by Aneko Yusagi
“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 anything. 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.
Chapter Eight: Two Swords
I glared at Filo so she’d know I was serious. Romina and Alto went behind the counter to bring out more weapons.
“Huh? There’s more?
“Yeah, L’Arc had a number of requests, so I did what I could.”
“Wow!”
“Alto put a lot of work in too, so you’d better be grateful.”
I couldn’t help but notice that they didn’t bother to prepare any shields for me. I suppose it wasn’t worth complaining about though
. . .
“So what do you have?”
“Naofumi and Raphtalia can just copy what we’ve made here, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then try these on for size,” Romina said, and brought out two katana. They were both stored in ornate sheathes. You could tell with a single glance that they were fantastic swords made by a master craftsman. With the appraisal ability I had, I could only see their names.
White Tiger Katana
Vermilion Bird Kodachi
“These are . . .”
“I made one of them and sold it a long time ago. We have it back, on loan, for now. You can see that it was made with materials from the four holy beasts, which are exceptionally rare. I was lucky to even get the chance to work on it.”
Romina mostly worked on things for Glass, Kizuna, and L’Arc. So, she probably didn’t get to work on swords very often.
“She really worked hard on it,” Alto said.
Romina picked up the White Tiger Katana and pulled it from its sheath. It slipped out with a sharp sound, and it seemed like something flew out of the blade when it whipped past us.
The blade itself was white, polished like a mirror, and the arc of the blade made it appear wider than it really was. It seemed like it was full of light. In fact, I think that it was.
“I think it’s very impressive, but what do you think?”
“I agree.”
It was the sort of blade that you’d get as special equipment in an RPG, like a M uramasa or a Masamune sword. They were normally some of the best weapons in the game.
And these had been made from materials from the four holy beasts!
Were they even able to do that back in the last world?
“The materials are really quite difficult to work with, honestly. It took a while for me to really understand how to use them.”
“How so?”
“Well, I used the skin and bones of the White Tiger. If you add some of the bone to the metal, it will add some effects. The strength of the blade ends up becoming so powerful that you can hurt yourself just swinging it, so there were all sorts of problems.”
