by Aneko Yusagi
“Can I bring Mel back home?” asked Filo.
“Sure, but get back here before noon. And make sure that her parents show their gratitude.”
“Okay!”
“Holy Saint, thank you for all your help. I’ll see to it that you get what you are owed. Thank you again for your assistance.”
Filo finished dragging in our loot, and then she left to bring Mel back to her family.
That was fine. She had only come with us so that we would bring her home, and I couldn’t see there being any further complications. We’d only spent a day together, but still—I felt like I’d started to get a handle on just what kind of girl Mel was.
She had been very polite, and getting in her parents’ good graces certainly couldn’t hurt. When Filo was on her way out, I told her to run away at the first sign of any trouble.
“All right, so you want to trade this stuff in?”
I turned back to the weapon shop owner and returned to our negotiations.
There was a pile of equipment between us. We had managed to steal it from some violent bandits we had encountered.
“Kid, you’ve got your hands in all sorts of honeypots, don’t you?”
“With that, plus all the money, how’s our budget looking?”
“Let’s see here… you’re talking weapons and armor for her, and then armor for yourself, right?”
He crossed his arms and started mentally tabulating.
“Don’t get me wrong—I’m glad that you bring me all your business. But you know that you can try some other shops too, you know?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing in particular. The other Heroes have stopped coming around, so it made me think that there must be some other shop out there—a better shop.”
“Hmmm…”
It wasn’t impossible. The other guys already knew all about the world from their games. So there was a good chance that they knew a different store, one with better prices and equipment.
But his shop was supposed to be the best in Castle Town. So if there were a better place, it would have to be in another country. Right?
“You have any ideas?”
“Maybe if you went to our neighboring country, there might be shop with better equipment than mine.”
“If I have to gamble on a hunch, I’d just as soon take my chances with you.”
“There you go, kid! I won’t let you down!”
“Worst case scenario, I’ll just have you make me whatever I need. Those look like skilled hands you’ve got.”
“Good eyes! When I was younger I was the apprentice of a famous blacksmith to the east.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. That’s why I like working with you—for your skill and your efficiency.”
“I’m on it, kid. I won’t let you down!”
The old guy jumped over the counter and started pacing his shop, considering all the products there.
“Hmm… For the little lass, I’d think that a magic silver sword would serve her well. Of course I’d include a Blood Clean coating also.”
After some discussion we agreed on a price of 10 pieces of gold.
The Blood Clean coating he referenced was a way of making swords so that blood and guts wouldn’t stick to the blades and ruin them.
If you don’t get the guts off your sword quickly enough, the blade will rust and lose its edge. The coating was really important if you planned on using the blade for long.
“As for armor, I think magic silver armor that’s been manufactured with magic defense properties. Yes, that should do it.”
“Magic defense manufacturing?”
“The wearer of the armor will absorb magic from the enemy. It increases the wearer’s defense proportionately.”
“Sounds great.”
If I wasn’t able to perfectly protect her, that armor would help her escape battles unscathed. If I make a mistake, that is. It would be important going forward.
The old guy was still thinking of equipment we could make for 10 pieces of gold. That was a pretty expensive piece of equipment.
“Hey, we have more money. If we went all out here, what could we get?”
“Kid, you gotta think about the girl. It will cost money to get that curse lifted. Besides, what if the equipment doesn’t work for you? You’ll lose money trading it in and all that.”
“Hmm…”
“Right. Also, that’s about the best I can do with the materials I have on hand right now.”
“Fair enough.”
If it was the best equipment he could make, then I guess it was good enough for me.
“If you want to push for something different, I’ll have to make it custom. I can do that, but it will take a little time.”
“Yeah, I guess you’d need time to make it.”
“Right. I have a bunch of different materials now, but still not enough. Mostly, I’d need ore.”
“I thought that maybe we could use the skin from that dead dragon.”
“Put that aside for a second. What about you, kid?”
“What about me?”
“If we are talking about your armor, I could make a heavy armor with the Air Wake processing, that way it would be lighter. Or I could make something new from all the stuff you brought in.”
“What would be better?”
“It would probably be about the same.”
“Hey, I remember you said that you could improve the Barbarian Armor if you added some bones.”
“You’re right, I was about to suggest that. Chimera and dragon bones are really great materials. Then we could cover it with dragon skin, and fix the dragon’s core into the center. That would be perfect!”
The dragon core he was referring to was a crystal-like core that had reanimated the dragon after it died. It was like the heart of an undead dragon. Filo had eaten most of it, but we still had what I’d set aside.
I bet that items like that, rare items, would make great equipment.
“Awesome. Sounds good to me, old man. Let’s do it.”
“Thanks! I’ll add the bones for free, which means that you just need to cover the manufacturing and material costs.”
He took 5 gold pieces, a pile of materials, and took them all back behind the counter with him.
“Hey kid, you better leave your Barbarian Armor with me when you leave.”
“Sure.”
I went to a changing room and slipped out of the armor, and then I set it on the counter.
“All right, I should have this all done in two days or so. So come back then! I’ll have good stuff for you.”
“Thanks. Oh hey, old dude.”
“What?”
“There’s a star next to my level now. Any idea what that means?”
“Oh yeah? Guess you guys are about ready to change class.”
“Class?”
“What, you don’t know? Class-up. You are going to advance into the next class. Once you break through your class, you can reach even higher levels—plus you get a huge power boost for breaking into a new class.”
Say what? What now?!So it was like a game where you could change jobs at a certain level?
“Normally only knights, wizards, and adventurers with special permission from the Crown are permitted to go through the class-up process. But you’re a Hero, aren’t you kid? You should be able to.”
Thinking back on it, it would explain why the bandits were so much weaker than I would have expected. They weren’t able to break through level 40! So adventurers and villagers that weren’t trusted were kept under a certain level—that’s how they were able to keep the peace. They controlled everyone’s power.
That reminds me—when we’d been fighting the bandits, I think the bodyguard had something similar.
“When you go through a class-up, you have to decide what direction you want to take your growth. It sure worried me when my time came. Once you get that star, your options really open up. It’s a big deal.”
“Where can I do it? Where can I class-up?”
“Haven’t you already been there? The room with the dragon hourglass.”
So that’s where it happened. Thinking back on it, it did seem important and well protected.
The dragon hourglass was a giant hourglass that counted down to the arrival of the waves of destruction.
A while back I’d met up with the rest of the heroes there.
Could it be that I’d met them there because they’d gone to class-up?
Just what level were they at, anyway? I felt myself getting flustered.
“Anyway, the immediate priority is getting Raphtalia’s curse lifted. Filo’s busy too—so I’ll worry about it once we’re all back together again.”
If I could, it would be better to class-up as soon as possible.
“Okay, old dude, you mind if we all meet up here?”
“If that’s what you want, I’m fine with it.”
The guy really did treat me well. I wanted to give him all the business I could.
We finished up at the shop, and Raphtalia and I left for the church.
There was a large church in the center of town, looming over everything and immediately visible.
It was huge. There was a symbol over the door; it looked like a sword, spear, and bow combined.
I didn’t like the look of that. There was no shield.
“Sh… Shield Hero?!”
We walked into the building, and one of the sisters there shot me a cold glare. Putting aside what they thought of me, is that how they behaved in their church? Or were those accused of rape not even allowed to enter the church at all?
“Do not let it upset you.”
A man, some type of church patriarch by the look of him, admonished the sister.
Something about it made me uncomfortable, but whatever it was I let it go.
“Father!”
“What brings you to our holy space today?”
“My friend here has been hit with a powerful curse. We’ve come in search of a powerful holy water so that we might cure her.”
They hadn’t done anything rude to me yet, so I saw no need to be combative right off the bat.
“We will require a financial offering.”
The wall was plastered with various items and their prices, but I decided to ask anyway.
“How much?”
“Holy water is not very expensive, but it is available in different potencies. Starting with 5 pieces of silver, 10 pieces of silver, 50 pieces of silver, and up to 1 gold piece.”
Well at least they weren’t out to get whatever they could.
Had they tried to wring money from us, I’d been prepared to show them how I felt about it.
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to start debating over money here in the house of God. We’d like the holy water for 1 piece of gold, please.”
“We can’t, Mr. Naofumi. I can’t accept such an expensive item.”
“It’s fine. We already went over this. You’re important to me. What’s a piece of gold if it will save you?”
“Th… Thank you so much! You won’t regret it!”
I took out a piece of gold and passed it to the priest.
“Thank you.”
He pointed to a sister, who immediately came over with a bottle in her hand.
I remembered my appraisal skill and used it on the holy water.
Low-level holy water: quality: poor
I glared at the priest. He looked taken aback, then took the bottle from me. The color left his cheeks.
“Why did you bring this cheap holy water?”
“But I…”
“The Lord is merciful. If you have done this to appease your own sense of justice, then you must repent immediately.”
“I… I’m so sorry!”
“I beg your pardon. A member of our church has behaved rudely to you.”
“If I get what I paid for, I’ll have nothing to complain about.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
The priest left to retrieve the water himself, then returned with a bottle. I used my appraisal skill on it again.
Curse-lifting holy water: quality: excellent
“Looks good to me.”
I took the bottle of holy water from him.
“Please thank the Lord for his guidance. All is delivered through the mercy of the Lord.”
Religions sure did have an air of self-righteousness. He spoke as if it were to be assumed that I was evil, and that I should be grateful for his forgiveness.
Raphtalia and I left the church. I was ruminating about their behavior as we left the building behind.
Chapter Three: Everyone Loves Angels
“OOOH! Shield Hero!”
We were leaving the church when I heard a shout I couldn’t ignore.
I turned to see a young boy of 14 or 15, dressed like a soldier, running in our direction. He was nearly out of breath.
We were in Castle Town, so when I saw soldiers running in my direction, I was prepared for bad news.
I didn’t think. I turned and started running. Raphtalia was right behind me. There were too many ways for this to go bad.
The king who had framed me, the guy I secretly called “Trash,” was a moody man. Who knows what he had decided to frame me for this time?
“Wait!”
Yeah right. Why should I? I knew that nothing good was waiting for me. Who would wait for a soldier who was shouting for them to wait? Only a fool.
So I took off running. But then I realized Filo wasn’t with us. I couldn’t let us get captured, but I also couldn’t escape town with our carriage if Filo wasn’t there with us.
“Wait!”
“Damn this kid! Raphtalia, you get Filo and bring her here. We need to finish our shopping and get out of town.”
“Roger!”
Raphtalia and I split up and ran from the soldier.
The soldier followed me.
“Damn, I can’t lose him.”
The soldier was very persistent. I crawled down a small ally and came out into a crowded main street where I was finally able to lose him in the crowds. Now I just needed to get out of town before he caught me.
But how would I meet up with Raphtalia and Filo? If I could make it to the weapon shop, I’d be able to meet them there.
Or so I was thinking, when…
“AHHHHHH!”
What the..?
I turned to see a crowd led by Motoyasu. He was pointing at me and running. The crowd parted for him.
Damn! If they saw me now, what good was it that I’d escaped?
“Naofumi! I found you!”
That was Motoyasu Kitamura. He was the Spear Hero, summoned to the world just like I’d been, but from a different Japan. He was the favorite of that Bitch, the princess who’d framed me, and he was really living it up here, doing whatever the hell he wanted.
He was probably the most attractive of us heroes. He was light-hearted, always hitting on girls. His head was as empty as you’d expect.
He’d really made my life here into a nightmare.
“You! What are you doing?!”
“What the hell? Don’t try to pin anything on me!”
“Playing dumb? Good luck! We already know! We know that you’re the owner of that fat bird.”
Fat bird… Filo?
“Give us the bird—we’ll kill it!”
“Ha! What are you talking about? That was all your fault. You should have been more careful before you approached her!”
Once, a little while ago, Filo had given Motoyasu a hard kick to the crotch—sent him flying. It had felt good to watch him flip through the air.
“Still playing dumb? That fat bird of yours was after me the second it saw me!”
Hm? What was he talking about? Was he imagining things?
“What are you talking about?”
“Like I said, that fat, stupid bird of yours tried to run me down!”
I
looked at Motoyasu. He armor was as nice and shiny as ever, but the crotch was missing and covered with a cup.
This was hilarious! Ha! The guy was traumatized! Ha!
Oh boy, this just kept getting better and better. I’d have to give Filo a treat later on. She’d known what I really wanted and taken the day to give me this present.
“What are you laughing at?!”
“Ahahaha!”
“You bastard…”
Seriously, what was he so mad about? This was great.
Motoyasu apparently realized that his current conversation tactics weren’t getting though to me. He changed the subject.
“And hey, let that girl go!You slaver!”
“Not again! You really don’t know how to give up, do you?”
There had been a time, in the past, that Motoyasu had tried to ‘“save” Raphtalia from me. That she was beautiful must have been a motivating factor. He challenged me to a duel I had no hope of winning, and he was right. I lost—but only because the Bitch cheated and attacked me from behind.
And now he was at it again! He hadn’t changed at all.
“Raphtalia already turned you down.”
Once Raphtalia figured out what was going on, she turned him down and that was the end of that.
“I’m not talking about Raphtalia!”
His hand curled into a fist.
“I know all about it! You’ve found yourself a new slave, haven’t you? I saw her leaving the weapon shop!”
What was he talking about? I had no idea.
The only people that travelled with me were Raphtalia and Filo.
Motoyasu had been upset about Filo this whole time—but now he was calling her a slave and demanding her release?
“Who are you talking about? Not Mel? She’s not a slave.”
“I don’t know her name! The girl with the blonde hair!”
Blonde hair?
“If her hair was blue, that’s Mel. If it was blonde, that’s Filo.”
“Exactly! That girl with the little wings on her back! You know who I’m talking about! You call her Filo?”
He was practically screaming now, suddenly impassioned.
