Chapter 35
While I had my bath, I ignored the pain of my bruises and the throb in my forehead by thinking. We could have stayed to help the people near Mirso. There was a lot of good will to be had there, and while the King didn't like me, he wasn't as important as the people.
But after my party ended up the only one able to walk away, I was sure there would be questions. If the King was going to send aid, well, they had to walk there, and being there when they arrived would slow down my plans.
Our equipment was in bad shape, again. The party was going to need a bit of time to recover even with all the medicines I could make. And I still had a couple hundred demi-humans to get over to Van. So many things to do, so little time.
"no don't wanna." Tetsu grumbled when we all finally started to get out of bed. Judging by the sun outside the window, it was around noon or so, but even after that, we were all moving around like puppets with stiff joints.
Or not moving, like Tetsu, who clearly didn't wanna.
"Guess we'll eat without you." I said, "Kunshu?"
From her nice corner on the ceiling, there was a quiet 'bzz'.
"Well, we'll make enough for later. But try not to sleep all day." I said.
The other three laughed quietly, though they all had the faces of people who wanted to sleep all day as well.
"You were about to say something before you went to bed?" Erhard asked after we'd all eaten.
"Well papa." I said, making him blush and getting another laugh from my party, "I saw the Spear do something during the fight. He picked up Kunshu's weapon, and his copied it."
"Cheeky brat..." He mumbled under his breath, "Oh? You didn't... no, they wouldn't have told you, why would they?" He sighed the kind of sigh that causes hair loss, except it was far too late for that. "That was the first thing the heroes did after visiting my shop for the first time."
He motioned us to follow him into his shop, and stopped in front of his 'wall of shields'. Ranging from buckler to tower, with materials from wood to (I think) magic steel (the same corrosion proof metal used in Raphtalia's sword), it was a good selection.
He motioned for me to go ahead, and I reached out to pick one up. All I had to do however was touch it for the Shield to react.
Wooden Kite Shield unlocked!
"Huh." I took the Shield off my back, and changed its form. "It's exactly the same..." I mumbled, "Right down to the grain pattern." It gave no special abilities like most monster drop shields though.
"Yeah, those other three bastards came into the shop, put their hands to all my merchandise, then left without buying anything!" Erhard grumbled. "You've spent more money in here on your own equipment than all three of their parties!" He reached out and put a friendly hand on Usa's (the nearest of the party) shoulder and grinned, "And that's before counting the rest of your party. I could retire if I didn't love the work so much!"
"Sir is very serious about proper equipment." Usa said, managing a smile.
"Uh oh." Raphtalia said, "He's laughing again."
"Oh, I'm starting to like that laugh, means I'll get to make something interesting." Erhard grinned, "What's on your mind kiddo?"
I let the ideas circulate through my mind a moment more as what Welf would call 'creative juice' (in his case it was usually rum or whatever paint thinner it was he drank) moved through my mind. I had all kinds of things I could do with the Shield, without needing the Shield in a specific form. The metals of this world did really interesting things as well, from 'magic to matter' creation to being exceptional at mana channelling.
Just needed one more test, just to be absolutely sure...
"Erhard?" I got my entire body braced and put the Shield (wooden kite shield) between us. "Punch the shield as hard as you can."
He blinked at me, "You sure?" We met eyes, and he sighed, "Of course you are. Lemme just..." He did a couple shoulder stretches, got his work gloves on, then made sure he gave himself enough space to swing his arm. "What's this going to accomplish?"
"Just hit the shield. Just above the Gem." The Gem was the only difference between his display model and mine.
I was pretty sure he didn't hit me as hard as he could. But he certainly hit hard! I had my left arm holding the Shield, while my right palm was braced near the top edge. My knees were bent to absorb shock, my shoulder was set and solid...
And I still nearly ended up getting punched right out the front door. It was like I'd taken a Minotaur charge before I hit level three!
But...
The 'copy' of the wooden shield was unharmed. The damage had transferred through and my HP bar had dipped a little, but the Shield had taken no damage at all. An attack like that would have at the very least left knuckle prints, yet there wasn't even a tiny bit of damage.
"Satisfied?" Erhard asked.
"I am." I grinned, "Before I leave the city again, I'm going to make a Shield. You can sell it, but I'm going to copy it."
"Ah," Usa started, getting all of us to look at him, "You have to go to the Ringmaster today?"
"It's going to need some prep work." I nodded, "Ah do you have a magic sword and a leather drying rack? And can I use like... all of your crucibles?"
Before we left for the Ringmaster's tents, we were joined by Tetsu and Kunshu. The dragon-newt was still looking sleepy, complete with eye rubs, yawns, and leaning on Raphtalia for support (and headpats). Kunshu however just changed from Tetsu's back to Usa's, and returned to making little bee snores (while getting headpats from Usa).
"No fair... I wanna be carried..." Tetsu pouted, though she did have the blissful face of one getting really good headpats.
"Now now." I said, joining in, "So... If the Ringmaster came through, and since we paid for service, he should have... All I'll have to do is transfer all of them to being my slave, and we can wait until tomorrow, maybe the next day, for Ake and his troops to arrive and we can all go to Van's territory."
The three 'slaves' of my party looked at me in surprise. "You intend to keep them as slaves?" Usa asked.
"Only so far as you all are. I won't use the 'maturation adjustment', since I know what it does now, and children should really be children as long as they can." I covered a sigh by rubbing at my horns, "But I can improve their stats when they gain levels, make them tougher, stronger..."
"But... You plan on making them fight?" Raphtalia asked.
"Plan? No. If I had my way, they'd all settle down and return to normal lives. But this isn't that kind of world." This time I couldn't cover my sigh. "Our worlds are similar, in that we have monsters. We have monsters, constant threats to our homes, and a system in place to help us grow and overcome them." I stopped rubbing at the base of one of my horns before it started to bleed again. "But because the leaders and soldiers of your world have become lazy and soft, the Waves are going to win unless 'the heroes' step in and save them."
"You think we don't need the heroes?" Raphtalia asked, "But..."
"If the entirety of your village was level 10 or so before the first wave, we wouldn't be talking right now. We got to level ten by killing usapil and porcupines, and with weapons little better than pointy sticks and stone knives. Once the Waves started, the people could have gone out, brought their levels up to fifteen or so average, and now, you have an entire world of people who can fight. You would have exceptional individuals, sure, but this?" I reached back and gave the Shield a tap, "Is just a gimmick."
"There is no substitute for experience?" Usa quoted.
"Exactly." I nodded, "With even the children understanding how to use something like a spear, no one would ever fear the Balloons who still manage to eat livestock in Riyute on occasion. That simple confidence would be all this world needed. Case in point, I'm sure the other nations, aside from Melromarc, are doing just fine, even though that idiot on the throne stole all the heroes for himself."
"hey... you stopped the headpats." Tetsu said as silence fell over us.
"sorry." Raphtalia said, resuming her efforts to tame Tetsu's wild red hair. "How will you do it then? Teach them to fight I mean?"
"Well..."
"Good afternoon Sir!" The Ringmaster greeted us, once again stepping out of the Tent an instant before we got close enough to open it ourselves. "I've been hoping for your return Yes Sir!"
"Eager as always for my money." I sighed, "Something special this time?"
"Special? Not at all! But it is a rare day indeed where I clear so much inventory! Even if the profit this time is so slender, it is still profit." He used his cane to move the tent flap aside for us, and we all entered.
"How are they?" I asked, "No losses?"
"None!" He grinned, "While it is part of the business, I am pleased to report all of them are better than they were, and there is no need to refund you any money, No Sir!"
"How long do you need to get them ready?" I asked, my skin feeling dirty just by listening to him, but understanding how he became this way. "I need a day, maybe two before I can move out."
"Then they shall be ready in a day, maybe two." He nodded, "Will you transfer ownership now then?"
"Yes. I should introduce myself, tell them the plan so they aren't surprised."
I really didn't like the Ringmaster. I found his trade repulsive, and his greed off putting. But, he wasn't a tyrant and was honest as he could be without getting obnoxious. He wasn't cruel. He did what he could within the bounds of potential profit. If a slave was sick, he wouldn't just 'give up' and throw them aside. He'd keep them as long as he could, but wouldn't go above and beyond maybe a little extra food or water.
Example? In the time since I'd been here last with Motoyasu, the 'lost causes' tent the slaves were in had been changed around. All the cages had been emptied and pushed to the edges of the tent, and then opened. Now it was a big open space that let the cage's former occupants into it. They were still bound by the slave mark to not run away or fight or any number of things that might reduce profit by damaging themselves or others.
But families and friends could clump together a little, bond, talk quietly (yes anything over 'quietly' was still punished), and in general have a little of 'normal life' introduced again. This extra 'effort' to put everyone into the open area, while still keeping them confined well... It only cost the 'extra effort'. I didn't pay for the... pregame warmup.
And, another point in favour of the Ringmaster, was that he had used my medicine properly. The smell of sickness was all but gone.
All of this I took in when we entered the tent, and the Ringmaster himself kept silent until I spoke. "Good job. Thank you."
"Of course Sir. Service paid for. Shall I get the table and brush?" He asked.
"Take your time getting them here. But yes." I replied, stepping forward.
Eyes. As I stepped towards the big iron brazier (that had a big boiling pot of water on it and the smell of medicine wafting out of it) I could feel all the eyes in the room turning towards me. Over a hundred pairs (and a handful of solo) of eyes were slowly turning towards me, judging, wondering, guessing. Mothers hushed children, fathers got in front of mothers, individuals clumped together. Fear filled the air. I was an unknown, armed (well, my party at least) and obviously in a position of power (though, at the moment, anyone without a slave mark on them would be 'in power' compared to them).
I didn't need to say it, so I skipped the most obvious 'may I have your attention' opener. "I am Kodori Haruhime. And I am the Shield Hero. I ask that you hold your questions until a little later, but as of a couple of days ago, just before the third wave, you all became mine."
There was a little stir, some mumbles, more fear. So I showed them some proof. I reached behind me to take the Shield off my back and switched it from the nice Hagane Red basic shield, to the wide curved Chimera shield with its two snakes curling up from the bottom, then again to the Book Shield. Here, I opened the book, put my palm down on the page and summoned a soft blue light above me. It was only a little brighter than the fire, but I also didn't want to blind them since I had no idea when they'd last seen sunlight.
"To answer what is probably going to be your first question, yes, I am going to keep you as slaves. But to answer your next question, it isn't because I want you to serve me. The Shield allows me to help those bound to me grow. And while I don't want you to fight by my side, I will help you make sure this-" I motioned to the tent and cages, "never happens again."
I started a slow walk around the fire, meeting eyes with anyone who looked at me, "I have a place for you, for now, to live. There will be food, water, shelter, security. Lord Van Reichnott has agreed to house you until we find a better place."
The first voiced question came at me, and I felt myself smile as it was spoken, "Wasn't Lord Van annexed by..." He was too scared to continue, to speak the name.
"I killed Idol Rabier, and my party and I rescued the children in his dungeon." I said, "One of them, Keel, is waiting for me, and the rest of you, to visit." And just for dramatic effect, I took the whip that Idol had used out of the Shield's inventory, held it up for all to see (getting a gasp or two) and dumped it into the fire to burn.
"As well." I added, the smell of burning leather creeping into the air around the fire, "Raphtalia is one of my party. She has been helping me fight the Waves, and helped me earn the coin to buy you all, and get you out of here."
"What of Lurolona Village?" Someone asked.
Behind me, Raphtalia stepped into the light around the fire and spoke, "It's gone. But..." She stood beside me, looked up, and I nodded, "We have plans to return to it. We don't know when, but if it's possible, we can return and make it home again."
There was a very quiet cheer, "On the way to Van's territory, I will have each and every one of you who is capable, learn a little of how to fight. I will talk with every one of you individually to ask how you would like to grow as you gain a few levels. I will make sure any lingering sickness you might have is treated."
"Will you still treat us like... slaves?"
"No. As soon as you are transferred into my custody, the only thing the mark will do is bring you a little extra strength against the world and its dangers." I smiled a little, "I won't turn anyone away from learning more than 'just enough'."
"Is that my cue then Sir?" The Ringmaster asked from the shadows near the tent entrance.
"It is." I nodded, "Everyone? Please, line up. If you need help, remain where you are and we'll come to you. Usa? Clive? Here, hand out snacks."
Aside from probably setting some kind of record for 'most slaves acquired in the space of an afternoon' everything went smoothly. Young, old, men, women, they were all registered into the Shield. One by one, I gave them a simple trio of questions. What is your profession, do you want to fight and are you willing to change your profession so you can fight.
Why? Well, a former (and hopefully soon to return to service) blacksmith would need different stats than say a hunter. There was no reason not to help then excel at 'life' while they learned to protect it and those around them. If they were going to give up their trade, or maybe they didn't know, or care for their current one, I could help shift things a little so they'd get a little better at it.
I also organized them into temporary parties of five. Mostly 'family groups' and the like. The sixth member would be for someone like one of Ake's soldiers, who could essentially do the killing for them until the rest figured out what end of a stick was the pointy end. Oh, sure, the other three heroes had all these fancy VR games, but their mechanics were older than their fathers I was sure. XP leeching and 'carrying' party members wasn't a new concept.
I also made sure they all knew who my party was. Oh, sure, the Shield gave me all kinds of 'status' (good and bad, mostly bad) but without my party... Well, if nothing else I'd have become an expert trap smith. But I certainly couldn't do it without them. Raphtalia also reconnected with a few people. Tearful reunions and all that. Of course, they quizzed her about me, but aside from being a bit too serious with training, I got nothing but praise from her.
Kunshu got many many headpats from curious children.
Tetsu started playing with children who weren't curious about Kunshu (making playful 'rawr' noises at them and pretending she was in her dragon form while in her humanoid one).
Clive got a hug. It surprised him too! The normally green scaly patches on his skin and face even changed colour to pink!
Usa got many thank yous, but no hugs. He did however get to headpat a few rabbit eared children who 'wanted to be big and strong like him' someday.
But finally, everyone was done. With a last warning that they were now guests of the Ringmaster, and thus should not cause trouble for them, and what I hoped would be my one and only order to them (cause no trouble in his house, and wait for me to come back so we can all leave together), we left the 'lost cause' tent, leaving behind a bunch of people who had joined my cause, who's loss, or not, remained to be seen.
After leaving the all too cheerful Ringmaster behind, we started back towards Erhards. Consulting my party, and looking into the small amount of cash I had left after all this, we picked up dinner on the way.
Except there was someone waiting for us in Erhard's shop when we got there.
"There you are!" The Elder woman greeted as my party and I stepped through the shop door. "I was starting to wonder if you'd ever show up again!"
"Huh, so you have met." Erhard rubbed a hand over his shiny pate and rested his fists on his hips, "Crazy old gengar was making me wonder if she'd finally gone senile."
She turned away from me and pointed up at Erhard's chin, "Listen here boy! I'm still strong enough to put you over my knee!"
"Why don't we sit down and eat something." I suggested before the two humans started fighting. "And while I would be happy to continue calling you Elder, what is you name?"
She stopped glaring daggers at Erhard, "At least this one knows how to respect their elders!"
"You'd be queen if everyone treated you like that." Erhard mumbled.
"Elrasla Ragnarok." She greeted, bowing fist-in-palm.
"Kodori Haruhime." I returned, bowing a little deeper to her after I set down the little crates of take out food. "This is Clive." Clive bowed a stiff and formal Japanese bow, "And Kunshu." And the Empress Bee, still clinging to Usa waved.
Raphtalia, Usa and Tetsu also bowed, speaking their names. "Well, now that we're not knee deep in monsters, and properly introduced." Elrasla grinned, "What are you doing in this stuffy old place?"
Ignoring the indignant 'hey!' from Erhard, I replied "Making use of his spare room to sleep, his workshop to improve our equipment, and his good nature to make sure we don't overwork ourselves."
"Except you still overwork yourself." Raphtalia grumbled.
"Let's eat, and talk about it. We've a lot of things to do, and I want to leave the city before the questions start happening." I said.
Dinner, some explanations, a few jokes at the King's expense, some more at Myne's, what happened during the Wave, and the Elder was all caught up.
For the most part, she kept silent, soaking up the information and not really asking questions. I could tell she had a similar mindset to an Orario adventurer, not asking 'what if' during the 'report', since 'what if' had happened, and 'what now' was all that mattered.
"Well." She said, setting her teacup down (Erhard was surprisingly good at making tea), "To round off your recounting, little Melty is in the castle right now, or at least, I dropped her off there. She grumbled a little bit, but otherwise seems quite interested in joining you."
"If all goes even a little to plan, she'll camp out someplace out of sight, and join us when we leave." I nodded.
"Speaking of that, I'd like to come with you. My adventuring days are more or less over, but you're going to need someone to train your people." She grinned, "And you still owe me a match."
"Having your expertise would be an incredible help." I nodded. "And I do, don't I? But since I don't want to get kicked out of the city before I leave on my own, can it wait?"
"I dunno!" She laughed, "I might kick it tomorrow!"
"even death would be too scared of you..." Erhard mumbled before yelping and holding his shin. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Must have been the wind." Elrasla said. "But yes, you're right, I should wait."
She pouted just convincingly enough that Kunshu gave her silver hair a pat.
"Anyhow! I should get out of your hair for now. I'm sure you have work to do before bed." She gave the Empress Bee a look, but accepted the innocent offer of comfort.
After she left, a few moments after we heard the shop door bell 'ding' with her passing, Usa sighed quietly, "She makes me nervous. Like I am near a dangerous beast."
"You were." Erhard replied, "She was so good, she got kicked out of the Zeltobe fighting pits. Don't let her age deceive you, she's just as frightening as before, just with more wrinkles. "I'm surprised you're not even a little nervous to try fighting her!"
"Boss isn't scared of anything!" Tetsu grinned, "Hm.. Are you going to eat that?" She asked, looking at Usa and Raphtalia's not quiet empty plates.
"I have fears." I replied, "Just not of fighting. It's being unable to go home that scares me. If I didn't have actual proof it was possible, I'd be a nervous wreck right now."
"OH! That's right!" Tetsu exclaimed, food scraps forgotten, "Boss showed me her family! I saw them through the picture! They looked so soft and squishy!"
Raphtalia pouted a little, just like Tetsu had guessed she would.
"Let's help clean up after ourselves, and we can get to 'quiet time'." I said, "Lots of work to do, so little time..."
The next morning, as soon as I could get away from the breakfast table, I was in the workshop. The day before, while we'd been dealing with the slaves, Erhard had been minding the various materials I'd left with him. Some were melted down into ingots. Others were processed (like leather, scale or other 'monster bits'). And during the 'quiet time' I'd made a template for Kunshu's 'swarm'.
Essentially, it was a simple little mould for what amounted to a slightly elongated hexagon. Yes, that shape wasn't just useful, it was symbolic of who they belonged to. I had no idea if Kunshu would ever had a hive of her own. But now, her armour would look like a hive, and on command, could also become her swarm. The blend of metal was easy and I had lots of it, and all it really took was a few good hammer strikes, a couple of simple runes, a well practised 'intention' while I enchanted them, and then I could hand them off to someone (like Kunshu, but usually Raphtalia) to sharpen them.
They'd be mostly useless on heavily armoured targets, but they'd act like a school of piranha on just about everything else.
After a few dozen of those, Erhard dragged his butt out of bed and got to helping. He was excited to see what I'd come up with, and took on the responsibility (and cost!) of replacing my parties weapons and minor armour repair.
"Oh yeah." Erhard grinned as he accepted Raphtalia's katana and frowned at the horrible notch Glass's fan had left in it, "I got something you might like." He set the sword down on his anvil and got something from a shelf of ingots. "I was going to make a shield out of it, maybe a blade or two if I had time. But this-" He sniffed the brick of metal like a cigar, "Is Siderite."
To my eyes, it had a colour similar to Adamant, a nearly black purple. But when he handed it to me, the weight was a little off for the metal I was familiar with. Still, I could feel the potential in the metal through my fingertips, this was no mundane metal. "This almost feels like..." I paused, "Sky iron, meteorite."
"It is rate stuff, certainly." He grinned, "And since you said you were going to let me sell what you made, well, I'll leave it to you."
"Sir? It's glowing again." Usa said, his one good hand working with two of Kunshu's to lay out our damaged armour.
I reached over my shoulder and took the Shield from my back. Then with a shrug, I 'fed' the brick of metal into its inventory.
Siderite Shield: ability locked: equip bonus: skill: Shooting Star Shield
I then spit the brick of metal out of the Shield again, put the Hagane Red kite shield on my forearm properly, then "Let's see..." changed it to the newest addition in the almanac.
It was a sensible, wide rectangular shield. It wasn't anything special to look at, but it did have a nice curve to deflect stuff, and it was large enough to be manoeuvrable in combat. It even had good defence, only a couple points worse than the Chimera Shield I'd gotten in the second wave. It's MDEF was higher than the Light Metal Shield though, but only a tiny bit.
"Huh, that's about what I was thinking to make." Erhard rubbed his chin.
"While I hammer things into shape. I'll tell you about one of my best friends, King Marius Victrix Rakia, King of Rakia, known in Orario as The Rakia Man."
"Oh? Is it story time?" Tetsu perked up, already bored of sharpening things, or looking at pointy objects, or what ever else we could hold her attention with to keep her out of trouble.
"It is." I nodded, opening the Book Shield to a blank page and starting to draw.
While I hammered and formed the various materials into shape, working with some of Erhard's more specialized tools (he did in fact have a rolling press!) I told them all about Marius. How his army tried to invade. Why I bothered to capture him. How I captured him. The things he did in the city that hated him (or at least was rather irritated about him and Rakia in general) that changed their opinion of him, and how he got the title of The Rakia Man (a nickname he admitted to liking more than being King).
A little after Noon, just when Tetsu was looking at things like she'd try and eat them (even if they weren't going to be tasty), I finished the new shield's base form. It was a beast of a thing, just a little shorter than I was, (165cm to my 175cm) and a little wider than I was across the body (60cm to my 50cm). It was something I could hide behind, hide under, or block a hallway with. Its front had the nice deflecting curve to it, since you never wanted to catch an arrow or spear on a flat surface if you could help it. The bottom had two not quite sharp triangle studs, so I could slam it into the ground and brace it just that much better. The front, where my forearm would be behind the shield, also had a small wedge, similar to a ship's prow (though not nearly so pronounced), to not only absorb the shock of something hitting the shield where my arm was, but also to try and break things that were swung carelessly (or bash things that were careless enough to get close). This extra front ridge also hid and held in place the rivets that kept the handles and straps in place on the inside face.
When the Shield copied it, it would be indestructible, but when Erhard sold the 'original' it wouldn't be. So I was going to make it properly. It was a shield, and someone's life would depend on it.
It was heavy. Around ten kilograms, but this was just the base shield... Enchanting would happen after lunch.
"And here I thought you did everything." Erhard laughed as we stepped out of the workshop into his little kitchen.
My party had left the workshop a little while ago to make lunch, and all of them worked together to put something together. Was it as good as what I could make? No. Did I care? Also no. Aside from Clive's attempt at making bread a near failure (Erhard's oven was to blame) it was a hint of 'home' and I was thankful.
We were just getting our plates cleared up when the bell above the shop door rung, and everyone looked to Erhard.
"Huh. I did put the sign up..." He handed his plate to Kunshu, who looked like she might bite it, but instead put it in the sink carefully.
He left the kitchen and into the workshop, and we all shared a look and a shrug and went back to cleaning up.
A moment later, Erhard entered again, a look of worry on his face. "Ah... It's that kid, Ake."
I wondered for a moment why that would make him worry. Erhard knew the young knight was 'on my side' as far as things went. "He's here to bring me to the castle, isn't he?" I guessed.
"Yeah." He nodded. "At least go talk to him? He's not making demands, and he's alone, but-"
"I treat all my messengers professionally." I interrupted, drying my hands and heading out to the shop front.
Ake was there, standing at attention in the middle of the 'customer' area of the shop. He'd spent just enough time on his equipment since the Wave so he didn't get dirt everywhere, but otherwise he looked mostly recovered from the whole ordeal.
"Ake." I nodded to him as I stood where Erhard would when dealing with a customer. "Good work with the Wave, and thank you for arranging a wagon back for us."
I could tell he had bad news by his reaction. "Ah, well, it was the least we could do for your help, Sir Kodori." My compliment had unnerved him a little, it was obvious he was trying to think of how to deliver the bad news. "But... The King has demanded your presence. He wouldn't listen to me, or my squads, but he thinks you ran away while the other heroes suffered grave injury fending off the Wave."
I felt my face twist into a smile. "And now he wants you, a known associate to drag me in for questioning?"
He was brave for his age, but not that brave. My smile made him stand a little straighter, and his spear point shivered a little as it kept it pointed at the ceiling. "Yes Sir."
I nodded, "Relax. How long do you think it will take to find me? Hour or so?"
He was also smart for his age, and caught on to the wordplay. "I mentioned I knew where to start looking. But who's to say you're actually there Sir." He broke his nearly ramrod straight posture to rub at his still smooth chin. "No later than sun down I'm sure."
"Good. Are you and your teams still able to help me move those people?" I motioned him to follow me behind the counter and into the workshop.
He followed, removing his helmet and following me through the heavy wood door. "I've arranged it so that my squads and I will be patrolling the west road tomorrow morning. It was the best I could do, I hope it's soon enough?"
"Perfect." I checked the only crucible pot that was in the furnace, "Now, stand there, yes, there, be quiet, and watch."
I didn't make this new Shield alone. My entire party had a hand in working on the enchantments. One of them, to deal with its weight, was the Air Wake enchantment. It would make the massive 'war door' nearly feather light. However, this enchantment was on a kind of 'circuit'. Near the top of the shield was another handle. This would turn the Air Wake enchantment off, making it, and me, that much harder to move when I braced it to receive a charging attack, or a breath weapon. Clive and his affinity for Earth Magic went into this as well, allowing me to make this new shield almost twice as heavy if I wanted to.
Raphtalia's part in it was a minor illusion effect. It made the shield more eye catching. Look at me, I'm the one you want to attack, come and break me! Of course, that could also be reversed, making the shield look unimportant, unassuming.
Tetsu, while she didn't contribute directly to its enchantments, donated a scale. Just one. But I used that scale as a model to etch the entire face of the shield to make it look like dragon skin. I planned on filling the etching last, to finalize the design.
Kunshu also didn't contribute magic, but she was amazing at delicate work and repetitive tasks. Like etching close to a thousand little scales on the face of the shield with me.
Usa, and his ability with lightning magic, helped me fix a 'do not touch' enchantment to it. The fight with the Soul Eater, and it trying to engulf and devour me was the inspiration for this one. So long as it wasn't immune to lightning, the user could zap anyone holding on to it.
And lastly, I used an alloy of the 'magic thread' crystal to fill the etched scales on the front. By expending magic power, you could make the shield thicker. This one was inspired partially by the old 'shield cubes' I'd made while staying with Rias. And since it was a magic effect, well...
Glass would be in for a nasty shock if she tried to fight us now, because this time, I was the one who got away and learned something new.
Speaking of Glass, well, one of the things we did with the Soul Eater skin that we'd gotten, was basically make an insert for our armour with it. Erhard already had an idea on how to work with it, so I let him. He used bone dust from the zombie dragon to make the ghostly skin more 'real' then just added a layer of it to our equipment. He even said we could remove it, and use it again for any new equipment we made. Like my 'under armour' body glove I usually wore back home, or even now (kinda, since I was wearing a house robe, not my body glove).
And while Erhard couldn't make Usa's whip into anything like Raphtalia's Atma Weapon, he wove together a thin cable whip with the same Light Metal spike, but this time, it could be infused similar to the Atma Weapon, in that Usa could expend MP to change it to a magic weapon.
Thinking on it... If Clive had used a magic arrow, and not a physical arrow to finally score a hit on Glass, well, we might have won. Next time, it would be different.
"Well, what do you think Ake?" I asked, motioning to the new shield. "Erhard?"
"It looks quite heavy, and a bit large for me. But its incredible work." Ake said.
"Almost done." Erhard said, "Just have to..." He was currently behind the shield, adding the last bits of strapping so it could be properly tightened down to a person's arm. "There. I give it my guarantee that it will never come loose unless something really bad happens." He grinned, "Go ahead. I think it's done."
I nodded and put my hand to it.
Shield of Marius unlocked!
It was, by far, the highest defence shield in my almanac. However, as I changed the Shield to the copied Shield of Marius, I got a real read on it. High DEF, good MDEF, all the magic effects were in place, and just as 'advertised' for an Air Wake item, my maximum MP went down, the price for 'sustaining' the effect of a constantly active enchantment.
"Perfect." I smiled, "Tell me how much it sells for, and who you sell it to." I said to Erhard, the two of us sharing a fist bump.
"Sure thing." He grinned. "But don't you have to go meet the king?"
I looked to Ake and jumped a little theatrically as if he had just appeared out of nowhere, "Ah! I didn't see you there. You have a message for me?"
We all chuckled at that, "I do. If you could please come with me?"
"Just a moment." I looked to the others, "Have everything ready to go in the wagon. Clive or Raphtalia? Make sure you aren't seen, and tell the Ringmaster we leave at first light tomorrow morning."
"Aww... waking up early sucks." Tetsu pouted.
"Kunshu? Make sure you practise with your new weapon." I reached out to her, and she leaned forward a little so I could brush my fingers along her fuzzy antenna.
After I stopped, she nodded (she usually didn't nod, just 'did' the things you asked her to do), and what looked like a scaled shoulder guard detached from her, split into a dozen individual sharp metal hexes, and just... hovered around her.
"Alright." I said, "Oh, if I'm not back in time, just leave. I'll try not to destroy more than the castle."
NOTES!
Yeah, we all know this meeting isn't going to go well.
Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!
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