by Aneko Yusagi
What?!
“Who is stuck in their ways?!”
“What would Kizuna-chan say if she saw you like this? You have to relax. Relax!”
“How cowardly of you! Don’t use Kizuna’s name like that!”
Kizuna was one of my closest friends. She was the one who wanted to protect the world. It was her commitment that inspired me to love the world, too. But Kizuna was not the sort of person we could send to battle in the waves.
Even worse, she had gone missing.
“Glass-chan, you make the funniest face whenever I bring up Kizuna’s name.”
“Don’t you mock me!”
“Oh stop that. You’re both just little girls to me.”
“Blasphemy! Don’t say another word!” I snapped, opening my fans and pointing them at L’Arc.
“Calm down.”
“Listen to me. We are very busy preparing for the wave battles. We don’t have time to spend exploring other worlds.”
“That’s easy to say, but have you noticed? That world is . . .”
L’Arc shared some important information with us. It was about the potential of the vassal weapons.
We gained new abilities by absorbing monsters and materials into our weapons, but there was a limit to how many things we had access to—a limit there was no way to get around.
We lived in a finite world. It might seem like there are infinite types of monsters and materials, but that isn’t the case.
But a new world offered new possibilities. It was filled with untapped resources. Furthermore, and this was perhaps the most surprising, the levels gained in that world were combined with the levels gained in our own.
That meant that the levels gained in each world could be added together.
“You see what I’m getting at, right? If we want to survive the next encounter with Naofumi, we should spend some time leveling up in their world.”
“But . . .” I began to protest, but I had to admit he had a point.
We had met Naofumi before, but we still hadn’t encountered any of the other holy heroes. What would happen if we won? Would the additional strength we’d accrued stay with us?
Would we need a temporary power boost?
Or since we didn’t have a lot of time, wouldn’t it be better to find a way to brush up our skills in our own world?
I had so many doubts.
“And . . . Didn’t you notice? They aren’t stupid. They aren’t going to put the holy heroes on the front lines so easily. If we get over there before the waves come . . . You see what I mean? We have the vassal weapons so we can kill them.”
That was a good point. It was going to be very difficult to kill the holy heroes if we only had the duration of the waves to do it.
It might make sense to cross over to the other world and then kill the last possessor of the holy weapon before the wave came.
“In Naofumi’s world, I couldn’t even find out where the other heroes were.”
“That’s true. Perhaps we should not worry too much over our methods. This is no time to worry about justice.”
I wonder how Kizuna would react if she were here to hear me say that.
L’Arc looked very happy, even though it had only been two days since our battle with Naofumi.
“So you know what I’m saying. If the next wave connects to Naofumi’s place, we should cross over to that world.”
“I suppose you’re right,” I sighed.
“Hey, where’s Therese?”
“She’s probably back at the room, no?”
“She’s still relaxing? We better get moving if we want to survive the next wave,” L’Arc said. I nodded, and we left to go meet with Therese.
Therese was back in the room, playing with a bangle.
“Hey, Therese! How are things?!”
She sighed and held the bangle up to the light. She almost seemed not to have heard him.
“Hey!”
“This is amazing. It’s so beautiful,” she muttered, running her finger over the gemstone set in it.
I wondered if Therese’s people could see something that I couldn’t in such objects.
On our way back, Therese had been very excited to show me the bangles from the other world. She said they were amazing.
Therese used a unique type of magic that drew on the power of gemstones. She said that she knew a lot about gemstones because of that, and that the bangles were fitted with the best of the best.
I couldn’t help but wonder why, if the stones were as good as she said, she didn’t use them during the battle with Naofumi.
“They’re beautiful.”
“Therese!”
“Yikes! L’Arc?! When did you get here?”
“When? Haven’t you heard me talking to you this whole time?”
She snapped to attention and hurried to hide the bangle from his sight. She looked like a young man desperate to hide his dirty magazines.
As I wasn’t one of Therese’s people, I couldn’t understand her fascination with the object. But why was she so nervous about being seen with it?
“Oh, um, right. Of course I heard you. What can I do for you?”
“Were you really listening? And do you really like kiddo’s bangles that much?”
“Of course I do, L’Arc! Don’t you see it? Can’t you feel how happy these stones are?”
“All I know is that those things are powerful.”
“You’re such a brute!”
“Ugh!”
Therese looked disappointed. Then she punched L’Arc in the stomach.
It was a solid punch. I’d have to remember that.
“If those bangles are so impressive, why didn’t you use them during our battle with Naofumi?” I asked.
Therese’s magic used the power of gemstones, and she was bragging about how great those stones were. So why didn’t she use them?
“Because the stones . . . The little stones wouldn’t lend me their power to use against him.”
“What?”
“Therese, you psycho! You could have held back a little,” L’Arc whined, clutching his stomach.
They were close friends, but they got into scuffles from time to time. I guess that showed how close they were, but I didn’t really understand it.
“And? Why wouldn’t the stones lend you their power to fight him?”
Therese looked very sad when she heard my question.
What was the matter? Had I said something rude?
“Glass, don’t you understand? Think about it from their perspective. A god-like creator picks you up and polishes you until you are perfect. And then someone asks you to help them kill that very person.”
“I think I see what you are trying to say.”
Naofumi had made the bangles, so they wouldn’t help us defeat him.
“But if we asked for their power to save Naofumi, I think these stones would sacrifice themselves to ensure his safety,” Therese explained. She smiled and rubbed the stones against her cheek.
“Ugh, Therese. Stop that.”
“If you want me to stop it, you should make me an even better bangle!”
“Damn you, kiddo! You had to raise the hurdle on me, didn’t you”
“So? What did you want from me?”
“Yes, well . . .” I explained our plan to cross over to the other world during the next wave.
“Understood. Shall we get going?”
Luckily, Therese was optimistic about the plan and eager to cooperate.
“So with any luck, we will just slip through to the other side.”
We all agreed on the plan and met the next wave head on.
Luckily, it was connected to Naofumi’s world.
“Glass-chan. I’m sure you already know this, but if we see anyone fighting when we get there, ignore them and let’s move on.”
“Understood.”
We stepped through the rift and inspected our new surroundings.
Off in the distance, I saw a bird-like monster lo
cked in battle with one of the wave monsters. It looked a lot like the type of bird monster that had been in league with Naofumi. It finished off its enemy and turned, running straight in our direction.
“Let’s go!”
“Yup! Therese, help us out!”
“Okay.”
Thanks to Therese’s help, we were able to make a comparatively safe crossing to the other world.
I turned to look back in the direction we’d come from and saw the rifts in the sky closing. Then I noticed a problem.
“What? Our equip effects don’t seem to . . .”
My stats had fallen dramatically. It must have been what L’Arc was talking about—a side effect of moving to another world.
“Yeah, looks like it. It’s probably not your style, but you should wear some armor while we’re here,” L’Arc said, producing a set of armor from his scythe.
It was the western-styled leather armor that Kizuna had talked about.
There was no getting around it. It was better than wearing clothes with no effect at all. I removed my kimono and changed into the armor.
“Wow! Glass?”
“That does NOT look good on you!”
L’Arc’s comment annoyed me, so I kicked him in the shin.
“Ouch! What the hell?”
“You’re the one that gave me the armor.”
“How is that my fault? It’s the only set we have.”
“If you change your hairstyle a little, I think it will look better,” Therese said. She quickly tied my hair into two pigtails.
“Hm . . . You really do have a very young face, so something about this hair and this armor makes you look, um . . . immature?”
I kicked L’Arc’s shin again.
“Ouch! Why do you have to be so violent?”
“Just be grateful I didn’t hit you with my fans.”
“You’ll get used to the armor, and then it won’t bother you so much. Come on. Let’s get going.”
“Alright. L’Arc? Will you lead the way?”
“Sure thing. But first things first. Let’s eat!”
And so we began our adventure in the new world.
A few days passed.
“You know what? I like the food over here.”
“Yes, I agree. The Napolata is quite famous. That dish with the red noodles—I like it.”
“Erm . . . I’m starting to feel like we spend too much time wandering around eating all the regional specialties!”
Therese was holding a skewer of thick anko-like stuff she’d bought from a stall, and a chunk of it fell into the mud.
“Hey, you’re right!”
“Yeah, but we’ve also gotten a lot of drop items, and we’ve collected a lot of money, too.”
Our goals were to raise our levels and abilities and to procure more soul-healing water. If we could find a recipe for soul-healing water, and find the materials necessary to make it, then it would definitely help us in our next fight.
“Don’t worry so much. All of this is part of the path to making you as powerful as you can be.”
“Really?” I asked. I found it hard to believe. It was true that we had discovered many monsters and objects that I’d never seen in our world, but . . .
“Glass-chan, you worry too much. It’s going to be okay.”
“That doesn’t set my mind at ease.”
“So what? Oh, hey! It’s probably about time we found you some better equipment, don’t you think?” L’Arc said. He smiled and swung open the door to a weapon shop.
My vassal weapons were fans, but this world didn’t appear to sell fans in their weapon shops. It was a rare weapon, even in my world. I decided not to overthink it.
“What is it? Did they have a kimono?”
They actually did have one, but its effects and abilities were very low.
The shopkeeper said that he could have one custom made for me, but that it would take some time. L’Arc had other ideas in mind. He suggested another set of armor for me.
It was even uglier than my current armor, but it was made of better materials, and it had better equip effects.
“Think of all the battles we’re going to go through. I think you will need this.”
“Very well.”
I didn’t have any better options, so I paid for the armor with silver.
I suddenly noticed that Therese had disappeared. I looked around to see where she’d gone, only to find her standing before an accessory shop.
“Welcome! What can I get for you today?”
“Oh, it’s just . . . um . . . that.”
“Ah yes, a necklace made from Miraka ore. They say it raises the amount of experience its wearer receives from battle. It’s become quite a fad over in the Cal Mira islands.”
“Has it? I was just there, and I didn’t hear anything about it.”
“Ah yes, well they say the Shield Hero himself noticed its potential. It has become quite popular since.”
Just hearing the words “Shield Hero” cause my hand to curl into a fist. The more time we spent wandering around in public, the greater chance we had of bumping into Naofumi.
We had to be careful. We weren’t on our home turf, and we weren’t very strong yet.
“Therese!” L’Arc shouted. “You find more stones over there?”
Therese sadly shook her head. “Nothing on the level of the bangles.”
I could hardly believe how obsessed she was with the bangles that Naofumi made.
“L’Arc, you should probably start working on your crafting skills while you have the chance.”
“Ugh, no thanks. I hate doing that sort of detailed work. I’ll buy you something someday. How about that?”
“If you don’t try harder, Naofumi is going to steal her from you.”
“Ha! I doubt that. What are you talking about, Glass? Haha!”
I sighed. I felt tired.
“Oh hey, Glass-chan, I think pretty soon we’ll be coming into the territory we were in last time. We might run into Naofumi and his friends there, so stay on your toes.”
“Understood.”
“Just to make sure, I will use magic to hide our true identities,” Therese said, rubbing a gemstone and muttering a spell.
The spell would make us look different to others.
L’Arc went to a nearby tavern to gather information on the area.
“I was thinking about going to Cal Mira to level up, but the activation event is almost over.”
“Too bad. We’ll have to find another way.”
“Right. Let’s head to a place where the monsters drop items we can use to make soul-healing water.”
We kept the mood light and moved over the country, fighting monsters as we came across them. We even found some of the monsters that were referenced in the soul-healing water recipe. I began to feel hesitantly optimistic. Maybe things were looking up.
The next problem was figuring out what sort of weapons the four holy heroes would be carrying. I already knew about the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani.
We began to hear stories about the other heroes, too.
Sword, Spear, Bow . . . As expected, they carried different weapons than the heroes from our world—but they were all very simple.
The adventurers I’d met before the battle with Naofumi, the ones who had called themselves heroes, had carried those very weapons.
They had been so weak that I was sure they were lying about being heroes. So where had the real heroes gone?
Then when I found L’Arc fighting Naofumi on the islands, those same three adventurers were there. Could it be that the other three heroes were so weak we didn’t need to worry about them? No—that would be far too optimistic.
Even if they really had been the remaining heroes, it might have been a ploy to hide their true power until the last moment.
“So this place is called Melromarc?”
On the road there, we came across a lot of monsters that looked like bats with tortoise shells on their backs. They mu
st have only existed in this new world. I’d never seen anything quite like them before.
“That’s right. We aren’t going to the islands anymore, but there should be plenty of monsters in this area that will drop the stuff we need to make soul-healing water. Let’s go.”
We entered Naofumi’s country.
I didn’t recognize the writing system, the culture, or the way that people thought.
Even the drinks seemed unfamiliar.
I didn’t even recognize the fish jumping in a nearby river. Kizuna would have been thrilled to find a new fishing spot. I couldn’t wait to tell her all about it.
“Naofumi and the other holy heroes spend their time in this country. What better place to find out more about them?”
“Yes. Let us see what we can find about Naofumi and about the others.”
A few days passed since we entered Melromarc.
We were walking through a think jungle, and heavy red fruit hung from branches all around us.
“The monsters around here are supposed to drop great materials.”
Since we came to the new world, we’d spent days hunting around for soul-healing water materials. I was starting to doubt that L’Arc knew what he was talking about.
Not to mention those strange shelled bats were appearing more and more frequently with each passing day. None of them dropped anything useful.
“Are you sure?”
“You need to be more trusting! We should head somewhere with stronger monsters.”
I was a spirit, so I wasn’t going to benefit from fighting stronger monsters. I could just get materials from L’Arc and Therese, so there was no reason for me to go with them.
“It would take too much time to power up that way. We don’t have the time to waste.”
“It’s fine! We are here to help you! Let’s just keep doing all we can until the next wave.”
“Right,” I muttered. Was I the only one losing confidence in the mission?
L’Arc didn’t seem to know what he was doing to get us through all of this. He didn’t have the backbone.
“Glass-chan. You waste energy being so tense all the time.”
“You’re the one who’s making me tense!”
“Ah, you’re becoming more like Naofumi every day!”
What was that supposed to mean? I remembered the way Naofumi had looked in battle—so angry, so tense. L’Arc was right—I didn’t want to be like that.
