Chapter Five: Inter-World Adaptation
“Little Naofumi, do we just have to grip this ore tight?” Sadeena asked. L’Arc had managed to get some earth crystals from a merchant. They were now being supplied to Sadeena and the others.
“That’s right. After you raise your levels from the fixed experience obtained from the crystals, we’ll go fight some monsters and raise your levels higher to prepare for the operation. However, the war has left the region unstable. Keep your guard up at all times,” I cautioned them. I still didn’t know how long there was until the operation was going to start, but there was no reason not to be prepared. “We also need to sort out our gear. We’d better go check in with Romina.” We could probably get by with our current stuff, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to check in with Romina.
“Romina is still working hard at being a blacksmith,” L’Arc informed me.
“What about Alto?” I asked.
“He’s off collecting information in another country,” L’Arc replied.
“He was the merchant of death, right? Watch out. He’s probably leaking all your secrets,” I warned him.
“Even Alto knows how to handle himself in that regard. Lots of the other vassal weapon holders are selfish and difficult to talk to, after all,” L’Arc reasoned. I thought for a moment and agreed with him. The very fact Alto was the merchant of death meant he was unlikely to do anything that might put his own life in danger.
“Let’s go see Romina then,” I said. We left Itsuki and the others who needed a level boost with L’Arc, and the rest of us headed to Romina’s studio. Glass came with us. When we got there, I noticed that a mysterious dojo had now appeared next to Romina’s studio. It definitely hadn’t been there before.
“Yomogi and Tsugumi are based out of that dojo,” Raphtalia explained. “They are assisting Kizuna.” I made a noise to show I was impressed. I definitely remembered those two. Yomogi had started out siding with Kyo, but she was honest and serious and just a lovable dummy, really. She had been pretty vocal about Kyo’s plans and constantly questioned him, which had led to Kyo tricking her into attacking us on what basically amounted to a suicide mission. Once she realized Kyo had tricked her, she had turned on him and joined us in a position of something like slave to Kizuna.
Tsugumi had been part of Trash #2’s retinue. Trash #2 had wanted the katana vassal weapon and had attacked in order to kill Raphtalia and take it. She had turned the tables on him, though, cutting him deep with the katana and then warning him—multiple times—that he would split in two if he moved. He had still chosen to move and fell apart into pieces.
In order to avenge this, Tsugumi had joined Kyo’s forces. After being physically modified, she had been sent to attack us on what was basically her second reckless suicide mission—this time with other members of Kyo’s harem backing her up. But Kizuna had saved her. After that, she’d been pretty amenable. Her romance-fevered brain had finally cooled.
“Okay. So where are Yomogi and Tsugumi now?” I asked.
“They are off working to calm the waves in each region. They are very close with Kizuna now, so they’re working hard to keep this place safe for her,” Glass explained. As we stood around chatting, Romina came out from her studio and narrowed her eyes.
“Can you stop gossiping in front of my place of business?” she asked.
“Thanks for coming out to greet us,” I said.
“Once Raphtalia showed up, I thought you’d be along sooner rather than later,” she replied, taking my witty remark in stride.
“Glad you know what’s up,” I said.
“This might be the moment to celebrate our reunion, but I guess you want to get down to business first,” Romina said. I felt a bit sorry about my attitude too. I did tend to consider things from a transactional perspective first. Then Romina gave a smile. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I was just thinking things were starting to feel more like when Kizuna was here.”
“Really?” I replied.
“I guess, even though this is a different world, you are both heroes. It’s the atmosphere that both of you have around you,” she said. I didn’t really understand her reply. I had an atmosphere around me that was like Kizuna— perhaps that was the lesson.
“I’m not as carefree as her,” I stated.
“But you have a different way of reassuring people,” Raphtalia stepped in, scoring for completely the wrong side! Stop it with the support attacks against me!
“Whatever. If you need something, get in here,” Romina said. We proceeded to follow her inside. “Showing up at my studio means you want some weapons, correct?” she confirmed.
“Yeah. I want to beef up our gear a bit to help get Kizuna back,” I explained. “I’ve also got some stuff I want to show you, Romina.” I showed her the materials the old guy had given me, along with the Barbarian Armor and everyone else’s gear. It was all functioning, but without some tweaks it wouldn’t be able to exhibit its full potential. “This too,” I finished, tossing the Demon Dragon core over to Romina.
“Hold on. This is the dragon core I used on your armor, right? So how do you have another one?” Romina asked.
“That’s the one you guys swapped in. It caused some issues for us too,” I stated. Then I explained to her the trouble the Demon Dragon core had caused.
“Wow. This dragon core caused that much fuss?” she asked.
“It did. A whole heap of trouble.” I made sure to rub it in.
“But the weapons made with the Demon Dragon materials were great,” she countered.
“I’ll give you that one,” I eventually admitted. They were really versatile, that much was true, and among all the finicky shields in my collection, it had proven exceptionally easy to use. I certainly didn’t want to wear a whole set of that dangerous Demon Dragon stuff though. Forget that.
“Roger. What about these other materials? They look a bit like something I recognize,” Romina pondered.
“They come from some of the four benevolent animals in my world,” I explained.
“I thought as much,” she said. Romina proceeded to check the Spirit Tortoise and Phoenix materials, nodding to herself all the while. Purely based on her skills . . . she was at least better than the old guy had been prior to going into training. But I wouldn’t say she was at the level of Motoyasu II. “They look a lot like some of the material fragments we found after defeating Kyo. These look purer, though, and probably tougher to use,” Romina evaluated.
“Can you turn them into gear we can use in this world?” I asked.
“Probably not impossible,” she responded. “But how quickly do you need them?”
“I mean . . . as quickly as possible, to be honest,” I replied. It should be easy to portal back and forth to collect them. Even when I factored that in, there would surely be a few days before we were ready to go and get Kizuna.
“Can you start with the easy ones?” I inquired.
“Okay. I’ll kick things off with adjusting the gear you carried over with you and get to making new stuff later. Sound good?” she replied.
“Sure thing,” I confirmed. “Anything else?”
“Maybe you could try to hammer a little more accessory-making skill into L’Arc?” she said.
We were going to try this again, were we?
“He holed up in my studio for a while, determined to make something better than you can make,” Romina revealed.
“I taught him the basics, after all,” I commented.
“He’s so . . . clumsy . . . I guess is the word. And yet he was trying so hard. But he just couldn’t get any better. Eventually his face became more and more like you, Naofumi, and he fell asleep while making a new accessory. In his sleep he was muttering ‘he’ll take her from me . . . he’ll take her,’ whatever that means,” Romina continued.
“Talk about obsessed. He sure worries a lot about dumb stuff,” I observed. Encountering L’Arc at night in this shop would be like something from a horror movie. “When you teach him, I’d like an accessory made for Therese, so give him some of the four benevolent animal materials,” I told her. Romina worked directly for Kizuna, so she should have some pretty good materials. Quite a lot of time had also passed since we were last here. They could have quite a stockpile of good stuff. For the sake of Itsuki and my weapon, it was also worth having four holy beast materials in the mix. Even if the stats themselves were low, they had an unlock bonus.
“L’Arc managed to buy back some of those that went out into each region, so we should have some. We can use these materials too, I guess. I’ll get everything ready,” she said.
“Gotcha. You think you can restore functionality for my armor?” I asked.
“The one who made this armor has really increased his skills.” Romina quietly made an impressed sound as she examined it. “It’s much finer work than the last time you were here. I need to up my game.” I wondered if she could really tell that much. Some kind of craftsperson sense? “It is designed with adjustments in mind, so I should be able to pull this off pretty quick. I can also add some parts I’ve made to maybe boost its abilities.”
“You’re not going to get me cursed again, are you?” I asked.
“I’ve reflected on that incident a lot, I assure you. I’ll make sure everything goes smoothly this time,” she assured me. I just hoped that was the case. “If I have anything left over, I can maybe make some weapons as well.”
“Even just as a backup, if you could get a harpoon and katana ready, that would be great. I’ve got people who could use them,” I told her. Sadeena and Shildina would need weapons. The equipment L’Arc provided to the knights of his realm would probably be sufficient, but it would be better to have custom-made gear. The Water Dragon’s Harpoon wasn’t functioning, as I’d expected it wouldn’t.
“Okay! A harpoon. Think a lance would work too?” she confirmed.
“I think she could make that work,” I replied.
“A harpoon for Sadeena, right?” Raphtalia said.
“Yeah, that’s right. On pure skill alone, she might have the edge even on you, Raphtalia,” I replied.
“It hardly seems fair to compare me to Sadeena or even Shildina. They both have quite a few years on me,” Raphtalia responded. Those two . . . It would be a while before she could best them on a technical level. Atla might have learned to beat them after a couple of fights.
“They sound quite powerful,” Romina said. “I’ll have to see what they’ve got later.”
As we chatted . . . “Jangle-jangle!” Completely oblivious to the situation, Filo got her morning star out from her wing and dropped it on the counter. I’d completely forgot she was there, for a moment.
“There’s something wrong with my jangle-jangle,” Filo said.
“Hmmm. I see what you mean,” Romina commented. “But it looks to have some fun tricks up its sleeve. Can I toy with this too?”
“Not a bad idea,” I said approvingly. “It’s like Filo’s hidden weapon.” She often threw it out to catch enemies by surprise. She had originally picked it up at the Zeltoble coliseum, and for some reason she still really treasured it. It felt like a while since I’d seen it though.
“Yeah! Make it all shiny for me!” Filo said.
“It does look interesting . . .” Romina said.
“Can you use that in this world, Filo?” I asked her. Since she was unable to use her powers as a filolial in this world, I was mainly intending to keep her as rear support. She’d really just be singing and activating magic. She made a thinking noise though, suggesting she wasn’t sure if she could use it or not. That said, it probably wasn’t a good idea to leave her unequipped. It might be worth getting something made for her too, I guessed.
“She’s a humming fairy, right? Maybe I’ll try modifying it into a weapon she can swing around while flying,” Romina pondered.
“Thanks. How about some armor for her?” I suggested.
“A convertible shoulder pad, maybe. A scarf might be good too. I’ll try making some more armor for monsters,” she said. We finished up with Romina and then left the studio.
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