Chapter 26: Home Again
Chapter 26:
Home Again
WITH OUR CLASS’S depraved visit to the hot springs over, I returned home to the Stardia estate.
“I’m back!”
No one answered. Maybe they were out at the shop? I wanted to join them, but first it was time to take a little break. I headed up to my room to do just that, but jolted suddenly away when I found Alice lying in my bed. She was hugging my pillow, and even kissing it!
“Er…Alice?”
“Uh, b-brother?!” She jumped up and started talking like everything was normal. “Welcome home! I’m so glad that you’ve returned safely.”
“Uh, yeah, so what were you doing in my bed exactly?”
“Umm, well, I couldn’t sleep last night. I was worried about you…and before I knew it, I was here—bathing in your scent.”
I backed up a step. “Well, that sure took an odd turn at the end.”
“But you smell really good!” Alice protested.
She hid her head in her hands, and I just stood there, wondering what to do. She was a cute kid, so I guess I could forget I saw anything. I deftly changed the subject, and it turned out that Alice didn’t have any plans either. We locked up the house and headed to the shop together.
“That reminds me,” she said. “Leila came around looking for you yesterday.”
“Did she say what she wanted?”
“Something about hand-to-hand combat training? I guess your schedules just didn’t match up.”
Leila must have had some free time. I felt bad for missing her.
“She said she’d come again in a few days,” Alice said.
“Got it. I’ll be there next time.”
“Oh, look! Tigerson’s hard at work again.”
Said tiger—ah, lion—was outside our shop to attract customers, and he had gathered quite a crowd. It seemed he was especially popular with children.
“Sit! Come on, sit!”
<Goodness gracious, I am not a dog.>
“Then I’m not buying anything.”
<Hm. Very well.>
Tigerson faithfully sat down. He even wagged his tail to complete the show.
“Now I want you to bark three times!”
<Are you trying to debase me?>
“I guess I won’t buy anything after all…”
<Three times, you say? Woof!>
Tigerson was so devoted. I could cry! He was probably doing more than anyone to drive our shop’s sales. I had to help him out.
“All right everyone,” I shouted. “Please don’t force him to do things like that. He’s a proud lion, you know.”
“Aw, but he has a flower growing out of his head!”
“It’s a very important flower. If you don’t treat him nicely, you can’t come in anymore.”
<Wait,> Tigerson whispered in my ear. <His parents are big spenders. I would not want to displease them…>
“Really?”
“Fine,” said the boy. “We’re not shopping here anymore.”
He pouted and turned away. I had to do something to preserve the shop’s reputation.
“I-I’m sorry. Um, what did you want again?”
“I want to see a lion knight,” he said. “Do that and I’ll buy stuff.”
“A lion knight?”
“Is that sword just for decoration?” he asked. “Why don’t you swing it. I bet you’re really weak.”
The little brat! Was that any way to treat a guy holding a sword? I swung it a few times to get his attention—just gently, and always a few inches away from his face. Still, he looked really scared all of a sudden. Had I gone too far?
“Is that good enough?” I asked. “I can do it again if you didn’t get a good look.”
“Eeek! I-I’ve seen enough,” the boy stammered. “I-I understand…”
<Wait, you requested a lion knight, but I have done nothing.>
“Good point,” said the boy. “Why don’t you roar to complete the atmosphere?”
<Roaaaaaar!>
“Eeeeeek!”
Okay, this time we definitely went too far. The kid lost his footing and froze solid. I suppose Tigerson was, in truth, a very powerful monster. I offered the boy a hand before he wet himself.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I-I’m so sorry!” the boy stuttered. “I’m sorry for calling you weak! Pl-please don’t kill me…”
“We aren’t going to kill you! As… as long as you buy lots of things from the shop.”
A shopkeeper’s gotta do what a shopkeeper’s gotta do, right? The kid vigorously nodded.
“I-I will! I’ll make my father buy lots!”
“Thank you very much.”
Okay, so we didn’t come out of that looking great, but it worked out all right.
At this point, it was fair to say that the shop was a success. We had no shortage of customers and had developed a good reputation. I wasn’t surprised to learn that the golden slime jelly was the talk of the town. It was working. It was really working! Even the odd dolls my mother made were flying off the shelves. She called them Awful Dolls, but all the same they’d become all the rage with the town’s younger girls. I guess it was due to the same reaction that people had to bulldogs? Ugly and cute at the same time.
Still, our stock was starting to run low. Soon, I’d need to go out and collect more. I helped out until sunset, then made my way back to the armorer’s. I had promised to help out appraising items, after all.
“Good evening,” I said, walking in through the door. “It’s Noir.”
“Oh, you’re the boy from before. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I came to appraise those items. Are you free?”
“Yes, of course!”
Perhaps it was a good idea to negotiate a little first.
“You mentioned you’d compensate me for my services. For example, by helping me purchase a shield…”
“If I can help you with anything,” said the armorer, “I will. If something in the shop appeals to you, I’ll happily give you a discount.”
Mission accomplished!
The armorer went into the back and came back with several pieces, lining them up carefully on the counter: an oblong shield, an iron gauntlet, a rusty helmet, and a pair of leather shoes.
“I acquired these pieces recently—some from a fallen noble family, others from an ogre village. My gut tells me they’re all high quality, but I’m not always right.”
Which was where I came in.
“Where should we start?” I asked.
“How about this helmet? It’s quite rusted, but it’s previous owner was an S-Grade member of a famous guild.”
“Well, that’s impressive.”
“He always wore it, so it must be something special.”
The shopkeeper was right to have such high expectations. The helmet had two skills: Durable and Grade A Fire Resistance. When I told him, he clapped for joy.
“An A-Grade skill?! So that thing can ward off most fire magic. It might even work against dragon breath! Take a look at the gauntlet next.”
“This gauntlet…has no skills.”
“No way! I bought it from a famous trader for seven million…”
I guess he’d been swindled. There were certainly people who used their fame to take advantage of others. Or maybe the shopkeeper was just unlucky.
“Well, all I can do now is laugh it off,” he said. “Let’s move on to these.”
“They’re shoes, right?”
They looked well-made, at least. The leather was shiny and free from imperfections but, more importantly, they had the Swift Foot skill. Anyone who wore them would be Swift Footed until they took them off again. They would definitely fetch a high price.
“Yes!” the armorer cheered, punching the air. “That’s just what I’d hoped for. I picked them up from a thief during my travels. He was unusually quick on his feet.”
The shopkeeper was only Level 4, and he had no combat skills. He must have had a guard do the dirty work. Still, his shop seemed to be doing well, so I guess he could afford it.
“Now for the last item, the shield.”
“You seem a little nervous about this one,” I said.
“I am, it’s the most precious of the lot. It came from a ruined noble from another land. I lent him money, and he gave me this in exchange.”
His social status sounds like none of your business, but…
The shield was a little unwieldy, but you could still hold it in one hand. With a different fighting style, it could be quite useful. I used my Discerning Eye and realized we’d hit the jackpot. It had Durable, Grade A Fire Resistance, Grade A Water Resistance, and Grade A Wind Resistance all at once, and carried the name “Shield of Champions.”
“Now this one’s really special!” I said. “It has four skills on it.”
“Goodness!”
“Oh, did I say four? I meant five.”
“Even better!” cried the shopkeeper.
But it wasn’t. The last skill sounded more like a ginormous problem. I checked into it with my Editor skill.
Life-Draining Curse: Continually drains the life of living creatures.
Whoa, it was even worse than I thought. If I Bestowed that skill on a person, it would probably kill them. It would probably drain the life from whoever was holding it. But the owner didn’t know that. He was still rubbing his hands together in anticipation. After a moment, he reached out for the shield.
“Stop! Don’t touch it!”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because the fifth skill is a curse. It’ll drain your life force if you touch it.”
“Oh dear…”
The shopkeeper pulled back and stared at it with worried eyes.
“Now that you mention it,” he said. “The previous owner did say that touching it made him feel ill. He really just kept it as a display piece.”
“The skill is pretty vicious,” I told him. “It constantly drains life from living creatures. But as a shield, it’s definitely top-class.”
“So it raises your defense at the cost of your life…”
The shopkeeper seemed to be at a bit of a loss. Even putting this thing away would be a little awkward now.
“Will you sell it?” I asked.
“Absolutely not. I have a reputation to think about. I couldn’t sell that to a customer.”
“So you’ll dispose of it?”
“I’d like to, but I don’t know how to go about doing so safely…”
If he wasn’t careful, someone could get hurt. He was a good person, and really didn’t want that to happen. I took a look at how much LP it’d take to break the curse.
Only 5,000, huh?
I’d gotten so much at the hot springs that it was no problem. And, if I wanted a high-quality shield, this was probably my best option.
“Um, would you sell it to me?” I asked.
“You want to use it?” asked the shopkeeper. “Even with the curse?”
“Oh, of course not. But I have a friend who can break curses. I don’t mind paying a fair price.”
“In that case,” he said. “I’ll let you have it for ten thousand rels.”
“Are you sure that’s enough?”
“I can’t sell a defective item at full price. And I’m sure removing the curse won’t come cheap.”
“Well, thank you very much. I’ll take it.”
I paid on the spot, then went ahead and quietly removed the curse skill.
“Here,” said the shopkeeper. “Take this to carry it home.”
The attentive shopkeeper brought out a wooden board. He picked up the shield with a pole and set it on top. That way, I could carry the shield without touching it.
“Thank you.”
Of course, it didn’t matter if I touched it now, but I kept up the pretense.
“You can throw the board away when you’re done with it,” he said.
“Thank you very much. I’ll be sure to shop here again.”
“Oh no, thank you. Now I can sell that helmet and those shoes, and I won’t lose any more of my life to that shield. I’ll see you again soon!”
It felt like a win-win for the both of us. Once I got out of the shop I grabbed the shield with my bare hands. It didn’t drain my life at all. Even better, because it had been used as a decorative piece, it was hardly worn.
“I bet I won’t have any trouble getting through the tenth floor with this!”
Looking forward to working with you, Shield of Champions!