In Another World with My Melodic Cudgel[RWBY Isekai Quest]

[X] Melodic Cudgel: The Devil will make the weapon indestructible as well as giving it infinite dust ammunition.
[X] The button with a slime symbol on it.


In a flash of fire and an outpouring of smoke, Roman Torchwick appeared.

The thief took in his surroundings. He seemed to be in a forest of some sort, with trees, bushes, and other foliage all around him.

“So, this is another world, huh?” Roman asked as he looked about. “I am definitely not impressed.”

Finding the environment dull, he turned his attention to the item in his hand. Melodic Cudgel, his weapon of choice. Made for bludgeoning and launching of explosive dust rounds. It also had various gadgets and other tricks hidden within it, things that he had added over the years and have come in handy. But perhaps the best trick was what the Devil had said; according to her, this baby now has infinite ammunition. He decided to test it out.

On the side of the shaft was a switch that when you pushed it, it popped open a slot underneath it. This was actually the gun’s loading breach, the opening where you loaded in the dust cartridges. Instead of loading, Roman was popping the rounds out and counting. “One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.”

On and on he pulled out a bullet, then tossed it carelessly onto the grassy ground. Pretty soon he had a small pile of ammunition at his feet. “Fifty-six. Fifty-seven. Fifty-eight. I think we can stop there.” He closed the loading gate, then grasped the cane by its hooked handle. He tapped a switch which caused the tip of the cane to pop up into a targeting sight. He then looked for a rather sturdy looking tree, and upon finding one about ten feet away from him, he took aim.

With a pull of the trigger, a dust round was expelled. The forest was filled with the loud, whistling sound of the bullet as it flew through the air, ending with a loud explosion as it detonated against its target. Roman sent two more blasts into the tree, which were successful in felling the giant. There was a loud crash as the tall tree toppled onto the ground.

“Ha ha ha ha! Outstanding!” Roman twirled his cane. “Okay, fun’s over. Now’s the time to figure out where I am and how to get out of here.” The explosions might have also caught the attention of the Grimm, so he figured it was best to vacate the premises. So with some haste, he walked into the forest hoping to find some signs of civilization.

******

Six hours later, he was still walking. He hadn’t seen any sight of any sort of civilization; only rocks, trees, and the occasional berries met his searching eyes.

He was just about to rest when he heard the sound of feet pounding the ground. Roman turned around and saw a group of about fifteen little children running towards him.

“The heck?” he mumbled. Curiosity peaked, Roman just stood back and watched the kids approach, his hands resting relaxed atop his cane.

When the children stopped in front of him, Roman saw that something was odd with them. Sure, they had green skin. Sure, they even had tusks and fangs. But what actually got his attention were the weapons they were carrying. All the swords, spears, and shields they had were old and practically falling apart. He’d heard of child soldiers (hell, he’d been one) but to arm them this badly? He was appalled.

One of the green kids, who was wielding a rusty sword and wore a red bandana on his head, spoke up. “Strong one! Please forgive me, but do you have some sort of business here in the forest?”

Strong one? Well, at least they knew how to address their betters. And look, they’re even shaking in their shoes, how cute.

“Just passing through,” Roman told them with a smirk. “Why? Is that a problem?”

“Oh, no, sir! No problem at all!” The green kid said. “We were just patrolling the area when we sensed a powerful monster in the area and came to investigate.”

Wait, monster? Sure, Roman was no saint, but to call him a monster? Yeesh, this kid’s got cheek.

“Please, sir! Since you’re so strong, we wanted to ask a favor.”

And here come the hands out. Were these punks nothing but beggar kids after all?

“Please, come to our village. Our village chief can explain.”

What should Roman do?

[ ] Go with them. This course of action would lead him to some sort of civilization. And maybe he’d hear them out. If he was in the mood.
[ ] Don’t go with them. They’re obviously just beggars out for your money. Ask them how to get to civilization, though.
[ ] Write-in.

 

[x] Go with them. This course of action would lead him to some sort of civilization. And maybe he’d hear them out. If he was in the mood.


To call the goblin settlement a village is like calling a vacant lot a city. It was located in a large clearing in the middle of the forest and was basically empty except for a few ramshackle huts and tents. The group of kids brought Roman into the largest of the village’s structures, which happened to be the village chief’s hut.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I am the village chief,” said the green short man with white hair and aged features. A tall kid, who introduced himself as Rigur, stood by the old man.

“Yeah, nice to meet you,” Roman said absently as he was looking around. Inside the hut was almost bare, except for some mats and a shrine to some weird winged lizard thing. This was all a bust; Roman thought the kids would lead him to civilization, not some creepy wilderness camp out in the middle of nowhere.

“Say, you wouldn’t happen to know the way to the nearest Kingdom, would you?” he asked.

“Well, there’s Dwargon to the north,” Rigur said. “It’s about a two month journey on foot.”

Two months?! Through Grimm infested forests? No thanks.

“Anything closer?”

“Well, there’s the Brumund Kingdom,” said the chief. “It’s a few weeks’ travel to the east.”

“I wouldn’t recommend heading that way, though,” said Rigur. “The monsters that lurk to the east are very strong.”

Hmm. So he had a long route that was safer and a quick route that was fraught with peril. His day just kept getting better and better.

“Ahem,” coughed the chief. “Strong One. About the reason why we called you here…”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. The kid outside told me you needed something?” Roman said. “So what is it? Spit it out already.”

“For the past few weeks, human poachers have been hunting in our territory,” replied the chief.

“They’re nothing but vicious bandits,” Rigur said. “They’ve been hunting all the game, and we can’t compete.”

“Pretty soon, by the way these hunters are going, there won’t be any game left in the forest,” said the chief. “We need your help, Strong One, to stop them.”

“That’s it? You brought me all the way over here to help you stop some poachers?” Roman asked, a little bit annoyed. “Also, why the heck do you keep calling me Strong One? Not that I mind, it’s just not what you would call someone you just met.”

“Well, sir, it’s because of your aura,” said the chief.

“My… Aura?”

“Yes, indeed,” the chief nodded. “It is the strongest we’ve seen in some time. Much stronger than a mere human could ever possess.”

“We’re not sure why you would take the form of a human, Strong One,” Rigur said, “but it is not our business to ask.”

Seriously? These idiots think he’s some sort of… what? God? Some sort of god just because his Aura was unlocked? Well, this was another world. Maybe these hicks don’t have Aura techniques. Hmmm…

“Well, say that I do decide to help you,” Roman asked them. “What’s in it for me?”

The two green-skins looked at each other and blanched.

Oh boy.

“W-we shall, uh, give you our eternal gratitude!” said the chief.

Roman snorted. “Yeah, no. Try again.”

“The cave!” Rigur suddenly shouted out. “There is a cave nearby that contains many valuable items, such as rare flora and magical crystals! Help us and we will take you there!”

Magical crystals? Do they mean dust? Interesting.

What should Roman do?

[ ] Help out these weirdos. It seems like an easy enough job, plus that cave sounds interesting. There might be a fortune’s worth of dust down there.
[ ] Forget them and head north. It’ll be a long road, but getting back to civilization would be worth it.
[ ] Forget them and head east. It might be tough getting through so many Grimm, but Roman’s gone through worse.
[ ] Write-in.

 

[x] Help out these weirdos. It seems like an easy enough job, plus that cave sounds interesting. There might be a fortune’s worth of dust down there.​

Roman had Rigur and a few other goblins escort him to the area where the human hunters were. He had learned that that was what these kids called themselves, “goblins.” Weird gang name, but whatever.

The poachers had come down from the northeast and took to slaying any beast they could find. From the wild boars to stags and reindeer, nothing was spared. What was truly appalling to the goblins was that the humans never took any of the meat, instead taking only the hyde and fur. This made Roman suspect that the hunters were hired by some leather making company in one of the Kingdoms, or they were fur traders themselves.

According to the goblins, most humans stayed out of the Jura Forest because of all the monsters found within it. Roman thought that the kids meant the Creatures of Grimm, but on the second day of travel he was proven wrong.

While crossing a small river, his group was attacked by a creature that was a mix of a giant lobster and a shark. It only took one of his explosive dust rounds to kill the beast, but seeing such an impossible thing walking around shook Roman for a bit. It was a reminder that he was not on Remnant anymore, but another world entirely.

Another reminder was the moon. Seeing a perfect sphere in the night sky sure was a sight to behold, especially for someone who’s always lived with a shattered moon.

On the fourth day of travel, they reached their destination.

“This is it,” Rigur said. “This is the area where we spotted the humans last.”

“Seriously? How could you tell?” Roman asked, feeling mildly irritated. “This spot in the forest looked just like any other spot that we’d passed through since starting this trip!”

Before Rigur could answer, an arrow zipped across the air, several inches from Roman’s nose, right before burying itself in a nearby tree. This caused the goblins, with the exception of Rigur, to scream and run away deeper into the forest. Rigur, on the other hand, took up his club and fell to a fighting position.

About twenty feet away from them, three men emerged from the undergrowth. They were rough looking, mountain-men type, who wore leather clothing that had seen better days. Each carried a bow and a quiver full of arrows, and all of them were aiming at Roman and Rigur.

“Well, what’s a fancy type like you doin’ all the way out here?” asked one of the men.

Roman, was annoyed. This dunderheads just shot an arrow at him! Sure, it wouldn’t have done any damage since it hadn’t been strengthened by Aura (if it had, then it would have done more damage to the tree) but just the fact that it actually happened was insulting to him. He didn’t let it show, though. To do so would undermine his professional pride.

“I was actually looking for you,” Roman said, doffing his hat. “I’m Roman, and this is my guide Rigur.” He motioned for the goblin to put his club down, which he did. “The company sent me,” he lied. “They want to know how things are progressing.”

The men put down their weapons. “Oh, s’cuse us, sir, we didn’t know you were comin,” said the oldest of the bunch, a white-haired goon missing his front teeth. “Did you want to see the boss?”

Roman smiled. It looked like his guess about these morons working for a trading company was accurate. “Sure. Show me to him.”

Roman and Rigur followed the three men as they ventured deeper into the woods.

“I must say, it’s quite brave of you men to come all the way, deep into the Jura Forest,” Roman said. “I heard that this place was teeming with monsters.”

One of the men laughed. “That it is, sir. But we got Mr. Breen with us.”

“Of course, Mr. Breen.”

Another man nodded. “Yup. If it wasn’t for him, none o’ us woulda made it this far alive. The comp’ny’s really smart to hire a strong mage for us like that.”

Mage? Must be a Huntsman. This could prove troubling.

Eventually, the five of them entered a clearing where the poachers had made camp. It was a large camp, filled with numerous tents and equipment. Roman counted about twenty people milling about; there were probably more out in the woods hunting.

The three hunters lead them to a large tent in the center of camp. The oldest went inside for a few minutes, then came out with a tall, strapping middle-aged man with mutton chops and a mustache. Although he wore the same type of leather apparel as the others, his looked more expensive and in much better condition.

“Hips says you’re from the company,” the man said. “What’s up?”

What should Roman do?

[ ] Keep up the company act and find out more information about this operation.
[ ] Forget the act. Use his charm to entice the poachers into working for him instead.
[ ] Just kill everyone here. Short and simple does the trick.

 

[X] Keep up the company act and find out more information about this operation.

“I was sent by the company to get a progress report,” Roman said.

“Progress report, huh?” asked the man with the mutton chops. His eyes were narrowed in obvious suspicion and Roman knew he’d have to talk quick in order to keep this charade up. “I’m guessing Mr. Dallow sent you?”

“No, Mr. Redgar from the main office sent me,” Roman lied through his teeth.

Mutton Chops frowned. “Main office? Why would the main office care about us?”

“Oh, you don’t give yourselves enough credit!” Roman said. “Your work here is one of the most important projects that the company is funding. I mean, setting up an operation here, in the middle of Monster Central! That takes guts, my friend. And the leadership in the main office likes guts in their subordinates!” He then leaned in, as if he were sharing something that was not for everyone’s ears. “You didn’t hear this from me, but there might be a big bonus coming your way sometime in the near future.”

Hips and the two hunters with him smiled and laughed with glee upon hearing his (fake) news. Mutton Chops, on the other hand, didn’t seem convinced.

“A bonus, eh? I wouldn’t mind that, not one bit,” he said. A grin appeared on his face, though his eyes remained utterly suspicious. “You’re quite the talker. Almost as good as the bards back home, weavin’ a tale for us to eat up.”

“I assure you, my good man. I tell no tales,” said Roman.

“Is that so? Tell me then, company man. What’s the name of our wonderful company, eh?”

“Uh… er…” Roman gulped then looked around. The entire camp seemed to be watching him, each man picking up his bow or grabbing a skinning knife and awaiting his answer. “Aha… um, the Walla Walla Trading Company?”

Mutton Chops grin vanished, his face twisting into an ugly scowl. “I knew you were nothin’ but a lying fake. Now tell us who you are or we’re gonna skin you alive!”

Uh oh.

What should Roman do now?

[ ] Use his charm to entice the hunters into working for him instead.
[ ] You’ve wasted enough time. Just kill these jokers, already.