS. She personifies even the muscles and cerebellum…
thank you for your work
ReplyDeleteI really do hope she gets some kind of self defense skills. I can't damsels in distress 🥲
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