My Perfect Isekai: Pragmatic Protagonist, Progression Fantasy and Strategy

The morning sun barely pierced through the gaps in the shutters of the Golden Griffin. I opened my eyes, staring at the wooden ceiling. The night was peaceful, and my Vessel regenerated completely, digesting yesterday’s fatigue in absolute silence. I tried to move my left arm, but I met hard resistance. Shnee was sleeping right next to me. She was pressed into my side so hard, as if she feared I might disappear at any moment. Her slender arm and leg tightly wrapped around my chest. There was no cheap romance in this. It was simply a pure survival instinct. She treated me as her personal monolith of security. I gave her this comfort without a word of complaint.

I gently peeled her fingers off my shirt. The high elf muttered something quietly in her sleep, and then curled into a ball, seeking the remnants of my warmth on the mattress. I stood up, threw my black coat over my shoulders, and went down the creaky stairs to the main room. Elena was already there. She arranged fresh bread on the table, and her movements were firm. Yesterday’s neurotic innkeeper vanished. My protection lifted the weight of fear from her. When I raised the cup of water to my lips, the heavy oak doors opened with a loud bang.

Count Valerius burst inside. He wore a dented breastplate, and his face was gray with fatigue. He stopped mid-step. He looked at Elena, seeing her upright silhouette and proudly raised head. Then his gaze shifted to the stairs. Shnee was just coming down from them. Her hand rested on the hilt of the rapier, and such an icy aura radiated from her body that the aristocrat instinctively took a step back. Valerius understood in a split second that the balance of power in this tavern had undergone a complete change.

”Valerius. You look like you haven’t slept for a week,” I threw calmly, leaning against the oak counter with Brazen chill. ”What is all this noise about so early in the morning?”. The Count rested his hands on his knees, catching his breath heavily. ”On the northern wall... We have a problem, Dave”. ”Something emerged from the forest”. ”It is not an ordinary monster”. ”It is a horned monstrosity”. ”It resembles a demon from legends”. ”It crushed two of our mounted patrols into dust before they could even draw their swords”. ”The local mages are shitting themselves with fear”. ”They cannot identify it”.

I slowly scratched my neck. I didn’t have to cast any scouting spells. My pure logic combined with my intact knowledge from my past life provided me with the answer almost immediately. ”It is an Oni,” I said coldly, and my voice echoed through the quiet room. ”It is a mutated soldier from a certain fallen kingdom”. An absolute silence fell in the tavern. Valerius opened his mouth wide, and his face instantly turned pale. Elena dropped the cloth from her hand, staring at me in total shock. Even Shnee, normally a composed elf, twitched violently, and her diamond eyes widened in blatant disbelief.

”How the hell do you know what this is?!” Valerius gasped, leaning heavily against our table. ”Our oldest mages have been scouring the books since dawn and no one had a clue what we are dealing with!”. ”And you just throw out a name and origin without even moving from your chair?!”. I looked at them with Brazen chill, shrugging slightly. ”I know, because I just know,” I threw indifferently, intentionally dismissing their questions as if they concerned the most boring thing under the sun. ”I will tell you about it over good wine someday, but there is no time for that now”. ”We have a massive problem to solve”.

I saw that this answer massively frustrated them. Valerius clenched his jaws in helplessness, Elena frowned, and Shnee fixed a piercing gaze on me, trying to drill through me with her icy look. They were furious at this complete lack of specifics and my disregard for the topic. Ultimately, however, they let it go. My authority in this group was too strong to press the issue by force. ”Is he dangerous?” Shnee finally asked, barely swallowing her irritation and accepting the change of topic.

I looked at her, not hiding the seriousness of the situation. ”He is a damn dangerous opponent”. ”Honestly?”. ”Even I would have considerable problems in a direct clash with him right now,” I admitted without a shadow of shame. Cold logic was the basis of survival. ”I am not saying that defeating him is impossible”. ”I would tear him apart, but it would cost me way too much health, and at this moment I have no desire for unnecessary losses”. We left Elena in the tavern and walked briskly towards the northern gate of Oakhaven.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

When we stepped onto the battlements, the wind tore at my coat. In the distance, on the edge of the dark forest, stood a massive silhouette. Bloodied horns, mutated muscles, and an aura so dense that the grass around him literally rotted before our eyes. The beast looked towards the city, evidently preparing to test the thickness of our walls. ”What do we do, Dave?” Valerius asked with obvious panic in his voice. ”The Guard won’t hold this!”. ”Pure logic, Count”. ”You don’t fight a mountain of meat right under your own home,” I threw calmly. ”A clash with him at this distance would destroy half the city from the sheer wave of force of collisions alone”. ”We will block him indefinitely”.

I extended an empty hand in front of me. I focused raw telekinesis. I didn’t form any spectacular shields. I struck with invisible force directly into the space around the monster. I closed the air in a titanium vise. An invisible cage of pure gravity formed around the edge of the forest with a dull crack of breaking air. The Oni hit the barrier with his large fist. The space rippled, but the invisible wall of my will didn’t even flinch. The beast was trapped.

”Secured”. ”He won’t get out of there until I decide to go in myself,” I said, turning my back to them. ”And now listen carefully, Valerius”. ”Oakhaven needs a hard reset of power”. ”I will not deal with demons having aristocrats behind my back who would plunge a knife into my ribs with a smile”. ”Take your men and block all the streets leading to Noble Hill”. ”No one is allowed to enter”. ”It is time to clean this city at the very top”. Half an hour later Shnee and I stood before the iron-bound gate of the Marquis’s residence.

An armed committee waited for us in the paved courtyard. The Crimson Guard. About forty veterans protected by expensive armors and glowing shields. They were the elite of this city. Their commander stepped forward with blunt arrogance written on his face.

”Not a step further, trash!” he roared, raising his sword. ”By the Marquis’s order, every intruder will hang in the square! Guards, kill them!”

I did not take my hands out of my pockets. I looked at him with Brazen pity. I did not need finesse, fire magic, or destructive spells. They were just fragile people staring into their iron cans.

I released a brutal wave of area telekinesis. Instead of a point strike, I condensed the space above their heads in a fraction of a second. I forced raw gravity to fall on them with the mass of a ram.

The air literally hardened. A deafening grind of crushed steel echoed. Forty veterans, the invincible Crimson Guard, buckled under the invisible weight in one moment. Their magic shields shattered with a crack resembling broken glass. Thick armors buckled inward, crushing their ribs. The men fell to their knees, and then straight onto their faces. They began to howl in pain, choking on the blood squeezed from their compressed lungs. I drove them into the pavement, turning off their consciousness without blinking an eye. After ten seconds, a dead silence fell over the courtyard. They lay unconscious in puddles of their blood.

I withdrew the spatial force. I yawned shortly.

I turned my head and looked at Shnee. The white-haired elf did not look at me with fear or cold logic. She stood stiffly, breathing very quickly. A deep blush bloomed on her pale face. She stared at the crushed guard, and then shifted her gaze to me. Fanatical desire burned in her diamond eyes.

The sight of this ruthless power destroying her former tormentors acted on her like the strongest drug. A psychopathic laugh suddenly escaped her lips.

”Gods...” she whispered, her voice breaking from an excess of emotions. Her hand trembled on the hilt of her rapier. ”How you just crush it... It drives me to pure madness, Dave. You are a fucking monster.”

This extreme gap-moe – a beautiful girl laughing like a maniac at the sight of destruction – was captivating. It was her truest form, freed from shame. I smiled brazenly.

”Always at your service, darling,” I said calmly. ”And now come. It is time to knock on the Marquis’s office.”

I bypassed the crushed bodies at a leisurely pace. I approached the oak doors of the estate. Using a kinetic jerk, I simply tore them from their iron hinges, turning the thick wood into splinters with a deafening roar.

The road to the top of Oakhaven stood open before us.