"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
...
Just before he slipped off to sleep, he thought of the voice that warned him in time to save himself.
It felt like the voices that told him to kill during his first wave...
...
That night, in the dungeon
...
Melty returned to the castle and was warmly greeted by the knights who did as she ordered, but became very worried because she was gone too long and they were given no update. Melty told them to end the lock-down, then told them that the queen was returning. She told them of the three church followers who needed to be rounded up, and lastly, she told them she was going to meet with her father.
Many of the knights were too mixed up with the instant update that they hesitated a bit. Only two knights recovered fast enough to escort Melty to the dungeon. The rest of the knights went to celebrate, but the thought of the queen finding them drunk was a terrifying one, so they decided to hold off on celebrating.
Melty slowly traveled down the stairs, guided by a knight to her father's cell. He looked disheveled, but Melty ignored that.
"...Father... It's Melty." She whispered.
"..." The king made no action.
"A lot of things happened and I almost died a few times..." Melty admitted.
"What!?" The king sprang alive at that.
It was selfish of Melty, but she provoked her father because she wanted him to worry about her.
Melty went to explain. "I went to go convince Naofumi to return to-"
The king began to threaten. "If he so much as laid a hand on you, I'll-"
She swiftly corrected him. "He is the reason I draw breath, we were attacked and he protected me."
"..." The king grew quiet.
"The three heroes church attacked me. They tried to kill me, but Naofumi protected me." She told him.
"...That... That can't be. Balmus would never..." The king was in disbelief.
"Earlier today there was a battle, 100s of people died... I returned early with Naofumi and his family... When mom arrives, there are going to be trials... and I'm... I'm scared." Melty couldn't help but cry.
"I'm scared that you're going to die. I wasn't strong enough to stop you in time and now..." She began to cry louder. "Naofumi is going to leave, the other three heroes are too weak, we've lost over half our greater lords..." Melty revealed.
"W-What!? Who!? Who Died!?" The king was going through a whirlwind of emotions.
"...Idol, Averill, Grimwald, Veramir, Langiva, and Wagner... Eadwig will replace Wagner, Blackcrown's son will also proceed him, but we are weak and have no way to defend ourselves..." Melty managed to explain.
"Bors... Who killed him?" The king asked in shock.
"Mother did, in self-defense." Melty told him.
The king couldn't understand any of what had happened. Melty came here to let him know everything, so he'd do better in the trial... And maybe spend the last of the time she'd ever get with her father. She spent most of the night explaining everything in detail, falling asleep against the opposing wall.
...
The following morning
...
Naofumi woke the following morning in a bit of a daze. He laid there a moment as the prior day returned to him in the order it occurred. Ending with what happened that night. Raphtalia was up against him, his arms around her, where they belonged. He didn't feel much embarrassment and just held her tightly, as he said he would.
"Maybe a late morning start would be better?"
In the other room, Mia awoke. She sat up and saw her roommates. She didn't piece things together right away, almost like her mind was trying to figure out ways to lie to her. To spare her the truth. Teal had woken up earlier than the rest and saw Mia wake up. She stretched her arm over Filo, who was sharing a bed with her. She had it reach the bed with her brothers and poke Monti a bit.
He woke up from Teal's attacks on his sleep and looked at the problem.
"..."
He rushed out of bed, pushing his brother off of him, Leon whining that his warm brother was gone. He went to Mia's side. She was confused about the concern they were giving her, she wasn't hurt at all.
"Wasn't hurt at all... Because he never hit me... He... lord Averill... Siggy!" She remembered enough to start crying again.
"You're supposed to make her feel better, not worse." Filo said as she and Leon woke up.
Over the next 30 minutes, the kids got ready for the day, while Monti stayed with Mia. He was feeling guilty. Had he focused on Averill instead of going on a wild goose chase, he would have killed the man and kept them all alive.
But only Monti thought that. Mia was blaming herself just as he was. After all, she was untouched, he never hit her, it was almost like she didn't do anything at all.
Eventually she calmed down enough to start talking.
"Where is she? The body, I mean." Mia asked.
"Father has her stored in his shield, along with the others. It's not absorbed. We can bury her wherever you want." Monti assured her.
"No. I don't want to bury her... For her to be in one place, to have to travel there just to speak to her, but hear nothing in return... I'd never leave it. I'd be bound to such a place and never be able to move on... Please... I'd like Naofumi to... absorb her..." Mia admitted.
"Do the same with Kurtis... the others as well." Godiva was now setting up, with some difficulty.
Teal rushed out of bed this time, leaving Filo to whine. She went to Godiva's side and motioned for her to lay back down.
"The battle is over, we won. Until father treats you, it's best that you don't move." Teal advised.
"I'm sure the savior's medicine will work quickly?" Godiva asked.
"It always does." Teal assured her.
"Godiva... do you want to talk about it?" Mia asked timidly.
"No... He's dead. I'll find a real nice corner to be a crybaby about it. I was too weak and by a huge degree... I've never had that happen. I've always been in an even match at worst, but nothing could kill that guy... Well, nothing but you." Godiva said to Mia.
"Wait, you killed that big guy!?" Monti asked in disbelief.
"It was a group effort. I made the weapon, but Godiva distracted him, Siggy used it... the others were also necessary." Mia brushed it aside.
"But when it comes to claiming victory, it's going to be you that takes credit, right?" Teal asked.
"I suppose, not that it matters. The levels we gained from killing Averill are more than Melromarc will give us... Nine levels..." Mia just now thought to check.
"What level are you guys?" Monti asked.
"I'm level 33." Mia answered.
"I'm level 38." Godiva answered.
"Soon you can get class upgrades... it'll help." Monti offered.
"I bet, I felt that 30% boost in action." Godiva said, remembering her beating.
"W-Well, Filo can make it 100%, that's why we got so strong." Monti all but promised them they could do so.
"What!?" Godiva was shocked.
"With that, even my stats could... Wait, what's that?" Mia asked, something had caught her eye.
That something was the holy weapon replica.
"Oh... This was the weapon that pope guy was using, I kinda stole it." Monti admitted.
"Can I examine it?" She asked, but already pulled his arm and sat it in her lap, looking deeply at the item.
"Um, sure..., but are you okay, after what happened...?" Monti was still concerned.
"Keeping myself busy helps... besides..." Mia began.
"Besides...?" Monti prompted her to finish.
"Siggy told me that I have to make things that count. If I'm weak, I have to make things that are strong. If I fail, I'll make things that succeed... and this thing is amazing... I could learn a lot from this." She finished.
"Oh well then... go ahead." Monti didn't know what to say.
They all sat there another 40 or so minutes having small talk before Raphtalia came to the door.
"Is everyone okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, everyone is fine." Leon answered as he finally decided to get up.
Filo hopped out of bed and opened the door for her. Raphtalia entered the room to see Mia and Godiva. She bowed to them.
"I thank you two for what you did for us and I am sorry for your loss." Raphtalia promptly offered.
"...Thanks..." Mia managed.
"Thank you." Godiva was more clear.
"What is she doing?" Raphtalia asked.
"She's studying the replica. Under the shield, who knows what Monti is doing." Teal teased.
"Sh-Shut up! She just wanted to look at it... here." Monti slipped the shield off for Mia to hold it without him.
"All that proves is that you could have taken your hand off at any time, but liked her lap." Teal added.
"Teal, stop teasing your brother." Raphtalia scolded.
"But teasing you or dad won't work that well anymore..." She pouted.
"I said 'no'." Raphtalia ignored Teal's reveal that she knew. Her lack of embarrassment kind of proved her point though.
"Naofumi-sama is brewing the potions right now to fix you up." Raphtalia informed Godiva.
"After that, what happens?" Godiva asked.
"The queen is on her way back here, to the capital. A series of trials are going to take place... We're not sure how many. A lot of things are going to happen here soon. You two should stay in town, I'm sure the queen will want to reward you both."
"Reward me, a demi-human? Unlikely..." Mia said, not mad or resentful. More as a neutral observation.
"The queen is quite desperate to keep Naofumi-sama here, she'd not do something like refuse to reward our friends." Raphtalia assured her.
"Friends." Godiva was put off by that declaration.
"Um, you all fought for our sake, right? At the very least, we're comrades." Raphtalia offered.
"...I fought for Kurtis' sake..., but you're right." Godiva argued, but ultimately relented.
"Mom, can we help them gain levels, they're close to class upgrading." Monti asked.
"Tomorrow, maybe later on today. We have some things to do now... There's Naofumi-sama, Monti come here a minute." Raphtalia answered.
He nodded and exited the room right before Naofumi entered with some fresh potions. He gave them both a quick look, then went to Godiva and went to administer the first potion.
"I'm hurt, but not that badly, I can drink it myself." Godiva felt like she was being babied.
"I get that, but they're stronger when I administer them, so pipe down." Naofumi shot her down.
She relented. While giving her the first potion, he asked. "Did Kurtis have any family?"
Once she finished drinking the first potion, she answered. "No. We already decided that you should absorb them. Cassian was the only one that might still have family, but we didn't know all that much about his past..." Godiva explained.
"Are you sh-" Naofumi went to ask.
"I'm sure... We're sure. I'm going to lose some nights to this and a whole lot of tears, but I'm not so weak that I'd visit a grave... Mia already said a grave would tie her down too much. It's fine." Godiva reassured him.
"..." Naofumi absorbed their bodies internally.
.
[Memento Aegis]
[Ability: Comrade] Those who have been party members previously, but aren't currently still gain some benefits as if they are still in your party, as long as they remain your ally.
[The rules will become clear via mastery bonuses once mastered]
.
[Dog Shield]
+1 spd
[Ability: Animal Status Adjustment (Dog)] Dogs gain 5% more stats upon level up.
.
[Dog Shield II]
+1 spd
[Ability: Animal Status Adjustment (Dog) II] Dogs gain 10% more stats upon level up.
.
[Dog Shield III]
+1 spd
[Ability: Animal Status Adjustment (Dog)] Dogs gain 5% more EXP.
.
[Human Shield]
+1 hp
[Ability: Human Status Adjustment] Humans gain 5% more stats upon level up.
.
[Human Shield II]
+1 hp
[Ability: Human Status Adjustment II] Humans gain 10% more stats upon level up.
.
[Human Shield III]
+1 hp
[Ability: Human Status Adjustment III] Humans gain 5% more EXP.
.
"..." Naofumi looked at the shields a moment, before moving on.
"Next." Naofumi announced the next potion.
"What will you two do now?" Naofumi asked Mia, because Godiva was drinking and couldn't talk.
"We'll stay here for now, maybe see if the queen might actually care... I'd like to keep studying this if possible." Mia probed for permission.
"You can." Naofumi allowed.
"We'll stay out of your hair after that." Godiva added.
"What? You girls are not a bother at all, if anything-" Naofumi went to correct their view of things.
"What she means is, we fought so you could live with your family. They are who you should spend your time with... I'd like to be friends, but I'm too weak to spend any real length of time with you." Mia explained.
Naofumi used [Inspect]. She was right, her stats were very low for her level, especially compared to the kids...
"You just have to be more clever. You made a weapon to take out a greater lord over twice your level. You did so with no lab and no prep, only with what was laying around. It's honestly amazing... Here." Teal pulled the [lightning Cage] out of Naofumi's [Inventory].
He mastered that shield this morning and was now mastering the one that granted [Love].
Mia took the object in her hand. "...Oh. A spell storing object... it changes into a fence and runs electricity through it via that stored spell. Fairly high quality." Mia spouted.
"You could tell all that, just by looking at it?" Leon was now talking.
"Don't be so impressed. It's my only talent." Mia told him.
"Still, that's pretty cool. I can sense the value of things, but what exactly a thing does that makes it valuable? I can't do anything like that." Leon was impressed.
Out in the hallway, Raphtalia took a knee.
"Listen, I was upset when you made a wave, but in the end everything worked out. So, I just want you to know that I'm not mad, okay." Raphtalia assured him.
"...Well... Do you mind if I push my luck?" Monti hesitantly asked.
That was a surprise, Monti never tried to do anything that could possibly upset her before. Was it a sign of him feeling more secure in their eyes?
"How so?" Raphtalia asked.
"Um... Well, I was just thinking that gaining levels would be easier from now on if we used the wave...like turning it off and on and keeping it small... and stuff." Monti was not handling her gaze well.
"...Let me think about that, okay?" Raphtalia settled on that for now. She'd need to sort her feelings out on that and speak with Naofumi
"Right!" Monti answered promptly, just happy she wasn't mad.
The two walked back in to see Godiva out of bed, chatting about how amazing Naofumi's medicine is.
"...I'll be off for now, Mia?" Godiva checked with her.
"I'll stay here and study this..." Mia responded.
"Both of you, join the party. I'll get you two your own room and you can go there. Keep the door locked and don't lose sight of that thing, call us if anything happens." Naofumi advised.
They all agreed and they went about their day. They first stopped for food, having skipped dinner the night before as Filo pointed out multiple times. Next they'd visit some friends.
...
Erhart's shop
...
Naofumi and the family first went to Erhart's. Letting him know what was going on was very important. The party made a straight line to his shop. They entered his shop when he wasn't at the front. They could hear him hammering away.
"Wow..." Leon said out of nowhere.
"What is it?" Filo asked.
"My [Dragon's Hoard] is now wide enough that I can sense the precious metals and monster materials he stores below the store... He's loaded..." Leon revealed.
"Don't go snitching on friends of the family." Naofumi told him. Leon just nodded.
Erhart started making his way up to the front of the store. "Sorry about the wait. What ca-" He saw the family and was stunned. "Kid! It's good to see you!"
He came up and gave Naofumi a firm handshake.
Naofumi didn't try to hide his smile for once. "Good to see you too. Things got wild after I saw you... You really saved our ass wit-"
"Language... and yes, this [Mana Blade] allowed me to win battles I otherwise couldn't." Raphtalia interrupted and continued.
They spoke happily for some time. Telling him of their dangerous misadventures. He got upset at the hardships they faced, but wore a fixed smile hearing how it all turned out. Monti and Leon checked the weapons on the wall out. Leon looked at spears, but Monti was only looking at shields. Teal did her best to keep Filo entertained.
"So, I have the bones and skin of that Tyrant Rex. I assume you could make some better gear from that? All this hydra material too?" Naofumi could only bring out a few of the pieces in the shop.
"These are incredible. Not like that trash you normally bring me." Erhart jabbed.
"Gee, thanks." Naofumi joked.
"What do you need?" Erhart asked.
"Most of this is staying unused for now. Raphtalia's armor needs an upgrade, though, please use some of the leather from the Tyrant Rex." Naofumi told him.
"Did I just hear a 'please'? Ha... I'm on it. Anything else?" Erhart responded.
Naofumi peeked out the corner of his eye to see Raphtalia waiting to say 'Language', if he cursed. He decided not to.
"I also want to work on the armor we discussed before. The transforming armor for the kids. Use the bones as needed." Naofumi requested.
"I'll need to size them for their human form armor." Erhart answered.
"I had a question." Teal announced. "You make the human form of the armor and it transforms when we do, but what it turns into can't really be decided, right?" She asked.
"Yeah, basically. Why?" Erhart was interested.
"If he designed two sets of armor using the transforming ore, one for each form... couldn't Mia fuse them together with alchemy? Allowing you to design both forms." Teal theorized.
Erhart didn't directly answer as much as he smiled widely. A quick call to Mia told them it'd be no problem.
"Awesome idea, Teal. Work on a heavy armor for Raphtalia too. Being able to switch to something more heavy duty from time to time could be a lot of help." Naofumi told Erhart.
"So, you want me to work on eight sets of armor? Two for Monti, Filo and Leon, and then one for Raphtalia and one for Teal?" Erhart asked.
"Close." Naofumi removed his own breastplate. "Mine makes nine, though, theirs will be greaves and armguards and such. None of them want chest plates." Naofumi explained.
"And how do you plan on paying for this stuff?" Erhart asked wearily.
Naofumi just realized that part. His good mood was throwing him off.
"Oh..." Naofumi could probably ask the queen, but-
"How much?" Leon asked.
Erhart looked at the kid with a weird look. "...I could do it for as low as 30 gold..."
"That'd be cutting corners, how much?" Leon asked again.
Erhart shifted a bit. "Full sets made to order usually run around 3-7 gold, using these materials and the unusual shapes for some of them, plus most of these aren't complete sets." Erhart answered.
"You're lying." Filo and Leon said together.
"...55 gold in total?" Leon asked.
"Yeah, about that much..." Erhart admitted.
"What!? Don't take a hit like that for me, I'll pay!" Naofumi was a little upset.
Erhart was trying to tell him dishonestly low prices. It was a nice sentiment, but Naofumi wanted the man that gave his family protection to get the coin he deserved.
"I'll pay." Leon used [Inventory] to remove the once cursed chest.
The chest worked similarly to Naofumi's item drops, but it only gained valuables and only for things that he personally kills, not the party. Of course, that didn't matter, because Leon killed the strongest thing they ever fought seriously, the Tyrant Rex. Leon opened the chest and began to pull out coin.
"How much you got?" Filo asked.
Leon pulled out an amount then put the chest away. "Enough."
Leon smugly walked up to him and placed 60 gold on the counter.
"..." Erhart was blown away.
"I believe that's enough to start. Five more gold for these." Leon removed the eight hydra staves from [Inventory] and placed them on the table.
"Give them bladed heads like mine. Mia can combine them, I bet they have great compatibility." Leon requested.
Naofumi noticed that Leon gave away his money freely, but also used party spoils like the staves without asking. He wasn't mad, far from it. Leon had become comfortable with expecting his parents to provide without needing to ask. If taken too far, they'd address it, but Naofumi was glad Leon fully trusted them.
"Thanks, Leon. I know you hate handing out money." Raphtalia thanked him.
"It's fine, the family's safety is paramount." He responded.
They now had their latest and greatest armor in the works. Erhart took dozens of measurements from each of the kids in both of their forms. After some more light chatting it was off to the witch's shop. Naofumi was out the door before Erhart released a huge sigh. He was so relieved that things turned out alright. Naofumi said they may still leave, but can teleport back in the worst case.
...
The magic shop
...
Naofumi didn't even get the door open before the witch caught sight of him. She rushed from behind the counter and greeted the whole family warmly.
"I'm so very happy to see you! Please tell me that your being here is an indication of things being better?" The witch asked.
"We don't need class upgrades anymore, and the queen will be here soon. Besides that, six more greater lords have died." Naofumi informed her.
"T-That's 10 out of 11 of them now..." The witch was concerned with the condition of her nation, but would worry about that later.
"Well, that is good to hear... So, you will be staying?" She asked hopefully.
"Until the trials are over at the shortest... Leaving is still firmly on the table." Naofumi informed her.
"I see... Did you need something specific?" She still wanted to help, even if they were to leave.
"No. We all have plenty of magic left to learn in the books we bought. We just wanted to let you know that we are okay and that those items were lifesaving, thanks." Naofumi told her gratefully.
"Well, that is great to hear. Please tell me all about it." The witch invited them to discuss the details.
They spoke for a time, not giving her every detail, but also not withholding anything specific from her. After a while they ran out of things to talk about and felt they'd need to leave soon. Before that could happen, Leon spoke up.
"I actually did want to buy something here." Leon said, already pulling his chest out.
"Hmm, what's that?" Teal asked.
"I'd like a beginner and intermediate water grimoire, please." Leon ask, presenting the gold necessary.
"Why would you want that? You have fire affinity." Monti didn't get it.
"I am starting to be able to cast other magic, not just counter them. Cool, right? ...The problem is, I can't even counter water magic at all, because none of us have the water affinity and therefore none of us have the water grimoires, I don't know how water magic works, so I can't counter it." Leon explained.
The witch was already grabbing the books as asked, taking the gold afterwards. She had a feeling that Leon was something special, but his rate of growth was something of a marvel.
"Being able to use all types of magic is pretty useful." Raphtalia offered a little praise.
"I still have to chant for things that aren't fire, but I'll get there... and then I'll stand at the top of all arcane power as a magic god." Leon broke into a boast at the end.
Ignoring Leon's little ending rant, they went to bid the witch goodbye.
"If you're leaving, mind leaving Raphtalia with me for a while?" The witch asked with a wicked smile.
Naofumi was a little scared, they'd need to escape. "...No can do, we'll-"
"Why not? Besides, the next stop is the slave tents, right? I'd prefer to avoid them." Raphtalia interrupted.
Naofumi lost. He'd not push Raphtalia to go there if she didn't want to... and so for the second time in a row, the witch won. Naofumi could only dread what sort of things the witch would put into her head now.
"Did the witch only ask that because she somehow knew that we... No, I'm just being paranoid." Naofumi thought briefly.
Naofumi and the kids waved to Raphtalia as they left, Naofumi could not hide his worry. After they were out the door, Raphtalia turned to the witch.
"What wicked knowledge do you wish to impart on me now?" Raphtalia asked.
"Quite a bit. He seems a sight happier and calmer than the last time I saw him. I'm just going to explain some things that will make him even happier." She said with a wicked smile
"...Okay." Raphtalia wanted to make Naofumi happier, but she got the feeling that the conversation was going to lead off to unwanted subjects.
Raphtalia was now trapped with the aging pervert, as she went into entirely too much detail on things she was not ready for. Only slightly better than visiting Beloukas.
...
Beloukas' tent
...
Naofumi entered the tent to see a bunch of weird bags and other materials that weren't there before, nothing else was really moved around. As they made their way in further, Beloukas caught them out the corner of his eye. He nearly leapt from his chair as he moved to them.
"Ah~, this is such a welcome surprise! Tell me, what changed?" Beloukas greeted and asked.
"Killed the three heroes church and a bunch of greater lords, big battle, we're back for now." Naofumi was getting tired of re-explaining the events and started just summarizing them.
"The three heroes church? Is this official information yet?" Beloukas asked smiling.
"No, why?" Naofumi asked.
"It's just that they were a major backer of Melromarc's slave trade, the greater lords too..." Beloukas half explained.
"So you sell low and refuse to buy to liquidate your stock ahead of the market shift? Even if it happens, it'll take years." Naofumi guessed.
"Precisely. At the least I might lower the prices of my more expensive and harder to move merchandise. Clearing them out at... say a 10% markdown." Beloukas explained.
"Glad I could help, now onto our business."
"Ah, yes. which do you want to discuss first, the seeds or the demi-human."
"Seeds?" Teal asked.
"Yes, those seeds sold like wildfire. Slow go at first, but once the customers knew they were exactly as advertised, they wanted more. Monsters that don't need to be taken care of at all? It was a great hit." Beloukas told them with a big smile.
"Wyndia first." Leon said firmly.
"Ah! You have a name now?" Beloukas went to his desk and looked at a ledger. "...Wyndia is the name. I found one that fit the description and it was cheap, so I already bought them. Turns out, I was right on the money. They'll be here in a week at most." Beloukas informed them.
Leon was beyond pleased to hear that. "Expect a bonus upon a safe delivery." Leon promised.
"So... back to the seeds..." Beloukas broached the topic again.
"If you can wait a few days, I should be able to make way better and more specific plant monster seeds." Teal offered.
"I'll wait for higher quality then, this is going to be a booming business." Beloukas decided.
"Though, my cut will need to be larger moving forward..." Teal added.
"Of course, we'll discuss it then, honestly my biggest concern before was finding buyers, but lazy owners who don't want to take care of their monsters seems like a decent market to strike. It might even get them to want to but the eggs." Beloukas thought aloud.
"If that is all, we have a lot to do, okay? We'll check back soon." Naofumi wrapped up the talks.
He didn't want to talk to Beloukas too much, the man was really useful, but still creepy to deal with. They'd enjoy their day a bit.
...
Over the next few days
...
After Raphtalia met back up with them, they told her the good news. Another meal later and the family decided to go out into the field for the day. They'd tinker with the permanent stat boost materials a bit, but not too serious. Mostly they enjoyed the scenery and nice breeze, bullying every balloon that dared to show their face.
Naofumi noticed the large number of EXP notifications he was receiving, Godiva had went off to kill monsters since they parted ways that morning. Likely an emotional wreck and taking out all her bad feelings on the monsters. He'd not say anything to her yet, if at all. He felt a personal guilt over what happened with Kurtis... It wasn't enough to gather allies, they needed to make sure that they did what they could to strengthen those allies, or they'd just die.
Their first day was wrapped up peacefully. They invited Mia and Godiva to dinner and they accepted. Mia had already written a small book of notes about the replica and was really focusing on that. She also gained a huge interest when they told her of their aim to make stat boosting items. Mia wondered if she could take enough of them to not be weak.
The next two days went by just as quickly. Mia offered to use her alchemy skills to help make the stat boosting drugs and it was like the one missing piece needed. The family killed the spawned monsters necessary to get the needed drops. They took their time creating the medicines, creating them with extreme care. At the end of it all, they eventually had three doses of each stat to try out.
It was decided that Mia and Raphtalia would receive one of each dose, then see how they were affected. Naofumi administered all of the medicines, to strengthen them further. Raphtalia received bonuses as they predicted, less than 10 per stat, but with enough of them it would be a great advantage. Mia's though were crazy, gaining over 40 on each stat. Her stats were still below average, that was how weak she was, but this was incredible. They were so impressed by the growth that they had her try another round..., but the first one she drank, did nothing at all.
Naofumi was afraid of this and had Raphtalia take one to prove it. Yeah, nothing. These boosts were a one-time deal. It also seemed to grant more to weaker people. It was a lot of work to make just one of them, making adjustments to the bioseeds, getting the drops via combat then taking Naofumi, Teal, and Mia to actually make it. They'd try to streamline the process, doing each step in large batches in the future, but this was going to be more of a luxury item.
"Maybe they'll sell well?" Naofumi thought.
The next day was the last one they'd have before the queen was set to arrive, if she was traveling at full speed. For this day they decided to begin their potential exit plan. Naofumi and Teal teleported to Fitoria's kingdom via his save point. They were there to collect a number of trees that Teal had planted prior to them leaving. They were slightly disappointed to see that Fitoria wasn't there. Maybe she fighting a wave somewhere else. She also said she couldn't read so he couldn't leave her a note. They'd have to simply visit again, later.
Teal used her [Royal Authority] While Naofumi used his [Plant Reform] altering and shaping the trees as desired before Naofumi removed them from the ground, increasing their size and quality, then storing them. This was the last time he'd need [Plant Reform] in the short term, especially with the stat boosting items becoming a lower priority. He'd grant the kids their shields after the trials.
By the time they were done gathering the trees, the cooldown was up and they teleported back. They borrowed tools and bought some raw materials from Erhart and the party went out in the field and spent the day creating their new cart, their new home. They had never seen Filo more focused in all her life. There was no silly actions or goofing off, not that they hated that. It just showed how strongly she wanted this cart done. They broke for lunch, but unlike normal, no extra time was needed for Filo, that was how focused she was.
Naofumi thought they may have went overboard, but overboard was great. The cart was 50% wider and taller than the last one and was twice as long.
It had four sections that made up the wider form, four nooks that would act as rooms for the kids. It wasn't much, the size of a small closet, but they couldn't make them bigger and expect to fit on the road or through gates. Still, the kids would use shelves and such for room and with access to his [Inventory], they felt it was enough room. Naofumi and Raphtalia wouldn't have a space to themselves, the long middle section would have some room to spare.
Naofumi did all he could to reinforce the wheels and axels, as it would be as much as five times the old maximum weight load. They could have asked Mia to assist in reinforcing the cart, but Naofumi wanted this to be a family project only. They were able to make it functional by day's end, but they may have bitten off more than they could chew. They'd need to finish it later and add sheets where necessary, maybe out of their magic thread.
Naofumi would also need to find the right places to place some emeralds and enchant them, reinforcing the whole cart with [Defense Up], but he wanted to master 'Zweite' tier spells first. Despite his many advantages, he was behind in magic by quite a bit.
Naofumi stored the whole cart and all the unfinished pieces at days end and they returned to town, for dinner and rest.
Tomorrow promised to be quite the day.
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[Author's Notes]
[Memento Aegis] is mostly used for bonuses like more stats for your race for example.
Melty informed the king and is preparing him for the trial, not as any form of betrayal of Naofumi. She's just a daughter that desperately wishes her father will live.
Mia and Godiva are not new party members. They will assist when able, mostly Mia's alchemy skill. I have a different path planned for them.
Wyndia soon?
Stat boosting items have been achieved...! Unfortunately they are annoying to produce and are one time use per person.
The new Iwatani household is nearly complete!
I believe the results of the trials will divide some people between deep satisfaction and not.
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