Editing Rune Soldier Louie:Volume1 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 3 – Awkward encounter===
 
“Why are you here……”

Louie and Ila appeared in the bar wearing their casual clothes, however, when he stood in front of the three women, Louie couldn’t believe his eyes.

All of them had the same look on their face, they didn’t welcome this chance encounter.

“You! You shouldn’t be here!”

Genie said with displeasure.

Indeed, Louie visits this place regularly, the alley of Joy Street. But today he took Ila with him, it wasn’t very convenient for her to be in this place.

“Are these your companions?”

Ila said to Louie.

Louie nodded his head, he looked very troubled.

“Yeah, but they don’t seem to want me as their partner anymore.”

Ila listened to Louie’s words, she sighed, then looked at the three girls.

[[Image:RSL Volume 01 bw 04.jpg|thumb]]

“Each of them is a great beauty. They are like a harem from the Kingdom of Sand and Dust.”

A harem from the ''Kingdom of Sand and Dust'' refers an elite selection of women from around the continent, they are generally used as the Kings personal concubines.

Louie wanted to suppress the screaming he held within himself, they may seem like a harem, but he thought that they were torturous demons.

If Louie said what he really wanted to say, the bar would most likely be turned into a bloodbath.

“We have somewhere to go.”

Louie whispered in Ila’s ear.

“Why? This is nothing more than a chance encounter, we shouldn’t have to go somewhere else.”

Ila quickly replied, then Genie immediately pulled a chair to their table.

“Good evening.”

Ila greeted them politely, then everyone looked at Genie.

(This is hell……)

Louie felt himself fall into a deep sleep.

But since he was in a bar, he realized he could eat and drink.

(This is going to be boring.)

Louie walked unsteadily, he sat down on the seat between Ila and Merrill.

Everyone then began to introduce themselves, meanwhile Louie ordered some food and drink.

The atmosphere of the next forty minutes was very strange.

Louie did his best to avert the gaze of the three women, but Ila on the other hand was looking at all three of the women.

Genie had a look of displeasure on her face, they all continued to silently eat and drink, Melissa looked like she could endure the silence.

The only exception was Merrill, she had been looking for opportunities to speak, but the atmosphere was too glum. Thus, she didn’t utter a word.

“These girls seem very quiet.”

Ila observed them for a long time, with a look of satisfaction on her face, she turned to Louie and said:

Louie didn’t answer, he didn’t’ want to be cursed by Genie for breaking the silence.

Ila started to ask about their adventures.

Genie sat in front of her, she found this a very good topic. However, when she mentioned the battle with the goblins, Louie could feel the blood surging in his body.

“A large group of goblins came at us, and in the midst of the fighting…Louie was using his wand to bash the heads of the goblins, then…”

All the women then spoke in unison.

“He broke his wand——”

“Yes.”

Louie said.

“And now he’s got to get some wood to make another one.”

Ila explained this to the three women, she had a very happy look on her face.

“His destination is the Tartious Forest, the demon forest.”

“The Tartious Forest!”

The three women repeated.

“There’s an old tree that grows somewhere deep in the forest.”

“I doubt he’ll come back alive.”

Genie mercilessly said.

“It’s suicide.”

Merrill said.

“I’m going to have a bigger headache is he does come back alive……”

Melissa said.

Louie wanted to shout at them.

“So, ah……”

Ila said, she put her hand into her purse, and started looking for something.

She pulled out a couple of items and put them on the table.

“A flute, wooden sticks, and some cloth?”

Louie said, as he looked at the items on the table.

Everything Ila had were magical treasures, since that was her special field of study.

“This cloth is a “forest fairy cape”. If you wear it and chant the magical incantation, the cape will turn you invisible. However, there’s no way for it to stop smells and sounds from getting out from the cape, so it’s useless against animals.”

Merrill looked the most interested out of the three women, she leaned from her chair and reached for the cape.

Although Merrill and Louie were sitting right beside each other, such a move put her breasts in front of Louie’s face. Upon closer inspection, her body wasn’t fully developed yet, so her body was petite, such an image reminded Louie of the body of a fairy.

“Next is the two sticks, when you are lost in the forest, just insert one end into the ground, and throw the other in the air, then it will show you what direction your companions are in.”

Merrill looked at the sticks, and examined them closely.

“I’m not seeing any marks on these sticks, what if I accidently walked in the opposite direction?”

“Ah, you have a keen sense of observation.”

Ila then explained what would happen.

“That’s where the problem lies, if you get lost there’s a fifty percent chance that you’d head in the right direction……”

“We can’t use that thing.”

Genie said with distain. 

“Cant’ you just paint some kind of marker on the sticks?”

“No. I’ve tried, it emits some faint kind of magic if someone tries to tamper with it……”

“That’s enough!”

Louie said. If Ila went on to explain all the magical treasures, then they would probably be here for a while.

Moreover, Louie wanted to prevent any needless quarrels with the three women.

“What is this flute?”

Merrill said, as she picked up the little flute.

“That’s called a Magical Flute.”

“And it does what……?”

“It summons demons.”

Ila smiled.

“It will be more effective in the Tartious forest.”

“Once you summon the demons, will they do whatever you say?”

Melissa asked.

“Nope, if it was that powerful, it would have been locked away with all the other magical treasures.”

“So, when should we use it?”

“I think you could use it when you want to practice martial arts……”

Ila said, as she nodded.

“I love to practice martial arts, like me at them!”

Louie’s mood improved, he was ecstatic now.

“Just make sure you use it when the moment is right.”

After Ila had finished speaking, she moved her hair out of the way so she could drink.

“Regardless of the matter, it could come in useful.”

“I don’t think so.”

Genie said, her face was full of disdain.

When Ila heard that, she turned to Louie and said:

“Is that right? Looks like you’re still needing a stronger partner.”

She deliberately didn’t look at Genie’s eyes, she was trying to provoke her.

Of course, it worked.

(Forgive me.)

Louie wanted to shout from the bottom of his heart.

“My special magic glasses and its last ability could come in useful.”

Although Ila wasn’t wearing those glasses now, nor would she ever use the fourth ability due to it being lethal.

“Hey, Ila, can we change the pace and continue to drink?”

Louie knew that if this continued, a bloodbath would ensue.

“What? Don’t tell me you wanted to go somewhere else alone with me?”

Louie wanted to say something that would derail this provocative conversation, he didn’t want to tangle with Genie on a day like this.

So Louie just smiled, he then forced Ila off her chair.

Ila was very fit, but she started enthusiastically holding Louie’s arm.

Louie pretended that nothing happened, he said his goodbyes then left, taking Ila away from the bar with him.