“So, Gero, tell me what you know about the eclipse and how it relates to the Maou,” I demand as we walk towards the eastern gate

I wanted to ask in depth about this, so I decided to take back alley routes to get there. It’s a bit harder to not get lost, but so long as we head in a single direction without getting too far away from the main streets we can reorient ourselves.

Gero gero gero “As you command Mano-sama. Of the two moons that orbit this planet, one of which is quite large. It has an orbit that obscures our view of the sun at regular intervals. Occasionally it does not fully obscure the sun, and we are left with a crescent sun, however, that happens far more rarely. For unknown reasons, there is an increase in strength and mana among most creatures during the eclipse.” Gero explains

“So then I’m not the only one receiving a bonus right now?” I ask with slight surprise and disappointment

“Where nearly all creatures feel some form of physical and magical boost from the eclipse, the Maou gains a particularly potent effect. It seems to resonate quite well with the Maou’s innate talent to summons creatures.” Gero elaborates

So this will still serve as an advantage. Regardless not taking advantage of a boost like this would be ludicrous so I suppose it changes little.

“How often do these eclipses happen?” I ask

Gero gero “It averages between 13 and 18 days between each eclipse. Crescent suns occur roughly once every 5 to 7 eclipses.” Gero answers after thinking for a moment

That often?! I don’t recall ever having much of an interest in this kind of thing, but in my world, I remember eclipses being the kind of thing you could only experience a few times a lifetime. I thought there was a distinct possibility this would be the last one before the inevitable showdown between the Yuusha and myself. No wonder people seem so unfazed by it.

I check the timer that had popped up in my menu again.

『00:05:35』

Judging by the amount it changed since I first checked it I determined that it must be formatted from left to right as days, hours, minutes.

I’m disappointed that I lost 25 minutes to getting everybody together, but at least we are nearly there. I need to be more prepared next time.

“Hey gero, it there any way of knowing when the next eclipse will be?” I ask as we near the gate

Gero “The scholars of this world still know little about the eclipse and have no way of predicting its next occurrence. There are several records, however, indicating that the Maou should know the precise time that the eclipse will occur.” He explains

I should know? That certainly doesn’t help. I had no clue this was coming before. Perhaps it’s something that I needed to be aware of first? I suppose there is no real way to tell until this eclipse ends.

“Oiiii! Over here!” Kera calls out as she spots us from afar walking to the gate

She has gathered everybody properly and is standing there with a smug face waiting for us to approach.

Fu fu fu “My time to shine has come! When it comes to knowing monster habitats there is nobody better than me!” Kera confidently says as we approach

“She seems really excited. She bragged at least a dozen times on the way here about how she was going to show off.” Kiel explains afterward with a shrug

“I beseech nature to spare some of ya wrath, stun my enemy. Ai-Va-Aer” Kera quickly prattles off

zyiIp!

“OW!” Kiel yelps as his hands move to nurse his recently shocked behind

“Point is, with me helpin’ we should get a lot more out of this sudden boost. How long we got anyway?” she asks pretending nothing happened

“By the time we get where we are going, we should have roughly 5 hours,” I explain as I ignore Kiel’s annoyed expression

“Hmm… in that case we should go for something we can get a ton of instead of going for the big fish. Follow me!” Kera shouts out after a moment of thought

With tenuous expressions, we follow her as she marches out of town and into the forest. As we travel I use “Status” on any creature that we pass in hopes of gaining new skills, unfortunately, I received none. The only creatures I saw along the way were small woodland animals. In fact, it was so devoid of monsters that I began to doubt that Kera was taking us anywhere useful at all until…

“Tadaa!” She spouts as she highlights a creature that is difficult to describe

If anything I would call it a mix between a sloth and a giant rat, or perhaps a mole. It hangs from a nearby tree branch with 4 long limbs in precisely the same way that sloths do, but rather than a cute or docile face it has a wrinkly hairless mug with yellowed buck teeth. Honestly it evokes some pity as the thought “It’s so incredibly ugly it’s unfortunate” crosses the mind.

“This is the creature we are going to hunt?” I ask in immediate disbelief

“Status!” I yell out as I check the unfortunate creature's level

Name:

Species: Ratmol

Level:28

Skills:

Adrenaline

Sudden sleep

Rapid claw growth

The knowledge of others fills you

New skill learned: Rapid claw growth

Wow! This thing is a lot higher level than I was expecting. It was even strong enough for me to get a skill on my first try. Though “Rapid claw growth” sounds entirely useless.

“If you would do the honors princess?” Kera says with a proud expression

At her request, I decided to try a direct approach. Since my sword is still with Tea, I draw back to punch the creature.

KitchichiKitchiKitchKitchKICHTCHTI!

As I approach however the creature begins to change rapidly. Small static shocks begin to circle its body making me move away without thinking. Its appearance begins to change from that of an unluckily ugly creature to that of a true monster as its skin begins to tighten, and its fur changes color. Just as the static stops moving around its body it drops to the ground. Dyed in yellow in red now, and standing with its back arched at me, it is apparent that it intends to defend itself.