10 — A Date with Destiny

10 — A Date with Destiny

Early the next morning, I went shopping. It was just me and a girl named Rosa, who I’d known for almost two years now.

“This is it.”

“This is your favorite place, huh?”

From the outside, the store’s options looked fairly normal. It had been so long since I’d last gone shopping for clothes that I already felt myself getting excited.

“Come on, let’s go,” she said with a nudge, pulling me into the shop.

The interior was bright, spacious, and very clean.

“Welcome! Oh, is that you, Rosa?” an employee called.

“Anna, it’s been ages!”

“You’re a waitress these days, right?”

“Yeah, I’m here with this man to help pick out some clothes for him.”

“Oh, is that your little boy toy?”

“Anna, please, this is Mister Luciel! Maybe you’ve heard of a certain Saint Weirdo?”

Careful, Luciel. You’re standing at the gates of hell right now. One wrong move and you’ll never come back alive.

“Saint Weirdo?!” Anna gasped. “Well, gosh, he’s so young! Wait, are you shopping with us today, sir?”

“I’m hoping to order a few outfits,” I said. “Oh, and it’s a pleasure to meet you. You can call me Luciel.”

“That’s very generous of you.”

I didn’t have anything else to spend my money on anyway. If I didn’t spend it somewhere, it’d just sit around in my account, and that wasn’t very good for the economy. Not that I intended to get all frivolous or anything.

“Saint Weirdo is a wealthy man,” Rosa remarked proudly.

“You know how to snag ’em, Rosa. I’ll go call my daughter. Why don’t you pick something out for yourself?”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

“Please, Rosa, I insist. You’ve cooked for me for a long time now, so let me return the favor,” I said.

“You’re sure, dear?”

I never knew eyes could literally sparkle in anticipation. There was no getting out of it now, even if I wanted to. I mean, if this would help make up for all the help Rosa had been, I was all for it.

“Positive. I don’t like to leave debts unpaid.”

“Maybe I’ll look around a little, then.”

“Appreciate the business,” Anna giggled.

I’d never imagined that I’d one day be walking around a clothing store on a date with Rosa, the dining hall waitress who was old enough to be my mother. Of course, I had a good reason for it. It had started when I’d bumped into the Valkyries on my way back to the stables with Malto...

“Does anyone want to help me pick out some clothes?” I asked the ladies. “I promise I’ll return the favor.”

Unsurprisingly, not one of them knew the first thing about clothes shopping, instead offering to join me in buying armor or weapons. Most of them didn’t see what was wrong with my usual robe. And here I hadn’t thought it was possible for them to be any more masculine after seeing their ferocity at the barbeque.

I had to report to Catherine after that and asked her the same thing, but she was too busy. After one last plea for help, she told me about Rosa.

“She buys the casual wear for me and Her Holiness.”

“You don’t do that yourselves?”

“The only shops I go to are for food, weapons, armor, or magic items. Fashion’s not exactly my forte. Rosa used to be the pope’s attendant, though, so that’s her area of expertise.”

“I see. Well, I’ll try asking her.”

“Good luck.”

And that was the story.

Back to the present: the ladies were flying around, taking my measurements and tossing clothes at me. Button-up shirts as far as the eye could see, tunics and belts, pants of both the fitted and practical variety. My fashion fate was in their hands right down to my boots, as well it should have been, given I hadn’t seen my own face in who knew how long.

Rosa, Anna, and her daughter made sure that my style fit my looks well (at the cost of my own preferences). Anna’s daughter was twenty-two, married, and clearly expecting fairly soon. She asked me to cast Heal on her, something about Saint Weirdo’s blessing, so I obliged, focusing my magic through my staff.

Before I knew it, the makeover was done. It would still take a little over two weeks for the tailoring to be finished, so I paid in advance before Rosa and I left.

“Thank you for coming with me today,” I said.

“And thank you for treating me.”

“Please, don’t mention it. Should I walk you back?”

Rosa laughed. “Now, I’m not that frail. Don’t waste your time on me.”

“If you say so. Careful on your way home.”

With Rosa gone and no escort on my heels, I felt freer than ever and immediately made for the magic item shop that Grantz had told me about.

“This looks like the place,” I muttered. “Should be some interesting stuff, if what he said is true.”

The place reminded me of a used book store I’d frequented in Jinbocho, back in Tokyo. The instant I opened the door, I froze. A golem politely bowed and greeted me in a voice that seemed to come from nowhere.

“WELCOME TO COMMEDIA ARTIFACTS.”

Quiet stomping came from the back, and then a young woman with short hair and glasses appeared.

“Welcome to Commedia Artifacts!”

“Uh, hi, this is a magic item store, I assume?”

“Yep. Something catch your eye? Oh, these?” She tapped her spectacles. “They’re called glasses. They help you see things easier from far away, or from close up if you’ve got old folks who have trouble with that. Made them myself.”

I couldn’t believe it. Another reincarnated soul? This close by? If she wasn’t one of the reincarnated, she was at least involved with one. Thankfully, I’d decided on how to handle this type of situation well in advance.

“Wow, that’s incredible. I hear you have lots of unique inventions for sale here. Would you mind showing me a few?”

“I’d love to!”

The girl, who looked to be about my age, beamed and proceeded to explain her creations with great passion. It didn’t take long for me to be absolutely positive that she was one of the reincarnated. All of her creations were conventional appliances from Earth, reinvented using magic in place of electricity. She even had hairdryers, washing machines, and vacuums, which I really didn’t need, although the temptation was real.

I wound up buying basically everything that caught my eye: a magic stove, magic water purifier, magic cooler, magic heater, magic tub (with heating!), magic garbage disposal, magic air mattress, magic blender, and a magic juicer, to name a few. The damage was eleven gold pieces, and boy was I satisfied. The girl almost seemed ready to bow down in thanks.

What would happen if I introduced her to Trett? I wondered. I mentioned a certain item that I was interested in having made.

“I’m flattered you’d ask me,” she replied, “but I still have a ways to go before I’ll be able to try something like that.”

She explained that crafting magic items required various things, like magic stones of the necessary affinity and prerequisite skill or job levels in the magic artificer class.

“See this? I wanted to turn appraisal skills into an item, but I’m just not good enough yet,” she said, drooping her shoulders.

There wasn’t much I could do for her without knowing exactly what it was that she wanted to appraise, but I could at least be a deep-pocketed customer. This wasn’t going to be the last I saw of this girl named Rina. I could feel it.

I would continue to visit her shop occasionally over the next two months.

＊

The veiled woman in the familiar, vast hall listened to me speak, then replied in her hushed tone. “Yes, what you say is sound, though I am amazed you have never so much as set foot inside a clinic.”

Her Holiness’s attendants stared at me in shock.

“I started out at an Adventurer’s Guild, after all.”

I’d been going about it all wrong. I couldn’t learn about how clinics were run without actually going to one. Hearing about the differences between domestic and foreign clinics wasn’t going to cut it—I had to experience it for myself.

“Would that I could assign you somewhere near, but I fear there will be no clinic in the Holy City that does not know your name. However, there is one run by the very man who sent you to these walls. Know you of whom I speak?”

“The clinic in Merratoni.”

“Indeed. To Merratoni by horseback it is roughly a two-day journey, if I remember correctly. You can be swiftly recalled if need be, and reports will reach my ears quickly.”

Was it that close? I took her word for it. I was more worried about whether it was smart for me to start healing there again, especially now that my regular Heal spells were on par with, if not greater than, an average practitioner’s Middle Heal.

“You’re sure that’s a wise decision?” I asked.

“As wise as any other. The die was cast when I bestowed the mantle of S-rank upon you. Any path we choose will come with difficulty.” The gentle mystique of her voice carried the weight of the past. “Whatever it takes...to restore our glory.”

“I understand. I’ll leave the arrangements to you.”

“It shall be done. Ah, another thing, Luciel. Your first destination one year from now will be Yenice. Add this to your studies.”

Er, the beastfolk country? That was fine by me, but was it fine with the human supremacists in the Church? “Has their Healer’s Guild been established yet?”

“Not as there once was. Complications rendered it defunct, but I truly believe you will create a sound foundation for its return. The reins of Yenice’s guild and its clinics will be in your hands.”

“Pardon?” Yes, hi, Miss Pope? I have a question. What the hell are you talking about?

“Take the reins, Luciel.”

That does not answer my question. “I’ll, uh, have people to help me, right?” This was not happening on my own. Nu-uh.

“But of course. Your duty is only to see the foundation laid. Then your grasp of both clinics and guild will be firm and your abilities prepared for the journey to come. I have the utmost of faith in you.”

Her Holiness was like a master chess player, thinking a dozen moves ahead. Or I was just that dull.

I nodded hesitantly. “I’ll do what I can.”

I left the pope’s chambers and heaved the biggest sigh of my life. My next stop would take me straight into the den of my first enemy. What was his name again? Botticelli? Bottiscroogey? Whatever. I just hoped things would go okay. And right after what’s-his-name, it was straight to the land of independence: Yenice, a vast nation to the south of Shurule (Illumasia and Luburk were to the north).

“Now, we’ll need supplies and stuff for the journey. I can ask Master about all that when we get to Merratoni.”

Having a firm vision of the future was important, and although I was still in the preliminary stages, I knew what information I needed and the things I had to prepare. I couldn’t get stuck focusing on elements I couldn’t control.

“Oh, I nearly forgot.”

Jord and the others would need to be filled in. But first, I decided to jump into the labyrinth for a bit to clear my head. I’d been coming and going for a while over the past month, taking out the few monsters that still crept up, and the Illusion Staff made everything a cakewalk. Floor thirty was my current stomping grounds for training.

The boost given to my magic by the Illusion Staff made my Purification spells encompass the entirety of the massive thirty-by-thirty-meter boss rooms. The first time I tried it, it nearly gave me a heart attack. Even Area Barrier blew me away, and all that did was buff my defenses a little. It was almost scary how OP this weapon was.

I blocked the blow with my shield and countered with the now-transformed blade. This, once a week, was the extent of my exorcist duties.

“This many level-ups and I’m still no match for a paladin or templar. There’s definitely more to it.”

I cut down the sneering wraith as it drew near, absorbing its experience points before doubling back. Wraiths provided a ton of XP, so I was already level fifty-five. I couldn’t help but think about how much higher my level would have been if I’d known the truth about Substance X from the start, but the truth was, it had saved my life on more than one occasion. I always kept several barrels of it in my magic bag, just in case. Once I stopped being able to level up so easily, I planned on going back to boosting my stat growth, skills, and resistances.

Four measly points never felt like a big boost to my stats when I leveled up, to be honest, but then again, my stats had all more than doubled since level one. And I couldn’t forget the golden rule: numbers weren’t everything in a fight. Being able to use those abilities to the fullest was just as important, shrinking the gap between what you could physically do and what your brain let you do.

When I’d asked Catherine about it and whether it was a factor in people losing fights in spite of superior stats, she had told me to stop wasting time thinking and spend more time fighting, then promptly tossed me into one of the knights’ joint events, where I was quickly curb-stomped.

“And they all said Area Barrier was cheating because it made everyone’s defense too strong.”

As a result, the use of Area Barrier, Area Middle Heal, and Area High Heal had been strictly forbidden in group sparring matches. Apparently, people didn’t like the idea of the Knights of Shurule turning into a necromantic army of instantly healing zombies. In fact, it was just last month that I’d shed a few tears over the new nickname this had earned me: Captain Sadist. Her Holiness, too, had forbidden me from using Sanctuary Circle or Extra Heal in any situation other than emergencies or mortal peril.

I dithered over what to spend my 108 SP on—Monsieur Luck’s older brother or more magic affinities—then eventually settled on asking my master for his advice and left the labyrinth.

Two months passed in a flash. Soon, my trusty steed, Forêt Noire, and I set out for Merratoni.

It was the fourth day of our journey, and I’d jammed my brain full of information on the state of Merratoni’s Healer’s Guild and its clinics over the last two months. The ride was easy and smooth, thanks in part to the stirrups I’d had someone craft and my constant casting of Heal and Purification.

We traveled back along the same route I’d first traversed on my way to the Holy City, stopping at various villages on the way. I wanted my companions to see people and things beyond the walls of the capital.

At every town, I taught what I could, showed them my own vision for the craft, and prepared them for the reshaping of the greedy healer.