Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Barbaroi Armor

I was stuck the next morning trying to figure out how to cure the women of whatever Kyo had done to them.
“. . .”
Tsugumi wasn’t looking good.
That spear had taken so much out of her, it was a miracle she could even stand up. Kizuna had sliced off her beast side. And we kept a consistent application of medicine to the wounds. The scars of her reformed body were slowly starting to heal.
It reminded me of the parasite-like way that the Spirit Tortoise familiars had infected people back in Melromarc.
Tsugumi was silent the whole time, apparently ashamed that we had saved her.
“I don’t have to hear you say it. You know the truth, and you’re never going to escape it.”
“Mr. Naofumi . . .”
I didn’t mind if she hated me.
“But think about this. I know he was your beloved commander, or whatever, but do you really think that he was right about everything he said? Don’t you think that sounds like brainwashing?”
After all, these people chased Raphtalia. They tried to kill her. It was hard for me to believe that their relentless pursuit of Raphtalia was the only bad thing they’d ever done.
 
We’d only exchanged a few words. But, I was sure they had other plans.
“Shut up!”
“Guess I hit a nerve, huh?”
If I had died without managing to save Raphtalia, would she have ended up like these women?
“Raphtalia, it’s not like you just accept everything I say, right? If I ever lose my mind, and I’m clearly in the wrong, and I start running wild . . . I expect that you’ll be the one to stop me.”
“. . . I’ll do my best.”
I’d like to think that if one, if just one, of his women had told him he was wrong—had stopped him before it all got out of control—then he wouldn’t have died the way he did.
“He was always kind to us, but he was very serious about his pursuit of power and authority. I cannot disagree with you on that.”
“. . .”
He was a weird one alright .
Especially his constant, insatiable need for power. In that respect he reminded me of the other three holy heroes. He was just like them. Whenever he met someone more powerful than he was, he’d call it cheating. When things didn’t go his way, he’d throw a fit.
Back when I played online games, I’d seen people’s jealousy. I had some weapons and items that were limited on the server, and people didn’t like that I had them. They’d go on anonymous boards and post things just like Trash #2.
 
Yeah, I’d seen that sort of thing before.
People want to be special, want to be chosen, and want to be better than everyone else. I knew how it felt, too. People probably played online games to savor that very feeling—that feeling of being the protagonist. They wanted to be in the center of the action.
But Trash #2 wasn’t from a modern society like I was. And yet, he seemed so easy to predict.
“Excuse me, but . . . Could you tell me a little more about why he wanted to kill me?” Raphtalia asked.
It was still a mystery. He had been obsessed with hunting her down.
“The vassal weapon chose a new master. I’m sure there are plenty examples in the past of assassination attempts on people that were chosen for important roles.”
“Sure.”
I knew all about that—firsthand.
The Shield Hero had been inconvenient for the religious institutions in Melromarc, so they’d tried to dispose of me.
“But then again, I’m not sure if I’ve heard of trying to assassinate someone out of simple jealousy.”
There were still things I didn’t understand.
The katana of the vassal weapon s was like a holy sword. It was stuck in a rock, and only those that could remove it would be able to wield it. I could picture him standing up in a crowd and complaining that King Arthur wasn’t supposed to have Excalibur—that was supposed to be his sword. It was a pretty low-class thing to do.
 
The master had already been chosen, but he still insisted that it was supposed to be him? It didn’t even make sense.
“We were open to negotiations, you know. It’s not like we want war. Didn’t Glass say that she wanted to end this peacefully?”
“But it didn’t work out that way did it. If it was going to end this way, then I wish she never had been chosen to wield the vassal weapon.”
I guess it went back to that, didn’t it—that was the reason their beloved Trash #2 was dead.
“Why was he so obsessed with it? Don’t you know?”
“I don’t. I’ve been with him since I was very young, but often there were times when I couldn’t understand what he was thinking.”
The more I heard about him, the more mysterious Trash #2 became.
“He seems like the sort of guy that was always chasing women. At least you and your friends made it look that way.”
All of the women nodded along with me.
“He was always meddling in our relationships. Always trying to help! I told him to watch himself time and time again, but he never listened! He was always up to something!”
Uh-oh. I was playing with fire. The complaints were coming quickly now.

So he liked the ladies, was an alchemist that was always working on revolutionary inventions, and was pretty good with a sword.
 
I guess that’s why they called him a genius.
Wasn’t that enough? If the vassal weapon had chosen him, he’d have to fight in the waves. He should have counted his blessings.
“He used to drive me crazy!”
“Are you going to stop complaining soon?”
I guess their relationship was always on edge.
“But I loved him. There was no one else like him!”
Good thing too. One was more than enough.
Yomogi and Kizuna came walking over.
“So? How does it feel to be used for Kyo’s assassination plans?”
Yomogi shot me an irritated glance.
“I . . . I have to hear the truth from him myself. To that end, I will cooperate with you.”
“You did promise, after all.”
I didn’t want to derail the conversation, so I decided to ignore her self-satisfied comment.
“That’s true, I did. But I . . . I don’t want to believe that Kyo has done these things. So . . . I will believe in the Kyo I thought I knew, and I will share what I know with you.”

She was going to cooperate with us then. And in a weird way, she thought it was in service to the Kyo she’d imagined she was working with the whole time, a Kyo that probably never existed.

“I have heard that Kyo journeyed to another world and caused a great disaster there. Is that a true story?”
 
“Yeah. That’s the only reason we’re here.”
Yomogi and Tsugumi’s weapons had been powered by an energy I was able to absorb with my shield. In all likelihood, it was the energy he stole from the Spirit Tortoise.
I was probably only able to stop those energy attacks because I had the Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield.
“He took control over one of our world’s protective beasts, and used it to kill countless people. Heroes aren’t normally permitted to cross between the worlds, but I was given special permission to come here specifically to track him down.”
“He laughed as he piloted the Spirit Tortoise, as he trampled people to death. Glass tried to stop him, and he said ‘ What does it matter? This world will be destroyed anyway!’”
“. . .”
Yomogi listed silently.
I took the time to compare Yomogi and Tsugumi—they seemed very similar to me. They both believed wholeheartedly in whatever their leader told them.
“Hey Yomogi, what’s the Kyo you know like?”

“Hm . . . He’s very intelligent. He travels around the lands asking people about their troubles and then invents ways to solve their problems. He is also very skilled with magic. He saved me once, which is when I came to trust him with my life, and then . . .”

Tsugumi listened to Yomogi explain Kyo’s qualities, and tilted her head to the side in confusion. I felt the same way, really. After all, she might as well have been describing Trash #2.

“Isn’t this great? I think you two will be great friends,” I said.
“No! Do not compare Kyo to the likes of this other man! Get a grip on yourself!”
Tsugumi tried to grab Yomogi by the shirt and they started to scuffle.
I wished they’d give it a rest already. Their battle wounds weren’t even healed yet.
“And yet, it is strange, isn’t it? They seem so similar,” Kizuna said to L’Arc and Glass.
“L’Arc, didn’t you say that you were a good judge of character?” I asked. He had said something like that back in the Cal Mira islands. He’d been talking about Armor, this guy in Itsuki’s party. L’Arc was saying that Armor was going to cause trouble. Still, it had taken him a long time to realize that I was the Shield Hero.
“Yeah, what about it?”
“What did you think when you met Kyo and this other guy?”
“I’ve met a lot of people over the years, and those guys are like two peas in a pod.”
“Right . . .”
L’Arc said he knew, just from talking to me, that I hadn’t raped Bitch.
If he said that these guys were like two peas in a pod, then he was probably right.
Their similarities were getting harder to ignore, even for me.
 
“Anyway, we’ll have to find out if he’s really working on something that will raise people from the dead. But at the very least, you should realize by now that you can’t trust him.”
“. . .”
They couldn’t disagree. Not after he treated them as disposable assassins and left them maimed. Not after he’d treated them like pawns in his game.
“Don’t you have zombies and things like that in this world? He probably used technology from the four holy beasts to make it look like he can raise people from the dead.”
“Possible. Once someone is gone, they don’t come back. Perhaps this is punishment for our reckless decisions.”
They seemed resigned to defeat. I guess it was a natural feeling to have if you were saved by the very people you wanted to get revenge on. Whatever. We were just trying to get information out of them.
“Yomogi, how did you end up attacking our house?”
“One day Kyo came home, injured and furious, saying that the girl with the fan of the vassal weapons and her friends attacked him. I said I would never forgive anyone that hurt him, and went to grab the weapon he had been developing.”
“Didn’t take you long, did it?”
“He always told me not to use it, but only showed me how to put it away and how to take it out.”’

I could picture it clearly. He understood Yomogi’s personality, so he got her interested in the sword, and let her watch him take it in and out. He guided her actions indirectly—and he didn’t go chasing after her when she left.
 
If I were Kyo and Raphtalia was Yomogi, I would have stopped her.
No matter how fast she was , I would have stopped her.
And he knew that Yomogi and Trash #2’s women had been captured. He had done and said nothing, as if nothing at all had happened.
“Actually, now that I think about it, the sword was suddenly completed the day that he returned. It hadn’t been the same weapon until that day.”
“And when was this?”
“A little over three weeks ago.”
“That’s right around the time that we came to this world.”
Yomogi was starting to put it all together. She was starting to see what kind of person Kyo really was.
“Anyway, I have to get the truth from him.”
“If what we’re saying is true, what are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll . . .” she curled her hand into a fist, “I’ll make him pay. The Kyo that I know made inventions to bring joy into people’s lives. If he is spreading destruction and pain, I cannot forgive him.”
“Well that settles that. We came here to do the same thing. To make him pay, and to take back the energy he stole from the Spirit Tortoise.”
In truth, we really didn’t have the time to sit around talking this all through. But at least we got a glimpse into just how suspicious the inventors are in this world.

“Kizuna, Glass, L’Arc, keep in mind what these inventors have been up to. If they are all the same, then someone else might try to take up the mantle.”

“Good point. I’ll keep an eye out. We can’t have more creepy characters running around and causing trouble in other worlds.”
“Yes, that is a good point. We should be careful.”
“Yeah. There’s a problem with the vassal weapons, they’re supposed to protect the world. We better get this mess settled.”
“Yes, let’s,” Raphtalia nodded.
I nodded too. Everyone had agreed to fight.
“Yomogi, Tsugumi, do you know where Kyo is?”
Kizuna unrolled a map on a nearby table.
We could start a war if we wanted to, but there was no telling if Kyo would actually come to the battlefield.
He was probably working from a strategic headquarters somewhere. He could be safe in the capital, commanding troops on the front lines. If we went looking for him aimlessly, there’s no telling how long it would take to find him. Alto and some of Kizuna’s other friends were out hunting for his whereabouts undercover, but we’d yet to hear any news.
And I didn’t come to this world to fight a war.
“Kyo’s laboratory . . .”
“It’s right there,” Yomogi said, pointing to the map.
It was far away from the capital. It looked like it was in a village, deep in forested lands.

“A long time ago, he built his laboratory in a sealed mansion here. It’s in a deep forest with fog so thick that anyone who wanders in there gets lost. It's impregnable. You cannot find it unless he’s allowed you to.”

Sounds like he made his hideout in a pretty good spot.
But lucky for us, we had a way to move through the air.
“Alright! Let’s get prepared and get going. We can’t let up on the war effort either.”
“Right. Let’s put an end to all this. It’s up to us, the vassal weapon holders, and the holy heroes too, to punish this creep that abuses a vassal weapon.”
That was what had to be done.
There was going to be war. But if we could sneak over and get rid of Kyo, we might be able to put an end to the war. It all rested on him.
“Oh hey, Romina was looking for you, Naofumi. She’s made a bunch of new stuff.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah, Kiddo. And I got a bunch of material together for you, so get prepared.”
“You’re coming too, L’Arc.”
“Think I don’t know that? Who do you think you’re talking to?”
“Boy.”
“Ha! You just remembered that now, didn’t you? Stop it!”
“It’s hard to be serious when Mr. Naofumi is around.”
“I’m just trying to be serious about all this.”
“But sometimes you’re so silly!”
 
Huh? Had I said something? Whatever. I left Kizuna and L’Arc behind and went to visit Romina.
“Yesterday was pretty crazy, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, we were in a pretty rough spot there.”
If that spear had actually exploded, it probably would have taken a good chunk of the castle with it. Honestly, I was a little impressed with myself for containing it all, but I also knew there had been luck involved, and that we had been very close to disaster.
“So? I heard you put some stuff together for me?”
“Yeah—took me a while too,” Romina said, rummaging through the back of her store and returning with a suit of armor.
It looked a lot like the barbarian armor that I’d left with her. But the coloring was different, and there were patches of black and white fur stuck onto it in various places. The shoulders were capped with tortoise shells. The collar was lined with red things that looked like feathers.
“That’s some impressive looking armor.”
“It is. I used some of the material we had from the four holy beasts—no small cost for that, but I think you’ll like how it came out. It’s a damn tough set of armor. I have to show you this. Take a look at the dragon emperor core stone we’re using here,” Romina said, pointing to a gem set into the breastplate.
It was quite a bit larger than the stone I’d had previously.
It was shaped like a ying-yang symbol, but the black side of it had grown substantially larger than the white side. It looked like a mix between Chinese and Japanese designs. You know those games about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? It looked like something a commander from those games might wear.
 
“I based it off the barbarian armor you brought in last time—the set that had lost all of its functionality.”
“It looks excellent.”
I was surprised. I didn’t think there was anyone out there that could even repair the armor the old man made for me—much less improve upon it.
“It’s harder than you think, using materials from the holy beasts, I mean. If you don’t do everything just right, the materials can backfire on you.”
“Oh?” I was starting to understand why Kizuna was so impressed with Romina’s work.
“I’m telling you, working with new materials, using new techniques to replicate your last set . . . I put a lot of work into this. Take that dragon emperor core stone there for instance. I had to work out a way to combine the old one with a core stone that Kizuna got a while ago. It’s tough to do even without having the stones interfere with one another, but I pulled it off. The effect is even stronger now.”
“Is that why it looks bigger than it used to?”
“Yes. Those stones are very, very rare—so you better take good care of this.”
“Sure.”
Once I defeated Kyo, I was going back to my world anyway.
 
What if I couldn’t use this armor once I crossed back over? What if crossing over worlds would cause the name to become garbled in my status menu?
“With any luck, you’ll be able to use it back in your world too, so take good care of it. It won’t be good for my reputation if you treat it like it’s disposable.”
“Sure, right. So what do you call this armor anyway?”
I remember asking the old man at the weapon shop the same question.
Maybe it hadn’t been officially named yet, because it wasn’t displaying correctly in my status menu. Maybe I wasn’t good at assigning names.
“Kizuna suggested the name, actually. She said the last set was called Barbarian Armor, so maybe this should be called Barbaroi Armor.”
“The Barbaroi and the barbarians weren’t really the same thing though . . .”
There were differences, but I guess they were related. For a human-supremacist nation like Melromarc, the god of the demi-humans, the Shield Hero, might as well have been a barbarian deity.
The old man had probably named the armor that way on purpose. It was all a joke to him. In hindsight, it was the perfect set of armor for me.
 
Barbaroi Armor +2 (cursed) defense up: impact resistance (large): slash resistance (large): fire resistance (large): wind resistance (large): water resistance (large): earth resistance (large): HP recovery (low): magic recovery (weak): SP recovery (weak): magic power up (medium): dragon emperor revolt, four holy beasts power, magic defense processing, automatic self-repair, growth power.
 

There were tons of imbued effects. I’d lost shadow resistance, but I’d gained a ton of new resistances.
There were so many that it would take me a while to research them all. What would happen if I equipped it?
There was one other thing that bothered me. Why was there “cursed” after the name?
“It turned into a really specialized piece of equipment, so I don’t know if you’ll really be able to make good use of it. But I hope so, because if there are problems, I’ll have to remake it.”
“I’m not sure I want to ask, but what do you mean by ‘problems?’ Will I be able to take it off once I equip it?”
“Yeah, you shouldn’t have that kind of problem, but it does lay a curse on whoever wears it. I had one of my assistants test it out, and it got pretty hairy there for a minute.”
“Feh . . .” Rishia whimpered in terror.
She was afraid of literally everything. Raphtalia on the other hand looked at the armor with lust in her eyes. Oh, Raph-chan was doing the same thing. I guess that's what you get when they share the same DNA.

“So shiny . . .” Filo muttered. She had that special look in her eyes—the kind that birds got when they found shiny objects to play with.
 
“Would you like to try it on?”
“Yeah, at least to test it. What do you mean it curses you?”
“I mean it breaks all of your ribs if you try to try it on.”
“That’s one evil curse!”
The armor was starting to sound downright vindictive. I didn’t want to put it on anymore.
“Should I just dispose of it then?”
But the effects were great. Wasn’t there some way we could remove the curse and keep the rest?
“Naofumi, you have really a high defense rating, don’t you? I think you’ll be able to use it without much trouble. That’s why I kept it for you. You might as well give it a try.”
“I didn’t realize I was signing up for a human experiment here.”
“With any luck, this will save your life in the next battle.”
She was right about that. I was pretty sure that the equipment I was currently using wasn’t going to be good enough for a showdown with Kyo.
Tsugumi had shattered my Shooting Star Shield barrier without much trouble at all, which made me think that I really needed to address some recent deficiencies in my stats. Improvement was necessary to survive the coming battle.
And this new armor was based on the design of my Barbarian Armor, which, despite some initial misgivings, I’d really grown attached to.
So I . . . Well . . . Hm . . . It was a very shiny set of armor, but it also kind of looked like it was surrounded by a dark aura. It was like . . . like the sort of change that came over me whenever I used the Shield of Wrath.
 
Maybe.
“What if I try it on and it seriously injures me?”
“We’ll just have to rush to get you treated. I know a good doctor.”
“That isn’t what I wanted to hear. Oh well. I guess there’s no other choice.”
What was it they said? To catch a tiger, you have to go to its lair.
I’d have to rely on my defense rating to get in on, but with it on, I might not be able to unlock new shields.
“If it seems like it’s going to be a problem, take it off, alright?” Raphtalia said.
“I know, I know. You’re the one that looks all excited about it.”
I went to the changing room in the back of the workshop and tried it on.
It seemed fine. . .
But just when I thought there was nothing out of the ordinary, I noticed a flashing icon in my field of view. It said “cursed.” It wasn’t the same as the clock that appeared when I used the Shield of Wrath.
Aside from that though, there didn’t seem to be any other problems. I could tell that the armor was hugging me pretty tight, but with my defense rating, it didn’t feel any more dangerous than a tight belt.
“Well?”
“The size is actually perfect. It is squeezing a little tight in spots, but that’s about all.”

I wouldn’t exactly call it comfortable though. I couldn’t relax. I felt like the armor was looking for a way to take me down, like it would strike if I showed any weakness.

“My assistant had it on for only thirty seconds, and it broke his ribs. So, if it hasn’t hurt you yet, I think you’ll be fine.”
“I guess you’re a good craftsman, but can’t you make armor that isn’t cursed?”
The armor was fine for now, and when I looked at my stats, I was surprised to see just how high my defense rating had risen.
Maybe it was raising my defense rating by percentages or something. Regardless, its effect on my defense stats was far more impressive than any armor I’d seen yet.
It might have worked by multiplying the effect of my shield. Its overall effect was much better than trying to power-up the shields themselves.
“I’d like to see if it increases pressure on the wearer over time. Will you wear it until your departure, so that I can test my theory?”
“Sure.”
There she goes again—using me for her experiments.
“I also have that kigurumi.”
“Oh yeeeah . . .”
I’d nearly forgotten about Rishia’s favorite Filo kigurumi.
I was kind of afraid to see what she’d done with it. But I was surprised when she came back with not one, but two new pieces of equipment.

“I used it to make a new breastplate here. That and . . . well, leftovers, I guess.”
 
She showed us a pink breastplate shaped like Filo.
The first piece was a pink breastplate that must have been made with material from the chest area of the kigurumi, judging from Filo’s coloring. It also had golden yellow and blue accents, and looked like a refined, high-quality piece of craftsmanship.
“I was focused on the dual nature of her character when making it. The original materials were very strange, so it was actually harder to make this than it was to make the Barbaroi armor. I had to do all kind of research.”
“Wow!”
I was impressed. It looked great.
“What is it called?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Remember when they made a spectacle of Filo, calling her an angel?”
“Well ,. then how about we call it the Angel Breastplate?”

Angel Breastplate
defense up: agility up (high): impact resistance (low): wind resistance (large): shadow resistance (low): HP recovery (low): magic power up (medium): automatic self-repair, towing ability up, carrying capacity up, awakening power.
It was like she made the breastplate with only the good parts of the Filo kigurumi.
It even looked good.
 
Judging from what I’d seen of her work so far, I was pretty impressed with Romina’s craftsmanship. That is, if I ignored the somewhat murderous intentions of the armor I was wearing.
“So let’s see what else we have here,” I said, unrolling the left over material from the Filo Kigurumi.
I stared at Romina, and she turned her eyes away from me.
It sure looked like she’d turned the remaining kigurumi materials into Filo pajamas. The head was turned into a hood. So I decided to call it just that, the Filo Pajamas.

Filo Pajamas defense up: agility up (high): impact resistance (low): wind resistance (large): shadow resistance (low): HP recovery (low): magic power up (medium): automatic self-repair, traction ability up, carrying capacity up, transforming, type change, hidden power, hidden weapon.
 
The problems when used in monster form, that the original kigurumi had, were gone completely. What did “hidden power ” mean though?
Did the pajamas change size when you put them on?
“You’ve really outdone yourself with this.”
“Usually, this is how things get degraded, passing through the hands of too many craftsmen.”
“I wonder if Mel-chan would like it?”
“She probably would,” I said. They were really good friends after all.
 
“Okay, so who is going to equip these things?”
I looked around the room at Raphtalia, Rishia, Filo, and at Raph-chan.
Glass and Kizuna might have been interested too, but they weren’t here now.
Maybe even L’Arc—he might like the pajamas. I’d like to have him try them on, just so I could see that awkward look on his face. If I included some gems, Therese might even be interested.
“I’d like the breastplate,” Raphtalia said.
“You have that miko outfit.”
“And it’s wonderful equipment, but . . .”
I imagined her wearing the breastplate, and compared it to how she looked in the miko outfit. There was no question that she would look better in the miko clothes.
L’Arc must have really used some money on it, as the miko outfit came with some wonderful equip effects.
It didn’t have a ton of abilities, but it wasn’t so lacking that I thought it was worth changing to something else.
She should really stick with the miko outfit—at the very least it was good for my eyes.
“Can’t you make some new miko clothes for Raphtalia with all these same effects? Can you make it in time?”
“Mr. Naofumi, you don’t need be so particular.”
She told me off again! Oh well. I couldn’t help it.
“L’Arc already requested clothes be made for Ms. Raphtalia here.”
 
Romina already had a miko outfit ready for her. Would the interior be lined with the White Tiger skin?
“I took some cloth I had made from the White Tiger skin and used it to form a miko outfit.”
What now? I couldn’t really appraise the item at all—but I could see its name.

White Tiger Miko Outfit
The colors had not changed much from the outfit she already had.
L’Arc, I have to say, knew what he was doing.
“So that takes care of your equipment, Raphtalia.”
Raphtalia sighed. “I don’t know why you think these clothes are so important, but fine.”
“Rafu!”
Raph-chan leapt across the room and hid inside of the new outfit’s sleeve, then poked her cute little face out from the opening.
Aww. She was so cute.
“Rafu!”
I patted her on the head.
“So both of these . . .”
Raphtalia and I looked over at Rishia and Filo.

Actually Filo didn’t need anything. Looks like we had more than enough.
 
“Feh . . .”
“What is it?”
Raphtalia and I started whispering.
“Which one do you think Rishia will pick if I ask her to choose?”
“I would assume she’d want the pajamas, no? She said she liked to hide her face, after all.”
I nodded.
“Right, okay then Rishia, you . . .”
“I wanna wear one too!” Filo said, raising her hand.
“You hate wearing armor, Filo.”
“Huh? But there are leftovers!”
She was right about that. The equipment was too big for Raph-chan, after all.
Or actually, maybe Raph-chan could wear the hood. It would probably look really good on her too. Or maybe I could get her a little teapot outfit, and make her look like Bunbuku Chagama .
Oh! I was getting excited just thinking about it.
On that same line of thought, maybe I could get a Santa hat for Chris. Then he’d look just like Pekkul!
“Mr. Naofumi, are you paying attention?”
“Of course I am.”
“You’re acting a little strange. Why are you staring at Raph-chan like that?”
Oh no! She caught me in the act. She could always tell what I was thinking.

“Which one do you want to wear, Filo?”
I had to steer the conversation back on course. Otherwise Raphtalia would keep trying to read my mind.
“This one!”
She pointed to the Filo Pajamas.
I looked over at Rishia, “What do you think, Rishia?”
“Feh. . .”
“You want something you can use to hide your face, right? Filo wants the pajamas, but I can tell her no.”
“But!”
“Fehhhhh!”
“Are you two arguing?”
Alto came walking over from behind Romina’s counter.
So he was here too. I’d totally forgotten about him since he hadn’t shown his face yet.
“I think it will look better on Filo. The breastplate will do more good on this lady anyway.”
“Oh yeah? For a merchant, you aren’t so good at identifying the real problem.”
“What’s that supposed to mean ?! ” he shouted.
“Listen up. Rishia is a shy weirdo. She wants the pajamas because she can use the hood to hide her face. We’re trying to figure out how to divvy up the equipment, but you have to know that about Rishia to understand why it’s complicated.”
 
He was right in some ways. I mean, if we were going to choose by what looked best, then Rishia should definitely go with the breastplate and Filo should take the pajamas. But considering Rishia’s particular needs, it would probably be best to give her the pajamas and ask Filo to make do with the breastplate.
“Fehhh ?! ”
How many times did I have to tell her not to scream like that?
“Can’t she make do with the breastplate?”
“I doubt it. Rishia would be so embarrassed that she probably wouldn’t be able to focus on the battle at all.”
“Is that so? It sort of looked like you were trying to force the pajamas on Rishia, you know?”
“How dare you. I’m just trying to do what’s best for her.”
“Try all you want, Filo’s already wearing the pajamas.”
“What ?! ”
“Ta-da!”
Filo was standing there in human form, proudly wearing the pajamas. She actually sort of looked her age in them.
“I feel so . . . so alive!”
I hesitantly checked on her stats.

What ?! Filo’s stats had suffered so much when we crossed over to the new world that I hadn’t been able to depend on her for any thing. But all her stats had shot through the roof!
 
What was going on ?!
Then I remembered the list of the kigurumi’s effects.
Was this all because of the type change and shield adjustments?
I recalled a similar effect when Rishia wore the thing.
She’d lost all those boosts when we crossed between worlds, so I guess it was safe to assume that we’d gotten those effects back by remaking the kigurumi here.
“All the more reason to give it to Rishia. Filo, take that thing off! Rishia needs it more than you do.”
“But!” Filo shouted, and quickly turned into her humming falcon form.
When she did, the pajamas changed along with her and the hood rested on her head as she flew around.
“You idiot! Damn! If it can transform like that, then I should have given it to Raph-chan!”
“Um . . . Excuse me! I will take the breastplate, if that’s alright,” Rishia said.
“Mr. Naofumi, please calm down!”
“I didn’t work very hard on the pajamas, but I suppose I’m glad to see you’re fighting over them . . .” Romina sighed, “Maybe it says something about the quality of my work.”
“It’s tough working with customers from other worlds, isn’t it? Remember all the trouble you had with Kizuna?”
“Well she was very particular about her fishing rod.”
Romina and Alto reminisced absentmindedly as we bickered in front of them.
 
They finally agreed that Rishia would take the breastplate and Filo would take the pajamas.
That stupid bird. Eventually I’d get those pajamas from her and give them to Raph-chan.
Filo! You better stay on your guard.