Chapter Twelve: The Decision
We teleported to the dragon hourglass using Raphtalia’s skill.
“Whoa! Shield Hero?!”
The soldier standing guard yelped in surprise when we suddenly appeared. The soldiers over at the castle seemed to have gotten used to it already, since we showed up there fairly frequently.
“We’re here to class up a few of my companions.”
“U . . . understood!”
They began preparing for the ceremonies just like when Raphtalia and Filo had classed up.
“Filo.”
“Whaaat?”
“I may have you leave the building, just so you know.”
“Whhhyyy?”
“Otherwise, the same thing that happened to you and Raphtalia might happen to the slaves.”
Ultimately it wasn’t a bad thing, since it resulted in an overall increase in stats, but not all of the slaves might be happy with it. With that in mind, we would have to pay attention to where Filo was during class-ups, since her presence could interfere with the outcomes.
“Boo . . . Fine. The spear guy isn’t outside, is he?”
Alright, Filo had agreed!
“If he is, call for me,” I said.
“But you didn’t protect me before, Master.”
Ugh . . . What did she think I could have done in that situation?
“Filo, I promise I’ll take care of it somehow if he is, so please don’t argue.”
Raphtalia assured Filo, who then nodded hesitantly.
“Okaaay.”
This trauma that bastard Motoyasu had inflicted on Filo sure was a hassle . . . Anyway, it was time for the class-ups.
“Hold up, everyone,” I said.
“What’s up, Bubba Shield?”
“I might as well ask you all. What we’re about to perform here is the class-up ceremony. Do you know what that entails?”
“I’ve known about it for ages!” shouted Keel.
The slaves all looked at each other and nodded.
“Okay then. It’s my policy to have you all decide your own future. Of course, I’m talking about something different than the reconstruction effort to prepare for the waves that you’re all working on.”
“What do you mean, bubba?”
“Those of you interested in participating in the fight against the waves have been focusing on leveling so far. But at the same time, you need to think about what comes after the waves have ended.”
“. . .”
Raphtalia stood there silently, staring at me. That’s right. The whole idea of rebuilding the village had been for her sake. But regardless of that, it was still important that the slaves decided their own future for themselves.
“The class-up that you’re about to undergo will open up new possibilities for you, but it may close others off at the same time. You realize that, right?”
The slaves nodded. After I made sure they understood that, I moved on to my next question.
“There’s a possibility that something you weren’t expecting might happen. The class-up path that results in the greatest increase in your stats might be automatically chosen for you before you have a chance to make your own decision.”
“Can that really happen?”
I nodded emphatically.
“Raphtalia and Filo both fell victim to the phenomenon.”
The two of them each gave a quick raise of the hand.
“That cowlick . . . crest feather of Filo’s is special. It will choose your class-up path without your permission. But the path that it chooses will result in a huge increase in your stats.”
“Are you serious?!”
“Yeah, but you all have long lives ahead of you and combat prowess isn’t everything. If there’s something in particular you want to do with your life, then I believe, without a doubt, that it’s worth it to choose for yourself and specialize in that thing.”
I didn’t want them getting stronger at the expense of having any control over their lives. That’s why I wanted them to decide if they were okay with having an irregular class-up.
“Of course, I’m pretty sure that both Raphtalia and Filo would be able to do anything they wanted to without a problem now. But there’s no guarantee it will be the same for you.”
It wasn’t like their class-ups had made them impeccable superhumans. I was sure there was no such thing as perfect in this world. That’s exactly why the decision was important.
“Make sure you choose a path you won’t regret.”
The slaves began whispering amongst themselves.
“I understand, bubba. I . . . I want to be the strongest I can be. If there’s a chance it will make me stronger, then that’s the only option for me.”
Keel spoke up first and nodded. Keel was in charge of teaching the slaves discipline. Suffering a major injury from being attacked by a Spirit Tortoise familiar had turned out to be a good experience for her. She didn’t act recklessly during battle anymore. I was looking forward to seeing how things would change now that she could use a therianthrope form.
A boy standing next to Keel stepped forward.
“I . . . would like to choose my own path.”
“Got it. Okay, everyone split up into two groups. Those who want to choose and those who don’t.”
The slaves followed my orders and split up.
“Okay, Filo. We’ll start with those who are fine with not choosing. Once we move on to the ones who want to choose, I want you to go outside.”
“Okaaay.”
“Me first!”
Keel raised his hand and then reached out and touched the hourglass. She must have been excited, because her tail was wagging. The magic circle appeared below Keel and an icon popped up in my field of vision.
“Whoa!”
Filo’s cowlick popped out and leapt at the icon, interfering with Keel’s class-up. The area filled with smoke, and just like what had happened with Raphtalia, Keel’s stats all skyrocketed. But . . . I had a feeling the difference wasn’t quite as drastic as it had been for Raphtalia. Then again, Raphtalia was always doing push-ups and exercising in her spare time, so it was probably just a matter of her being more physically fit.
“Awesome! My body is overflowing with power. I feel like I could do anything!” Keel exclaimed.
We continued on with the class-ups for the slaves who didn’t care about choosing and just wanted to be as strong as possible. Once we had finished those . . .
“Okay then, Filo, you go wait outside.”
“Yup, I knooow.”
It was time to perform the class-ups for the slaves who wanted to choose their own path, so I had Filo leave the building. That would probably be enough to prevent the interference. Just as I thought, the class-ups went normally.
“Bubba! Bubba, let’s see how strong I am now! Let’s go hunting and you can see for yourself!” shouted Keel.
“I guess we could do that . . . I probably should see how strong you’ve become with my own eyes.”
Raphtalia, Filo, Rishia, and Eclair were acting as sparring partners to the slaves under the guidance of the old lady, but the reality was that there were certain things only I’d be able to see.
“Alright, let’s borrow one of the castle carriages and have Filo take us somewhere where there’s likely to be some monsters.”
“Buuut . . . I’m scared . . .”
She was so worried about Motoyasu that she didn’t even want to go outdoors now . . . She was in critical condition.
“Don’t worry about it. If he shows up again, just give him a good kick and you’ll be fine.”
Motoyasu did have a few screws loose, but he wasn’t a threat.
“It’s not like the Spear Hero is a bad person, you know . . . You were the one that kicked him every time you saw him, in the first place, Filo. I’m pretty sure that makes you the bad one . . .”
“You’re standing up for him after he called you a tanuki pig? I guess you turned out to be a good kid, after all, Raphtalia.”
Did the fact that I was getting a little bit sentimental mean that I’d softened up? Nah. It was probably more like my interpretation of Raphtalia’s response as well-meaning was a result of me being twisted. It made me happy that Raphtalia had turned out to be such an honest, straightforward girl.
“What are you getting emotional about? I’ve never seen you make that face before . . .”
“Boo . . .”
Filo’s cheeks were puffed out like she was upset.
“In any case, Filo, if we do run across Motoyasu, all you need to do is give him a good kick, just like you always have. I’m sure he’ll like that.”
“Okaaay.”
“I have a feeling this whole conversation is really messed up, bubba.”
“You’re not wrong about that, Keel. If the Spear Hero does show up, you help me control him, too, okay?” said Raphtalia.
“S . . . sure! I don’t really know what’s going on, but you can count on me!”
I got the feeling that Raphtalia didn’t completely agree with my plan.
“It’s not that I don’t understand how you feel, but . . . I’m not sure that kicking him is the answer,” she said.
“Oh? You do realize that it will only make things worse if I have her stop kicking him, right? Are you prepared to sacrifice an opportunity to hunt monsters?”
Raphtalia gave up when I put it that way.
“Okay, Filo. Just pull the carriage like you always do. I’ll order a new carriage for you later, so cheer up.”
“Really?!”
Filo’s eyes sparkled. Well, a carriage that hadn’t been used much, at least. Besides, I hadn’t said that I’d buy a carriage that was any nicer than her previous one.
“Yeah, absolutely.”
“Okay, I’ll do my beeeest! And if the spear guy shows up, I’ll kick him!”
Filo excitedly dashed off toward the castle to get a carriage.
“Umm . . .”
Imiya’s uncle raised his hand meekly.
“Don’t worry. I plan on stopping on the way,” I told him.
“U . . . understood.”
Shortly after, Filo returned with a carriage and we all climbed inside.
“Filo, stop by the weapon shop before heading out.”
“Okaaay!”
Once we were all loaded up into the carriage Filo was pulling, we made our way to the weapon shop. When we arrived, I jumped out quickly and popped into the old guy’s shop.
“Oh! It’s you, kid!”
When I entered the weapon shop, the old guy was standing behind the counter like always. There was always something comforting about seeing the old guy. I guess I really did trust him.
“How are things? Have you made progress with the armor and shield?” I asked.
“Not even a tiny bit. That ore from the Spirit Tortoise has some real peculiarities.”
“Oh?”
“It’s really difficult to work with, so it’s a hot topic of research in several places right now. Take a look for yourself.”
Hmm . . . I guess that meant it was difficult to process for use in weapons and equipment.
“It’s easy to add enchantments and other options, and since the material is so tough, all you have to do to make a weapon is carve it into the proper shape.”
I’d seen several in Zeltoble. I remember they were super expensive and looked really crude. The sword and spear blades looked like tortoiseshell. I guess those blades had just been carved into that shape, then.
“That said, I don’t feel right about calling something like that a weapon. The skill of the craftsman never even comes into play. Worse comes to worst, we’ll end up seeing crude hammers on the market.”
“So it’s just a matter of principle?”
“Well, I guess you could say that about the weapons, since we’re talking about the skill of the craftsman. But that’s not the only problem when it comes to armor.”
“Oh really?”
“Really. The material doesn’t respond to air wake processing, apparently. It has no effect at all.”
Air wake processing? I was pretty sure that was supposed to make heavy armor lighter. That reminded me of the gravity field equip effect on several of my shields. The effect seemed to be able to generate a gravitational field meant to alter gravity and it showed up on a lot of the Spirit Tortoise series shields. Even if such a property only affected the Spirit Tortoise materials a slight amount, it would make sense that they might not respond to air wake processing. It was a nice feature to have on a shield, but it wasn’t doing us any favors in the armor department.
“The material itself tends to be heavy, too.”
The Spirit Tortoise’s shell had to be pliant enough to be able to rebound attacks. But it would still need to be heavy.
“I considered trying to make it lighter, but . . . then you lose precious defense.”
“I see.”
It was clearly a difficult material to work with. I figured the old guy still hadn’t managed to finish any pieces, but . . .
“I’ve made two prototypes so far. Have a look.”
The old guy took me to the back of the shop and showed me the prototypes. The first was straightforward. It was a simple, no-frills shield made from the Spirit Tortoise’s shell. The problem was that it was huge and thick.
“This?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Mind if I pick it up?”
“Go ahead.”
I went to give it a try, but it was really heavy. I could lift it, but using it in battle would be tough. I couldn’t really swing it around. It made a huge thud when I sat it down. But there was an even bigger problem. Weapon copy hadn’t activated. In other words, it wasn’t even being recognized as a shield. I wasn’t really sure what the criteria were, but it was probably more accurate to consider this . . . a wall, maybe. But I had felt something like a little tingle, so it probably just barely fell short.
“What do you think?”
“Apparently it’s not a shield.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely a failure.”
“And the second?”
“This one here.”
The old guy handed me an ultra-thin, semi-transparent shield made out of tortoiseshell. It looked absolutely gorgeous. I held it in my hand. It was light enough to carry comfortably. Swinging it around shouldn’t be a problem, either. But . . . hmm? This one seemed more like a shield, but nothing was happening.
“Heh. I figured you’d notice something was wrong, kid.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I went all out to make that shield as light as possible. The tradeoff is that it has zero defense. A single hit would shatter it.”
A single-use shield? Or more like . . .
“Isn’t this just a dinner plate?”
“I can’t really argue with you there. Just after I finished making it, I saw practically the same thing for sale at a souvenir shop. I felt like crying.”
“It’s heavier than it looks, though.”
“Yeah, it is. That material sure is difficult . . .”
“Aren’t these prototypes both a bit extreme? Is there no middle ground?”
“I understand where you’re coming from, but the stuff is hard to work with. Everything ends up being really mediocre.”
Could we not do something with it? The materials were a parting gift from Ost. I wanted to make good use of them. It would be nice if my shield could modify the materials in some way, but that didn’t seem likely. Was there nothing I could say to help?
“That reminds me. When I was in Zeltoble—”
I told the old guy about the Spirit Tortoise Sword that I’d seen in Zeltoble. I mentioned that one glance was enough to tell that it was a one-of-a-kind sword made by a real master craftsman.
“It must have really been something for you to say so, kid. I have a feeling I’d know who made it and how, if I could get a look at it.”
“Are you trying to tell me to go buy it? Give me a break. There’s no way I could buy a weapon that expensive.”
I might be able to get the money by selling the weapons that the old guy had made for us, but that would be defeating the purpose. That made me think . . . Selling rare and unique weapons dropped by monsters was an option, too. They would probably sell for a good price since they were so uncommon. I’d have to give that one some more thought.
“By the way, I brought one of my slaves that I’d like you to take on as an apprentice.”
“Which one?”
I pointed Imiya’s uncle out of the slaves I had with me.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I see you actually completed your apprenticeship with Master and opened your own weapon shop.”
“Oh! It’s you, Tollynemiya!”
His name was longer than I expected.
“You know each other?”
“Yes.”
“From a long time ago.”
It turned out that Imiya’s uncle and the old guy were both apprentices of the same master when they were younger.
“That said . . . I ended up having to quit halfway through due to various circumstances. Things were difficult at home, and I had to help raise several nieces and nephews, including Imiya.”
“Master’s business wasn’t doing too well back then, either,” added the old guy.
“Despite being a master craftsman?” I asked.
That seemed a bit strange.
“It had to do with some big business deals and women. Our master was a real sucker for women.”
Their master sounded like Motoyasu. I’d picture Motoyasu in my head any time I thought of the old guy’s master now. Although, the Motoyasu I knew had turned into a Filo fanatic now.
I wondered just what kind of life Imiya’s uncle had led. He and Imiya had both become slaves, so I couldn’t really imagine how things had turned out the way they had. I was sure he would tell me if I asked, but forcing people to talk about their own painful memories was something not even I was interested in doing.
“Alright, then. You already know each other. That makes things easier.”
“I guess that’s true, but . . . I certainly never imagined my new blacksmithing master would be you,” said Imiya’s uncle.
“I’m surprised, too! But I did tell the kid I’d take on an apprentice, so at least this will make things easier on me.”
“It’s just like old times. The memories are coming flooding back.”
“Including lodging expenses. How much should I pay you to take him on?” I asked.
“As a live-in apprentice, right? I don’t need you to pay me anything as long as I can work him like a horse.”
“Your generosity is appreciated,” I said.
“Hey now . . . I hope we’re not talking about hard labor for life here,” Imiya’s uncle retorted.
“What are you saying? You’re the kid’s slave! With you around, I should be able to save money on mining, too.”
It wasn’t much, but with my shield adjustments he should be tougher than your average demi-human or therianthrope. I wondered if that meant the old guy would be a hard-ass teacher. Speaking of images, Imiya’s uncle seemed like the kind of character that would always be puffing on a pipe or cigar. But he didn’t. He just wore overalls like some country bumpkin.
“I’ll just have you doing the same kind of work we used to do way back when.”
“That’ll kill me for sure.”
“Hahaha! It’s surprisingly not that bad.”
The old guy and Imiya’s uncle went about chatting as they got to work. It seemed like things were going to work out just fine.
“Alright, we have some other stuff to take care of,” I said.
“Gotcha. I’ll make sure he learns everything there is to know about running the shop.”
“I’m hoping you’ll either come set up shop at my territory or teach him the skills he needs to run his own.”
I wanted to have Imiya’s uncle make weapons and equipment back at the village, but that would depend on whether he was only skilled enough to work the counter or if he could actually give the old guy a run for his money.
“I haven’t really given it that much thought. Either way, I need to see what he can do now, before anything else.”
“I’ve continued to work with ironware a bit, but that’s about it.”
“You’re just being modest. I need to see you actually swing the hammer to judge your true skill.”
“You’re in for a real treat, then.”
Imiya’s uncle was always really polite when talking to me, but that wasn’t the case with the old guy. They acted just like you would expect two reunited old friends to. It was kind of nice. Imiya’s uncle . . . Tollynemiya, was it? I’d call him Tolly.
“Alright, if I need anything else I’ll drop back by again. If you need to get in touch with me, just send word to the village or the castle.”
“Will do, kid.”
“Despite having lost both of her parents, Imiya seems to be really enjoying herself. I want to do what I can to help you out, too, Shield Hero. I’ll do my best to master the trade.”
“I’m counting on you.”
I sure hoped the two of them could put their heads together and figure out a way to make good use of the problematic Spirit Tortoise materials.
And so we left the weapon shop and continued on our way.
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