Chapter Four: E Float Shield
“Now then . . .”
I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to talk to the queen about my plans going forward. I was already planning on getting some old equipment from her anyway. We returned to the castle and asked where she was. She had just finished a meeting and was still in the room, wrapping up some paperwork. That’s where we found her, behind a desk with mountains of paperwork piled up on top.
“Queen.”
“Mr. Iwatani. What is it?”
“It’s alright if I take some equipment out of the storeroom, right?”
“Yes, that’s fine. Just be aware that much of it is damaged from the recent battle.”
“I know. I just figured I could use it at my territory if you don’t need it.”
Now we just needed to go and see what was there.
“Alright. Raphtalia. Filo. Rishia.”
“Yes?”
“Start loading up some things onto a carriage. We’ll be using it at the territory, so look for lighter equipment, preferably. Filo, I’ll be counting on you to make regular trips to transport the stuff by carriage.”
“Okaaay!”
Raphtalia and the others nodded and headed for the storeroom, leaving me behind. Filo was still in a weakened state due to the effects of the curse, so I wasn’t actually sure if she could carry anything too heavy. That made me think that maybe I should raise another filolial.
“Ah, yes. I was actually just about to summon for you, Mr. Iwatani. I’ve had the Spirit Tortoise materials rounded up at the training grounds in front of the storeroom, so please take what you need.”
“Understood.”
I left the queen and headed to the grounds in front of the castle storeroom. When I got there, I started going through the mountain of Spirit Tortoise materials that literally did cover the entire training grounds.
“Oh, come on!”
Eyeballs and brains came tumbling out of the pile, startling me. I mean, this had basically been a friend of mine, so . . . it just felt wrong. And then, all of a sudden . . .
“Wh . . . what?!” A pale light emanated from the Spirit Tortoise materials before they were absorbed into my shield, seemingly of their own accord.
Spirit Tortoise Carapace Shield conditions met! Spirit Tortoise Skin Shield conditions met! Spirit Tortoise Flesh Shield conditions met! Spirit Tortoise Bone Shield conditions met! Spirit Tortoise Blood Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Body Fluid Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Immune Cell Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Muscle Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Cardiac Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Myocardium Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Blood Vessel Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Eye Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Pupil Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Sacred Tree Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Familiar (Bat Type) Shield conditions met!
Spirit Tortoise Familiar (Yeti Type) Shield conditions met!
Etc. . . .
Merging with Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield!
Forcibly unlocked!
An absurd number of shields scrolled by—probably enough to complete the Spirit Tortoise series. They all had high defense ratings. Wait a second . . . The Spirit Tortoise shields had all unlocked on their own . . . That Spirit Tortoise Heart shield was really something. An image of the Spirit Tortoise appeared as a backdrop to the Spirit Tortoise series listing on the status screen floating in my field of vision.
Now to check their stats . . . Oh? I noticed a shield that had been unlocked had a usable skill.
Spirit Tortoise Carapace Shield 0/40 C
<abilities unlocked> equip bonus: skill “E Float Shield”
equip effects: gravity field, C soul recovery, magic defense up (large)
mastery level: 0
E Float Shield, huh? Was that related to the Air Strike Shield? What kind of skill was it? I tried changing to the new shield and called out the skill.
“E Float Shield!”
The letters “ON” showed up in my field of vision and a shield appeared in mid-air. So it was something like Air Strike Shield, after all? Thinking so, I walked toward the shield, but it moved away the same distance that I had walked.
Huh? Was it a shield that appeared with me as its axis? Distance-wise, the skill seemed to place somewhere between Air Strike Shield and Shooting Star Shield. I was timing how long the skill lasted while I analyzed it, and it still hadn’t disappeared. It lasted a long time.
Hmm . . . As I stood there, deep in thought, the E Float Shield started to spin around right in front of my face. What was going on? And why was it in my face? Get away!
The instant the thought crossed my mind, the shield moved away. So it was a magical shield that moved wherever I wanted it to? Now that would be convenient. It would be even more convenient than Chain Shield. That one had a restraining aspect that differentiated it from this skill, but still . . .
The effect’s range was around one meter. Considering it could be turned on and off, it would classify as a semi-passive skill. As for my SP . . . It was dropping a small amount every thirty seconds. Not bad fuel efficiency at all. As long as I didn’t use any other skills, it wouldn’t even outpace my natural SP regeneration. I guess I should have expected as much from a shield that came from Spirit Tortoise materials.
“Change Shield!”
I used Change Shield and the E Float Shield changed its form to match. Oh! This was a convenient skill, for sure. Only being able to produce one would be the limiting factor.
As for the other shields . . . They were all good, numbers-wise, but most of them just increased stats or resistances. Being linked to the Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield seemed to have upgraded all of their stats. On the other hand, the stats of the Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield itself had dropped a bit, as if to say it had served its purpose and was finished. Then again, I couldn’t complain after all it had done for us.
“Mr. Naofumi.”
Raphtalia and the others came running over to where I was taking a break after I finished experimenting with the shield.
“You get everything ready?”
“Yes. All that’s left is to stop by the slave trader’s place.”
“Alright then. Let’s head out.”
“Okaaay!”
Filo joyfully pulled the cart while in her filolial form. I could tell she was struggling just a tiny bit. Her reduced stats probably did make the carriage feel heavy, after all.
“Oh? Finished already?”
The queen wandered over as if she had just been out for a walk.
“For now, yeah. Can you have what’s left delivered to my territory? I’ll use the meat to feed us for the time being.”
Food expenses would skyrocket for a while once the slaves started leveling up. It wasn’t like I had no other ideas for securing provisions, but I had a lot of things to take care of and I wanted to start with getting the territory set up.
“I’ll have some of the soldiers sent over to help out, then. Feel free to use them as you see fit.”
“Will do. Thanks. We’re going out for a bit to take care of some other things.”
“Let me know if you need anything. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Understood. We’ll start with gathering building materials and implementing security measures to take care of thieves. We’ll be heading over tonight, so have things ready on your end by then.”
Having rumors circulate about a hero loading up a bunch of slaves into a carriage and taking them away somewhere would be bad, so it made sense to leave during the night. I originally thought Filo might have trouble seeing in the dark, but her vision worked just fine at night, so there would be no problem with making our move then.
“Understood.”
I nodded to the queen upon hearing her response and we headed out of the castle and toward the slave trader’s tent.
The slave curse preparations had been completed and the slaves were trembling with apprehension. I figured now was a good time to be stern with my orders. Raphtalia had started out cowardly in the beginning, and Filo had been selfishly obstinate. I was getting a whole bunch of new slaves all at once, so I planned on making good use of my past experiences.
“From now on, you’re all my slaves. But don’t worry. I won’t do anything terrible to you—as long as you do what you’re told. That said . . .”
I couldn’t make it sound like I was too lenient or they would take advantage of me.
“I can’t stand laziness. If you’re not a hard worker, I’ll sell you off without a second thought. Don’t you forget that!”
The slave trader gave an order to his assistant, who then rang something that looked like a gong just as I finished my little spiel. No one asked for that! Look, now the slaves were cowering in fear. No, wait . . . That was probably my fault.
“Ahhh!”
Nice! There’s the trepidation I was looking for!
“Oh, jeez. There you go again, causing misunderstandings . . .”
“Fehhh . . .”
“Also, I plan to continue peddling, so I’ll need some monsters that can be used for transport.”
“I’d be happy to give you some filolials! Yes sir!”
“No, not just filolials. I’ll take one of those, but I want some different kinds of monsters, too.”
“You don’t like filolials?”
“I want monsters that are easier to handle so that the slaves can use them, too. Also, something that can work the land.”
Aside from the usual horses and filolials, I had seen plenty of monsters that resembled cows and caterpillars pulling carts around the town. Besides, if I raised a bunch of filolials, I might very well end up with a whole crowd of Filos. I could hear the chorus of Filos all shouting . . .
“Maaasteerrr! We’re hungry!”
Just the thought of it sent shivers down my spine. Oh god, spare me!
Supposing I were going to raise more filolials, it’d have to be one at a time. I had to be especially careful when dealing with filolials. It might have made sense from a fighting power perspective, but we were still just laying the foundations. With that monstrous appetite, raising more than one filolial at a time would be difficult. Even if we did have the Spirit Tortoise meat, it’s not like we could just hang around the castle town all day feeding it to them.
I had to start with what I could handle and build up from there or things would get out of control and I’d end up buried in debt. It was a future all too easy to imagine.
“I see. In that case, leave it to me.”
“Will do.”
“Would you prefer eggs? Or would you rather purchase adult monsters? The eggs would be cheaper, by the way.”
“Eggs should be fine for now.”
“Understood. Yes sir.”
The slave trader walked off toward the tent where he conducted the monster side of his business. I opened up the slave curse settings. Oh? Looking carefully, I noticed you could set work-related rules, too. I’d have to think about what work I’d have them doing later. Looking out of the tent, I could see the sun beginning to set.
“Rishia, I have a job for you.”
“Huh? What job is that?”
“I want you—along with Raphtalia and Filo—to help raise the slaves and monsters I just bought.”
“Umm, okay.”
“And I want you to take the lead.”
A jack-of-all-trades and master of none like Rishia would excel at a leadership position once she’d gotten used to analyzing the situation. Raphtalia and Filo would probably tag along as protection, but I wasn’t planning on just creating a bunch of high-level slaves that didn’t know how to fight. There was value in simply experiencing battle, so I’d gradually move Raphtalia and Filo away from the front lines. It was the perfect chance to have Rishia experience a strength of her own that couldn’t be measured by levels.
“Of course, you’ll still be continuing your Hengen Muso Style training with the old lady.”
“Okay! I’ll do my besht!”
There she went again with the weird pronunciation! Jeez . . . This girl was hopeless.
“I’ve selected some eggs that should satisfy the Shield Hero’s requirements. Yes sir.”
The slave trader returned with several eggs in hand.
“You have my thanks. Now then . . .”
Hmm . . . I guess there was no avoiding it.
“First things first . . .”
I looked back at the slave trader, who was rubbing his hands together, and made an announcement.
“I’m going to cook us a meal.”
I used the Spirit Tortoise meat that Filo had brought to prepare and serve several dishes in the tent. There was your standard grilled meat, as well as a soup and a stew. Having been made using Spirit Tortoise meat, the dishes tasted a bit strange.
“Oh! This is good!”
“What is this?! It’s better than my mom’s cooking!”
“Yeah, what is this?!”
“Mr. Naofumi is an excellent cook.”
“Yup! I love Master’s cooking!”
The slaves were all getting along and devouring their food.
“This is superb! The Shield Hero’s cooking is simply delectable! Yes sir!”
During the commotion of getting everything ready, the slave trader and his assistant had slipped in with the slaves and were helping themselves to the food. I couldn’t let it get to me. It wasn’t my intention to feed them, but they had provided the space, after all, so I decided to let it go.
“Do as you’re told, and this won’t be the last time I cook for you. I expect you all to work like you mean it!”
The slaves continued eating and nodded in response. They could just consider it celebration in advance, since things were going to get busy from here on out. They needed to be well-nourished or they wouldn’t last.
After finishing our meal, we set out into the night with the slaves, the slave trader, and his assistant in tow, making our way through the castle town and then departing for the territory.
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