Sousetsuka

Stop It No More

"Once this drill spear is lodged in a target, the load on your hands becomes way too much. If your Attributes' too low, your spear arm's gonna get twisted up real bad, this stuff is more damaging to the wielder than the target."

"Umumu, I suppose I cannot just copy mining magic tool. And yet, the spear shaft cannot be made any heavier than that."

"This chainsaw-like sword's gonna break off in no time if you don't thicken the bladed part. I get that it's a way to raise power outside Mana Blade though."

"Thicken the blades you say! Umu, I shall test it at once!"


Hi hello there, I'm currently brainstorming with Julian on points that can be improved with his creations.
I'm not actually thrilled to use these ominous weapons, but I mean there's a first to everything after all, I've got no choice here hahahaha.


"...The two of them are having the time of their life."

"...At the end of the day, they're birds of the same feather after all."

『...Pi.』


I can feel gazes staring holes on my back, but these weird weapons are simply men's romance.
Might be a bit hard to understand for girls. No need to either way.
I don't get woman's fashion either.

I tried a variety of other weapons as well, and either I'm just imagining it or there's several weapons that look like the stuff I reproduced using Mana Control here and there.
Might be just a coincidence in search of an effective way to increase damage though.
...Hm?


"What is this stake-like weapon?"

"Umu, that uses a similar principle with Explosion Buster, in fact I made that one earlier. Through the use of a fire mana ore-powered explosion engine, this weapon strikes a pile out! I call it--"

"It's a Pile Bunker! You even went and made this thing!?"

"Umu, indeed, it's Pile Bunker! ...Oho?"


Julian looks puzzled after I blurted out the name before him.


"H-how do you know about this weapon's name? I was under the impression that nobody else besides me should know."

"E-err, you know, it's from a diary, left behind by a past hero? I took a glance of something like that and saw a weapon that looked like this."


I spouted random lie to gloss it over.
...But that was a bad move.


"My goodness!? To think that there was another relic akin to our family heirloom, Hero's Notes, somewhere out there!"


Hero's Notes? Heirloom?
...Wait a minute, I've got a bad feeling about this.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

"You mean something like a notebook left by a past hero?"

"Umu! I've nothing to hide, most of my artistic weaponry were made by referencing blueprints left by this past hero!"

"Blueprints... Eh, you're saying a hero came up with all these weapons?"

"Yes. I took the liberty of secretly reading our family heirloom the Hero's Notes before I came of age. The moment these weapons and the new potentials they carry beyond Skills caught my eyes, I felt my sense of value changing forever. It was such a refreshingly novel shocking jolt!"

"Can you show me those notes?"

"Do you mind transcripts? The original is my family heirloom, as I've chosen not to inherit the household I bear no right to it."


Household huh. He gave up a duchy house and went on to open a weapon store didn't he? Wonder what his parents think about this.
Oh, I thought the transcripts were gonna be some loose papers, he made a nice binder out of them. Lemme see.


....


T h i s i s h o r r i b l e


U, uwaa, uwaaaa....
...Yup. The weapon blueprints themselves are all well thought out. The internal structures and mechanisms are so well made you wouldn't think this was penned by an amateur, a craftsman could make these drawings into reality with some adjustments.
But the comments on these weapons written in Japanese are way too much. What, what do you mean Heavenpiercing Drill. What, what even is a Godslaying Chainshaw.
This is, you know. Notebook from a dark history.


"They have words written in the hero's native language I cannot decipher, yet such roadblock is not enough to dispel the sheer wonderfulness of it all! My only wish is to meet him in person..."


Stop it. No more.
These notes are unlikely written with serious thoughts, but more like a form of escapism in between the constant days of battles this hero had to endure.
A dark history notebook written as a pastime gets turned into a family heirloom of a noble house, hell. What is this, a public execution. Shame play?
The person in question likely wants nothing more than to burn the thing down without even sparing a look...

Heck, thanks to these notes, the life of a young man, Julian strayed away from his noble lineage path.
Who's the stupid hero who left this thing! Err, the author is 'Souma Ryuta'. Julian's future is going astray thanks to you. Heck it already is.


"I see, perhaps the reason you have such a good compatibility with my weapons is because you have partial knowledge on hero-designed weapons! Truly the whim of fate works in mysterious ways! Fuhaha."

"O-ou..."


...Well, guess it's okay since he looks happy about it.


"Fufufu, I give you my thanks for your enriching opinions. It has been quite a productive moment for me. I shall adopt this result into my weapon creation endeavor from now on!"

"...You're welcome."

"...By the way, I need to consult something pertaining the creation of your order, True Explosion Buster, do you have a moment?"


Julian's expression clouded a bit as he brought it up... Did the hero think that name up too.
What's wrong, did he hit a snag or something?


"I was planning to use materials from a powerful magic beast for the hammer head, however, I am unable to find one sturdy enough to withstand repeated explosions on the town's market. Body parts of a Rank A magic beast or over that at the very least would be desirable..."

"Hm? Isn't this town an industrial town, you should find one if you look harder."

"Regarding that, I take it you're aware that demons in many places have been becoming more active carrying out destructive acts due to the birth of Demon King? Most high ranking materials have been bought en masse by the military in order to cope with that. Only materials from Rank B-C or lower beasts are left in all the stores I visited. They thankfully didn't bought up all the mithril and adamantite here seeing as those are the lifeline of this industrial town."

"...Are you for real."


I tried using Map Screen to find materials usable for the hammer head and found no hit.
What do, compromising here and using a lesser material is just gonna result in a soon to be broken hammer, yet other towns probably face similar shortages.
Should I use materials from Monster Mountains' beasts? But our current party can only deal with lesser Rank A beasts at best, and I don't want to push ourselves too hard.
What do really... Hm? What's up Menu-san?

<<Recommending conquering a dungeon adjacent to this Industrial Town.>>

Eh? But why?

<<Reward Items from dungeon conquests occasionally include materials usable in equipment production. The items are chosen at random as such it's not a guarantee, however it is currently the safest and quickest option available.>>

I see. Right, I've heard about the existence of a conquered dungeon near this town.
It's not a bad idea to try delving in one, might as well go for it.

<<However, one may encounter a magic beast at upper Lv50 on the lowest floor of this dungeon, preparation is in order.>>

I think I can handle upper Lv50 just fine. Can always run at worst.
Welp, guess we're going dungeon delving in a few days. Not gonna go straight for the lowest floor on day one though.
...Hope I could get my hands on vanilla seeds again.

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446 Shouldn't Be Cut, Can't Have Been Cut

I slowly walk up. All while observing chief warrior's stance. The way he's holding his sword is exquisite. You can tell he's honed it to perfection over many years.

I strike the wooden sword he's holding with mine.
But there was no feedback. It did hit. I didn't miss.
Yet there's no force transferred to me. I know this sensation.

(Oh man... These are wooden swords right? They may have an iron core inside but another wooden sword shouldn't have been able to cut it.)

My eyes popped open at this new surprise. Chief warrior's wooden sword has been sliced in two.
The blade of these wooden swords are not dull. Yet there's no way they could have cut anything.
But apparently Accelerated State made it possible. I was initially only planning to hit his sword with mine and make chief warrior drop his.
Not at all to cut it. I mean, they're wood. Didn't think it could cut. It's only normal, common sense, law of nature.

(And yet this power of mine just ignored that entirely...)

No use crying over spilled milk. So I reconsidered.
I did tell them about service.
Therefore, the chairman must think of this as part of the show.
I'm the only person fighting this guy here, he should connect the dots.
I'm sure he'll be fine with just results.

(But just to be safe, I'll strike a pose like I just swung a sword before undoing Acceleration. That should help make it easy to understand.)

Some people sometimes won't believe. They can't accept reality.
Neither the chairman or chief warrior seem to be that type, but there's no harm in showing them this pose to ease them.
Would smooth over this conversation and help them understand what happens.
Even if they don't perceive the process that nets the end result. And so I undid Acceleration.

"Guga!" chief warrior suddenly groaned as he let go of his wooden sword.
Looks like the impact generated by the sword getting cut was quite huge, it hurt his hands.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
(Ah, like always, I've no clue how to regulate this power. His hands, looks painful.)

I could tell he's exerting his entire body. Chief warrior keeps staring at his trembling hands in front of his chest.
On the other hand, seeing that the chairman was surprised at first then he let out a 'wha?' and put on a dumbfounded look when he saw the sliced wooden sword.

Then both of them turned to look at me and popped their eyes wide open.
Seeing me with this pose must be unbelievable to them.
I slowly relaxed my stance and spoke.

"You said you wanted to see my power, yeah? Is this good enough?"

They were apparently so in shock they never gave me a reply even after a minute.

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Side Story - Pickiness

This chapter is told from the green haired boy, Radiasta's perspective.

...I'm hungry.
It's only been a few days since we parted ways but I'm already craving for Kajikawa-san's home cooking, I'm so pathetic.
His food was all foreign to me yet every single one was weirdly calming to the mind. Wonder if that's what they call mother's cooking... His is definitely nothing like my mom's though.


『Gogeeeee!!』

"Shuddup! I just wanna go home and eat, get off my back dammit!"


I drove off an attacking chicken beast as I ran for the town, but my body feels heavy from hunger.
Weird. It was surging with power even with a bit of Kajikawa-san's food.
...Might be cause I've been grabbing random food lately. Probably lacking nutrition.

I finally reached Lv19 during today's hunting. Finally, after taking on so many magic beasts around my level or over for several days.
My level shot up from 15 to 18 after beating that frog magic beast at the swamp during the orphanage incident, but there's no way I can do that regularly, gotta knock on it little by little.
Then, eventually, I'll...

It's not like I never considered joining Kajikawa-san's party.
But I'm sure they wouldn't want to let someone who had a selfish goal join them, and I didn't want to trouble them so I decided to leave and resumed my solo run.
...No, that's not it. I just knew staying there would make it feel too comfortable to leave.
Kajikawa-san's cooking, Alma-neechan's kindness and reliability, and the fun I have with Reina is just too comforting.

I must never forget, my adventuring day is a means to an end, I must not be content with it.
...No matter how fun, I have a goal I need to accomplish. Don't get swayed, me.


Haa, what should I have for dinner today... Kajikawa-san mentioned something about nutritional balance, ya mean I can't just gorge myself on vegetables, meat and bread?
He specifically told me to eat tomatoes every day but I don't like tomatoes...
Gotta save for my equipment and consumables, guess I'll just grab stuff at random and cook something myself again today.

Kajikawa-san's group left me with several recipes but I couldn't even make half of those. Ain't nobody can make food without Skills though, this is normal.
Heck, I think I did great for being able to make half. Simple stuff like sprinkling cut leeks, sesame oil and sauce on top of a bowl of arorice.
...It's weird how tasty that is despite barely passing as cooking. That man's incredible.

The recipe says putting butter instead of leeks is good too, but I can't imagine something that oily be tasty.
No, gotta take the plunge. None of the recipes he left me tasted bad, so this one should do okay too.
Okay yeah, today I'm going with butter, sauced aro rice with sliced raw veggie and grilled salted meat--


Grab, I could feel my hand grabbing someone else's hand as I reached for the butter.
Oh crap, got lost in thought, didn't pay attention.


"Ah, sorry. I was spacing out and..."

"...You, I recall you're Radiasta, the top ranker of Pea Green area. A combatant buying butter for cooking huh, very versatile of you."


....
I looked at the owner of the hand I grabbed, red hair of a fierce god, I mean no, a beauty with a stupidly scary gaze.

Wait ain't she guildmaster!?


"Uouoa!?"

"Why did you scream the moment you saw my face. Is there something stuck on it?"

"G-g-guildmast! S-sorry, I'm sorry! That wasn't on purpose!"

"I'm not mad or anything though..."


That was a shock! I thought my heart would burst open! Like boom! Coulda sworn I heard that from my heart!
Who coulda thought the hand going for butter was guildmaster's... Does she cook for herself usually?


"...So, you cook. To be honest, that's surprising."

"I usually order deliveries. This is a ration for a long excursion. It should last in a preservation magic bag after all, I'm here to purchase nourishing food."

"Long excursion, to where?"

"The next continent over, for a little bit of dragon slaying."

"...Say what?"

"I'm joking. I'm just filing a complaint, don't worry about it."


I dunno what you talking about though. What is this person going on about?


"...Mwu? You've leveled up a bunch I see, it hasn't even been half a month since the fest. Remarkable growth."

"...Appraisal Skill?"

"No, I can tell from your face, air around you and also by observing the way you carry yourself and breathing."

"No way!? Ain't no way you can see any differences from that stuff!"

"Not quite. Once you've watched great many adventurers over many years, you get to notice the slightest bit of changes."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

So she's like a pro of human observation? ...that sounds kinda wrong.
Uh, hey you're close, your face's too close! What!? What did I do!?


"Your leveling is going well yet you have this lonesome look on your face. I understand you've been running solo thus far, is it getting too tough?"

"That's not, true."

"It's safer and easier when you're in a party. Haven't you applied for one? I believe you can quickly find a party with your current level."

"I like being alone for the freedom it brings. Having to constantly fret over relationship between people feels choking to me."



It's a lie.


I'm lonely. How could I not.


I have been running by myself without joining a party once ever since I left my home.
When I first tried to cull magic beasts and stepped inside a magic beast territory, I unluckily found myself surrounded by a herd of goblins I thought I was gonna die.
Just when I got used to hunting magic beasts a bit, I participated in a Stampede defense and a Werewolf made me into a human shield, I got even more traumatized of magic beasts.
The wound on my mind was more severe than on my body and just when I finally pulled myself together and resumed culling magic beasts in the Monster Prairie, I noticed most adventurers were in parties.

I can't say I'm not envious of them.
It's far more fun when you're with companions, and safer too.
But I plan to quit being an adventurer one day. Otherwise, I can't accomplish my goal.
I don't want to abandon a party I joined for my own selfish desire.

I'm not like that guy.


"...I won't force you if that's what you want, just don't overdo it."

"Yes."

"Also, don't be picky. Put more vegetables in your basket. Like tomatoes and the likes."

"Y-yes..."


I'm tellin' ya, I don't like tomatoes.
What, are both Kajikawa-san and guildmast tomato lovers? Can't believe anyone likes those sour soft oozing stuff...

But that dish that uses a lot of tomato, omurice or something? I don't know if I was just imagining it but my body felt really good the day after I had that.
It got heavier again since I started cooking for myself again. Maybe I'm really lacking nutrition.

...I should trick myself into thinking it's good and give it a try.
They say tomatoes go well with cheese... Really.

Ah, didn't realize guildmaster'd gone off somewhere.
She mentioned something about going to another continent to file a complaint, wonder where?

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445 Mock Combat

We're at the mansion's backyard now. Standing in front of me, I guess you could say, a refined and gallant macho old man? He's holding a wooden sword in one hand.
The wooden sword seems to have an iron core inside, the weight is about the same as the real thing. You can tell the strength of Sir Lolengus's soldiers from this alone.

(Course you're gonna become all brawly if you train with this thing every day.)

"Must I go all out against this youngster? Are you sure, sir?"

"Yeah, or else we cannot prove the veracity of what's written on my daughter's letter. Show  no mercy, go all out from the beginning."

(What? What are these two old men spouting all of a sudden? Seriously? I just met him you know, why'd you tell someone who looks this strong, probably actually strong too, to go all out like he's out crushing a bug?)

I almost blurted out, are you sure you're not the villain here?
Now that I've come this far, I'm absolutely sure there's no way out of this. I'm bitterly aware.

"Are you both ready? ...Begin!"

The refined old man lunged at incredible speed not a moment later. I mean, the chief warrior old man.
He has no opening as he swings his sword down from overhead. He got in front of me with the sword already aloft.
A calculated quick draw and a swing with swiftness. But it never reached me.

"!? To think you dodged my first strike... I did not hold back too."

Of course I dodged it by entering Acceleration. Taking that strike head on would have hurt real bad for sure.
I mean the sword was aimed straight at the crown of my head. My skull's gonna split open if that hits. This chief warrior guy is seriously going for my life.

"Didn't you only want to see my strength a bit!? I'd have died if that wooden sword hit me you know?!"

"Hahaha! Indeed. My bad. But this country is in a precarious state right now. You must excuse me this much for hearing they intend to recruit someone of unknown background like you."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
The chief warrior laughed loudly. Chairman followed.

"It's true that you have saved my daughter, but that's an entirely separate matter. If you were done in by my chief warrior just like that, I would refrain seeking your assistance. As such, this is a test. I'm serious. I cannot let that Kanedor take over this country. That man is a pig that sows disasters. Testing your strength is a necessary step to formulate the plan to eradicate him. Forgive me. Worry not. We will treat you if you get injured. Letting my daughter's savior to his death would leave a bad taste."

I now get that this chairman guy is a scumbag. But that's motivated by his desire to protect this country.
He's resolved to use anything and everything, even his daughter's benefactor.
He'll struggle till the very end. Even in a losing battle with no chance of victory.
This chairman guy must be fully prepared to take Kanedor down if nothing else.
Unwilling to give up, stubborn, a bit scheming, with nerves of steel. Looks like Sir Lolengus's quite the caliber of a man.

"Okay, I see now. Yup, I understand your reasoning. I like it. I'll show you what you wanna see. Think of it as a service."

I got a bit offended by his murder attempt.
It would have turned into a big problem if it weren't me.

"Now then, time to test how far a wooden sword can fly. Moment of truth."

I entered Accelerated State.

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Julian's Weapon Artisan Workshop

We went to report the completion of culling and gathering commissions with the guild receptionist, Furoina-san.
Apparently you could hand over the magic beast bodies to the guild carver service as long as they're still fresh so we did.
A bit more expensive than town's carvers, but way more convenient.


"I can't believe you finished multiple gathering commissions in just one day. Normally, even one commission done each day is a good pace."

"Oh it wasn't hard work at all as we only needed to bring them to the guild's carvers after all. It's mostly all thanks to our party's girls and their excellence. It makes things so easy, really."

"...So you say, but your Kill Log has more beasts than those two."

"No really, even the ogre we defeated today was a cinch thanks to these two doing their best. It was a close call for me yesterday."


I tried to divert the topic away from me while boasting about the girls.
Ah, I can feel their gazes prickling my back. I should keep my mouth shut.


"I also have this weapon to thank for. It could hold its own against an ogre, really handy to have."

"A weapon? That looks like a steel hammer... Ex-plo-sion Bus-ter? ...Fatigue must be catching up to me, the appraised name came out weird."

"Ah, please don't say that name out loud. It's really embarrassing."

"That naming sense and unusual design, don't tell me that weapon is made by Julian Workshop? ...Hard to believe anyone would want a weapon there."


Is Julian relatively famous or something? No considering her reaction, it's probably more infamous.


"The mechanism and name are one thing yes, but it's actually quite powerful when you get used to it."

"Every single person who trialed his weapons was all 'I don't wanna touch them anymore', they're all known to be dangerous and difficult to handle... Well, you're plenty weird yourself as well, I suppose your wavelengths match."


Phrasing! Don't you think that's too rude?!
Well I mean, I do admit I'm weird. But getting told that by somebody else is a bit...


"Everybody refers to that workshop as a 'Pastime hobby of a former noble kid'. If only he had achievements to speak of, but that's a pipe dream with those curios for weapons."

"Former, noble? Eh, Julian is a nobleman? I mean, he has no house name or anything."


My Status only showed him as Julian.
Heck, the man's already a riot as is, adding former noble as his trait is packing in too much.


"Apparently he was originally the heir to a Duke House in Firie Kingdom, but after such and such, he cast away his lineage and went independent."

"...Maybe he lost interest in territorial management and got disinherited after he went crazy into making weird weapons."

"That's almost certainly the case. Initially he was selling proper weapons when he first arrived at this town, but it seems the man has been holing up inside his workshop as of late, it's not clear if his business is doing well. I'm wondering if his financial is alright."


It's not.
If I didn't pay for my order, that guy would have gone bankrupt I bet.
...Guess I'll go see him, gotta hand over the rest of the payment anyway.


A small weapon store at the outskirt of the town. You could see a hastily repaired hole on the roof.
There's a signboard with needlessly beautifully written words 'Julian Weapon Artisan Workshop'. No mistake about it, we're here.
He got blown away from this place to near the guild huh... Can't believe he survived.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

Inside the store, around half of the displayed goods are ordinary weapons of good quality.
Blacksmith Lv6 is said to be halfway to veteran level, considering Julian's age, he's among the more capable bunch.

...The problem is the goods displayed at store front, they almost have a sinister aura around them.
This place is way out already, so why make it harder with such a questionable show window.
A sword that has a chainsaw as a blade, and a drill-like, no it's literally a drill as the tip of a spear.
There's many other too, it's a parade of curios. All of them are like halfway between torture apparatuses and civil engineering tools.

Forget about trying to run a business, of course everybody is staying as far away as possible from this place.
I'm sure there would be one or two people who dropped by out of curiosity, but none would come back again once they tried and found themselves getting swung around by the weapons instead. This store is checkmated.

Well anyway, let's just go and pay Julian.


"Ah, sorry! I'm still repairing my workshop! Currently I can't accept order... My Customer!! You've comeeeeeee!!"

"Shaddup! Can you not yell every single time!"

"Fuhaha! No need to be shy! I get you, I really doooooo!!"

"What is!"

"...So noisy."

"...The store's creaking because of Julian-san's voice, is this place safe?"


Julian's eyes sparkled as he shouted loudly when he saw me. Alma's right, noisy.


"I'm here to pay you the rest of my order. But man, this store's deserted huh."

"Well yeah! With those weapons I put by window, nobody expecting normalcy is gonna come here, naturally!"

"If you get it, put half of these weapons here there instead. Aren't these ones just good old normal weapons."

"Non. I'm sure you're aware I am more than capable of creating and selling ordinary weapons. However, it's not like they have to be made by me, yes?"


How is that okay. Didn't you almost go bankrupt. Making weapons you can sell should be in order first.


"Great many craftsmen in this town possess incredible talents. Even difficult to process materials get made into exquisitely refined forms. I respect them from the bottom of my heart!"

"You're pretty good yourself, aren't you. These are all nice weapons, considering your age, you'd get to be a respectable blacksmith eventually if you just keep at it."

"Fuhaha! I appreciate your word of commendation! However, respect them I may be, never did once I envy them."


Don't just randomly switch to serious mode, it's scary.


"Your Skill Level increases the more equipment you make. The higher your Skill Level, the more difficult material you can process, the better equipment you can make. You then repeat this process endlessly. Of course, that in itself is wonderful. It's truly worthy of respect."

"If you get it then--"

"I know. Yet, that wonderful way of doing things is not quite what I have in mind. As they are contained within the framework of Blacksmith or Sewing Skills."


Julian interrupted me before resuming his speech.
I'd like to get my business here done, but I'd be lying if I said his story didn't pique my interest a tad.


"Skills support you in a half automated way to make equipment and tools. You simply cannot fail if you entrust your body to Skills. But that results in the lack of individuality."

"Individuality huh. From what I saw in many stores, goods made by multiple craftsmen seem different enough."

"Yes but it's all constrained by what can be made by Skills... I want to break free from the limits of 'Skills' and bring forth a new possibility!"

"You mean like those incomprehensible weapons... Weapons? By the window?"

"Indeed! Then again, combatants with average stats can't bring out the full potential of those high powered weapons while those with high enough Attributes can just order sufficiently powerful normal weapons made with high class materials."

"That's no good..."

"To be frank, all the failures almost broke me. So I detonated Explosion Buster out of desperation and the rest was history."


Wait, you telling me that was almost suicidal?!
Everything he does is weird... I'm not one to talk though.


"Well, I ended up meeting my first customer in the truest sense thanks to that! It's not an exaggeration to say that Explosion Buster was a success--"
"It is, dumbass."

"Fuhaha! ...By the way, seeing that you're here and all. May I interest you into testing out my creations?"


That's a turnaround alright! Heck, didn't you tell me they're all questionable!
...But, it's true that those weapons seem interesting to me.
No harm in trying, just a little testing here and there.


"Ah, Kajikawa-san looks totally onboard."

"...Hikaru, don't go too wild okay."

『Pii...』


I can feel the stabbing gazes from two girls + one chick behind me.
Give me some slack, just for a little bit.
Now then, which one to test first fufufufufu.

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444 Presented Facts

"It is with great shame I wish to ask you a favor. Would you give me the time of the day?"

Thus Sir Lolengus asked while I was enjoying a fragrant after meal tea.

"May ask you to lend me your strength? I am aware how shameless it is asking my daughter's savior this. However, loathe I must admit, my soldiers simply cannot oppose the forces our enemy has amassed. They have thrice our number. He has even hired a couple of mercenaries renowned for their strength. We have confirmed two Epithet Holders among their ranks which would put our chance of victory to nil."

I was surprised here. I thought someone in the position of a chairman would have hired all those famous people as well.

(Oh right, Linda's bodyguard betrayed them for money too. I see, the situation is critical indeed.)

Just as I had predicted, this country has mostly long been under Kanedor's control through the power of money.
And this chairman has virtually no power for trying to rule this country the honest way.
The nucleus of this country has been stripped bare through the power of money. Sir Lolengus has already lost the battle of spending, lacking the funds to hire more soldiers or mercenaries.

"I likely cannot prepare the money required to sway you over. But I promise you here and now that I will pay however amount you ask at the dawn of that man's death."

Sir Lolengus probably doesn't really believe in my power. Yet, he's drowning so bad he'd grasp at anything, even straw.
Also, Linda absolutely wrote something about me in her letter.
After all, there's no way a lone man can overturn the difference in their forces, yet Sir Lolengus is compelled enough to make this desperate plea. Naturally, this means he must have gotten his information from Linda's letter. I have never used my power in this guy's presence.

"What do you say? Will you consider my request? Oh and of course I won't drive you out even if you decline. You may make yourself at home here at this mansion during your stay in federation. That's the least I can do for my daughter's savior."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
Considering the federation's critical situation, I won't be surprised if the height of [Lolengus VS Kanedor] takes place tomorrow.
Either that, or the enemy will surround this mansion before crushing it whole.
Sir Lolengus's defeat, aka his death, is imminent.

(Or would be if I wasn't here.)

"Fine by me. I was thinking of giving this Kanedor guy a good whack on his face myself. I don't need money. Instead, I ask you to keep everything about me in secrecy. Don't tell anyone. I don't want to become famous. If people know about my appearances or traits, there will be sparks coming my way. I don't want that. I wanna avoid and hide from that."

"...Aye, very well. I swear by my name, I shall keep matters about you in secrecy. You have my gratitude... Also, I'd like to ascertain how strong you are. My daughter has written about you in her letter, but none of her stories sounds believable. I wish to see it myself. What do you say? Will you show me?"

I have two objectives in this country, deliver the letters and get a punch on Kanedor.
Just when I started making good progress on those objectives, this event hit me.
What a pain, I really can't see the end of this story development.

"Can I ask you to have a mock battle with my veteran top warrior?"

(There it is! I knew it'd come to this! Yup! I'm so done with templates!)

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Evolution and Another Evolution of Sort

"Alma! Knock the ogre off its feet with Spirit Magic and get ready to use your finisher! Reina hide in the shadow and let out only your arms to throw shurikens at the ogre's face when it starts attacking!"

『Cluck?』

"Hiyoko, you stay away and stay alert for another beast! A graze from that thing would kill you dead!"

『C-cluck!』


Hello there, after fulfilling our quota, we looked around and finally found an ogre.
This is only my second time fighting this beast, but man these ogres sure are strong. They pack way too much punches.
But it's far easier when it's not holding a weapon and in a one-against-many like this.


"Oruaaaaaaaa!!"

『Daaaaaaagaaaaaaaaa!!』


I'm using the explosomething exploding great hammer I had bought as a compensation for breaking it, and it's been surprisingly effective.
It can ignore inertia and swing from unexpected angles, on top of making my attacks unpredictable, I can also make the engine repeatedly explode to increase attack power.
It'd also give me the upper hands if I lock weapons, honestly this thing is so highly usable in practice you wouldn't think it was a damaged prototype.


"Seiyaa!"


The ogre seemingly believed a close quarter combat was a bad idea and leaped away from us, I threw the hammer at it.
The trajectory is so straight dodging that should be a child's play. In fact, the ogre dodged.

But


『Gubaha!!?』


My hammer which should have missed its target changed trajectory and hit the ogre's back head.
I used remote mana control to explode the engine and changed its direction mid-air. No matter how high your DEF is, that hit should crack its head.

While it was flinching, Alma unleashed her 'Finisher'.


"Fshh!"


An attack that fully specializes in speed, so fast it's imperceptible.
The kinetic energy it produces is powerful enough to easily deal a killing blow to magic beasts over Rank B.
There's no concrete number shown on her Status, but I believe its total ATK should go over 1500.
4-5 times her base attributes, just ridiculous.

DOSH her sword pierced deeply into the ogre's chest.
It's a fatal blow no matter how you look at it. The match would have been over if the enemy was a human.
But you can't make light of magic beast's vitality. Even that Jet Boar, a magic beast much lower ranked than this ogre, didn't die when a sword stabbed its head.


"Alma! That thing's not dead yet!"

『Gubu...!! ...Gaa!!』

"...!"


The ogre swung its arms high in an attempt to crush Alma, uncaring of the sword in its chest.
Its face is warped in anger and pain, full of killing intent towards Alma.


"I won't let you!"

『Hagwu!?』


Reina let out her arms to throw a shuriken into the ogre's opened mouth.
Despite the perfect ambush, the ogre immediately closed its mouth and caught the shuriken with it. Thing's pretty dexterous.
Then it munched on the shuriken like it was a rice cracker. Reina can't enlarge the shuriken now.
But, that moment bought more than enough time.


"Burner Blade!"

『Guba!? Gugugugaaaaaaaaa!!』


A white flame erupted out of the sword lodged in the ogre.
A super high temperature flame is boiling the ogre from within. Not even Jet Boar could survive this.


『Gwugigigigigagwuu!! Gaaaaaaaa!!!』

"..!?"


But it's not enough.
It's not enough firepower to kill the ogre.
The thing won't go down despite the fatal blow and boiling organs.
It swung down the arms it had raised high right at Alma.


"Not on my watch, dang you!!"

『Guguugugugugu...!!』


I closed in rapidly with Mana Flight and blocked the down swinging arms.
I had reflexively strengthened my whole body with energy, but I can't maintain this for long against this tremendous strength.
The ogre's HP is gradually decreasing from the flame burning it alive, can I last until it reaches zero!?


"Alma!! Raise the output more!"

"...Hikaru, please forgive me... It's probably going to hurt a lot, sorry."

"...Come again?"


Eh, wait Alma-san? What? What are you planning? What's with that apologetic look on your--


"Lightning Blade!!"


The flame vanished from Alma's sword, replaced with purple lightning running throughout the ogre and the one interlocked with its arms, me.


『Gugyaaaaaaaa!!!』

"Higyaaaaaaaaa!!!?"

"Hikaru, sorry, I'm sorry! Bear with it for a little bit more!"


<<Magic Sword Lv4 [Lightning Blade]: An ability that clads the blade in lightning dealing additional damage to those it touches. Electricity runs through the target as long as they are in contact, depriving them control of their body. However, the MP consumption per second is far severer than Burner Blade and Storm Blade.>>

I see! Don't have to worry about counterattack with this ability if the target can't move!
Heck, why didn't you use this from the start! It hurts! It hurts super bad! Could have used this move before I caught this ogre's arms!


『Agagagagabugababababaaaa... Gabo...』

"Higigigigigagagagaa!! A-Almaa!! It's dead! The ogre is dead! Stop, seriously stoppp!"

"U-un!"


I finally got off the electric hell once the ogre was foaming on its mouth and confirmed dead.
Ababababa...!! W-well, Alma's not wrong.
I don't get damaged as long as I have my HP buffer. So I'd be fine even in an extreme case of having a sword run through me.
But, I still get to feel pain when it's lightning element.

Huh, Alma? You're activating Lightning Blade again, what are you!


"...Hikaru, I'm sorry. I'll go through the same pain, so please forgive me."

"Wait, stop! Staaaahp! It's fine! I'm completely swell, don't do that!"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

I desperately plead to Alma and stopped her as she tearfully attempted to hurt herself with Lightning Blade.
I'm telling you I'll be fine as long as I have HP! You'd get charred badly if you're hit by that super high voltage electricity!
This girl sure can take the wildest action when she broods over things too deeply.
...Well, I understand the guilt when I did a similar thing to her back then though.


"Well uh, all is well as long as we're all safe and sound."

"...Sorry."

"I'm fine, I'm fine, cheer up. We just beat a formidable foe and all, it's time to celebrate... Huh? Alma, isn't your sword glowing?"

"Eh?"


Alma's sword, [Ogre-eating Shark Fang Sword] is letting out a faint glow if you look closely.
That's, not a a Magic Sword Skill. What?

<<This sword is evolving as it has cleared the condition to kill a certain number of magic beasts and a specific magic beast [Ogre].>>

Evolving? Ah, right, equipment made from Unique Monsters can evolve or something.
Wait huh, its form is changing, is it gonna be alright?


"I-it's like a clay made of light changing shape!"

"...Pretty. I've never seen anything like this."


After letting out an intense light, the sword turned into a beautiful single edged lustrous black sword in Alma's hand.


<<[Lv2 Dragon-eating Black Sword] ATK+580 INT+300. Effective on targets that possess Dragon Skills. Its Self-Repair function has been reinforced, allowing fully restoration from a broken blade over a period of time.>>


It turns super strong! What? Are all evolving unique equipment get this much stronger when they evolved?
It's gotten wider and longer too, won't that be harder to wield with the shift in the center of gravity?


"Amazing... It's bigger and yet the weight feels exactly the same. Rather, it feels better in my hands than ever."

"Since it was called Ogre-eating Shark Fang Sword, I guess the condition for its evolution had always been defeating an ogre... Hm? Which means the next evolution needs..."

"What's wrong?"

"Uh, well, Menu Display shows that sword's name as Dragon-eating Black Sword... So I'm thinking maybe it's gonna need a dragon defeated for its next evolution...?"

"A-a dragon!? That's way over the top!"

"...High hurdle."


It's evolving is nice and all, but the next one is gonna be super rough.
Using that Black Dragon from Monster Prairie as a frame of reference, there's no way we can beat a dragon even after getting ten more levels.
...Well, guess there's no need to rush. If ten levels aren't enough, then we can get 20, 30 more first.
The goal is to one day eat a dragon anyway. Gonna take a stab at it little by little.


『Pipi!』


Oh, Hiyoko's back. Hope it didn't get attacked by another magic beast--
...Huh? Isn't your fur a different color now? From white to brown? Is it dirt?


<<Hiyoko defeated a magic beast while it was away, reaching Level 10 and evolved from Meadow Cock to Bronze Cock.>>


....
I missed Hiyoko's moment of growth yet again.
I'm begging you please let me be there when you do. It just doesn't feel right being kept in the dark like this, you know.

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