Even if the name or shape were different, if it was something my mind would judge as vanilla, then the spell picked up on it... It cast a wide net.
But even that spell had its downsides. Its effective range was incredibly short. It only had a radius of about fifty meters. I couldn’t really use it for anything like finding missing people.
“I’m hungry...” I checked what time it was, and noticed it was well past lunchtime. No wonder.
I closed the book, locked my room, and headed down the stairs. In the dining room, Dolan and Barral, the owner of the Eight Bears Weapon Shop, were sitting facing each other. In between them was a board of wood covered in squares.
“You’re playing shogi again?”
“Yup,” Dolan answered, his gaze glued to the board all the while. I couldn’t help but shrug.
Regarding the shogi set I had made as a test, Dolan was the one who took the most interest in it. Once I taught him the rules he became immersed in the game, and even started dragging acquaintances into playing against him. Barral also happened to get hooked on it, so the two of them would play against each other whenever they had the free time.
To be honest, I really lucked out when Barral also got hooked. Until he came along, I’d been forced to be Dolan’s opponent, being the only other person who really knew the rules.
Even if I was familiar with the rules, I was by no means good at shogi myself. I didn’t even use to play it very often. I had won a few games at first, but could no longer lay a finger on Dolan. I guessed that was what it meant to grow good at something because you enjoyed doing it.
I placed an order for lunch to Micah in the kitchen, then took a seat on the other side of the dining room so as not to disturb Dolan and Barral.
“Mr. Barral, what about the store?”
“Not many people comin’ along in the rain, so I left the missus in charge of things. Never mind that, though. Touya, think you could make another one of these here shogi boards?”
“Eh? Didn’t I already make one for you?” I could’ve sworn I’d made a set for him just the other day since he said he wanted to practice at home, too.
“Simon from the item shop said he wanted one, too. Do me a favor, aye?”
“Well, alright then...” Can’t you just get a craftsman to make one...? Though when I thought about it, I realized that making it normally might prove to be quite the hassle.
“Really now. Thanks a bunch, kid.”
“Checkmate.”
“Hrm?!” Dolan let out that word, crossed his arms, and gazed at the board, and Barral reacted in turn. Those two were completely hooked. I had no idea it would catch on to this extent.
While I was watching the two of them, Micah brought out my meal.
“Here y’go, sorry for the wait. And you two, hurry up and put that thing away already.”
“Sorry... Jus’ one more game.” Dolan made a gesture as if begging Micah to let them keep playing. To be fair, they probably wouldn’t be playing so much under normal weather. On the other hand, it could just be that the rain provided a convenient excuse...
The meal Micah had made today was wild herb pasta and tomato soup with two apple slices.
“Come to think of it, Micah, where’s everyone else?”
“Linze is still in her room, and Elze and Yae went out earlier.”
“In this rain?”
“They went to buy the new desserts from Parent, apparently.” Oh, that explained it. Since I’d managed to find vanilla, I talked to Aer about it and came up with a vanilla roll cake as the new menu item.
Like the time before, all I really did was find the recipe and note down the instructions on how to make it. Even so, it turned out delicious. So delicious that I got carried away and had her make strawberry roll cake as well.
When Elze heard about it, she almost had me by the neck, demanding to know why I didn’t bring any back with me. She was so unreasonable...
Just because those new creations are going on sale doesn’t mean you have to run out and get them on the day they come out. Well, never underestimate the tenacity of a girl with a sweet tooth, I guess...
“We’re back! Ahh, we’re soaked!”
“We’re back, we are.” Speak of the devil and whatnot, the two of them had returned. They shook their umbrellas off and planted them by the entrance.
This world didn’t have the vinyl umbrellas I was used to. It did have umbrellas, but they were basically made out of cloth and wood. Though the ones they had were infused with pine resin, so they were still just as water resistant as the ones I was used to.
“Welcome back. Did you get it?”
“Of course we did. There were less people because of the rain, so it was way quicker than usual.” Elze proudly held up the bag of treats. Bless her, just look at that smile.
“It was delicious, indeed it was.”
“I know, right?” They even had some when they went to pick it up? What a pair of gluttons.
“Here y’go, Micah, this one’s yours.”
“Thank you. I’ll give you the money for it later, alright?” Elze took four small white boxes out of the bag and handed one to Micah. Seemed like Micah had asked Elze to get her one, too.
“Who’re the rest for?”
“One for Linze, one for me and Yae to share... And one for you to deliver to the duke.”
“Wait, deliver?” Never mind that, you still plan on eating more?!
“Who else but you is gonna make it to the capital in this rain? We’ve gotta give them gifts in return for their hospitality last time, it’s common sense.” When I said that they should come along as well in that case, I was politely rebuffed. Seemed they were still nervous around Duke Alfred. Oh, come on already.
With no real choice in the matter, I set off on my own. Since it was a freshly made, the sooner I handed it over the better they would still taste.
Oh, right... I figured I would deliver a shogi board to the duke, too. Just as a souvenir of sorts.
I let Dolan know and asked for permission to use some of the scrap wood from out in the back garden. I cast [Modeling] and made two more shogi sets. I’d made them several times already by that point, so I’d gotten pretty used to it.
I finished making them in around ten minutes. I checked them over just to be sure. Yup, they look fine to me. I accidentally made one too many rooks last time, so I had to be careful.
I returned to the dining hall and handed one set over to Barral. I put the roll cake and the box containing the shogi pieces into a bag, then slung the shogi board under my arm.
“Alright, I’ll be off, then.” I took my umbrella and headed out into the back garden to get ready to cast [Gate]. It was always better to avoid standing out when doing that.
The best place to appear would be... in the shadows of the front gate, I guess.
“[Gate].”
“Yummy! This is yummy!”
“Mind your manners, Sue. But you really do have a point... This roll cake truly is delicious.” Sue and Duchess Ellen happily devoured my offering of roll cake. It made it worth taking it all that way. The duke ate too, and he seemed to approve.
“I’m truly envious of the people of Reflet who are able to eat this every day. If I could only cast [Gate] like you, then I would be able to buy it all the time, too.”
“If you’d like, I could teach the recipe and cooking instructions to the chefs on the estate. It’s not really a trade secret or anything.”
“Really, Touya?! Mother, do you hear that?! We’ll be able to eat this every single day!” Sue latched onto my words rather firmly. Excuse you, young miss, but drool is escaping your mouth.
“Now now, Sue. You’ll get fat if you eat it every day. Let’s just leave it at every other day instead, all right?” The Lady of the house had her say, though I didn’t think every other day would make much of a difference compared to every single day... I’d feel pretty guilty if Sue had completely fattened up the next time I came to visit.
&n
bsp; “Now then, you called this thing shogi, did you?”
“That’s right. It’s a game you play between two people... a pastime of sorts. Would you like a go at it?” I set up my side of the board as Duke Alfred inspected the board and pieces.
“Father, let me play too!”
“Now wait your turn, I’ll be going first.” The duke copied me and set up his side of the board... Except the rooks and bishops were in the wrong places.
“First of all, I’ll teach you how each piece can move. This piece is a Pawn and indicates a regular footsoldier. It can only move one square at a time, but if you get it to the opponent’s side of the board, then...”
“Hm, I see...” Slowly but surely, I taught the duke the basic movement patterns of each piece. He proved to be a fast learner. I was certain he’d improve rapidly given his quick thinking. Alas, it wasn’t long before I regretted my actions yet again.
“One more game! Just one more game! We’ll be done after that!” You told me that same thing just a minute ago, I thought to myself... The result was that, much like Dolan, the duke had gotten hooked on shogi. And, for the second time, I was forced to play several games of shogi in rapid succession. The sun had long since set, and Sue had even fallen asleep on the couch waiting for us.
I thought again about how little this world had in the way of entertainment, and briefly wondered if that was why people were so quick to latch onto things like shogi.
“This is a very interesting game. I must get my brother to play it as well!” It was late at night before I was finally released, but the duke proceeded to throw me a curveball with that shocking statement. I could only hope that the king wouldn’t become hooked on shogi, too. He won’t ignore state politics to polish up his shogi game, right...?
Oh, the rain finally let up.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Yae, it’s heading your way!”
“Understood!” It disappeared from my vision using the crumbling castle wall as a shield.
I heard a metallic clang from across the wall, and when I circled around it, I saw the thing engaged in combat with Yae.
It wore black plate armor and swung around a huge, menacing greatsword. An aura of raw power flowed out of its trunks as its mighty legs clung to the ground without ever giving way, and its two arms swung around that greatsword without so much as a trace of mercy in its being.
No, it had been lacking in a feeling of mercy from the very beginning, for this black knight had no head.
Dullahan. That was its name. Born from a knight who was beheaded whilst still harboring many regrets, it revived as a monster and began beheading others as a means to try and seek a new head for itself. It was different from the legends about it back in my old world...
But this Dullahan was our target. Yae and I caught the Dullahan in a pincer attack. I sent her a signal with my eyes, and she confirmed that the light was gathering in my outstretched middle and index fingers before quickly retreating from the spot.
“Strike true, Light! Sparkling Holy Lance: [Shining Javelin]!” A blinding spear of light shot out from the fingers I had aimed at the Dullahan. The spear hit the creature square in the left shoulder and tore its arm right off.
But unlike a human, no blood poured from the wound. Instead, a black miasma seeped out into the surrounding air as it moved to swing down its massive greatsword upon me with its remaining right arm.
Suddenly, a well-timed shadow leapt in from the side to intercept the headless knight with a brutal punch to the side. Not letting the monster recover its balance, the shadow continued with a flurry of well-placed roundhouse kicks.
“Elze! Did you take care of the Lone-horned Wolves?!”
“Yeah, cleaned ’em all up! Man, there were like twenty of those things, you know?!” Linze came running up from a distance shortly after that. Right, time for the showdown.
The Dullahan staggered for a bit due to Elze’s chain of attacks, but quickly corrected its posture and sent its blade flying horizontally at the neck of its new target. Elze noticed that fact and barely managed to leap out of its way, throwing herself into a roll toward my direction.
“Come forth, Fire! Purgatorial Sphere of Flames: [Fireball]!” Linze threw a fireball that landed a direct hit on Dullahan’s back. Yae moved to strike in that instant, but her sword only struck the enemy greatsword as her attack was fended off.
“This thing’s tough! We won’t stand a chance if this turns into a battle of endurance!” Unlike the enemy, we couldn’t afford to take so much as a single clean hit from that weapon. It would cleave us in twain, and even a minor scratch from it was enough to tear off a limb or two.
The Dullahan was already a lifeless creature; a being of death. In other words, an Undead-type monster. As a general rule, Undead monsters were extremely weak against Light-type magic. Linze could also use Light magic, but she wasn’t particularly proficient with it. I had to be the one to finish it off... And I had just the idea.
“Linze! I need you to freeze that thing’s legs! Just buy me a few seconds!”
“Eh? Uhm... understood!” Hearing this, Yae and Elze made their move. They drew the Dullahan’s attention from Linze and me. Our teamwork had finally reached an impressive level.
“Entwine thus, Ice! Frozen Curse: [Icebind]!”
Linze’s spell froze the ground at the Dullahan’s feet in a flash. The headless knight put all of its power into its legs to free itself from the bind, and the ice gradually began cracking around it. As if I’d waste this chance!
“[Multiple]!” I activated one of my non-elemental spells. Around me appeared four magic circles floating in the air. Next, I cast a Light-magic spell.
“Strike true, Light! Sparkling Holy Lance: [Shining Javelin]!” At my command, four spears of light came shooting out of the four magic circles. Each spear followed a straight trajectory to the Dullahan. The effect of [Multiple], one of my newer Null magic acquisitions, allowed multiples casts of a single incantation to be used at once.
The headless knight tried to move to dodge the spears of light, but Linze’s ice held it firm to the ground.
The Dullahan took the full force of the attack, losing its right arm, a chunk out of its side, its left leg, and it also had a hole blasted in its chest before finally collapsing to the ground. Black miasma flowed out from the battered armor and dispersed into the wind. The headless knight would move no more.
“Looks like we’re done here.”
“That was hard work, it was.” Elze let out a sigh of relief and Yae plopped herself down on the bare ground. That was to be expected. Yae had been the one constantly dodging all of the Dullahan’s attacks in close-quarters for the majority of that fight.
“...We weren’t expecting a pack of Lone-Horned Wolves to appear alongside it. That was a dangerous miscalculation...” Linze held her hand to her chest in relief as she said those words.
Over the past few months, we had built up our Guild Rank to the level of Green. Out of Black, Purple, Green, Blue, Red, Silver, and Gold, we were now the third rank from the bottom. Reaching that point meant people would acknowledge you as a fully-fledged adventurer.
We were ready to accept a Green request right away when Elze came forward with the suggestion of trying out a quest from a different town’s guild office for once.
Just like that, we made for the guild office in the capital. There we found a green request asking for the elimination of monsters in these ruins.
Apparently they were the ruins of what was once the country’s old capital from over a thousand years ago. The king of that era decided to abandon the land and built a new capital elsewhere, so it was said. Basically, they relocated.
I had no way of knowing what it was like at the time it was still the country’s capital city, but as of that moment the place was covered in ivy and the castle walls were riddled with holes. There were still faint traces of the paved ground and some buildings to give the feeling it was once a city, and at the center stood what must
have been the royal castle... although it was just royal rubble by that point. It was the very picture of a ruined city.
Monsters had come to live in the ruins over time, and adventurers like us would be requested to drive them out. But before long the monsters would be back, leading to more adventurers driving them away, forming a curious cycle.
Still, it was true that if left alone, the monsters would eventually build up enough numbers to be quite threatening. It was probably best to drive them away from the place every now and then for everyone’s safety.
“For this being the old capital, there sure is a whole lot of nothing here, huh...” Looking around, all I saw was crumbling walls, broken walls, and shattered walls. At the very peak of this place, on top of the only hill with a decent view, used to stand the old royal castle, supposedly. I wondered if Sue’s ancestors had lived there at some point.
But would it normally deteriorate into such featureless ruins? Was it maybe like in the Three Kingdoms when Dong Zhou burned the old capital to the ground, houses and all, as he moved the capital to Chang’an?
“It’d be funny if there were some kinda hidden royal family treasure or something.”
“No, I believe that not to be the case. It would be one thing if the country had fallen, but a relocation of the capital alone would not be so difficult that they would leave precious treasures behind in the process, it would not.”
“I knooow, I just thought it’d be funny if there were something like that.” Elze pouted at Yae’s sound argument. Treasure, huh?
Back in my world there were the buried treasures of Tokugawa, Takeda, and the like, but it seemed like such concepts were familiar to this world, too. I wasn’t averse to the idea. The idea of a treasure hunt never failed to strike something in a man’s heart.
Just then, an idea came to mind. I can try using that spell!
“[Search]: Treasure.”
I used my locating spell. If there was anything that I might’ve acknowledged as treasure nearby, then this spell would’ve picked it up... Which it didn’t. Well, it was only to be expected.
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 1 Page 11