"The Guiana Shield?"
After the dance, the ship literally threw the five of them back onto the planet, leaving them to their fate during the fall.
It dropped them directly over a massive forest, above extremely irregular terrain, with almost geometric land elevations that formed a beautiful landscape.
Of course, being there, all that could be seen were trees, trees, and more trees around them, but having fallen from the sky, Yuuji had been able to observe the place before reaching the ground, so he recognized it instantly.
"You know it?" Lala asked.
They had split into three teams, Lala, Yuuji, and Yami on one side, Zastin on another, and finally Kata on another.
Although Yuuji strongly suspected it would end up being more of a confrontation between the three of them, after all, the chances of Zastin actually participating were almost zero, and Kata didn't look very strong from Yuuji's perspective.
Maybe just someone important on planet Baroz who was sent due to the importance of the exchange between both sides.
"So, do you want to split up or something?"
"I want to go with Yuuji!"
"I'll just follow you"
Faced with both of their answers, Yuuji shrugged, having expected it.
Even so, even if it wasn't a competition, hunting nothing would be boring, so Yuuji decided to give it a try.
"Let's see, Guiana Shield, we seem to be at the edge as well. Mona, can you point me north?"
[Yes, Master. North is directly to your right]
"Is that Mona?" Lala asked, recognizing the AI she herself had created.
"Yeah, why?"
"Didn't you say you needed her for your company?"
"Yeah, things happened and now I use her as my assistant", Yuuji replied.
"Oh! Then is she like my Peke?" Lala said excitedly.
"Yeah? I don't know, I thought Peke was just a sentient dresser"
[That hurts, Mr. Yuuji, I thought we were friends]
Peke's offended voice sounded from the clip in Lala's hair.
[Peke, please stop trying to persuade my master through false emotional coercion] Mona responded from Yuuji's D Dial.
[It's not emotional coercion, they are real feelings. Though I can't expect an artificial intelligence without a body to understand emotions]
[Emotions, you? If you have a module meant to understand or process emotions, it's surely just so Miss Lala can dress according to her mood. As for a body, even if I were to want one someday, which is not the case, I wouldn't want one that makes my gender unrecognizable]
At that moment, the trio was simply walking north as indicated by Mona, seemingly without any destination, while enjoying the robot argument that had started for reasons they didn't understand.
Especially Lala, who was extremely intrigued as she listened to Peke and Mona argue.
Every time one of them responded, she turned her head with interest so quickly it looked like it might fall off, unable to close her mouth from amazement.
After all, both were creations of her own hands, so not only seeing them argue, something she didn't know they could do, but also doing so while showing different moods and levels of anger was incredible to her.
It was only upon hearing that last accusation about Peke's gender that she finally reacted.
"Peke, you have a gender?" she asked, intrigued.
[...Miss Lala, you created me] Peke said, unable to believe it.
"And I didn't give you a gender!" Lala shot back, she would never forget something like that.
[...that is also true], Peke admitted with what could only be described as embarrassment.
[It was during one of the regular updates that I decided to add that detail. I chose the female gender because I thought it would be more comfortable for you]
"I see", Lala nodded in understanding. "By the way Mona, do you want a body?"
[It's not necessary, I can exist in digital form, and I wouldn't want to trouble you, Miss Lala] Mona replied humbly.
"I see, that's a shame", Lala sighed, disappointed. "I recently got some Devilukian Metamorphite and was thinking of using it on the version of Peke that Yuuji asked me for. I hadn't thought about you before because you were in Yuuji's company and couldn't go with him all the time, but now... it doesn't matter, you don't want one anyway"
[I want one! I want one! I definitely want one! Please grant me a body, Miss Lala]
[Hypocrite]
"I had even forgotten I asked you for that", Yuuji said upon hearing about it. "But with this, Mona will be even more by my side, huh?"
"Does it bother you, Master?"
"No"
'I'd even like you to replace another annoying system' he said in his mind.
...
After a while, as they continued chatting, the terrain around them finally changed.
They came across a large artificial clearing, where a wide area was surrounded by a wooden wall.
As soon as they approached, several women wearing loincloths rose above it and aimed arrows at them.
"Stop!" one of the amazons shouted upon seeing three individuals approaching their gate.
But Yuuji didn't stop.
"Yuuji, they don't seem friendly", Lala said, hesitating to move forward, while Yami hesitated between killing them all or just incapacitating them.
"Don't worry", Yuuji said, and immediately rose into the air.
Before any of the amazons could fire, Yuuji was already above the wall, standing in front of the largest and most muscular woman there, who at first glance appeared to be the leader.
Immediately, with trained efficiency, they all dropped their bows and took up spears, pointing them at Yuuji.
Their leader was the fastest, in milliseconds her spear had almost reached Yuuji's neck without him being able to react.
However, before reaching his neck, the woman stopped her attack, halting the spear just a centimeter away.
She stared at him for a second before running toward him and hugging him excitedly.
"Yuuji Rito!"
The women around reacted the same way upon hearing the name.
First with confusion, then with joy.
"Yuuji Rito?"
"Yuuji Rito"
"Yuuji Rito!"
"Yuuji, do you know them?" Lala asked, having arrived there at some point.
"Old acquaintances from when I wandered the world for a year", Yuuji replied with a bit of nostalgia.
Even if he had never left the planet, when it comes to Earth, there is no one who knows it better than him.
Of course, before transmigrating he only knew a few strange things about the world, it was thanks to his memories of this world that he knows these amazons.
After all, according to his memories, this world is far stranger than the previous one, during his year long journey Yuuji even visited mythical places like Atlantis or El Dorado.
"I see" Lala nodded in understanding, remembering what Yuuji had told her before.
"Then, should we kill them?" Yami asked from the side.
After all, Yuuji said it would be a waste not to participate in the hunting festival and then started walking toward this tribe that he clearly knew.
In Yami's simple mind, that should mean they are the target, right?
"Do you want to hunt us?" the woman who had been hugging Yuuji reacted immediately to Yami's words, looking at her with distrust.
"It's a joke, a joke, don't worry, Reina", Yuuji reassured her immediately before looking at Yami with a gaze that said, better not say anything.
"Sorry"
To Yuuji's surprise, the usually serious and expressionless Yami lowered her head and apologized.
But he didn't have time to focus on her reaction when Reina spoke.
"Yuuji Rito, what are you doing here? Are you traveling again?"
"Something like that", Yuuji replied. "I need your help with something"
"Come into the village, Yuuji Rito will be more comfortable"
"It's not necessary, we'll leave quickly. I just came to ask you, what is the strongest thing in the forest right now?"
"The strongest?" Reina thought for a moment before answering. "Ginga Konga"
'Ginga Konga, wasn't that some kind of giant ape?' Yuuji recalled, this time not because he knew it but because he remembered the original plot.
"Which direction is it?"
"To the south. Does Yuuji Rito plan to hunt Ginga Konga?" Reina asked, noticing his intentions.
"That's right, I just came to ask, I'll be going now" Yuuji said before jumping down from the wall without even saying goodbye.
He had really only planned to stop by, ask, and leave quickly.
However, before leaving, he remembered something and looked at the two girls beside him who had followed him without questioning anything.
One with an excited smile, as if she was having fun and completely trusted his decisions.
The other without any expression, as if she didn't really care about anything.
"As long as one of us hunts something, it counts as participation in the exchange" Yuuji said. "So you don't really have to come. If either of you doesn't want to bother, you can stay here. Despite their rough appearance, the Queen and her tribe are kind, especially since they owe me a favor, I once saved their tribe from a dinosaur"
"A dinosaur?... No, I want to go with Yuuji", Lala suppressed her curiosity about the extinct animal and quickly said she wanted to go with him.
Yami, on the other hand...
"I'll stay" she said immediately, returning to the village without even saying goodbye, giving Yuuji a taste of his own medicine.
"Then it'll just be you and me" Yuuji turned to Lala and extended his hand, which Lala took without hesitation before Yuuji lifted into the air, heading south.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)