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Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 10 - Chapter 3




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Chapter Three: Acquaintances 

We threw our cloaks back on and roamed the town a bit, observing. The damages really had been severe. The scars left by the Spirit Tortoise ran deep, and countless signs of the onslaught of its familiars still remained. 
Shortly after, we arrived at the shop that we had been headed for. Oh, thank goodness . . . The shop hadn’t suffered any noticeable damage and was open for business as usual. I stepped into the old guy’s weapon shop. 
“Welcome!” 
“Glad to see you’re okay.” 
“That voice . . . Is that you, kid?!” 
I doffed my hood and greeted the old guy. He seemed to be in one piece —not a single scratch to show, thankfully. 
“Why are you wearing a cloak?” 
“Don’t want to stand out.” 
“Ah, that’s right. You’re an overnight sensation, kid.” 
That was the real problem. I was no Itsuki, but the happy greetings . . . “Shield Hero!” just gave me the creeps. I suppose I could have basked in feelings of superiority, but being well loved by the riffraff of this country wasn’t really something to be proud of. Not to mention, I had way too many things I needed to take care of now. I didn’t have time to waste on meaningless affairs. 
“People tagging along in droves would only cause trouble, right?” 
 
I replied to the old guy while giving the inside of the shop a look-over. 
“Doesn’t seem to be any damage of note from what I can see.” 
“Yeah, not really. I chased off any monsters that showed up here.” 
“That’s good to hear.” 
“I guess I had you all wrong. Here I thought you looked disappointed or something when you showed up.” 
“You’re so full of it.” 
The old guy had done so much for me, but we still went back and forth like this. 
“This thing is all covered in dust now since you never came to pick it up, kid.” 
The old guy brought a small sword over. 

Pekkul Rapier 
quality: good 
imbued effects: agility up, magic power up, blood clean finish 
Oh yeah . . . This must have been the weapon I’d requested for Rishia so long ago. 
“Did you come to order something else?” 
The rapier seemed just about right for Rishia. Or maybe I should have Eclair use it? 
“Support from the castle isn’t going to come so readily anymore. I figured I’d have you put my orders for weapons and gear on hold for now.” 
 
“I guess that’s to be expected. The castle town wasn’t hit that hard, but this has been a major disaster for us and the surrounding countries, too.” 
“How’s business been?” 
“Having just had a disaster like this, everyone wants a weapon, so they come and buy them here.” 
“So business is booming?” 
“You could say that. With all the sales, I’m actually a bit worried about stock.” 
“That’s booming, alright.” 
“Thing is . . . I’m not quite sure how I feel about a bunch of amateurs running around and buying up all of the weapons.” 
That couldn’t be helped. Amateurs or not, people would want weapons if they felt like they were in danger. It was that same mindset—just like when there’s a natural disaster people start buying up water and food rations. There had been a battle, so now people wanted weapons. It didn’t seem like there had been any looting as far as I could tell, so the situation could have been worse. 
“Is that all for today?” 
“Well, there is something . . .” 
I was trying to decide whether to have the old guy make a bunch of weapons for the slaves. I had already discussed things with the queen and I knew she could supply some used weapons, but the available resources would make anything more than that tough. I wasn’t sure if we really needed anything more than that, but the fact that they were used meant they would have plenty of issues. 
 
With that in mind, I decided to go ahead and approach the old guy. 
“I had the queen give me a territory, and I have a large-scale project in the works.” 
It would be useful to have the old guy around to make weapons for the slaves, among other things. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. 
“And what does that have to do with me, kid?” 
“You could say I came here as a headhunter, if you catch my drift.” 
If the old guy set up shop at the territory, that could be a source of income. I had confidence in his skills and I was sure he’d get plenty of business. 
“I’ve already got this shop, you know.” 
“I know that. I’m not trying to force you to do anything. I just figured . . . maybe you could take an apprentice or two. Think about it.” 
“Ah, so that’s what you meant. Sure thing, kid. That said, I don’t really think I’m good enough to be taking on apprentices or anything.” 
Alright, he’d given me his word. Now I’d be able to have one of my more dexterous slaves become an apprentice of the old guy and learn his trade. Skill in a trade would mean money. Of course, I didn’t plan to bite the hand that feeds me or anything like that. 
“Stop being so modest. I’m confident in your skills.” 
“Ha! I’ll do my best not to let you down.” 

“Anyway, I’ve got a lot in the works, so spread the word among your associates for me. The location is . . .” 
 
I told the old guy where my territory was and explained how the village would be my base of operations. I figured there would be plenty of people wanting to get in on a new project. If I only chose the ones I could trust from that group, I could expand my operations and that would lead to more profits. My territory was relatively close to the castle town, too. 
“Got it. Well, we were all worried about you, kid, and it’s a good opportunity, so there very well may be some takers.” 
“I have a debt to pay, so I plan to treat them well. And that’s especially true in your case, so think it over.” 
“Got it.” 
After a bit of lighthearted conversation, the old guy gave me a long look. 
“There’s something else, isn’t there?” 
“You can tell?” 
“You always show up with a million things at once, kid.” 

“I guess so.” 
I didn’t really want to show him, but I took off my cloak. With one look, the old guy understood. 
“What in the world is that?” 
The old guy was staring at my Barbaroi Armor with his head cocked to the side. I took the armor off and put it on the counter. 
“I chased the culprit that caused the Spirit Tortoise to go on a rampage to another world. When I got there my Barbarian Armor had ceased to function, so I had a local blacksmith modify and reforge the armor. The result was this Barbaroi Armor, but now that I’m back it has stopped functioning, too.” 
 
The old guy stared at the Barbaroi Armor long and hard. He started poking at different parts of the armor as if to see how it responded. 
“There’s no problem with the core, but I can’t say one way or the other about the rest without doing some testing.” 
“Can you fix it?” 
“It’s possible. Give me some time.” 
“Sure. I’m counting on you.” 
“This shop is here just for you, right kid? By the way, they’re practically handing out materials from that beast now. If things work out, we might be able to make something out of them.” 
There were more Spirit Tortoise materials than anyone could use, after all. I guess if I just thought of it as a thank you from Ost . . . No, I still felt a little bad. 
“I’ll go ahead and throw a few things together for you as long as you can pay me later.” 
“Would you?” 
“If it’s a request from you, kid—the one and only—sure. Besides, working with strange, new materials never gets old. This armor is really something. That blacksmith must have been quite the artisan, no doubt.” 
“Oh?” 
Such generosity despite my dubious financial circumstances . . . The old guy had a big heart that made me genuinely want to repay his kindness. To be honest, I really did want to recruit him to be my territory blacksmith. I wouldn’t push the issue right now, though, but once I finished developing the territory I’d try approaching him about it again. 
 
“We should probably make the armor our top priority for now. Once that’s finished, I guess we can’t go wrong with making a shield, right kid?” 
“Agreed. If nothing else, I can just make a copy of the shield.” 
“You understood exactly where I was going with that. Alright then, leave the armor and get out of here.” 
“I’m counting on you.” 
“Righto!” 
The old guy removed the core stone from the armor and handed it to me. 
“You hold on to the core stone for now, kid.” 
“You sure?” 
“I’ll make it so that we can embed the stone afterward. You can pay me when it comes time for that.” 
“Thanks.” 
“What will you wear in the meantime, kid?” 
“I’ll just use some old armor from the castle stores, so you do whatever needs to be done.” 
“Righto! What next? There’s more, right?” 
I nodded in response to the old guy’s question. 
“Next up is . . .” 
I laid the Angel Breastplate on the counter along with the miko outfit that Raphtalia had been wearing. I wondered if I should show him the Filo Pajamas, too, but I decided to leave those for later. 
 
“What’s this? A breastplate and . . . a miko outfit?” 
“That’s some of the gear we were using in the other world. It stopped functioning just like the armor. Is there anything you can do?” 
It was pretty exceptional equipment if only we could make use of it, and considering how well the outfit looked on Raphtalia, I had to ask even if it was unreasonable. 
“This one was originally made out of the Filo kigurumi. The Filo Pajamas that Filo has been wearing were, too, but those are functioning fine, so we don’t need to worry about them.” 
“You bring me all of the tough ones! Who was wearing a miko outfit, anyway? The little miss?” 
I nodded and then whispered to the old man so that Raphtalia couldn’t hear. 
“The outfit looks super good on her, so I want to have her wear it in this world, too. Is there any way you could make it seem like she has no other choice for equipment?” 
“So that’s your plan?” 
Apparently Raphtalia had heard me. I should have asked the old guy when she wasn’t around. Fail! 
“Oh, kid. Did you really like the way the miko outfit looked on the little miss that much?” 
“Pretty much. I could tell you all about it if you’re interested, but we might be here until midnight.” 
“I’ll pass.” 
 
“Regular clothes might have worked great as armor in the world you went to, kid, but they have their limits here. Actually, this is the kind of thing a seamstress or tailor would handle.” 
Ah . . . That would be the lady who made Filo’s clothes—the one who looked like she would write doujinshi or something. I bet she was chipper as ever. 
“I’ll hold on to it for now, but don’t get your hopes up.” 
“Understood. Just do whatever you can.” 
“Mr. Naofumi, haven’t you been treating me a bit like a dress-up doll lately?” 
“Call it a father’s adoration for his daughter.” 
“Mr. Naofumi, what is that supposed to . . .” 
I beat around the bush a bit to avoid answering Raphtalia’s questions. I was sure the old man wouldn’t let me down. 
“That should do it for now. I’ll be back once I manage to make a bit of money, so see what you can do until then.” 
“Righto! Studying this equipment of yours should keep me busy for a while, kid.” 
“I’ll be expecting something good.” 
We wrapped things up and left the weapon shop. 
 





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