Chapter 86

By the time we closed up shop for the evening I knew we would have most of the city's Spirit population here for a bottle of the Soul Healing Water. This was good, and bad. Good, because it would secure us all kinds of money, that would go right back into the economy for new equipment, a travel pass, and very importantly, as many of those weird earth crystals as I could get. Being so under-levelled was... bothersome.

It was bad however, since I didn't nave nearly enough of the stuff to go around. I did have enough material to make a little more, but that still wouldn't cover the amount of people we had asking about it today. Even at the very high price of one 'gold', thereby excluding a lot of people by price alone, and limiting sale to one per person...

If Soma gave a damn past making wine, would he feel this way too?

Back in our (sort of) secure and private room at the inn, we counted coin.

"Huh." Kizuna mused, "This is... pretty good actually. I mean, I had my doubts when you said you had lots of stuff people might want. But we might be good with what we have now."

She stacked our coins up neatly on the room's single little table, then flopped backwards with an exhausted sigh, "For the passes? Equipment? Crystals? Or all three?" I asked, taking what amounted to 'pocket change' from the stacks and putting it in a pouch at my belt. I did the same again for her, then hid the rest in the Shield like I had in Melromarc.

She laughed as I put the little pile of coins on her belly, then flailed her arms at it lazily to gather it for her own purse. "Suppose with how much preparation you do, I think this would be 'just enough'." Once the coins made it to her pouch, she took off her belt, and flopped back again. "So tired..."

"You certainly carried the day with your enthusiasm." I said, "We are going to attract attention tomorrow. I can almost guarantee it."

"Yeah... But we need to get it done, right?" She tried sitting up, but only managed to wiggle around a bit, her legs still dangling off the bed, "I wonder who got the most attention though. I mean, see the looks on their faces with the story about you?"

I finished setting up my alchemy set on the little table, then turned, knelt, and helped her take off her boots. "Part of it is for the horns. If I wear the mask, they're easier to hide. Just have to tilt my head back a little as I pull my mask up."

Her boots came free, and she sighed happily as she wiggled her toes, "Thank you. That sounds a lot like..."

"Optical illusions." I said, taking hold of her ankles and shifting her so she was actually laying on the bed. "There. Get some sleep. I have some potions to make, just so we cause less of a problem when I run out."

"Urg... I wanna sleep, but all this excitement today, and being out of that stupid prison... what are you doing?"

I stopped warming up my fingers, "Getting ready to reward your service." I said, putting a hand on her ankle, then one under her shoulder and flipping her over, "I need you to be at your best tomorrow."

"What are you... But I... oh..."

Ten minutes later, the last words she said before falling asleep were, "i can't move, and that's okay...zzz"

I covered her still clothed body with a blanket, gave her the lightest of headpats, then got to work on the alchemy set.

"That was so mean." Kizuna pouted at me. "Now my clothing is all wrinkly..." Pause, "And I have drool on my collar..."

"Just shows how tired you actually were." I replied, "Feel good otherwise?"

"Amazing." She grinned, "Where did you even learn how to do that?"

I thought about how to answer that, remembered she was eighteen and a 'modern girl', and replied, "My wife taught me." I'd told her a little about my ring, but she hadn't really said anything. "She's even better than I am, but far more modest about who she puts her hands on."

She stopped trying to get the wrinkles out of her haori for a moment, "So you do that to every girl you meet?"

She grinned at me, probably hoping to make me blush, but I shrugged and said, "Only if they have done me some kind of favour. And it isn't just the girls, though, the guys only get the back done."

Without missing a beat, unwilling to give up on the verbal sparring, she asked, "So you'd have done my front?" She was starting to blush, caught in her own attempt to embarrass me.

"Only if you could have rolled over, and asked. It's a service for what you've done." I gave her shoulder a pat, "Not a seduction."

Stuttering idiot battery recharged for now, we returned to the little spot we'd set up before and got to work. It appeared my worries were well founded, since, despite the high price I'd set, there were a LOT of people here, and most of them were Spirits. Even as we set up shop, trying to ignore the crowd of people waiting near the stall, I tried to think of a way to do this without starting a fight or something...

To be fair, I had no idea about the 'average temperament' of the Spirit race. Humans would compete, the demi-humans from Melromarc would go by 'need', and the adventurers back home would go by 'greed' (wave money around until they got what they wanted).

I'd only ever gotten to know Glass. So my 'better than passing' information on them was still basically nothing.

"We might need to get the city watch involved..." Kizuna mumbled to me from the side of her mouth as we both ducked behind the crate-counter to tuck things into the empty crates. "Maybe an auction would do better?"

I shook my head, since that might cause the same problems as we got to the last couple of bottles... I just didn't know enough. So, we had to do it the old fashioned way.

"How many bottles do we have?" She asked, then watched my hands, "Okay... Two dozen... hmm..." She smiled, her eyes and face going into full sparkle mode, "When you go to the item kiosk, come back with some of that paper you have in there. I have an idea."

'The idea was brilliant.

Taking a little off the top of the 'nearly free sample', she added to it. And in essence, created a lottery. Or maybe a raffle? It wasn't my forte, but for the low (and standard) price of one doumon, you could get your name put into a hat.

Only one per person, Spirits only, and even if you lost, you would still get the 'sample' size for your coin and participation. Everyone got something, and no one could complain if they didn't get drawn.

Thankfully, Kizuna could read a little, and my respect for Glass went up a little since it was her idea that Kizuna learn. Names were apparently fairly easy, and the people of this world didn't do as the Japanese did, and spell their names with hybrid Kanji.

My silent presence, towering (poor Kizuna) over her, kept most people in line, and thankfully people policed themselves, giving glares to anyone who didn't get their prize at the end.

End result? A small fortune from the Soul Water, and a modest sum from 'residual sales' for things like healing salve, soap, and all the other random stuff that was quite popular in Melromarc along the Hickwaal trade routes.

I had no idea what I would do with the random assortment of crates, but at least they weren't cluttering up the Shield's inventory this time. After breaking down and stowing all the leftovers in my 'drop item gem' or what ever it was called, we went into market proper for actual equipment.

"I'm almost going to miss wearing those bits of your armour." She laughed "But, we've got more than enough for what ever we need."

"Shame I can't wear it." I mumbled, still trying to keep the 'silent' act up, "would be at total odds with the style here."

"True... Though... Have you considered something other than that? I mean, sure, black goes with everything, but..." She motioned to my all purpose house robe, then stopped in front of what seemed to be a 'magical clothing store'.

Sure, the stuff in the small window display was similar to what most of the common people were wearing, but I could feel the magic woven into them, and the Shield (a little late as always) confirmed my feeling, but then added its own two pence and gave me actual stats on them.

"I'm a little sad I got summoned over there." I mumbled, "This place seems much more... put together."

"Not bad huh?" She smiled, "Come on... you know you wanna."

Well, at least it wasn't, say, Shinkage trying to give me fashion advice. But, instead, I reached behind me and under my fur 'half cape' where the Shield was hiding, and pulled a spool of black thread from its inventory. "Can you see if they will make a ribbon out of this? Maybe an obi? Red if possible?"

After a brief chat with a nice lady (who didn't look like she was over worked, like the tailor from Melromarc) a little time browsing, and a small sum of coins exchanged, I now had a not quite Rias Red length of ribbon. Being made of that special thread, meant I could use it myself to change shape with me, so long as I could get a little time with it.

Next, was the armour shop. To replace the armour she returned to me, and because she liked how it felt, Kizuna got herself a bit of armour for her shins and forearms. Of course, seeing her 'armour up' again reminded me of something, and I couldn't help but laugh silently for a moment before I got control of myself.

But aside from the reminder of home, and other places I'd been, I got an idea of the materials, and even some of the methods used to make the armour there. Different riveting, what was used for buckles and lacing, style (Welf and the Takemikazuchi collection back home would love this style), that kind of thing. I didn't get new equipment from the shelf, so to speak, but I did put my hand on a few of the Shields on the wall, unlocking a bunch of 'normal' Shields that wouldn't look out of place if I had to suddenly start fighting.

Now on the way to the 'tool dealer' Kizuna looked up and over at me with a squint, "What was so funny?"

"I always seem to make friends with the goth-loli." I replied.

She pouted at me touching her fingertips to her collarbones, "It's not my fault... but when I got here, I really loved the style..."

"And it suits you perfectly." I replied quietly, "One was a fallen angel, another is a cloned primordial being, and the last is a former god candidate."

She blinked at me, "I... kinda feel normal compared to all that... Are you making fun of me or something? Seriously?"

Her voice was starting to draw attention, so I switched to 'silent' mode and gave her my best five degree head tilt, not saying anything.

She caught on, squinting at me again, "I want to hear that story later."

I nodded, and motioned with a hand for her to lead the way.

The 'tool shop', was a mix of apothecary, item store, and 'magical tool' emporium. Rope and grappling hooks sat next to small buckets of nails. Sharpening stones were next to dried rations (though in some worlds they looked dangerously similar!).

And next to what I wanted (the earth crystals), were several stacks of different styled charm papers. Not only that, paper wasn't the only material used, though, the price transition from paper to wood and then wood to stone and metal was... exponential.

"Ah, my masked friend." The shop keeper was a kimono clad man with a friendly smile and voice, but a serious posture. He reminded me a little of Van. "We have many styles of ofuda here."

Kizuna came to the rescue, "Ah, these have all kinds of uses." She explained, covering my ignorance with enthusiasm, hiding the explanation with excitement. "Some of these have spells in them already, and might even work for you since you lost your voice." She motioned to some of the stacked paper with not quite familiar calligraphy on them. "And if you improved your writing, you might be able to make your own on these!" She then asked the real question for me, pretending she herself was ignorant, "I forget what the paper was made from..."

"All of our paper is sourced from the shrine groves." The man smiled, "And while the ink comes from a little further away, we do sell that as well, if your friend wished to try her hand at it.

Silly question, of course I wished to. "Here." Kizuna selected a paper ofuda with a simple design on it, "The thing I love about these, is so long as you're careful, you can use them over and over." She paid with her own money, two tamagin (silver), and handed it to me.

To the naked eye, it was just paper. Bamboo paper? Not rice paper assuredly... But under my fingertips I could feel the purpose written on the paper. Yes, no doubt, this was almost identical to the paper charms and such I'd been taught to use back in Kuoh.

I made a show of letting out a breath, my mask making it sound almost ominous, then 'flicked' the paper with a motion of my wrist. Gripping it between my index and middle finger and making the semi-stiff paper stand up straight, I put a little power into it.

"Seems your masked companion is a natural." The owner nodded as a purple edged gold light emanated from the paper rectangle, "I've never seen that colour of light from a basic light ofuda, but the world is vast." He smiled, "Is there anything else I may help you with? The wood and stone ofuda can handle more power, and while a little more expensive than normal ink, it is far cheaper to buy it here than the inscription store down the street."

"Well. Since we've been looking for a way to help her feel better about what happened, I think we might go all in on you becoming a talisman caster." Kizuna said with a smile, squinting at the neatly stacked selection of paper, wood, metal and stone ofuda and selecting a couple with things written on them, but then a bunch of blanks as well. "But if we want her to learn faster..."

She then picked up the entire bucket of earth crystals, and carefully set it down on the counter along with the rest of the stuff. "Are you sure?" He asked, "I understand your urgency, finding and nurturing a talent is quite exciting, but..."

I was sure to add a little block of 'ink stone' (yes, another nearly identical item from Japan).

"Well, maybe not all of the crystals. But as many as we can get after this." She motioned to the selection of ofuda.

We left the store, my belt of pouches now sporting a new trio of pouches for ofuda. Thinking on it, it was the same kind of pouch I'd seen on that spirit who first tried the soul healing water. Kizuna led the way, and pulled me down a narrow side street just out of sight of the tool shop.

And one by one, she handed me the little red crystals.

So much like magic stone with their irregular shape, but lacking the swirling energy or obsidian colour. Each one I so much as touched, popped up a little notice on the status screen. The amount given wasn't the same for all of them, more of a 'ballpark' between 2000 and 6000.

Still, with our success selling random stuff from my inventory, we had gotten a lot of them, and by the end of it, with Kizuna saving a couple for herself, I saw almost all of the Shields I'd unlocked light up again.

Level 45. Just like that.

But... Why have that as part of the system? Did a dead hero's weapon empty itself out when they died? Were these cross world healing items 'bonus' drops?

"You'd thinking too hard." Kizuna mumbled to me. "If your tails were out, I'd bet they'd be swishing around like crazy."

"I want to know how these are made." I mumbled back, "So, now what?"

"Well, now we go to the Guild hall, and get our passes so we can go to the capital. It's the best shot we have at getting to an Hourglass, and finding information on your party."

"How long is the trip there? More or less?"

"Five days or so?" She scratched her head, "Depending on the roads, and monsters, and all that..."

"Go get the passes. I'm going to go back to our room, and work on this for an hour or so." I gave my robe a tug, "Maybe add a little red."

"Sure."

And we slipped back onto the street, my masked and silent self walking behind and to her left.

We split up at the market square, and I headed up to our room. I gave the innkeeper a nod, and made my way upstairs. Once there, I took a deep breath, and started taking things out of the Shield. Sewing kit, special thread (Ko-thread, made from that nice witch's loom), and a few other little things I knew I could tie to the enchantment.

A little less than an hour later, I heard a couple of footsteps on the other side of the door, and Kizuna entered a moment later.

"I hate paperwork... why are you naked?" She asked as she shut the door behind her quickly.

"Hard to sew clothes while I'm wearing them." I replied, "Success?"

"Yeah." She came up beside the chair, dangling a pair of slender bronze tabs in front of me, each of them on a string and etched with official looking markings. "Merchant passes to get us through the checkpoints on the way there."

"Perfect." I smiled, "What do you think?" I held up the top half of my robe. It was a similar cut to a jujitsu or judo outfit, with the tough collar that went up and around the front where you closed it. The 'all black' double thick cloth was now layered with red trim. It wasn't much, but I wasn't working 'from the ground up' like I usually did.

The waistband of my pants also had a nice red layer added to it, and the status screen told me (again) what I already knew, and had gained the 'form fitting' enchantment.

"Well, it's not just black anymore." Kizuna laughed, "Oh! Um..." She suddenly got a little shy, "Can... Can you try and patch this up a little too?"

She took off the threadbare haori coat of hers, and in the dim light of the room I could see it was one bad day from 'beyond fixing'. But there was a little I could do for it. "Lemme get dressed, and I can give it a little love. If all goes well, maybe you can ask Glass for a new one?"

She looked away while I got myself dressed again, "Well... I dunno? I mean..."

"I don't know her well, but if you don't have some kind of tearful reunion, I will be surprised. Give it here."

Even if it was just a couple of tiny seams and a single spot where it had been cut, Kizuna was almost sparkling after I'd handed it back and she put it on again.

And to restore a little karmic balance between us, I gave her a headpat. "Give me a few more minutes." I said, sitting back down and taking off my mask, "If I had known I would be able to change more than my human appearance, I'd have done this already."

Kizuna gave the innkeeper the 'exit fee' (just paying for our meal and giving a little tip for good service) and we left the inn.

The guards at the gate gave us no more than a glance and a nod, and we continued down the road for about a half hour. I rather missed my wagon, but with my level and internal workings feeling much better than they had a few days ago, I decided 'walking was for plebs' and Kizuna deserved a little service for being so...

So much like me. A discarded hero. Or even Haruhime, locked in a box to be forgotten, or pulled free to be 'of use', if ever.

But unlike me, she didn't have the experience to change her fate. And even though I was 'a monster' she had taken care of me, helped me return to my two legged body, and even set up a little shrine! I might not advertise my divine nature, but still, that kind of... service... needed balancing.

So, now well out of sight of town, I broke the near silence between us, and tugged her off the road to a nearby forest's edge.

"What's up? Need me to watch your back for a minute?"

"Not at all." I said, taking off my belt and handing it to her. "Put that on, and stand back right... there."

"What's this about?" She asked as I judged distances, backed up another step, took a deep breath, and remembered my Kitsune form.

It was different than before, less 'taking off a shirt and putting on a new one' and more 'wiggling into a shirt that was too small, and wiggling around until it wasn't'. A little uncomfortable as bits of me changed shapes at different rates, but it was more a slow stretch than a sudden 'fast growth from child to adult'. It was actually more satisfying to feel this way, like finishing a long slow stretch after sitting still too long.

I opened my eyes, and was looking down at Kizuna, the gold eyes of my mask working exactly as intended, the weight of the metal over my forehead and muzzle comfortable and familiar. Speaking of 'weights', I also had a nice red ribbon around my back and looping around my front legs. Not quiet a saddle, but easily gripped if I chose to allow someone on my back. The Shield, back to the nice Hagane red small shield, was under the ribbon at the crest of my chest.

"Wow..." She said up at my nose, "boop."

I raised an eyebrow at her, tilting my head to give her 'the look' (and got a laugh from her as she scratched the back of her head. Then, as best I could, I spoke a long growling word, "Wooooorrrrttttthhhhhheeeeeee." Worthy. And repaid the boop by poking her stomach with my nose, as if I were tickling my children and looking for giggles.

It wasn't the largest I'd ever been, but so far from home and my 'power', I was easily equal in size to Tetsu. "I've never... hold on..." Kizuna took a moment to fumble her way onto my back, even after I did her the favour of crouching down and everything. But, eventually, she wiggled her rear to get comfortable, gripped the red sash, and gave back of my head a pat, "Thank you." And pointed, "Just keep in sight of the road I suppose?"

The five day estimate was cut in half. With the occasional stop to avoid people, hunt the odd monster for food (yes, I ate a lot more like this) and me being reduced to 'mortal' levels of endurance, stopped me from just running all the way in a single day.

But all the same, we made great time, I finally scratched that itch I didn't know I had to just... run... and Kizuna had a lot of fun. By the time we stopped just out of sight of the capital, she was able to ride on my back like a natural, instead of clinging to me like her life depended on it.

So, on the evening of the second day, we made camp just out of sight of the capital (or in sight, if you climbed up one of the nearby trees), and I flexed my domestic muscles to do a little cooking.

"Well, aside from the patrols, and more monsters than I remember being around, it's pretty much the same." Kizuna said, warming her hands near the little fire we had going (that I started with an ofuda).

"Things seem a little tougher here than on the other world." I commented, "If those boxes are supposed to be like the balloons, then yeah. A bit tougher, more XP. More monsters here too for sure."

"Well, with me here, you don't have to worry about that." She grinned, "Though, you're pretty scary on your own, even if you don't have attack power."

Yes, she was an incredible monster slayer. We had yet to encounter something she needed more than two attacks for. It was like her weapon bypassed monster defence, and some of her special attacks were made specifically to mimic traps or snares.

Even if she couldn't fight people... Throwing her into a prison seemed like utter stupidity. I mean, with her abilities, she could have fed a small empire on her own! Provided monster materials to outfit that empire!

"Angry?" She asked suddenly.

"A little." I admitted, taking off my mask and rubbing my face to remove the 'horrible burn scar' disguise I had on under it. "Stupid rules, weird weapons, stealing me from home..." I sighed, "Let's hope things go even a tiny bit to plan. I know we can escape if things go wrong, but well... running away from the goal is counterproductive."

It was a nice place. More upscale than the town we had just left, it reminded me of something from Maki's history books on the city of Edo. Nice wide streets, bustling population, wood, bamboo, rice paper and clay buildings and houses...

Shame it was in enemy territory. Not only that, this place was far more 'secure' than the town we had been in. It didn't quite feel like people were on high alert, but there were a lot more guards around, and while the people weren't frantic, I could tell that they were on edge.

"Nature of your visit?" The guards stopped us at the gate.

"Travelling apothecary." Kizuna said confidently, holding up the little inscribed bronze tag.

I did the same, and when the guard looked at me, he gave me 'the squint eye', "What's with the spooky mask?"

Kizuna covered for me as I put a hand to the mask's chin, "She was burned pretty bad. Lost her voice too."

Even after so long in a box, the act was so smooth the guard gave me a genuine look of pity and waved at me to stop what I was doing. "If you're going to sell in the city, be sure to visit the Guild building."

We followed the directions given to us by the nice guard, and it wasn't long before we saw our next problem. The Guild building looked to be a hybrid of temple and fortress. It wasn't locked down or anything, but the open doors were made of heavy wood and steel banding, and the walls were solid stone block. The inner building was similarly tough looking, though, to make up for the 'ugly' building, the spaces between the outer wall and guild building were filled with lots of pretty gardens, ponds, and expertly kept bamboo groves.

And well guarded. Each of the four outer wall gates, each of the four building entrances, and some of the paths between had guards stationed there.

Instead of entering right away (even though we actually had 'business' inside) we instead sat at an open air noodle cart within sight of the building.

While the bald old man behind the counter made our orders, she and I had a little talk.

"The problem..." She started, "Is our business only lets us go so far."

Kizuna must have been a spy movie fan. I nodded, sipping at my tea. Once I set my cup down, out of sight from the owner, I dipped a finger into the cup, and wrote 'charge' on the counter top.

"Maybe. But haste might not be enough. If the market resists too much..."

I sipped the tea again, wishing my need to be mysterious didn't have me wasting such good tea. This time, I traced what I hoped was 'confidence' on the counter. Then, 'trust'.

"Well... If you think so." She gave my shoulder a pat, then turned to the nice chef behind the counter as he quietly set our orders in front of us.

Eating noodles with my mask on was difficult, and I was once again foiled by my disguise and wasn't allowed to slurp them up. Kizuna on the other hand, made up for my lack of enthusiasm and was full of energy after such a traditional meal that spanned several worlds. (Three of five!)

We entered the guild grounds without issue. The merchant tokens and telling the guards we had to 'sort paperwork' got us a nod and a 'go ahead ma'am'.

The 'door' to the inner building was open, but had one of those privacy screens just inside the door. It blocked the view from outside, while keeping the wind from just howling through. As we walked around it, it revealed a building abuzz with administration. The main room had desks and kiosks all over the place with official looking people behind them. The walls were lined with shelves and scroll racks. The air smelled of nice wax, ink, paper and mild perfume. The high ceiling held a multitude of magically lit chandeliers.

The style was professional, but also spoke of wealth. This was clearly a government building, not a Guild building as I knew it.

But, there were more guards in here too. However, I could hear our goal. Past more of those privacy screens, with four L shaped corner walls surrounding it, was the hourglass. Unfortunately, this was a big building, and our 'official business' was close to fifty metres from the goal.

All the same, we kept up appearances, choosing the closest lineup near the hourglass. Kizuna, when I nudged her, asked no one in particular, "Why so busy today? Is one of the nobility visiting?"

A passing official, wearing a silly hat and carrying an armload of scrolls, replied with a helpful (if somewhat breathless), "We are expecting someone to arrive through the Hourglass. They have apparently figured out how to teleport as the Heroes and Vassal Weapon holders do, and is testing it from the next country over."

"Huh..." Kizuna looked up to me with worry on her face, and I was just about to make the call to just run at the hourglass...

I knew my luck was being too nice to me the past few days...

The ticking clicking spinning noises of the hourglass behind the rice paper screens picked up for a moment, became irregular for just long enough to start being irritating, and there was a little flash of light behind the screens, like an old style camera flash, and a little cheer.

"Ah you've done it!" Someone said.

"Of course! He's a genius after all!" Another added, the voice excited and female.

"Thank you thank you." I felt Kizuna tense at the voice, and a moment later, a man with a small entourage of women behind him, walked out from behind the screens.

He was wearing armour over what looked like a scholar's uniform. Tall and handsome, like Motoyasu, but with a normal ponytail (unlike Motoyasu's 'top rear' style), he exuded confidence, arrogance, and charm.

But even with the excited gaggle of 'combat kimono' clad women around him, and the gushing officials congratulating him, he seemed to sense the scrutiny from Kizuna and I from across the room. The instant his eyes fell on us, he stopped, pointed, and exclaimed, "What are you doing here!? You're supposed to be in prison!"

"GO!" Kizuna shouted, starting to run towards this man and the hourglass.

He wasn't called a 'genius' for nothing, and this new face deduced Kizuna's goal instantly, "Stop her from getting to the hourglass!"

I felt really bad about Melromarc. The guards here responded instantly to the threat. From behind us (south entrance) and a moment later the east and west entrances, the guards rushed in. Ahead of Kizuna, the man, the guards around him, and the women, all rushed forward to meet Kizuna's charge.

Oh, and all those pencil pushers? I had never seen people get out of the way so quickly, except maybe the civilians in Falmart when mages had random duels in the streets.

Forty metres to the hourglass... it was time to get creative.

NOTES!

Yes, cliffhanger, so there. :P

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