by Yuu Tanaka
“He’s right!”
“Tell you what, kid. You pay us for damages and I’ll let this incident slide. How does all the money you got just now sound?”
“Hehehe. The guild won’t interfere in conflicts between adventurers, remember?”
“Wha—”
The brutes’ audacity stunned Nell into silence.
He was right of course. The guild wouldn’t interfere with fights between adventurers, but surely that applied only to small disputes? They wouldn’t let just anything slide, especially not extortion. These guys were meatheads, but I doubted they had brains to begin with. I wouldn’t be surprised if their heads were just stuffed full of Slime remains.
“What are you looking at us like that for?”
Fran stared at the man, but her expressionless face couldn’t hide the anger that was burning in her eyes.
“You wanna have a go at this Red Dog, Black Cat?”
“Yeah, know your place, kitty!”
“You’re a disgrace to Beastmen everywhere! Why don’t you give us all your money as penance?”
They went too far when they said that Fran was a disgrace. If Fran, who was more furious than I was, hadn’t held me back at that point, I would’ve begun stabbing. I could hear Fran lose her patience, her last nerve breaking with a snap. She was carrying out her parents’ last wishes to evolve, to improve the standing of her tribe. The man’s insults went too far.
“Shut up.”
“What’s that?”
“Stop barking, dog.”
She said it! Good job, Fran! I’ll treat you to a nice dinner later.
“You bitch, I’ll kill you!”
I was getting bored of their clichés.
“You’re not strong enough to.”
“You talkin’ to me?”
“That’s rich coming from a Black Cat!”
“You have five seconds to get out of here. Or you could chase your own tails while barking ‘I’m sorry.’ Take your pick, little doggie.”
“We’ll have our way with you and sell you to a slaver, you little whore!”
Extortion, assaulting a minor, human trafficking—these guys were done for. Some of the adventurers had already left the building earlier. The city guard might walk in any minute now to arrest these fools.
We wanted to settle things before that happened.
“Your breath stinks, so stop talking.”
“You little punk!”
The man grabbed his axe and charged at Fran. His friends followed suit with their swords and spears, shouting at the top of their voices.
They attacked first. Therefore, whatever followed was purely self-defense.
“I’ll kill you!”
“I’d like to see you try without your legs.”
“Huh? Aaaaaargh! My legs!”
The man’s body toppled over after losing its balance; his feet were cut clean off at the ankles. Fran hadn’t even pulled me out, using Aura Blade 6 on him instead. The blade was made of mana and maintained for a mere instant. It wasn’t as strong as a conventional sword, but it could be turned invisible depending on how you focused your mana. It was also deadly when paired with a skill like Vibrofang, making it the ideal skill for assassins.
The man stared at the stumps where his feet used to be and squirmed like a maggot.
“Aaah! Eeek!”
The sounds he made were unbecoming of him. It creeped me out.
“You little… Aaah?”
“Heee… Ooowww!”
Another two fell on the floor after Fran fired ultrasonic bullets which crushed their feet from under them. As they fell, the bullets grazed their face, crushing their nose and all their front teeth. It might have gotten their eyes too.
The remaining two took in the situation and considered their options. They understood something terrible was happening and glared at Fran despite knowing that, deep down, they should be running away. They couldn’t stand the idea that this little girl was much stronger than they were, and unfortunately charged ahead.
They shouldn’t have thought about it. That decision might have cost them their lives.
Not that Fran had any intention of killing them. She didn’t want to be stuck with clean-up.
Fran kicked the floor and instantly jumped in front of the two men. She pulled me out of cover and swung the flat of my blade against their faces. Now their faces were just as fractured as their feet. This wasn’t something you could recover from with low-level spells and potions.
She kicked away the last one using Aura Kick, a Martial Arts skill (with additional Impact Force of course) He tried getting away, but he was too slow. His knees were broken and his muscles were twisted. As he was kneeling, Fran came down and smashed his elbow out with Impact Force to end the matter.
A hushed silence fell upon the lobby as the other adventurers looked upon the scene with quiet astonishment. The only sound left in the building came from the desperate men who were now crying out for help.
“Hey.”
“Y-yes?”
“Can I go now?”
“Oh… Of course. Thank you for using our services. We look forward to serving you again.” Nell beamed at us, giving us a thumbs-up when she thought no one else was looking. “As for you lot, I’ll be turning you in to the City Guard.”
“What?! Arrest that kid too! She started attacking us out of nowhere!”
“Excuse me, are you delirious? You scumbags assaulted the poor girl and she was forced to retaliate in self-defense. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
“Y-yeah! She’s right!”
“It was undeniably an act of self-defense.”
Nice. Nell even got the other adventurers in on it.
“It hurts! Please just heal us!”
“You’ll have to clean up the floor first. Blood is terribly difficult to remove, you know. Yes, you’ll have to pay 10,000G in damages too. I’ll think about healing you if you fork up the money.”
Nell didn’t even say she was going to heal them for sure. What a terrifying woman!
We left the Guild just as Nell was making her demands to the crooks. The event took up more time than we thought, as the sun was already beginning to set.
We should look for some lodging. You don’t wanna camp out after coming all the way to the city, do you?
“No.”
An hour had passed since we left the guild. We were still wandering about on the streets.
I didn’t think we’d get turned down at every inn.
“Yeah.”
I guess a child can’t rent a room even if she has a guild card.
That’s what all the receptionists had said, but they were obviously worried about how Fran looked. She was in little more than a ragged piece of cloth and sandals which made her look either homeless or like a runaway slave. Granted, she did stink, but come on. I made sure she was clean by using some cleaning magic, but they couldn’t have known that.
Let’s get some equipment first to sharpen you up.
She looked puzzled.
I’ll pick out your armor pieces for you, Fran. You have nothing to worry about.
We headed for the plaza that was next to the Adventurer’s Guild. The place was bustling with adventurers buying gear from different stalls and stores. There were weaponsmiths, armorsmiths, weaver’s cottages, drugstores, alchemy ateliers, pubs, kitchens, and so on.
I figured out the average price of goods here: A steel knife was 200G; a fifth-grade life potion 10,000G; and a fourth-grade antidote 20,000G. Fifth-grade was the lowest-quality potion, but it was still quite expensive. It could heal deep gashes instantly, so I guessed it was fair enough. The people of my Earth would’ve priced it about the same.
I got oddly excited by looking at all the strange new goods before me.
This is so much fun.
“Yeah.”
You think so too, Fran?
“So many weird things. It’s cool.”
That’s good to hear.
Th
ere was a glint in Fran’s eyes despite her usual, calm expression. It was nice seeing her excited for a change.
Now, where was that store I kept hearing about?
We had been keeping our ears sharp for any useful information as we walked the streets. There was a famous blacksmith currently living in Alessa. He was currently renting out a storefront in the area. My plan was to ask him to make a set of armor for Fran. We might not have enough money or material, but consultation was free.
Now where could he be…?
There were weapon and armor shops but none that seemed worthy of note. I thought people would’ve swarmed all over his smithy if he was as good as the rumors had said.
Has he closed up shop for the day?
If he was that popular, he just might have.
“Little lady, do you have a second?”
“Huh?”
“Yes, you.”
“Is this guy hitting on Fran?!” was my immediate reaction, but the source of the voice turned out to be an old dwarf. He still looked like a certain lecherous old man with a tortoise shell on his back, so I wasn’t about let my guard down. If he tried anything funny, I’d “accidentally” drop myself on his feet to warn him.
“Looks like you’re in the market for equipment. How about it?”
“How’d you know?”
“You learn a few tricks when you’ve been in business for as long as I have.”
Fran said nothing.
“No need to be so suspicious. It was easy enough. I could tell from your footwork that you’re quite a warrior. Despite that, you’re dressed in rags. And you’ve been looking at every weapon and armor shop you’ve passed by. You’re looking for gear, ain’t ya?”
This old man was smart! Who was he?
Name: Garrus
Age: 82
Race: Dwarf
Class: Arcane Blacksmith
LV: 33
HP: 160; Magic: 173; Strength: 122; Agility: 46
Skills: Disassemble 2; Flame Resistance 7; Blacksmith 10; Smith Magic 9; Identify 7; Mining 3; Hammer Arts 2; Hammer Mastery 7; Poison Resistance 2; Leatherwork 6; Fire Magic 6; Tireless 6; Manasmith 7; Connoisseur 8; Fire God’s Protection; Spirit Manipulation
Extra Skill: Godsight
Titles: Wandering Blacksmith; Honorary Blacksmith of Cranzell; Smith King
Equipment: Enchanted Steel Smith Hammer; Salamander Shirt; Firebird Sandals; Armband of Stamina Recovery
Everything from his skills to his titles was amazing. Was this the great blacksmith we’d been hearing so much about? No wonder he could analyze us just by looking at us. We were certainly saved from the trouble of looking for him. How lucky.
“Wow.”
“Hehehe. As you can see, I’ve been around for a while. You wanna have a look at my shop?”
“Please.”
“Right this way.”
Garrus led us to his store, which was in a small alley leading off the plaza. We felt countless stares as we made our way there. The scrutiny was quite slimy, and it felt as if they were calculating our value.
Uh, why is everyone staring at us?
“Enemies?”
Not exactly, but…
The gazes coming from the merchants were so sharp that Fran mistook them for hostiles. What was going on?
“Oh, don’t mind them. The merchants are just trying to pressure you into buying from them instead. Either that, or they’re gonna ‘offer’ to buy some of my equipment from you. They’re a hard-headed bunch.”
That sounded like trouble.
“Don’t you worry. You can leave by the back door when we’re done. Now, what are you in the market for?”
I wasn’t completely reassured, but worrying about it now wasn’t going to help. We were fortunate enough to have the great blacksmith himself offer his services to us, so we had to make the best of it.
“You’ll sell your stuff to me?”
“I only sell my gear to folks who deserve to use my gear, and you passed, little lady.”
The blacksmith was in the habit of travelling from town to town selling weapons at an absurdly cheap rate. He’d travelled the entire country this way, and I had to admit I quite liked the stubborn old merchant.
Ask for his sword collection.
“I want a sword.”
“What? But you already have a fine sword. It’s the first time I’ve seen an Intelligent Weapon in person!”
Impossible! How did he find out? Did he use Identify on me? But I had Identity Protection on. He couldn’t have bypassed that.
“Intelligent…Weapon?”
Fran tilted her head in response.
Good acting, Fran! That’ll throw him off the scent!
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to it you don’t want me to. I was just checking. My eyes are special, you see. They can Identify anything, even if it has Identity Protections. That goes double for weapons and armor.”
So that was how he did it! He did have Godsight on top of Identify and Connoisseur; I guessed that was the skill he used.
“I only got a look at its attack value, its Mana Conductivity, which was A, and the fact that it’s an Intelligent Weapon though. Do you have anything to add, Sword?”
Then you should know that I want this girl, Fran, to use a proper sword.
“What have we here? Was that Telepathy? You really are sapient! This is great!”
You’re acting like a child.
“You act that way too sometimes, Teacher.”
No way, really?
“Really.”
Oh… I guess hobbies make everyone get in touch with their inner child.
“Hm.”
I looked at old Garrus, who was acting like a kid in a candy store.
“So intelligent!”
So that’s what I look like.
I should exercise prudence in the future.
“Excuse me, I got a little excited there. In any case, you won’t need any of my weapons with your abilities.”
Whoa, whoa. You saw my stats, didn’t you? Your swords are much stronger. Like that one over there.
This old dwarf must’ve made the superior gear we saw in the city, seeing as there were weapons of similar design adorning his shop. All of them were about as strong as, or even stronger than, I was. Just talking about my terrible stats made me feel like hacking up blood.
“That’s because you’re only looking at its raw attack value. Don’t tell me you don’t understand what Mana Conductivity does?”
Mana Conductivity? I guess I do have that attribute.
“I figured you were clueless. Shame.”
Is it that important an attribute?
“Important? It’s the first thing you look at when you’re out shopping for swords!”
What! I didn’t know that…
“Shocked.”
Explain further.
“Well sure. Mana Conductivity refers to a weapon’s capacity to be modified by magical energy. Much of a weapon’s power is derived from this attribute.”
I see.
“Take this sword here.” Garrus took down a short sword that was displayed on the wall. It was made of steel with a Mana Conductivity of E. “With a Mana Conductivity of E, it only has a 5% efficiency at using magic. For example, if you charged 100 mana, it will only increase your attack power by 5 points.”
Then, he took down a mithril short sword. Its Mana Conductivity was C. It had 70% efficiency, which meant charging 100 mana would increase its attack power by 70.
That was quite significant. I could see how Mana Conductivity could cover the gap created by raw attack power.
“Better conductivity means higher efficiency, and that means you can charge your weapon with magic for longer.”
By the way, is the mithril’s C rating considered high in terms of conductivity?
“’Course it is! Mithril has especially high Mana Conductivity. C’s probably the highest available for commercial weapons. What usually happens is the raw attack p
ower suffers from prioritizing Mana Conductivity.”
“So then A is amazing.”
“That’s right. Only enchanted swords have an A rating in Mana Conductivity. That means 200% mana efficiency. I’ll be honest with you, none of my weapons can come close.”
So, if Fran charged 100 mana, I could increase her Attack by 200?
I was really strong! It looked like my time had finally come.
Is there a limit to how much magic I can charge?
“Depends on what you’re made of. And in your case…I don’t know. Looks like you’re made of a Harmollium base along with some other magical alloys mixed in…”
Fran had handed me to Garrus for closer inspection, and he was now tapping my blade curiously.
“Doesn’t look like you’re made of anything less than orichalcum, so I’m sure you won’t have any problems going up to 1000. Not that anyone had that big of a mana pool. Why, the kingdom’s mages only go up to 500 on average!”
Garrus let out a big belly laugh while I broke into a cold sweat.
My MP was at 1000. Did that mean I had a 2000 attack boost this whole time? I thought it was kinda weird how I hadn’t run into any trouble with all the ferocious monsters I had faced. I thought I was just lucky to have landed a blow to their weak spots by sheer luck, or that Telekinesis had accelerated me fast enough…
I was likely charging myself with Mana while not noticing it.
“Material aside, an E-Rank charge lasts you five minutes. You get an additional two minutes for every successive rank.”
So A makes it…
“Thirty minutes thereabouts.”
“That’s pretty long.”
Enough for a short fight.
“Yeah.”
Then I’m not a decorative sword?
“If you were, I don’t know what that makes the rest of the swords in the world.”
I see. I’m… I’m so glad to hear that!
I was so happy, I would’ve started crying if I had eyes. I was so much a sword that I viewed other swords as competition. Being stronger than the lot of them made my day.
“You’re impeccable as an enchanted sword. In fact, you might be able to go up against a divine sword.”
“Enchanted? Divine?”
“Yep. Who made you? A Godsmith?”
