In <FoS>, companions are indispensable and, at the same time, a nuisance.
Why? The reasons are too many to count.
First of all, given the nature of the game, managing even my own single character is no easy task. That's the first problem.
'Disease, injury management, hunger, thirst…….'
You have to tend to the player character's body and mind as if it were a real flesh-and-blood body—
And even if you keep up with all of that, once your stress level goes past a certain point and you come down with depression, you're hit with a massive debuff.
'And the end of that road is suicide.'
But the problem is that in this game, finding a trustworthy companion is like plucking a star from the sky.
[Ares: I can't, I can't do this anymore……! I'm getting out of here!]
[Roton: Kuhuhu. Why the look? Didn't think I'd plant a knife in your back?]
[Haitan: Please, eat. It's breakfast. What did I make it from? Haha. Sometimes ignorance is the best medicine.]
Because these bastards needed their bodies and minds looked after just the same.
You had to talk to them regularly, check on their health, occasionally even give them gifts to keep them happy.
And even doing all that didn't mean you could trust a companion NPC unconditionally.
[You have died.]
[Your soul is bound to the <Forest of Eternity>, where it will suffer for all eternity…….]
[Start anew?]
Focus on relationships like that, fall behind on growth, and a game over was par for the course.
"This is shit."
It's not as if this is a relationship simulator—it felt like the cart had been put before the horse.
But I needed trustworthy companions, and the conclusion that followed was simple.
"Make companions with no risk of betrayal."
A companion doesn't have to be an NPC.
Classes that can command an army alone.
And so I became a <Spirit Summoner>, an <Alchemist>, and a <Necromancer>.
'Each had its strengths and weaknesses, of course.'
There was no perfect class in <FoS>.
From what I'd tried myself, <Necromancer> suited my tastes best, but you never know.
A summoner-type class that fits my inclinations even better might be hiding somewhere.
As I've said again and again…… FoS was a game whose sheer volume was pointlessly enormous.
***
As I strode toward the Magic Beast cages, the mage, who had finished retching in the meantime, asked.
"Wh-what are you going to do?"
"Fight poison with poison."
"Pardon?"
Does that not register, this being a fantasy world?
"I'm going to make these things fight the monster chasing us."
When I spelled out the meaning, the mage swallowed dryly.
"I-is that even possible……?"
"Who knows……."
At least in the game, I had seen Magic Beasts and Shadows fight each other.
I couldn't say how it would go now that this was reality.
'Still, by the lore, Shadows are hostile to every living thing except their own kind.'
In other words, it didn't seem likely that thing would ignore Magic Beasts charging at it just to deal with us first.
"But these Magic Beasts are locked in cages, so how……?"
Instead of answering, I took the key from my breast and showed him.
Iron Cage Key
A key needed to open the lock of a certain cage.
One of the items I'd gotten my hands on while rummaging through corpses.
I'd picked it up just in case.
Of course, a problem remained.
If I openly unlocked the cages like this, the Magic Beast bastards might attack us before the Shadow.
At this point, I looked at the sister and said.
"The spirit you contracted—it was a Sylph?"
The spirit summoner, who had been observing the Magic Beasts, nodded.
"Ah, yeah……."
"Can you move this key with your spirit?"
The spirit summoner stared blankly at the key for a moment, then spoke in a trembling voice.
"I-I think I might be able to."
"When I give the signal, use this key to unlock that cage. Can you do it?"
"……Okay."
"Good. Then let's all hide now."
THUUUD, THUD…….
The Shadow's presence drew even closer.
Is it in the car right before us now?
If we'd hidden in Car 13, we might have been crushed to death with no way out.
'Son of a bitch.'
Come at me if you're coming.
As I waited with bated breath, my gaze soon fell on a cage tucked into a corner.
'……Was that there before?'
I didn't think I'd seen it earlier.
Looking at it closely, I could see why.
It was in the most remote corner of the car, and it wasn't even big enough to call a cage in the first place.
At most the size of a birdcage……
And what was inside was, in fact, a bird.
'An owl?'
Jet-black eyes, sitting nonchalantly on a perch, turned toward me.
There are many kinds of owls, with fairly varied appearances to match, but this one seemed to be of the species classified as <barn owl>.
You know the one—the kind that looks somehow eerie because you can see nothing but black in its eyes.
[Lv.9 'Clown Owl']
Its level was far and away the lowest among the Magic Beasts in this car.
In other words, not an individual worth paying attention to.
Normally, that would be the case.
'What is it?'
I soon noticed several things about this owl that felt off.
For one, unlike the other Magic Beasts, grimy from long neglect, its appearance was clean—
And despite being caged, it didn't look anxious or under extreme stress.
Watching it tilt its head while sitting on its perch, I could even sense a kind of composure.
……Is its intelligence too low to grasp the situation?
'Or.'
Is the current situation simply not that serious for this Magic Beast?
[With your keen Intuition, you have glimpsed part of the truth of a mysterious beast.]
[Hostility of the Beast Type decreases slightly.]
[Information on 'Clown Owl' has been added.]
'Additional information on a target?'
In the game, it was an effect that triggered with a low probability when you encountered a new being.
The higher your Intuition stat, the higher the trigger rate.
Who'd have thought the Intuition stat I'd taken for a white elephant would help here.
'Now that this isn't a game, I can raise the odds using my own reasoning ability.'
Of course, this too would probably need verifying.
Anyway…….
Clown Owl
Believes that fun is the supreme value.
What kind of riddle is that supposed to be?
I felt puzzlement and a bit of interest, but regrettably, it seemed I had no room to dwell on this topic any longer.
THUUUD.
The Shadow had finally reached the Magic Beast car.
Bark, BAAARK!
Grrrrrr…….
The Magic Beasts snarled, and the cages shook wildly.
Some bristled their fur, some bared their teeth—the visible reactions varied.
However.
BOOM!
The moment the sound of the iron door being crushed rang out, most of those reactions subsided.
A natural response.
At a mere level 10 or 20, in front of that Shadow bastard, they had no choice but to become dogs with their tails tucked between their legs.
'Not you, right?'
Fortunately, the wolf I'd had my eye on was simply watching the door with a calm gaze.
Level 30, after all.
Slightly reassuring.
Level 30 is strong enough to be classified as a named individual even in the forest's early regions.
It wouldn't be pushed around one-sidedly, even against the Shadow about to burst in.
……It has to be that way. Please.
CRUNCH……!
"Hup."
The moment the iron door crumpled, the mage's voice leaked out.
I shot him a glare that meant shut up, and he clapped both hands over his mouth and nodded frantically.
That bastard—he's making me nervous, honestly.
CRRRRACK!
At that moment, the iron door was literally torn apart, then sent flying to slam into the wall.
Rumble……!
And at last, the mass of tentacles revealed itself.
It seemed even blacker than before, somehow.
'Did it level up from eating corpses?'
……This isn't the time for idle thoughts like that.
I looked at the spirit summoner. Noticing my gaze, she murmured something, and in an instant, the key floated up along with a faint breeze.
Click.
The key engaged with the lock……
And at last, the cage holding the wolf was opened.
That was the moment an unforeseeable development unfolded.
Springing up!
The wolf bastard, which had been sitting until now, rose at once, escaped the cage in an instant, and charged in my direction.
"What the……!"
I'd just grabbed the spear shaft on reflex.
ROOOAR!
The wolf let out a roar and swung its enormous forepaw.
But that attack wasn't aimed at me.
CRRRRACK!
The train car's wall was torn away like paper by the foreclaws of a level 30 Magic Beast.
"No……."
Not even a groan came out.
CRUNCH, CRRRRRACK……!
It was only when the wall was practically in tatters that I understood for certain what was happening.
Of course, even if I'd noticed sooner, there was nothing I could have done.
KABOOOOM—!
How was I supposed to predict a development where this thing reduces the wall to rags with its own paws, rams its body through, and escapes to the outside of the train?
"Ah."
The wolf hurled itself out of the train, and only then did I grasp the situation.
The hell of 80 kilometers per hour.
That would certainly deliver an impact no ordinary human could ever withstand, but for a level 30 Magic Beast's durability, it was well within the range it could endure.
So, to summarize the current situation…….
"Oh, fuck."
The 'poison' in 'fight poison with poison.'
The poison I was supposed to use had deserted the battlefield on its own four legs.