Adepts
Satou here. When someone stands out in their field, people tend to say they have natural talent, but I don’t agree with the idea that everything comes down to the gifts someone was born with. It seems to me that it was the person’s effort to polish their skills that really makes them shine.
“Lively.”
The first to comment on the throngs of people along the high street of Parion Province was Mia the elf.
In an attempt to blend in, she was dressed in the traditional garb of Parion Province residents, but when she turned around, her veil fluttered to reveal a glimpse of her pointed ear tips and light blue twintails.
“Paraaade?”
Tama clambered up my body in a blur of short white hair, cat ears, and a cat tail, pointing at the parade on the other side of the crowd.
“Mr. Holy Sword is on the palan-keen, sir!”
Pochi, who sported a brown bob with dog ears and a tail, exclaimed in excitement when she saw someone she knew.
The acquaintance in question was Sir Mezzalt, a Parion Temple Knight and wielder of the Holy Sword Blutgang. He must have been invited to join the parade for his efforts aiding Hayato the Hero with defeating the demon lord.
“The parade is magnificent, I report.”
This straight-faced murmur came from Nana, a busty blond beauty who was actually a homunculus just over a year old. The Parion Province accessories woven into her ponytail jingled in the breeze.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have turned it down?”
Wearing a blond wig to disguise her purple hair, the tiny Arisa got Nana to lift her up for a better view of the parade.
We did indeed decline an offer to participate in the parade.
Princess Mariest and the rest of Hayato’s party had turned it down as well, so it seemed strange for us to participate without them.
In fact, the hero’s loyal followers had already boarded the dimensional submarine Jules Verne that very morning to return to the Saga Empire, with some Parion Province officials and our group seeing them off.
“You do enjoy this sort of thing, don’t you, Arisa?”
Arisa’s elder sister Lulu gave a quiet giggle. With her glossy black hair and gorgeous Japanese features, the word beautiful could only begin to describe her.
The intricate garments of Parion Province suited her wonderfully, too.
“But would it not have seemed arrogant for us to participate when the hero and his party are absent?”
Liza of the orangescale tribe spoke her opinion coolly and politely as always. The scales on her neck and wrists sparkled in the Parion Province sunlight.
“Yeah, I guess so…” Arisa sighed, then perked up. “Oh, the parade’s heading this way.”
The procession was moving from the main street toward the front of the great cathedral.
As we watched, the parade came closer, and I made eye contact with Sir Mezzalt on the palanquin.
“Mrrr?”
“Wow, he’s glaring daggers at you, Master.”
Was he angry that I’d borrowed his Holy Sword without asking when he was unconscious during the fight against the demon lord?
“That’s ridiculous. If he’s going to blame anyone, he should blame himself for being too inexperienced to hold his own against the demon lord for long.”
“Yes, Liza. Mezzalt should remember that Master saved him from danger, I remark.”
Despite my companions’ harsh judgments, I thought that Mezzalt and the Saga Empire’s black knight Ryukken fought pretty hard in the demon lord battle.
“Liza, did you really have to wear armor instead of the traditional dress?”
“Of course. I am Master’s bodyguard, after all.”
Liza’s eyes glinted with pride.
Unlike the others, she wore light armor underneath her veil, and carried her Magic Cricket Spear wrapped in cloth.
The white armor was in my Storage; it would stand out too much in the city, and it needed some maintenance anyway.
“How’s the modified spear working out?”
“I’ve only tested it a little thus far, but I can already tell that it is incredible. I look forward to trying it out against a strong opponent.”
Liza clenched her fist, her fighting spirit on blazing display.
Her beloved spear was sorely outclassed against the likes of a demon lord, so with her permission, I tried fusing it with a shard of Dragon Fang.
When my Ghost Magic spell Bonecraft couldn’t fuse them completely, I added a thin coating around the tip. The fang belonged to the Evil Dragons from the Bottom Stratum of the labyrinth and was enough to enhance its attack power considerably.
The coated Dragon Claw short sword I’d made as a prototype for the spear upgrade was still collecting dust in Storage. Once I improved on it somewhat, I’d have to make more for everyone.
“I’ll find you a chance to do that soon, then.”
“Thank you, Master.”
Of course, we don’t run into demon lord–level opponents very often. But there were bound to be some giant monsters by the inland sea that I could find for her to fight.
“Master, there’s stalls, sir!”
“Smells good?”
“Shall we pick up some snacks?”
“Yaaay!”
“Yes, sir!”
We bought and ate some street food as we headed for the airport of the holy city.
“Mr. Noble!”
When we arrived at the airport, an energetic boy with sandy-colored skin spotted us from the crowd of people in undyed native clothing.
His name was Raito, which sounded like a local version of the English word light. He was a motivated young man who came all the way from a neighboring land to Parion Province to look for his father, who had the regionally unusual name of “Iyusahk.” After a chance encounter, I wound up becoming his guardian and bringing him to the holy city.
Now, thanks to the sage’s referral, he was on his way to the Village of Adepts, where his father would likely be found.
While he called it the “Training Village,” this was evidently a nickname. Its official name was the “Village of Adepts.”
He had a rare skill called “Intuition,” and was scouted to go to the Village of Adepts when this natural talent was discovered.
“Didja come to see me off?”
“No, we’re going to the village with you. I am technically your guardian for now, after all.”
I had to at least make sure he was going somewhere safe. Besides, I was a little curious about this “Village of Adepts” myself.
“You’re goin’ on this ‘airship’ thing, too, then? I’ve never seen a flyin’ machine in my life.”
Raito was gazing up at the airship with the same sparkling eyes as the other kids.
A relic of the Flue Empire era, the hull had a design that was reminiscent of Jomon pottery. It had wings on either side that looked like the masts of a sailing ship.
There was only one airship at the airport’s dock this time, as opposed to the four from last time. This must be our ride to the Village of Adepts.
“The airship will be departing soon, children. Please come aboard.”
A laid-back middle-aged man in a priest’s robes called out to Raito and the other kids. He seemed to be the manager in charge of the group being sent to the Village of Adepts.
The man protested our joining the group at first, but when I showed him the talisman I received from Pontiff Zarzaris as a reward for helping to defeat the demon lord, he quickly changed his tune and permitted us to board.
Clearly, the talisman had more influence than I realized; he lavished us with the royal treatment for the entire journey, making me a little uncomfortable.
“This airship is awfully slow, isn’t it?”
“It seems about right to me. Aside from a little support from wind mages, it’s mostly only propelled by the wind.”
“Mm. Weak wind.”
It certainly felt slow, but even this speed was still three to five times faster than the average carriage.
“But they must at least have a propulsion system for accelerating, right? There were openings on the stern for that. Why don’t they use it, I wonder?” Arisa tilted her head.
“If I may, it’s to save on fuel. Monster cores are very valuable in Parion Province.”
The manager, who’d been trying to calm the excited children, paused to answer Arisa’s question.
“Recently, we’ve had an abundance of cores from defeating the Sandstorm Soldiers, minions of the demon lord who appeared suddenly. However, this is a rare situation. Usually, Parion Province has few monsters, thanks to the goddess’s protection, and we must either send people to neighboring monster territories to collect cores or import them from merchants.”
After that explanation, he went on to tell us about the fuel-saving methods.
In addition to depending on the wind for propulsion, they also filled half the cargo spaces with air sacks full of light gas to make the ship more buoyant, minimizing the stress on the engine. At one point, they’d used hydrogen but had switched to a more stable alchemized gas.
“Wow, that’s very eco-friendly. I bet it reduces operation costs, and probably has lots of other uses, too.”
“Eco-ecooo?”
“Echoes are very important, sir.”
Tama and Pochi latched on to Arisa’s phrase, nodding along wisely.
If there were no monsters that would get in the way of flying in Parion Province, aside from near the Dens of Evil, then it would probably be safe to use a fast airship for travel within their borders, too.
We gazed out the window and chatted with Raito and the other children to pass the time.
Eventually, the scenery changed from a flat wasteland to a hilly area and finally to a foreboding mountainous region.
“We’re here?”
“Goooal, sir.”
The airship landed in a clearing near the mountain village.
“This is the Village of Adepts?”
It was an oddly sized settlement, a bit big to be called a village but too small to be a town.
“It seems average, I report.”
“Not quite, Nana. Take a closer look at that mountain.”
“Yes, Liza. Very mysterious, I report.”
For some reason, only the slope of the mountain behind the village was strangely lush with greenery.
No doubt the sage was doing some kind of forestation experiment.
“And the outer walls are very high for Parion Province.”
Lulu’s observation was right: The wall was over fifteen feet high, a size we hadn’t seen outside the holy city.
Maybe there were monsters or dangerous animals living in this area.
When we descended from the airship, we heard voices clamoring nearby.
“Lively.”
“Yes, this village is full of activity.”
The people on the streets were hurrying along busily, and loud voices rang out from the houses.
“It seems there is extensive practice of martial arts, too.”
Liza was looking toward a distant training field, where a group was calling out drills energetically.
“Mr. Noble! I’mma get registered now.”
We decided to go to the village office with Raito and ask about his father while he was filling out registration paperwork.
I wanted to look into it right away, because his father didn’t show up on my village area map.
“Iyusahk, is it? Just a moment, please…”
At the town hall, a woman in priestess robes flipped through a bulky ledger, looking for the name.
“…It appears he left on a trip to the mines a half moon ago. He was sent to help the priests there.”
That reminded me that Raito said his father had a power similar to Pontiff Zarzaris’s, whose Unique Skill Heal All could cure anyone’s ailments.
“Could I ask for directions to the mine?”
“I’m terribly sorry. I’m afraid only those with the permission of the sage or the pontiff are allowed to visit that area.”
I tried showing her the talisman and asking again, but even then, she just apologized profusely and couldn’t give me permission.
Well, if it was a top-secret area, I supposed there was no point in pushing the subject. Especially since she’d said Raito’s father should be back in ten days or so.
“Mr. Noble! I’m all done!”
When I updated Raito on his father, he grinned and scratched under his nose. “So I’mma see my dad in ten days? Heh-heh, I can’t hardly wait.”
“Oh, are you Raito? I’ll bring you to meet your instructor. Please follow me.”
“Cool! Can Mr. Noble come, too?”
“Mr.…?”
The village office priestess looked at me in confusion. “I’m his guardian for now,” I explained.
“His guardian? I suppose some high-ranking priests have their apprentices check in on things here, although it’s rarely a foreign noble. Still, if you are his guardian, that ought to be fine.”
She gave a slight nod, permitting us to follow.
“Ding, ding?”
“Ding-dong, sir.”
As we passed through the square on our way to our destination, roughly thirty men and women were broken into a few teams having a mock battle.
“The instructors here are very skilled.”
“Yes, Liza. They are watching their students very closely, I praise.”
While no one in the training group particularly stood out, they were all engaged very seriously, clearly not holding back. The instructors were weaving their way through the students, correcting any bad habits and giving them hints.
“Music.”
“Are these local folk instruments, I wonder?”
“What an unusual sound.”
They were clearly practicing, repeating the same phrase over and over.
Some of them had a poor sense of rhythm, which was rather relatable for me.
“Sculptuuure?”
“There’s pottery and woodworking, too, sir!”
There were workshops scattered here and there, all giving lessons, which were fun to watch.
“Hey, Master…” Arisa tugged on my sleeve and whispered in my ear. “Doesn’t something seem kinda off to you?”
“How so?”
“Try ‘Appraising’ them.”
I “Appraised” the students as instructed but didn’t find any with unusual skills.
When I told Arisa as much, she nodded, as if I’d hit the nail on the head.
“For a Village of Adepts, doesn’t it seem like most of the kids don’t have any skills? It doesn’t look like they’re all brimming with natural abilities or talent, as far as I can tell.”
“Aah, I see what you mean…”
Now that she pointed it out, I noticed that while they all seemed enthusiastic, plenty of the students didn’t seem to be naturally “adept” at their field of study.
Maybe it just seemed that way because the teachers were so talented, though.
“This will be your training area.”
As Arisa and I were talking about this, we reached our destination.
Raito entered the building the priestess indicated, and we followed behind her.
“Hello there. Could you tell me your name?”
“My name’s Raito. I know it’s a weird name, but my dad says it means ‘light’ where he grew up.”
Hmm. Maybe it’s just a coincidence?
Raito’s father’s name didn’t sound Japanese, so he probably wasn’t a reincarnation. All the reincarnations and heroes I’d met so far had Japanese names, almost without exception.
“That’s a nice name. So, what is your ‘aptitude,’ hmm?”
“Huh…?”
“The boy’s aptitude is ‘Intuition,’ Guru Alcal.”
As Raito hesitated, the priestess intervened on his behalf.
“I see. Very unusual. Raito, there are lots of children here like you who are too rare to fit into normal classrooms. It’s not bad to be different from other people, though. Trust the sage who discovered you and devote yourself to your training, and I’m sure the Holy Woman will recognize you in time, too.”
With that, the guru introduced Raito to the other children in the classroom and had him sit at a circular table.
Only half listening to the other children’s introductions, I stood in the corner so I wouldn’t disrupt the class, feeling like a guardian on parents’ day.
“I’m Raito. What’s your name?”
Raito started talking to the entitled-looking boy next to him.
“I am Jijireaz, second son of Pastor Yubel of the holy city. Judging by your skin, I’m guessing you’re sandfolk?”
“Yep. Nice to meetcha, Jijireaz.”
“Ha-ha. Damn. I’ve never seen a sandfolk be so casual with a pastor’s son who they just met.”
An impish kid interrupted when he heard Raito’s frank response.
“Cut it out, Karkas. You know the sage says stuff like race and class doesn’t matter in this village. Besides, the Holy Woman taught us…”
“Yeah, I know, Jijireaz. Everyone is born with the equal right to be happy, right?”
This Holy Woman sounded relatively forward-thinking for someone born in this world.
Come to think of it, the sage didn’t really show any prejudice toward beastfolk, either.
“I don’t like sayings that just sound pretty,” Karkas huffed. “I prefer the pontiff’s way of thinking, being practical instead of going on about principles.”
“Gotcha. I’ll tell the Holy Woman you said that next time I see her, then.”
“H-hey, c’mon, don’t do that! I was just joking! I love the Holy Woman, flowery beliefs and all! If she got mad at me, life wouldn’t be worth living.”
Yikes, that wasn’t very nice.
I felt like I was getting a good idea of the Holy Woman’s personality just by listening to the boys.
“Is this Holy Woman pretty? I wanna see her.”
“Yeah, she’s real dainty and beautiful. She’s got white robes that look like clouds, and they look awesome with her hair that’s as black as the night sky. Even when I say stupid stuff, she just smiles and never gets mad.”
I wouldn’t mind meeting her myself.
“Guilty.”
Mia pointed at me, as if she’d read my mind.
Come on, it’s not like I was planning on cheating. Besides, I should be allowed to think whatever I want, at least.
“All right, we’re heading out. If you need anything, just send me a letter. I’ll help out however I can.”
“Thanks, Mr. Noble. I’mma be fine, though. My dad’s gonna be back in ten days.”
I said my farewells with Raito outside the classroom.
Originally, we planned to stay in the village for a few days, but our plans changed when a horse arrived from the holy city with an urgent summons from Pontiff Zarzaris.
The letter from the pontiff said that he was having a celebratory banquet in honor of the Saga Empire party and wanted me to participate as well. The group from the Saga Empire that joined us in exploring the Dens of Evil to defeat the demon lord must have returned to the holy city.
Along with the letter, he even sent a large carriage to pick us up.
It would take some time to reach the holy city by carriage, so we were apparently staying a night in a village along the way.
We decided to have a late lunch at the village’s dining hall.
They served cold carbonated water instead of normal spring water. Evidently, there was a carbonated spring nearby.
“…I can’t say it’s very good.”
“There’s no meat, but it’s not…bad, sir…”
Arisa and Pochi were right. The food at the general dining hall was mediocre at best.
“That’s ’cause we get food that the chefs in training made for practice. Least it’s free, though. If you want good grub, you gotta go to the teachers’ dining hall. The cooking gurus and advanced students make some real good stuff there.”
“Even Adepts gotta train before they get good.”
“Yeah, like how people doing the Rite of the Crescent Moon—”
“Shh…!”
One of the men who was chatting to us cheerfully silenced the other one in the middle of what must have been a slip of the tongue.
It was probably some secret training or ritual that only residents of the village were allowed to know about.
After a moment of awkward silence, one of the men quickly raised his glass and shouted, “To the sage!” prompting another to toast “To the fair Holy Woman!” and soon the room was full of people praising the saint and Holy Woman.
That was a little strange in itself, but at least the awkwardness was cleared up.
We quickly finished our meal and headed toward the carriage that was apparently waiting for us at the entrance to the village.
“Moron! Don’t let your guard down till the very end!”
“But sir—”
“Don’t talk back to me! This is all part of the sage’s teachings!”
“…All right. I’ll do it.”
As we walked down a narrow road, we heard the voices of a master and student from inside a workshop.
“Like I’d work with some stupid sandfolk!”
“Silence, foolish youngster! All the great sage seeks is Adepts! Your race doesn’t matter one bit! If you can’t work together, leave this village right now!”
While it sounded like some of the newbies still had prejudiced views, the gurus who had been trained by the sage had no patience for such things. I was glad I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone treating Raito poorly because he was a sandfolk.
“Now then, everyone. Let us give thanks to the Holy Woman for another blessed day.”
A group of priestesses were praying in some kind of place of worship.
I assumed it was a Parion Temple, since there was a statue of Parion, but they seemed to be praying to the Holy Woman.
Maybe they were worshipping Parion by way of the Holy Woman or something?
“Master, carriage located, I report.”
“Fancy.”
The carriage waiting to pick us up at the village entrance was of the luxurious sort reserved for bishops and higher-ranking priests in the holy city. This might be my first time riding in a carriage pulled by six horses. Hopefully, that meant the ride wouldn’t be too hard on our rear ends.
“Starviiing?”
As we approached the village where we’d be staying the night, Tama gazed out the window and commented quietly.
“What, you’re hungry again already?”
“Noooo…”
Tama pointed outside the carriage.
A number of sandfolk were slumped in the shade of trees that looked like baobabs.
“Maybe they’re just cooling off?” Arisa suggested.
There was indeed a cool breeze coming from the direction of the shade where the people were resting.
The breeze had an unusually high moisture level for the normally dry air of Parion Province. There were short shrubs and moss growing around the trees, almost like a natural green carpet.
“But they’re skinnyyyy?”
“They don’t have much energy, sir.”
Checking my map, I saw that many of them had the “Hunger” condition, and a few were even all the way to “Starving.”
I decided to bring food to the local temple later and see if they could run a soup kitchen.
“Do you think they had a poor harvest?”
“But the field over there looks like it’s bearing plenty of fruit.”
Lulu pointed at a field that was full of black leaves.
According to my AR display, it was a vegetable called nilbok. I hadn’t seen any in the holy city.
Just then, a human man with a healthy complexion approached the people resting beneath the trees, his shoulders squared and lackeys in tow.
“Damned lazy sandfolk! Get back to work!”
“B-but milord, we’re too hungry to move…”
“Quit complaining! I just fed you some nilbok yesterday!”
The sandfolk laborer didn’t appear to be a slave, but he was certainly being treated like one.
“…That nasty stuff don’t even count as food.”
“How dare you!” The human man flew into a rage at a muttered comment from one of the sandfolk. “We’re only stuck growing nilbok because you bastards won’t let us cut down the breezebranch trees! If you don’t like nilbok, I’d be happy to get rid of those awful trees that kill the rest of our crops!”
Considering all the weeds and moss growing near these “breezebranch trees,” I suspected that rather than spreading toxins, they were simply stronger at drawing water out of the soil than were ordinary plants and produce.
“P-please don’t!”
“The breezebranch tree is our guardian deity!”
“You can’t cut them down, no matter what!”
The sandfolk stood up shakily, putting themselves between the man and the breezebranch trees.
Although the situation seemed like it might escalate at any moment, the man’s lackeys managed to calm him down and avoid disaster.
“Hmph, if you don’t want those trees cut down, you’d better make do with nilbok!”
At this, the sandfolk were driven back to their farm work.
“That’s right, work, you scum! This is part of your training! If you build up good deeds and earn the blessing of Goddess Parion, you might be lucky enough to be reborn as humans in your next life.”
Now that was some serious hate speech.
Arisa started rolling up her sleeves. I managed to stop her from jumping out of the carriage and giving him a piece of her mind.
“How awful…! Here I thought there wasn’t much discrimination in this country. Obviously, some people still manage!”
Arisa muttered darkly.
Discrimination was still widespread even in twenty-first-century Earth. Maybe some humans will always be like this no matter where you go.
“It’s like this within the town, too, huh…?”
The provincial town was so destitute that it was hard to believe it was so close to the flourishing holy city.
All the manual labor was done by sandfolk and other demi-humans, and we saw several priests and other humans abusing them horribly in the name of ascetic “training.” Treatment of the sandfolk was especially poor.
“The temple is very elaborate.”
“Hmm, I smell an evil priest at work here…”
Given that this nation is named after Parion, I don’t think it’s all that unusual for a temple that also serves as a government building to be so notable.
“Good evening, honored guests. We have prepared an evening meal for you as well, humble though it may be. We would be most appreciative if you might regale us with stories of the conquest of the demon lord at the dinner table.”
An exceedingly humble holy overseer welcomed us in, and an amiable priest led us to get settled in our lodging, which was normally reserved for high-ranking priests.
“This place is even more luxurious than the nobles’ hotels in Shiga Kingdom.”
“Pretty carviiings?”
“Mm. Elegant.”
Tama and Mia took a keen interest in the carvings on the furniture and pillars.
“Please relax and make yourselves at home until dinner. If you wish for any assistance, you need only ring this bell, and I or one of your assigned priests-in-training will come to your aid at once. Please do not hesitate to call on us.”
This priest didn’t seem to have any prejudices or reactions toward other races; he treated the beastfolk girls and Mia exactly the same as the rest of our group. He seemed like a trustworthy guy.
“Well, I would like to distribute some food to the less fortunate. Is there any way I could get permission from the holy overseer or the head priest?”
The “holy overseer” was the local equivalent of the Shiga Kingdom’s “constable” or “viceroy.”
“By ‘the less fortunate,’ am I correct in thinking you mean the sandfolk and other minorities?” The priest lowered his voice as he asked.
I nodded. “Why, will that be a problem?”
“I’m afraid both the holy overseer and the head priest are firmly human supremacists…”
“Would it help if we made an offering to the temple?” Arisa asked, poking her head in through the doorway.
“That is certainly a possibility. Each has all manner of expenses for their expected service in the holy city, I imagine.”
If money could solve the problem, then the rest was simple.
I handed the priest a pouch full of gold coins as an offering to the temple. Though I tried to give him a few coins for his trouble as well, he rejected that as unnecessary. I guess not all the priests at this temple are corrupt.
Before long, he returned with the permission I requested, and I gave out ingredients and wages to the staff they assigned to give out the food. It wasn’t much, but the subordinate workers of the temple happily accepted it. I figured people would be more likely to accept food from temple workers than from a stranger like me anyway.
Since it was nearly time for dinner, I sent the rest of my group back to our rooms to get dressed.
Since many of the priests attending the dinner were prejudiced against other races, only Nana and I were joining. The temple staff agreed to bring food to the room for the rest of our members.
“Discrimination runs deep here, I declare.”
Nana and I were all dressed up and on our way to the banquet.
“The existence of the demon lord’s minions, the Sandstorm Soldiers, worsened the discrimination against sandfolk. However, it’s also because they were considered savages that attacked humans since before Parion Province was founded.”
The priest looked sheepish as he explained why racism against sandfolk was so strong.
It was similar to how people in Seiryuu City were strongly prejudiced against beastfolk.
All the priests, save for the holy overseer, were already seated at the banquet hall.
“Welcome, Sir Pendragon. And is this your wife, I presume?”
The head priest spread his arms wide from the host’s seat, welcoming us.
“Pleased to meet you, Head Priest. This is Nana—my vassal, not my wife.”
“Oh-ho, is that right? Small wonder that as an upper noble of a large nation even your vassals are beautiful.”
This was my first time meeting the head priest, but he was already very friendly. Maybe that was due to the donation I made through the priest.
Finally, the holy overseer entered the room, and the banquet began.
The luxurious temple dinner was in stark contrast with the starving people on the streets. I had seen most of the dishes served at our lodgings in the holy city, many of which involved a lot of time and preparation.
Each of the seats had a young priest or priestess in training on standby to wait on us. Despite the fact that most of the guests were priests, who I thought believed in living a modest lifestyle, their finely tailored robes and expensive accessories would have fit right in with those of any nobles.
Still, I kept my opinions to myself. It wouldn’t be mature to insult people who were welcoming me.
Nana and I told the story of the hero’s defeat of the demon lord, at the priests’ request. I sprinkled in some extra embellishments about the Temple Knights’ contributions, since I figured they’d appreciate the lip service.
“Welcome baaack?”
“Welcome back, sir.”
When we finished the banquet and returned to the room, we were greeted by some odd-smelling food.
“Is this what they gave you for dinner? There’s only one plate…”
“Ah-ha-ha, no, no. We had ourselves a whole feast.”
Arisa explained that since the vegetable called “nilbok” wasn’t used in their dinner, she asked them to prepare some as an experiment.
“It resembles a black carrot, I report.”
“Yes, I’ll admit its appearance isn’t very enticing…”
Lulu laughed as Nana prodded the food with her chopsticks.
“We were just about to do a taste test. You should try it with us, Master.”
The scent wasn’t terribly appetizing, either, but I was curious to at least try it. I braced myself and picked up a piece with my chopsticks.
“…Blegh, tastes like gabo fruit.”
Arisa was right: The nastiness was a close match for gabo fruit, the utterly disgusting fantasy vegetable produced in Shiga Kingdom. The combined bitterness and sourness resulted in a violently unpleasant tap dance on the tongue.
According to the priest who was looking after us, it was a famine relief crop imported from the Garleon Alliance; despite its dreadful flavor, it was also so nutritious that one could eat it for every meal and not get sick.
It was able to grow in even the most barren soil, and it served as a staple food for the poorer residents.
“This stuff is their staple food? That sounds horrible.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
Maybe the power of the Parion Province City Core was used more for fending off monsters than for successfully growing crops.
I traded some wheat for a small supply of nilbok so I could at least research whether there was any way to make it taste better. I might as well do some experiments during our stay in Parion Province. Maybe it could be used to make a nutritional supplement, like we did with gabo fruit.
While I thought about all this, I made my way alone to Bolenan Forest to work on the silver armor.
I managed to avoid the interference of the winged fairies long enough to enjoy a little rendezvous with Miss Aaze, then headed to the research lab I was borrowing.
“…Huh?”
When I searched my Storage to take out the silver armor for repairs and tweaking, it came up with a list of nearly twenty hits.
“What’s going on?”
It was only then that I realized my silly mistake.
I’d made the silver armor as the girls’ public-facing equipment for the demon lord battle…but before that, I’d made a sort of economy-style white armor along with some scarlet leather armor.
“Oh well, I guess that’s fine…”
I didn’t quite trust the economy version in a demon lord battle, so it wasn’t a big deal that I’d forgotten about them. I could probably modify the sizes to fit Nana’s sisters and Miss Karina.
I would have to make more in that case, since I didn’t have enough in adult sizes. Maybe I should make some for Zena, too?
While I did maintenance on my group’s silver armor, I also started manufacturing more adult-size frames and adjusting the magic circuits. I changed my name before doing any of this, of course, even though my recognition-inhibiting circuits are good enough that very few people would ever be able to read the creator’s name in the first place.
I put all my attention into my work. By the time it was all done, the sun had risen.
Luckily, there was enough of a time difference that I figured I could have a nice breakfast with Miss Aaze before I returned.
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