by Aneko Yusagi
“Well, if you are supplying the materials, then… probably 40 pieces of silver.”
“Filo, are you hearing this? That’s 340 pieces of silver I’ve spent on you now. I’m sure you’ll do all you can to help make that money back.”
“Okay!”
Did she really get it?
Filo transformed back into a human, and we left the tailor.
We had finished all of our important errands, so we went to the large gate to meet up with Raphtalia.
“Mr. Naofumi, I’ve bought all the things you requested.”
“Filo cost me 340 pieces of silver so far. Raphtalia was way cheaper.”
“I wish you wouldn’t speak of me as ‘cheap.’”
Sigh… well, there was nothing left to do but to get down to it.
“Old Dude, go get me that sheet metal. Filo, you go with him and help carry the materials back here.”
“Okay!”
“Sure.”
Filo set off after the old guy, and they returned quickly, carrying all the luggage.
Why did she transform into a human to lug that luggage around?
Just as I’d hoped, there was a large metal sheet included in the luggage.
“All right! Let’s get out of town and head to the riverside.”
We walked through the fields until we came to the riverbank.
I set to work arranging stones to hold the sheet of metal. Then I built a fire underneath it.
“Raphtalia, Old Dude, you two watch the fire for me, okay?”
“Um… sure.”
“Okay.”
Whatever he said, the guy made weapons. He should know how to watch a fire.
“What about me?” asked Filo.
“You watch to make sure that we don’t get attacked by balloons.”
If I’d let Filo help with the fire or cooking, her curiosity would get the better of her, and I’d have a nightmare on my hands. It was much better to give her something else to do.
I started chopping the veggies and meat that Raphtalia had purchased. Then I skewered them on metal prongs.
“Hero-Boy, the fire is looking pretty good.”
“Great.”
Like he said, the metal looked good and hot, so I threw a fatty piece of meat on it to get it good and oiled up. I threw meat and vegetables on the sheet. Then I stuck the skewers around the sheet where they were warmed directly by the flames.
“You’re quite the cook!”
I used the knife and a stick I’d found to flip the meat and vegetables to keep them from burning.
“That should be good enough.”
That’s right, a riverside BBQ. Seemed like a good treat for Filo, if you asked me.
“It’s ready, Filo.”
“Yay!”
Filo was already drooling from the smell, but she waited until I handed her a fork before she lunged at the meat.
“Yummy! It’s so yummy!”
She kept going, eating more and more.
“Hey now, this is for everyone. Don’t eat it all yourself!”
“Fine…”
Her cheeks were stuffed with food when she nodded. Did she really understand?
“Just like that. Raphtalia, Old Guy, dig in!”
“All right.”
“Thanks.”
They held out their plates, and I piled meat and veggies up for them.
“Woah, this is damn good! Who knew that just cooking meat would make it so good.”
“Yes, Mr. Naofumi’s food is often strange, but delicious.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The old guy turned his head in thought.
“I wonder if it’s because of my cooking skill?”
“You mean from the Shield?”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“What a mysterious and powerful Shield. I’m jealous.”
“I can’t take it off. It’s actually pretty inconvenient.”
And I couldn’t attack at all…
“You must be a lot stronger than you used to be.”
“I wonder.”
We were supposed to travel the world, let the Legendary Weapons absorb different monsters and materials, and get stronger.
To be honest, I still had no idea how much there was out there to see.
I didn’t know how much the shield had to grow to be complete.
But even if I ignored it and just lounged around, the next wave was still coming. I didn’t even know how many times the waves were going to come.
There had already been two. Would they end after the fifth, the tenth… the hundredth?
Whatever the answer, I had to do what I could.
That reminds me. I’ve been wondering about this Curse Series Shield.
When they were about to take Raphtalia from me, the shield was absorbed by something and the Curse Series Shield was unlocked. I looked for it on my skill tree, but hadn’t been able to find it.
I opened the help screen.
Curse Series: should not be touched
That’s all there was written at first. But after I looked around a few times, the words vibrated as if shocked, and changed.
Curse Series: delivers extraordinary power and grief to its holder: should not be touched
I was still unable to find the shield, so I decide to ignore it for the time being.
It must have been the type of weapon that only appeared as an option when you really needed it. It was some kind of conditional shield.
“Master! We ran out of meat.”
“What?!”
Sure enough, there was no more meat. The skewers had all been picked clean too.
Now there were only veggies left.
“Is that it? But I’m still hungry,” cried Filo.
“Sigh… then run into the woods and catch me five Usapils. I’ll cook them up for you.”
“Okay!”
Filo ran, full speed, into the woods.
“That was damn good. Mighty fine meal.”
“If you think so, subtract the cost of that cloth from the bill.”
“If I did that, I’d be in the hole, Hero-Boy.”
So we spent the rest of the day there, cooking veggies and meats by the riverside. The sun started to set.
And Filo had managed to catch ten Usapils.
I, actually, wasn’t able to eat very much at all. I spent all my time butchering Usapils and cooking for everyone else.
Chapter Ten: Traveling Merchant
The next morning we went to the tailor, and that Otaku girl was waiting for us at the door, a wide smile on her face.
“It took me all night, but I finished! I think you’re going to like it.”
She’d stayed up all night, but she was still chipper—practically bouncing off the walls. She ran back behind the counter and returned with Filo’s new clothes in hand.
It was basically a white one-piece dress, but there was a large blue ribbon in the center. It was fringed here and there with blue ribbon for contrast. You could tell with one glance that it was well-made, and made full advantage of the materials.
It had a “simple is best” esthetic, the sort of clothing that chooses its wearer.
“Master! Am I supposed to wear this?”
“Yeah.”
“Yay!”
She threw off the cape and stood there completely naked.
“Stop that.”
“But…”
Raphtalia stopped her, and led her into the back of the shop.
“Okay, so try transforming into your monster form.”
I could hear the tailor’s voice echoing in the back room.
“Why?”
“If you don’t the ribbon will dig into you.”
“Oh no!”
That was an odd threat to make.
“Okay!”
I heard a loud thump as she transformed, and then…
“Yup… I knew it would look good.”
She sounded rather self-satisfied.
“Okay, let’s get going!”
“Yay!”
All the girls came out from the back room together, and I got my first look at Filo.
She was already a cute girl, so with the clothes she really did look like an angel.
She was in a white one-piece dress, with her white wings, and a large blue ribbon on her chest as an accent.
She was like a little 2D child angel heroine!
“Master!”
“Huh?”
“How do I look?”
“It suits you well.”
This Otaku girl really knew what she was doing. Who else could have come up with a design that worked so well with Filo’s appearance and specs.
“Ehehe.”
Filo looked a little embarrassed, but she played with the fringe on the skirt and spun in a little circle.
We left the tailor shop, and decided to head back to Riyute. To do so, we had to get Filo to pull our carriage. When Filo transformed into a Filolial, the clothes would disappear, but the ribbon would remain as a collar around her neck.
The clothes were expensive, but there had clearly been a lot of thought put into them.
“Oh, Shield Hero!”
We were leaving Castle Town when we happened to come across the witch from the magic shop.
“Are you on your way to Riyute?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m on my way there also. Could I trouble you for a ride?”
She was smiling.
We were going there anyway, and she had gone out of her way to help us, so it didn’t seem right to turn her down.
“I can’t guarantee a smooth ride, but you’re welcome to come with us.”
“I did ride in it two days ago.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.”
Raphtalia had learned to fight her motion sickness by watching the horizon.
“Thank you, Hero.”
The witch climbed up into the carriage.
“All right, Filo! Let’s go, but take it slow.”
“Okay!”
All the pedestrians stopped to stare at Filo as we passed. They probably weren’t used to seeing talking monsters. We proceeded down the street slowly, to the tapping of Filo’s feet.
It felt like the last few days had been so busy. I mean, it always felt like the days were busy, but these last days had felt even more so. And to think, it was all Filo’s fault.
As for the witch… Well, I wanted to learn magic, but if I had asked right then, I couldn’t be sure how she would respond.
And I felt guilty for not studying as much as I should have.
The witch had given us those books, so I wanted to repay her kindness by studying from them. Yes, I’d have to devote more time to it.
I didn’t know all the ins and outs of this world like the other heroes did. So I had to be learning new things all the time. Even still, I needed to give special priority to learning the writing system, and to understanding the recipes I’d gotten. If I didn’t, it would be a waste.
“Huh… it’s so light.”
Filo was yawning as she walked, and now she started to mutter to herself.
There were three people in the carriage, and she was complaining that it was too light?
This was good. I already had an idea what I wanted to try… and I’d need Filo to do it.
When we arrived at Riyute, the witch gave me 25 pieces of silver.
“What’s this for?”
“For the ride.”
“Oh… Thanks.”
Maybe we could make money off this too?
Riyute was still invested in rebuilding. I checked in at the inn, and the innkeeper gave us a friendly greeting.
“Okay, let’s get started on Raphtalia’s motion sickness training. Also known as: lumber transport duty.”
We’d agreed to help carry lumber in exchange for meat.
“Huh?!”
Raphtalia looked upset. Then again, she was going to have to fight motion sickness all day.
“We’re going to be carried around by Filo from now on, so you better get used to it.”
“Pfft. Fine.”
“Okay!”
“Filo, you’re going to do the pulling.”
“Okay!”
Apparently Filolials really did enjoy pulling carriages. Her eyes were shining she was so excited.
“Um… did you have some kind of plan?”
“Yes, I was thinking of becoming a traveling merchant. The local governor suggested it to me.”
“A traveling merchant?”
“Yeah. We don’t have all that many products, but I would focus on medicine and transport. We could cover a good range.”
“Hm…”
Raphtalia didn’t seem very interested. To be fair, it wasn’t like I had confidence that we would succeed. But we were about to start traveling anyway, so it seemed like a natural idea.
“Which means, if we started transporting things, that Filo will need to run at pretty much full speed. I can’t have you getting sick on me all the time.”
“I understand that, but…”
“Oh c’mon. I know a good, smooth place that should be pretty easy to start with. You can get used to it there.”
“You know a place like that?”
“Sure.”
And so, at the start of the day’s work, I put Raphtalia somewhere she wouldn’t get sick… on Filo’s back.
“Master, you can ride there anytime you want… but why do I have to give her a ride?”
Filo grumbled to herself as Raphtalia climbed up on her back.
“I feel the same way. This is so embarrassing.”
When Filo was in her Filolial Queen form, she was like a giant owl, which made sitting on her back look a little ridiculous.
“You comfy?”
“Yup, feels good!”
Maybe because this was her “real form,” Filo seemed perfectly content.
“Okay then, let’s go!”
“Yay! I’ll help you so much! I’ll be just as useful as Raphtalia!”
“It’s not a competition!”
“But I won’t lose!”
Filo, with Raphtalia on her back, started to pull the carriage.
With the weight of the carriage and us passengers, it must have been pretty heavy, but not heavy enough for Filo, apparently. What did they have to fight about? I spent the time on the road with my book open, studying the writing system and trying to translate the intermediate recipe book.
…Tap, tap.
……Tap, tap.
The rhythmic sound of Filo’s footsteps was excellent music for absorbing myself in the erudite and obtuse world of foreign character sets and language. But then I heard them…
“Why? Why in that form?”
“Huh? Because I want my master to be pleased!”
………Tap, tap.
“He’ll just be mad. You better stop.”
“But Master… Master likes people like you, doesn’t he?”
Huh? I looked up to see Filo transformed back in to a human, with Raphtalia still on her back. Raphtalia looked very uncomfortable, and she was talking to Filo, trying to get her to change back.
Some adventurers passed us on the street, and they pointed in our direction and started whispering among themselves.
“Stop acting like that! People are going to start gossiping!”
I could hear the rumors now. I bought a slave and put her on the back of another little girl, and forced them to pull my luggage carriage down the street. That wouldn’t reflect well on me at all.
“Really? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t pull the carriage as a human.”
“Fiiine.”
She gave a disappointed nod and turned back into a monster. It must have been boring for her or something.
Raphtalia wasn’t sick yet, so that was good. It was time to pick up the pace a little.
“Okay, Filo! Let’s speed up.”
“Yay!”
&
nbsp; Raphtalia let out a yelp then hunkered down and grabbed tight to Raphtalia’s feathers.
That should get us where we were going faster.
We spent the next few hours working on Raphtalia’s motion sickness prevention practice.
Chapter Eleven: Travel by Carriage
A few days passed, and the local governor gave us a new carriage as a present. The whole village gathered to be there when we received it, and there was a party at which everyone cheered for us.
If you wanted to move a Filolial, you needed a carriage… or something like that.
“Thank you.”
“You’ve done so much to help us. We’re just sorry that we can’t do more for you.”
The villagers were all smiling as they helped me load up the carriage.
I couldn’t let them spoil me, even if they wanted to. Still, I needed to honestly express my gratitude.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“You’ll be trying your hand at being a traveling merchant?”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t know whether or not I would be successful with it or not. But I was lucky enough to have Filo with us, so it seemed stupid not to put her to work.
“Huh? A carriage!”
Filo had been running around and playing as a human and was surprised to see the new carriage.
“Am I going to pull this?”
Her eyes were flashing with joy.
“That’s right. You’re going to pull this thing, and we’re going to travel all over the country.
“Really?!”
She squealed in excitement.
Didn’t she realize she’d have to lug a heavy carriage around? I don’t see what was so exciting about that…
“So we are really going to do it?”
Raphtalia muttered, sounding depressed at the prospect.
She hadn’t quite gotten control over her queasy stomach, so the idea of traveling by carriage was not terribly appealing.
“It might be tough at first, but you’ll get used to it.”
“Okay.”
I looked over at Filo and looked her over carefully.
“Filo, what’s your job?”
“Let’s see… I’m supposed to pull the carriage and go where you tell me to go, Master.”
“Right”
“And if we meet that Spear guy, I’m supposed to kick him.”