Side Story: You Lack Training? No! What You Lack Is Fluff!

This story takes place shortly before the day Kanata left the Holy City Lordentia. Kanata had finally gotten Fenrir, in his original giant form, into a bath, but—

“Hard! It’s hard!” Kanata whined.

“Hard...is it?”

Kanata had washed and washed Fenrir until he was clean, dried him, and brushed his fur with her special brush made of dragon underscale until it sparkled. But even so, Fenrir’s fur was still strangely hard. The smaller Fenrir had had fur like dandelion fluff, soft and pleasant to run your hands through. But the big Fenrir’s fur felt like it was made of iron.

“Fen-feeen!” she demanded as she brushed and brushed. “Why are you so bristly?!”

“I-I apologize. My tough fur is meant as armor against attacks...”

“Fluff doesn’t need armor!” Kanata declared.

“Fluff doesn’t need armor?!” Fenrir couldn’t believe his ears, but he eventually came to an interpretation that made sense. “I-I see! I must throw away my armor and devote everything to attack power! The best defense is a good offense!”

Once again, the misunderstanding continued unbroken.

“You didn’t really have any attack power as a furball either,” Kanata said.

Kanata missed rubbing her face against Fenrir’s fur until she choked on it. It was hard to say whether she liked Fenrir’s poofy coat or Zag’giel’s slick fur better.

“This isn’t working!” she cried. “It won’t get softer no matter how much I— Huh?” Just as she was about to call it quits, the teeth of the brush caught on something hard. “What’s this?”

She held it up to the light. It was a shard of pale-white stone.

“Is that porcelain?” Fenrir wondered. “It doesn’t quite look right...”

“It’s hard but it’s kinda soft?” Kanata said. “It feels weird to touch.”

“Here,” said Zag’giel, from his perch on Kanata’s shoulder. “Let us see.” He examined it for a while. “We sense traces of powerful magic. Of course. This must be a piece of that monster.”

The monster—the white devil Kanata had defeated. This had been part of its body. It must have gotten tangled up in Fenrir’s fur during the battle. “You’re right...” Fenrir said. “This must be from the white devil.”

“So it’s trash, I guess?” Kanata asked. “Should we throw it away?”

“It may come in useful, if we are not mistaken,” Zag’giel said. “Kanata, you should place it in your extradimensional storage.”

“Kay kay!” Kanata said, sending the shard to her Inventory Screen.

“Now that I have recovered my original body,” Fenrir said, “perhaps we should go for a test ride?”

“Test ride?” Kanata blinked. As fun as it would be to ride around on Fenrir’s back, that didn’t seem to be what he had in mind.

“Have you forgotten? The old wagon Mister Molmo gave us!”

“Oh, that’s right! You said you were gonna pull it, Fen-fen!”

“Yes! Today is the day I will prove myself useful!” Fenrir stood up straight and proud.

Zag’giel, who was still stuck as a furball and therefore completely useless, glared at him.

“Damned brownnoser of a wolf,” Zag’giel muttered.

“N-No!” Fenrir protested. “That isn’t it at all! All this jealousy is unbecoming of you! For a Demon King, you can be quite petty...”

“What did you say?! The nerve of this newcomer! Respect your seniors!”

“What difference does it make which of us came first? We are both servants of Lady Kanata!”

Kanata gazed fondly at her two squabbling pets. “Aww, you two are such good friends!”

“We are not friends!” said Zag’giel and Fenrir.

“See?” said Kanata. “Perfectly in sync!”

“Ghh...!” both exclaimed at once. “Stop copying!”

They were in perfect harmony, even in their arguments.

† † †

“This hurts a little...”

Kanata had taken the wagon out of her Inventory Screen and attached the harness to Fenrir, but as the harness was made for a bicorn, it didn’t fit onto Fenrir’s larger body.

“Are you okay?” Kanata asked. “Should I take it off?”

“No, I am sure it will stretch out with use. We should continue as we are!”

“Okay, Fen-fen, you got this!”

“With you cheering me on I can do anything, Lady Kanata!” Fenrir took a step forward, giving the wagon a strong pull, flexing the muscles of his powerful chest. It was too much for the poor harness. It burst open. “N-No!”

Fenrir hadn’t moved the cart a single inch.

“My, my,” Zag’giel intoned, mocking. “Well done, mongrel.”

“You—!” Did he have to rub it in?

“It’s okay, Fen-fen,” Kanata said. “Zaggy, no bullying.”

“Tch.”

“Mister Molmo said it was an old wagon,” Kanata went on, comforting the despondent Fenrir. “It’s not your fault, Fen-fen. Everything’s all right.”

“L-Lady Kanata...” Fenrir choked back tears as she patted him on the head.

“But we do need to get it fixed,” Kanata said. “I think the wheels are loose too...” After all the years of travel it had been through with Albert Molmo, the wagon was certainly overdue for maintenance.

“But who do we know that might fix this wagon?” Zag’giel asked.

“Oh, I can think of someone!”

† † †

The Morsognir Smithy was a midsize shop that had been passed down through the same family for three generations. It wasn’t the most professionally run shop in the world, but they did good work, and many famous sword fighters had come to them to have their weapons made. It had a good enough reputation, of a sort, for novice adventurers to want to commission them to make gear.

Recently, the previous owner of the shop had passed away, and the famous magic flame in their unique furnace went out. For a while it looked like it was never going to be relit. On top of that, Lily Morsognir, the fourth-generation owner, was hounded by debt collectors. It got to the point where she considered selling her body to pay them off, but in the end the problem resolved itself. Between her skill as a blacksmith—she was as good as any in her family—and her high-spirited disposition, she was now slowly rebuilding the shop’s customer base.

It was rumored that her sudden reversal of fortunes had something to do with a certain black-haired girl, but only a small handful of people knew the truth.

Lily brought her hammer down with a shout, striking the red-hot metal with a resonant clang and scattering sparks like little fireworks. She had been working on this sword since this morning, when she’d received the request. It seemed like heavy work for a girl with such skinny arms, but Lily was smiling. She kept on wordlessly striking the metal, her cheeks flushed with excitement. She had been unable to use her forge until fairly recently. In fact, the feeling of fatigue building in her arm came to her as a relief.

As she worked, the bar of steel changed shape and the heavy clang clang clang of the hammer changed into a higher, clearer sound. Each time she struck it, sparks flew everywhere. This lump of metal was well on its way to being reborn as a sword.

“Okay!” she said. “This looks pretty good! Now all that’s left is to sharpen and temper the blade.” She placed the finished sword on top of the ashes and took off her goggles. It was time for a break.

“Jeez, it’s hot in there!” Lily exclaimed. Her skin, red from the heat of the furnace, was covered in droplets of sweat. She wiped off her sweat with a hand towel and poured herself a drink of water, which she gulped down in a second. The Morsognir furnace was unique. It was far and away hotter than a normal furnace. This was a great help to a blacksmith, but it also made the workshop hotter than any sauna.

“Nice work, partner,” Lily said, tapping her hammer appreciatively against the furnace—no longer blazing hot now that its work was done. Her furnace burned hotter than dragon fire. It was able to forge hard-to-work materials from magic beasts into strong alloys. It could create magic weapons with all sorts of uncommon abilities. There was only one like it in the whole world. The one who had made it had long since passed away, leaving it unique and inimitable—a true treasure.

In fact, a group of scoundrels had tried to steal this furnace. They took advantage of Lily’s emotionally vulnerable state following the death of her father and mentor, and came demanding collection on debts of which Lily had no memory, all to try to push her out of the shop. But she had been saved from this dilemma by a certain intrepid girl.

“I wonder where Kanata’s journey has taken her today...” she contemplated. It really hadn’t been long enough ago for her to get this nostalgic about it, but she did owe Kanata for relighting her furnace. It was only natural for her to sometimes worry about Kanata’s safety.

Not that there was any need for it. Kanata was pretty much invincible.

“I’m doing good work with the fire you gave me,” she said, speaking to Kanata as if she were in the room. “I hope the ‘weapon’ I made for you is serving you well.”

Lily, who had grown up working in smithies with lots of older men, had never had a friend her own age. She had an older female acquaintance who came to check in on her shortly after her father passed away, but she was almost twelve years older and not exactly a friend. To Lily, Kanata was the first friend she had made in her life, and she got lonely by herself in the smithy.

“Come back anytime you want,” she told the imaginary Kanata. “I’ll make you a sword this time.”

“Wow, Lily!” answered Kanata. “You’ve come a long way as a blacksmith! I’d love to see what kind of sword you’d make me!”

“Oh,” Lily said. “It’ll be brilliant and— Wait, what?!” She jumped into the air. Kanata was standing right behind her. “Kanata?! What are you doing here?! I thought you were on your journey!”

“Oh, yes, I’m in the middle of my journey right now!” Kanata said, smiling at the confused girl. “And I made a new friend!”

“Oh? But...why are you here?” Lily still wasn’t convinced that this Kanata wasn’t a hallucination she was having from sheer loneliness.

“I cast teleportation!” Kanata said. “As long as I’ve been somewhere once I can come back anytime I want.”

“Incredible...” Lily marveled. “I had no idea such a convenient spell existed! I’ve never heard of it before.”

“That is not surprising,” said Zag’giel, who was riding on Kanata’s shoulder, head proudly held high. “It is an ancient spell that we ourself rediscovered. There is none but we and Kanata who can use it.”

“Oh, hello kitty!” said Lily. “You seem to be doing well.”

“We are not a cat!”

Lily took off her gloves to pet Zag’giel’s fur. He mewed grumpily.

“So you say you made a new friend?” Lily asked. “What is this one? A dog? A bird?” She peered all over at Kanata’s body, but she didn’t see any new critters hiding there.

“I’m out here. Your door is too small for me to fit through.”

Lily jumped again. There was a giant blue eye looking in the window from outside.

“Aah! Jeez you’re big! Are you a magic beast?!”

“My name is Fen-fen, girl who smells of fire and metal. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Well, I am a Beast Tamer,” Kanata said. “Is it that surprising?”

“O-Oh, that’s right. I’m sorry, I forgot. You don’t usually have magic beasts following you around. It just gave me a bit of a shock!”

“Implying,” Zag’giel said, glaring at Lily through half-closed eyes, “that you do not see us as a magic beast.”

“Well, can you blame me?” Lily protested. “You don’t look like a magic beast at all. You look like a talking cat!”

“We told you! We are not a cat! Kanata, grant us permission to show this insolent human our true form!”

“No! Zaggy’s better fluffy!”

Zag’giel’s ears drooped at being denied so quickly. “Fine,” he said.

“So what brings you here today?” Lily asked. “You didn’t just come here for someone to talk to, right? You’re not that lonely, are you?” Lily, in fact, was that lonely, but she kept a tight lid on it. Her face was unaffected, but if she had a tail like Zag’giel or Fenrir, she would absolutely be wagging it happily.

“Well,” said Kanata, “I was hoping you could fix a wagon for me!”

“A wagon? Like...a wagon wagon?”

“The same!”

“Why a wagon? I mean, I do know how to make horseshoes, of course...” Lily grumbled as Kanata led her outside by the hand.

“Here it is!” Kanata said, pointing past Fenrir’s massive body at the covered wagon. “Ta-da! The wagon!”

“Y-Yes! The wagon!” It was a completely ordinary and very run-down wagon. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly special about it. All Lily could do was nod her head.

“The harness broke when we tried to put it on Fen-fen,” Kanata explained. “And it’s getting pretty old and worn down in a lot of places. It probably needs to be repaired...”

“So you’re going to have him pull it...” Lily said. “He certainly looks strong, but this wagon was made for a horse, wasn’t it?”

“That will not deter me!” Fenrir declared.

“Oh! Well, then!” said Lily. Fenrir certainly seemed excited enough about the prospect.

“Anyway,” Kanata went on, smiling brightly. “I thought maybe you’d be able to fix it up!”

Lily scratched her head. This looked like it was going to be a lot of work. “A brush,” she said, “and now a wagon. You realize that I specialize in weapons, right? This is really outside my area of expertise. I would really like it if you came to me with more normal—”

“So, can you do it?” Kanata asked.

“You bet your butt I can!”

Lily, it seemed, was as pliable as ever.

† † †

“Yeah, this thing is pretty beat up.” Lily began her inspection of the wagon right away. She struck it here and there with a small mallet and noted the areas where the metal was showing signs of stress and where the wood had been damaged. “It’s made of good lumber, and it isn’t rusted too badly. It’s freshly oiled too. It’s obvious that this wagon’s previous owner took good care of it.”

“Eheh heh, did he now?” Kanata said.

“You seem pleased about something, Kanata.”

“It makes me happy to hear you say nice things about Mister Molmo!”

“I understand well!” Fenrir piped in. “I, too, feel proud whenever someone praises Lady Kanata.”

“Yes,” said Zag’giel. “To hear one whom you have recognized be given praise is a greater pleasure than to receive praise yourself.”

The pair nodded along, in full agreement with Kanata.

“Oh?” Lily asked. “So this Mister Molmo is someone you respect?”

“A ton!” Kanata replied. “He taught me everything I know!” Kanata took out her beloved bestiary, clearly beginning to get worked up.

“Well,” Lily said. “Isn’t that lovely?” With a little prodding from Kanata, she returned to the original topic. “So what do we do with this? Are there any materials you’d like me to use? If you have the money to spare we could reinforce it with mythril. It wouldn’t make it at all heavier but it would be a lot more sturdy.”

“Hmm...” Kanata thought. “Maybe...”

“Lady Kanata,” Fenrir suggested, “didn’t that wicked false Saint give you back your gold?” When Kanata entered the High Cathedral, she had paid the exorbitant toll in alms. Marianne had returned the money with her apologies, and a bit extra from her own personal finances.

“Mm hm,” Kanata said. “We have plenty of money.” But Kanata was uncertain. Now that they had come this far, she was determined to have the wagon fixed up the best she could so that Fenrir could have an easy time pulling it. She was seriously considering handing over all the money she had in exchange for a full restoration, when Zag’giel got her attention by bapping her on the ears.

“Kanata. Kanata!”

“Oooh! Zaggy’s whiskers are hitting my ears! It feels so good!”

“Never mind that,” Zag’giel said. “What of that stone shard?”

“Stone shard?” Kanata echoed. “You mean this?” She removed the fragment of pure white stone from her Inventory Screen and handed it over. “Lily! Lily!” she said.

“What is it? Have you made up your mind? There’s no reason to skimp on materials, if you ask me. That way—”

“Can you use this rock?”

“A...rock?” Lily looked dubiously at the shard of stone. “W-Well!” she said. All of her senses and intuitions as a blacksmith were telling her that this rock was something wild. “Wait. Is this—?!” She took out a magnifying lens and peered closely at it through one eye. “I’ve never actually seen it before,” she explained, “but I’ve heard of this. A stone with a unique texture, both hard and soft. Enough stored magic power to make your fingers tingle. This is a Philosopher’s Stone! I’m sure of it!”

The Philosopher’s Stone was an item out of legends, said to be made by the very greatest of alchemists over many long years.

“Hah,” said Zag’giel. “It is as we suspected. That white devil had a ridiculous stockpile of magic power. We thought it might have been made of Philosopher’s Stone. Then we were correct.”

Zag’giel had been the first to take note of the stone’s value. He hopped over onto Lily’s shoulder. Zag’giel had been a researcher in addition to a ruler. In this case, he had been right on the money.

“However,” Zag’giel continued, “this stone seems to have never progressed past white. It is not a true Philosopher’s Stone. Philosopher’s Stones are black when first created. Over time they turn white, and then red. Only then will it be complete. At this stage of development, it is nothing more than a rock with a great amount of magic power.”

“‘Nothing more,’ he says,” Lily murmured. “If I use this as a catalyst to refine steel, I’ll have a veritable mountain of orichalcum. The highest-grade metal of all. It makes mythril look like papier-mâché. I never imagined I would ever get my hands on it...” She clasped the stone shard tight, shaking with emotions. How many blacksmiths ever got a chance to work with materials like this? In her mind she was already imagining all of the weapons she could create with the Philosopher’s Stone.

“Okay, Lily!” said Kanata. “I’m counting on you then!”

“Huh?”

“You’re gonna use that rock to repair the wagon, right?”

“Repair...the wagon?”

“Yeah!”

“You don’t want me to make you a legendary sword?”

“Nope!”

Lily closed her eyes tight.

“Nope!” Kanata repeated, in case Lily hadn’t heard her the first time. She was beaming happily.

“But that’s such a waste!” Lily cried, clutching her head in anguish.

Yes, if they used the Philosopher’s Stone, they could have an incredible wagon. It would be lighter than a feather, impervious to wind and rain and fire, and strong enough to carry a hundred passengers with no strain whatsoever. And, steeped as it was in magic, the wagon would be completely immune to any offensive spells. If they kept using it, it might even produce a spirit and gain intelligence and an identity. That was something that happened sometimes when someone used a magical item for a long time. Spirits that arose this way were considered to be the same sort of thing as spirits that emerged from nature, even if the method of their conception was different. If the owner of an item with a spirit treated it with care, it would be sure to grant them good fortune. A spirit born of a magic sword might even increase the power of its wielder.

Fenrir, by the way, who was currently idly scratching at his ears right next to the wagon, was near the very apex of spiritkind, but Lily, of course, did not know that.

“But why a cart?!” Lily protested. “It’s just a waste of orichalcum, godsdamn it!” She furrowed her brow and folded her arms, stewing in her thoughts. Lily was a blacksmith who specialized in weapons. It really would be a terrible waste for her to use this to make wagon parts.

“Don’t worry!” Kanata said. “I’ll give you any leftover ingredients as a present, just like last time!”

“You mean it?!” Lily’s dark mood vanished immediately. Kanata’s brush had been made with the dragon’s underscale she’d brought to the smithy, and Lily had been using the rest on a number of experimental new weapons. When they were finished, she planned to present them to the Royal Exhibition, although she still wasn’t sure if they would turn out well. But if she could use the orichalcum refined by the Philosopher’s Stone, she could make weapons of even-greater power.

“But you know, if this turns out badly, you’re giving up something even more valuable than the dragon underscale,” Lily said.

“Go ahead and have it!” said Kanata. “I can’t use it for anything!”

“I’m not giving it back, even if you beg.”

“One hundred percent A-okay!” Kanata said, making a circle with her index finger and thumb.

Lily, for her part, was no longer moody in the slightest.

“Okay!” she said. “Let’s do this!”

Full of motivation, Lily took measurements of the wagon’s every last detail, and then ran back, carrying the shard of stone, into the shop where the furnace was. When Kanata asked how long it would take, she said, “I’ll have it done right away! Wait right there!” It seemed like she was going to make all the parts she needed at once, and then affix them to the wagon all together.

While she was waiting for the upgrades to be completed, Kanata made a pot of tea and sat in the wagon, killing time by gazing at the sky.

“This is not a bad way to pass the hours,” Zag’giel said. He was curled up in a ball on Kanata’s lap.

“The wind is so nice and gentle too...” Kanata said.

“It is!” Fenrir agreed. “If only the body of the wagon were a little bit higher up, it would make for a very comfortable place to sleep...” Fenrir had dug a hole underneath the wagon, and was now curled up there, sheltered by the vehicle. It seemed like he was quite comfortable.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming up from behind the wagon.

“Excuse me,” the person said. “Is that you in there, Miss Kanata?” It was Melissa, the familiar guild receptionist. She seemed surprised.

“Miss Melissa!” Kanata said. “Good afternoon!”

“Yes, good afternoon.” Melissa and Kanata bowed politely to each other. “I thought you were still on your journey!” Melissa said. “With you popping up all over the place, it hardly feels like you’ve gone away at all!”

“Miss Lily said the same thing.”

“Oh? You’re acquainted with Lily?”

“I am!” Kanata said, producing a glittering brush. “She made me this!” It was made out of a dragon’s underscale, sturdy enough to be a weapon. You could probably use it for a hundred years without breaking a single bristle on its head. “Isn’t it amazing?” Kanata asked.

“Y-Yes, quite. But...dragon underscale? Don’t tell me...” Melissa glanced at the rapier on her belt. As it turned out, she had had her sword reforged with dragon underscale not long ago. It had cost her an arm and a leg, but the results were worth every last coin. Melissa’s original sword had been made when she was just starting out as an adventurer by the previous generation’s Morsognir, but Lily, the new proprietor, had been able to use the underscale to send the weapon’s attack power through the roof. It had passed from father to daughter to become what it was now.

Melissa had come here today to report to Lily how the upgraded sword had served her during her time wielding it. Her student Bella, as it happened, was taking well to work at the guild, but as skilled as she was, she had a habit of relying on others to do her work for her. That was why Melissa had left her at the guild to handle work on her own this one time.

This was necessary discipline she was performing as a mentor. It absolutely was not a case of pushing her own work onto a subordinate.

But it was also true that part of her was just glad for the break.

“Would you like to sit with us and have some tea, Miss Melissa?” Kanata asked politely.

“Why not, I suppose,” Melissa said. “It looks like Lily is still in the middle of work. I may as well take you up on your offer.” She sat down next to Kanata and took a cup of tea.

The cups and tea had both come from Kanata’s Inventory Screen. Pretty much everything one could need for a comfortable life was jammed in there.

“How long has it been since I had a moment of quiet...?” Melissa mused.

“You always seem so busy, Miss Melissa,” Kanata said.

“You don’t know the half of it. And after I left home to lead a carefree life of adventure and derring-do too. How did it come to this?” Melissa held her cup in both hands. She seemed to be falling into a dark mood. “The rest of my party triumphantly retired from the adventuring life, you see, and I thought I would use my sudden increase in free time to help out at the guild now and again. But before I knew it, I was a senior receptionist. And now that I’ve made it, there’s been more and more pressure on me to stay. Somehow I ended up on the high-status, high-pay, no-free-time track.” She sobbed. There were tears in her eyes now. “This was the last thing I wanted!”

“Oh no! That sounds terrible!”

“You know, Miss Kanata...” Melissa began. “You’re one of the causes of this terrible situation.” She sniffed, and shot Kanata a mildly resentful glance.

“I am?” Kanata cocked her head. She had no idea what Melissa meant.

“You’ve been achieving far too much!” Melissa said. “I don’t mind the paperwork so much, but because of all you’ve done, my own reputation as your handler has only gotten better and better!”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It isn’t exactly bad,” Melissa said. “It’s always a relief to see the adventurers we’ve been assigned make it back safely, and of course I’m very proud and happy for you.”

“I see! So I need to do more and more to make you even prouder and more happy! I’ll do my best!”

“Noooooo!!!” Melissa bawled. “That isn’t what I meeeeeeean!!!”

She clung to Kanata, who pet her softly and made comforting noises. She was being comforted by the same person who had caused all her distress. Her emotions were in chaos, and her tears showed no sign of abating.

† † †

“It’s done! Come help me carry the stuff!”

It was such a pleasant spring day that the group had dozed off leaning against each other, when Lily’s voice woke them from their stupor. Lily was pushing a cart full of bright silver wagon parts, her arms glistening with droplets of sweat.

“Ick!” Melissa said. “I was drooling!”

“Here, take this,” Kanata said, proffering her handkerchief.

“Th-Thank you...” Melissa took Kanata’s handkerchief and bashfully hid the corner of her mouth, where a truly stupendous volume of drool had dribbled down the side of her face.

“Okay, everyone, come help,” Lily said. “I’ll do the work that needs precision. You just support the wagon while I get the parts on.”

“Kay kay,” Kanata agreed.

“Very well. We shall lend you our aid,” said Zag’giel.

“If there’s any heavy lifting, leave it to me!” Fenrir declared.

“Am I supposed to help too?” Melissa asked. “I mean...not that I mind or anything. Just as long as you take a look at my sword later.”

And so, following Lily’s instructions, the group replaced the worn-out axles, swapped the wagon’s canopy with a new one, fit in new floorboards, and attached the harness. Before long it was reborn, shining silver and good as new.

“How’s the harness?” Lily asked Fenrir. “I tried to make it as gentle to wear as I could, considering it’s made out of indestructible metal.”

“It’s incredible! It distributes the weight over my entire body, and I think it’s adjusting its shape slightly to accommodate my movements! I could wear this all day!”

Kanata gave Lily’s handiwork a round of applause. “Great job!”

“Ha ha...” Lily laughed, bashfully rubbing the underside of her nose. “Well, I’m glad to hear it! The wheels are reinforced with the same material too. You’ll have a smooth ride no matter how bumpy the road gets, and it should stop the axles from overheating if you ever need to pull it at some crazy speed.”

“Thank you so much, Miss Lily!” Kanata said.

Kanata had long dreamed of traveling the land in a covered wagon alongside her magic beasts. She’d played a game with a similar premise in her previous life. Naturally, she had assembled for herself a team of fluffy monsters then too.

“Considering how valuable that rock is, I really should be the one thanking you,” Lily said, smirking. She felt just a little guilty about this.

“All right,” Melissa cut in. “Now it’s my turn. Lily, I’d like to talk about my sword.”

“Oh! Melissa! I didn’t realize you were here!”

“I’ve been here the whole time! I was even helping you earlier! If you think you can get away with treating your customers this way, you have another thing coming, missy!”

Lily laughed. “I’m joking!” she said. “Sorry, sorry.” It seemed like this sort of teasing was just how these two related to each other. “You’re here for maintenance on your rapier? How’s the sword treating you?”

“Absolutely splendidly,” Melissa said. “You’ve outdone yourself yet again. They say that stronger materials can make a blade harder to use, but I’ve found this one just as easy to use as before, and the thrust is much, much more powerful.”

“He he...really?” Lily pridefully puffed out her skinny chest.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a man’s shrill voice. “Well, well! Terribly sorry to interrupt your lively conversation.”

Lily’s expression darkened. “Y-You! What do you want?!”

The newcomer was a man dressed in a showy outfit. He was accompanied by a number of violent-looking men who seemed to be guards.

“Lily?” Melissa asked. “Who are these men?”

“Debt collectors,” Lily said. “My father borrowed money from them, or something.”

“That’s right!” the man said. “We’re here about your old man’s debt! You ready to pay up?”

“What are you talking about?” Lily responded. “I paid you already! Well, Kanata did...”

Just as Lily said, Kanata had settled the debt in her place. She had paid the exorbitant sum of one hundred gold coins in a single installment on the spot, and taken the contract.

“Ah, yes,” the man said. “But we reexamined our records recently, and sadly it seems that you still have some debt to pay.”

“Wh-What?! Bullshit! You know what? My father never said a word about this supposed debt! Did he really borrow from you?!”

“My! Are you accusing me of lying? Look. Is this not your dear departed father’s signature?!” The man tapped the signature on the contract demonstratively.

“Gh—!” Lily exclaimed. “It really does look like his handwriting...”

“‘Looks like’ my ass! It’s the real thing! So what now?! This one’s a hundred gold too! Just give up already and give us the shop!”

“I-I’m not giving you the shop! I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but you’re after the furnace, aren’t you? What on earth does a bunch of loan sharks want with a furnace? Who’s behind this?!”

In the face of Lily’s suspicious glare, the man turned his back and feigned ignorance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said. “We’re talking about your debt here. Now, can you pay or can’t you?!”

“Nn...” Lily gritted her teeth. “I just spent my money restocking the shop. Just give me a bit of time. If I can sell the weapons I’ve made so far—”

“We’re not waiting a day longer! What do you take me for?! Stop talking and pay up!”

Lily withered before the man’s sudden temper. “Grrr...”

“Hey! Money! Pay if you want me to leave!” The man got right in her face, holding his palms out demanding money, his face saying, “Give me the money!”

“Here you are!” Kanata said, placing a bag full of coins in the man’s hand.

“Thank you very— Wait! This is the same thing that happened last time!!!” Suddenly the man remembered what had happened on that day—a day seared in his memory for all time. He had been threatening the girl, just like this, when, just like this... “You’re the same girl as last time!!!”

He recoiled at the sight of Kanata’s face. She had been behind the wagon until now, so he hadn’t noticed her.

“I trust this settles your accounts?” Kanata said, smiling very politely.

“Y-You!” The man’s face twisted up into a scowl of rage. But then, he sneered. “Who cares?! I have more contracts!” He tossed out a huge pile of the contracts, littering the ground with them. Each one bore the same signature. “What now?!” he demanded. “Go ahead and pay them all back, if you can!”

“Here you go!”

“Noooooooooooo!!!” The man screamed in despair as Kanata handed over yet more money.

Saint Marianne had given Kanata a considerable sum as an apology for her misdeeds. It was easily enough to pay off all the contracts.

“Curses!” the man spat. “Who in the hells are you?!”

“I’m a Beast Tamer!”

“Who cares?!”

“Well, you asked...” Kanata pouted as the man’s face turned red with rage.

“Excuse me a moment, Miss Kanata,” Melissa said. She had picked up one of the contracts the man had thrown on the ground. “I don’t believe there is any need to pay these frauds at all. These signatures are forgeries!”

“Wh-What?! You’re butting in too?! You got some complaint?!”

“My name is Melissa Straud, staff member of the Adventurers’ Guild. I trust you don’t mind if I inspect these contracts?”

“What is that supposed to mean? Isn’t looking enough?”

“Not at all. I would like to inspect these. After all, these are not authentic signatures, are they?”

“And what is the basis for your accusation?”

“Under the laws of the kingdom,” Melissa exposited, “signatures for the purpose of borrowing money must be signed in ink infused with one’s own blood. If they are not, the contract is void. Were you not aware?”

“Wh-What about it...?” the man grumbled.

“Do you know why blood is used for this purpose?”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s just a blood seal...”

“It is so the blood can be inspected to see if it belongs to the person in question. That way there is an additional level of confirmation of identity, in addition to the signature itself.”

“What?!” the man exclaimed.

“So you didn’t know,” Melissa said. “Or so your face is telling me. It was a measure adopted to curtail the recent surge in forgeries, but most people don’t know the details, I’m afraid. Still, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such an obvious forgery before in my life.”

“Wh-Wha...?”

“We have the equipment needed to confirm the blood seals at the guild. Would you care to accompany me? Oh, and I trust you are aware that forgery is a capital offense?”

“Eeeeee...” The man choked under the weight of Melissa’s icy glare. His lackeys were growing unsettled. “Oh, to hell with the debt! It’s three girls! We’re taking it by force!”

“Yeah!” his men shouted. They drew closer, rolling up their sleeves to do some dirty work.

“Oh no!” Lily cried. “Melissa! What do we do?!”

But Melissa just sighed. “Oh well,” she said. “Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.”

“You!” one of the men said, grabbing hold of Kanata’s arm. “Get over here!”

The next moment he was in the sky. By the time he realized that the girl had thrown him, the ground was already distressingly far away.

“Eh?” he said, stunned. A fall from this height would kill him instantly. Certain he was about to die, the man fainted.

Kanata didn’t miss a beat. A second later, the rest of the thugs were alongside him up in the air.

“E-Eek!”

“Noooo!”

“Stooooop!”

But it wasn’t over. As they fell, Kanata caught them, tossing them back up in the air in some diabolical feat of juggling, cheering each time.

The loan shark fell to his knees at the sight of his men being used like a child’s playthings. “A d-demon!”

“I told you,” Kanata corrected him. “I’m a Beast Tamer!” She chased after the loan shark, apparently intent on adding him to her juggling act.

“Miss Kanata, wait!” Melissa interrupted.

“Hm?” Kanata stopped, catching the unconscious men in a pile using just one of her arms.

“Their methods are crude,” Melissa said, “but we still don’t know what would motivate a simple loan shark to do this. I believe Lily is correct. Someone must be pulling the strings.”

“I see!” Kanata said. “So you want to tail them!”

† † †

“Sniff sniff... Lady Kanata, over here!”

The men ran away, putting distance between themselves and the girls, but to no avail. It was an easy matter for Fenrir to use his nose to track them down. The people of the Royal Capital regarded Fenrir’s enormous body with astonishment, but when they noticed that he was accompanying Kanata, they seemed to regard the mystery as solved and to go about their day. After she drove off the demon army single-handed, there was hardly anyone in the Royal Capital who didn’t recognize Kanata. Some of them would offer her thanks or invocations of “Fluff fluff” as she passed, but thankfully, none of them made any kind of scene. The men never noticed them on their tail.

“Good job, Fen-fen!” Kanata said, praising the pup. “You’re so smart!”

“Don’t be silly! This is nothing!”

“If only she would give us permission to use our old body—!” Zag’giel despaired, sharpening his claws on the wall of someone’s house as he gave the stink eye to the wolf happily wagging his tail. Ever since Fenrir had regained his original body, he had been two or three steps ahead in their competition.

Kanata loved them both equally of course, but it was only natural for a servant to want all of his master’s attention.

“Miss Lily, Miss Melissa, it looks like those men went inside that building,” Kanata reported.

“That building...?” Melissa said, her eyes widening in recognition. “That’s a famous weapon shop!”

“The Jensen Armory...” Lily said. “They’re the biggest shop in the area. They have their own forge too...”

It looked the part. Through the window, the party could see a vast array of swords and suits of armor.

“I thought it might be another smithy after our furnace,” Lily muttered. “But them? Godsdamn it, Vigo.”

“Do you know the people here?” Kanata asked.

Lily made a face like she had swallowed a bug. “The owner of the shop is an old acquaintance of my father’s.”

“Oh?” Kanata said.

It seemed that it was someone Lily’s departed father had known who was pulling the strings here.

“We’re not going to learn anything out here,” Melissa said. “Shall we go inside?”

With Melissa at the lead, the party left the back alleyways they had been skulking through and entered the main area of threat.

“I’ll explain as we walk,” Lily said. And so she began. Lily had called the store owner her father’s old acquaintance, but more precisely they had been business partners when her father was a young man. The partner’s name was Vigo Jensen. He was a skilled artisan, but when it came time for her father to inherit the Morsognir smithy, Vigo left.

“My father told me he hated us, but I had no idea he would go this far...” Lily said.

It didn’t sound like a mutual quarrel so much as a one-sided grudge on Vigo’s part. But since Vigo had spread false rumors to drive away their customers, Lily had certainly come to hate him as well. Her father had always wanted to mend the relationship with him, but until his dying day, he never learned what the cause of the enmity was.

And as Lily concluded her explanation, they reached the front of the shop. Inside, they found a lively atmosphere of prosperous commerce, with adventurers and staff here and there discussing this and that.

“We have the evidence of the forged contracts,” Melissa said. “If we returned to the guild, the guildmaster could help us take this to public investigations. But that would take time—time in which he might flee to somewhere else. But as a representative of the Adventurers’ Guild, I can’t go against investigative protocol...”

“But there would be no investigation if we hadn’t done all this, right?” Lily asked.

“Let’s just leave it at that,” Melissa rejoined.

“Eheh heh heh heh...” Kanata giggled. “It’s a sneaking mission!”

She looked like she was having fun, at least.

“Nah. Let’s just barge right in and cut to the chase,” Lily said. “That damned Vigo is seriously pissing me the hell off.”

“Lily!” Melissa exclaimed, but it was too late. With the invincible battle power of Kanata at her side, Lily ventured boldly into the shop.

“You there!” a man cried. “That area’s for workers only, can’t you—?”

“Shove it, blockhead,” said Lily.

“Excuse me!” Kanata sang.

“Should we really be doing this?” Melissa asked. “The guildmaster is bound to be cross with me...but wait! If I can get him cross, maybe I can avoid the salary track! This might be my chance! I might get suspended! That’s as good as a vacation!”

All three breezed right past him without a moment’s notice, right on up the stairs.

The shop was a large three-story building. The first floor held the storefront, the second the workshop, and the third an area in which to conduct business. The farthest room back on the third floor was President Vigo’s office.

“No entry past this—” the guard started to say.

“You wanna get juggled, punk?” Lily interrupted him. “Do you?! Huh?!”

Lily’s threat didn’t make much sense, but she was so menacing and in his face that the guard had no recourse but to clear the way. She stomped on through the third floor, and kicked in the door to Vigo’s office.

“Vigo!” she shouted. “What in the hells?!”

“E-Eeek! You!” The loan shark from earlier, who had already been in the office, fell to his knees and begged forgiveness. Meanwhile, the burly man behind the desk put his feet up and regarded her with a relaxed demeanor.

“Ah, if it isn’t Lily! How long has it been? Still working at the old shop?”

“Still working fine enough,” she answered. “Your pathetic little loser schemes notwithstanding.”

“You don’t know what happened back then. You were still a snot-nosed little kid.”

“Who cares about back then?! You have no right to act like some kindly old uncle.” Lily slammed her hand on the table and glared down Vigo on the other side. “Don’t get any ideas, Vigo. We know you’re working with them.”

Vigo’s thick lips curled up in a smile. “Come now! You’re the ones who came barging into my shop! In fact, I think I am going to ask you to leave.”

“Don’t!” the loan shark wailed. Vigo completely ignored him.

“Now turn around and go back home.”

“You really think you can just say that?!”

“Excuse me,” said Melissa, removing one of the contracts from her effects. “We are investigating a case of a forged contract. May we ask you a few questions?”

“And what relationship do I have with these men?” Vigo asked.

“Do you really think you’re in a position to say that?!”

“My!” Vigo exclaimed. “What a fearsome young lady!”

“Did you call me ‘young lady’?” Melissa asked, blushing a little at being called “young.” “Goodness...”

Lily shot her friend a glare. “Melissa...”

“Well,” said Vigo. “How about this?” He took his feet down from their perch on the desk and placed his hands in front of him, fingers steepled. “Make a wager with me. For your furnace.”

“What?!” Lily’s anger gave way to confusion at the sudden offer. “Y-You audacious little thief! How dare you! Why in the world should I make a wager with you?!”

“If you win,” Vigo said, “I’ll stop interfering with your business. You can do as you like.”

“Who cares?!” Lily demanded. “If you expect me to wager my furnace, there’d better be something damn good in it for me if I win.”

“In that case, I’m afraid you might run into trouble sometime soon,” Vigo said pityingly. “Not that I would do anything, of course. But who’s to say what these very bad men might do!”

“You!” Lily bit her lip, enraged by the blatant coercion.

Looking across at her, Vigo chuckled. “Kah ha ha... Ah, well. Then I suppose I’ll sweeten the pot.” He opened one of the drawers on his desk, and took out a well-used hammer.

Lily was stunned. “That’s my father’s!”

“Yes. Your father once used this. Now it is my favorite hammer in all my collection. I will wager this against your furnace.”

“It was missing from his estate!” Lily shot back. “You stole it!”

“What a terrible word, ‘steal,’” Vigo said. “I simply happened to purchase it somewhere. If someone else stole it from you, I certainly wouldn’t know anything about it.” He set the hammer down headfirst on the desk, waving his fingers dramatically. “I trust those conditions are to your favor? Now, how about it?”

Lily silently glared down Vigo’s smug face.

Melissa put a hand on her shoulder. “Lily,” she said, speaking calmly. “You don’t have to take him up on this. He’s guilty of forging paperwork. There’s going to be an investigation. This man already has no future.”

“Oh my!” Vigo said. “But if that were to happen, who knows where the hammer might end up!”

“You bastard!” Lily squeezed Melissa’s hand. “Melissa... I’m sorry. I want that hammer back no matter what. It’s a keepsake of my father.”

“Lily...” Sensing Lily’s determination, Melissa removed her hand.

Lily took a deep breath and once again turned to stare Vigo right in the eyes. “And what will we be wagering on?” she asked.

“Trial by combat,” Vigo said. “With weapons made by your own hand, by a warrior of your own choosing.”

“Trial by combat...”

“Do you have a problem with it? It’ll be like the preliminaries for the National Fencing Tournament! Shops furnish their own fighters with weapons there too, you know, trying to show off the merit of their work. It’s another form of honest competition!”

Speaking of the National Fencing Tournament, the three-time consecutive champion was, as it happened, in that very room—Kanata Aldezia. Although it was called a fencing tournament, in truth the fighters could use any weapon they pleased, not just swords. It was a grand event, where warriors from all over the land with all sorts of fighting techniques would gather for the competition. Of course, being the smithy that equipped one of the fighters was an opportunity to advertise one’s work. Every blacksmith wanted to be the one to forge the winner’s weapon.

Vigo proposed to use the same rules as the fencing tournament.

“And where will we be having this trial by combat?”

“I’ll book the nearby coliseum. It isn’t big enough for an entire tournament, but isn’t a smaller arena all the better for a duel?”

“And when?”

“Let’s see. Let’s do it three days from now. You can make a weapon in three days, can’t you?”

“Fine,” Lily said. “I accept your conditions. Let’s do it.”

“Ah,” said Vigo. “And one more thing.”

“What?”

“That black-haired girl is off limits.”

“Me?” Kanata asked, gesturing to herself.

“You’re a celebrity! Everyone knows you’re the monster who won the National Fencing Tournament three years in a row. You’d win even if she gave you a broken stick to fight with. Ah, and the enormous wolf as well. This is meant to be a fair fight between humans.”

“Okay,” Kanata said. “That makes sense.”

“Kanata!” A solid half of Lily’s confidence came from having Kanata at her side. If she couldn’t use her, this might be trouble.

“But even so,” continued Kanata, “Miss Lily will never lose to you!”

“Is that so?” Vigo raised one eyebrow, but Kanata was firm.

“Miss Lily is the best blacksmith I’ve ever met!”

“K-Kanataaaaaaa!!!” Lily hugged Kanata and held on tight. She had come in full of bluster, but it seemed like she had misstepped. Vigo was a terrifying opponent. She clung to Kanata, rubbing her runny nose against her.

But Lily was wrong. Kanata’s words were no empty praise. The fluff goods Lily had made for her—the brush and now the wagon accoutrements—were beyond compare. To Kanata, the fluff was all. Her head itself was full of fluff. Her eyes saw only fluff, and fluff was the only thing in her ears. In fact, no matter what you were to say to her, in her mind, she would somehow make it about fluff.

“Hm.” Vigo said. “Quite high praise.”

“I mean it,” said Kanata. “Lily’s work is the best I’ve ever held.” Her work, of course, being the brush.

“Coming from the Kanata Aldezia, those words mean something. Well! It looks like this will be more entertaining than I thought!”

“I’m looking forward to it too,” Kanata said. “I can’t wait to see what you come up with! I do hope it isn’t too boring!” In her mind, Kanata was expecting Vigo to make another brush.

“Gwa ha ha! As if I, the great Vigo Jensen, would produce something boring! I like you, girl!”

“I just hope it’s a good fair match!”

“If she’s a match for me at all!” Vigo bellowed.

The two were feeding off each other’s energy, getting hyped up. Vigo was imagining a glorious trial by combat fought with the finest of weapons. Kanata was imagining them fluffing each other with brushes.

“Eheh heh heh heh heh heh heh!” laughed Kanata.

“Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” laughed Vigo.

† † †

“Melissa, please! I beg you!” Lily pleaded, pressing the palms of her hands together in an earnest entreaty.

Melissa sighed. “Hahhh... I had a feeling it would end up this way.”

“I could hire someone else, but who’s to say Vigo wouldn’t bribe them? The only ones I can trust are you and Kanata. Please, Melissa! I’ll do the maintenance on your rapier for free!”

“Well...your father would never forgive me if I didn’t, would he? And how could I abandon such a cute little thing in her hour of need? I’ll do it.”

“Hooray! Thank you, Melissa!” Lily jumped for joy into Melissa’s arms.

“Don’t mention it,” Melissa said, holding her tight. But inside, she was crying. Another day of precious free time, gone!

“Okay, Melissa,” Lily said. “Now hand over your sword.”

“What? You’re going to use my old blade?” Melissa took her rapier from her belt. She had come here in the first place to have Lily do maintenance on the thing.

“Kanata just brought me something incredible. If I use it, I might be able to refine your rapier’s attack power.”

“I suppose if you’re using my darling blade as a base, it will take me less time to accustom myself to it.”

“Then that settles that! And the experience I’ll gain will serve perfectly well as payment.”

“I’m happy to pay...” Melissa said. “Oh well. Do as you like.”

Melissa handed over the rapier, and Lily went to take it to the forge immediately.

“I’ll be back in three days!” Melissa shouted from outside. “Make sure you eat properly!”

“I know, I know!” Lily called back from the workshop.

“I hope she does...” Melissa muttered. “That girl forgets the outside world exists when she gets into her work...”

She was worried that Lily would forget to eat entirely, and she would find her three days later a shriveled husk. But she herself was quite busy as well. She had to return to the guild and finish her tasks as quickly as possible so that she might be able to get the day of the duel off from work. She wouldn’t have time to check on Lily.

“Leave it to me, then!” said Kanata.

“Really, Miss Kanata? I would hate to interrupt your journey...”

“Of course! We’re not in any particular hurry, and I wanna see what amazing thing Lily comes up with!”

Kanata’s head was full of fantasies of brushes and other fluff accessories. Not that Melissa knew that. Melissa waved goodbye as she returned to the guild and bowed her head, entrusting Lily’s well-being to Kanata.

† † †

“Et voila! Spaghetti aglio e olio with spring cabbage and ham!” Kanata portioned the dish onto a big plate with a pair of tongs, and Lily, ravenous, devoured it greedily.

“Ahhhh!” she cried, cheeks stuffed full to bursting, chewing rapturously. “Holy crap! The way the saltiness of the ham comes through in the sauce! Perfectly accented with the sweetness of the cabbage—!”

“That’s because I infused the olive oil with juuuust a bit of garlic extract,” Kanata said. “It really makes the cabbage pop!”

“It’s godsdamned perfect!” Lily declared. “I can’t believe how much care you put into cooking! Why can’t you be my wife?! Ghk—!” She choked. “Something got caught in my throat!”

“Have some water!” Kanata said, proffering a cup.

Lily snatched up the water and gulped it down. “Glug glug glug... Phaaah! What the heck, did you put something in the water? This is great too!”

“I flavored it with lemon and mint!” Kanata said. “It should neutralize the aftertaste of the garlic!”

Lily squeezed Kanata tight around the middle, weeping. “You don’t overlook a damn thing! Marry me, Kanata! Please! I’m serious!”

Kanata’s pets were enjoying the meal not a single bit less.

“Slurp slurp... Incredible!” Zag’giel declared. “Kanata’s cuisine is the greatest under the heavens!”

“We are of alike minds, my comrade!” said Fenrir. “Lady Kanata’s cooking is the best!”

But all good things must come to an end.

“Thanks for the meal!” Lily said. “I’m gonna get back to work, I guess!”

“Good luck!” said Kanata, waving her goodbye while still wearing her apron.

Kanata had been handling everything, from food, to making sure Lily bathed, to making her bed, and even preparing changes of clothes. Thanks to her dedicated support, Lily was able to put her full attention into her project.

† † †

Three days later, Melissa stood with her rapier at the ready, a tense expression on her face. The most time off she could get off from work was half a day, so she had come here directly after her shift. She was still unarmored and wearing her receptionist’s uniform, but she was wearing well-fitting combat boots. Melissa was a nimble fighter who favored quick thrusts with her sword. This was how she preferred to fight.

“Finally,” she said.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to get everything ready,” Lily apologized.

“No harm done. You made it on time,” Melissa reassured her. “This sword is even easier to use than the last one. It almost feels as if the sword is wielding my arm rather than the other way around.”

“I couldn’t get the edge any harder than it was with the tempered underscale,” Lily said, “so I tried incorporating the new material into the body of the blade...”

“Yes. Better to focus on usability than to attempt refinement and do it poorly. With this sword, I am confident that I could defeat a top-tier adventurer.”

Melissa had once been a B-Rank adventurer, but she had not been neglecting her training even now that she was part of the Adventurers’ Guild staff. The only thing standing in the way of her ranking up was a relative lack of attack power. This new sword should resolve that issue entirely. She had not taken a rank test in quite some time, but in terms of ability, she was as good as any A-Rank—the top percentile of all adventurers. No matter who Vigo found to be his champion, they would have a difficult time defeating her. It was far more likely that she would end the fight with a single move.

“Hm?” Kanata asked. “Where’s the brush?”

Nobody seemed to hear her. Alas, the battle of fluff Kanata had envisioned was never even on the table.

“That being said,” Melissa continued, “I had been worried about you working yourself to death, Lily, but if anything you look better than you did three days ago.”

“Oh, you won’t believe how good Kanata’s cooking is!” Lily said. “She’s kept me in good condition.”

“Is she really that good?”

“She could go pro. If she ran a restaurant I would eat there every day.”

“Wow...” Melissa said, loudly swallowing her saliva. She had been working overtime every day for the past three days, barely eating anything more than snacks. She had skipped lunch today as well. She would just about kill for a hot meal.

“When this is over, we’re getting food!” Melissa declared. “A feast to end all feasts!”

“Yeah!” Lily cheered. “A victory party! And Kanata, you’ve been doing nothing but looking after me these past few days. Dinner’s on me tonight!”

“Yay! I can’t wait! I’m so excited, Zaggy! Fen-fen!” In a way, Kanata had done the most out of any of them.

“Excellent!” said Zag’giel. “While Kanata is without a doubt the best chef in the world, it is always a fascinating experience to sample human cuisine.”

Fenrir agreed. “It seems human cooking has changed while I was in seclusion. I intend to enjoy it!”

But as Kanata’s team was rallying, they heard a voice from behind.

“Now, now. Isn’t it a little early to celebrate victory?” Vigo had arrived late. The moneylender was with him, clinging on like a suckerfish to a shark. “Before we fight, the contract. I won’t have you weaseling out of a loss.”

He grinned like a shark.

Lily bared her teeth and growled low in her throat.

“Says you!” she spat back.

“I’ll take a look at those first, if you don’t mind,” said Melissa, giving them a careful read. “All right,” she said when she was finished. “These are indeed the same terms we agreed to before the fight. I suppose you both should sign it, then.”

Lily and Vigo signed the contract in ink mixed with their own blood.

“Very well,” Melissa said, “then to the victor will go the spoils. And both of you accept these terms?”

“I do,” said Vigo.

“Sure,” said Lily. The two nodded, glowering at each other the whole time.

“I would like to have Kanata hold on to the contract,” Melissa proposed. Kanata was not participating in the duel, and she was moreover the strongest fighter there. It would be impossible for Vigo to take the contract from her if he was of a mind to do some underhanded scheme.

They entered through the doors of the coliseum.

“Is this young lady your champion?” Vigo asked Lily, indicating Melissa.

“What are you implying?! Melissa’s strong enough that there are rumors she’s gonna be taking over as the next guildmaster!”

Melissa, who had no desire for the lonely life of a high-ranking guild officer, winced painfully. “Lily...don’t...”

“What about you?” Lily went on, not heeding Melissa’s interruption. “I don’t see your champion anywhere. Or are you going to make the loan shark fight?”

“Hah,” Vigo said. “Of course not. This man is merely one of my sycophants. Your opponent is already waiting for you in the arena.”

He turned away from Lily’s group and made his way to one of the side entrances to the stand.

“Later, then,” he said. “Take care not to lose the deed to your shop.”

They parted ways and went for opposite ends of the stands overlooking the arena. Melissa, who was fighting, went in through the arena doors, where her opponent must be waiting.

“Bleeeh!” Lily shouted at Vigo from across the way, contorting her face and making every variety of obscene gesture.

“Miss Melissa, you can do it!” Kanata cheered.

“Of course,” Melissa said. “Leave it to me.”

“Melissa!” said Lily. “Go for the win, but don’t get yourself hurt, okay?!”

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of losing.” Melissa closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, sword in hand, advancing through the dimly lit corridor to the arena proper. The battle would start as soon as she entered the arena. On guard, she burst in to find—

“C-Cowards!” Lily screamed. “The lot of you!”

“Now, now,” said Vigo, smiling wickedly. “Nobody said the fight would be one-on-one.”

† † †

“No...” Melissa gritted her teeth. Her opponent was not one fighter, but ten men, waiting for her with weapons in hand. “Now that I think about it, the contract didn’t specify a one-on-one fight...”

The terms only stated that the champions of the parties in dispute would do battle, not how many champions there would be. Melissa heard the sound of iron bars falling shut behind her. The arena gate was closed. This was a trap. They weren’t planning on letting her go.

“Human filth!” Zag’giel shouted. “You would sully this contest?!”

“You won’t get away with this!” added Fenrir. The two, furious, had their fur standing on end.

“Get away with it? But I already have! The contract is signed! If you withdraw, it will be your loss! Now, I’ll be taking that deed!” Vigo stuck his tongue out at Lily as she glared him down.

Melissa, however, had not been panicking, but assessing the strength of her enemies.

“I’ve seen these men before...” she said.

They were former adventurers.

The Adventurers’ Guild allowed almost anyone to join if they wished, but by the same token, they placed many restrictions on their members. Members would receive penalties for bad behavior, for abandoning requests without notice, for threatening clients... And if the adventurer in question didn’t show any improvement, they would have their qualifications as an adventurer revoked. If they kept acting like bandits, they would be dismissed—no matter how high their rank had been.

All these men were former adventurers who had been kicked out of the guild for their many misdeeds.

One fighter in particular stood out. He was an enormous balding and bearded man, almost as tall as the walls of the arena. On the left side of his face was a deep scar he had gotten from a fight with a magic beast. He wielded a greataxe that looked like he had taken the blade straight off a guillotine.

“Cazulo the Bear Killer...” Melissa said. “Former A-Rank.”

The Bear Killer had earned his name for striking down a calamitous magic beast known only as the Doom Bear. His weapon looked larger and sharper than it had back in the day—no doubt this was Vigo’s handiwork.

Melissa had heard of Cazulo even before she became an adventurer. Back then he was the strongest of all the A-Ranks. That was ten years ago, but even if his skills had declined, he would still be a formidable opponent. It would be foolish to hope he had lost his strength.

If it were only Cazulo, Melissa would have a chance. But with the others in the arena, her odds of victory were looking pretty slim. Frankly, they were close to zero.

“Hey!” Vigo shouted down. “What am I paying you for?! Get her!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Cazulo hefted his giant axe and took a heavy step forward.

“Damn...” Melissa hissed.

If the rabble had taken the lead, she might have been able to thin the herd a bit. But as Cazulo approached, the others spread out around the perimeter of the arena. Even Melissa the Zephyr would struggle to fight so many men at once if she were to be surrounded. What’s more, the floor of the arena was sand, a disadvantage for a mobility fighter like her. This trap had been meticulously planned. Vigo had left nothing to chance. For whatever reason, he was absolutely obsessed with getting his hands on Lily’s furnace.

“Hyah!” Melissa struck before the enemy could close in on her. True to her sobriquet, she moved like the wind. “If this sand is going to impede me, I may as well use it!”

She kicked up a great plume of it as she ran, hiding her body from sight as she charged not for the men, but for the walls of the arena. She ran in a fast circle around the perimeter, the sand swirling and tossing until it became a veritable storm, robbing the men of their sight.

“Take advantage of the chaos,” she told herself, “and pick them off one by one!”

Melissa’s plan worked. Even Cazulo couldn’t make her out through the smoke screen of sand. But there was one thing she had not considered.

“Graaaaaaaaaaah!” Cazulo held his axe out in front of him and spun it like a fan, creating a vortex of wind that sucked in all of the sand and blew it away.

“No—!” Melissa was bowled over by the force of the wind, as a number of men closed in at once.

“Let’s play!” one of them sneered.

“Nh...!” Melissa thrust back at the man’s sword as it bore down on her, striking it with the tip of her rapier. She was off-balance, but her sword was made of dragon underscale. It might yet have enough power to destroy her opponent’s weapon. Sparks flew, but the man’s sword didn’t break. It must have been forged from quality steel. So much for hoping that the cowardly trap reflected a lack of confidence in Vigo’s weapons.

“My skills as a blacksmith are second to none!” Vigo boasted, sneering down from the stands.

Melissa glared up at him. “If you’re so skilled, then why?!” she demanded. But she was in the middle of a fight. Nobody bothered to respond to her question.

She skillfully maneuvered to try to move in while avoiding the area threatened by Cazulo’s axe, but the other men got in her way, preventing her from attacking. It was all she could do not to get hit.

“If only I had had more time for training!” she lamented. Melissa was putting on a brave face, but her movements were slowly growing sluggish. A single hit from Cazulo would cleave her unarmored body in two. It was only a matter of time.

“Nghhh...!” Zag’giel exclaimed. “Despicable cowardice! We must do something!”

He leapt up into action, but Fenrir caught him by the scruff of his neck.

“Wait!” the Spirit Wolf objected. “Both Kanata and we nonhumans are prohibited from entering! If we do anything, Melissa will lose immediately!”

“Grh! But if we do not...!”

“Melissa!” Lily shouted. “Stop! Enough! Vigo, we sur—”

Her words were cut off by the sound of Cazulo’s axe striking the ground. Melissa dodged the axe, but not the cloud of sand the axe kicked up. It tore at her body with enough force to cause nicks and scratches all over her exposed skin. The other men were familiar with Cazulo’s attacks—they avoided the cloud of sand and charged in after Melissa as she retreated.

There was no hope for a comeback. Melissa would be defeated. Lily would lose the shop. Or so everyone watching was certain.

But they were wrong.

“Zaggy! Zaggy!”

“Kanata, what is it? Do you agree? We must save her, even at the cost of the match!”

“Well...” Kanata whispered into Zag’giel’s ear as the sound of Cazulo’s axe smashing against the arena floor rang out once again.

“T-Truly?! We may?!” Zag’giel looked up with shining eyes.

“It’s an emergency!” Kanata said. “This is way more important than the rules!”

“We thank you! Then let us go at once!”

“Hurry, hurry!” Kanata said, casting her teleportation spell. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the arena. Nobody noticed that Kanata and Zag’giel were gone.

† † †

“Huff...huff...” Melissa was nearly unscathed. She had faced a veritable storm of attacks, but so far she had been able to avoid taking any serious blows. Still, she was at her limit. Even if she managed to dodge the next axe swing, there would be no evading the swarm. Her back was to the wall, and the underlings were cutting off her escape.

“Is this the end...?”

“Melissa!” Lily shouted. “You don’t have to do this! Stop!”

“It’s okay!” Melissa responded. “It’ll be okay... I haven’t lost yet!” This was the number-one rule for an adventurer: as long as you haven’t given up, you haven’t lost. There was still a chance. Melissa grabbed at the wall with her hand for support and steadied her breath the best she could.

“Fat chance!” Vigo cried. “That would take a miracle! Finish her!”

“Graaaaaaah!” At Vigo’s command, Cazulo hefted his axe above his head. And then he swung. All the strength in his body was behind that blow. Even if Melissa managed to dodge, the shock wave would tear her to shreds.

“Nh—!” Melissa didn’t close her eyes. She kept them glued to that axe until the last possible moment. And then, suddenly, a black shadow filled her field of vision...

There was a terrible calamitous noise, and a burst of wind strong enough to send every last grain of sand on the arena floor airborne.

“Bleh!” Vigo spat sand out of his mouth. “Hold back a little, won’t you?” He scanned the arena to try to find the blood splatter Melissa surely must have been reduced to by now.

But she wasn’t. Melissa was being held safe in one arm of a beautiful young man.

“Are you unhurt?” the youth asked.

“Eh?! I...yes? What?” The sudden appearance of this gorgeous figure threw Melissa’s mind into disarray. She wondered if she had been killed and this was a figment of her dying mind’s imagination.

“Wh-Who the devil are you?! Where did you come from?!” Vigo shouted, springing up and leaning over the front row of the stands.

“Our name is Zag’giel,” the youth said. “We shall be joining this battle. We trust this will not be an issue? After all, it is not written that this is to be a one-on-one fight, is it?”

Vigo wasn’t the only one surprised by this sudden interruption.

“Wh-Who is that?!” Lily asked.

“It’s Zaggy!” Kanata replied. She had just teleported back to the stands.

“Zaggy?! That cool guy is your cat?! No way!”

“It’s just a shame that the only fluffy part is on his head...” Kanata sighed, resting her cheek on her hand.

“But is he allowed in the arena?” Lily muttered. “I’m glad he saved Melissa, but if we break the rules...”

“I see!” Fenrir exclaimed. “The only ones prohibited by the contract were Lady Kanata herself, and nonhumanoids! If he is humanoid, he should be allowed to participate! Very clever, you Demon King! Alas! If only I too had a human form!”

“It still feels like cheating...” Lily said. “Wait. Did you just say Demon King?!”

“I did not!” Fenrir lied. “And he was trying to cheat us! This is just fighting fire with fire. They were the ones to break our trust!” He scoffed contemptuously at Vigo, satisfied that his own schemes would be his undoing.

“But even if he’s in human form, he’s supposed to be wielding a weapon I made, isn’t he...?” Lily frowned.

“Yeah!” said Kanata. “That’s why we stopped by your workshop first!”

“What?!” Lily took another look at Zag’giel. He had blocked Cazulo’s blow with a sword he was holding in his right hand. “Wait! Is that the sword I was working on when this all started?!”

The sword had been hammered into form, but it was still untempered and unsharpened. It was still an incomplete item. And yet, Zag’giel had stopped the heavy axe easily.

“Impossible!” Vigo shouted. “How could he stop my axe with a half-finished sword?!”

“We do not deign often to fight with weapons,” Zag’giel said, sending Cazulo’s massive body along with his axe flying with a single strike. “But this is a fine sword. We would like to wield it again when it is complete.”

“But that was the Cazulo!” Vigo protested, his mouth agape at the farce playing out in front of him.

“Can you stand?” Zag’giel asked.

“Y-Yes... Thank you.” With Zag’giel’s help, Melissa took to her feet.

“This can’t be!” Vigo’s eyes were darting everywhere in his confusion. Flecks of foam were forming at his mouth. “What’s happening?! This isn’t possible! Somebody that strong can’t be real!”

Meanwhile, in the arena...

“Are we the one you should be looking at?” Zag’giel asked. “That man is your opponent, is he not?”

“What...?” Melissa said. She was struggling to stand, but her courage had not wavered in the slightest.

“We have evened the odds,” Zag’giel declared.

Melissa looked. The riffraff were all lying unconscious. Zag’giel must have defeated them while she was distracted.

“Now it is a proper duel. We fear that man would not acknowledge your victory were we to finish it.”

“Yes,” Melissa said. “I understand. Thank you.” She held her rapier level and lowered her stance. The sand that had made it so difficult to find her footing was gone. She snapped into position.

“G-Graaaaah!” Cazulo bellowed. Sensing Melissa’s incoming attack, he scrambled to his feet and brandished his greataxe, its wicked blade big enough to fell a great tree with a single chop.

Cazulo undoubtedly had the advantage. With her wounds and her fatigue, Melissa would be unable to bring even half of her ordinary strength to bear. Her odds were three-to-seven at best. And yet...

“I will not lose to you!” Melissa declared. “Not with the sword Lily gave me!”

Suddenly, the blade of her sword, enhanced with the Philosopher’s Stone, began to glow with a bright light. The brilliant magic enveloped the rapier, and then Melissa herself, trailing off of her body like an ephemeral cloak.

“I can do this!”

She darted forward, the fastest she had moved in her life. She was upon Cazulo too fast for him to counterattack. All he could do was desperately try to block, holding his axe in front of him like a shield. The glowing sword thrust ripped through the thick steel like tissue paper, aiming straight for his throat.

But the impact never came. Melissa had masterfully stopped her sword just close enough to only touch, but not pierce, his windpipe.

“Khhh—”

“Do you concede?” Melissa asked.

Cazulo nodded fervently, and she removed her rapier. The greataxe clattered noisily to the floor.

“Lily!” Melissa cried. “We won!”

She gave Lily a V sign for victory as Lily jumped down from the stands to hug Melissa tight.

“I’m so glaaaaaad!” Lily sobbed. “I’m so glad you’re alive!!!”

Melissa patted Lily soothingly on the head. “All thanks to the sword you made me,” she said. “I can’t believe it. A real magic weapon...”

It had only just awakened, but it seemed that there was indeed a spirit dwelling within Melissa’s rapier. And, befitting its owner, Melissa the Zephyr, it seemed to be a spirit of wind. The sword had become something truly priceless.

“It’s an incredible sword,” Melissa marveled. “I’ll have to take care not to be swallowed up by its power.”

“Melissa...” Lily said.

“Yes, Lily? What is it?”

“I’ll... I’ll sell it to you for cheap.”

“You really are a professional. I see the future of the Morsognir Smithy is in safe hands.”

† † †

Vigo Jensen left the coliseum as fast as his legs could carry him, wailing, “It can’t be! It can’t be! It can’t beeeeee!!!” His mind refused to accept what he had seen with his own eyes. “How could that girl’s sword defeat my axe?! It’s impossible!”

Melissa would have never won if not for Lily’s sword—a sword that Vigo had to admit that his own craft could not equal.

Suddenly, he heard Kanata calling from behind him as he fled. “Excuse me!”

Vigo wheeled around, only for Zag’giel and Fenrir to come in behind him, cutting off his escape.

“You have lost,” said Zag’giel.

“You won’t get away!” added Fenrir.

Kanata walked up to Vigo, her shoes clacking on the pavement. “That hammer was your wager, right? Please be nice and give it to us.”

“Sh-Shut up! The furnace and the hammer are both mine! If only it weren’t for him, I would have been the greatest smith in the Royal Capital! And now he’s finally kicked the bucket! It should be my turn! How could I lose to that girl?! I don’t believe it! I can’t! It’s impossible!”

He raised the hammer and swung it at Kanata.

“Kanata!” exclaimed Zag’giel.

“How dare you?!” shouted Fenrir.

But Kanata moved faster than either of them could react.

“Hyah!” She didn’t dodge Vigo’s attack—she seized him by the arm and threw him.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!”

“And there you are!” Kanata said, catching Vigo as he fell. “Have you calmed down?”

Vigo was out of his mind, still reeling from the terror of the fall. “It can’t be... It can’t be...” he muttered.

“It can,” Kanata said. “You lost.”

“No! Noooooo!!!” Vigo shook his head, refusing to accept reality.

But Kanata took something out of her Inventory Screen.

“Look at this, please,” she said. It was the brush Lily had made.

“Wh-What is this?” Vigo asked. “It’s extraordinary!” Even in his state, Vigo had the eyes of a master blacksmith. It still didn’t seem that he had accepted his defeat, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the masterpiece before him. “Is this made of dragon underscale?! The dragon seems to have been considerably ancient as well. But it’s difficult to work with the scales of an ancient dragon! How did she forge the underscale to such a fine point with those skinny arms of hers?! This isn’t just made of top-quality materials. This is a work of art!”

Vigo’s whole body was shaking. It seemed that he finally understood.

“I lost...” he said, slumping his shoulders in defeat. “I’m not even worthy to kiss the feet of Lily Morsognir. To say nothing of her father...” He fell to his knees and began to weep.

Kanata looked down at Vigo, smiling kindly. “Yes,” she said. “That is true. Do you know what you’re missing?”

Vigo looked up. Kanata’s smile was like a beam of sunlight.

“I know,” he said. “I’ve been such a fool, but at long last I finally understand. What I lack...is—”

“Fluff!” Kanata said.

“Pardon?” Vigo’s face stiffened.

“Fluff!” Kanata repeated, smiling down at him. “You see? It was the fluff that defeated you! You have not been giving enough mind to the fluff! With such low fluff-mindedness, you could never make a fluff brush as good as Miss Lily’s!”

“What? A brush?” Vigo had no idea what Kanata was talking about, but he thought he understood that Kanata was ordering him to make a brush. “I don’t have time to be messing with brushes! I need to rethink my weapon designs completely!”

“But didn’t you just lose to Miss Lily, the maker of this brush?”

“Gah!” he said. “I—!”

As nonsensical as Kanata’s words had been, here she had hit the bull’s-eye. “When you have made a fluff enhancer to surpass this brush,” Kanata solemnly intoned, “then you will have transcended your limitations.”

Steeped in Kanata’s divine aura, Vigo felt like his heart was cleansed of sin. It was all he could do to clasp his hands together in prayer. “A-Aaah!”

Zag’giel and Fenrir nodded sagely as they watched from the sidelines.

“Once again, Kanata has dispensed mercy to the evil, and shown them a path toward repentance,” Zag’giel observed.

“That’s our Lady Kanata!” Fenrir cheered. “I knew my nose wasn’t wrong!”

Kanata placed a hand on Vigo’s shoulder. “Seek the fluff. Create for me a worthy fluff enhancer.”

It had the weight of a divine pronouncement.

“I-I will! I will change my ways and make a fluff enhancer even greater than this one!”

His brainwashing—or, rather, repentance—complete, Vigo paid recompense for his crimes, along with his lackeys. He stopped making weapons altogether, and went on to become the finest brush artisan in the land.

And they lived happily ever after.