Prologue – Part 2

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Part 2

It was a Summoned Beast that had a size of about a basketball.
It looked like a rotund and stout turkey. It had black feathers, and possessed a tail that that looked like a folding fan. Flapping its wings, it was slowly flying.
Its black round eyes were repeatedly blinking.
Rem breathed a sigh.
「……That is a 《Turkey Shot》.」^[1]
「So cute! This, this! This is the kind of thing that I wanted!」
Shera was letting out a smile looking delighted.
「……As your first practice use, it might be just right.」
「Is it? This, what does it do?」
「……Putting it plainly, it isn’t a strong Summoned Beast. Among those of the Wind attribute, I believe it is one of the weakest. Probably at the same level as the 《Sprite of Wind》……If it’s only about fighting strength, it’s inferior.」
「Ehhー!?」
「It’s Skill is something called “Shared Vision”. It’s an ability where you yourself are able to see the things that the Summoned Beast sees.」

「Ah, isn’t that pretty handy?」
「Do you really think that it would be useful in reconnaissance? Since it consumes magical power, it can’t be used for long periods of time. Though, it might be handy at times when you’ve lost your way……」
「So vague.」
Shera made a dispirited looking face.
Rem shrugged her shoulders.
「Although there are various Summoned Beasts out there, in the end, the ones that are sturdy and high in offensive ability are strong.」
「I see……」
「What will you do? You don’t really need to go all the way up to the 《Slavery Ceremony》, you know?」
「No. Since its a Summoned Beast that went through the trouble of coming out, I’ll contract it.」
Shera pulled out a gem from her waist pouch.
It was white.
Diablo cocked his head in puzzlement. He hadn’t seen that in the game.
「What is that?」
「Nn? I don’t really get it, but it kind of seems to be needed?」
Rem frowned at Shera’s reply.
「……I had properly explained it to you yesterday. That is a 《Contract Magic Gem》. It is utilized in the 《Slavery Ceremony》.」
「Yeah, that’s right, I, I remember that, you know?」
So there was something like that. In the MMORPG Cross Reverie, there wasn’t anything like the 《Slavery Ceremony》. Was it because it was too verbose in terms of game production that it was omitted?
Or maybe, there might be a different reason──The 《Slavery Magic》 that enslaves Summoned Beasts seems to be of the same nature as the 《Slave Magic》 that turns people of the Races into slaves. It’s likely that, even in that magic, 《Contract Magic Gems》 are also used.
In the game, components related to slaves were thoroughly eliminated.
Rem held out a white gem.
「……Diablo, although you seem to have no interest in Summoned Beasts, it might prove useful in the investigation on removing our 《Slavery Chokers》. I believe that if one is a Magician, it would be good to hold onto at least one.」
「That’s true. It’s not like it is something that will get in the way either.」
Diablo accepted the 《Contract Magic Gem》.

Shera recited a short spell.
「……By the name of Shera L. Greenwood, I command thee. Answer to me, belong to me, obey me.」
And then, she opened her thin cherry blossom colored lips, and held the white magic gem in her mouth.
The Summoned Beast 《Turkey Shot》 descended towards the ground, and then became quiet as if it were sleeping.
On its head, *Chon*──Shera put her lips on it.
From near her lips, a faint red radiance shined through. Did the 《Contract Magic Gem》 shine?
*Jii* Shera stared at the Summoned Beast.
On the 《Turkey Shot》’s neck, a black light coiled about.
*Vuun*……A low pitched tone that would remain in one’s ears resounded. A *Gachi!* sound that was similar to the sound of something being locked followed after.
It was the same as before when the 《Slavery Chokers》 were attached to Rem and Shera.
However, what was attached to the 《Turkey Shot》 was a small choker that matched its thin neck. Because its feathers were thick, it was mostly hidden.
Shera’s eyes were shining, and she looked this way.
Rem nodded.
「It was a success.」
「I did it!」
「Fufu……It’s great that there wasn’t a magic reflection.」
「Ueh~. I wouldn’t want to be enslaved to a 《Turkey Shot》!」
The girls started laughing.
Diablo also expressed a smile as if he had gotten hooked into it.

Suddenly, he remembered some information on the walkthrough site.
「……About that 《Turkey Shot》……Since you can also use the bow, it might make for an interesting combination, you know?」
「Fue?」
「There is a way of using it like a UAV^[2] and Sniper combination in FPSs, that’s what the walkthrough site had……」
「Eh? Eh?」
Not only Shera, even Rem was bewildered. That was only natural. There was no way they would know of that terminology. He redid his explanation.
──Though, I the things possible in the game might not necessarily be possible in this world as well.
Diablo separated a bit from the two, and placed a copper coin in the gap of some undergrowth.
「Are you able to see the coin from over there?」
「Nuh-uh?」
「In that case, try having that Summoned Beast fly over.」
Shera nodded and concentrated.
「Erm……Go take a look!」
The 《Turkey Shot》 that had received an order flapped its wings and flew up.
It was certainly was dull.
However, even if it were to be shot down, there would be no damage to the practitioner.
Shera opened her eyes wide.
「Wawah! I’m flying! Ah, I see it!」
「If you can tell the location, wouldn’t you be able to hit it with an arrow as well?」
「Leave it to me!」
With movements that had no hesitation, she took out an arrow from the back of her waist. At the same time, she prepared the bow that she carried on her back.
Without looking like she took aim at anything, the arrow that was fired into the sky with a pop──
drew a parabola, and fell near Diablo.
To the copper coin that was placed in the gap of some undergrowth.
It was shot exactly in the center.
「I did it!」
「Umu!」
In the game, there was a specification where it wasn’t possible to set one’s sights on an opponent that one couldn’t directly see in their field of vision. However, when the field of vision is expanded through the Summoned Beast 《Turkey Shot》, it is possible to make them an attack target by knowing where they are from the sky.
Even in reality, as long as the location was known, the rest depended on their skill with the bow.
Rem raised a voice of astonishment.
「How could this be……!? I had never thought that there was such a way of using it……. As expected of you, Diablo. Even though you come from another world, to think that you would possess knowledge deeper than our own.」
「Hmph, it’s simply something I realized after thinking about it a little. I am a Demon King after all.」
In reality, he only remembered a bit of material of a walkthrough page. There were millions of Cross Reverie Players. With that many of them, there would be eccentric ones among them──and it seemed that there were some that went through trial and error to see if there was a way to use the 《Turkey Shot》 that everyone treated as a failure.
Rather, Diablo was in admiration to something different.
It was Shera’s skill in the bow and arrow.
With that way of firing that could only be seen as her shooting randomly, to think that she could shoot through the coin. It seemed like Shera’s true ability as an Archer was at a considerably high level.
He extracted the arrow that was stuck in the ground. The copper coin that it had gone through was split right in half.
Shera came rushing over.
「Thank you, Diablo! I, I thought this……might be a bit of a failure, but now I’m extremely pleased with this child!」
He wasn’t accustomed to being shown gratitude. To hide his embarrassment, Diablo coldly averted his eyes.
「Is, is that so……」
「Ehehe, I’m going to practice a lot and raise my level!」
「Umu.」
「……Practicing is good and all but……Wouldn’t the thing that is going to rise with that practice be your Archer level?」
Shera received a shock from Rem’s sharp tsukkomi.

Translator’s Notes:
[1] Not sure if I translated that correctly. Original: ターキーショット
[2] Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

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