[IC] My Isekai Costumed Adventures

[Xaltwind]

@Click This, @Crusader Lord, @Hammerman, @PINKPANTHERESS, @Qia

---

Some Forest...

When faced with the questionably divine message from 'God', the reactions among the group was varied. Some responded with anger, outrage, denial and defiance. Others became anxious, some were confused and others still tried to apply rational logic and methodical thinking to their situation. Of course, regardless of what the girls did, whether they tried to yell at the self-proclaimed deity or lose themselves in their own musings, there was no further response or commentary from their supposed celestial kidnapper.

Instead, after Charlotte and [b]Sayu[/b] had made mention of something approaching, the group became momentarily distracted and pulled from their self-serving internal monologues and thoughts. While the two who had claimed to hear something took the time to run in the opposite direction of the approaching sounds and hide behind a tree, Aria, Cecilia and Da'Niyah prefered to stay where they were and respond with either disbelief or nonchalance. Well, the latter-most did figure out how to use her costume to summon forth her... Weapon(?)... But otherwise remained where she'd been, along with the other two.

And then, it did cometh.

At this range, all of the girls were able to hear it. The noise. Rustling and thudding, it had gotten close enough that there weas no longer time to take any sort of action in preperation for whatever was arriving. The chirping and tweeting birds didn't seem at all bothered though, and perhaps it was thanks to their incessant, indifferent singing that the sound had been masked up until the point where it was moments away from the gruop. Perhaps birds of this supposed new world weren't bothered by noises or commotion caused by other critters? Whatever the case may be, the bottom-line was that three out of the five girls were just standing there, in the clearing, and had no time to do anything else but watch as the source of ruckus emerged into their glen!

... And what they saw was...

...

...

...

Rats.

Yup. Those were rats. Bipedal rats. Covered from top to bottom in fur. Complete with one of those hairless tails on each of them. Two of them even wore ragged, torn and shabby-looking... Shirts? Capes? It was kind of hard to tell what type of garments they might have been at one point, given their torn-up and rather disintergrated state. Still. There were now three ratmen in the clearing, having just ran in through one of the shurbs next to the clearing's edge. And as they spotted the three human women that were quickly coming closer to their running selves... They skid to a halt. Then stared. Apparently confused or stunned, not having expected to run into anyone else.

The two who wore clothes were about 4 ft (120 cm) tall, they had brtown fur except for on their chins and bellies, where the fur was a more tan color. The one not wearing any garments was bigger, standing at about 4'3" (130 cm) and was covered in dark, black fur. The two in garb were also clutching... Twigs? Branches? No, those were more like... Clubs... The bigger black one held a ... Spear... Or.. Well, a makeshift one. Made out of a wooden pole with a crudely sharpened stone, fastened with soem cord of some kind. The trio of ratty strangers stared at the ladies, their tiny eyes darting between each of the three immediately visible she-humans. They thjen looked at each other, then two smaller ones looked at the big one and ... Squeaked. Not a typical, high-pitched ratty squeak though. It sounded more like a squeak taht had been run though an audio program to give it some gutteral base.

The big, black-furred ratman narrowed ... His? Her? Its eyes, and glared at the foreign females from another world. Then it bared its teeth, and let out a snarling yip-like noise. Then thrusted its spear, tip-first, forward. In response, the other two yipped in unison and then all three charged forward. In a most threatening manner, as they all were now raising their weapons in poise to strike.

One of the brown-furred mongrels, wearing what had once been a blue shirt or whatever, was running straight for Cecilia, hissing and gnashing its teeth as it waved its crude wooden blunt object of pain menacingly. The other one, wearing a once red garment, was rushing towards Aria in a very similar fashion. The third, largest one, with the most dangerous-looking weapon out of the lot, was now bee-linong straight for Da'Niyah, a low growl constatnly rumbling form its throat.

As one would expect of rats though, these guys were very quick. And while they didn't look particularly physically imposing or strong, one had to remember a very important fact: These were frickin' bipdeal rat-men! Wielding stone age weaponry! And they were hostile and coming! FOR YOU!

Luckily, it didn't seem that they had managed to notice either Sayu or Charlotte just yet. OIr maybe they had, but were just more inclined to deal with the three girls in their immediate proximity first. The girls would likely only be able to perform a single split-second decision before they were each within striking-range of their respective adversary.

... And the birds just kept on tweeting, like all was fine and as it should be...

[Hammerman]

Sayu Takayomi

In retrospect, Sayu's decision was indeed the correct one.

It didn't take long until the others heard the sound as well. And when the ratmen appeared, she was already well-hidden behind her tree, unlike some of the others.

W-what? What in the world are those? R-rats?! Giant rats! And they're standing on their feet, with all kinds of weapons in their hands! This really is a fantasy world!

When the ratmen attacked the other girls, Sayu froze. She didn't know what to do. Should she help them? But what could she do?! She couldn't fight! She might throw a punch or two at some kids who deserved it back at her school but punching monsters like them was a completely different thing!

Or was it?

She remembered the magic the bunnygirl used before. And she remembered stomping the ground so hard it actually made a crater. Both were clearly superhuman feats so she should have superhuman powers as well.

And then, all of a sudden, a window popped out in her vision.

Skill:

Rampaging Wolf

Creates claws jutting out from her knuckles

That's… that's my skill?

She looked down at her hands.

With just a simple thought, the claws shot out.

It was real. She really possessed this power now.

And with it, for some strange reason—

She started to believe she could fight.

"Hyaaaah!"

She ran forward as fast as she could, aiming her claws towards the rat gunning for Da'Niyah, simply because she felt it was too much for the latter to take on on her own. She would aim at the rat's jugular, purely out of the battle instinct that her skill (or costume) had bestowed upon her.

@PINKPANTHERESS

[PiNKPANTHERESS]

Da'Niyah looked very unenthused the moment the rat beastman appeared in the clearing she was beginning to grow accustomed too. The squeaking sounds of garbled nonsense they produced felt like it shouldn't be, or rather like hearing someone say something in another language, which while she was accustomed to, this specific language? or perhaps dialect sounded both inelegant and like high pitched cheerleaders when they sing-songed words instead of cheering them properly. This, by itself, struck a nerve with her and her narrowed slightly, when he or she, or perhaps it started charging her it was almost by instinct that she flitted away, a sidestep which made her toned legs go tuat. The rats spear which it had in a ready to attack position, made it harder for it to turn towards Da'Niyah quickly, so without any second thoughts, she threw her bouquet at them. Soon as she did this, she registered at sudden cry out from Sayu, who was aiming for the neck of the rat. She had little time to consider what Sayu was doing however, as it was still aiming for her in the long run. All her strength training and dealing with hormonal high schoolers was finally being put to use. The bouquet, which seemed to defy all possible logic unraveled an burst in an absolute flurry of flowerfall around the rat thing, actually it was had expanded all around the clearing petals falling slowly and fluttering harmlessly on the other women, however it was densest near her target. This was not all however, because as soon as all the petals had fallen from their thorny stems the thorns seemed to aim at the rat. It didn't look like her skill did much harm, but the thing definitely had small pieces of fur that were surely scattered around them. Now all that lay was lace debris from the previous bouquet, which... seemed to be disappearing? Though a blaring message came through her mind, making her pause briefly. Well, not before taking precautionary steps away from the fur of the disheveled rat.

SKILL ON COOL DOWN

skill, pink roses and burgundy thorns
will be in skill cooldown for five turns

@Hammerman

[Qia]

Aria's eyes widened as she observed the bizarre spectacle unfolding before her. Bipedal rats, fur-covered and clad in tattered garments, had burst into the clearing. Her analytical mind struggled to process the sight of these rodent-like creatures, but there was no denying their presence. The creatures seemed just as surprised to encounter the human women as the women were to see them.

The three ratmen were an odd sight, with two of them clutching makeshift clubs and the larger, black-furred one wielding a crude spear. Their tiny eyes darted nervously between the three women, and Aria couldn't help but notice the guttural quality of their squeaky communication.

The tension in the clearing escalated as the largest ratman glared at them, baring its teeth and making aggressive noises. Aria's curiosity about this world and its inhabitants was now overshadowed by a growing sense of danger. She understood that these creatures were not to be taken lightly.

Aria, her heart pounding with adrenaline, knew she needed to act quickly as the ratman in the tattered red garment charged toward her, his crude weapon held menacingly. Drawing upon the newfound abilities granted by her peculiar costume, she focused her mind and invoked her power.

In an instant, as if following a video game prompt, a translucent window materialized before her eyes:

Skill: Moonbeam Barrage
Gathers moonlight which, when shaped into shimmering spheres, can be launched at enemies.

Aria took a deep breath, absorbing the information provided by the window. Moonlight. Shimmering spheres. Enemies. She had a vague understanding of what to do.

As the ratman closed in, she extended her hand toward the sky, feeling a faint, ethereal energy coursing through her. With a determined expression, Aria gathered the moonlight into her palm, shaping it into shimmering spheres of radiant energy.

Time seemed to slow as she released the spheres, launching them toward the approaching ratman.

[Crusader Lord]

Charlotte

Well, it hadn't taken much at all to get the small girl in the red hood to join her in hiding behind a big tree at least. At the same time, to her the others seemed to sit there and just...dawdle. Do nothing. Not hide or think or frankly do anything about it all but just stand there. Sure, the girl hiding with Charlotte now was loud in what was a sort or survival situation. That much was true. At the same time, at least she'd bothered to do anything about the matter before them. Even if the others couldn't hear it themselves, was that an excuse to just stand there like it was nothing?!

...Ahem.

Perhaps she was shunting a bit of the stress from herself and mentally onto them for a moment there. But at the very least, she and the panicked girl would be in a safe enough position in her mind. Just in case whatever came through to get to them was-

Bipedal rats. Covered from top to bottom in fur. Complete with one of those hairless tails on each of them. Two of them even wore ragged, torn and shabby-looking... Shirts? Capes? It was kind of hard to tell what type of garments they might have been at one point, given their torn-up and rather disintergrated state. Still. There were now three ratmen in the clearing, having just ran in through one of the shurbs next to the clearing's edge. And as they spotted the three human women that were quickly coming closer to their running selves... They skid to a halt. Then stared. Apparently confused or stunned, not having expected to run into anyone else.

Eh? EH?! RATS?!?! Giant, bipedal rats. With fur and tails. And something in their hands?

The two who wore clothes were about 4 ft (120 cm) tall, they had brtown fur except for on their chins and bellies, where the fur was a more tan color. The one not wearing any garments was bigger, standing at about 4'3" (130 cm) and was covered in dark, black fur. The two in garb were also clutching... Twigs? Branches? No, those were more like... Clubs... The bigger black one held a ... Spear... Or.. Well, a makeshift one.

Hmm. Clubs and a spear then. They were at least shorter than her, though the chance of a low blow might be higher in such a case then. Whatever they were, though, they seemed to take pause at the other three standing out in the open and then decided to attack them outright. Definitely this race didn't seem friendly either, so that answered that question in a heartbeat. Or were there other humans in this world? No idea, but she wasn't going to ponder it right now due to the obvious situation.

She would turn her head slightly to whisper to Sayu, not looking over at her as she spoke and kept her eyes on the Ratmen. Rat people? Ratigans? She'd think of something later.

"Let's see if we can get the jump on-"

Her eyes then pulled over, but instead of seeing Sayu all the bunnysuit-wearing girl saw was empty air and a flash of red moving away from her and the cover. Superhumanly fast to boot, at least compared to herself if nothing else. At the same time the other girl seemed to suddenly sprout comic-book-character-like claws from her hands! It was....certainly something?

"Hyaaaah!"

Sayu/"Leeory Jenkins Would Be Proud"

Aaaaaaaaand she just was running in there. Running in there in a rushing attack. Without hesitation.

...Eh, why not at this point?

Charlotte would pop out from the other side of the tree, finger-gun pulling up and at the ready, before whipping her hand around to point at the nearest Rat-thing and casting Crapshooty at it. While she hoped the attack would hit the target in general, this time the dice that appeared and shot out from her finger were red-colored and seemed to be on fire as they shot off like burning streaks toward their intended target. Fire, perhaps, was their element in this case? Though the action of it all made her feel like some femme fatale main-lead-supporting spy woman from some movie in the 70's or 80's that her dad would watch on occasion....ugh.

@Hammerman@Xaltwind

[Click This]

Cecilia Feilding

---

Unfortunately for Cecilia, not hearing anything didn’t mean that there wasn’t anything there. As she quickly found out, together with Aria and Da’Niyah, they were not actually alone in this forest. The silver-haired woman was only starting to get her bearings on her environment, and get a grip on what she was wearing when the weird beast rat creatures showed up!

Ironically, it was the clearly fantastical, strange beasts that showed up that made things fully click for Cecilia.

This was clearly some two-bit, incompetent light novelist’s ill-conceived isekai world. Likely an exceptionally stupid one, given how obnoxious that fake-god was. After all, there were some books published to real print that were really stretching the boundaries of being fit to print. Really, anything that got horny teenagers to buy a copy was pretty much good to go these days, even if it was stupid. As stupid as putting… her… in a… skimpy… bikini. Goddammit.

There was a theory that any story or world ever written or conceived of existed in the multiverse, somewhere. Cecilia was quite sure she had just confirmed it.

Well, if she was now in a shitty isekai novel’s world, then it was likely she had a power of some sort. Given the way she had read that message from earlier, it was certainly associated with the bloody bikini, and a bit of introspection confirmed it…

…How the hell did this thing provide so much protection?

She wasn’t going to question it. Certainly not, when the rat things were suddenly charging her and the other girls with weapons!

But Cecilia was pretty sure she could tank it. It was just a bit of wood, after all, and she had a forcefield thing. She decided she wasn’t going to go by feel, though, and quickly drew the longsword that had also been at her side. She dearly hoped that the stupid costume gave her the intuition on how to use it, but she raised it nonetheless to fight the equally silly rat thing.

[Xaltwind]

@Click This, @Crusader Lord, @Hammerman, @PINKPANTHERESS, @Qia

---

Some Forest...

Da'Niyah & Sayu:

As the dark skinned woman in the overly flowery gown unleashed a barrage of petals and throns at her assailant, the black-furred ratman let out a shrill snarl, followed by a small growl. However, despite Da'Niyah's attack ripping off small tufts and bits of the creature's fur, and obviously causing some disomfort to the little guy, it wasn't enough to stop its charge. Her step back and to the side also wasn't enough to move out of the path of the sprinting, charging beast-thing, as it had more than enough time and distance to readjust its path before reaching her.

And reach her it did, with a solid thud the tip f the stone-tipped, makeshift spear struck the woman in her gut... But... That was about all it did... The cloth didn't get torn, no blood was spilled and nobody let out a gut-wrenching scream of agony. In fact, to Da'Niyah, the experience was more akin to being punched in the stomach by a teenager, rather than being skewered by a polearm. Still, it wasn't a pleasant feeling and she'd likely be feeling that impact for a while after this whole ordeal, but at least she wasn't going to be the first person to die right after being transocated to another world.

The ratman, though, seemed a bit confused and was rapidly turning his head from one side to the other, his nostrils flaring and his eyes blinking and flittering all over the place. It seemed the barrage of flowers had left the pitiful creature momentarily blinded.

Which was great for Sayu, who out of nowhere just came rushing in like a viking berserker and promptly planted her newly claw-adorned appendage into the side of the rodent creature's head. While she aimed for its jugular, the reality of the situation was that Sayu wasn't a martial artist, nor had her costume bestowed upon the girl any sort of knowledge or inherent, passive skill or talent for fighting. Meaning she only had her own experience to rely on.

That really didn't hinder her in an way though, as onve her clawed wolverine-infringement-knock-off struck the creature, it was promptly send sideways, flying away from Da'Niyah in a glorious ragdoll-like fashion, stopped only by a small thin tree a very short distance away. The ratty rodent-man collapsed onto the grassy ground, fresh blood now slowly tirckling out of several newly acquired piercing-potential-holes on the left side of its face. The creature whined and hissed weakly, apparently not dead yet, but obviously being wounded or shocked enough to not get back up immediately.

It had also dropped its weapon, which was a plus!

Aria:

With the power of moonlight magic, the sailor soldier welcomed her on-coming adversary by firing off tiny spheres of luminous magic, or something along those lines. The tiny balls zipped forward and, as the ratman kept charging straight ahead, it didn't have time to do anything but run face-first into the volley of projectiles. Muted zapping and bursting noises were heard as the moon-bullets detonated upon the beastman... And after they were all done popping, what was left was a rat-fellow, standing still, with burnt fur and burnt garments, staring ahead in a blank stupor, before comedically falling over to one side, dropping its club harmlessly on the ground.

It appeared that this one was quite done, both in the litterl and figurative way. That's right, Aria, who had never once in her life probably needed to kill another creature to survive, had just ended the life of another sentient being with enough intelligence to use tools. Basically, she'd just terminated something as intelligent as a monkey back on earth. Hopefully, none of that knowledge would bother her once she realized it.

Cecilia & Charlotte

The last ratman who was gunning for Cecilia got to its mark within seconds. With a mighty hefted club, it swung and... Harmlessly bounced off... Even though it sturck the girl straight in the tum-tums, the attack did absolutely nothing. The little rodent stared, confused. It then got a shoulder-full-of sword, as Cecilia struck back... Awkwardly... As she too did not have any latent talent or inherited knwoeldge of swordplay from her costume. Having a metal blade sunk into your body isn't pleasant no matter if its a master or a novice who causes it though, and the ratman would agree, as he started to shriek and snarl in pain.

FOOM!

.

... Which was only amplified when he was suddenly set aflame, though the tone was less angry and defiant and more panicked and desperate now. Apparently, Charlotte's burning dice-magic had struck true, and set the foul thing ablaze... Which, was kind of horrifying, as it now struggled both to get free of Cecilia's and figure out a way to quell Charlotte's fire.

Unfortunately, it managed to do neither, and eventually just collapsed in a smoldering heap infront of the bikini-clad girl. The stench of burnt fur and roastedm ratmeat was quite intense wheile standing this close. But ehy, at least Aria wasn't alone in having killed a native now! And this one died far more horrendously and painful than the one she killed, so there was always comfort in that!

All the Girls:

With their ambush(?) dealt with, the only thing left now was the bigger, black-furred ratman. Lying near the tree which Sayu had knocked it into, the creature was injured. It began to stir and try and make an effort to move, but either it was too hurt or too dazed to be able to stand back up. The girls now had a new challenge ahead of them: What to do next?

Since they already slew the other two, would they kill this one as well? Or did they try to communicate with it? Perhaps they should think about the possibility of more of these things showing up, given the noise and ruckus that was just caused? If they did decide to put this one down, it was so weak and defenseless that basically anyone could do it - it wasn't able to offer any sort of resistance at this point.

[Qia]

---

When the cacophony of magic subsided, Aria's breath caught as she took in the sight of the ratman. His once-brown fur now bore the scars of her moonlight barrage, singed and matted in patches. The tattered remnants of his garments clung desperately to him, like relics of a past battle. He remained frozen in a dazed stupor, seemingly struggling to comprehend the sudden turn of events. In a moment that verged on the surreal, he wobbled precariously before finally succumbing, collapsing to the side with an almost comedic gracelessness. The crude club he once brandished lay beside him, now a forsaken tool of aggression, forgotten and powerless.

Aria's initial relief morphed into a turbulent mix of emotions as the dust settled. It was a stark reminder of the power she now held, the potential to alter the course of life with a mere thought. She couldn't deny the necessity of her actions, but it weighed heavily on her conscience. This ratman...person...thing was not a faceless enemy but a sentient being, a creature capable of thought and emotion. The remnants of his appearance told a story of struggle and survival in a world that was apparently as unforgiving as she was now.

Aria's mind raced, grappling with the implications of what she had just done.

Turning to her companions, Aria sought solace in their faces, seeking understanding or reassurance. This world was a puzzle, and they were its unwitting players, forced to make decisions with consequences they couldn't fully fathom. She couldn't help but wonder how this experience would shape not only her but each of them. The forest seemed to close in around them, the once-familiar sounds of nature now a haunting backdrop to their newfound reality. The weight of their situation pressed down on her, urging her to find strength in the face of uncertainty.

Aria's attention then shifted to the larger, black-furred ratman. It lay near the tree, clearly injured and struggling to move. Watching the creature attempt to stir, a pang of compassion welled up within her. Her mind immediately began to churn with questions. What should they do next? They had already dealt with the other two ratmen, but now faced a dilemma regarding this injured one. It was a challenge that demanded careful consideration.

Killing it seemed like the most straightforward option, considering the threat they had just faced. But as Aria studied the wounded ratman, she couldn't help but hesitate. It appeared so weak and defenceless now that the thought of ending its life felt like a weighty decision.

Communication was another possibility, but how could they even begin to communicate with a creature from this strange world? The language barrier alone seemed insurmountable.

Aria turned her gaze back toward her companions, her expression reflecting the uncertainty that clouded her thoughts.

"What...should we do with it?"

[Hammerman]

@Qia

Sayu Takayomi

"Haa… haa… haa… haa…"

Sayu panted as she witnessed the result of her attack. To her surprise, it went better than she had expected. The ratman put scarcely any resistance as her claws landed on its head. She intended to just tear into him on the spot but the extra force she put led to the ratman being thrown across the clearing instead. 

She retracted her claws, gazing in awe at her hands. This… this power… I really have superhuman strength…

She walked towards the wounded ratman, eyeing him from top to bottom, readying herself if it were to launch a surprise attack at her. She wouldn't care if it ran or surrendered but if it was going to just sit there doing nothing, she couldn't just let it be. Its wounds didn't seem to be grievous enough that it wouldn't still be able to attack them.

"What...should we do with it?"

Sayu stopped in her tracks, turning to face Aria.

"Isn't it obvious? We should finish the job. Unless it decides to run away or surrender, I say we should strike it down while it's weakened."

She turned back to face the ratman, placing her hands on her hips. "What will it be? Can you even understand our language?"

[Xaltwind]

[quote=@Xaltwind]
@Click This, @Crusader Lord, @Hammerman, @PINKPANTHERESS, @Qia

---

Some Forest...

The danger had come and gone, with two of the aggressive natives now lying dead and the third one whimpering like a beaten, battered child. However, it seemed the confrontation had left some of the girls in a bit of a shock - which was understandable, since most of them likely had never been forced to fight for their very lives in their previous world. Sayu
and [b]{u]Aria[/u][/b] however, were not locked in a post-battle-stupor and were now instead trying to decide upon the ultimate fate of their former, now beaten, enemy. While the magical girl seemed unsure what to do, little red riding hood was advocating immediate euthanasia.

But, fortunately for the ratman, the girls' debate was suddenly interrupted. Another sound came from the nearby bushes and shrubs - similar to the noise from earlier when the rodent-warriors had arrived on the scene! But there was no time this ... Time...! To make preperations or hide.

"Jeez, this forest is so thick! I can't believe I lost sight of 'em...!"

A ... woman, no, a girl's voice?

And so, out of the shrubs stepped just that. A girl. Around the same age as Aria and Charlotte, a pretty young thing with short black hair, and some kind of armor. She also carried a long sword in a scabbard on her hip. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked to be a bit out of breath, as if she'd been running... However, once she emerged from the undergrowth, and stood in the clearing with the scene before her... Well, there was a brief pause.

A very long, drawn out brief pause.

"... Eh...?"

This was the first sound that escaped the stranger's lips as she blinked in confusion and bewilderment at the sight before her. There was a clearing, in the middle of the woods, with a group of five strangely dressed women, two dead rat-things and one squriming, wounded rat-thing. The girl stared... Both at the scene itself and at the strange and odd choices of clothes these other girls were wearing. It was rather obvious taht she probably hadn't seen anyone dressed like this before.

"Uh... Uhm... H-hello there." She then suddenly started speaking, after having examined each of the other ladies briefly. "W-what're you doing out here in the woods? Dressed like that, I mean? Uh, no! I didn't mean your clothes are strange or anything! They just don't look... Uh... Practical? for forest travel? Eheh~ I'I'm sorry, didn't expect to meet anyone all the way out here so I'm a bit frazzled." The girl sputtered out, trying to maintain a calm and polite appearance infront of these strangers.

She then continued after taking a small breath, giving them all a friendly smile and sunny, shining eyes.

"I forgot to iuntrdduce myself, huh? Hi, my name's LAynea. I'm an adventurer from Krosana. Nice to meet you all, ladies." Her vocie was chipper and full of friendly, unbiased and just plain old nice cheerfulness. "So, uh... If you don't mind me asking... Are you a group of travelling entertainrs or soemthing? Did you... Get lost in the woods? Oh, and did you all beat up these ratlings by yourselves?"

It seemed the group had a whole new kind of native to deal with now. And a bunch of questions. So many questions.

[Hammerman]

Sayu Takayomi

Before any of them could decide on what to do with the last ratman, another series of rustling sounds came from the nearby bushes.

"What? More of them?" Sayu took on a combat stance. "No… there's only one of them…"

"Jeez, this forest is so thick! I can't believe I lost sight of 'em...!"

 

"Eh? Was that a—"

Before she could finish her sentence, a girl popped out from said bushes.

"You're… you're not a ratman…" Sayu spoke, her mouth wide open. She didn't expect this at all! "You're a human, aren't you?"

She eyed her up and down. She looks like an adventurer of sorts… Damn it! If this is really a fantasy world then why can't I wear something sensible like her?! I'm stuck with this stupid costume if I want to keep that superhuman strength!

"Uh... Uhm... H-hello there." She then suddenly started speaking, after having examined each of the other ladies briefly. "W-what're you doing out here in the woods? Dressed like that, I mean? Uh, no! I didn't mean your clothes are strange or anything! They just don't look... Uh... Practical? for forest travel? Eheh~ I'I'm sorry, didn't expect to meet anyone all the way out here so I'm a bit frazzled." The girl sputtered out, trying to maintain a calm and polite appearance infront of these strangers.

"We…" She opened her mouth to answer, only to bite her tongue. Should she tell her the truth? Would she even believe her? Are people arriving from other worlds common in this place?

"We're wanderers. From a faraway land. And we just so happen to be lost." She quickly made up a lie on the spot. "As for our clothes, it's…" Sayu's cheeks reddened. "It's enchanted. We won't be able to fight if we don't wear them."

Technically it's not wrong after all.

[Qia]

---

Aria found herself mired in a profound unease as she and Sayu deliberated over the ratman's fate. The weight of their decision bore down on her like a heavy burden, and she couldn't shake the feeling of discomfort gnawing at her conscience. The creature before her, battered and whimpering, elicited an unexpected emotion: pity. It was a sentiment that clashed with the circumstances, challenging her preconceived notions of right and wrong.

"Finish the job...?" Aria repeated hesitantly, her voice laced with uncertainty. Her gaze remained fixed on the wounded ratman, whose once-menacing demeanour had crumbled into a pitiful state.

Before she could state her thoughts, however, their debate was abruptly interrupted by a new sound, a rustling in the nearby bushes and shrubs. A voice, belonging to a girl of their age, pierced through the forest's thick canopy. Aria's attention snapped to the newcomer, who emerged from the undergrowth, clad in armour and carrying a sword.

Confusion and bewilderment painted the newcomer's face as she took in the peculiar scene before her. Aria felt a mixture of relief and trepidation as their unexpected guest introduced herself as Laynea. She stumbled over her words, attempting to make sense of the situation and the eccentric attire of their group.

Aria couldn't help but offer a polite smile in return, appreciating Laynea's friendly demeanour despite the bizarre circumstances.

"We're wanderers. From a faraway land. And we just so happen to be lost." She quickly made up a lie on the spot. "As for our clothes, it's…" Sayu's cheeks reddened. "It's enchanted. We won't be able to fight if we don't wear them."

Aria marvelled at her newfound friend's remarkable ability to fabricate a convincing story on the spot. Sayu's quick thinking and adept storytelling skills were a testament to her adaptability in the face of the unknown. She nodded her head in agreement, silently acknowledging the importance of maintaining their cover. The lie, she reflected, wasn't entirely false anyway, given the mysterious properties their attire seemed to possess.

"We sort of had to defend ourselves against the...ratlings," Aria explained to the friendly newcomer, "Is Krosana far from here?" Perhaps once there, and if safe, they could all figure out what to do next.

[Crusader Lord]

Charlotte

With their ambush(?) dealt with, the only thing left now was the bigger, black-furred ratman. Lying near the tree which Sayu had knocked it into, the creature was injured. It began to stir and try and make an effort to move, but either it was too hurt or too dazed to be able to stand back up. The girls now had a new challenge ahead of them: What to do next?

Since they already slew the other two, would they kill this one as well? Or did they try to communicate with it? Perhaps they should think about the possibility of more of these things showing up, given the noise and ruckus that was just caused? If they did decide to put this one down, it was so weak and defenseless that basically anyone could do it - it wasn't able to offer any sort of resistance at this point.

Aria turned her gaze back toward her companions, her expression reflecting the uncertainty that clouded her thoughts.

"What...should we do with it?"

A True Super Sailor

Sayu stopped in her tracks, turning to face Aria.

"Isn't it obvious? We should finish the job. Unless it decides to run away or surrender, I say we should strike it down while it's weakened."

She turned back to face the ratman, placing her hands on her hips. "What will it be? Can you even understand our language?"

....That one rat she'd attacked had been caught on fire. Not exactly her plan, but it seemed she couldn't choose what 'element' seemed to be infused into her spell there. It was, unironically, a 'gamble'. A 'crapshoot'. She'd have almost chuckled at that if not for having watched the thing curl up and die from being on fire until it was naught but crispy rat cracklings on the ground. To watch that had been ultimately a fair bit disturbing, sending a small chill down the teen's spine in turn as she recalled it for a moment there in the aftermath and took pause.

She'd seen a suffering rat before at home, and true to form her dad had shown her the...dark side of things. One brick or heavy chunk of wood, and one solid throw to kill it instantly. End the suffering. It had been a life lesson that day, as the rat had been crippled by some bored outdoor cat in the neighborhood in their own backyard without the cat finishing the job. It was violent. Bloody. Unseemly. Yet at the same time, it was...life. Death. A reality.

But what should she do right now? Was this a similar sort of situation where she needed to finish the job, or should she try to backpedal?

Slowly the girl would approach the downed ratman, pointing a one-handed finger-gun at its head as her eyes focused on it and-

"Jeez, this forest is so thick! I can't believe I lost sight of 'em...!"

A ... woman, no, a girl's voice?

And so, out of the shrubs stepped just that. A girl. Around the same age as Aria and Charlotte, a pretty young thing with short black hair, and some kind of armor. She also carried a long sword in a scabbard on her hip. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked to be a bit out of breath, as if she'd been running... However, once she emerged from the undergrowth, and stood in the clearing with the scene before her... Well, there was a brief pause.

A very long, drawn out brief pause.

"... Eh...?"

???

The bunnyygirl's gaze turned primarily toward the new arrival, though kept the ratman in her peripheral vision without moving her extended finger gun.

Eh? EH?!

Another human being! Perhaps that would be a good thing, perhaps not. But she seemed friendly enough, despite being dressed for some kind of combat in her own right, though with her more fitting looking attire it would perhaps be safe to assume this person wasn't also from Earth. Not unless her clothes got really sketchy really fast, though Charlotte didn't wish such a fate on anyone else right now either. No, perhaps it was more likely this person was a local given she mentioned a place name that was entirely unfamiliar and seemed more than a bit surprised by how they appeared in turn. Etc.

"I forgot to iuntrdduce myself, huh? Hi, my name's LAynea. I'm an adventurer from Krosana. Nice to meet you all, ladies." Her vocie was chipper and full of friendly, unbiased and just plain old nice cheerfulness. "So, uh... If you don't mind me asking... Are you a group of travelling entertainrs or soemthing? Did you... Get lost in the woods? Oh, and did you all beat up these ratlings by yourselves?"

Aynea

As Sayu and Aria seemed to take up answering the stranger first, Charlotte still-wordlessly returned her gaze back to the ratman. For another second she took pause, taking a drawn out breath, and then mentally pulled the metaphorical trigger. She cast Crapshoot again at nearly point-blank at the back of the wounded ratman's head, with the conjured dice appearing brown and greyish like rocks before blasting off hard into the target. Earth element, perhaps? Either way she was somewhat glad it wasn't fire this time.

If the spell didn't kill the ratman, she would try another cast of the spell at the back of its head (for OOC purposes, it would use the water element in this case).

If her spell killed the ratman, she'd move on to walk over to the stranger where the others were while still remaining silent. Not as if Sayu hadn't said the one thing she wanted to for the moment, but she still had to soak in the thought of having killed some things for the moment even so.

[Click This]

Cecilia Feilding

---

The weird shite was just continuing to roll over her like waves. Most of that was not in a good way. Cecilia had suspected that her strange, exceptionally revealing costume was far more ‘armoured’ than she thought, and could probably hold up to a lot of trauma, but it was nice to get some amount of confirmation.

Even if that confirmation came via being directly attacked and hit by a large club.

The adrenaline of being assaulted kept her carrying on more than anything; even if her attack was rather lackluster, a sharp enough weapon still did enough damage and she was well on her way to cutting the rat-creature down before it was immolated for her.

The bikini-clad girl backed away from the burning carcass, deciding to process the implications of everything… for later.

There was still a third creature, after all. If Cecilia’s hunch was correct –and her hunches usually were—they’d have to finish it off. She was genre-savvy enough to suspect that these creatures were hostile to humanity and rarely gave quarter, if they could even properly communicate. She gave her voice towards finishing it off.

Before any of them could make good on that, though, someone else appeared. Not another rat this time, but a girl. Someone that she could understand… another isekai’d woman? No, she sounded ‘native’ by the way she spoke and dressed. If she had a costume, it was more practical fantasy in nature than the ridiculousness of what she or the others was wearing…

Cecilia ran her fingers through her hair and groaned.

“Yes, we’re a group. Yes, we’re lost. And yes, we ‘beat them up’. Were you looking for these creatures?” she responded, before her attention was taken as Charlotte took the opportunity to blast away the last ratman. Well, that solved that.

[Xaltwind]

@Click This, @Crusader Lord, @Hammerman, @Qia

---

Some Forest...

Laynea listened as Sayu spun her tale of the girls being wanderers from afar. Which, in some regards wasn't a lie, but it also wasn't exactly true. However, when the wolf-eared red riding hood mentioned the group's garments being enchanted, Laynea's eyes lit up and her jaw almost dropped.

"Wh-whoa-huh!? You're telling me you guys could afford enchanted equipment? Wow... That's amazing, you all gotta bcome from wealthy families, huh?"

Apparently, the girls had just learned that enchanted equipment and gear wasn't something just anyone could walk into a store and buy. This also meant that their social profiling was now set to the higher echelons of the populace... Which might be good or bad, epending on who they ran into... Or if someone started questioning them about the ins and outs of high society or put their lack of common sense and proper etiquette into question. But those were concerns for a later day!

When Aria approached and asked questions about the city though, Laynea tilted her head and blinked, looking at the sailor soldier of the moon with a puzzled expression.

"Yeah, it's close by. Just a short walk from here." The girl paused. "Oh, right... You're all lost. Right, let me just--"

SPLAT!!

Charlotte had decided to decide the fate of the wounded, whimpering ratling on her own. Well, most of the girls had agreed that it was better to put old yeller down, but it was still a rather sudden and abrupt decision with no real deliberation. The injured larger ratling, who had gotten a face-full-of-Sayu-claws now had an additional cavity in its head - courtesy of the resident bunny girl. After witnessing the display of cranial carnage however, Laynea made a face that was a bit hard to read... Like, she was both confused, surprised and shocked all at the the same time, though not because of the apparent brutality.

"Umm... Did... Did you not intend to harvest its mana gem? It... It already looked dead to me."

Cecilia then answered some of Laynea's questions - although most of them had already been answered, and then countered with a few querries of her own. The black haired adventurer was... Not really sure where to look when addressing the bikini-clad warrior of steel, so she opted to avert her eyes - her cheeks a bit flushed and her eyes a bit averted, just enough to make the brit realize how awkward ut was to have a conversation with someone dressed like that in the middle of a forest.

"... Right... Well, uh... Yes, I was looking for these ratlings." The black-haired adventurer responded to Cecilia's question. "I'd accepted a quest to hunt some of them, and these were the last three I needed to finish the job. Ahhh, but now I'll need to find three more I guess." She sighed a bit and put a hand on her own forehead, apparently surrendering these kills to the group of girls without even raising a stink about it.

"If you want-" She then started, perking right back up again. "-I could show you to Krosana, or at least point you in the right way, if you'd all like." The young girl offered. "I do need to get my hands on three more ratling tails and three more of their mana gems first though, otherwise I might ot finish the quest today... Ehehe... And I'd really like to be able to afford dinner tonight, you know?" She laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.

It seemed one could not simpy,ly claim to have killed monsters in this world. Hard proof, in the form of body-parts and somehting called mana gems, seemed to be a requirement to satisfy whatever employer this little adventurer had. But at least she'd offered to take, or show, the foreign girls to the city she was from, so that was pretty sweet, right? Now all they had to decide was whether to take her up on her offer, sit around and wait for her to get her own hunting done, or make a completely different decision altogether.

[Hammerman]

Sayu Takayomi

"What the… What was that for?!" Sayu's jaw fell in horror from Charlotte finishing off the ratman. "That wasn't necessary, was it?"

It wasn't like she was against killing the ratman. Far from it. But like she said, she didn't want to kill needlessly. The creature wasn't a threat anymore.

"Wh-whoa-huh!? You're telling me you guys could afford enchanted equipment? Wow... That's amazing, you all gotta bcome from wealthy families, huh?"

"Uh… well…" Sayu paused, unsure how to respond. Should she lie further and say that yes, they were actually rich folks? For some reason that didn't feel right with her.

"Actually, we found these clothes in a dungeon. We're not rich at all. Not in the slightest. In fact, we're pretty penniless right now, right guys?" She turned to the others to support her new lie.

Right... Well, uh... Yes, I was looking for these ratlings." The black-haired adventurer responded to Cecilia's question. "I'd accepted a quest to hunt some of them, and these were the last three I needed to finish the job. Ahhh, but now I'll need to find three more I guess." She sighed a bit and put a hand on her own forehead, apparently surrendering these kills to the group of girls without even raising a stink about it.

"Oh, they were your prey? I apologize for taking them then." She gave her a typical Japanese bow. Her tiny skirt would've exposed her panties in the process but thankfully the coat she wore over her dress barely covered the sensitive view from the sight of her teammates.

"Mana gems…" She placed her hand on her chin. "Hey, guys, how about we give the gems on those ratmen we just killed to her? In exchange for her taking us to the city? If we hadn't destroyed them with our attacks anyway.." She proposed to the others.

She felt pretty bad towards the adventurer girl. It seemed that she too was strapped for cash.

[Qia]

---

"Wh-whoa-huh!? You're telling me you guys could afford enchanted equipment? Wow... That's amazing, you all gotta come from wealthy families, huh?"

"Actually, we found these clothes in a dungeon. We're not rich at all. Not in the slightest. In fact, we're pretty penniless right now, right guys?"

Laynea's astonishment left Aria wondering whether their ruse had gone too far, but she maintained her composure and continued to play along with Sayu. "That's right," she added, nodding in agreement. "We're not rich at all. Just a stroke of luck finding these clothes, I guess." She hoped their explanations were convincing enough to keep their ruse intact.

As Laynea mentioned the proximity of Krosana and that it was just a short walk away, Aria felt a glimmer of hope. Being close to a city seemed like a promising turn of events. Before she could express her gratitude, however, a sudden, violent sound startled her. Charlotte had apparently taken matters into her own hands, quite literally, and ended the wounded ratling's life. Aria's gaze shifted to the abrupt act, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of discomfort. What a stark contrast this world seemed so far to her usual world of books, astronomy, and academic challenges.

Umm... Did... Did you not intend to harvest its mana gem? It... It already looked dead to me."

Laynea's comment about harvesting the mana gem further added to Aria's unease. It seemed like this world had its own rules and customs, ones that were vastly different from what she was accustomed to. She exchanged a brief, troubled glance with her companions, silently questioning whether they should have considered this aspect before taking action. Would their inexperience in this world would lead to more unintended consequences?

She sincerely hoped not.

As Laynea continued to engage with Cecilia and the others, Aria felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, she was relieved that they had encountered someone seemingly friendly who could potentially guide them to the city. On the other hand, the reality of their predicament was sinking in. They were in a foreign world, surrounded by unfamiliar customs, and had just taken a life. The weight of it all left her feeling overwhelmed, and she quietly hoped that their journey to the city would offer some clarity and answers to the multitude of questions that now swirled in her mind.

"Mana gems…" She placed her hand on her chin. "Hey, guys, how about we give the gems on those ratmen we just killed to her? In exchange for her taking us to the city? If we hadn't destroyed them with our attacks anyway.."

Aria considered Sayu's proposal. It made sense, given that they had unintentionally destroyed the mana gems of the ratmen during the battle. Plus, it might be a fair trade to offer the adventurer in exchange for her guidance to the city. She nodded in agreement and chimed in, "That might be a good idea."

Better than staying out here where they could do more damage anyway.

[Click This]

Cecilia Feilding

---

Cecilia was fully convinced that they were all in a different world now. Whatever this girl was saying was doing quite a bit to convince her, although she felt that it had been awfully convenient to run into these creatures and then a helpful exposition dump in the form of an ‘adventurer.’

Quite conveniently, she was forming her own conclusions about the ridiculous costumes. It still didn’t help the fact that she was half-naked.

Still. She was closer to hitting the mark than she had expected. Cecilia really did come from money, after all. Instead, Cecilia fixed Sayu with a stare as she tried to lie her way unconvincingly. “Well, I don’t know,” she responded with an almost-drawl, not doing anything to conceal her obviously posh accent, but leaving the obvious thought unsaid. As long as she was sticking around, they weren’t going to convince anyone very well that they were poor with an actual noble girl tagging along. Albeit, a noble girl in a ridiculous revealing bikini, but that was a different problem entirely.

Instead, she focused on the important question that the others were still ignoring. If these things from the rat creatures were considered currency, or if this was a barter economy, the bunch of them needed to eat, too, ignoring the obvious otherworldly magic element.

“I’m not going to apologize for us defending ourselves. Considering that and the help you’ve given nonetheless, I think it would be fairer if we split the proceeds evenly between us and her,” she offered instead.

What point was there going to a city if they really were penniless? Cecilia shuddered at the thought of slumming it on the street. In a bikini.

[Crusader Lord]

Charlotte

"Wh-whoa-huh!? You're telling me you guys could afford enchanted equipment? Wow... That's amazing, you all gotta come from wealthy families, huh?"

Wasn't that the sort of assumption that got people in trouble? The kind of rumor that, if it got going, would get them targeted by unsavory types more likely than not? In other words, if that was the first impression they somehow gave off it wasn't the best one. Yet before she could say anything herself, Sayu and Aria seemed to pick up on things faster than not. Or, well, at least one of them tried to give some kind of excuse first for it all.

"Actually, we found these clothes in a dungeon. We're not rich at all. Not in the slightest. In fact, we're pretty penniless right now, right guys?" She turned to the others to support her new lie.

"That's right," she added, nodding in agreement. "We're not rich at all. Just a stroke of luck finding these clothes, I guess."

"We didn't exactly have any other options, and now we can only use magic or such if we're wearing these things."

What, was she supposed to not play into the obvious attempt at a ruse? No, far from it in her mind. She was happy to toss her lot in with that if it meant keeping them a little safer whenever they made it to civilization. Maybe. Either way there was nothing but trouble to deal with in regards to all of this, and it didn't take her gut instinct to be able to see that as clear as day. Not that it was any bit 'normal' to have meddling otherwordly deities kidnap you and stick you in a stupid costume out of the blue...

...she was still trying to process that one. Likely would have to for a while yet as well. Executing a squirming wounded ratman wasn't exactly normal either for that matter.

"Umm... Did... Did you not intend to harvest its mana gem? It... It already looked dead to me."

"Wasn't dead yet."

A short but prompt response from the bunny-suited girl was all she bothered to give in this situation. It wasn't pretty by any means, but at least her spell had made use of an element this time that didn't cause extra unessecary suffering. Simple, to the point, and quick. Better than burning to death struggling against the fire and all. Besides, they needed to get out of this place, and it sounded as if this girl was now left short one quarry to be able to get her own payday as Laynea continued talking.

Such bloody work for someone around her age? Back home it'd be considered barbaric in some places of the world. In others it'd be as simple as butchering some home-grown chickens for food and they might not bat an eye. Whatever the case, if there was something useful about these ratmen, based on what the girl had said, then maybe they could-

"Mana gems…" She placed her hand on her chin. "Hey, guys, how about we give the gems on those ratmen we just killed to her? In exchange for her taking us to the city? If we hadn't destroyed them with our attacks anyway.."

"Sounds good to me, if there's any left."

-exchange anything left of value from these things for this girl's help.

Sayu was beating her to the punch on this one! It made her feel slightly more secure about the other girl having a 'head on her shoulders' as it were, at least compared to the others around them. Then again, no one else had been able to hear something or someone approaching before either. Hmm. Couldn't blame them for maybe being hesitant on that note, especially given the situation they were all in. Not that it still wasn't in hindsight prudent to take cover when she and Sayu ad done so regardless, since they'd gotten the chance to notice and do so.

“I’m not going to apologize for us defending ourselves. Considering that and the help you’ve given nonetheless, I think it would be fairer if we split the proceeds evenly between us and her,” she offered instead.

"Or we could take that route."

They were broke as well, after all, save for some hand-me-downs from a bored and easily-amused deity with far too much time on their hands.

Whatever the case, Charlotte just wanted to get out of the wilderness as soon as possible first and foremost. Then they could think some more about things.

[Xaltwind]

@Click This, @Crusader Lord, @Hammerman, @Qia

---

Some Forest...

As a broad barrage of verbal replies came her way, Laynea just stood around and listened as the other girls explained themselves. She nodded understandingly when Sayu and Aria explained that they were travellers and had just found their strange garments in a dungeon, and that they most certainly weren't wealthy. However, the dark-haired girl tilted her head and looked a bit puzzled when Cecilia chimed in with a ... Less than convincing droll to her voice... Which wasn't really noticeable, since their mystery goddess had given them the ability to speak the language of this world, and as such, any preconception of british accents being snooty would be non-applicable, as the girl wasn't technically speaking british-english anyway... But regardless!

"Uh... Huh... I see." Was the only response the girl could muster up after listening to the quickly-made-up-and-obviously-not-questionable-story of the young ladies before her.

When Cecilia made her slightly snide comment about not apologizing for killing the ratlings, Laynea merely shook her head.

"No, I'm not saying you shouldn't have defended yourselves. Nobodies asking for an apology here, miss. But your friend could've killed ... That on-" She pointed to the one that now had a pair of stone dice lodged in its brain. "-in a less messy way. A quick stab with a knife or that sword of yours woulda done it." She explained.

Apparenlty she wasn't upsdt about having lost her prey to other hunters, but rather was just in a state of business-like abhorence at the wasteful treatment of valuable commodities... or somehting along those lines. But, then the discord began, and not in the way of electronic communications. After [@Sayu] had offered their new friend the mana gems and tails of the ratlings in exchange for guidance, laynea's eyes lit up and she got a big, goofy and happy smile on her face. Aria seemed to be alright with the proposal as well, which made the girl even happier! Then Cecilia completely shot the idea down and instead opted for the 'let's divvy it up the goods'-approach. And Charlotte seemed to be flip-flopping and wishy-washy on the whole matter, not really seeming to have an opinion of her own.

"Ah, well... You did kill them, so I suppose the mana gems are yours. Bu, wait... You said you guys were penniless? Do you mean that like, you don't have any money?" A slightly concerned look spread on Laynea's face and she looked at each of the girls. "Because, you know you'll have to pay the gate-toll before entering the city, right? I'm not sure how it works where you girls are from, but here you either need to be an adventurer, a registered citizen, a merchant or from nobility if you want to get into any big towns without paying." She paused, shuffled a bit of dirt with one foot before adding. "And you can't exchange the mana gems for money unless you actually get into the city and visit the trade post..."

So, a bunch of new relevant information had just been delivered. The girls were near a city, that they couldn't get into. They had a valuable resource that could be traded for money, but they couldn't actually trade it for money.

"Anyway, I'll at least help you harvest the materials from these guys before anything else, okay?" Laynea then said, with a smile as casual as if she was talking about picking apples.

After which she produced a very hefty-looking kniefe from her waist-belt. Had that always been there? Well, no matter, the point was, she nnow had both a sword and a knife! Luckily, the young girl didn't seem to have any ill intentions or evil, mastermind-like plots to take the group by surprise and skin them all alive - quite litteraly. Instead, she walked on over to the ratling that Charlotte had just most recently mangled. Kneeling down, the black-haired teen rolled the creature over on its side and began making a practiced incision along the back of its skull... or, well, what was left of it. After a moment, she let out a happy, but surprised, noise.

"Oh! It didn't break! Look!" After having dug around some in the creature's skull (ew, gross) she produced a very small, pea-sized sphere, with a violet-purple hue. It almost looked like a semi-opaque glass bead... And then she grabbed the ratling by its tail, hoisted it up, and slashed off its tail from the root, causing the corpse to unceremonuously drop on the ground with a thud.

"Here, you wanted to hold onto it, right?" Laynea said as she approached and handed both the tiny pebble-gem and the... tail... to Cecilia with a friendly smile. "I'll go get the other two for you as well. Be right back~" She said, before doing the classic anime-girl jaunty-run over to the charred corpse of the other ratling - repeating the process from before - and then moved on to the one that Aria had exploded with the power of the moon and the stars.

Luckily, it seemed none of the materials had been damaged. Well, apart from the one Charlotte had lit on fire. Its tail was a bit... Crispier... Than the others, but still intact nonetheless! But, with the harvesting of monster-parts done, Laynea wiped her forehead with the side of her arm.

"Anyway, sorry. But you can't really split these with me. I took a quest to hunt a specific number of the little rascals, after all. But if you want to head back to Krosana with me regardless, just head on out of the forest that-a-way!" She pointed in a direction. "I'll swing by and pick you up once I'm done hunting the last little vermin I need to fill my quota, alright? Bye for now, ladies~!"

And with that, before any of the other girls had a chance to protest, make a request or even reply, Laynea was off. Running at remarkable speed, seemingly heading deeper into the forest. Apparently the idea to share the loot had led to them, for the moment, losing their only source of information and explanations on this world and its customs. It paid to be cautious and careful, of course, but some things were more valuable than others. Still, it didn't seem like the young adventurer was going to leave them high-and-dry, and if they really wanted to, she was at least willing to bring them back to the city she was from - so long as they made their way out of the woods in the general direction she'd indicated.

But for now, the girls were alone with each other once more. In the clearing. With three carved-up ratmen corpses, and a handful of large-ass rat tails and little marble-sized stones.

... And the birds just kept on chirping.