Banished from the herd, I was actually a member of a very rare species. ~With the unique skills that only I can use, I can grow and evolve quickly. I will become an unrivaled monster~ - Episode 119: The Intruder

Episode 119: The Intruder

(Note: Special for this chapter the MC’s dialogue is written in ‘…..’)

“Heh, so you’re the humans who came from the surface?”

We were in the middle of listening to Tanasis’ explanation when suddenly, a voice interrupted us. The girl with deep green hair had a provocative smile on her face, her sharp golden eyes glaring at us. Before I could respond, Xanthos spoke up immediately.

“Krissa, you were supposed to be on a mission to hunt magical beasts. What are you doing here?”

“No way it’d take a full day just to thin out some beasts. I finished hours ago,” 

The girl, now identified as Krissa, replied proudly.

However, Xanthos continued calmly with his usual cold expression.

“If your mission is complete, you should be resting at home or wandering the city. Why have you come to the barracks?”

“I came to see the humans who arrived from the surface. It’s been a thousand years since anyone’s shown up, and everyone in town’s worried because one of them is a creepy blue blob.”

The people in the city would definitely panic if they suddenly saw me. So the news had been spread that a “cube-shaped human” had arrived from the outside world. We had come to the barracks today because we were asked not to venture into the city until tomorrow, by which time the information would have been more widely circulated.

“I thought you were some dangerous folks since Dad is babysitting you, but turns out you’re just weaklings without a drop of |Mana|.”

“Krissa!”

For the first time, Xanthos raised his voice in anger. His face remained as stern as usual, which only added to the intimidating atmosphere. It was getting awkward, so I decided to step in and ease the tension.

‘Now, now, Xanthos. We don’t mind at all. Right, Fisu?’

“Hm.”

Fisu, who had been observing the green-haired girl with interest, nodded in agreement.

‘See? Anyway, why don’t you introduce her to us? From the way she was talking, I’m guessing she’s your daughter?’

“…Thank you for your understanding. This is Krissa. Krissa Sideros, my daughter.”

“Hey there.”

Krissa gave a casual nod, still acting nonchalant. She had called him “Dad,” so I figured as much. But it was confirmed that she was indeed his daughter. However, I could sense a slight hostility from her. Maybe she was a bit of a closed-off personality, or perhaps she just didn’t like outsiders. It’s not like I expected everyone to welcome us with open arms.

Well, no matter. I decided to introduce myself properly.

‘I’m Katsu, and this is Fisu. You seem to know already, but we’re from the surface, just doing a bit of sightseeing. Nice to meet you. So, are you heading back now that you’ve seen us?’

“Hmm, I think I’ll stick around a bit longer. You seem interesting.”

Krissa playfully smacked my side as if testing me out. And before I could react, her arm was suddenly grabbed from the side. Xanthos, who had stood up abruptly, moved in an instant. Without hesitation, he threw Krissa away from me, positioning himself between us.

Krissa, like a cat, flipped in the air and landed gracefully. Her face twisted in annoyance.

“Ouch! What the hell, you bastard dad!”

“Do not be disrespectful to our guests. Apologize and then go home. Stay there quietly.”

His voice was cold, even more severe than usual. But it wasn’t hard to predict that a rebellious teenage daughter like Krissa wouldn’t just obediently comply.

“Tch, is your job really that important? Throwing your own daughter like that? Couldn’t you have handled it differently!?”

She was practically burning with anger. 

Sure, Krissa was a little rude when we first met, but I didn’t take it personally. I also understood why Xanthos acted so harshly—it was probably just his way of protecting her. Still, from Krissa’s point of view, it might have felt like overkill.

Well, someone had to defuse this. Guess it’ll have to be me.

‘Hey, calm down, Krissa.’

“Don’t call me by my name like we’re friends.”

‘Yeah, but calling you ‘Sideros’ would get confusing, wouldn’t it?’

“…Fine. You can call me Krissa.”

Thinking that I got the “OK” easily, I used my [Communication] skill.

‘Alright, back to the main point. Xanthos didn’t throw you because he wanted to.’

“Huh?”

‘Rather than explain, it’s faster to show you… [Concealment], Disengage.’

I released my [Dominion] and briefly deactivated the [Concealment] skill I always kept up to hide my presence and |Mana|.

Since fully revealing my power might be too overwhelming, I only partially loosened my [Concealment]. However, even that was enough to leave a strong impact.

“””!!?”””

Tanasis and the other three underground people, including Xanthos, widened their eyes in shock and gasped. Unconsciously, Xanthos almost reached for his sword but then froze, realizing what he was doing. Although I had already hidden my |Mana| again, the tension in the air didn’t dissipate.

Ignoring the tense atmosphere, I turned to Krissa.

‘See, I’m actually pretty strong—strong enough that normal humans can’t stop me. That’s why Xanthos has to stay with me all the time, and he threw you earlier because he had to act quickly to prevent me from losing my temper. Right?’

“……”

I glanced at Xanthos, hoping for confirmation. And while he didn’t say anything, the slightly embarrassed look on his face suggested I wasn’t far off.

‘So, could you ease up on Xanthos a bit?’

“Fine,” 

Krissa said, her voice tight with nervousness. But she nodded.

…It feels wrong to have forced her into agreement by showing off my power. I should avoid revealing myself like that unless absolutely necessary.

“That’s settled then. We aren’t playing around here, so if you understand, head home.”

“…No way.”

Xanthos ordered Krissa, but she refused his instruction again. She then quickly added, as if embarrassed, 

“I-I’m not trying to cause trouble, okay? Katsu’s here for sightseeing, right? So, someone like me who knows the city should show him around. Dad and Old Man Tanasis are busy with work all the time; they don’t know the city that well.”

“That won’t be necessary. I patrol the city regularly as part of my duties. Besides, you—”

“—Now, now, Xanthos-dono, there’s no need to be so strict. It seems Katsu-dono doesn’t mind,” 

Tanasis unexpectedly chimed in, throwing Krissa a lifeline. He had been quietly watching the father-daughter spat with a weary expression, perhaps showing the leniency typical of the elderly toward the younger generation.

“Hehee, the old man gets it.”.

“But…”

“There’s no time to argue about this any longer, right? Look, Fisu seems quite fixated on the cafeteria. I believe she’s hungry.” 

“I’m hungry.”

“I too would like to hear more about the surface during our meal. We can have her accompany us for now. And if she becomes a nuisance, she can leave later.”

‘I’m fine with that.’

“…Very well. But you must not cause any trouble,” 

Xanthos relented, though he still sounded stern.

Since it was already noon, we decided to head to the cafeteria. Tanasis started packing up the artifacts he had spread out, which reminded me of something I had been meaning to ask him.

“Hey, Tanasis, I heard this country is short on resources—”

And thus, our second day in the Underground Kingdom continued.