Plenty of Pastimes
Satou here. One of my friends once said, ‘I want to live in a woodsy retreat and be one with nature.’ This was sometime after they had grown obsessed with LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability), and so they bought a vacation home in the mountains. That friend got bored really quickly, however, and returned to civilization in no time at all.
“…Huh?”
When I used Return to arrive back in my study in the royal capital mansion, I spotted Pochi falling outside the window.
Immediately, I used my always-activated Magic Hand to try to catch her.
“Ouchie.”
Pochi was somersaulting through the air in a defensive curl, but she let out a childish yelp when the Magic Hand unexpectedly caught her by the stomach.
“Sorry, sorry. Are you okay?”
“Thank you, sir. Pochi is just fine, sir!”
I lowered Pochi to the ground and jumped out the window after her, landing in the backyard.
“Welcooome…?”
Looking back up, I saw Tama hanging off the wall and waving.
Pochi must have been doing ninja training with Tama and lost her footing.
“I forgot, sir. Welcome home, sir!”
“Thanks. Morning training?”
“Aye-aye…”
“We finished our daily run around the perimeter of the city, so me and Tama were doing ninja jumps from roof to roof on our way back, sir.”
“Training is great and all, but don’t do anything too dangerous.”
“Yes, sir. Pochi might make a better Mr. Samurai than a ninja after all, sir.”
As we chatted and walked toward the central courtyard, I saw Liza and Nana stretching after their morning run.
I decided to join in, since I was feeling stiff myself.
“Pochi will train in sword drawing and ‘One-Stroke Kill’ and become a samurai, sir!”
Pochi picked up a stick and mimed drawing a sword, cutting down an imaginary opponent, and sheathing it dramatically.
If I remembered right, the Samurai of the Saga Empire Mr. Kajiro had taught her the technique in Labyrinth City.
“Ooh, very nice!”
“Mm. Sword drawing.”
I turned around and found Arisa and Mia approaching in their pajamas.
Lulu was following behind them, carrying a tray with glasses of vegetable juice for everyone.
“Master, you should show Pochi a real iai—a ‘One-Hit Kill.’”
Arisa looked at me with eager “Go on, then!” eyes.
As if on cue, the rest of the group turned to me with similar excitement.
They were all so excited that I couldn’t bring myself to admit I had never done it.
“Use Pochi’s samurai blade, please, sir.”
I accepted the Japanese-style katana, which we’d found in a labyrinth treasure chest.
Then I told them I had to warm up first and did a practice imitation of the sword-drawing and -sheathing art.
> Skill Acquired: “One-Hit Kill”
Sure enough, I got the skill I needed, and I promptly put in skill points and activated it.
This time, when I put my hand on the sheathed katana, I could somehow sense the right speed and angle.
“Here goes.”
With that, I performed a proper iai.
“Amaziiing…?”
“The ultimate ‘One-Hit Kill’ quick draw, sir!”
“What remarkable swordsmanship.”
The beastfolk girls, who had excellent kinetic vision, all exclaimed in admiration.
“No way—it was so fast, I didn’t see a thing!”
“To me, it only looked like your hand blurred for a second.”
“Wow.”
Apparently, it was so fast that the rear guard couldn’t even follow it.
“It really is the speediest sword technique ever!”
Arisa looked thrilled nonetheless.
It would actually be faster to just bring the sword up and swing it down normally, but since my ‘One-Hit Kill’ technique immediately returned the blade to the sheath, it must have given a stronger impression.
“I wouldn’t say it’s the speediest.”
I showed them how the technique would look if I stopped before sheathing the blade, then demonstrated a regular overhead downward swing, clearing up the misconception. For the latter, I used the Zi-Gain style Mr. Kajiro had taught me.
“I—I see. So it’s just you who’s overpowered, not the technique.”
That comment was uncalled-for.
“Master, I wish to test whether I can block the ‘One-Hit Kill,’ I request.”
“Next time, okay?” I wanted to have a better mastery of the technique before we tried anything like that to ensure that I wouldn’t hurt her.
Instead, I assented to Arisa’s “Cut something for us!” request by making three straw dummies and cutting them down with a flashy combination of “Warp” and “One-Hit Kill”; it made for a satisfying show of sheathing the sword with a clack just as the dummies were sliced neatly in half.
“Very greeeat…?”
“Pochi wants to try, too, sir!”
I handed the katana back to Pochi, who was jumping up and down in excitement.
“Ka-shoooom!”
Pochi made her own sound effects as she tried a few “One-Hit Kills.”
The combination of her short arms and the long blade appeared to be making it difficult for her to draw the sword smoothly.
“Pochi, be serious.” Liza scolded her, mistakenly thinking she was joking around.
“Y-yes, sir!”
Pochi doubled her efforts.
Somehow, this resulted in Spellblade running through the katana’s blade.
I have a bad feeling about this.
“Hi-ya, sir!”
Pochi’s blade flashed red, sending out a crescent-shaped “Spellblade Shot” in a straight line.
Uh-oh.
Since I was already prepared for something to go wrong, I was able to produce “Magic Power Armor” on my hand as I used “Warp” to teleport in front of Pochi’s “Spellblade Shot,” catching it and canceling it out.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no, sir!”
Pochi’s eyes spun in a panic at her own blunder, all the more so once Liza’s fist dropped onto her head.
“I’m very sorry, sir.”
“No, it’s my fault for starting training like this in the courtyard,” I reassured her, picking up the scabbard she’d tossed aside.
It’d be good to have a place nearby where we could train more freely.
“A secretary device, sir?”
“Ooh, so it’s the magic item version of a personal security alarm.”
After breakfast, I handed out the newly completed emergency alert items to my party and explained how to use them.
I had already stopped by the Echigoya Company to drop theirs off, leaving them along with a letter explaining how to use them on the manager’s desk.
“Well, it seems like it’s dangerous even in the royal capital lately. I made these so we can all stay in contact even if you’re not with Arisa or me.”
“You should’ve made a smartphone with the Telephone spell,” Arisa grumbled.
“I’ll improve on it eventually,” I promised vaguely.
Just then, the bell announced that we had visitors: the people I’d hired by way of the Echigoya Company to work as maids and the private tutor for etiquette lessons.
Seeing that the plain-featured maids were all pallid and skinny, I asked Lulu to feed them all breakfast before they started working.
“Well then, good sir, may I begin straight away?”
While the private tutor seemed sweet, her voice had a serious edge that contrasted with her cozy appearance.
Before she got into the instruction for new nobles, she would be teaching Tama and Pochi alone for a while.
“Niiice…?”
“Nice to meet you, sir.”
“That’s all well and good in private spaces, but in public, be sure to say ‘nice to meet you’ loud and clear.”
I could hear the pair’s lessons beginning in the parlor.
“Aye…”
“Yes, sir.”
“Just a simple ‘yes’ will do.”
“Yep!”
“Yes…sir.”
It sounded like she had a long and difficult road ahead of her.
The lessons were scheduled for ninety minutes—one chime—after breakfast each day. Any longer than that, and I doubted Pochi and Tama would be able to stay focused.
Sure enough, less than two hours later…
“Boo-hoo…?”
“Pochi did her best, sir…flop.”
An exhausted-looking Tama and Pochi, and an even more exhausted-looking tutor, emerged from the parlor.
I served the staggering tutor some tea and snacks before asking how the lesson went.
“Y-yes, well, they’re very…enthusiastic…” The tutor chose her words carefully. “That is to say, they’re doing their best.”
From the sound of things, the pair were trying to obey the tutor’s instructions, but they both had such unique manners of speaking that they couldn’t quite get the hang of how to speak properly in a public setting.
“Maybe you could hold off on trying to correct their flaws for now, and just try to give them a vague overview of how socializing works?” Arisa, who’d been listening in, offered a suggestion. “Since the class time isn’t very long anyway.”
The private tutor had no objections, so I officially requested that she teach them in that direction going forward.
After the private tutor left, I healed the defeated-looking duo with some whale jerky, and we decided to go out on the town as planned.
“That was an amazing performance, to be sure.”
Arisa drifted along with dreamy steps.
Today, we had taken up the celebrated musician Sir Kestra on his offer to see a performance. I invited Lady Karina along, too, on the basis that she could study important culture.
“Such a passionate melody. It was really, really good. I’m satisfied, you know? Human music may be unrefined compared to elf music, but it’s still wonderful. It’s enjoyable in a different way, really. You know?”
Mia launched into one of her rare lengthy rants to describe her satisfaction with the show.
I had heard him perform before, but the performance in a concert hall designed for ideal acoustics was on a completely different level.
“Oui oooui…”
“Byooti-full, sir. Did you like it, Karina, sir?”
“O-oh yes, very much.”
Lady Karina was still staring at Mia; maybe she had never heard her speak that much before.
The rest of the girls all looked equally happy after the splendid performance.
As we passed through the atrium of the entrance hall, Nana suddenly stopped.
“Master, the passage is blocked, I report.”
Up ahead, a gaggle of dressed-up young ladies were all flocking around someone.
“Hey, isn’t that Lawrence?” Arisa said, peering through the crowd.
Indeed it was Cardinal Hozzunas of the Parion Province.
“Wow, he’s popular with everyone, from little girls to old ladies.”
“Yes, indeed.” Lady Karina sounded uninterested.
“You’re not into him, Lady Karina?”
“He is handsome, I suppose.”
Lady Karina shrugged. I guess she really wasn’t interested.
“Why, if it isn’t Satou.”
A voluptuous woman in the crowd—Rayuna Raffol, the viscount’s wife—trained a sultry gaze on me and beckoned me over.
“Wait, it’s a mature woman this time?”
“Mrr, adulterer.”
“I’ll explain later,” I told the misunderstanding pair, then walked over to Mrs. Raffol.
“Your Grace, let me introduce you to a friend of mine.”
At the sound of her voice, the cardinal looked at me.
“What a coincidence, Sir Pendragon,” he said with a smile.
“Oh? Do you two know each other?”
The cardinal explained the incident of the previous day to the confused-looking Mrs. Raffol.
“That’s my Satou for you,” Mrs. Raffol said proudly.
The cardinal smiled and added more lip service. “Yes, we would have been in grave danger were it not for their help.”
“Goodness, I can’t believe you fought monsters without me,” Lady Karina cut in enviously.
Normally, this was where Pochi and Tama would chime in, but they said nothing.
“What’s the matter, you two?” Arisa asked.
“Mew…”
“Nothing, sir.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Tama’s ears flattened back and Pochi’s tail tucked between her legs. Both were hiding behind Liza.
Based on our respective positions, I guessed they were nervous around either Mrs. Raffol or Cardinal Hozzunas.
“Pardon me for interrupting your conversation. You are Sir Pendragon, correct? Sir Kestra personally requested that I bring you to see him.”
At the behest of someone who appeared to be the concert hall manager, I excused myself from Mrs. Raffol and the cardinal, and we followed the man to Sir Kestra’s dressing room.
“Welcome, little musician.”
Sir Kestra greeted us, or more specifically, Mia.
“What did you think of our performance?”
“Mm, great.” Mia nodded.
Looking satisfied with Mia’s answer, Sir Kestra finally turned to me and the others.
“Sir Pendragon, young ladies, did the rest of you enjoy it as well?”
“Yes, it was a wonderful performance. Thank you so much for inviting us today.”
After we chatted for a while, he asked if Mia might like to try performing on the stage.
“Yes.”
Mia was raring to go, so we went into the audience seats while he and Mia moved to the stage.
Right away, Mia tuned her lute with a few strums, then began playing the same song Sir Kestra and company had just performed.
Man, she’s good.
In her hands, it was a delicate yet powerful melody. It spoke to the heart so strongly that you might never guess it was being played by such a small performer with such little fingers. When I closed my eyes, the music brought spectacular sights to mind.
The song ended while I was still entranced.
“Please forgive my intrusion, Sir Kestra…”
As the pair were discussing what to play next, the sound engineer of the concert hall interrupted.
“What can I do for you?”
“I wish to thank you for letting us hear such a magnificent song, but also…”
Looking deeply apologetic, the sound engineer explained that the engineers and workers had gotten so absorbed in the music that they stopped working and politely requested that the jam session wait until after their work was done.
“Of course. Sorry about that.”
“Sir Kestra! It’s time for your meeting regarding the next program.”
Immediately after Sir Kestra apologized to the sound engineer, another manager appeared from the wings to summon him away.
“Ah, nothing ever goes as planned… I suppose the next song will have to wait, then. Will you play with me again sometime?”
“Mm. Excited.”
Mia nodded at Sir Kestra.
Maybe someday Mia would perform on the stage of the royal capital concert hall, just like Cyriltoa the Songstress in the old capital.
“Lots of sheet music.”
“Wow, the paper is much thicker than I expected!”
After we left the concert hall, we did some shopping on a nearby street lined with stores selling instruments, sheet music, and so on.
I had the silly thought that if I saw a young boy gazing longingly at an instrument through a window, I would have to buy it for him, but sadly I didn’t see any such movie-like situations.
“Master, there are many soldiers, I report.”
Nana was right: There were a lot of guards out in the city today.
The number of them in the nobles’ quarters was significantly higher than normal, and even on the main street, I saw several squads of fully-armed knights on horseback. It must be because of yesterday’s red-rope incident.
“Mew?”
“Noisy, sir.”
Tama and Pochi looked nervously toward the road on our left that led out to the main street.
Three suspicious-looking men were running in our direction, shoving pedestrians out of the way. Behind them, loudly shouting knights gave chase.
“““Outta the waaay!”””
“Blooocked…?”
“You can’t pass, sirs!”
“Dear me, how impudent.”
Tama and Pochi took down the men on the left and right, while Lady Karina knocked out the man in the middle with a spinning kick.
We turned the men over to the guards who caught up shortly after.
“That was so cool, girls!”
“That chick with the big boobs is crazy strong!”
“I’d like to have my son marry her.”
“Pretty lady, you ruuule…”
A cheering crowd gathered around, making Lady Karina squirm in embarrassment.
Unfortunately, this made her look even more adorable to the crowd, whose cheers intensified until she reached her limit and ran away.
“Karinaaa…”
“Karina, wait! Sir!”
Tama and Pochi went running after her.
Realizing they’d overdone it, the crowd looked sheepish and gradually broke up.
“Sorry, Liza, but could you go after them?”
“Of course, sir.”
Liza chased after the three.
“Thank you for assisting us in arresting those scoundrels,” the man who seemed to be the leader of the guards said to me.
Behind us, the guards were interrogating the tied-up suspects.
“Spit it out! Who was the client?!”
“Beats me! Whaddaya mean?!”
“Don’t play dumb! We know you transported some suspicious tools in the underground tunnels last night!”
Suspicious tools in underground tunnels?
Were these guys actually responsible for the monster incidents yesterday?
“Thank you again for your help!” the leader repeated to me. “Might I ask your name?”
“Oh, we were just passing through,” I responded with a smile, then took my leave.
Out of curiosity, I stayed nearby and listened in while waiting for Lady Karina and the others to return.
“If we don’t tell you who the client was, you’ll hang us instead…?”
At that threat, one of the men reluctantly muttered, “It was some high-class guy.”
“And his name?”
“No idea. The guy who hired us was some snobby old coot who introduced himself as ‘a servant to a high-class fellow.’”
He said it was a middle-aged man without any particularly distinguishing qualities.
“You didn’t follow him?”
Unable to resist my curiosity, I interjected with the help of my “Interrogation” skill.
“Sure we did. The person who was waiting for the client yelled at him by name, all right?”
“And that name was?”
“I’ll tell you if you let me go—gah!”
As the man started trying to negotiate, the guards kicked him mercilessly, trying to get him to spill the information.
I wished they wouldn’t use such violent techniques in public; they might scar any children who happened to see it.
“Sir Pendragon, and Miss Pochi and Miss Tama, thank you so much for your help!”
“Eh-heh-heh, sir!”
“Nyeh-heh-heh…”
Pochi and Tama giggled bashfully at the guard leader’s praise.
Just as a veritable torture session was starting in the street, Pochi and Tama came back with Lady Karina in tow. I quickly put them to work as the “merciless torturers Pochi and Tama” to demonstrate a better torture method.
“Pochi is a tickling pro, sir!”
“Coochy-cooo…?”
Seeing the two girls wriggle their fingers, the stern faces of the guards broke into smiles.
“Now our investigation can continue. If you’ll excuse us.”
The guards bowed to us and left—dragging the captured men along with them, of course.
“They said the last name was Merkray, right? Do you think that’s really who’s behind the monster outbreaks?”
“I doubt they’ll get arrested on a single testimony.”
That was a major noble family, after all.
“But isn’t that particular noble famous for bad behavior?” Lady Karina asked.
I explained to her that if there wasn’t any evidence, they would likely talk their way out of it.
I tried searching the map, but none of the members or servants of the Merkray family belonged to the demon lord–worshipping Light of Freedom guild, and I didn’t see any demonic potions or ingredients in their homes or storehouses.
Although they were in a gray zone for sure, there was no proof that they were absolutely evil.
I could probably just wait for the prime minister’s spies and guards to figure it out.
Even snooping with my Space Magic spells like Clairvoyance and Clairaudience, I didn’t catch any conveniently suspicious conversations or scenes.
“Meeeat…?”
“Mr. Bug Legs, sir.”
As we walked toward the main street where our carriage was waiting, Tama and Pochi pointed at a cart covered with cloth. The leg of an insect-like monster was peeking out from a tear in the fabric. They must be transported monster corpses.
“Looks like some of the dead monsters from yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” Arisa tilted her head. “But this place is quite far away from where we were yesterday, isn’t it?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? There were several other monster outbreaks yesterday besides the one that we ran into.”
I repeated the information from the prime minister to my group.
Since Lady Karina was also with us, I didn’t mention who I’d heard it from.
“Let’s go to the scene of the crime! They say criminals always return there!” Arisa cried, and so we set out in the carriage to tour the sites of the incidents.
Many of them—four of the five, in fact—were in the lower part of the city.
Guards had blocked off the areas of the monster attacks, and we even saw some priestesses from nearby temples performing purifications on the area.
“Master, over there.”
At one of the locations, Liza whispered to me and pointed discreetly at a weaselfolk man in a hooded cloak.
He seemed to be using a recognition-inhibiting item, but my AR told me that his real identity was the same mage I’d seen at the Sahbe Company.
“Satou.”
“Master, suspicious persons spotted, I report.”
This time, Mia and Nana were pointing at a group of men in robes with hoods pulled low over their eyes. According to my AR display, they were members of the casual occult group Wind of Freedom.
“Oh, don’t worry about them,” I said.
No doubt they were just exchanging conspiracy theories and fantasies about the strange incidents.
“Master, what is that?”
As we passed a park nearby, Lulu tugged my sleeve.
I whirled around, expecting some new commotion, but…
“Is that…kamishibai?”
“Wow, I didn’t know they had that here, too.”
It looked strikingly similar to a Japanese form of street theater, not unlike a puppet show but with paper characters and backgrounds. I asked the driver to stop so we could get out.
“Oh? There’s a snake charmer here, too.”
“Maybe they’re in vogue right now?”
There were other street performers practicing here and there, too.
We chatted about it as we walked toward the kamishibai storyteller.
“Larvae!” Nana exclaimed.
The storyteller was surrounded by an audience of children.
“Candy is one penny coin apiece! Kids who buy candy can sit up front, the rest in back.”
It appeared that the performance itself was free, with the money for candy being the performer’s main source of income.
“Wow, that’s amazing… Wonder if it’s candied plums?”
“Candied plums? Nope, only syrup candy here.”
The storyteller opened the jar hanging from his neck and showed us the candy inside.
It wasn’t the kind of transparent mizuame syrup you’d see in modern Japan, but the slightly brown-tinted malt candy we’d seen back in Ougoch Duchy.
“I’ll buy one for everyone.”
“Thank ya kindly!”
I handed over a silver coin. Rather than get change back, I asked him to give a piece to each of the kids gathered around the little theater instead.
I’d feel awkward if we were the only ones who got candy.
“Long, long ago…in the times before the capital was moved here, this was a dangerous place, where monsters from the Azure Lands attacked almost every day.”
The kamishibai storyteller began his tale. The title was “The Ancestral King and the Evil Ghost King.”
“Then one day, who should arrive but…”
“The ancestral king!”
“Lord Yamato!”
“The kiiing.”
The children, who must have seen this many times already, called out before the storyteller could finish his sentence.
“Yes, indeed. It was none other than our great ancestral king, who defeated the great demon lord and founded the Shiga Kingdom!”
The kids cheered at the storyteller’s dramatic proclamation.
As the story went on, parents who had lost their children to monsters, kids whose parents had been killed by monsters, and other such victims asked the ancestral king Yamato to do something about the monsters that kept coming from the Azure Lands.
But the newly formed kingdom didn’t have enough military might to fight them all off, leaving the people disappointed with their king.
Then, just as the king was lamenting this powerlessness in the royal castle…
“Out of nowhere, a voice spoke to the ancestral king: ‘O great leader of humanity.’ The ancestral king followed the voice deep into the forest, where a maiden stood waiting!”
The storyteller made sound effects with a small gadget.
“‘Gather the holy vessels from the fallen kingdom of the Azure Lands. Once you have collected enough, I shall teach you how to perform a ritual that will prevent monsters from approaching.’ With that, the girl vanished, even as the ancestral king exclaimed, ‘Please tell me your name!’ And so the king sent a team of powerful knights to the remains of the Flue Empire in the great desert to search for holy vessels.”
Yikes. I know this is fiction, but that’s a pretty harsh order.
Maybe this story is based on those English legends about knights and kings?
“‘O maiden! I have gathered the vessels!’ the ancestral king declared on a hill, and sure enough, the girl appeared in a flash of light.”
A paper depicting a triangle of yellow light was added to the scene, then taken out of the frame to reveal the maiden. He probably took out another layer of paper along with the triangle to create that effect.
“‘So you have fulfilled your end of the pact. Now allow me to fulfill mine,’ the maiden said, and lo! She was surrounded by light and became a giant Holy Grail!”
The storyteller used an instrument hanging from his belt to create a dun-dun! sound, drawing the children into the story so raptly that they forgot to keep eating their candy.
“‘O priestesses, use these Holy Chalices to help the great ancestral king. O king, use the power contained within them to fend off the monsters,’ said the maiden, and the priestesses began the ceremony. They gathered all the wickedness and evil spirits that attract monsters into the Holy Chalices and transformed them into a giant black beast.”
This was punctuated with an imitation of a fearsome roar.
The more easily frightened children covered their ears and closed their eyes, while the older kids watched more intently so they wouldn’t miss a single moment of the climax.
“This beast attacked the priestesses who were performing the ritual before the holy vessels! But of course, they were in the presence of the greatest hero of all time! A king among kings! Our great ancestral founder! The ancestral king drew the Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis, jumped in front of the monster, and—KER-SLASH!—cut it right in two!”
The storyteller swiftly swapped in a picture of the ancestral king cutting the giant monster in half and used a cymbal-like instrument attached to the picture stage to create a crashing sound.
“The ancestral king’s so cooool!”
“When I grow up, I’m gonna be a knight and serve the king!”
“Me too!”
The boys and girls alike gazed at the image of the ancestral king and the Holy Sword with sparkling eyes.
“Thus, the monsters were banished from this land forevermore, and the ancestral king created a new royal capital in this very place!”
“That’s why there’s no monsters in the royal capital!”
“My mommy said the royal capital is the only place with safe farmland outside the city walls, too.”
“Boooo, I knew that.”
The children gleefully exchanged their own pieces of knowledge, no longer listening to the storyteller, even though he was still speaking.
“Well, at any rate, the Evil-Cleansing Ceremony is still held every year on New Year’s Eve. It is a day to celebrate the ancestral king’s greatness and pray to the gods.”
Wrapping up the story, the storyteller explained this last part to the kids.
“My family’s gonna go to Parion Temple.”
“We worship our statue of the ancestral king at home.”
“Well, we’re going to Garleon Temple.”
I hadn’t realized that the Evil-Cleansing Ceremony was so well-known among the general public of the royal capital.
“It was a bit long-winded, but not half-bad, I suppose,” Arisa commented airily.
“That’s not true, sir! It was very, very interesting and good, sir!” Pochi responded fervently. “We can’t just sit around, sir! Pochi’s creative urges are on fire, sir!”
This performance appeared to have stirred Pochi’s story-loving soul.
I watched fondly as Pochi’s eyes blazed with excitement, and we went back to our royal capital mansion right away.
“Now then, what shall we do today?”
There were three days left until New Year’s Eve, and we had the peerage and promotion ceremonies on New Year’s Day, but no major plans until then.
Some of my acquaintances, like the nobles I knew from the old capital and Mrs. Ema Litton and her friends, sent me invitations to everything from evening parties to daytime tea parties and garden parties. I only attended some of them, though; too much partying in a row was exhausting.
If possible, I wanted to meet with Viscount Siemmen and request some new scrolls before the end of the year. However, we were having trouble lining up our schedules, since the end of the year was a busy time for behind-the-scenes work for upper nobles.
Viscount Nina of the Muno Barony was hard at work, too, and even the normally laid-back and timid Baron Muno himself was doing his best for the sake of his people and his family.
“I’m going to do some paperwork for Miss Nina this morning. Then in the afternoon, the Echigoya Company is having an information session about the franchising, so I’m going to go observe that as well.”
Arisa had her hands full, too.
“I’m thinking of researching osechi dishes for New Year’s until the holiday arrives.”
“I’ll come help out when I can.”
“Thank you!”
Lulu smiled brightly.
The only recipes we had for osechi, the traditional Japanese New Year’s dishes, were given to us by the elf chef Ms. Nea, but they were almost laughably inaccurate imitations of the real thing.
Unfortunately, neither Arisa nor I knew any osechi recipes, and the ones left by previous heroes and reincarnations were few and far between.
However, I was going to borrow a collection of recipes from the old capital’s food-loving noble pair, Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen. They should be arriving on an airship tomorrow.
“Concert hall.”
Mia wanted to perform on the stage at the concert hall again.
“Pochi is writing with fiery passhun, sir!”
Evidently, Pochi was still working on a novel after being struck by inspiration yesterday.
“I wish to frolic with larvae, I declare.”
“Are you visiting some orphanages? There are a few different ones between the temples and the government and such.”
I used my map search to find one that was close to our mansion and in a safe area, the Parion Temple orphanage.
Since I hadn’t yet gone to any temples to make donations, I decided to accompany her there so I could do just that.
“Tama, are you sculpting today?”
“Aye.” Tama nodded.
“And Ms. Liza? A food tour, maybe?”
“No, I could use a bit more exercise. I’m going to practice with my spear somewhere.”
“How about the Holy Knights’ garrison?”
“Goodness, no. I’d hate to have to turn them down if they invite me to join, and I prefer not to attract unwanted attention.”
Unlike Labyrinth City, there weren’t many places to practice with a spear in the royal capital except for private land, martial arts halls, and military training grounds.
And while there were plenty of martial arts halls around, it would be considered a challenge if you showed up to one whose style you didn’t practice, which ruled them out as an option.
“No need to worry. I know a discreet area near the outer walls.”
Liza described a place she’d found on her morning marathons.
It sounded fine for practicing form, but someone as powerful as Liza couldn’t exactly go all out there.
I decided to look for a place where she and the others could train after I escorted everyone.
“Master.”
Nana called out to me near the temple.
After I took Arisa, Tama, and Mia to their respective activities, I came to the nearby Parion Temple with Nana. In the enormous royal capital, there were four temples for Parion alone; the one nearest our mansion was the second largest.
“Seems like a quiet place.”
“Yes, master.”
It wasn’t quite what I’d expected, considering that Oracle shrine maidens had been fainting and the priestesses were declaring, “Unprecedented danger is approaching the royal capital.”
Maybe that really was just a line to garner more donations, like I’d heard someone say.
“I hear the larvae calling, I report.”
Oof, that line sounded like something out of a horror game involving a sanity meter.
Nana was clearly itching to follow the sound of children’s voices in the orphanage behind the temple.
“Wait, Nana. Let’s make donations at the temple first.”
That way, I figured we were less likely to be reported to the guards as suspicious intruders. I took Nana’s hand and dragged her into the temple, where I donated a small pouch full of gold coins.
“We were hoping to observe the temple orphanage if possible…”
For some reason, that request changed the priest’s expression of barely suppressed glee at the large sum to one of knowing comprehension.
Confused though I was, I followed him along with Nana to the orphanage.
“Master, Lawrence is here surrounded by larvae, I report.”
At that, I peeked beyond the hedges and saw Lawrence—Arisa’s nickname for Cardinal Hozzunas—playing with a gaggle of orphanage children.
“Your Grace, allow me to introduce Sir Pendragon of the Muno Barony, who offered a generous donation to the temple. Sir Knight, this is His Grace Cardinal Hozzunas of the Parion Province.”
The priest introduced us.
He must have misunderstood my donation as a request to be introduced to the cardinal.
“We meet again, Sir Pendragon.”
“It is an honor as always, Your Grace.”
Nana was fidgeting eagerly as we greeted each other, so I got the priestesses’ permission and sent her to play with the children.
“Is that lovely young lady your bride-to-be?”
“No, she’s a fellow explorer, something like a family member. Do you come here regularly, Your Grace?”
“Indeed. Not every day, but it is a clergyman’s duty to commune with these young minds directly and tell them of the holy teachings.”
I wish that priest was half this pious.
“Your Grace…”
A priestess who was on standby between the orphanage and the temple called out to the cardinal.
“Is it that late already? My apologies, Sir Pendragon. I would have liked to discuss faith with you a little longer, but it seems my time is up.”
The cardinal excused himself apologetically and left the orphanage with the priestess.
Based on their conversation that I overheard with my “Keen Hearing” skill, they were heading to the largest Parion Temple in the royal capital for a meeting about the Evil-Cleansing Ceremony.
“Master! May I feed the children some candy, I inquire?”
I first asked the priestess-in-training who was watching them, then told Nana she could give them one each so they wouldn’t get cavities. Noticing the young priestess-in-training’s envious expression, I gave her one of the candies, too.
After watching over Nana and the children for a while, I returned to our manor.
“There’s no one here, even though it’s not far from the royal capital.”
“Just so, master.”
Once I got back, I brought Liza with me to a teleport point on the outskirts of the city using the Return spell, and we made our way to one of the monster territories south of the capital.
This desolate valley was surrounded on all sides by the territories of other monsters.
It should be a safe place for my group to train in combat.
“Master, a three-headed hydra.”
Three heads were peeking out of a swamp nearby. It was hard to tell since the rest of it was underwater, but it looked like the hydras here didn’t have wings, unlike the ones in the Muno Barony.
“Looks like that swamp is this territory’s magic pool.”
This was the perfect place to set up our secret base: We could get here with just one use of the Return spell from the royal capital, and it had its own magic pool—a small-scale mana source.
“Shall I remove any monsters that might be a nuisance?”
I almost felt like we were the bad guys here, but I gave Liza the go-ahead. We were running low on all that hydra meat we used to have anyway.
“Yeah, thanks. Can you lead the monster out into the wasteland before you defeat it? I want to check out that swamp.”
“Understood.”
Liza used her ring to produce a stone spear and throw it at the hydra, angering it and guiding it to an open area.
After investigating with my map, I used spells like Clairvoyance and See Through to inspect the muddy swamp and the surrounding area and finally used Magic Hand to collect all the monster bones at the bottom of the swamp into Storage.
Those were probably the hydra’s victims.
There were some human bones and rusted equipment in there, too. They were pretty old, but since some of them were daggers with identifying crests and such, I put them away to return to the families anonymously.
A small stream of water flowed out of the swamp; the gap created by the giant hydra leaving had already filled back up. I didn’t see any river flowing into it. There must be a water source at the bottom of the swamp.
“The miasma’s thick here…”
With my “Miasma Vision,” I saw that the entire swamp was covered in dense miasma, which I cleaned up by unleashing my spirit light, which was usually suppressed.
It would take a few hours for the purification to finish, but by the time it was done, it should become a nice fairy fountain where small spirits would gather.
By the time I had finished my initial investigation, Liza came back, wearing a big smile.
“Master, I have defeated the hydra. I took care not to damage the eyeballs or poison sac.”
“Thank you, Liza. I’ll go recover the hydra, if you could please explore the area. Keep in mind that we want to make it our training ground as you investigate.”
“Understood.”
Once Liza headed out, I went to retrieve the hydra.
She had set aside its three eyes, heart, and liver and removed the large red core. I decided to make it for dinner tonight, as she was no doubt looking forward to it.
“First of all, I guess I’ll check out my new scrolls.”
I had to make a base here, too, but that should be easy enough with the Stone Object spell, and there was plenty of time. It was probably safe to prioritize the fun part.
Number one was the composite spell Create House from the Overgrown Labyrinth.
“Yikes, that’s shabby.”
When I used the scroll, it produced a crudely made hut of wood and straw.
The entrance was so small that even I had to duck to go in, and it was barely big enough for one person to lie down inside. There were gaps between the straw in the ceiling that looked like they would easily let in rain.
I checked that the Create House spell had been registered to my magic menu and used it from there this time.
An image of a house appeared in my mind.
The hut that the scroll had made appeared to be the default; I could alter the design at will.
I had total freedom to make anything from a two-story house to a luxurious mansion. I could even add things like glass windows and chandeliers, though sadly there was no option for setting magic tools inside.
“Wow, it can make a hundred-square-yard single-family home in an instant.”
In under thirty seconds, the spell materialized the kind of generic home you often saw in modern Japan. It was fun to watch the framework and pieces rapidly put themselves together.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t completely perfect. It came equipped with a bathroom, but you would have to attach it to a water supply and a sewage system to avoid things simply leaking out of the house.
“It can make multi-story buildings, too? I wonder…”
I tested it out and found that it could make a house even in the water—or a swamp. While it was totally waterproof, there were still issues like air supply and how to get in and out, making it a less than practical choice.
Still, it was definitely convenient and a lot more flexible for making houses specifically than Stone Object. Making overly elaborate constructions cost a lot of magic, but that wouldn’t be a problem for me: With my ridiculous amount of MP, I could easily make a dozen or so mansions without breaking a sweat.
Number two was the Earth Magic spell Cultivation, also from the Overgrown Labyrinth.
The scroll only tilled a square of earth about the size of a kitchen garden, but once I registered it to my menu, I could use it to till up to thirty acres—ten times the size of a schoolyard—in one go.
“Wow, it’s so soft.”
Where the ground had been dry and gritty before, the Cultivation spell turned it into soft, dark, mulch-like dirt.
I guessed that it must be the same effect as the “Improve Farmland” series of options in the City Core menu.
After testing it out a few times, I found that I could set the cultivation area by opening my map when I used the spell and designating it with lines.
With this method, I realized I could forcibly cultivate areas that would normally be excluded by default, like shrubbery, rocks, and even structures and slopes.
Unlike removing a few roots, cultivating areas with actual trees or large rocks greatly reduced the range, but the default upper limit seemed ridiculously large to me as a Japanese person anyway.
If I combined this Cultivation spell with Create House, I could develop a whole new village in no time flat.
Oh, I know.
Maybe I could sneakily use these spells to help out Sir Gouen, who was being sent to the undeveloped Azure Lands as punishment for his involvement in the attack on Vistall Duchy.
He wasn’t being sent out until the turmoil in the Duchy settled down, but still, I wanted to secretly lend him a hand when the time came.
Now, time for number three.
I chose the last Overgrown Labyrinth scroll, the Summoning Magic spell Summon Bat.
With the scroll, all I could summon was a single palm-size level-1 Small Bat. On top of that, when I summoned it, it just flew off somewhere.
Still, I had high hopes when I used Summon Bat from the magic menu.
Summoning targets appeared in my mind for me to choose from. In addition to the Small Bat from before, I had four new options: Flock of Bats, Giant Bat, Messenger Bat, and Shadowdive Bat. I could also dismiss any bats I had already summoned.
The Small Bat was the same size as before, but it was now level 10 and could obey simple orders.
As the name implied, Flock of Bats could summon anywhere from two to a hundred and twenty Small Bats. I could only give orders to the entire group, not individuals.
When I summoned the flock, the Small Bat I had summoned before it vanished into thin air. So this spell couldn’t do multiple summons, then.
Out of curiosity, I put a marker on a Small Bat and tied a ribbon around its leg before dismissing it, but the marker disappeared as soon as I did so. When I resummoned the Small Bat, the marker didn’t return, and of course there was no ribbon anymore, either.
Now I was curious whether the marker disappeared when it was dismissed or whether the Small Bat itself was permanently gone after dismissal. Since I had no way of verifying, I would have to do some research in the spellbooks next time I went to the forbidden library.
For now, I continued testing out Summon Bat.
The Giant Bat was a large level-10 bat with a wingspan about as wide as my outstretched arms. Like the Small Bat, it could obey simple orders, and I could even see through its eyes like the golems I made with Earth Magic.
In the case of the summoned bats, they were treated as familiars when I borrowed their vision; my name appeared in their detail information. It was possible to keep the summoner’s name from showing up when I summoned them initially, but then I could no longer give orders to the bats I summoned.
The Messenger Bat worked like a carrier pigeon, although just like an ordinary bird, you had to thoroughly teach it its destination in advance. That would make it hard to use—at least, until I realized I could open my map at the same time and send it to anywhere I designated on the map, which made it infinitely more convenient. I pretended not to notice that both its flying range and speed were less than that of a pigeon.
The Shadowdive Bat was a mysterious bat that could indeed sink into shadows and even infiltrate areas I designated on the map or through shared vision by traveling through shadows. Since I could also give it simple orders, it could be very useful for sneaking and spying.
I mean, I could do the same things with Space Magic, but still.
Scroll number four was the Practical Magic spell Rolling Gear, from the Illusion Labyrinth.
It made a transparent gear appear in midair that spun for a few seconds and then disappeared.
When I used it from the magic menu, I could summon up to thirty-two gears ranging from one millimeter to twelve meters in size. I was able to change the speed and direction of the summoned gears’ rotation; by raising it to max speed, they could function as an electric saw.
The speed and rotation could be set at the time of summoning, but I had to be touching the gear to change those settings afterward. Touching them through the use of Magic Hand counted, though, so I didn’t have to worry about accidentally hurting myself.
As they would continue to spin as long as they were provided with magic, I might be able to use them like water wheels or wind turbines or even to make a giant clock.
Even though I wasn’t expecting much out of this one, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it might have a variety of uses.
Maybe I’ll try making a water pump or flower clock connected to the magic pool first?
The last scroll was the Ghost Magic spell Bonecraft.
I tried it on some monster bones from Storage first. Unfortunately, I couldn’t control it very well and wound up making some weird, twisted thing.
> Skill Acquired: “Ghost Magic”
I put points into my newly acquired magic skill and activated it.
Then I tried using Bonecraft from the magic menu.
Now I could actually manipulate bone with ease. It was almost like working with clay.
I’d been wanting to try this spell since I saw accessories made of bone at a stall in Labyrinth City a while back.
The spell worked on bone, horns, claws, scales, and so on. I was surprised to find that it could even alter the fragments of claws and fangs from the Evil Dragon of the labyrinth’s Lower Stratum.
“This would’ve made crafting that dragon spear a whole lot easier…”
Feeling painfully aware of the importance of tools, I brought out some things I’d kept stashed away in Storage and fiddled around with them.
Putting the Evil Dragon spear away in Storage, I played with making swords out of hydra fangs, fortress tiger tusks, and so on.
“…Huh?”
The things I made with concentration came out normal, but when I made weapons or armor based on only a vague idea, they wound up looking evil for some reason.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t add on magic circuits during production; if I flowed magic power into them as I worked, though, the core-like components of the monster pieces would crystallize and create pseudo–Magic Swords that were easy to charge with magic.
That wasn’t a big deal since I could make Magic Swords anyway, but it might be nice for making presents for people or things to hide in labyrinth treasure chests. Unlike the Magic Swords I made from molds, they wouldn’t come out all that strong unless I chose the wrong materials.
The next morning, after I pulled an all-nighter working on it, I brought everyone to the base.
“Lots of spirits.”
Mia nodded in satisfaction as she looked at our new base.
“Ooh, I see. You grew ivy and creeping plants around it so people can’t see the house from the outside.”
Arisa crossed her arms and murmured approvingly. Tama and Pochi imitated her pose on either side, nodding along wisely.
“Master, is that a vegetable garden?”
“That’s right. We can grow whatever vegetables or flowers you want, Lulu.”
Lulu’s eyes sparkled as she admired the freshly tilled plot.
“Master, the golem is covered in moss, I report.”
Nana pointed at a defense golem I’d disguised with plants.
“I made it that way on purpose.”
“Understood, I affirm.”
Nana gazed at the defense golem; it appeared she was oddly fond of it.
“What are we going to use this place for?”
“Whatever we want, I guess? Since there’s no one around, we’re free to train, perform, sculpt, or do anything we like.”
As the group celebrated, I reminded them not to tell anyone else about this place.
“Not even Karinaaa?”
“It feels mean to leave her out, sir.”
I knew Tama and Pochi were going to say that.
Before I could figure out how to convince them, Arisa stepped in for me.
“This is Team Pendragon’s secret base, you guys. So we can’t tell Lady Karina about it until she’s strong enough to join Team Pendragon, okay?”
“Master, may I show everyone the training grounds?”
I nodded at Liza, and she ran up the slope of the valley to show the vanguard the training area in the wasteland at the top.
There were areas for Tama’s ninja training, Pochi’s sword-drawing practice, and so on.
It wasn’t quite spacious enough to use the Acceleration Gun, but I did set up a field for Lulu’s target practice.
“This is a pretty little spot, though. I’m surprised no one else was using it, even if it is in the middle of monster territory.”
“Spirits look happy.”
The marshy area Arisa and Mia were admiring was now full of crystal-clear water instead of a muddy swamp. It was probably because my spirit light finished cleansing the miasma.
“I know you didn’t want the teleport point to stand out, but isn’t it a little too small?”
Arisa was critically looking around the hut-size base.
“On the surface, yeah. The rest of it is underground.”
I had used the Earth Magic spell Pitfall to dig out several large shafts, carved some hardy Meteor Shower meteorites into a foundation with Stone Object, and made a five-floor underground structure with Create House. The water and ventilation were taken care of by Rolling Gears that attached to the magic pool.
On top of that, I connected a “False Core” like the one in the Ivy Manor to the magic pool, controlling things within the base like automatic doors, lights, surveillance and alarms, and so on.
“This is the pièce de résistance.”
“A mirror? Wait…could it be?!”
I nodded at Arisa, who appeared to have caught on to the true nature of the silver mirror.
“Yep, it’s a permanent teleport gate.”
It was identical to one in the Ivy Manor; when I brought Nana’s sisters to the Bolenan Forest to train, I got them to share an extra with me. I could theoretically make something like it myself, but it would involve a lot of complicated and annoying work, which was why I opted to use one that already existed.
“Now everyone can come and go from the royal capital manor even without me or Arisa.”
Unlike Teleportation Magic or the teleport gate under the old capital, this could only be used as a wormhole-like portal door between two fixed points.
“It could be good for emergency evacuation, too.”
Emergency? Oh, that’s right…
“Arisa, would you be able to store an airship in your Garage space?”
That would certainly be useful for relocating or escaping in emergencies.
That wasn’t necessary as long as I was around, but we weren’t together all the time.
“Sure, it should fit. All that’s in there right now is sand for sand golems and stones for rock bombing.”
Arisa’s Garage spell was advanced Space Magic that created an alternate dimension for her use alone. Magic power was required for opening and closing the entrance. Unlike the “Item Box” skill, though, it didn’t use any magic for taking items out or putting them in and could store living things and golems.
“All right, I’ll take it out.”
I took out the airship in an open area. With pure-white sails made from the hide of the giant monster fish and glittering gold orichalcum decorations, it made for an impressive sight.
While the steering was simple enough, I had declared the controls off-limits to Tama (who was overly fond of acrobatic movements) and Pochi (who became a completely different person when she got to drive). I planned to put Arisa or Liza in charge of steering if we got into combat.
“Oh? Did you move the six-chambered Magic Cannons that were loaded onto the flying ship?”
Lulu was in charge of fire control, although I was thinking of having Pochi and Tama take care of the multi-mounted Magic Cannons and defenses. Those two really loved reloading the cannons.
I planned to have Mia monitor the air defense radar, but she might not get to do much since Tama’s impressive instincts tended to pick up on things first.
“Yeah, and I put Nana’s Mobile Fortress on there, too, along with the Castle prototype. It has three times the defense of Fortress.”
This was something I’d developed along with some research-loving elves and high elves in the elf village.
Since they were surprisingly hard to control, Nana would probably end up in charge of that along with controlling the engine room.
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
“Its functionality is, anyway. It’s still too big to put into gold armor, but it’ll at least fit on an airship. Plus it’s got plenty of large Holytree Stone furnaces.”
This airship had sixteen Holytree Stone furnaces, eight times as many as the gold armor I’d designed, which was more than enough power.
“Think it’ll fit in your Garage?”
“It’s bigger than I thought, but it’ll fit if I take the stones out.”
“Ooh, rooocks…?”
Tama’s eyes sparkled with excitement at the pile of large stones Arisa produced.
“You’re more than welcome to use them for carving, if you’d like.”
“Yaaay…”
Tama jumped up and down in glee at Arisa’s generous words.
It was just about time for breakfast. I called Liza and the others back, and we returned to the royal capital mansion.
“Have we always had a room like this?” Arisa tilted her head.
“The stairs going up are at the end of that hallway.”
This was a new space I’d made under the garden with the Stone Object spell. The stairs led to a hidden door in my study.
I’d already set up powerful adamantite golems to guard the teleport mirror and set them to allow any of our group to come and go freely.
Since the lock on the hidden door itself was controlled by the scarecrow surveillance golem, these were really just an extra precaution anyway.
“Cooo…”
“Coo-coo, sir.”
“Mrrr. Coo-woo.”
When we came out into the office, Tama, Pochi, and Mia were having a conversation that gave me déjà vu.
“What’s up?”
“I think it’s a carrier pigeon. Look, on its leg…”
Lulu pointed at a bird sitting outside the window.
She was right: Under its colorful feathers, the pigeon had a small cylinder attached to its leg.
I opened the window, and it flew right to my hand.
As soon as I removed the cylinder and took out the folded-up letter, the pigeon turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished.
“Gooone…?”
“It disappeared, sir!”
“Wow, just like a shikigami. Maybe it’s a kind of Summoning Magic?”
“Mrr, spirit?”
While Tama and Pochi exclaimed in shock, Arisa’s and Mia’s theories were rooted in magical disciplines.
I looked over the letter as the girls chattered beside me.
“Well, how about that…”
The letter was from a very unexpected source.
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