The Shield of Miracles

by Sakon Kaidou

  Because of that, the journey wasn’t a big deal for the escorts, either. The trip was also only about half a day long, so even Masters could take the job. And with them at the ready, not even a herd would be a problem.

  Tourists were also requesting escorts here, so it finally made sense why I’d seen so many quests like that back at the capital’s adventurers’ guild.

  Looking around, I saw many Masters who’d come here as escorts and were now partaking in the festivities.

  Also, countless Masters and tians were holding one of those five-bladed pinwheels they called “windstars.” We’d seen many of them decorating the fences next to the road to Torne. The passersby who weren’t holding one often had them fixed onto their clothing.

  Nemesis, too, had the windstar she’d gotten from Louie placed on her chest. She liked it a lot, apparently. She couldn’t hold it in her hands, by the way, as she had a crepe in both.

  “Mmm... ” she hummed gleefully. “A good meal right after an evolution is simply unmatched.”

  “If you say so,” I replied in monotone.

  “What to eat next? I have room for far more than that.”

  The fact that she ate even faster than before and had gotten harder to fill up made me feel somewhat blue. Please don’t tell me her evolution made her an even bigger glutton.

  “Perhaps I should empty all the stalls here,” she said.

  “...” I froze, completely dumbfounded.

  “That was a joke.”

  I found that hard to believe. There hadn’t been a hint of falsehood in her eyes.

  “Umm... there should be an ice cream shop there and a waffle shop over there,” said Louie as he guided us. “And if you go there, there’s a small stage where they do a play about the story of the festival over and over.”

  “Really?” I asked. “I’m interested.”

  “Okay, I’ll show you. Ah...”

  As we walked around, Louie occasionally stopped in place, fell silent, and just looked around. His expressions as he did so were always somewhat lonely, so I could only assume he was remembering the festivals he’d spent with his dad.

  “Hm? Those are remberries, are they not?” asked Nemesis.

  I followed her gaze, and sure enough, I saw the familiar fruits. Except here, they were frozen in ice. The sight reminded me of frozen mandarin sorbets.

  I bought enough for us all and handed them out.

  “Thanks, Mister Ray,” Louie said before briefly falling silent. “Gringham also liked remberries...”

  “Hm? Was he not a lion monster?” Nemesis raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, he liked meat, too, but he could also eat fruit, and he liked remberries a lot. He only ate them peeled and cut into pieces.”

  So, despite being a lion, this Gringham was omnivorous and had a strangely posh side to him.

  “Oh, but Dad was the same,” the boy added. “He could eat the skin, but he always peeled it. He also took away the white parts from citrus fruits. Oh, and he never ate the seeds.”

  Ah, so Gringham was just taking after his owner.

  Shijima sounds like a fussy guy, I thought.

  “He always used to say, ‘I know it’s all fine here, but I’m still a bit scared.’”

  “Scared?” I raised an eyebrow. What could be scary about eating fruit? Was he allergic? But if that was the case, he wouldn’t have been eating them at all.

  “Also, Juno couldn’t eat unless someone fed her. She said it was her ‘Maiden eating habit.’”

  “How odd,” Nemesis commented.

  You’re not one to say that. Your stomach capacity is more than a good match for that oddity.

  “Ah,” Louie exclaimed and pointed ahead, cutting through my thoughts about Mr. Shijima. “See that stone stage? That’s where they do the Blacksky story play every year!”

  I looked and saw a crowd of people surrounding a small stage where they were doing the play he was talking about.

  Though B3 and I could see it just fine, Louie and Nemesis were a bit too short.

  “Well, then,” Nemesis said. “I would like you to take me on your shoulder.”

  “Sure, I don’t mind,” I shrugged. “You come here, too, Louie.”

  “Eh? You can hold us both...?”

  “Easily.” I took them both, placed them on each of my shoulders, Louie on the right and Nemesis on the left, and held them by the thighs so they wouldn’t fall.

  As I was now, I had STR bonuses from Nemesis, my Miasmaflame Bracers, and a 1.2x STR accessory I’d gotten from the gacha, among other things, bringing my total STR into the quadruple digits. I was literally stronger than a 100 normal men, so holding two children on my shoulders was nothing to me.

  “Ray, let me remind you that I am a lady, not a child,” Nemesis put in.

  “No talking during the play, please.”

  “Gnhh...”

  Anyway, we were ready to watch the play, and thankfully, it was just about to begin.

  ◇◇◇

  A tale of olden times

  Long, long ago, Torne was a farming village far smaller and far more peaceful than it was now. It was always caressed by gentle winds that made its windmills busily creak and turn, for hours and days on end.

  But one day, the peaceful village was overcome by blackness.

  It was a flying monster that came from the eastern sky. It ate the light of the sun, the shine of the stars, and everything else that was bright, making everything around it pitch black.

  Seeing the blackness up above, the people were filled with fear and cried, “It’s a black sky!” “The Blacksky!”

  Blacksky ate everything that was bright, looked down on the ground from the heights of the heavens, and laughed as it brought chaos and suffering as it pleased.

  All humans and beasts who were seen by Blacksky were turned into “torches” and then consumed.

  The people were too scared to be seen, so they closed their doors and windows and stayed in their homes in absolute darkness.

  Every now and then, there would be knights and hunters brave enough to face Blacksky, but no sword or arrow could reach the heights it was in. Some even tried to challenge it atop flying dragons, but not even those large wings could take them high enough.

  The knights, hunters, dragons and their riders — all were turned into torches and consumed.

  What hope was there when not even a dragon could hurt it?

  The monster left its challengers defeated, and kept the survivors hiding in fear. Everything below it belonged to Blacksky. Anyone who tried to escape would instantly be seen and turned into a torch.

  The people had no choice but to hide, crushed by fear and hunger. The wind passing the village could no longer be heard, and it felt as if even the sky had died. All that entered the people’s ears was Blacksky’s malicious laughter. Everyone in Torne was grieving as they began to feel that this was the end.

  That was when the heavens took pity on the people and shed a single tear for them.

  It slid down the sky, leaving a trail behind as it became a shooting star and hit Blacksky with such force that it fell down and was buried beneath the mountains.

  Under the cold rock, there were none of the bright things that Blacksky liked so much. Without its food, it lost its power and became unable to escape the underground.

  And so, the people were saved by the heavens’ tear, and Blacksky was sealed deep down within the cold earth.

  As if to celebrate it, the wind returned to the village and the sky became clear again.

  The menace of the Blacksky was no more.

  Ever since then, the villagers had held a festival. Every year, on the anniversary of Blacksky’s sealing, they would make star-like pinwheels and light up the sky with bright, vivid fireworks to thank the heavens that saved them.

  And the people lived happily ever after.

  ◇◇◇

  Paladin, Ray Starling

  “I see,” I muttered.

  The play was easy
to digest, and I had no problems understanding how the festival had begun.

  There was something I couldn’t help but notice, though.

  “So, B3, this play can be summed up as ‘There was a really tough monster that got hit by a meteor and died,’ right?”

  “Probably,” she nodded. “It was most likely a UBM. An astronomically unlucky one, at that. Then again, it only got hit because it made this area into its territory, so you might say it just reaped what it sowed. If the story is true, it didn’t die and was merely sealed within the mountain. However, since it was described as a living creature, the lack of food and drink probably killed it centuries ago. ”

  Yeah, she was probably right about that, though some Masters around us seemed to think otherwise. They rushed towards the nearby mountains, and according to Louie, they definitely weren’t the first to do so.

  Every year, a number of Masters who’d seen the play would get the idea that the dying UBM might still be alive, and they hurried to look for it to dig it out and kill it for a special reward.

  The fact that it still hadn’t been found could only mean that it had already vanished years, if not centuries, ago.

  Good riddance, I figured. A creature that could live for hundreds of years with no food or drink would be way more trouble than I’d like to deal with.

  Following the play, we went exploring the stalls again. But this time, we didn’t have Louie with us. At the play, the boy had bumped into a friend who’d invited him to enjoy the festival with him.

  Though Louie had been hesitant about leaving us, I’d urged him to accept. We could find our way back to Farica without his help, and I thought that maybe playing with a friend would lift his spirits. Poor little guy seemed really down about his dad not being here.

  Anyway, there were now only three of us: Nemesis, B3, and me.

  “Are you thirsty, Ray?” asked B3.

  “Ah, a bit, yeah,” I nodded. I’d had a dry throat ever since the play started, but I couldn’t have just gone and gotten a drink while it was still going.

  “Then I’ll go buy something for all of us. I saw a good-looking place nearby.”

  “Well, then I’ll get something, too,” I said. “Any requests?”

  “Popcorn, please.”

  “Roger.”

  She walked away on the road we came from while we got in the line to a nearby popcorn stall.

  The word “popcorn” made me recall the news about Shu’s business I’d seen on MMO Journal Planter before logging in.

  I’d tested his prototype popcorn. Even though it had been really good, the fact he’d refused to reveal the ingredients had left me somewhat scared. I also had a thing or two to say about the jingle that Lei-Lei had composed. I mean, seriously? “Let your tastebuds be destroyed?” The lyrics completely killed the nice melody.

  “Hm?”

  As I pondered Shu’s weird song, some sort of trouble began at one part of the nearby road. I looked to see what was going on.

  “Huhh?! Ya wanna go?”

  “You’re the one who bumped into me, ya shit! Bring it on! The Mohawk League never runs from a fight!”

  It was basically the most generic clash of delinquents imaginable.

  One group was wearing clothes with a symbol depicting a black circle over a red one, while the other was a bunch made up entirely of people with mohawks. Obviously, both sides seemed like trouble, but this seemed like nothing more than a minor hoodlum squabble. Additionally, they had crests on their left hands, making them all Masters.

  Hoping that this didn’t escalate, I carefully observed the clash.

  “What the fuck’s goin’ on here?” Suddenly, a new character joined the scene, momentarily breaking the tense atmosphere.

  The person was three meters tall and wore armor large enough to cover his immense frame.

  The full plate prevented me from seeing any part of his body, but it was easy to tell that he was huge.

  At that moment, I realized that this was the same person I’d seen while waiting for B3 back at the capital.

  “Sub-leader!” The circle symbol group welcomed him.

  The mohawks were menaced. “Wh-Who the hell are you?!”

  The armor guy then replied to the mohawks’ question. “What? Ya can’t tell just by looking at my armor?”

  Uh... no, I can’t, actually, I thought.

  “W-Wait, you’re the guy that... You’re him!”

  “I’ve Identified it... It’s the real thing...” Unlike me, the mohawks instantly got his point.

  I should get Reveal or Identification sometime, I thought.

  “Got it now, huh?!” the armored brute roared. “We’re Sol Crisis! You know what that means, don’t ya?!”

  “Go on, ya shits!” another person his clan yelled. “Drop a gold coin each or get ganked!”

  So now it’s a shakedown?

  “Sh-Shit...!” one mohawk growled.

  “Kh! All right, but don’t get us wrong!” said another. “We just don’t wanna miss this festival ’cause of a damn death penalty! We’ll also have lots of cleaning to do after it, so we’ll back off this time!”

  Intimidated by the armored individual, the mohawks said something really weird, threw some gold on the ground, and scrambled to run away.

  “Did you see that, sub-leader?!” one of the other group became excited.

  “Khahahah! Pathetic shits! Anyway, we’re off, boys!” roared the armor guyed as he got the circle group that was apparently named Sol Crisis to follow him and leave.

  But then he paused.

  “Hm?” he murmured, as he shifted his gaze towards my direction.

  Though the helmet slits were too thin for me to see his eyes, I could tell that he was looking at me.

  However, instead of saying anything, he just turned away and walked off.

  What am I supposed to make of that?

  “First at the fountain, now here... Why is he always looking at me?” I wondered aloud.

  “Because you’re simply that noticeable,” commented Nemesis.

  “I’m not holding a sign anymore, though.”

  Nemesis said nothing in response. For some reason, she put on a tired expression and just continued eating her popcorn.

  “Is anything wrong?” I heard someone say.

  Turning to the side, I saw B3 holding a plate — well, a spare shield, actually — with three drinks on it.

  “Two clans were mouthing off at each other just now,” I answered. “They were ‘Sol Crisis’ and... ‘Mohawk League,’ I think.”

  “Oh, Sol Crisis is that new PK clan. I’ve never encountered them, but I hear the name quite often recently. And Mohawk League is a humanitarian volunteer clan.”

  “...Excuse me, could you repeat that?” I felt like I’d just heard some words that didn’t belong in the same sentence as “mohawk.”

  “Mohawk League is a humanitarian volunteer clan that started on the Internet,” she said. “Someone thought it would be fun to go around doing good things while looking like generic bad guys, and many people agreed. They have divisions in all the main countries, and they’re harmless unless provoked.”

  “But... mohawks? Seriously?”

  “Well, not everyone with a mohawk is a Mohawk League member, so you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Even my PK clan had a person with a mohawk.”

  Well, I could definitely agree that it wasn’t wise to make assumptions based on a person’s hairstyle...

  “There’s one other thing about the whole situation that had me curious,” I said.

  “Which would be?” asked B3.

  “Sol Crisis had this guy in huge armor.”

  “Armor?”

  “Yeah. He was over three meters tall. Is it even possible to wear stuff like that?”

  “It is,” she nodded as she gave us our drinks. “The easiest way is to start the game as a giant.”

  Oh yeah, Dendro allowed you to play as races other than human. Rosa, for one, was a wolf beast
man.

  “Having a giant avatar doesn’t affect your stats, so the size is merely for show,” B3 continued. “Also, giants have a large hitbox, and the XL equipment they have to get is really expensive.”

  It seemed the negatives greatly outweighed the positives.

  “Also, the high-rank job ‘Full Armor Giant’ allows you to wear armor that’s too large for you as long as you have enough STR.”

  “I’m guessing that’s the armor version of your Shield Giant job,” I commented. “But wait, even if you have the STR to wear large armor, wouldn’t you still have lots of empty space inside it, making it hard for you to move?”

  “Full Armor Giants have the Armor Adjuster skill. It fills the empty space with a force field that feels much like highly viscous air, allowing you to move without minding the size. I would say it’s highly similar to powered armor from sci-fi movies.”

  “Ohh...”

  This world sure has some convenient skills, I thought.

  Also, B3 seemed really knowledgeable about that job. She was a Shield Giant now, but perhaps she had been a Full Armor Giant before? Then again, B3 was versed in data relating to the game, so it was only natural for her to know about other jobs.

  “Large armors are really great, by the way,” she added. “They make it easy to menace your enemies, and even if something pierces them, there’s a chance it will just hit the empty spaces.”

  Well, that definitely sounds like firsthand experience, I thought. Yeah, she probably did play as a Full Armor Giant before.

  “Though that means nothing when the ‘something’ splits your head in two,” she sighed and put on a distant expression.

  Did she remember something she didn’t want to?

  ◆◆◆

  ???

  “When’re we doin’ it?”

  “After the festival should be good. Someone might get in the way if we go now.”

  “If the K&R shits didn’t cock it all up, we’d have done it on the road.”

  “It’s not all bad, though. Now he’s got a Superior and K&R on his name.”

  “Khahah! The prey got fattened up, eh?”