by Tôwa
Escapes even when restrained.
Sleight of Hand 1:
Undoes simple locks and traps.
Remaining Skill Points: 7
“You got both attack skills and support skills… Hmm, Double Throw seems good.”
“……”
Both Double Throw and Sneak Attack looked useful, so I decided to take those. Then we could take Shadow Step so she could get away after using a Sneak Attack… But if we were going to take those, then I’d want to take Hide, which could clearly be used in conjunction with Sneak Attack. Now that Sleight of Hand 2 was available, the other option was to take that and Sleight of Hand 1.
“Theresia, could I ask you to be in charge of undoing locks and traps?”
“……”
She seemed most interested in the battle-related skills, but I told her I was thinking of taking three in that area already, and she nodded. We’ll think about Hide again after the next level she gains.
“We’ll need to get you some throwing weapons for Double Throw. I want you to keep the short sword for melee fighting, so it’ll have to be something that’s not too heavy for you to walk around with.”
“……”
If we got some throwing knives, she’d run out after a couple of throws, but Misaki was using her metal dice as practically one-use weapons, and I was having a hard time thinking of anything else. We could strengthen the weapon with magic stones and runes if it was something that came back to her, which would give us more to work with when trying to increase the damage she could do in one go.
“All right, I’m up next…” I changed the display on my license to my skills. I felt like it was a bit unfair if I could look at Theresia’s skills, but I didn’t show her mine, so I decided to let her take a look. The moment I saw the skills, my eyes opened wide in surprise—there were a number of skills that I’d been hoping for.
♦Acquired Skills♦
Defense Support 1
Attack Support 1
Attack Support 2
Recovery Support 1
Morale Support 1
Hawk Eyes
Outside Assist
Rear Stance
♦Available Skills♦
Level 2 Skills
Defense Support 2:
Creates a defensive barrier equal in strength to your defensive capabilities for party members in front. Skills of duplicate types do not stack.
Rearguard General:
Improves abilities based on the number of party members in front.
Level 1 Skills
Cooperation Support 1:
Activates a front-line ally’s combined skill.
Magic Support 1:
Increases magic consumption and spell strength by 50 percent for party members in front.
Evasion Support 1:
Occasionally activates Auto-Dodge for party members in front.
Summon Support 1:
Summons a nearby party for rear support.
Charge Assist 1:
Gives a portion of your magic to an ally in front.
Rear View:
Spends 5 magic points to expand your vision to cover your rear for a set period of time.
Backdraft:
Automatically counters when attacked from behind.
Remaining Skill Points: 3
“……”
Theresia silently pointed to Rearguard General. The rearguard force was often used as the tail of the army during retreats. They’d handle any enemy attacks, and it was a position that often resulted in death. This skill actually resolved one of the major weaknesses of the rearguard job, which was that I was unable to support myself. Obviously, I could use it as the original meaning intended and improve my own abilities such as defense so that I could protect the others while they retreated, though I’d have to see how much it improved my defense before deciding whether or not that was a valid tactic.
Theresia seemed to be suggesting I should take skills that helped me protect myself. She kept her finger firmly on Rearguard General, not moving it a single inch.
“Like always, I just don’t have enough skill points… Anyway, for now, I’ll take Charge Assist just in case. As for Rearguard General…” There were a lot of skills I wanted more than that—Cooperation Support 1, for example. Used properly, that could bring up the entire party’s attack.
“……”
“You really think I should take it…?”
Theresia answered with an emphatic nod. I thought how upset she would be if I took a different skill. She was trying so hard to express herself, even though she couldn’t do it through words, so I couldn’t very well ignore her completely.
“…Okay. I don’t think it’s a rearguard’s duty to put themselves first, but I do want to acquire it sometime.”
Theresia silently pulled her finger back and placed her hands on her knees, and her lizard mask started to turn bright red. I could tell that she was finally catching on that she’d gone out of her way to give me her opinion on my skills.
“To be honest, I’ve been wanting a skill that strengthens me. This one doesn’t do anything if I don’t have any allies, but it does mean I’ll get stronger just by you and the others being in front of me.”
“You have a skill like that…? Your job really does get stronger when you’re in the back,” said Igarashi as she placed a teacup in front of me. Theresia wasn’t good with hot things, so Igarashi had brought her cool tea that’d been brewed earlier.
“Oh yeah, I want to try a skill I just took. Could you stand in front of me with your back toward me?” I asked Igarashi.
“Uh, sure… Like this?”
Give some magic to Igarashi… Charge Assist!
“Ah!”
Magic left my body and combined with Igarashi’s magic to increase it. My magic went down by about a tenth, but Igarashi recovered twice as much as that. Maybe I just had more total magic than her since I was a higher level, but it looked like the amount she recovered was more than what I spent.
“Oh… I felt a bit sluggish, but now I’m not quite as tired. Was that another one of your skills?”
“Yeah. I use my magic to recharge a vanguard’s magic. I can recharge your magic if you don’t have enough magic to use Mirage Step.”
“Erk… That’s what was on your mind when you picked that skill? Am I too reckless…?”
“I took it because evasion is important. Also, I’m just glad you’re feeling better now.”
Igarashi looked like she was going to say something but couldn’t get the words out and instead just went to sit down opposite us.
“…With a guy like him in our party, we’ll have to give this our all, right, Theresia? He’s not gonna make it easy to repay him for everything,” she said.
“……”
“Huh…? You agree, Theresia? Hang on, is Igarashi just that much better at communicating with you…?”
I was shocked. Theresia looked back at me and shared a nod with Igarashi. Guess this was one of those things where you needed to be a woman to understand. It made me a bit jealous, but I was happy to see how comfortable the two seemed to be with each other.
CHAPTER 3
The Different Parties
Part I: The Runemaker
I rested in the room for a little while, then Theresia accompanied me when I went to visit Millais’s room.
“Excuse me, do you have a moment? I was hoping to ask you something,” I said.
“Of course. I am happy to answer if I can. If I am unable to answer, then I can ask my coworkers as well,” replied Millais, sitting at a fancy table with carved wooden legs along with two other Maids. The furniture in the Maids’ waiting room wasn’t any less extravagant than the furniture in the rest of the mansion.
“Would you happen to know a skilled blacksmith? I was hoping to go to one as soon as possible.”
“I do know of a very skilled blacksmith; they normally handle repairs to our knives and such. If you like, I can show you the location
on your license’s map?”
“Yes please.” I took out my license and displayed the map of District Eight. Millais stood next to me and looked down at my license while she pointed to a spot near the top of the display.
“If you head west down this road from the central square, you’ll find the workshop near the district boundary here,” she explained.
“District boundary… Is that the wall here?” I asked.
“Yes. The Labyrinth Country is almost entirely encircled by the city walls, and then each of the districts is divided with these walls, which are the district boundaries. It starts with District One at the top and then continues clockwise to District Two and so on, so in the east, you will find the district boundary dividing this district from District One. The wall is thicker, and the security more severe than for the wall in the west.”
“I assume that even if you could use your skills to get past the wall, they’d remove you immediately if you weren’t supposed to be there.”
“I believe so, yes. I have heard that it is impossible to use teleportation-type magic to move past the wall if you don’t follow the proper procedures. The actual district boundary does stop at a certain height, but you will be returned to your original location if you try to find a way over the wall.”
There was the system that transported you to the chest-opening rooms, so the Labyrinth Country did use teleportation in a variety of different ways. You could say that the Labyrinth Country wouldn’t be what it was today if it didn’t have teleportation.
Even if District One and Eight were divided by a wall, people would be able to get over the walls and go to the other district using various skills if there wasn’t some sort of ceiling blocking entry on the whole thing. Even if they didn’t have the skills to fly, they could theoretically use magic to scale the vertical wall. But anyway, I now knew, thanks to Millais, that it wasn’t possible to jump the walls like that. I bet you probably couldn’t dig under them, either.
Still, everything had its flaws. There were always exceptions to the rules—me, for instance—which probably meant there were other people with unknown jobs and skills they could use to beat the system. They could go to the higher districts to try out the stronger but more profitable labyrinths if they had strong skills that let them do so despite being at a low level. Personally, I thought it was better to steadily increase my level and keep moving, but you couldn’t pass your rivals by if you played it too safe.
If someone has a strong job and is a high level…was this really a place where they would linger around? Those Seekers rarely come to the lower districts, probably because the competition is so fierce in the higher ones.
Elitia’s appearance in District Eight was such a strange sight that it caused a bit of an uproar. Maybe there wasn’t much a Seeker could gain from going to a low district after having climbed their way to the higher ones. Elitia had joined our party and done some incredible things in battle but still only gained one level.
“Mr. Atobe, if you like, I can show you to the workshop?” offered Millais.
“Oh, no, thank you… I should be fine. You already told us how to get there. What’s the name of the place?”
“It is called the Mistral Forge. The blacksmith there is nicknamed the Armored Smith since they are always wearing full plate armor. You may be surprised when you first see them, but the Mistral Forge’s blacksmith is a very kind individual. I hope you won’t be frightened.”
Rikerton and Melissa were pretty strange themselves. I was starting to feel like all craftspeople here were eccentrics. Actually, no, I shouldn’t assume this blacksmith was an oddball just because they wore armor all the time.
I thanked Millais, and we left the mansion. Theresia lagged behind me for a little while, but she seemed to realize she was falling behind and so caught up until she was walking by my side.
“……”
“Watch your step; they’re still repairing the city. We should also keep an eye out for what’s overhead, too,” I cautioned. There were people around who seemed to have architecture-related skills, because they were working on repairing the places that had been damaged by the monsters’ attacks. At this rate, it’d only take a few more days for the city to return to its normal state.
We arrived at the location indicated on the map and saw a stone building with a sign out front that read MISTRAL FORGE. Most of the city’s buildings were built so close that there wasn’t much space between them, but perhaps because this was a forge, which would use fire, there were canals running on either side of the building.
I rang the doorbell and heard the heavy clank, clank of metal shoes coming our way. The door opened, and I was faced with a figure who was slightly larger than me and entirely encased in plate mail.
“Hmm, you’re not the appointment I was waiting for. My name is Steiner. I’m the blacksmith in this here forge. What can I do for you today?” said the suit of armor. The voice didn’t come from inside the armor, though; I could hear it as if it were spoken directly into my head. It sounded throaty, not at all deep and booming like I’d expect from armor so massive, and I had trouble identifying if the speaker was male or female.
“Ah, you must be surprised by the sight of me,” continued Steiner. “Please pay no mind. Equipment enhanced with magic stones is a necessity to protect from the heat of the forge and to avoid damage to the eyes.”
“Right…,” I replied. I had heard that when using the old tatara furnaces, the workers had to constantly observe the light of the fire that heated the iron, and many of them lost sight in one of their eyes in their old age. I guess it was plausible that full body armor would help against that. If it had some heat protection modification, then it wouldn’t be nearly as uncomfortable as it looked.
“……”
“Hmm? …What’s wrong, Theresia?” I asked. She seemed on guard, wary of something in the shop behind Steiner. Maybe there was someone else in back.
“Your companion is a lizardman… It seems you have no prejudices against demi-humans, sir. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Theresia is a good friend of mine,” I replied without hesitation. Theresia looked at me, clenching her fist to her chest. I wished I could tell her somehow that I really meant it.
“That is wonderful. It is one of my desires that there be more people who interact with demi-humans without prejudice. Sir, may I ask your name?”
“Oh, right. Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Arihito Atobe.”
“Thank you, Mr. Atobe. And welcome again to Mistral Forge. Please come this way.” Steiner opened the door wide and beckoned for us to enter. Immediately inside was a room for customers to wait in while the work was being done. Steiner suddenly asked me a question as they showed us into the forge.
“By the way, what sort of work have you come for today?”
“I was hoping to have some weapons strengthened with magic stones and ores. I’d also like to have a rune placed in a rune slot…”
“Aha… A rune!” came another voice. A small girl appeared from back in the forge. She wore a robe with a hood pulled up, which made her look like a magic user. I somehow felt like she was different from a normal human. Her hair was a pale yellow, and her eyes were the deep green of forest trees.
“Oh, darn it. I just jumped out, didn’t I? And Steiner was supposed to be the one in charge of dealing with customers,” she said.
“N-nice to meet you… Um, Steiner, may I ask who this little girl is?”
“I am not a ‘little girl’! Believe it or not, I’m actually your elder. You don’t seem to have anything against nonhumans, so I suppose I can give it to you straight. I, Ceres Mistral, am the proprietor of Mistral Forge!” The girl threw her hood back to reveal her pointed ears. They were like elf ears.
“Your ears… Oh, you must be a race native to this world,” I said.
“Indeed. Most reincarnates call us elves, but we’re called jades because of the color of our eyes,” she explained.
“Ja
des… All right.”
“We are able to work in jobs that reincarnates are not able to choose. In my case, that would be Runemaker,” Ceres went on. “And this is a set of armor that works using runes. Golem makers are also capable of rendering nonliving objects animate, but what’s different here is that Steiner is their own being.”
“I am strong, as my looks may imply, so I am responsible for the smithing work. My master oversees all rune work,” said Steiner. They didn’t seem to mind that Ceres had just revealed their identity. If Steiner was closer to something like living armor than an iron golem, maybe that meant their armor was empty inside?
“Oh, as a side note, there is something inside Steiner’s armor. Wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea and think you could mess with ’em because there’s nothing in there,” said Ceres.
“Um… N-no, Master, there really isn’t anything inside. I am nothing more than moving armor.” Their conversation just made me all the more curious about what was in there. Were they like a doll given life with runes? Either way, Steiner didn’t seem to want to reveal it, so I shouldn’t push it.
Part II: Black Magical Slingshot
Ceres came up to me and smiled happily as she looked back and forth between me and Theresia. She seemed friendly, but her features were just a little too perfect, and it made me feel nervous as she stared at us.
“This human’s especially fascinating. It’s one thing to hire a demi-human mercenary, but you don’t see many people willing to just go for a stroll around town with one… And she seems quite attached to you. She’s stood where she can protect you ever since I came out,” said Ceres.
“……”
“Theresia, you don’t need to be wary of Ceres… Or actually, maybe you should be. It’s probably normal to assume there’s something behind someone who uses animate armor to run a blacksmith shop.”
“Precisely— Wait, what am I saying? I wouldn’t reveal myself so easily if I had something to hide. I only decided to tell you who I am ’cause you piqued my interest. How could you be so cold?!” Ceres grumbled as she stroked her braided, flaxen-colored hair, looking nothing like a blacksmith and everything like a little girl.