Chapter Four: Custom Order
The offshore storms finally calmed down. The heroes and royal soldiers all prepared to leave the islands.
The activation event was going to continue for a few more days, but we had leveled all that we could, and we’d accumulated more drop items than we knew what to do with. So there was no reason to stay.
But I didn’t want to end up stuck on a ship with Itsuki and his friends, so I had the schedule changed to make sure we weren’t going to be traveling together.
Besides, I was just going to use a teleport skill to get back to the castle
once we got in range. I’d told the queen my plan, and she decided to travel with us. The other heroes were also going to return to the castle. And we were all going to start training to prepare for the next wave. Before all that started though, I decided to check out the shield I’d
unlocked from the last wave’s boss monster.
Whale Shield conditions met! Whale Skin Shield conditions met! Whale Meat Shield conditions met! Whalebone Shield conditions met! Whale Eye Shield conditions met!
Whale Magic Core Shield conditions met! . . . and others.
When you broke down an animal and got a shield from each of its parts, you ended up with a long list of things like this.
When I figured out how to use the power-up system, I realized that most of the information concerning the individual shields wasn’t important. Lately, I just checked them for their equip effects and stat boosts, then ignored the rest.
Out of all the new shields, the only interesting things were:
Whale Shield 0/50 C: abilities locked: equip bonus: skill “dritte shield,”: mastery level 0
Whale Magic Core Shield 0/45 C: abilities locked: equip bonus: skill “bubble shield,” naval combat 2: mastery level 0
Whale Horn Shield 0/60 C: abilities locked: equip bonus: undersea battle ability 3: mastery level 0
Dritte? I looked up what that was, and apparently it was a skill that could be linked with air strike shield to form the third skill in a chain.
I tried using bubble shield, but all it did was make sound like it was leaking air—nothing more than that happened.
I wondered if it was meant for use underwater. Maybe you could make a stream of air bubbles with it?
So I went ahead and tried it underwater. It was actually a skill that made a bubble that allowed you to breath under the surface.
But you couldn’t use it forever. If you used it once, you would have to go to the surface before it would become available again.
It would be useful if we had to fight underwater again. But I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. We’d just finished an undersea battle a few days ago.
The other heroes had also tested out the new weapons they’d unlocked during their time on the islands. I hoped that their parties understood that the real training hadn’t started yet.
The queen and I left on the earliest ship and teleported to the castle as soon as we were within range. So we were the first ones to arrive.
“Oh no!”
Once we stepped out of the portal, Filo shouted.
“What is it?”
“The carriage...”
“The other soldiers will be bringing it back with them on the ship. Do not worry,” said the queen.
“Oh gooood!”
“We never ended up using it on the islands though.”
Filo had been taking exceptional care of the carriage. She worked on it every day. But the carriage was made of metal, so I’d been worried about it rusting in the sea breeze.
Why did she insist on bringing that carriage everywhere, even to places where we couldn’t use it?
Besides, if we were going to be getting around by teleportation from now on, the carriage was only going to be a burden.
Come to think of it, that’s probably why I never saw the other heroes using carriages at all.
“Very well then, I will see to it that skilled warriors are sent.”
“Thanks.”
The queen had already agreed to send soldiers to assist Fitoria in the wave that she had agreed to handle on our behalf.
Thanks to Fitoria, we would finally have some spare time to collect our thoughts and come up with a plan.
The next wave would fall on Melromarc in about two and a half weeks. We needed to find a way to make the other heroes more powerful before that happened.
The other heroes would be teleporting into the castle pretty soon. I wanted to figure out what to do with Rishia before I had to deal with them.
“Why don’t we begin by looking over the materials I had prepared for you before your departure for Cal Mira?” the queen asked.
She was talking about materials she had previously agreed to stockpile for me.
“Good idea. That’s a good a place as any to start.”
We made our way to the stuffy, dusty castle warehouse. Had this been an old RPG, it was the sort of place where you would find really excellent equipment.
I looked over each of the articles in the room.
I’d visited the room once, before the wave in Cal Mira, but I hadn’t had time to look over everything in detail.
Yup, sure enough, there was a lot of equipment set aside for us. All of the castle knights stored their equipment here too.
It looked like there was plenty of generic equipment, but finding something really good might prove difficult.
“When I had these things collected, I still didn’t have a clear understanding of what you wanted, Mr. Iwatani. So I apologize, but aside from the things you specifically requested, the rest is a bit generic.”
“No problem.”
I found a magic silver sword in the clutter, but it turned out that the Karma Rabbit Sword had a higher attack stat.
I’d have to do something about that sword though. I decided to visit the weapon shop and see if the old guy there could do anything for us.
“Thank you for your understanding. I did, however, gather all the materials you requested.”
We moved on to another warehouse that was filled with different materials.
The queen appeared at my side and passed me a sheet of parchment that seemed to have an inventory written on it.
“This is an inventory of the assembled materials. If there is anything else you would like us to prepare for you, I will call for the blacksmith.”
“Thank you for all your help.”
Materials...
“Can I take some of this stuff?”
“Of course.”
I walked around the room absorbing various things into my shield and unlocking new shields. Many of the new shields indicated that their growth trees still needed to be unlocked, but I did end up with quite a lot of new things to work with.
I couldn’t unlock all of the new options before the next wave came though.
“Oh, and you don’t need to call for the blacksmith. I have someone in mind that I’d like to work with, so I’ll go visit him myself.”
“Very well, if that is what you wish.”
Honestly, aside from the old guy at the weapon shop, I couldn’t think of anyone else that worked with equipment. He’d done so much to help us already that I felt I owed him the business.
And besides, I trusted his work.
It was probably high time I paid him a visit anyway. We needed to get Raphtalia and Filo’s new equipment worked on.
“Rishia, we’re going to our favorite weapon shop. You should come with us.”
“Oh, okay.”
“But . . . um . . . Are you really going to wear that kigurumi all the time?”
“Hm?”
She tilted her head as if I’d confused her. She probably thought I had some kind of fetish.
If I weren’t careful with my words, she’d probably freak out on me. I decided not to bother with it for now.
“It’s been about a week since we last saw the old guy, isn’t that right, Mr. Naofumi?”
“Yeah, I guess so. And just like we promised him last time, we’re going to get our equipment from him. I can’t wait to see what sort of awesome stuff he will whip up for us.”
Most of the materials we had accumulated during our time in the islands would be arriving with the ships. But we had managed to bring a lot with us too, so I’d like to see what the old guy thought he could make from them.
Considering how many ores and different materials the queen had set aside for us, it wasn’t like we had to risk running out of anything. I hoped he would come up with something good. If he did, it would be a big help in the coming battles.
And besides, I was hoping he could come up with some armor that had better stats and effects than that kigurumi.
“Hey there, kid!”
“Can’t you come up with another thing to say when I come in here?”
“Oh stop that. You know I say it with affection.”
I felt like he was telling the truth. I felt like he meant it.
“How was the activation event in Cal Mira? I heard there was a wave or something.”
“We leveled up quite a bit. We probably gained over 30 levels in a day or two.”
“Wow!”
The old guy seemed really surprised. Had I said something strange?
Raphtalia didn’t seem to understand why he was so surprised either.
“You kids must have really pushed yourselves.”
“Not at all. Monster hunting in the islands was easy, especially with the activation event happening. What’s so strange about that?”
“Well, I heard that it would help you level up, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone leveling that much so soon after the class up ceremony. I’ve only heard of one guy that leveled anywhere near that. He hunted monsters all day long for the entire duration of the event, and he only gained 25 levels.”
And we’d leveled 30 or so in a couple days? I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but it seemed impressive.
“Well, we did level pretty efficiently, but I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe it has something to do with the legendary weapons?”
“Maybe. The girls here probably don’t know either, since they’ve only ever battled as your party members.”
“True.”
So it probably did have something to do with the legendary weapons.
There was no way for us to look into it now, because we didn’t know anyone else that had leveled as much as we had.
I suppose the only thing we could do was ask the queen if she had any idea. I’d have to remember to bring it up with her.
“So? What brings you in here today? Is it about what we discussed last time?”
“Sure is. We got our hands on a lot of new materials on the islands, and the queen set aside a lot of materials for us here in Melromarc. I was hoping you’d be able to make us something impressive from them.”
I passed him the inventory parchment the queen had given me.
I had no idea what he was going to need, but I was sure that we would have enough of whatever it was.
“I’d like for you to make something out of the stuff you think would best suit us in battle.”
“Got it. But I have to say this list has some pretty rare stuff on it. I think I can make some really good things for you. How much money are we talking?”
“The crown is going to cover the bill.”
“Sounds like things are really looking up for you these days.”
He was right, at least concerning our equipment, materials, money, and social standing. All in all, things were going pretty well.
But we still had to battle the waves. Which meant we didn’t have all the time in the world to sit around chatting.
I still had a couple of topics I wanted to touch on.
“By the way...”
I looked over to Raphtalia.
Then I set the two new pieces of equipment, the Karma Rabbit Sword and the Karma Dog Claws, on the counter. I also showed the old guy the kigurumi and the materials we’d picked up on the islands.
“Can you do anything with this stuff?”
“You sure do have a lot of things to work with, kid. By the way, is that girl with you? The one in the sleeping bag?”
“Feh?”
“Yeah, that’s Rishia. She looks weird, but there’s a human underneath that thing.”
“Mr. Naofumi, I don’t think you should say things like that.”
“Why not? She doesn’t want to take that thing off, so I have to explain it.”
She said she liked it because it hid her face, but I was starting to suspect she just had some kind of fetish.
“Well, that might be, but you really have brought me some strange weapons this time, haven’t you? Anyway, it looks like it might be just what she needs.”
The old guy regarded the Karma Rabbit Sword carefully before he answered.
The thing has a couple of issues that I would like to have addressed, but I couldn’t argue with its attack stat.
Raphtalia had become very strong recently. If she were to swing a magic silver sword with all her might, she would probably break it.
I wanted to hear what the old guy thought about it so I could decide whether it was worth working on or if we should just toss it out. We could melt it down for materials, too.
“The problem is that it doesn’t have a blood clean coating on it. Is there any way that you could apply one?”
“Normally, it’s a process that you have to include in the production of the item. I can do it, but it might affect the overall quality of the piece. Do you want me to try?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, of course, I could do that, but it might be more interesting to try and make something new out of it.”
Was he saying he wanted to stick it onto my barbarian armor or something?
Come to think of it, that might be pretty interesting too.
“Thanks for all the projects, kid.”
“No problem. While you’re at it though, what kind of a weapon do you think would be best for Rishia here?”
“Hm? Do you think you could take off the kigurumi and show me your hands?”
“Rishia.”
“I . . . I like to use swords.”
“I’d really rather put you behind us as support.”
“I can do either!”
“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but why don’t you let him take a look?”
“Okay.”
Rishia slowly slipped out of the kigurumi, then bowed awkwardly to the old guy before holding out her hands.
“Well, isn’t she pretty? Lucky you, eh kid?”
“Lucky? I’m not like Motoyasu, so I don’t think anything of it.”
“Well, he’s as dull as ever, isn’t he? You’ve really got your work cut out for you.”
“I know.”
The old guy and Raphtalia nodded to one another as if they were in on a secret together.
“She looks like she might do well with a rapier. If you want to put her behind you as support, she should probably have something with magic protection.
“Could you choose one for us?”
“Wait a second. There’s no reason she couldn’t use a bow or a spear. She doesn’t seem like she has a lot of upper body strength though, so I’m not sure those are the best choices.”
“Feh... I don’t want to use a bow!”
“You don’t want to be like Itsuki?”
“It’s not that. I’m afraid I might accidentally shoot one of you in the back!”
“Oh, right.”
I guess I hadn’t thought about accidentally being shot by one of my own teammates.
But as far as I knew, Itsuki had never shot anyone on accident. I guess that meant he was pretty skilled. Maybe.
“Anyway, what’s your schedule looking like? How much time do I have to work on this stuff?”
“The next wave will be here in a little over two weeks. Anything you can do before then would be great.”
“Got it, but ...”
He held up the Pekkul Kigurumi.
“What do you want to do about this? Should I take it apart? Who made this thing anyway?”
“I know, I know. The thing has great equip effects, but it sure does look stupid, doesn’t it? We got it as a drop item from a monster. It’s kind of hard to explain. Legendary weapons can make these things from the materials monsters leave behind.”
That was a fair question. We could say that a monster dropped it, but then he would just want to know what a monster was doing with something like that.
This was the sort of thing that reminded me of what a strange world I’d been summoned to. Of course it was strange, so how could I have been expected to know something like that?
Actually, what was strange was that the other heroes had known about it.
Think about it. How could monsters like rabbits and porcupines drop items that were bigger than they were?
“You do make some weird stuff. I can see that it really does have great equip effects.”
“Can you somehow move the effects onto another piece of equipment?”
“That’s tough. I can try a couple of things, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I will probably need to make some fine adjustments, so when I get into that job I’ll ask you about the specifics.”
“Great. If you can use the barbarian armor to power this other stuff up, I’ll leave it here.”
“That works. I’ll try and make something for the girl here, but that will be one of the last things that I do.”
He pointed to Raphtalia. I wondered what he was going to make.
“What is it?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I had a weird feeling about this. Call it a premonition.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that this new equipment was going to end up looking really odd.
“It’s so exciting! I hope we get something good!”
The kigurumi fan behind me was getting really excited.
I was getting that weird feeling again. If someone as dour and quiet as Rishia was getting excited, it struck me as a major red flag. If we ended up with something ridiculous, I’d have Rishia wear it.
“Alright then, we’ll be on our way. Thanks for all your help. If you need anything in the meantime, just show this paper to the castle guards and tell them I sent you—they’ll let you in.” “Got it, kid. Just wait till you see what I put together for you.” “Thanks. See you.” We left the weapon shop.
We had just returned to the castle when I saw someone I recognized climbing down from a carriage. “Ah, Shield Hero. I beg your pardon for all the trouble the last time we met.” It was Nice Guy, the nobleman who’d gone out of his way to help us when we’d been running from the law with a bounty on our heads. I think the queen had said that he was sick and convalescing out in the countryside. Standing next to him was a well-dressed child. The child had dog-like ears. “Raphtalia!” “Keel!” That’s right. His name was Keel, and he was from Raphtalia’s village. We’d found him in the basement of that evil nobleman’s mansion. It was the same nobleman that had tortured Raphtalia. “Were you safe after all of that, Raphtalia? Did anything bad happen to you?” “I’ve been fine. Nothing bad! And no one is chasing us anymore.” “That’s good!”
Keel looked at me. “You’re not pushing her too hard, are you?” “...” “Why don’t you answer him?!” “I was just thinking it over. Maybe I have been pushing you too hard.” “Mr. Naofumi, you’re the one that is overdoing it! Keel, don’t you worry about me. I’ve never been seriously injured or anything!” “You did end up getting cursed once.” “Mr. Naofumi! Be quiet!” “Isn’t he your childhood friend? It’s rude to lie to your friends.” “Ahahaha! The Shield Hero is always surrounded my such interesting people!” Nice Guy was laughing. Did I say something funny? “So what are you doing here?” “Well, I’m finally back on my feet, so I decided to come pay you a visit.” “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Were we supposed to take Keel off his hands, since he was Raphtalia’s friend? Raphtalia noticed that I was looking a Keel, and guessing what I was thinking, she fell into deep thought. “What should we do Raphtalia?” “What do you mean?”
“About this kid, are we just supposed to leave him with this nobleman forever?”
I looked over at Nice Guy. He smiled and rubbed Keel’s head.
“I don’t have a problem with it. It’s up to him.”
Well, that was nice of him. But I’m sure Raphtalia had something to say about it. Keel probably had an idea of what he wanted, too.
“Raphtalia! You’re fighting against the waves, aren’t you?!”
“Yes. I’m fighting them with the Shield Hero: Mr. Naofumi. Just a couple of days ago we were fighting a wave in a place called Cal Mira.
“Wow! That’s so cool! I want to be strong enough to fight the waves too!”
I liked the kid’s spirit.
“But ...”
Raphtalia looked upset.
“Raphtalia?”
“I ...”
“You don’t like that idea?”
Raphtalia responded by giving me a troubled look.
“Big sis, what’s wrong?”
Filo and Keel both cocked their heads in confusion.
I understood what she was feeling.
She was probably thinking that she didn’t want Keel to be put in harm’s way again. Just when he was safe, he was about to jump back in the line of danger.
Raphtalia looked at me like she was asking me for something. I understood.
“If you join in on our training exercises, I’m sure you’ll get stronger. You just have to make an effort.”
“Mr. Naofumi ...”
“There’s nothing bad that can come of being stronger than you are.”
Raphtalia’s village had been decimated when the first wave came. Hordes of monsters poured over the town, and slave traders hunted down all the survivors.
Had the survivors been stronger, they might have gotten out of it with less casualties and tragedy.
“Raphtalia, you don’t want me to fight, do you?”
“...”
Raphtalia looked at him but said nothing. She was thinking.
“It’s not that I don’t want you to fight. But it’s harder than you think. Are you sure you’re prepared for it?”
“Of course I am! I . . . I want to be strong enough to help protect other people!”
“Sounds like we have our answer, doesn’t it? If you try and control someone that has already made up their minds, you’ll only make them miserable. We can help him get strong enough to protect himself.”
Raphtalia said nothing, but she nodded.
That settled it. I decided to invite him into my party.
We didn’t have enough people anyway. If there were people we could trust, it made sense to team up with them and help them get stronger.
He was Raphtalia’s childhood friend. There was no way he would betray our trust.
“Alright then, Mr. Naofumi. Can we take care of Keel for now?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“He’s from the same village that Ms. Raphtalia is from. Isn’t that right?”
Rishia stepped forward and introduced herself to Keel.
“Whoa! What’s with this person’s outfit? It’s weird!”
“Feh?”
I guess he’d just noticed her standing there.
“Very well then, Shield Hero, I’ll leave this . . . boy in your care.”
Nice Guy smiled at Keel and then left to go meet with the queen.
“Let’s all get acquainted.”
“I’m Fiiiilo! We met before!”
Before I could even finish talking, Filo jumped forward and introduced herself.
Why couldn’t she ever wait?
“My name is Rishia Ivyred. Very nice to meet you.”
“You’re the only one left, Mr. Naofumi. Please introduce yourself to Keel.”
“Sure. My name is Naofumi Iwatani. I’m the Shield Hero. Battle might be tough, but step forward and don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you.”
When I finished talking, Keel decisively nodded and stepped forward.
“My name is Keel. I’m very happy to meet you all!”
Keel was nearly as tall as Raphtalia.
They were from the same village. That meant that he probably looked younger than he really was.
I suddenly realized that he was the first male party member I’d ever had. I hoped that we would get along.
Raphtalia, Filo, and Rishia sometimes had conversations that I didn’t really feel like I could participate in.
“Alright then, let’s get started. Rishia, Keel, what do you think?”
“About what?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just how strong do you two want to be?”
Raphtalia looked me over as though she was trying to find a dark undertone to my question.
Her instincts were sharp. These two probably would be freaked out by what I had to say.
“I want to be the strongest there is! Obviously!”
“Feh?! Yes, exactly!”
They both seemed to really mean it too. Good.
Then there was only one thing to do. I said it plainly as can be: “Then both of you need to become my slaves.”
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login