The Old Capital in Turmoil
Satou here. In a psychological manga I once read, there was a line that went something like, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I suppose this mantra might apply in parallel worlds, too.
“You wait here, Sara. I’ll take care of His Highness.”
“No, I’ll go with you.”
Miss Ringrande wanted to protect Sara, but she was too stubborn to hide away and let someone else take care of it.
She had no apparent intention of letting go of my hand, either. She led me toward the door to the temple, too.
I told Arisa and Mia to go join Liza and the rest.
Unfortunately, we ended up running into the prince and his attendants on the way to the temple’s drawing room.
The only attendants with the prince this time were the boy knight and one of the chamberlains. There was no sign of the shield-bearing knight who had kept him in line before.
“How unusual to see you set foot inside a temple, Your Highness.”
“Rin! So it was you riding that wooden Pegasus!”
The prince was all smiles, in stark contrast with Ringrande’s displeased expression.
“Please do not call me by a nickname, Your Highness.”
“Why not? What’s wrong with using a nickname for my fiancée?”
“Your former fiancée. I obtained permission from His Majesty before leaving the kingdom.”
So she’d had enough of his philandering, basically.
The prince, on the other hand, didn’t seem to know when to give up.
“Those are your words, not mine. I don’t recall approving of any such thing. I’ve dealt with all my illegitimate children, and Yureen and Demetina have both agreed to welcome you. What’s the problem?”
What, indeed? Even I can tell that there are plenty of problems here. For one thing, his use of the phrase dealt with was definitely alarming. I had no desire to become any more acquainted with his dark side.
“Have you forgotten what you did to a bride the night before her marriage into another family? It nearly caused a county to defect from the kingdom.”
“Razena? That’s already taken care of. And that churlish duke has been replaced.”
The prince’s smile couldn’t have been any scarier if he tried. For lack of a better word, it made him look soulless.
“…So, what business might you have at the temple today?”
Glowering at the prince, Sara stepped in to interrupt.
“Why, you insolent—”
The back of the prince’s hand flew toward Sara’s face.
“Ah!”
A heavy thud overlapped with Sara’s scream.
There was no way I was just going to stand by without protecting her, of course.
The prince’s hand, clad in a metal gauntlet, was stopped dead by my own palm.
Clearly, he had planned to backhand her with all his strength.
If he hit an ordinary girl like that, her neck would probably snap, killing her instantly. Even Sara, who was level 30, would’ve undoubtedly sustained a severe injury.
“Your Highness!”
Miss Ringrande stepped toward the prince menacingly, but he held her off with one arm and glared at me.
“Interrupting my conversation with Rin was bad enough, but making physical contact with royalty? That’s a guaranteed death sentence, plebian.”
Wow. I’ve never been called a “plebian” in real life before.
“Do it.”
“Yes, sir! It’s okay if I take both of them out, riiight?”
The young knight drew his sword.
How could anyone want to cause bloodshed at a temple in a world where gods were real, tangible beings?
“Stop!” Ringrande shouted.
“Sorry! Prince’s orders, I’m afraid.”
Ignoring her, the boy pointed his sword toward me.
In reality, it would be easy for me to defeat him in combat, but I could get in big trouble if the action was construed as drawing my sword on royalty. Instead, I decided to take the classic Japanese strategy of nonaggressive defense.
Stepping in front of Sara to protect her, I pulled out a wet towel from Storage by way of the Garage Bag and used it to intercept the young knight’s sword. I’d forgotten to put it in the laundry after bathing yesterday.
“What in the world is that? Some kind of magic item?”
“It’s just a towel.”
“A towel?! Don’t you dare mock me!”
Oddly enough, the boy didn’t like my honest answer to his question. Flying into a rage, he came at me like a berserker. All right, then.
“I thought I told you to stop.”
Just then, Miss Ringrande’s sword came up and stopped his.
Thank goodness. I didn’t want my favorite towel to get ripped.
“Tch! It’s impolite to interrupt a battle, you know. But if it means I can fight the Witch of Heavenly Destruction, I’ll be happy to take care of those nobodies later.”
The boy knight licked his lips eagerly, but I was pretty sure he was thoroughly outclassed.
Sure enough, the young man was on the temple floor with a broken sword in a matter of seconds.
“What is the meaning of this?!” the prince demanded.
“I’d like to ask you the same question. First you try to kill my little sister, then my apprentice who protected her? Are you perhaps trying to get the Ougoch Duchy to withdraw from the Shiga Kingdom this time?”
Miss Ringrande’s tone was dripping with sarcasm.
“This brat is your younger sister? What a terribly plain child. To think that I should have to marry such a girl…”
“Excuse me? Are you out of your mind?”
The prince’s remark was a bombshell, but Miss Ringrande could get herself accused of treason with a reply like that.
Sara, unable to process the sudden turn of events, clung to my sleeve and listened nervously.
“I’m quite sane, thank you. I must wed the daughters of three dukes to attain the rank of emperor.”
“Are you trying to usurp the throne? Everyone knows that Prince Sortorik is an excellent heir, skilled with both the pen and the sword.”
“Usurp, you say? Hmph, so you support that so-called prodigy, too…” The prince scoffed at Ringrande’s anger. “Don’t you know why the ‘Oracle’ was split between temples?”
Hmm? Does the prince know why?
Miss Ringrande looked shaken by the prince’s confidence.
“What do you…?”
“The time of great upheaval is upon us. An era of drastic change will come, just as when the ancestral king and the first hero of the Saga Empire founded the kingdom.”
It was as if the prince was delivering a monologue onstage.
Miss Ringrande was too entranced by his words to move.
As for myself, I wished he’d refrain from using loaded phrases like great upheaval and era of change. That was sure to trigger some dangerous flags.
“And it is I, Sharorik Shiga, who will defeat the demon lord, overcome the trials of the era, and create a new kingdom—no, a new empire of all humanfolk!”
Since there were no middle names in this kingdom, his dramatic declaration of his name felt a bit lacking.
“Rin! Abandon the hero of the Saga Empire and return to me! If you do so now, I shall forgive the past and welcome you with open arms!”
The prince had decided to shelve their former issues as he tried to win back Ringrande.
Miss Ringrande’s eyes, on the other hand, were so cold they could’ve frozen a bonfire.
Just as she opened her mouth to give a sharp response, though, more red dots appeared on my radar.
In addition to the two representing the prince and the boy knight, there were now ten others.
Seven were in the plaza in front of the Tenion Temple, while three more were behind it.
According to my map search, the three in front were remaining Wings of Freedom members, while the rest belonged to the assassins’ guild Hog’s Hoof.
The former group must have been the ones who came on that ship. Wondering what happened to the guards I sent, I checked the ship to see that they were locked in a fierce battle with the other Wings of Freedom members.
Come on, you’re not supposed to trigger events in two different places at once.
“Lady Sara! There is danger afoot! You—”
Charging in, the temple knight stopped short when he saw the chaos.
Outside, temple knights were fighting the Wings of Freedom group, while the assassins were coming in through the back door of the temple.
Instead of joining the battle, my kids were heading toward the warehouse to find me.
Given the high levels of Miss Ringrande and the prince, I decided to leave fending off the enemies to them and take Sara with me to meet up with the others.
“Lady Ringrande! I’ll take care of Lady Sara. Please defeat the attackers!”
“All right, I suppose.”
Miss Ringrande filled an amulet-like object under her cloak with magic power, and it activated Anti-Arrow Defense and Body Strengthening buffs.
What a useful magic item.
Just then, the temple knight standing near the entrance of the shrine went flying, as if he’d been hit by a dump truck.
GROOROROWN.
With a bizarre roar, a giant monster appeared at the entrance with dark-gray tentacles sprouting from his head.
It was a lesser hell demon, only level 30, but he had three unusual race-specific abilities: Stretch, Steel Body, and Regeneration. It would be tough to fight him in close quarters with ordinary weapons, but the prince’s Holy Sword or Miss Ringrande’s magic should make quick work of him.
From behind the demon, a number of mechanical-looking silver flying insects were zipping into the temple.
Behind them, I saw another lesser hell demon outside spewing the insects from his nest-like head.
He seemed to have the race abilities Production and Defense Wall and the skills “Lightning Magic” and “Direction.”
“There she is! That’s the girl, Sara! If we capture her, we can still rescue our brethren and resurrect His Majesty the demon lord! Our comrade will take care of the fools around her, now that he’s a demon.”
An intellectual-looking fellow in a purple robe appeared behind the demon and kindly explained their entire plan.
That was nice of him. I guess I’ll go easy on that one.
“Master! Instructions, please!”
Liza poked her head out from the door to the storehouse.
I was proud of her for not just jumping into action.
“Help me protect Lady Sara. Lady Sara, my apologies.”
I lifted her up bridal-style and headed to the storehouse.
“They’re getting away! After them!”
“Do you really think I’ll let you do that?”
“Out of the way!”
One of the remnants of the cult tried to chase after us and was immediately reduced to a corpse by a slash of Miss Ringrande’s sword.
“…A lightning broadsword? Is that the Heavenly Witch of Destruction?! What is one of the hero’s followers doing here?!”
The intellectual turned pale when he saw the purple lightning crackling along Ringrande’s sword.
A streak of lightning shot toward the man, but a gorilla-like lug jumped out to take the hit instead.
The men who charged the prince and his young knight were already lying in a pool of blood.
People here really have no problem with killing…
I felt a little sick, but I pushed it down and rushed into the storehouse with Sara in my arms.
My radar let me know that some silver insects were flying after us. They were about level 15—low enough that my friends should be enough to handle them.
“Liza! Defeat those bugs, please.”
“Understood!”
There were a total of five of them behind us, a bit too many to leave to Liza alone.
“Tama and Pochi, you two take on one of the insects together. Nana, protect the others.”
“Okaaay.”
“Of course, sir!”
“Yes, master.”
The beastfolk girls rushed toward the insects with their weapons at the ready.
“I…I can fight, too!”
“Then please take care of one, too, Lady Karina.”
I quickly gave Miss Karina an assignment. At her level, she probably wouldn’t be able to beat it, but with Raka’s barrier, she should be able to at least hold her own.
As I lowered Sara to the floor, I used my free hand to take out the remaining two with pebbles from Storage. The insects burst on the impact, their remains scattering everywhere.
That would be tough to clean up after.
“Sara, stay near Nana, please.”
“O-of course.”
Nana equipped a Kite Shield from Storage. Her usual shield was too big to fit inside.
“Arisa, take this!”
“Okeydoke!”
Miss Karina produced the demon-sealing bell from her chest and tossed it to Arisa.
As soon as she caught it, Arisa filled it with magic until it glowed blue, then rang it to slow the silver pests immediately.
“Satou.”
“Master, more insects!”
Hearing Mia and Lulu call out, I looked back to the entrance to see a man guarded by two of the bugs. It was the beefy guy who took the lightning strike for the academic one earlier.
“What?! It’s not working!”
Arisa suddenly cried out in surprise. She must have tried to use chant-less Psychic Magic on the bulky cultist.
“Arisa, hide behind Nana with Mia…” I stepped in front of Nana as I spoke, my eyes on the muscular man. “He’s a demon.”
As if on cue, the man’s body swelled up immensely. As it grew, it smashed through the wall between the temple and the storehouse, scattering stones and dust.
According to my AR, he was a level-45 intermediate hell demon. He looked like a bipedal bull with purple skin.
I walked toward him steadily, holding in my hand the fairy sword I’d taken out of the Garage Bag.
Trying to intimidate me, the demon snorted and breathed red flames from his half-open mouth.
GELWBAOOOWN.
As he roared, a multitude of fireballs formed around him.
Sorry, but those aren’t coming anywhere near me. I used Break Magic from the magic menu to dispel the fireballs.
Then, with a casual swipe, I sliced the demon’s head off, along with the arm he tried to use to defend himself.
Almost too easily, the demon turned to black dust and scattered into nothingness. All that was left was the used long horn and a large, low-grade core.
“Huh? How did you defeat a demon so easily?”
“I’ve fought that type before. He’s usually just a diversion. He looks scary, but he’s actually quite weak.”
Sara nodded, apparently convinced.
“Master, we’re finished over here,” Liza reported. The group had already defeated the silver insects.
“My dress got a bit torn, I’m afraid.”
“My apologies, Lady Karina. I must have made the barrier a bit too small.”
There was a two- or three-inch cut on the end of Miss Karina’s skirt.
“I shall sew it for you when we return to the mansion.”
Pina consoled the disappointed Karina.
“Pochi, you okaaay?”
“This is nothing, sir.”
“Heal.”
I noticed Mia treating Pochi’s injured arm.
Walking over, I peered into her face. “Are you all right, Pochi?”
“Yes, sir. It’s my fault for letting my guard down, sir. When we get back to the house, I’ll train more, sir!”
“Tama toooo.”
“Very good, you two.”
I patted Pochi and Tama on their heads, then straightened up.
I hadn’t expected Pochi to get injured by the silver fliers. Better take care of the rest myself.
“Master, are we going to assist the others?”
“No, stay here. We’d only hold them back.”
I put my fairy sword away in Storage, taking out a short bow and some cheap arrows instead. It was a set I mostly used for hunting small birds.
With the bow in hand, I instructed Liza and the others to keep an eye on the alternate entrance and went to see how the rest of the temple was doing.
As my radar had already told me, Miss Ringrande and company were still fighting the lesser hell demons. Not surprising, since it had barely been a minute since I left.
They were having trouble concentrating on the fight with the demons because the silver creatures buzzing around near the ceiling kept swooping down to attack. On top of that, since Miss Ringrande wasn’t wearing armor, she was fending off attacks from the demon’s tentacles with her sword while she quickly chanted spells to defeat the bugs.
Two assassins hidden in a corner of the ceiling were aiming their crossbows at the prince, so I quickly fired at them with my short bow. The arrows sent them tumbling to the floor, where they vanished in the cloud of dust.
My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up two dry cracks—breaking bones. Judging by the slow rate of their declining HP, though, they shouldn’t be in any immediate danger.
When one of them stubbornly pulled out a blowgun to aim at the prince, I knocked them both down with a piece of scrap wood I found on the floor.
I didn’t particularly care to protect the prince, but if he was killed inside the Tenion Temple, it might cause trouble for Sara and the other priestesses.
Noticing that I’d saved him, the prince grimaced as he fended off the nest-headed demon.
I’m not going to say you owe me or anything. Just hurry up and beat this guy already.
I had plenty of arrows. I supposed I could help a little.
It wouldn’t be too hard to beat the silver insects, but I decided to strategize a little by just shooting their wings.
The huge bugs jerked this way and that in a manner reminiscent of Brownian motion. They stayed still for a fraction of a second while changing direction; I attacked at that moment.
Firing arrows one after the other, I dropped the insects easily.
The young male knight, who had staggered back onto the battlefield, started dispatching the wriggling insects with the remains of his mithril sword.
The pests would occasionally slash back at him with the ends of their bladelike wings, so he was starting to get a little bloody. I was planning to have my kids finish them off after to raise their levels, but I guess it was better not to put them through that.
“Well done, boy!” the prince called. “Without these small fry to hinder us, we’ll win in no time. Prepare to witness the power of a Holy Sword!”
With this last shout, Sharorik began to fill his Holy Sword, Claidheamh Soluis, with magic power.
Cut the speeches and just beat him already, would you?
Emitting a pale-blue light, the sword destroyed the nest-head demon’s magic barrier in a single blow.
“I’m impressed, demon! Few can withstand a strike from a Holy Sword!”
With more gratuitous shouting, the prince swung his sword back the other way.
The demon crossed his branch-like arms to catch the Holy Sword.
The sword shredded the demon’s limbs, but it wasn’t able to cut through them completely and got tangled up instead.
Maybe Claidheamh Soluis isn’t as strong as the other Holy Swords? Or perhaps he couldn’t bring out its full power without the Hero title.
Miss Ringrande, on the other hand, created small magic explosions to blow away the tentacles that shot toward her, then slipped through the opening to cut the demon’s head off with her Spellbladed Magic Sword.
“Rin! Don’t let your guard down! It’s not over yet!”
I shouted a warning at Miss Ringrande as she turned to assist the prince.
There wasn’t enough time to call out her lengthy name, hence the nickname. Hopefully she’d forgive me.
With my short bow, I shot down the severed gray tentacle that was reaching to cut off Ringrande’s leg.
Miss Ringrande hurriedly sliced up the headless demon as he lurched toward her, then slashed his head in half on the floor, finally turning him to black dust.
“Thank you, Satou.” Miss Ringrande glanced toward the prince. “Looks like he’s done, too.”
“Yes, so it would seem.”
As I responded, I fired one last shot. The arrow grazed the prince’s cheek as it flew past him.
“How dare you, you—”
The prince’s insult was cut short when the assassin behind him shrieked in pain.
That was the third and final assassin. A nearby temple knight hastily ran to arrest him.
“My apologies, Your Highness. I’m afraid there wasn’t a moment to spare to call out first.”
“Hmph. I suppose I see why Rin took you on as a pupil. The reward for your assistance shall cancel out the punishment you would have earned for this scratch.”
“I appreciate your generosity.”
I responded as blandly as I could. I wasn’t exactly expecting a reward from him, anyway.
“Here, I’ll give you this, too.”
The prince picked up the core that had fallen at his feet and tossed it to me.
I was just gonna assume it was an accident that it came right at my face.
“Rin, we’ll continue our conversation in the duke’s castle. Come to my room when you get back,” the prince commented toward Ringrande before he left, looking a bit disappointed that I’d easily snatched the core from the air.
…Did you forget about Sara already, Prince?
“What an idiot. Why would I ever do that?”
Miss Ringrande glowered at the door after the prince left, muttering under her breath.
I picked up the short horns scattered on the floor, added the one I already had on hand, and gave them to Ringrande.
This was a calculated move to hide the long horn dropped by the intermediate hell demon. There could be trouble if people found out what kind of demon I’d defeated so easily.
“Lady Ringrande, please give these to His Grace the duke.”
“Oh? You’re not going to keep calling me Rin, then?”
Miss Ringrande winked and lightly touched a finger to my chin.
So she did remember that.
“I’m terribly sorry about that. It was an emergency. I felt I had no choice.”
“Yes, I appreciate that. And I suppose I shouldn’t tease someone who saved my life. But you really can call me Rin…” She grinned mischievously. “Once you’re strong enough to beat Hayato the Hero, of course.”
“Then it may be a long time yet,” I responded.
Turning toward the storehouse entrance, I beckoned to the others. The temple was safe, and that dodgy prince was gone, so I figured we should leave before we got in the way too much.
If possible, I’d been hoping to get my group baptized by the Tenion Temple so they’d meet the conditions of the Treasure of Resurrection; now didn’t seem like the moment to bring it up, though. It could wait until next time.
Sara thanked us and saw us off as we left the downtown Tenion Temple behind.
Many of the vendors on the main street had closed early, probably because of the whole mess with the demons, so we decided to go elsewhere, too.
First, I had to persuade a reluctant Nana to let the sealfolk kids go home. As thanks for going along with her, I gave them some tasty baked snacks. Then we took the carriage past the large wall to the museum that was between the nobles’ and the trade districts.
The music hall across from the museum was an option, too, but the latter won out in the popular vote.
This was technically part of the nobles’ quarter as well, but commoners could enter as long as they were reasonably well dressed. There were no rules against demi-humans, either, of course.
Still, it was probably better to play it safe so nobody would bother us on our sightseeing trip.
“Yamatooo?”
“King, sir.”
Tama and Pochi, clad in hooded coats that covered their ears and tails, read the sign above the museum entrance.
The museum consisted of three areas, connected by a main hall. The largest area was currently home to a limited-time exhibition called the “Ancestral King Yamato” exhibit.
“Looks pretty crowded over there,” Arisa remarked with some surprise.
The limited-time exhibit was as crowded as a popular attraction at a theme park.
“You’re right. It doesn’t seem like we can get a fast pass or anything. Let’s check out the other areas first.”
“Agreeeed.”
“Yes, sir.”
There was a recommended viewing order anyway, so we decided to follow that route.
The first area was mainly taxidermy specimens and skeletons. A glass wall protected the more valuable ones, while a sign stated that the open displays were mostly local specimens and could be freely touched.
“Watch out, sirs! Go on without me; I’ll hold them off, sirs!”
“It’s all cup to youuu.”
“Pochi, we’ll defeat the demon lord! Come find us!”
Guys, please, don’t put on a whole performance. Just look around normally. And Tama, you mean “it’s all up to you.” What would “cup to you” even mean?
“Master, can it not move? I inquire.”
Nana pointed at a taxidermic animal that resembled a cross between a kingfisher and a squirrel.
“No, because it’s stuffed.”
Maybe a necromancer could make it move.
“Oh, master, look at this! It’s so cute.”
Personally, I thought Lulu was much cuter.
“An unusual animal, is it not? It has very small wings for a bird.”
“Penguin.”
Lulu, Liza, and Mia were all examining a stuffed penguin.
So penguins existed in this world, too. Hopefully, there weren’t any stuffed penguinfolk or anything.
Still, though, why weren’t there any other people around but us? This area was strangely unpopular.
The atmosphere was pretty similar to the museums back in Japan, but with monster specimens among the exhibits, it definitely packed an extra punch.
“It looks like it could jump out and bite you at any second.”
“Scaryyy?”
“I’m not scared. It’s just a taxiderry, sir.”
Abandoning their little drama, the beastfolk girls gathered around a large stuffed creature called a “fortress tiger.”
Oh, hey.
“Pochi, come here for a second.”
“Coming, sir.”
Pochi tottered over, and I picked her up, moving her hand toward a ferocious-looking beast.
“That doesn’t scare me, sir.”
Pochi rolled her eyes at me.
“I’M…GOING TO…EAT YOU UP!”
I used “Ventriloquism” to tease her in a weird voice. Her unimpressed expression vanished immediately, and she flailed around in my arms.
“D-don’t eat me, sir. I wouldn’t taste good, sir.”
“MEAT…TASTY.”
“Meat is yummy, but I’m not meat, sir. So you can’t eat me, sir.”
Pochi was starting to look genuinely scared, so I put her down and showed her how I’d done my little trick.
“Sorry, Pochi.”
“That was mean, master, sir. I was scared, sir.”
I guess I took it a little too far.
Arisa came over and whispered into Pochi’s ear, clearly giving her some kind of suggestion.
“I demand a ’pology and reprations, sir.”
“Will having meat for dinner do as reparations, then?”
At that, Pochi’s eyes sparkled, all traces of tears gone.
Naturally, Tama and Liza quickly swiveled their heads to listen intently.
“Hooray, sir! I want hamburg steaks, sir!”
“Are you sure? We just had the same thing yesterday.”
“I have a separate stomach for hamburg steaks, sir.”
That sounded pretty strange to me, but I decided it would be rude to question her.
Because no one else seemed to mind, we decided to have hamburg steaks for dinner. Mia’s would be tofu, of course.
With that settled, we proceeded to the next room, a traditional costume display.
Among the clothing from various regions, I spotted what looked like nurse costumes and ao dai. There was even a bunny suit for some reason. I wouldn’t mind seeing Nana or Miss Karina try that on. Sadly, other staples like maid outfits and gothic lolita were nowhere to be found.
I guess whatever Japanese person popularized certain fashions here must have had a personal bias.
“Master! Over here!”
While I stood musing in front of the ao dai, Arisa called me over from farther down the hall.
Coming to look, I found my friends dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, or something like it.
“Sa— Sir Pendragon. H-how do I look?”
“It’s quite lovely on you.”
Miss Karina was striking an awkward pose in a Shinsengumi-style haori, so I paid her some obligatory compliments.
“Have at theee.”
“Have at thee, sir!”
Tama and Pochi were wearing similar outfits to Miss Karina’s, brandishing wooden swords made to look like katana. They even put on Japanese-style kerchiefs to cover their ears.
“You sound more like Arthurian knights than Shinsengumi to me.”
Sorry, Arisa. Nobody here’s going to get that joke, including me.
I put on a vague smile and brushed off Arisa’s remark.
“Aren’t those items for display only, though?”
“No, not these ones. We bought them over there in the souvenir corner.”
When I went to check it out, I found all kinds of things for sale. I decided to make some purchases, too, mostly small objects like folding fans. They would be good souvenirs to send to Zena in Seiryuu City with my next letter.
“Look, look! There are hairpins, too! Maybe I’ll buy one…”
“Arisa, it isn’t wise to squander away money.”
Liza rebuked Arisa as she gazed at the hairpins.
“Don’t worry—I still have plenty left from the wages I got from Miss Nina!”
“A slave’s possessions belong to her master. You mustn’t spend it without permission.”
This idea that “a slave’s possessions belong to the slave’s master” was the general consensus in the Shiga Kingdom, but with my Japanese sensibilities, I just couldn’t get used to it.
“Liza, all of you can use your spending money however you like.”
“Very well. If that is your wish, master…”
Liza was perplexed, but she accepted my decree without further comment.
Spending your pocket money on things you wanted was the best way to learn its value, if you asked me.
Past the souvenir shop, there was an exhibit of weapons resembling Japanese swords, but they were simply referred to as “ancient weapons.” The elegant refinement of a katana hadn’t caught on as a weapon to be used against monsters.
“…They’re beautiful.”
A voice made me turn my head, and I saw a familiar-looking man and woman gazing at the swords.
It was the samurai pair from the Saga Empire we’d seen in the martial arts competition: Kajiro and the woman who used the polearm.
“Ah! The samurai, sir!”
The two turned to look when they heard Pochi’s inadvertent exclamation.
“Oh? What do we have here but two little samurai.”
“You both look very heroic.”
Seeing Pochi and Tama in their cosplay, Kajiro and the woman smiled.
“I apologize if my companions bothered you,” I said.
“No, not at all. But I’m surprised you recognized us as samurai without our swords.”
Kajiro gave a grin that didn’t seem to match his gruff features.
“We saw you fiiight?”
“You were very strong, sir.”
“Ah, I see.”
The samurai seemed fond of children. His smile lit up at Pochi’s and Tama’s praise.
“I want to be that strong, too, sir!”
“Me tooooo!”
Tama jumped up and down so eagerly that her kerchief slipped off her head.
She quickly caught it and held it in place, but Kajiro, standing directly in front of her, got a clear glimpse of her ears.
“Cat ears? Are you by chance one of the catfolk?”
“…Uh-huh.”
Tama looked ready to cry.
“Oh dear, forgive me. I did not mean any harm. I was simply surprised, as I’ve never seen any outside of the beastfolk sanctuary in the Saga Empire…”
Oh? There’s a sanctuary for them? After we train in Labyrinth City, maybe we should go look for Tama’s and Pochi’s kin there.
“Incidentally, young nobleman, I have a proposal for you…”
After I introduced myself, I listened to his proposal.
“…Martial arts instruction?”
“Yes, that’s right. Judging from the way they were swinging around those heavy wooden swords with one hand, these kids must be about the right level for it. From the look of their footwork, they haven’t had any formal training. The animal-eared folk are known as a warrior race, so I’d be more than happy to teach them our style. And we have to pay for travel somehow,” he added with a chuckle.
The samurai pair explained that they were on a journey to Labyrinth City to increase their combat skills.
And their weapons were currently being repaired from the damage they took in the tournament. As a result, they couldn’t earn money by exterminating monsters or taking escort missions.
I had just been seeking out a teacher for the beastfolk girls, so this was perfect timing. I accepted Kajiro’s proposal and drew up a contract of employment for the duration of our stay in the old capital.
He would come to the mansion each day until I received permission from the former count, who would hopefully agree to let him stay in an empty room of the guest mansion.
When the bells rang to sound the time in the museum, Kajiro excused himself and the woman.
“The main battles of the tournament are today, so we must take our leave.”
I had no qualms with that. We were planning to start training the next day anyway.
Evidently, a lot of the other guests were just killing time until the tournament, too; the crowd at the Ancestral King Yamato exhibit soon all but vanished.
“So the royal capital used to be here.” Lulu was reading the Shiga Kingdom chronology written on the wall.
“Relocatiooon?”
“I’m confused, sir.”
I explained the meaning of “relocating the capital” to Pochi and Tama.
The Shiga Kingdom was founded in this city. When the royal capital was moved to its current location, this became the old capital, beginning the reign of King Sharorik the Second. He sounded a lot different from the current third prince, despite sharing the same name.
We proceeded along the preset route, where the items were arranged in chronological order.
“Ah! I know this one. It’s a painting of the crazed king Gartapht’s demi-human war.”
Arisa pointed at a painting that depicted various kinds of demi-humans and humanfolk murdering one another. Apparently, a copy of the same painting had been in the castle where she used to live.
Four hundred years ago, there was a massive amount of persecution against demi-humans, which led to a great war with the demi-human countries to the east and northwest of the Shiga Kingdom. This war had the most casualties of any non-demon-related war in the past millennium. In the end, even the elves and a summoned hero from the Saga Empire got involved to stop the bloodshed.
This painting was made in the era of the wise king Zara, who succeeded the crazed king and restored a dynasty. It was meant to serve as a reminder for future generations that extreme persecution could only lead to tragedy.
As far as I could tell, persecution and discrimination still had a hold on this kingdom, but perhaps it was better than when a demi-human would get killed on sight.
After a few more similarly bloody images, a painting that was leaning against the wall caught my eye.
It was a simple scene of a single door on top of a hill. Curious, I examined it more closely.
Oh?
After a few moments, the door in the painting swung open, and a tiny girl peeked out and waved at me. A moving oil painting? Now, that was classic fantasy stuff.
I waved back, and the girl reacted with delight. Very interactive.
The girl beckoned me over from inside the door.
Instinctively, I took a step forward, but…
“It’s huuuge!”
“Sir!”
…Tama and Pochi chose that moment to tackle me from the side.
The suddenness of it surprised me, but they were too light to make me stagger or anything.
“What is it, you two?”
“Come heeere?”
“There’s something amazing over here, sir!”
The excited pair grabbed my hands and dragged me toward the next room.
Casually glancing over my shoulder as we left the room, I saw that the painting I’d been looking at was gone.
Since it had been on the floor, it was probably just being moved. If there were any others like it, I’d love to show everyone.
“Looook?”
“It’s amazingly amazing, sir!”
Tama and Pochi pulled me into a hall with an enormous tapestry on display.
It was huge, about fifteen feet tall and one hundred and fifty feet long. According to the museum label, it was made over the course of more than forty years.
“Master, the demon lord is very large and dangerous, I report.”
Nana pointed at one section of the tapestry with a grave expression. It depicted an enormous monster with the head of a boar that dwarfed the castle beneath it.
“The giant demon lord appeared before the great ancestral king Yamato, trampling a castle under his feet…”
A clear voice rang out behind us. I turned around to find a stage set up at the far end of the hall. An orchestra was providing background music as a minstrel stood center stage and described the scenes on the tapestry.
I listened to the voice as I gazed at the tapestry.
“The demon lord’s chief henchmen, the six-colored veteran demons, caused much trouble for the humanfolk armies…”
Standing in front of the demon lord was a green snake, a pink mochi-like slime, and the familiar blue and red greater hell demons, all led by a four-armed yellow demon.
He said “six-colored”; maybe the last one was the black shape that looked like the yellow one’s shadow?
The minstrel intoned the details of each demon’s special powers. The green one could shape-shift, the pink one specialized in defense, the black one appeared and disappeared unexpectedly, and the yellow one, as the de facto leader, was much stronger than ordinary demons.
The minstrel’s tale went on for quite a while.
“The demon lord manipulated the orcs, turning them into boushi mouhei to fight against the knights.”
I’d never heard of boushi mouhei. Was this some made-up Japanese-style word from this world?
The little humanoid shapes at the yellow demon’s feet were probably the orcs.
When it occurred to me that I’d never met an orc, I ran a map search on a whim and found two living downtown in the old capital.
Like the kobolds I’d met in the giants’ village, they were considered fairyfolk, not monsters.
These two orcs managed an alchemy store in a corner of the slums. They didn’t seem to have any offenses in the Bounty section of their information, so I decided to go check them out at some point during our stay.
“The cryptid knights of the Flue Kingdom joined the battle mounted on griffins. Then the demon lord summoned his sky fortress, Tovkezerra, and countless monstrous fish swam through the skies.”
Where’s this part?
I tried to find this “Tovkezerra” thing, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Maybe it was the giant shape at the top left corner of the tapestry, which looked like either an airship or a sperm whale?
A swarm of sharklike monsters was emerging from the magic circle in front of the airship, crushing buildings and soldiers like a tidal wave.
The griffins were depicted as well, but clearly, there weren’t enough of them to stand a chance.
“Just as the kingdoms were on the verge of destruction, our savior appeared on the back of a sky dragon: the ancestral king Yamato himself.”
On the right side of the tapestry was the silver head of a dragon, with a knight in blue armor standing between its horns. This must be Yamato, then.
The knight held a large shield and a staff, and several glowing blue swords were floating around him.
Okay, the part about the swords floating in the air has got to be artistic license. It was like a scene out of an anime or something. For one thing, the Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis didn’t fly around when the prince had used it against those demons earlier.
“So this brave figure must be the ancestral king Yamato.”
“A great king though he may have been, I do not believe that a dragon would allow anyone to ride on its head.”
Miss Karina seemed impressed, but Liza not so much. Maybe her race viewed dragons as sacred creatures.
“A dragon knight? Now that’s hot!”
I had a strong suspicion that Arisa wasn’t referring to the temperature. Next to her, Mia nodded sagely; I decided I didn’t want to know why.
Arisa, please don’t corrupt this world’s culture too much.
“Master, there is a replica of the Holy Sword over there, I report.”
Turning to look where Nana pointed, I saw a ten-foot-tall bronze statue of the ancestral king Yamato, as well as an equally giant replica of Claidheamh Soluis.
If my memory of the real one was anything to go by, this size must be an exaggeration to emphasize the king’s greatness.
Thinking back, the ancestral king statue I saw in Sedum City in Kuhanou County was similarly grandiose. I guess that was the default size for statues of Yamato.
As we admired the statue of the ancestral king, a carriage arrived to pick us up. Evidently, it was just about time for us to visit the home of Tolma and Viscount Siemmen.
We stopped by the house to drop everyone else off, except for Arisa and Nana, who wanted to come along. Then, the carriage took us to the viscount’s estate.
The man had a hooked nose, a furrowed brow, a carefully groomed mustache, and swept-back golden-blond hair. His eyes were intense, full of strength and determination.
The man was so serious, it was hard to believe he was Tolma’s brother.
If anything, from his somewhat aged features, he could pass for Tolma’s father. He certainly looked older than thirty-four years old.
“I thank you for saving Tolma’s life.”
How strange. For some reason, his thanks sounded more like a scolding from my boss.
This was Tolma’s older brother, Hosarris Siemmen.
The only people in the room were the two brothers, Arisa, and me.
As soon as we arrived, Nana wanted to go to the adjacent house where Tolma’s family was staying, and I let her do as she liked. By this time, she was probably doting on baby Mayuna.
“Sorry, Sir Satou. My brother always talks like this.”
“How rude, Tolma. What’s wrong with the way I talk, pray tell?”
His words were normal enough on their own, but something about Hosarris’s tone made him sound like a straitlaced teacher addressing a particularly disappointing student.
Inexplicably, Arisa was about to start drooling. I couldn’t help but be concerned by the gleam in her eyes. Whatever you’re fantasizing about, please keep it to yourself.
As the conversation continued, it felt more like a job interview than a friendly welcome in the parlor.
Tolma had already told the viscount about my top priorities, namely purchasing scrolls from the warehouse and ordering more, so the arrangements were made easily enough. It helped that I showed my permit from the duke, of course.
“If collecting scrolls is your hobby, would you like to tour our workshop?”
“Could I really?”
I was so excited about this unexpected turn of events that I instinctively leaned forward on the table.
“I don’t see why not. Miss Nina the Iron-Blooded even called you ‘trustworthy’ in her letter of introduction. Besides, Tolma is an excellent judge of character.”
What a gentleman. I could even see him being a charismatic company president in modern Japan.
My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up a conversation in the hallway.
“…Which is why we simply must use ink made from the dew of a firefly lily.”
“That ink certainly would allow for very precise work, but think of the cost.”
“But Mr. Djang, I could say the same of the dragon powder and drill powder you insist upon using. How are we to profit?”
These must be the scroll craftsmen that Mr. Hosarris called for.
“You have need of us, my lord?”
“At your service, Lord Hosarris.”
The pair that entered was a middle-aged man who gave obesity a whole new meaning and a young woman with freckles and glasses.
The girl was a fairly average-looking gnome, neither beautiful nor ugly. As you might expect from a member of her race, she was even shorter than Arisa.
“This is Djang, the workshop manager. He may not look it, but he is the greatest scroll master in all the Shiga Kingdom. And the young lady is Natalina, the most ingenious artisan in our workshop. I have no doubt that they will be able to meet your expectations, Sir Pendragon.”
I sensed a certain implication behind Hosarris’s use of the word ingenious. Maybe she was the type who liked making strange scrolls that wouldn’t sell or burned up budgets for her experiments.
Once he’d introduced the duo, Mr. Hosarris took his leave along with Tolma.
That was all right. I was told when I first arrived that he might not have much time to spare. I was just glad he introduced me to the artisans first.
I showed the list of scrolls I wanted to Mr. Djang, and we began to make arrangements.
Sadly, it turned out that greater magic couldn’t be fashioned into scrolls.
He also wasn’t able to make scrolls of spells that could be used for criminal purposes, like Fake Patch and Unlock. I’d been told the same thing at Kikinu’s magic shop, so this wasn’t that surprising.
As it turned out, finishing scrolls required someone who had the skill for the adapted spell. Gravity, Shadow, Psychic, Ghost, and other such types of magic couldn’t be produced, either.
Because the resident Space Magic user was currently away in the royal capital, I wouldn’t be able to order scrolls of that sort for another month. However, the warehouse already had a scroll of the only intermediate teleportation spell, Return, so that wasn’t a problem.
I hesitated a little but eventually agreed to buy the Return scroll for one hundred gold coins.
My “Estimation” skill gave the price as about thirty coins, but one hundred coins was nothing if it meant I’d be able to teleport. Besides, if you included all the different currencies I had in Storage, I had upward of ten million gold coins.
Additionally, while it was technically possible, creating Holy Magic scrolls was forbidden for religious reasons.
“Say, Mister Knight… I get that you’re a collector and all, but the scroll versions of the spells on this list are all fairly ineffective. You sure you’re okay with that?”
“Natalina, you ought to address him more respectfully.”
“Whaaat? I was being respectful. Wasn’t I, Mister Knight?”
“I only recently became a noble anyway, so I don’t mind if you speak to me normally, if that’s what you would prefer.”
“Really? Whoo-hoo!” Natalina struck a triumphant pose, prompting Mr. Djang to bop her on the head. I understood all too well the pain of playing the straight man to a goofy young girl.
“As for your concerns, Miss Natalina, the aim is to collect them. As long as they can be used, I have no problem if the effect is weak,” I promised.
We completed a sales contract for the scrolls in the warehouse, then moved on to my creation requests in order of priority.
“These are some weird spells, huh? They’re easy to read but real inefficient. They probably count as lesser magic, but the long chants make ’em pretty hard to use.”
Natalina tilted her head as she observed my handmade spells.
My spells were considerably different from the standard spells here, since I took a structured programming approach.
They were very readable and effective, but their magic efficiency and spell length were much worse than traditional spells.
There wasn’t much I could do about that trade-off. For me personally, the disadvantages were all but irrelevant.
“Will you be able to make them into scrolls?”
“Yeah, no prob. They’re a little weird, but they still follow the normal rules of magic, so I think I can figure it out…sir.”
Noticing Mr. Djang’s glare, Natalina hastily added an honorific with an apologetic tone.
“Well then, Sir Knight. It will take some time to gather the inventory for your order. Would you like to see the workshop while you wait?”
“Oh yes, please.”
We headed over for a tour. I brought Arisa along to alleviate her obvious boredom.
The workshop was underground below the viscount’s property, with powerful security provided by both people and magic equipment.
The security guards were all level 20 or higher, with espionage-related skills like “Detect” and “Observation.” There were also magic items for surveillance and alarms, including small guard golems that patrolled around the vents.
While they couldn’t tell me the details, the workshop was clearly very thoroughly protected against any kind of spying magic.
The workshop was also divided into several small rooms, each of which was used only for specific parts of the process.
This way, very few people actually knew the entire process. It might be inefficient, but keeping their techniques secret seemed to be of utmost importance. They were extremely thorough.
The paper for the scrolls was made in a different place; when I appraised it, the results said things like scroll paper: B.
From the artisans’ conversations, I gathered that core powder was needed to make the ink. It turned out Mr. Hosarris had been in the royal capital for the express purpose of stocking up on high-quality cores. The ones needed to make an intermediate magic scroll could be obtained only from powerful monsters of level 30 or higher.
The unprocessed core they showed me as an example was an even deeper red than the ones I got from the hard newts a while back.
“This room is where the ink is made.”
Mr. Djang cracked the door open and let me peek inside, but I wasn’t allowed to enter. They were currently making scroll ink: A in this room. I was able to identify most of the ingredients, one of which was scroll ink: B. The whole process seemed very involved.
It was more than just writing the spells out on special paper with special ink, too. There were a number of other necessary steps.
As a result, even standard scrolls took two to four days to make, and custom orders took several days more than that.
After the tour of the workshop, we returned to the parlor to find a small mountain of scrolls waiting.
There were a lot of interesting spells in the warehouse besides the Return spell I mentioned before.
I acquired three intermediate attack magic spells, Ice Storm, Thunder Storm, and Implosion; five or so lesser attack spells, including Toss Stone and Air Cannon; four defense magic spells, Flexible Shield, Canopy, Air Cushion, and Mana Section; two more magic interference spells, Mana Transfer and Mana Drain; three operation spells, Magic Hand, Magic String, and Float Walk; two healing spells, Water Heal and Aqua Heal; the anti-espionage spell Secret Field; and four support spells, Enchant: Magic Protection, Enchant: Physical Protection, Enchant: Sparking Blade, and Enchant: Shield.
If I could master all these spells, the rest of my journey should be a lot easier.
The custom spells I ordered were as follows.
From the existing spell books, I chose three Everyday Magic spells, Soft Wash, Dry, and Bandage; two healing spells, Remove Poison and Cure Disease; and two smelting spells, Sampling Metal and Melt Metal.
As for original spells, I ordered the interpersonal combat spells Light Stun and Remote Stun; three spells for making magic items, Liquid Control, Air Control, and Electronic Control; two spells just for fun, the Fire Magic spell Fireworks and the Light Magic spell Fireworks Illusion; and three experimental spells, Shooter, Standard Out, and Graphic View.
Standard Out was simply designed to display the text Hello World in my menu log, while Graphic View should open a rectangular window with the same text on my menu screen.
Both spells would only have meaning for me, but if they worked, I was planning to start developing spells like Sound Recorder and Photo.
Meanwhile, Shooter was a spell that combined Explosion Magic and Practical Magic, designed to shoot bullets ranging from the size of a small pebble to a baseball.
It could theoretically be used as a gun, but it was both less efficient and less powerful than lesser attack magic.
My main objective with this was to be able to fire sacred arrows already stocked with magic power in case I had to fight anything like another demon lord.
In my previous battle, I had realized I needed both hands to use a bow, so switching between that and a sword ended up being a pain.
I had considered using a crossbow, too, but because I was concerned that the bolts would fall out if I was moving around at full speed, I decided to try developing a new spell for it.
Once we finished the contract, with Mr. Djang overseeing, I requested some help with testing out my original spells in the courtyard. During the tests, I found some careless mistakes, so I had them revised on the spot.
“Wowie, mister! This is amazing!”
“It’s beautiful. Reminds me of the big fireworks festival in Tokyo Bay.”
Natalina jumped around in excitement at the sight of my Fireworks spells, and Arisa was a big fan, too. Once the scrolls were completed, we could all get dressed up and have a fireworks festival of our own.
“Mister Knight! You gotta sell this magic to me! Please!”
“Natalina! Don’t accost our guest without permission.”
Mr. Djang’s scolding wasn’t enough to calm Natalina’s excitement, it seemed; she insisted that we could continue the conversation when Mr. Hosarris returned.
Since I’d made the spell in my spare time, I would’ve had no reservations about giving it away for free, but Arisa cleverly suggested that we would consider it if they would allocate more workers to my scroll order.
The price of my order ended up being quite high, but I had no problem paying it on the spot.
Then, I stored the premade scrolls I’d purchased in my Garage Bag and went to pick up Nana from Tolma’s house.
Tearing her away from baby Mayuna was no easy feat.
“Whew, I thought my dinner was going to come back up for a second there.”
“Maybe if you didn’t eat so much…”
“But it was sooo good!”
After dinner, I brought Arisa along to the labyrinth ruins under the old capital for my magic experiments.
I was planning on coming alone, but she insisted on going with me.
“Why did you want to come to the labyrinth with me, anyway? There aren’t any monsters here for you to level grind.”
“Nah, that’s not why.” Arisa shook her head.
“I thought you wanted to raise your level so you could learn Space Magic?”
“But of course! That’s the whole point!”
Now she was striking a bizarre pose. What’s going on?
I thought she said last night that she didn’t have enough skill points to raise Space Magic to the necessary level.
“Could you explain it in a way I can understand?”
In response, Arisa climbed on top of some nearby rubble and regarded me smugly. “Bwa-ha-ha! If you think skill points are set in stone, you’re making a big mistake!”
Her grin widened as she took an imperious pose.
“What do you mean? You can’t reassign skill points that have already been allocated to something, can you?”
“Sure you can. Didn’t I tell you?”
No, this is the first I’ve heard of it.
I had a huge amount of skill points left, but until I came anywhere near leveling up, I might need to reassign some eventually.
“How do you do it?”
“You just have to pick ‘Reset’ from the skill list. It’ll return the points from all your skills, aside from Unique Skills, gifts, and things like that.”
How convenient…
And frustrating.
I couldn’t choose skills from a list, which made this information useless to me.
“But it’s not like it’s a totally unlimited reset, of course.”
If it was unlimited, you could change your skills around for every battle. Come to think of it, there was an anime sort of like that, wasn’t there? Sano the ESPer or something.
Oblivious to my distraction, Arisa continued her explanation.
“Each time you use it, you lose five to ten percent of your skill points. And there’s no way to get those back.”
So even if I could use it, I’d lose anywhere from 155 to 620 skill points… That was definitely not worth it. Now I understood why Arisa had never used it before.
“There’s another reason I don’t wanna use it, too…”
“What is it?”
“Well, it really hurts.”
So she wanted to come here so that the others wouldn’t hear her cries of pain and worry about her. In that case, I could’ve just used my new spell Secret Field.
“All right, here goes nothing.”
“Wait, at least drink something for the pain first.”
That should make it a little better.
“Thanks, but I’ve heard that using medicine can increase the amount of points lost.”
Grimly, Arisa pressed the medicine back into my hand.
Evidently, it was Hayato, the hero of the Saga Empire, who taught her about Reset back in her hometown. Which must mean Hayato knew Arisa was a reincarnation…
“A girl’s gotta have guts! Reeeeeset!”
Arisa plunked down on my lap and bellowed a war cry.
…Ow.
I’d agreed to hold her through the process at her request, but her shrieks coupled with her nails clawing into my back was actually really painful. I discreetly turned on “Pain Resistance.”
For a minute, I was worried her lilac hair would fade to white, but that seemed to be a needless concern.
As soon as the Reset was finished, she fainted away, so I let her rest her head in my lap, but…
“Arisa, if this is just a ploy to harass me, you’re going on the ground.”
She was tough—I had to give her that. Despite all the pain she’d just endured, she still pretended to roll over in her sleep to put herself in a creepy position.
“So, did it work?”
“More or less! I didn’t quite have enough points, but I managed to get Space Magic to level six at the cost of some Psychic Magic.”
She looked proud of herself, but I had to nip something in the bud right away.
“Arisa, this is an order. I forbid you from intruding on baths or watching anyone change clothes except in case of emergencies.”
“What?! C-come on! You could at least wait until you catch me in the act. Don’t deprive a pure maiden of her tiny little rewaaaard!”
So she really was planning on it, then… I knew it.
Because Arisa wanted to go somewhere where she could use magic to her heart’s content, we ventured down toward the middle level of the labyrinth.
“Hmm, so this is where you fought the demon lord?”
“No, that was deeper.”
“I wanna see!”
I tried telling her there was nothing there, but she still insisted, and I took her to the bottom level.
“I…I thought I was gonna die…”
She was really exaggerating. I’d made sure to slow down before I made sharp turns and everything.
Wobbling a little as I set her on her feet, Arisa stumbled over to the altar where the ceremony had taken place and surveyed the cave.
“Say, master, did you get the True Hero title for defeating the demon lord?”
Nodding, I changed my title to True Hero to prove it.
“Wow, you really did…”
Arisa entwined her hands behind her back, turning away from me.
“Then…does that mean…?”
Arisa trailed off.
Somehow, she didn’t quite seem like her usual self.
“Does that mean, y’know…you’re going back to Japan?”
Arisa steadied herself and gazed back at me.
Huh?
“What do you mean? We still have to take Mia home, and then we’re training in Labyrinth City, remember? Plus, once everyone gets stronger, I want to travel the world together and go on more adventures. Even if I do go back to Japan, it won’t be for a long time.”
When I spotted tears in Arisa’s eyes, I answered as lightly as I could.
Of course, I didn’t even know if I could get back to Japan.
“Where’s this coming from, anyway?” I gently asked her after I wiped away her tears and waited for her to calm down.
“’Cause…’cause…! Hayato told me that when heroes defeat demon lords and become true heroes, they get an offer from the gods to send them back home.”
So that was why she was worried.
As she explained, if you said yes, you’d be sent back to your original world, leaving your Holy Sword behind.
The tricky part was that the question would be asked only once, and if you didn’t answer right away, it’d be taken as a “no.”
Come on, you could at least let people choose when they go back.
Besides, even if I did get an offer like that, I wouldn’t feel right leaving until everyone was strong enough to at least defeat demons. And since I didn’t come here like a normal summoned hero, that might not be an option for me in the first place.
If I did get an offer to go home before I was ready, maybe I could get them to send my family a letter instead.
My parents were a lot more happy-go-lucky than I was, so as long as I wrote “I’m safe and satisfied” or something, they’d probably accept it.
“Anyway, master, is your hero outfit really just that blond wig and silver mask from before? If you wear your usual robes, you’re gonna get found out sooner or later, don’t you think?”
Putting on a brave face, Arisa changed the subject.
“No, my silver mask broke, so now it’s a purple wig and a white mask. And I wear these high-class priest robes with it.”
I used “Quick Change” to demonstrate.
“Whoa, that was fast! What the heck was that?! It’s like you transformed or something!”
“Pretty handy, right?”
Trying to cheer Arisa up, I struck a silly pose of my own.
“I guess a shota priest could w… I mean, shouldn’t it be more different from your usual outfit?”
“I suppose. Like a ninja or a samurai, maybe?”
“Let’s see… Oh, I know! A diviner! That’d be a great concept!”
I could almost see the light bulb going off over Arisa’s head as she folded her arms in thought.
“You mean like an onmyoji? With Edo-style clothes and all that?”
“Exactly! A white base, classy black headgear, a circlet with a veil that hides your mask, and maybe some gold embroidery to give it a little flair…”
I tried to picture the outfit. “Won’t that still be kind of plain?”
Using the Light Magic spell Illusion, I conjured up an image of the clothes Arisa was describing.
“Ooh! That’s lovely. I suppose it is rather plain, though. You should add some flair with magic or a magic item! Like angel wings or a ring of light behind you like a Buddha!”
I wasn’t sure how well angel wings would go with the whole ancient occultist theme. Instead, I tried adding a circle of light on the back of the image.
“That’s still kinda boring. You should triple it and add more light radiating from the center. Oh, and since you can basically fly, maybe some rocket flames on your feet!”
I bopped Arisa lightly as her earnest suggestions got sillier and sillier.
Rocket feet? What am I, a mecha?
Somehow, I ended up with flame wheels on my feet that spun to match my speed and left an afterimage as I moved around.
I was only trying it out for fun, but controlling it ended up being more trouble than it was worth. The illusion moved autonomously as I directed it, but details like the number of turns and the amount of light had to be manually changed.
At any rate, with my alter ego’s outer appearance decided, we started to discuss his interior.
“Are you changing your voice or speech patterns at all?”
“When I spoke to Baron Muno or the head priestess, I used another voice and acted all haughty. With the duke, I tried to sound androgynous and speak as little as possible,” I explained.
“So you switched it up, huh?”
“Yeah. I changed my voice for the arrogant persona, but it wasn’t so unlike mine that you couldn’t trace it back to me, so I tried something somewhat different with the duke.”
Because I said so little, I figured the latter method might be better for misleading people.
“Then maybe you should be a hero with multiple personalities or pretend there are several of you?”
“I feel like it’d be hard to keep things straight that way.”
“Then just make sure your default hero character is different enough from your main self, and the arrogant one and the one who doesn’t talk much can be like sub-characters. Like the main character and supporting characters in a game,” she added.
Well, she seemed to be the expert; I asked her to elaborate on how to differentiate them from my “main” self.
“Well, your defining personae are ‘mature shota,’ ‘oblivious harem protagonist,’ and ‘OP cheater,’ which means—”
“Arisa. Would you mind not bringing your creepy opinions of me into this?”
Arisa grinned mischievously; I pinched her nose in response. From there, I got her to give an actual list of my defining traits and come up with ways to distance myself from them.
“So, to be the opposite of yourself, the points you want to hit are ‘childish,’ ‘overly familiar,’ ‘no respect for anyone,’ and ‘can’t take a hint,’ I’d say.”
Then Professor Arisa spent an hour or so giving me pointers on how to play Nanashi Version III.
For some reason, her teaching style involved hiding half her face behind her hair and using an odd speech pattern. I didn’t know what she was basing this on, but I had no doubt she was acting out a scene from some anime or manga.
“Voilà! You’re like a love interest from an otome game now!”
Applauding wildly, Arisa finally gave my performance the seal of approval.
Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to put on this particular act too often.
“Hey, did you get any rare drops from the demon lord? Like a demon lord core?”
It sounded probable, but there was no such item in my loot from the battle. Maybe that was the purple sphere that had hit the ground and shattered after I defeated him.
“I guess I got his sabers and a spear he made from his own bones, stuff like that? But they’re all too big, and most of them are broken anyway.”
I also got a cornucopia from the Wings of Freedom cult.
Happily, this included a large amount of goods and materials, including rare substances like ice stones and dark stones. They must have been making a hideout down there or something.
There were also a few unused long horns like the one the intermediate hell demon had dropped earlier in the day, but I planned to let them rot in Storage so they wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands.
“There were some spell books and such, too.”
I showed Arisa the lineup.
There were all kinds of spell books in my loot from the demon lord battle, including one called Demon Summoning and ingredients to make a magic circle for summoning short horns.
Among the materials was a boost item for summoning called “hair of Yuriko,” a braided purple plait. I didn’t want to get cursed, so I pretended not to have seen it and sent it away deep into Storage. The last thing I wanted was to pull it out again and find that the hair had grown or something.
“This Demon Summoning book doesn’t use a cell phone or a laptop or whatever, right?”
“Of course not.”
However, the book contained dangerous information like demon lord resurrection ceremonies and methods for summoning different kinds of demons. I planned to keep it stored away like the long horns.
I could probably burn it, but I was hanging onto it in case its contents came in handy for making other spells.
While Arisa practiced to get the hang of Space Magic, I used each of my scrolls to register them in the magic menu, then tested out the power of the menu version.
Practical Magic spell Magic Hand—basically telekinesis—proved particularly difficult to operate.
It was easy enough when I tried picturing a single hand, but when I tried to do it with two and control separate objects at the same time, things got way more difficult. Mastering it would take some training.
Interestingly, when I touched objects with Magic Hand, it was possible to put them in Storage. The spell had a much farther reach than any stick or spear, so it might come in handy in unexpected ways.
I planned to wait until after I brought Arisa back to the mansion before testing the intermediate attack magic spells Ice Storm, Thunder Storm, and Implosion.
With how much power they had behind them, they could do some serious damage.
“These Mana Transfer and Mana Drain spells are totally cheating.”
Arisa had agreed to help with my experiments, and she was shocked when they were over.
I couldn’t blame her, since my Mana Drain had robbed her of most of her magical power, then Mana Transfer completely restored it.
Sure, the large difference between our levels was part of it, but using Mana Drain against a magic user might be downright unfair.
We also tested out the Space Magic spells for communication and spying.
When we experimented with Clairaudience and Clairvoyance on each other, Arisa didn’t detect anything amiss when she was the subject, but I felt a slight sense of discomfort. It would probably be best to avoid using it on anyone overly perceptive.
“Arisa, I was planning to carve a seal slate and leave it here. You can use it, too, right?”
“Seal slates are landmarks for the Return spell, aren’t they? I think it’d be better to do it closer to the surface, then. This place is so deep, it might be hard to teleport here from aboveground.”
I see. That makes sense.
“Then I guess I’ll set them up in several places, not just here.”
“Can you really make a seal slate so easily?”
“Yeah, it’s not too complicated.”
Arisa seemed worried, but I had plenty of the liquid I needed, and it would take only a few minutes to make the magic circuit for the seal. It was reasonably cost-effective, too, only about two silvers per slate.
While I was at it, I made a few extras for Arisa to keep in her Item Box.
“I bet a Space Magic expert could make a killing as a trader.”
“You’re the only person OP enough to do that, master. I can only do a little over half a mile at a time.” Arisa shrugged with a small sigh.
At her current skill level, she could teleport only herself and one other person at most.
“But if it was a serious emergency, I could probably use Over Boost to escape with everyone at once!”
“That’s good to know, but don’t use it unless you absolutely have to, all right?”
I didn’t want to burst her bubble, but I wanted to make sure she didn’t abuse that power too much. I had a good reason for that, too: the advice that the Undead King Zen had given me before he died.
Abusing Unique Skills would only lead to ruin.
“Yes, sir!”
Arisa saluted. I hoped she was taking me seriously.
…Wait, huh?
Come to think of it, my “Menu” was supposedly a Unique Skill, too, but nothing had happened to me even though I’d been using it regularly for months now, as far as I could tell.
Maybe it was different because it was a passive skill?
I racked my brain as we went back to the mansion.
Oh, and the next morning, I used Magic Hand to help the kids swim through the air, which was a big hit with the younger girls.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login