Monday 30 September 2019

Ch 158 Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi

Chapter 158 -- Sui's Special Elixir (Degraded Version)


Once we got out of earshot of the others back in the clearing I stopped.

"Sui, can you make something for me please?"

“Whaaaat?-" Sui inquired.

"It's this..." I gulped, then took two items from my Item Box. One was a bottle of blood from the Earth Dragon, the other was the glass jar that held the half of the Earth Dragon's liver that I hadn't sold to the Guild. Elland-san had told me that Dragon's blood and Dragon's liver were a powerful panacea, able to prevent disease. Maybe, if Sui could combine them she could make a new sort of medicinal potion to treat serious diseases. Of course it wouldn't be Elixir, I didn't know how to make that and anyway I probably didn't have all the ingredients but a powerful recovery medicine might be possible.

"This is the blood and liver of the Earth Dragon." I explained to Sui-chan. "They seem to be medicines that treat various diseases and injuries. I want Sui to make a medicine with both of them to cure a serious sickness. Can you do it?"

Sui-chan jiggled for a bit, obviously thinking hard. "Well, I'm not sure if I can do it, but Sui will try-"

"Thank you, Sui. Don't worry if you can't manage it." I took a deep breath. "Well then, let's get started shall we?"

"Unh-"

I handed Sui the bottle containing about a litre of the Earth Dragon's blood. I then opened the glass jar and cut a piece of liver, about a quarter of what remained and handed that to Sui too. She slowly ingested them, making "Ummm" noises telepathically.

I sat down beside Sui, observing her carefully. Was it possible the Dragon blood and liver were too powerful for her to cope with? Could they hurt her, was this a bad idea? But she could handle magical materials like Mithril easily, surely... I clamped down on my imagination and waited as patiently as I could.

After about 5 minutes, Sui suddenly spoke. "I was able to do it-"

I grabbed an empty bottle from my Item Box and held it out to Sui.

“Well, can you put it in here?”

"Yes, I understand-" A translucent reddish-purple liquid gurgled into the bottle from the tip of Sui's tentacle.

"Yeah, that's fine, Sui. The bottle is just about full." I said as the liquid reached the neck of the bottle.

“Aruji, there’s about two more-” Sui said. Still more to come? I quickly got two more empty bottles from my Item Box and held them out one after the other as Sui filled them with the mysterious liquid. Finally I had three bottles of translucent reddish-purple liquid, corked and safe. Now to Appraise them.

[ Sui's Special Elixir (degraded version) ]
A lesser version of Elixir, unable to extend life. Effective cure for all diseases.

"Cough, cough, splutter!" I nearly dropped the bottle I had been Appraising. It really was Elixir?

"Aruji, are you alright-?" Sui-chan asked worriedly, tugging at my trouser leg.

“Cough cough…" I took a deep breath. "Yes, I'm okay.” I said, reaching down to pat her reassuringly.

…Elixir, Sui-chan really did it. She's truly amazing. Okay, it's a degraded version, not the true Elixir but my Appraisal said it's a cure for all diseases. 'A lesser version of Elixir, unable to extend life' -- did that mean that the true Elixir would extend someone's lifespan or even grant them immortality? Unbelievable.

I never thought Sui-chan could make Elixir with the Dragon blood and liver but even this lesser version should be able to cure any disease, and that's what I wanted to start with so it's a success. Now Darryl and Eris's mother will be fine. I just had to find some way to get it to her. I decided in addition that making an easy-to-digest dish for an invalid would be good, so I'd make some rice porridge with eggs.

"Sui, can you wait for a moment? I'm making something to eat for Darryl and Eris’s mother.”

"Yes, that's okay-"

Being well away from the clearing it was safe for me to open Net Super and buy eggs. I figured the small boost in status eating other-world food granted would help the kids' mother as well. There were seasonings to hand, some cooked rice too, yosh, that would be fine. I added water to the cooked rice in the pot and brought it to a boil on the Black Magic Cooking Stove. I added soup stock and soy sauce then I broke a couple of eggs into the pot and beat them into the mixture while turning down the heat. I tasted it and thinking it was a bit lacking I added more soy sauce and some salt. It was maybe a bit thicker than real rice porridge but I figured it would be OK so I left it like that.

The pot was an old one, not from the Net Super so I could just give it to Darryl as it was. He had said he had an Item Box and even if it didn't work like mine to keep things hot the rice porridge was a simple dish to re-heat. I shut off my Black Magic Cooking Stove, put everything away and we headed back to where everyone was waiting for us.

Sunday 29 September 2019

Ch 157 Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi

Chapter 157 -- Darryl and Eris


The children stopped crying to watch, fascinated as I petted Fer's head. Put up with it, Fer, I told him telepathically as I smiled at them hoping they would calm down. Finally I tried asking them their names.

"Sniffle..." the boy wiped his nose with his sleeve. "I'm Darryl and this is my sister Eris." He had brown hair like his sister and intelligent-looking eyes, reddened from crying. His sister Eris clung to her brother's arm, silent and watchful.

“How old are you?” I went on.

"I'm 10 years old and Eris is 8 years old." Darryl replied. So I had guessed about right. But what were kids that young doing out here, all alone?

"Did you come here with a grown-up?" I asked. Darryl shook his head. "You two are out here by yourself?" He nodded, looking down at his sister. "Okay, so where are you from?" Was there a village in the forest near here...

"Doran." Darryl answered.

"Eh? Did you come from Doran?" He wasn't from somewhere nearby? That was a surprise. Travelling on foot from Doran to this clearing on foot would take 3 hours for an adult. Kids like these two would take a lot longer, I guessed. There was something going on I didn't understand.

“Why did you come so far into this forest from Doran? You had to have a reason to. Do you want to tell me why?" I asked.

Darryl turned and pointed to the dead Orcs at the side of the clearing. "If you give me one of those Orcs I'll tell you."

Uh what? but Darryl's face held a determined expression and his pointing finger never wavered. I sighed and finally nodded. "All right, you can have one of the Orcs. Now will you tell me what you're doing out here?"

 Darryl explained that he and Eris lived in the city of Doran with their mother. Their father was an Adventurer who didn't return from Doran's dungeon about the time Darryl was six years old. My heart sank a little on hearing him say this in such a matter-of-fact way. Their mother was a skillful seamstress and the three of them survived on her earnings. However, their mother collapsed about two weeks ago. They talked to the temple priest who used his recovery magic on her and she got a little bit better but after a while she got sicker again.

The temple priest had explained that he could only cure mild illnesses outright. If it was a more serious illness then the recovery magic of a high-ranking priest was needed. Those priests all lived in the capital and it cost a lot of money to bring such a priest to Doran and to make the offerings required for them to use their magical powers to cure someone. The two of them couldn't earn enough money working in the town to pay for their mother's treatment so they came out into the forest to collect medicinal herbs instead.

I had to turn my own face away to wipe my own nose as I listened to Darryl's tale. These kids, they're so sweet... I'm a sucker for sad stories like this.

"How did you two feed yourself, with your mother being ill?" I asked.

"We did odd jobs in the city and the money we got kept us all fed, just about." Darryl answered. Well, the sorts of jobs a ten-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl could do wouldn't pay much and their mother couldn't work at all so they must have been on the edge of starvation. My respect for the children went up another notch.

“Are you hungry?" I asked. "We're just going to have dinner so you're welcome to eat with with us."

"Dinner, it's about time." Fer interjected. "I came back because I was hungry."

“I'm hungry too.” Dora-chan added.

"Sui's hungry as well-"

Oh, right. You guys are always hungry, of course. Give me a minute and I'll make something quick. What would be good for Darryl and Eris though? Our usual Japanese-style meal with rice wasn't going to work for them, bread would be a better bet for people from this world. In that case, hmmm... teriyaki in a burger bun would do fine. I'd have to use what I had with me since I didn't want to use Net Super in front of the kids. I started by taking my Black Magic Cooking Stove out of my Item Box. The kids eyes widened as I pulled the stove seemingly out of nowhere.

"Item Box..." Darryl muttered. "I've got Item Box myself, but not that big..." Oh, Darryl has the Item Box skill? That should be useful for him to earn money once he grows up a bit more. “Eris doesn't. She can only carry what she's got in her hands." he went on. He shrugged. "That's okay though." Eris pouted and punched her brother in the side. Watching the two kids interact was really cute, it was obvious they really cared for each other.

Oh, I'll tell you in advance that I don't have an interest in children, not THAT way. Honestly. But they were still cute.

Anyway, time to get cooking. I started with some dungeon-drop Cockatrice meat, grilling it on both sides in a frying pan until it was crisp, mopping up the excess fat with a paper towel. I added shop-bought teriyaki sauce I had in my Item Box and flipped the meat over and over, letting the sauce soak in at a lower heat. While that was finishing cooking I sliced up black bread buns and filled them with chopped cabbage topped with mayonnaise. I added Cockatrice teriyaki meat and Hey Presto! teriyaki burgers.

I filled wooden cups with orange juice and handed them along with the burgers to Darryl and Eris.

"There you go." I said. The children looked at the unfamiliar burgers with some suspicion but when I said "If you don't eat them my hungry contracted monsters will." they took tentative bites before gobbling them down.

"Delicious!" was Darryl's verdict.

"It's really delicious, brother!" Eris said, finally breaking her silence. "This drink is also sweet and delicious."

Yeah yeah, eat up kids. I still had to cook for the Gluttonous Trio, and myself of course, I had to remember to cook enough for my own dinner too. The "three pieces of kaarage" incident still lingered in my memory. Never again, I swore. I made lots of teriyaki burgers, cooking on all four burners of the stove, to feed Fer, Dora-chan and Sui-chan as quickly as I could.

Darryl and Eris were surprised to see my contracted monsters eat so much, dish after dish, as quickly as I made it and put it down in front of them.

"Wow, everyone eats a lot." Darryl said, wide-eyed.

“Oh, we all eat a lot." I told him. "Are you still hungry, Darryl, Eris? I can make more for you if you want."

They both politely replied they were already full. Well, they were only kids and the black bread teriyaki burgers they had eaten were quite substantial so that was expected.

“How about another drink then?” Eris finished her orange juice and then shyly held out her cup to me. I filled it up again and then refilled Darryl's cup in turn. I left them drinking up happily as I turned back to the stove as Fer and Sui-chan demanded ""Seconds!"" again. Finally, everyone had eaten their fill (including me, of course).

Darryl and Eris handed their cups back before sitting up straight and facing me.

"Uncle, thank you."

"Thank you, uncle."

Ah, what's with that "uncle", did they really mean me...? It was nice to be thanked so properly by the children, but "uncle"? I was going to protest but they were kids, after all. In this world people who are 20 years old often already have one or two children. I'm only 27 years old but to them I'm an old man. Kuh, that's a real downer.

"Buahaha... so you really are an old guy, huh?" Fer said telepathically. Hey Fer, don't make fun of me. Remember you're over a thousand years old yourself, Grandpa. Great grandpa. G-g-g-g-g-great grandpa.

“Well, at least they didn't call you 'older brother'.” Dora-chan added. Are you inferring that I'm old too? It looks like I'll have to talk to you later, Dora-chan.

"Uncle? Aruji is Aruji-" Yeah, my only healing is Sui-chan.

“Uncle, are you an Adventurer?” Darryl asked.

“Oh, yes, more or less.” Getting called 'uncle' still hurt but I could stand it, I told myself firmly, despite Fer's silent sniggering.

"About the Orcs, how much money would I get for one Orc? Is it enough to get a priest from the capital?"

Ah, that's why you wanted one of the Orcs, to pay for a high-ranking priest to come from the capital and make your mother well again? I'm sorry, but whatever you think a single Orc isn't going to be nearly enough.

"One Orc... it's not going to be enough..."

"Then how much will it cost?" Darryl interrupted. "If I got all five Orcs, is that enough? I'll do anything if you'll give them to me." Darryl bowed his head to me, followed by Eris. That hurt me, seeing them so serious and desperate. Kids, I'd give you all five Orcs if it would help but I didn't think that even that many Orcs would earn you enough money to pay for a high-ranking priest to come all the way from the capital to treat your mother.

I really wanted to help them out but it would be hypocritical of me to help only them simply because we ran into each other here. Maybe it was Fate that I had encountered Darryl and Eris but, well, the Gods and Goddesses I had dealt with didn't seem the type to arrange such things. What could I do for them?

I could give them one of Sui's Deluxe High-grade Potions but would it work? It was effective on injuries, like other potions were but I'd never tried it on illnesses. How seriously ill was the children's mother? It sounded bad if the local temple's priest couldn't cure her completely. She'd need something like Elixir, probably...

Of course, I realised, I now had THAT.

“Darryl, Eris, I haven’t introduced my contracted monsters yet." I said. I was going to be busy for a while and the kids would need looking after as well as being distracted. I couldn't let them see what I was going to attempt to do.

"This big fluffy white thing is called Fer." I ignored Fer's outraged telepathic complaints. "And this is a Pixie Dragon, his name is Dora-chan and this Slime is Sui. I hope you can get along."

"Will they get mad if we touch them?" Darryl asked nervously, looking at Dora-chan and Fer.

“I won't get angry.” Dora-chan said, telepathically of course.

"Brats like that touching me, of course I'll not get mad." Fer said contemptuously, his head high.

"Fer can talk, as you see." I explained to Darryl and Eris. "If you want to ask something just say it to him." I turned to the Pixie Dragon which flew down and landed in front of the fascinated children. "You okay with that, Dora-chan?"

Darryl suddenly reached down and touched Dora-chan's head once then pulled his hand back abruptly. Dora-chan did nothing except blink and raise his head so Darryl reached down to stroke the Pixie Dragon again and again, across the top of his head, down his neck and between his wings.

Eris on the other hand approached Fer and pushed her hands into his thick (and thankfully just-washed) coat. When Fer didn't do anything she giggled and started running her fingers through his soft hair.

“Fer’s hair is fluffy and smells good.” she said. Fer gave me a Look but stood still, patiently allowing the little girl to play with him. Okay, things seemed to be working out fine here. I sent Fer and Dora-chan a telepathic message.

“Fer, Dora-chan. I have something to do with Sui. Take care of Darryl and Eris for now, keep them safe. I don't think it will take much time, I'll be back soon."

I turned to Sui-chan who was looking up at me. "Sui, I've got something I'd like you to do. Come with me will you?"

"Of course, Aruji-"

I left the kids in Fer and Dora-chan's care while Sui and I headed off into the forest.

Wednesday 25 September 2019

Ch 156 Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi

Chapter 156 -- Let's Wash Off That Dungeon Grime


After we left the Adventurers Guild I asked Fer to come with me to a quiet place outside the city.

"It's time I brushed and washed you again." I explained. We had spent weeks in the dungeon and I couldn't get a bath there myself but Fer's fur was truly filthy since I never had the time or the opportunity in the dungeon to groom him. It was time to make his coat gleam again, I had decided. I got the big dog brush out of my Item Box as Fer eyed me warily.

"Do you really have to?" he half-whined as I started to carefully brush his coat out.

“Well yes." I said as I worked my way down his back. "There were swamps and deserts in the dungeon, remember, so your coat's really dirty.”

"Nuuuu, I don't think I'm really that dirty..."

“No, no, your coat’s really really dirty. I can feel it, your hair is tangled and your paws and legs are totally encrusted with mud." I kept working at his coat with the brush, figuring that stopping to argue with him would just waste time. He kept muttering under his breath but put up with my efforts. I couldn't understand it really, didn't he like being clean and, well, handsome-looking? He wasn't Japanese, I suppose... Cleaning around Fer's lower legs and paws was a lot of work but finally I finished brushing the mud and dust and mats out of his long hair and it was time to wash him.

"Sui, I need to make hot water so can you fill my bath for me?" I would do it the same way I had done before, add a small Fireball to a bath tub of cold water to make the water warm enough to wash Fer's large body properly.

"I understand-" Sui-chan agreed as I reached into my Item Box to get out my bathtub (MY bathtub!)

“Nuu, hot water isn't needed." Fer interrupted. "I'm okay with cold water, just get it over with.”

"But won't it be too cold for you, washing with cold water? You could catch a chill." It wasn't particularly warm around Doran right now so was washing in cold water really a good idea?

"Moron." Fer said dismissively. "Just who do you think I am? Just getting soaked in cold water isn't going to hurt me. I've got Ninril-sama's blessing, remember? I won't get sick. Just hurry it up will you?"

"Eh, you gonna wash the big guy with cold water?" Dora-chan asked, buzzing around Fer's body inquisitively. Of course, I remembered, he hadn't yet joined our group the last time I had washed Fer. "Hot water feels a lot better, big guy but if you don't want it that way then we'll be able to get our own bath sooner." It seems that Dora-chan really liked bathing.

"Yeah, the quicker you finish washing me the better, so hurry it up." Fer agreed. "Get it over with, will ya?"

“Yeah yeah, I'll wash you quickly with cold water then.”

"Good." Fer closed his eyes, ready for the dreaded onslaught.

“Sui, can you spray Fer like you did last time?"

"Is it OK, Fer-ojichan-?" Sui-chan asked.

"Umu. Go ahead, Sui." Fer braced himself.

"I understand-" Sui sprayed water all over Fer's coat from her tentacle until he was thoroughly soaked. I rubbed lots of the vet-recommended high-quality pet shampoo (remembering not to mention it was particularly good for kittens and puppies within Fer's hearing range) into his coat, starting with the fur on his back.

"Hey, harder!" Fer insisted, his body shivering as I worked the shampoo deep into his coat with my fingers. Yeah yeah. I pushed deeper and harder, forcing the detergent down towards the roots of his long hair.

“Put more effort into it.” Fer admonished me, his body twitching and squirming under my hands. Was the shampoo making his skin itch? It wasn't supposed to, I thought to myself as I washed and washed and washed, working as hard as I could but Fer kept telling me to apply more and more force.

"Harder than that, you." Yeah yeah. I worked my way across his giant body thinking that if he really wanted a quick wash why was he ordering me to slow down to put more effort into the shampooing process? Could it be, I stifled a snigger, that he was actually enjoying the massage? Surely not, the Great And All-powerful Fenrir currently covered in sweet-smelling foamy bubbles was not the sort of creature that would enjoy being man-handled by a mere human, was he? I carefully kept my thoughts to myself as I followed his instructions to rub here with more effort and apply more pressure there and so on. Finally it was done, with the exception of his face and muzzle since I didn't want to get shampoo in his eyes.

“Okay, good. Sui, spray water over Fer again please."

"Yes-" Sui-chan's shower attachment tentacle rinsed the shampoo bubbles from Fer's coat. Just the last bit to do, but was I forgetting something important? Never mind, it'll come to me, I thought to myself.

"Fer, we'll wash your face now." I warned him.

"Nuuuu, do it quick." Fer scrunched up his eyes even more, dreading the faint spritz of water to come.

"Sui, can you put a weak spray of water on Fer's face? Like a bit of rain, nothing harder OK?" I didn't want Sui-chan to unleash a Water Cutter or anything like that by accident. It probably wouldn't hurt Fer but I didn't want to take the chance. What was I forgetting though?

"Yes, I understand-" Sui-chan's tentacle sprayed a gentle stream of water on Fer's face, washing the dirt and grime from his muzzle and around his eyes. I watched shining fur emerge from the muck-encrusted features of Fer's face, wondering how he could stand being so unclean for so long. Finally it was done.

“Okay, Sui, that's enough.” Sui-chan stopped.

"Fuuu-, finally finished?" I saw Fer's water-soaked body tense and I suddenly remembered that important thing. No!

“Fer! Wait a minute." I said urgently. "Don't shake yourself dry until we get well away from you. OK?" Fer froze then relaxed. Sui-chan and I backed quickly away from Fer with Dora-chan flying along with us, obviously puzzled at our reticence. When I judged we were well out of the blast radius I said "On you go!"

Fer shook his massive body, spraying water in all directions like the first time I washed him. This time though I was not in range, just. A few seconds later I felt the warm air of Fer's Wind magic as he completed the process of drying his coat. I didn't need to get out the very large pet towel I had bought originally to dry him.

“Right then, are we going to have a bath as well?” I asked, already reaching into my Item Box for the you-know-what (MY you-know what!)

"Yup." said Dora-chan excitedly.

"Yay-" Sui-chan chimed in.

As we started to get ready for our own bath, the now completely dry Fer was pacing back and forth, obviously agitated for some reason. "If you're all taking a bath then I'm going hunting." he finally said.

“Uh, that's fine but remember you've just got cleaned up so don’t get dirty again too quickly.”

"Nuuu, you don't have to tell me." No Fer, I do have to tell you. Never mind, I could always buy more shampoo from the Net Super. Thinking about shopping I made a request.

"If you're going hunting see if you can bring back some bird-type monsters, like Rock Bird or Cockatrice. We don't have much bird meat left." I felt a bit like an okaasan asking a surly teenager to go to the supermarket for ingredients for dinner but I figured he would agree. It had been a while since we had eaten bird meat after all.

"I got you." He was distracted now, his head swivelling from side to side as, I presume, he was searching the local area for suitable prey.

"Oh, and take this." I took out the middle-sized magic bag from my Item Box. It had a strap across its mouth like a shoulder bag so Fer could easily carry it while he was hunting.

"That magic bag thing?" Fer asked as I hung it around his neck.

"Yeah, it will come in handy. You can put your prey in it so you can bring a lot of monsters back in one go." Fer could usually only bring back one monster at a time in his mouth. The alternative to him using the bag to store them was for him to drag me to where he had piled up mountains of subjugated monsters and have me load them into my Item Box, and I really wanted to have my bath in peace.

"Umu, that's a good idea. I'll borrow it." Fer said before dashing off into the surrounding forest but not before I got him to set up his Barrier for us. Safety first after all.

* * * * *

"Fuuu, this feels good."

"Ahhh, really great!"

"Feeling good, aruji-"

After Fer disappeared into the forest I quickly organised filling the bath and warming up the water and then washed myself down. Now Dora-chan, Sui and me were taking it easy, immersed in the tub's hot soothing water. Dora-chan and Sui-chan were floating like rubber ducks, bobbing up and down while I stretched out in the tub (OUR tub). To celebrate our conquest of Doran's dungeon I had added a deluxe bubbly carbon dioxide bath salt from the Net Super, supposedly beneficial for tiredness. I felt warm and relaxed, my body losing its tenseness. It smelled good, too. Finally-

"I'm done, I think. Want to get out now?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Yeees-"

We all got out of the bath. After I dried myself off, changed into fresh clothes and cleaned up the tub I bought fruit milk for Dora-chan and Sui and coffee for me from the Net Super. Ahhhh!

Suddenly I heard children's voices off in the forest, coming closer. What the-?

"He- HELP!"

"Kyaaa-!"

A boy and a girl, around 10 years old, ran into the clearing, looking frantically behind them and not seeing us standing there.

“Run away, Eris. I'll distract them!" the boy shouted.

“I'm not leaving you!” the girl replied.

Why they were running for their lives became clear very quickly as five pursuing Orcs broke through the underbrush behind them into the clearing.

"Dora-chan, Sui!" I shouted, pointing at the Orcs.

"Yup, leave 'em to me." Dora-chan said, taking to the air.

"Sui will help-" Sui-chan's sniper tentacle swung onto target.

Thunk thunk, thunk. Dora-chan's small figure wreathed in Fire magic punched straight through the bodies of three of the Orcs while Splat! Splat! Sui-chan's Acid Bullets dealt with the remaining two pursuers.

"Hoi, are you two all right?" I went over to the two kids who were standing frozen, stunned at seeing the Orcs dealt with so easily. No reply so I tried again.

“Hey, the Orcs are dead, they can't harm you now." The boy and girl looked at me with fear-stricken expressions. "Where did you two come from?" I asked. We were some distance from the city. Why would young children be wandering through a dangerous forest like this? Was there an adult with them? The boy and the girl both started sobbing. I realised just how scary it would be to be that age and get chased by Orcs but it was over now, wasn't it? Why had they just started crying now?

"Uwaaah, waaaah waaah waaah!"

"Uh, uh, hey hey hey..." I was never very good at dealing with kids and my attempts to console them weren't doing much good when suddenly Fer reappeared from the surrounding forest.

"What's up with these brats?" Fer growled. This didn't help as the children's crying redoubled at the sight of yet another obviously dangerous monster.

"Oh, ah, this is..." I tried to explain to the distraught kids. "Look, it's okay, he's my contracted monster and he won't hurt you or anything." They weren't listening though. Fer spotted the five dead Orcs at the edge of the clearing. "Hey, what are those doing here?" he said loudly, causing the kids to start screaming. Oh great.

"Hey Fer, keep quiet will you?" I sent to Fer telepathically while I bent down in front of the two kids in yet another attempt to comfort them. As they focused on me, I reached over and petted Fer's head like a puppy. I saw their eyes widen in surprise and their sobbing stopped.

“You're safe now." I told them in a quiet and hopefully reassuring voice. I patted Fer's head again, ignoring his telepathic mutterings. I was pretty sure he wouldn't bite my hand off as he was promising. "Fer here is my contracted monster. He won't do anything to hurt you. Really."

Thursday 12 September 2019

Ch 155 Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi

Chapter 155 -- The Demon Sword Caladbolg


“Weeeell," I continued, "I didn't put this particular item in the list I gave you earlier because it looked like the sort of thing that was going to be troublesome, you see and..." I stopped delaying the inevitable and reached into my Item Box. "Heave-ho..." I pulled out the Demon Sword Caladbolg.

“This was the drop from the dungeon boss Behemoth we defeated. It's called the Demon Sword Caladbolg, apparently..."

"Wha..." the handsome elf Elland-san sitting across from me broke into a loud coughing fit. "Cough, cough, cough." I waited politely until he had recovered and wiped his streaming eyes.

"De-, De-, Demon Sword?" He coughed again but his eye stayed fixed on the sword I held in my hand like I was holding a poisonous snake. I might have laughed at his over-reaction but it just confirmed to me this sword was going to be troublesome, or perhaps even dangerous. A moment or two later he had composed himself somewhat and continued.

"You see, cursed swords..." he said, his eyes still concentrating on the sword I held. "Given that Doran's dungeon has a high difficulty rating some people, including myself, thought there was a chance that there might be a cursed sword drop if it was defeated..."

As Elland-san went on to explain to me only four cursed swords were known to exist. The first, “Demon Sword Joyeuse” was said to have been brought back from a dungeon by a Hero chosen by a God 700 years ago. It was kept securely in the main Temple of the Holy Kingdom of Lubanov.

The second cursed sword, "Demon Sword Blutgang" was in the possession of the Geisler Empire. They took it from a dungeon in their territory about 400 years ago. It is said they sent 30,000 soldiers into the dungeon to acquire it.

The third cursed sword was the “Demon Sword Balisarda” owned by the Marbella Kingdom. The story is that about 300 years ago a party of S-rank Adventurers brought it back from some unknown dungeon and the Kingdom of Marbella bought it. The rumour is that it cost the Kingdom its entire annual budget to purchase it.

The fourth cursed sword was the “Demon Sword Arondight” which was in the possession of the Leonhart Kingdom. According to legend it was recovered from a dungeon in this country by Leonhart's first king (by the way, that wasn't the dungeon here in Doran, apparently).

I wondered who was the first king who had the ability to bring back a magic sword back from a dungeon. It sounded like quite a story which I wanted to hear when I had the time, I thought to myself, as Elland-san sat back and spread his hands. However I had my own problems to deal with first. This “Demon Sword Caladbolg” that I brought back from Doran's dungeon was going to be only the fifth cursed sword known to exist? "Troublesome" didn't begin to describe it, I decided.

"You said that all four of the magical swords I you told me about, they all belong to countries...?" Elland-san had been clear the cursed swords he had told me about were in the possession, not of Adventurers or Heroes, but various nations.

"That's right." he went on. "A cursed sword is a symbol of national power so any country that can get one will keep it in their possession.'' Oh. I looked down at the heavy sword in my hand. So what I'm holding right now is something any country, any ruler would desire, would pay any price to obtain. Oh dear.

“Oh, so would you be willing to buy it?” I asked desperately. If I sold it to the Guild then it wouldn't be my problem any more, right?

“Don’t be stupid." Elland-san blurted, his eyes wide in shock, then he shook his head. "Sorry, but we can't buy a Demon Sword. Its price, like I said, matches a country's national budget." Of course, you're totally right. Forget I even asked you, Elland-san.

"We can't buy it," he went on, "but perhaps you should think about trying to use it yourself? Any swordsman could only dream of wielding such a weapon." No, Elland-san, I'm not a swordsman. I looked down at the sword again. It was really too heavy for me to use comfortably as a weapon -- the Mithril shortsword Sui-chan had made for me was my limit, just about, and for some reason I didn't want some country or other to have the Demon Sword Caladbolg  as a symbol of their power and prestige. I'd let it sleep forever in my Item Box, I decided.

“Well no, Elland-san." I explained. "This sword is really too heavy for me to use properly.”

"Oh, is that so?" Elland-san mused. "Could I hold it for a moment?"

"Yeah, that's OK." I said, handing the sword over to him. Elland-san hefted it then pulled Caladbolg out of its scabbard.

“It's certainly a heavy sword but that doesn't necessarily mean you couldn't wield it." Elland-san stood up and swung Caladbolg experimentally. Of course he was a former S rank adventurer and swordsman so he made it look effortless. Me, on the other hand, I'd probably drop it on my foot or cut my own leg off if I tried.

“I think it's made of Adamantite.” I said off-handedly as he admired the dark blade.

"Cough, cough, cough!!!" Elland-san suffered his second coughing fit of the day. Remarkably he didn't drop Caladbolg as he did so. I attributed this to his expertise as a swordsman.

"A-, A-, A-, Adamantite, it's made of....?" he stuttered, staring at the blade again.

“That’s what the Appraisal said.” I confirmed. Was it so surprising that Caladbolg was made of Adamantite? Mithril was, if not common at least something people in this world were familiar with. I thought that Adamantite would also be rarer and more expensive than Mithril but was it THAT uncommon?

After Elland-san regained his composure (again) he explained. “Adamantite, they say, is a legendary metal that no-one can damage or deform..." He stared again at the sword in his hand, awe and wonder in his eyes. Ah, that's how it is in this world. That just confirmed my earlier decision to keep this sword in my Item Box forever.

“Well, it's no use to me so I'll just put it away in my Item Box for now." I said to Elland-san who handed the Demon Sword Caladbolg back to me (a trifle reluctantly, perhaps) but he nodded approvingly as I put it into its sheath and deposited it in my Item Box again, muttering "Maybe it's for the best." as I did so. Sleep well, Caladbolg-san. There might come a time when I could do something with it but for now I was in no hurry to ever take it out again.

I thought we were finished but Elland-san raised a finger as I got up to leave. “Oh, yes, there was something else I had to tell you. You have been promoted to rank A, Mukouda-san." I sat down again, rather abruptly. What? Surely I was C-ranked, it said so on my Guild card didn't it? Why had I been suddenly promoted?

"Eh, now I'm an A-rank?"

"Yes, you can't remain as a C-ranked Adventurer after conquering the dungeon here in Doran." Elland-san explained. Oh, so that's why. Elland-san confiscated my C-rank Guild card and handed me a shiny new gold card which confirmed my new A-rank to anyone who might see it. I accepted it with some reluctance knowing that the conquest of Doran's dungeon was not due to my own minimal efforts over the past couple of weeks. I had left all the real fighting in the dungeon to my contracted monsters, after all.

“So, how long will it take for you to decide which items to buy from me?” I asked Elland-san as I tucked my new Guild card away.

“I’m going to consult with the Deputy Guild Master and we should be able to let you know what we will be purchasing by the day after tomorrow." Elland-san shrugged. "I have to prepare to visit the Adventurers Guild headquarters, and the Royal Palace too, in the capital to report on what has happened as soon as possible, you see. It's really troublesome..." Elland-san muttered. "The senior officers in the Guild and the King as well want to hear all the details of the conquest of Doran's dungeon, the specific changes to the later levels and so on and I've been summoned to personally provide them with that information." He looked at me questioningly. "Of course, it would be a great help for me to have the Adventurer in question and his contracted monsters accompanying me on such a trip.”

I immediately shook my head. Nope nope nope. “No, I don't agree, Elland-san. Pardon me but I respectfully decline." Meeting with the higher-ups of the Adventurers Guild would be bad enough but I most definitely didn't want to go to the Royal palace. It wasn't just the stress involved in dealing with such important and high-ranking people, I was also worried that the secret of my Summoning from another world might leak out.

"Ah well, I understand." Elland-san nodded. "We were told that you prefer to keep to yourself, Mukouda-san and of course we have the order from the Royal palace instructing us not to try to compel you to do anything you don't want to."

Thank you, thank you, I was really glad the ruler of this country was someone who could be reasonable. Of course he didn't want to anger Fer and perhaps have his nation destroyed but someone less sensible and more demanding could have made things more difficult for me.

Elland-san didn't give up though. "Is there nothing I could say or do that might persuade you to change your mind?" he asked. "I don't want to travel to the capital by myself. If we were travelling together, Mukouda-san then that would mean Dora-chan would be with us and I'd really like that." Uh-oh, Elland-san's Dragon obsession was leaking out again as his eyes took on a faraway look.

"I wrote out a request for a long vacation, you know, I wanted to follow you and Dora-chan and the others into the dungeon..." He shook himself. "However the Deputy Guild Master tore up my vacation request form. Don't you think that's a terrible thing for him to do? He even threatened me with going on strike! ‘So, Guild Master, if you're not going to take your job seriously then don't expect me to cover for you' is what he said."

No, Elland-san, the terrible thing is you not doing your job. I think you have a hard time dealing with your boss, Deputy Guild Master. Still, Elland-san had been helpful and supportive, at least when he didn't have visions of Dragons dancing through his head so I decided to make him an offer he would appreciate.

“Well, we're going to be staying in Doran for another day or two since the purchase of drop items has to be finalised but then we'll be leaving." I said. "However, if we come across another Dragon then we'll bring it back to this city."

At my words Elland-san slammed his hands on the table and leaned over it, his face uncomfortable close to my own.

"Really? Is that a promise?" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Yes, that's a promise, Elland-san." I answered, wishing the handsome but mercurial Elf was more familiar with the concept of personal space. Making a promise like that was easy, really, since Elland-san had proven he could successfully dismantle a Dragon, a rare skill. The alternative to returning to Doran to have this exacting task carried out would be to leave any Dragon Fer subjugated in the future in my Item Box forever like the other permanent residents resting there.

"You promised!" Elland-san grasped my shoulders and I think he would have hugged me or worse if the table hadn't been in the way.

"Yes, yes, Elland-san, it's a promise." I agreed. I broke his grip with some difficulty and stood up as he sat back in his chair, a goofy expression on his face. "So, I'll come back to the Guild some time the day after tomorrow when the purchases have been decided. Until then..." I closed the door behind me quietly but Elland-san didn't notice, his mind clearly on other things. I made a mental note to myself, don't discuss Dragons with Elland-san again if I didn't want to spend a long time helplessly trapped in his presence.