Workshop Visits and Magic Sword Casting
Satou here. The field trips I went on in my school days brought me nothing but pain, but I have clear memories of all the tours I went on as an adult. I guess it helps when you’re actually interested in the subject.
“Yay! We can really spend the whole day together?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Arisa gleefully latched on to my arm when I nodded.
All my nobility-related business and socializing were done for the time being, so I was finally able to spend a day sightseeing and touring workshops with my party.
Our first stop was the old capital’s glass studio.
“What is that, master? Candy?”
Lulu looked curiously at the small tube one of the workers held.
They were currently creating glass vessels.
A magic user had placed a cooling spell on the passage we were observing from, so we weren’t too hot, but I could see beads of sweat on the workers’ faces.
“Candyyy?”
“Pochi loves candy because it’s sweet, sir.”
Tama and Pochi drooled a little.
“No, sillies. It’s a tool for making glass,” Arisa explained to the confused trio.
The worker blew into the tube, and a bubble of glass formed at the end.
It seemed much larger than what I remembered from when I went on a field trip to a glassblowing studio in school. Looking closer, I realized the pipe was actually a magic tool.
“Weeeeird?”
“He blew and made a circle, sir!”
“Calm down, you two.”
Liza scooped the excited pair up into her arms.
But it was clear from the movement of her tail that she was intrigued, too.
“Balloon?”
“Master, it formed a bubble, I report.”
As the glass vessel grew larger, Nana looked as if she was about to stray from the passage for a closer look, so Mia and I held her back by the arms.
Lulu, who’d been about to follow suit, turned a little red.
“Master, closer observation is necessary, I propose.”
“We have to observe from here, okay?”
“Be good,” Mia chimed in.
In contrast with Nana’s fascination, Arisa looked so bored that she was stifling a yawn.
I couldn’t entirely blame her, I guess. Since this was an orc glass workshop, I was expecting something a little more fantasy-like than this decidedly ordinary glass studio.
“If you’re interested, would you like to try it yourself once you’ve had a look around?”
“Certainly, if that’s all right.”
The head of the studio was giving us a tour.
We were probably getting the VIP treatment because we were introduced to him by the head of the noble family who owned the studio.
The next room he showed us was where the basic materials for the glass were processed. The laborers here had cloths covering their mouths and noses, probably to keep out dust.
“Here we crush granite, quartzite, and other stones into powder. Then we mix it with this blue-gray powder, which is made from orc stone, and heat it up to form glass.”
Orc stone? What kind of fantasy substance was that?
I curiously asked the workshop head about it.
“It’s an ore that can be found near the Grapevine Mountains. If its powder is mixed with water, it forms bubbles. The bubbles are…”
Judging by the rest of his explanation, the orc stone was basically a natural soda.
I was pretty sure there was a similar ore in my old world, though I couldn’t remember its name. All this new information made me happy, although I wondered whether it was inconvenient for the man to have to give such a technical explanation to an observing noble.
The last room was heavily fortified, with guards stationed at the entrance.
“These are the magic tools we use to make sheet glass.”
The large room was the size of a gymnasium, containing several large magic tools running side by side. It reminded me of a modern factory.
Apparently, these tools were left by the Orc Empire that stood here before the Shiga Kingdom.
“Reminds me of a hydraulic press.”
I could see what Arisa meant. Red-hot glass was poured over a base that was about five feet by seven feet, then pressed by a mechanism above it to make plate glass.
I seemed to remember seeing an old video of glass being poured over molten metal to make plate glass, but here they used a sort of magic force field to form the flat sheets instead.
I might be able to reproduce it pretty simply with spells like Magic Mold and Cube.
In addition, they showed us the process of turning these glass sheets into mirrors, which involved something called silver nitrate. The finished mirror wasn’t much different from the kind I used in my old world. The process of making silver nitrate was in one of my alchemy books, so if I got my hands on this orc stone stuff, I could probably make mirrors myself.
Checking on the map, I found an alchemy store that sold it.
I didn’t know how useful it would be, but I decided to stock up on some while we were in the old capital.
Then, after the tour…
“All right, let’s see who can make the coolest glass!”
“Tama won’t looose?”
“Pochi won’t, either, sir.”
As usual, Arisa was getting Tama and Pochi way too worked up.
Tama and Pochi breathed in deeply and blew into the pipes as hard as they could. Unfortunately, their lung capacity proved too much for the swelling glass, which burst with a loud popping sound.
Most of the other girls shrieked, startled by the loud noise.
A few of them were silent, like Mia and Nana, but they still froze with their eyes wide.
As a small mercy, the hot glass only flew away from the group, so nobody was hurt.
I took Tama, Pochi, and the agitator, Arisa, to apologize to the head of the studio.
“Not at all. I’m simply relieved that none of you were injured. Still, normally the worst that happens if one blows too hard is that a hole opens in the glass and it buckles, so I’m surprised it exploded like that…”
The man seemed bewildered, but at least he wasn’t angry.
After that, we followed the workers’ directions, and everyone was able to make a glass piece of their own.
I was particularly pleased, since I got the “Glassworking” skill in the process.
On our way out, I inquired as to the price of a full-length mirror. Unfortunately, their reservations were so full that it would be two years before they could make one.
They were able to make hand mirrors much more immediately, though, so I figured I’d buy a few.
“Your work must be very popular, then.”
“Yes, we’re quite fortunate. About half a year ago, we developed a technique for producing transparent glass at a low cost, and ever since then we’ve been flooded with so many orders that our magic machines never get a rest.”
So there was a recent technological innovation, huh? I wondered whether it was the result of many years of research or the work of some brilliant new engineer.
Maybe it was even thanks to a mysterious note like the pottery recipe I’d gotten from the red-helmeted ratfolk man in Seiryuu County.
“Whew, I’m stuffed!”
Arisa sighed contentedly, her belly full of crab hot pot and grilled crab.
There was no such thing as crab forks in this world. I cut up the shells to make it easier to eat without them this time, but I planned to try making my own crab forks before our next crab hot pot.
“So fuuull?”
“I can’t eat another bite, sir.”
Tama and Pochi looked just as pleased as Arisa.
“Oh, Arisa, you can be such a glutton.”
“Can you blame me? It was so good!”
Clearly Lulu’s scolding wasn’t inspiring any regret in her sister.
Pochi and Tama were all right, since they were training with the Saga Empire samurai Kajiro, but Arisa seemed to be putting on a bit of weight.
We might have to start watching our calories a little.
“So what kind of workshop are we visiting next? Tell me it’s not another silk workshop full of caterpillars or a smelly soy sauce factory?”
Arisa wrinkled her nose. The jade-silk workshop, with its greenhouse full of puppy-size caterpillars munching away on mithril scraps, certainly had been a sight.
But the cloth made from the thread these caterpillars produced, called jade silk, was very high quality.
This cloth had excellent magic conduction and cutability, not to mention incredible smoothness and glossiness.
I acquired a small thread-spooling machine and an old-fashioned loom at that workshop, so I was hoping to try them out next time I encountered some caterpillar- or spider-type monsters on our journey.
She didn’t want anything smelly, though, huh…?
“I was thinking of visiting an artist’s atelier this afternoon. Would you prefer a magic-tool workshop or a barrier-post maker?”
“Pictuuures?”
“Do they make picture books, sir?”
“Interested.”
The other children all wanted to go to the atelier.
In the end, Arisa had no choice but to give in.
“Now behold my watercolor magic!”
A noble in the prime of his life stood in front of a white canvas, holding not a brush but a short wand.
He was the owner of this atelier. At first, we’d watched other artists make ordinary oil paintings, but once the owner found out we were here, he came to give us a demonstration of his specialty: painting with magic.
The only relevant skills he had were “Water Magic” and “Painting,” though, so I gathered that there was no actual skill called “Watercolor Magic.”
Next to me, the clerk who’d been guiding us around the atelier shrank apologetically.
“… ? Palette Control E No Gujizai!”
The owner finished a rather long chant, and an array of colored blobs of water appeared around his wand.
With each wave of his arm, a colorful picture began to appear on the canvas.
Whenever he spoke the name of a color, the tip of his wand would change to match. He was even able to affect the nature of the brushstrokes with phrases like “vibrant” and “light as a feather.”
I could see why he went out of his way to show it off for us. Even aside from the quality of the picture itself, it made for an amazing performance.
“Prettyyyy?”
“It’s amazing, sir!”
Once again held in Liza’s arms, Tama and Pochi flailed excitedly.
Mia looked disappointed, since she had high standards for fine art, but the other girls all seemed very impressed.
“…Phew. What do you think? Not too shabby, I hope?”
“No, that was wonderful.”
Though his words were humble, the owner looked very proud of himself as he stood before the completed canvas.
“Sir, could you return to the office soon, please?”
“No, no, I must entertain Sir Pendragon…”
A butler-like figure dragged away the owner, back to the work he’d apparently been shirking to entertain us.
“Sir Knight, we have a painting classroom as well. Would you and your associates like to try your hand?”
At the clerk’s invitation, we all made paintings of our own.
Since I had the “Painting” skill, I was able to make a respectable attempt.
I couldn’t come up with any ideas, so I ended up trying to reproduce the painting of the waving girl I’d seen in the old capital’s museum.
“I see you excel at painting as well as cooking, Sir Knight. Is this a picture of one of your esteemed family members, perhaps?”
“No, this is a reproduction of a painting I saw at the museum. It was very interesting, since the girl in the picture actually waved at me. I think it must have been some kind of magic item.”
“…A magic item that can make a painting move?”
The woman looked flummoxed by my story.
They had illusion-creating magic tools and optical illusions, but she seemed unfamiliar with the “moving picture” I described.
If even a worker at an artist’s atelier had never heard of it, I must have seen some secret new work that hadn’t been officially released yet.
That made me feel pretty lucky.
“Look, sir.”
Pochi, the first to finish her picture, came to show me her work. It wasn’t exactly polished, but it was very heartwarming.
“Wow, that looks great, Pochi.”
“This is Pochi and master, sir. And over here is…”
Pochi pointed at each part of the painting and explained.
It had the flatness of a child’s drawing, but her personality shone through in it. Pochi and I were depicted holding hands in the center, with everyone else forming a circle around us.
My favorite part was that everyone was smiling.
“Tama’s done, too?”
“…Wow, very impressive.”
It was so remarkably photorealistic that I was at a loss for words for a moment.
“Damn, Tama!”
“Wow.”
Peering over her shoulder, Arisa and Mia let out exclamations of surprise.
“It looks very tasty, sir.”
Pochi drooled a little as she looked at the painting.
Tama’s subject of choice was a hamburg steak, so of course she did.
Between the piping-hot steam and the demi-glace sauce dripping over the steak and onto the iron plate, the painting was full of lifelike touches.
If you used this image as a poster, you could sell hamburg steaks like crazy.
The other children showed me their paintings in turn.
“Ooh, a flower garden? Very nice, Mia.”
Mia’s painting depicted herself and me standing in a flower garden. Naturally, it was very good.
“Mm. Wedding.”
I decided not to comment on the title of the image.
“Master, I would like your evaluation, I entreat.”
“It looks good to me.”
To be honest, I couldn’t really tell what Nana’s painting was supposed to be.
“Chick?”
“Mia’s query is correct, I affirm.”
This exchange finally revealed the meaning of the yellow-filled canvas.
Liza painted a picture of Tama and Pochi, while Lulu painted Arisa. While they were clumsily made, both were wonderful paintings that showed the artists’ love for the subjects.
Since this was probably their first time ever painting something, I thought following their hearts was the best way to go.
Aside from Arisa, who had to be stopped from painting a nude picture of me, everyone finished their pictures and left the classroom quite satisfied.
On the way home from the workshop, I stopped off to buy some painting supplies.
While I was at it, I inquired whether there were any merchants who could carry a letter to Seiryuu City for me and was directed to a purveyor for nobles who agreed to take it on his way to Kuhanou City.
My letter was addressed to the magic soldier Zena.
I was sending it in a sealed letter box, so I was able to enclose a few items I’d bought in the old capital.
This time, Tama and Pochi had letters to send as well.
Their letters were addressed to young Yuni, their friend who worked at the Gatefront Inn in Seiryuu City.
Tama’s was only a single line, but Pochi wrote enough to fill a small novella.
Since it might be difficult for the recipient to interpret these on her own, Arisa added a supplementary letter to the landlady of the inn. Glancing it over, I found the kind of polite letter you might send to a business partner.
Rather than sending letters alone, I added some old capital souvenirs for the folks at the Gatefront Inn as well, including gifts for Yuni that Tama and Pochi picked out.
There was no easy way to send round-trip mail in the Shiga Kingdom, so I included some postage money for Yuni to write a reply.
The price of sending a letter in this parallel world was a bit high for children, after all.
“Boy, you really splurged on that.”
“You think so? I only spent about three gold coins.”
Arisa looked at me in astonishment as I thought over the enclosed gifts.
The jade-silk ribbons and hand mirrors were a little expensive, but the high-end hand creams, coral necklaces, tortoiseshell combs, and glass baubles weren’t nearly as pricey as they sounded.
All told, it was still cheaper than a single one of the gifts I made for those tea parties.
When I said that, Arisa only stared at me even more.
“Let’s all make a picture book together!”
Arisa must have enjoyed the painting class, since she made this proposal after dinner.
“Picture book?”
Mia tilted her head at Arisa.
“That’s right! We’ll decide on a story, and we’ll each draw one of the pictures! It’ll be fun!”
“That could be entertaining.”
Surprisingly, Liza seemed to be on board.
I guess she’s always liked having picture books read to her, too.
“I’ll draaaw?”
“I want to make a story, too, sir.”
“Arisa, please present the algorithm for picture book production, I request.”
Tama, Pochi, and Nana were game, too.
“Perhaps we should use the big table in the dining room, then?”
“““Yeah!”””
At Lulu’s pragmatic proposal, everyone moved into the dining room.
As the one in charge of drawing the cover, I spent a fun evening with my comrades.
Once they’d worn themselves out, I put them to bed before using the Return spell to teleport to the labyrinth ruins and do some personal work of my own.
“All right, first I’ll try to make a knife-size Magic Sword.”
I selected Magic Mold and Forge from the magic menu and began casting a bronze short sword.
Of course, I’d already blanked out my name in the networking tab.
Once the blade started to take shape, I used Liquid Control to carve a magic circuit into the short sword before it hardened.
For this part, I used See Through to observe the inside of the sword as I worked.
The circuit I was making this time was the same one I’d used to make a wooden Magic Sword before.
Once I’d finished carving, I took the premade magic liquid out of Storage and used Liquid Control and Magic Hand to pour the liquid into the crevices.
Maybe thanks to my experience using 120 Magic Hands at once, I was able to finish this work pretty easily.
I kept using Liquid Control and Magic Hand to make sure the circuits didn’t warp before they cooled.
In a way, this was the hardest part of the process.
The density of the magic circuits caused an inevitable difference in temperature, so the magic I was using couldn’t completely maintain its shape.
I gave up at first, but then I discovered I could prevent the warping by circulating a tiny amount of magic power in the circuit.
I later discovered that doing things this way also made the bronze blade itself better at conducting magic.
After about thirty minutes of cooling time, my first knife-size Magic Sword was complete.
“It holds magic pretty well.”
The flow was so smooth that it was comparable to my fairy sword.
It wasn’t nearly as strong as that, of course, but its power was roughly on par with the mithril short swords that Tama and Pochi used, so I thought it was pretty good for a first attempt.
Though it was fairly easy with the help of magic, it had taken a long time to get to this point.
After I’d gotten Forge and Magic Mold in the dwarf village, I tried forging swords in secret quite a few times, but every attempt was a total failure.
The heat from forging the sword always either destroyed or warped the essential magic circuits, rendering the blade useless.
“Now I can finally move on to the next step.”
Muttering to myself, I pulled up in Storage the materials for making Magic Swords and Holy Swords.
Adding complicated functions would probably be pretty difficult, so I decided to start by trying for a Magic Sword that conducted magic well. Spears and polearms might be good, too.
There were a lot of failures in the process, but by dawn, I’d made a respectable pile of Magic Swords.
Unfortunately, since most of the more complex attempts failed, most of the completed pieces were simple magic-conducting types or swords with a protective aura around them.
The yield rate was pretty bad, but I did manage to make a few Magic Swords with an electrification function thanks to Carving Magic.
Since I didn’t have many lightning stones, I couldn’t make any strong enough to produce bolts of lightning like a Thunder Rod or anything, but they should be able to send a shock through an opponent’s sword or paralyze someone.
I used a similar mechanism to make a Magic Sword that would produce a shock wave when touched. However, the only way to control the degree of shock was the physical strength of the user, so I made only the one.
Just as I’d thought, using Carving Magic to add functions was limited compared to using magic circuits.
It was a lot easier, however, so until I learned to make more-complicated magic circuits, I could at least use Carving Magic to test things out.
As usual, I made a few weapons besides Magic Swords, including Magic Axes, Spears, and Polearms.
Using ordinary wood limited the power because of the handle’s degree of magic conduction, so I had to either use special wood or divide the handle and carve magic circuits into it.
As it happened, I had a lot of extra wood from branches of the Mountain-Tree, so I used one of those to make some handles.
Now, as for the power of these weapons…
They were much stronger than the high-quality swords on the market, and some could even perform better than the mithril-alloy swords of the dwarves.
However, their only advantage over the fairy sword I’d made with Elder Dohal was their magic conduction, and they paled in comparison to the Magic Swords and Holy Swords in my spoils from the Valley of Dragons.
Plating the surface of the blade with a few of the mithril ingots I had on hand noticeably improved its power, so I believed using bronze for the blades was what was holding them back from being stronger.
If I could get some legendary-grade materials like orichalcum, I might even be able to outdo the weapons I got from the Valley of Dragons.
Even mithril was difficult to purchase in raw form, so my best bet was probably to look for a vein of it on my travels.
Then I could get more serious about my Magic Sword–making.
I also tried crafting a few Holy Swords but stopped at three, since I didn’t want to waste so much of the valuable blue.
One was a magic-circulating broadsword, while the other two were a similar concept modeled after Claidheamh Soluis.
If you’re wondering why I made two, it was because I acquired the skills “Forgery” and “Counterfeit” after making the first one, so I activated those and made another.
It turned out to be worth it. The second fake Claidheamh Soluis was visually indistinguishable from the real thing.
In order to replicate the original’s texture, I used a steel-based alloy for the blade, which meant that it couldn’t hold magic power at all.
However, the evaporating magic would give off a faint blue light, so it looked just like a real Holy Sword that was rejecting its user.
I made this fake to give to the king’s body double.
I didn’t want him to get in trouble with the nobles in the royal capital for giving me the Holy Sword, after all.
So I left the fake Claidheamh Soluis and a letter explaining that it was a forgery on the body double’s pillow in the duke’s castle. The real king could decide how to use it.
Though I was completely exhausted, as I used Return to go back to the mansion, I felt thoroughly satisfied that I’d finally succeeded in making Magic and Holy Swords.
The next day, I went with my party and Miss Karina to visit the Tenion Temple in the noble district.
“Sir Pendragon, what brings you to the temple?”
For some reason, Karina’s younger brother, Orion, came too. Maybe he had a sister obsession or something.
“My attendants here have never been baptized at a temple, so I thought I would make a contribution and ask one of the priests to baptize us.”
“…Baptism? Really?”
Orion looked more surprised than I expected.
“Is that a problem?”
“N-no… Not a problem at all. Not at all…”
It certainly sounded like there was, indeed, a problem, but my real goal was to make sure my friends met the conditions of the Treasure of Resurrection just in case, so I didn’t intend to back down even if there was.
When I explained my business to the young priest who greeted us at the door, he ushered us into a waiting room. It was probably for nobles, because the sofa was very plush, and the rest of the furniture was quite luxurious.
“What a pleasure to have you visit us today, Mr. Satou.”
“It’s good to see you again, Lady Sara.”
Sara appeared in her shrine-maiden clothes.
Behind her was a middle-aged priestess. According to the AR label, she was in charge of handling contributions.
We exchanged greetings, and I explained why I’d come and handed her some contribution money.
I’d already explained the situation to Sara in a letter, so we were able to undergo the ceremony easily enough.
“This way, Mr. Satou.”
Sara guided us farther into the temple.
The windows of the corridor bathed everything in a pale-blue light.
“My, what a mysterious atmosphere.”
“Mm. Pure.”
Mia and Arisa seemed a little uneasy in the holiness.
Tama and Pochi, on the other hand, looked ready to fall asleep in Liza’s arms.
“Oh? So you’re Sir Satou, are you?”
The head priestess of the Tenion Temple greeted me in a soft voice.
Her complexion looked much better than when I last saw her as Nanashi.
It seemed that baptisms took place here in the sanctuary.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. I am Satou Pendragon, a hereditary knight and vassal of the Muno Barony.”
I’d met her a few times before as Nanashi the Hero, but this was her first time meeting me as Satou, so I introduced myself politely.
For some reason, though, she simply stared at me, unmoving.
“…Mr. Nanashi?” she murmured under her breath.
Huh? She knows?
I used my “Poker Face” skill to hide my inner distress.
“Erm, Priestess?” Sara prompted.
“…Hmm? I’m sorry—my mind must have been wandering.”
The priestess hurriedly pulled herself together.
She must have muttered it without thinking. I guess I shouldn’t have underestimated the high-level priestess with her “Oracle” skill.
“Mr. Nanashi is the hero who saved the old capital recently, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right. He’s a very strong, humble, wonderful person.” The mature head priestess blushed a little, like a young maiden.
“And apparently, the priestess is in love with him.”
“Pardon? A woman never loses her penchant for the romantic, you know.” The priestess’s even response only made Sara giggle more. “…And who might you be in love with, Sara?”
“Wh-why, I’m not…”
Sara looked to me frantically, as if pleading for help.
I would have been happy to assist her, but given the timing of the glance, it would just make everyone think she was in love with me.
“Hee-hee. I suppose I shouldn’t tease you too much.”
The smiling priestess turned her gaze from Sara to me.
“Now then, Sir Satou. I’ve been feeling much better lately thanks to the delicious soup you sent along. So I would like to perform the ceremony for you as a show of my gratitude.”
I was happy that she would be performing the baptism, of course, but even happier to know that her health was improving when she had previously seemed so frail.
I would have to convince Mia to help me make the consommé soup at least one more time while we were in the old capital.
After this conversation, I introduced my companions, and we began the baptism ritual.
“I’m terribly sorry, but as I am a future lord, I cannot be baptized at any temple.”
With that explanation, Orion moved away from the area where the ceremony was being conducted.
Thinking back, I remembered that Arisa had told me that people who made contracts with City Cores, like kings and lords, couldn’t be baptized.
But since this didn’t affect people like viceroys and constables, who were put in charge of cities and towns by their lords, people like Karina and me should be able to receive it just fine.
Perhaps Orion had been surprised at the temple entrance because I was planning on getting baptized, too.
“Now please kneel and clear your minds.”
The head priestess looked at all of us and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Now let us begin! … ? Baptism Senrei.”
When the priestess invoked the spell, beads of blue light fell over us softly from the temple ceiling.
The others’ AR displays changed to show Baptism: Tenion Faith in their hidden titles.
For some reason, though, Arisa and I didn’t gain the title. My level was one thing, but at Arisa’s low level, there was no way she could have resisted the high-level priestess’s spell.
The only common feature Arisa and I shared was that we both had Unique Skills.
When I checked the information of the other Unique Skill holder I had marked, Hayato, I saw that he had a hidden title, but it wasn’t Baptism: Parion Faith. Instead, it was Blessing: Goddess Parion.
I wasn’t sure what caused it, but for whatever reason, that meant Arisa and I couldn’t meet the Treasure of Resurrection requirements. I’d have to make Arisa’s survival my top priority from now on.
Not that I intended to let anyone die at all, of course.
“Priestess, I’m terribly sorry to trouble you with something else, but…”
Now that I was able to meet the head priestess as Satou, I decided to ask her if there was any way to break the Geis on Arisa and Lulu.
“That’s quite a predicament… Geis is a very dangerous gift, you know. It’s said that it was given to man by the god Urion to punish sinners.”
The priestess explained this as if putting together a long-forgotten memory.
There were three ways to remove it: have it canceled or overwritten by someone with the Geis gift, use a treasure passed down in the Urion Temple, or have a high-level priest erase it using Prayer Magic.
The only known user of Geis was the dark sage who controlled various countries in the west.
The royal mage who had placed the Geis on Arisa and Lulu was killed when the Kuvork Kingdom was invaded.
Unfortunately, the head priestess didn’t know where in the world the Urion Temple was that held the secret treasure.
The only priest on this continent who was publicly known to use Prayer Magic was Zarzaris in Parion Province. The head priestess herself had been able to use it long ago, but it required summoning the goddess herself into the user, a process that would take too high a toll on her aged and weakened body.
“I’m sorry. If only I were a bit younger…”
Maybe she would be able to do it if I gathered a bunch of rejuvenating potions in some labyrinths for her?
As I was contemplating that, Sara stood up firmly.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Satou! I shall train until I can use Prayer Magic myself!”
“Thank you, Lady Sara.”
Sara grasped my hand in both of hers and looked at me intently.
What a kind girl.
“Oh my. Nothing can stop a maiden in love, eh?”
“P-Priestess!”
Sara’s cheeks turned bright red as she protested the additional teasing.
The head priestess chuckled. “Why, the first time I used Prayer Magic, it was out of love for the previous hero. I’m sure Goddess Tenion is rooting for you, too.”
I wasn’t sure how serious she was, but Sara nodded, red-faced at her encouragement.
As we were leaving the sanctuary, my “Keen Hearing” skill caught the priestess murmuring to herself.
“The demon lord, the giant monster fish… An uprising is surely coming, just as it did in the time of the ancestral king or the first emperor of the Saga Empire. I hope you’ll save the world, just as you saved the old capital from destruction, Mr. Nanashi…”
Miss Priestess, please don’t raise such dangerous-sounding flags.
The next day, I went downtown with my group to the old capital’s orphanage.
We were helping Sara pay a sympathy call.
“All right, kids, gather round! We’re gonna play shadow tag.”
“Arisa, what’s shadow tag?”
“I don’t get it.”
“Me neither.”
“Tama, too?”
“I’ve never heard of it, either, sir.”
“Quiet down—I’m going to explain it now! Shadow tag is…”
Arisa, Tama, and Pochi played with the young children in the garden, with Liza watching over them.
Nana and Lulu cared for the babies, while Mia helped them by playing a lullaby.
“Mr. Knight, ah these bwicks?”
“That’s right. You stack them up, see?”
“Wow! It’s a house!”
“Wemme twy, too!”
Sara and I were playing with the babies.
Though it was officially a “sympathy call,” the real purpose for her visit was to help heal sick children and locals for free.
Receiving Holy Magic treatment at the temples was too expensive for many of the residents of the downtown area, so the priests and priestesses often went out to them instead.
As Sara and I were chatting about this and tending to the children, a fuss suddenly broke out outside.
What happened? An emergency?
“Hey, Satou. You helping out at the orphanage, too?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Hayato the Hero and his follower Ringrande had arrived, and they were already surrounded by the staff. They were here for a sympathy call, too.
A young female staff member was staring at Hayato with a fiery gaze that practically emanated cartoon hearts.
“Satou! And Sara, too!”
“Sister Rin…!”
“…You’re scaring the children, you two.”
Concerned that a sisterly quarrel was about to begin, I politely reminded the two young women of their surroundings.
For some reason, the frightened children were all clinging to me.
“Satou, the spirit of ‘Yes, Lolita! No touching!’ must always…”
The hero started to lecture me with a disturbingly serious expression. Luckily, most of it was in Japanese, so no one else seemed to understand.
“““Sir Hero, let us join you!”””
A gaggle of nobles’ wives and merchants’ daughters gathered around, somehow already knowing that the hero was here.
They had their attendants with them, too, so the orphanage was getting pretty packed.
In the end, the hero decided that he was doing the orphanage more harm than good and went off with his fans following close behind.
Guess it’s pretty tough to be the hero.
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