Volume 3 - CH 2

Chapter 2 – I Introduced Leticia To Everyone

The following day I woke up on the living room sofa.

Warm sunlight was streaming in through the window.

“Fuwah…”

I stretched up straight with a small yawn.

Then I heard a woman’s voice from across the table.

“Fufu. Good morning, Kou-sama.”

“…Leticia, you’re already up.”

Looking at the sofa on the other side, I saw Leticia’s figure there. The long golden hair is glistening in the sunlight.

“Did you sleep well last night?”

“Yes, thanks to the room you gave me, I had a good night’s sleep. I woke up a little early so I could watch you sleeping.”

“You don’t find it interesting to look at my face, do you?”

“No, no, you were very lovely.”

Leticia gave a small chuckle.

“The famous “dragon slayer” also looks very peaceful in his sleep.”

“Well, at least I didn’t have any nightmares.”

While talking about this, Lily came down from the second floor this time.

She was holding Surara in both arms as if he were her favorite stuffed animal.

“Good morning, Kou-san.

“Master-san! Good morning! …Huh? There’s an extra woman here!”

Surara notices Leticia’s presence and shouts.

“I’m Surara, a Helper Slime! I want to know your name!”

“My name is Leticia di Meteor. It just so happens that I am accompanying Kou-sama on his journey. Pleased to meet you.”

“I am Lily Luna Lunaria. …I saw Leticia-san in my [Foresight] last night. So I also know who you are.”

“Ara.”

Leticia rolled her eyes and turned to Lily, and said.

“Lily-sama is wearing the uniform of a priest of the God of War religion, isn’t it? And if you have the [Foresight], then you must be a [God of War’s Shrine Maiden], right?”

“Yes. That is correct.”

Lily nodded, and this time she spoke to me.

“I assume you know who Leticia-san is, Kou-san?”

“…Yeah.”

“Lily-sama, there is no need for you to worry.”

At the same time I nodded, Leticia opened her mouth.

“I have already explained my true identity to Kou-sama.”

“Hey, hey, Leticia-oneesan!”

Surara suddenly spoke up.

“All I know about you is your name, though!”

It seems that Lily has not told Surara about the contents of her [Foresight].

“If there are any secrets, I want to know! I’m excited!”

“Hmm, Surara-sama is so innocent, isn’t he?”

Leticia smiled and patted Surara on the head.

“Then, let me recite a poem to introduce myself as well.

I am from the farthest reaches of the world.

I am the meteor that cuts through the night sky with its blue flash.

I am that which brings all things to their knees.

I am the calamity that is the natural enemy of all living things.

My name is the bright and arrogant dragon.

You shall raise your hands in praise of my abominable name.

…Well, that’s about it.”

“Uh…”

Lily had a puzzled look on her face.

Well, that’s understandable.

Leticia’s poem is a chuunibyou poem, and only a ‘kindred spirit’ like me can understand it in one shot.

Most people would not be able to decipher it and would react like Lily did.

Surara, on the other hand──

“Eeeeeeeeeeeehhh! Leticia-oneesan is a calamity!?”

His mouth was wide open in surprise.

Apparently, Surara had properly understood that poem.

“Master-san, we are in trouble! She’s a calamity! But she doesn’t seem to be a bad person!”

“Yes, that’s right.”

When I nodded at Surara’s words, Leticia’s mouth fell open in delight.

“Fufu, thank you for trusting me. I have no intention of acting as a calamity, so please don’t worry about that. I prefer creative activities to destructive ones.”

By creative activities, I assume she refers to the poem she just mentioned.

I also remember she said that… painting is her hobby.

I’m wondering what kind of paintings she draws, but aside from that, I hear new footsteps coming from the stairway.

“Good morning. Everyone’s up early.”

Iris came downstairs, adjusting the position of the ribbon tying her hair with her right hand.

Her hair is long, red, and jewel-like in color.

“…Ara?”

Her red eyes turned to someone who wasn’t here yesterday… Leticia.

After blinking a few times, she said, with a puzzled look on her face.

“Are you, by any chance… Leticia?”

“It’s been a while, Iris-sama.”

Oops.

It seems that these two have known each other for a long time.

The relationship between Iris and Leticia is a matter of concern, but I decided to ask her about it over breakfast.

The reason is that Lily’s stomach made a reserved “kuuh…” sound.

“I-I’m sorry. Although we are in the middle of a talk…”

Lily turned her head down; her face turned bright red.

“There is no need to worry about it. To be honest, I was hungry too, and I was at my limit.”

I open my [Item Box] with a light follow-up.　

What I took out was the takeout hotep I bought at Surier.

Hotep is a soup made by simmering beef, chicken, vegetables, etc. The image is similar to the pot-au-feu of French cuisine.

Since time stands still inside the [Item Box], the hotep I took out was freshly made and hot.

“My goodness!”

Leticia’s eyes lit up.

“That’s hotep, isn’t it? I love it!”

She was probably raised in a snowy area and was not a big fan of this kind of warm soup.

Either way, I was glad she was happy.

“There’s always more for a refill, so just let me know.”

“Fufu. I’ll take your word for it and eat it without reservation.”

As breakfast began, I asked Iris.

“Are you acquainted with Leticia?”

“Yes. When I was on a quest to defeat a high-danger monster, Leticia was on the same subjugation team with me.”

“It was about a year ago. …Certainly, Iris-sama’s atmosphere has changed a lot compared to the old days.”

“Is that so?”

Iris tilted her head slightly.

“Well, maybe things have changed a bit since a year ago.”

“It’s more than a little bit. Iris-sama used to be a lot more cold and distant.”

“…That’s certainly true.”

I nodded at Leticia’s words.

Iris had a clear and simple atmosphere in the past, and sometimes her words and deeds were laced with shadows of her dark past.

She was treated coldly in her homeland of the Dragon-folk, and the loss of her younger sister, Felice, must have been an emotional wound for her.

Compared to when we first met, Iris has become much more expressive.

“Well, it’s a good development, isn’t it?”

“If Kou says so, I’m glad.”

“…I see. I understand now the reason for what changed Iris-sama.”

Leticia looked at us and nodded her head with a rather sullen expression.　

“Wait a minute, Leticia.”

Iris said in a panic.

“I have a feeling that you have some strange misunderstanding…”

“No, I don’t think so. I am a good friend, and I will support you, Iris-sama.”

“We only defeated monsters together, didn’t we? And it was only once.”

“If I consider you my best friend, then you are my best friend from that moment on.”

Leticia said this proudly as she puffed out her chest.　

Apparently, she is quite a pushy type.　

Iris may have thought the same thing and opened her mouth with a wry smile.

“Leticia, you are as fearless as ever, aren’t you?”

“Of course. I’m a great calamity, a bright and arrogant dragon ── the only thing I fear in this world is, at most, the flesh around my belly!”

“…Wait a minute.”

Iris’s movements came to a sudden halt.

“I think I just heard a terrible thing.”

“Come to think about it, I didn’t tell Iris-sama about it yet, did I?”

Leticia said, clasping her hands together.

“I am, actually, a calamity dragon. You’ll have to ask Kou-sama about the details.”

Why are you throwing the whole story at me?

Oh, well.

I coughed and began to explain Leticia’s true identity.

“…I see.”

Iris nodded deeply as she finished listening to me.

“Honestly, it was so unexpected that I couldn’t quite catch up with what was being said, but Kou decided that you could trust Leticia, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I have no objection to that. I trust Kou.”

“Ara, Iris-sama. Is that alright with you?”

Leticia said in a joking tone.

“I might be deceiving him.”

“No problem. Kou is basically a wise guy.”

“No, that is an overestimation. Even I can sometimes make mistakes.”

“I will support you when that happens. We’re on the same team, right?”

“I guess so.”

Iris and I looked at each other and nodded.　

On the other hand, Leticia is whispering to Lily and Surara.

“The three of us were supposed to be talking, but before we knew it, I was left behind…”

“Uh, I’m sorry to hear that…?”

“Cheer up, Leticia-oneesan!”

“Lily-sama, Surara-sama. Thank you. Well, this is all very interesting, and I’m going to observe the two of them as if I were a wall or a floor.”

Although I am not sure what Leticia is talking about, at any rate, we all had a good grasp of who she is. There were no objections about her accompanying us, so let’s continue on our way to Fort Port.

Ah. Right.

Leticia said something like, “The only thing I’m afraid of is the flesh around my belly,” but after breakfast, I took out some pudding from my [Item Box], and she was the first to gobble it up.

I thought she was afraid of the meat around her belly.

“Don’t worry. I have a constitution that doesn’t allow fat to go to my belly.”

I envy you.

* * *

After breakfast, the Grand Cabin headed back down the hill and back to the highway.

The trip was going well, and if all went as planned, we would be in Fort Port before noon.

Until then, each of us would spend our time in the Grand Cabin as we pleased.

I sat down on the sofa in the living room on the first floor and opened my [Item Box] in my mind.

There was something I wanted to do now.

Last night, I defeated White Scorpion and obtained materials such as shells and shears.

I wondered if I could use them to create new items with [Creation].

“…Oh?”

The [Full Assist] automatically activates in conjunction with my thoughts, and a new recipe floats in my brain.

Black Spider’s Gauntlet x 1 + White Scorpion’s Shell x 1 → Bastard Gauntlet x 1

The Black Spider’s gauntlet is an item created from Black Spider material with [Creation]. It is one of the pieces of armor that I usually equip myself with. It can restrain the enemy’s movement by spitting out sticky threads.

The item is still a pretty cool item at this point, but if it can be further enhanced, then so much the better.

…As a minor detail, “kagoshu” and “gauntlet” are two words that mean the same thing. [T/n: Kagoshu (籠手) is the kanji for gauntlet.]

I wonder why they are not unified, but let’s create it with [Creation] anyway.

When I reminded myself to perform it, Bastard Gauntlet was added to the list in my [Item Box].

Bastard Gauntlet: Black Spider and White Scorpion ─ two irreconcilable rivals ─ are the materials used to create this top-quality gauntlet. It emits a thunderbolt that can knock an enemy into stupor.

Granted effects:《Shock Absorption S+》《Magic Absorption S+》《Black Spider Thread EX》《White Scorpion Thunderbolt EX》.

Okay, it’s done.

First, let’s see the real thing.

When I select the Bastard Gauntlet from the [Item Box], both of my arms are enveloped in a pale light, and they are automatically attached.

Compared to the Black Spider’s gauntlet, the Bastard Gauntlet is slightly larger, and the design has changed to be more sharp-edged and aggressive.

It is gray in color, probably because it has elements of both the Black Spider and the White Scorpion.

I remember reading a news article on the Internet when I was in Japan that said something like, “Spiders and scorpions have the same ancestry.”

If that is the case, then perhaps…

“Maybe the Black Spider and the White Scorpion share the same ancestry.”

I was just mumbling out loud.

It was supposed to be just a soliloquy… but Surara, who was nearby looking out the window, seemed to have heard me, and when he turned to look at me, he said.

“Master-sama, you know it so well! You’re right about that!”

“…What did you say?”

I asked back involuntarily.

“An ancient monster scholar told me that the Black Spider and the White Scorpion are like brothers born from the same single monster!”

“A similar story is told in the legends of the Dragon-folk.”

Iris was sitting next to me on my left, peering into the tourist guidebook spread out on the table when she looked up from the paper and said.

“I heard that Black Spiders and White Scorpions have been fighting each other since ancient times over who is the rightful heir because they share a common ancestor.”

“Sounds like a human story.”

“It’s just a legend, so I don’t know if it’s true or not. …By the way, Kou, I’ve been wondering about you for a while now. Did you make a new gauntlet?”

“Yeah. I added material from White Scorpion to the Black Spider gauntlet that I originally had to strengthen it.”

“So that is why you talked about the Black Spider and the White Scorpion. That makes sense.”

“Well, that’s about it.”

I nodded to Iris’s words and noticed Lily’s gaze.

Lily was sitting diagonally across from me on my left, looking at the tourist guidebook with Iris just a few minutes ago, but now she seemed to be very interested in the Bastard Gauntlet.

She looked like a child gazing at a coveted musical instrument with an eager expression on her face.

“Want to try it on?”

I said, took off the Bastard Gauntlet, and held it out to Lily.

“…Is it okay?”

“Of course. Everything in life is an experience.”

“T-thank you very much…”

Lily said this with hesitation and put her arm through the Bastard Gauntlet.

“…It’s a bit oversized.”

Well, I guess that’s true.

The Bastard Gauntlets are made to fit my size.

Lily is small and has thin arms and legs, so it’s no wonder.

“Thank you very much. …Kou-san, your arms are so thick, aren’t they?”

“Is that so? I think it’s normal.”

I look at my own arms as I receive the Bastard Gauntlet from Lily.

…If you ask me, I feel like I have more muscles than I did when I was a company employee.

If it is the result of intense fighting up to today, it is a pleasant by-product.

As I was thinking about this, an inorganic voice echoed in my head.

Apparently, the creation of the Bastard Gauntlet increased my skill experience, and [Creation] has been ranked up. It’s currently level 17. Thereby, the recipe has increased.

Trumpet x 1 + Dark-colored Vestments x 1 + Yggdrasil Branch x 1

→ Sacred Gjallarhorn x 1

Whoa, what an unexpected combination.

The trumpet is something I got at the festival in Surier, the dark-colored vestments are a relic of Elder Lich (?), and the branch of Yggdrasil was made from the Devil Treant’s branch using [Material Alchemy].

What kind of item is the “Sacred Gjallarhorn” created from these three materials that seem unrelated to each other?

I’m very curious, so let’s get to work on it.

“──[Creation].”

Sacred Gjallarhorn: A flute imbued with sacred power. Its tone returns the souls of valiant warriors to this world and gives them great power.

Granted effect:《Spirit Warrior Summon EX》.

This is knowledge I gained from anime and games, but it is said that “Gjallarhorn” is an item from Norse mythology, a flute that heralds the end of the world.

Considering this, “Sacred Gjallarhorn” is quite a disturbing name.

If I blow this, it won’t be the end of the world or something like that, will it?

Sacred Gjallarhorn has no effect other than《Spirit Warrior Summon EX》.

Please rest assured.

Oops.

I didn’t realize that [Full Assist] could answer such a joke of a question.

It’s like a voice assistant on a smartphone.

When I first arrived in this world, [Full Assist] was much more mechanical, like a game system message. Compared to those days, it has become more varied in its statements and suggestions.

Perhaps [Full Assist] has grown as well.

Now that I have gotten sidetracked, it is time to get back to the main topic.

Let’s talk about the Sacred Gjallarhorn.

The granted effect is《Spirit Warrior Summon EX》, which allows the user to summon immortal warriors by blowing the Sacred Gjallarhorn.

The warriors seem to be classified as undead, but they are not evil beings; rather, they are filled with divine power. Therefore, purification magic does not seem to work on them.

Since they have overcome the greatest weakness of the undead, it is quite reassuring to consider them as allies.

The maximum number of summons is calculated by the formula “my level x 10,” and since I am currently level 109, I can summon up to 1090 summons. That’s quite a lot…

Next time I encounter a monster, I’ll summon it to fight for me.

Just as I came to that conclusion…

“I drew it! I drew it!”

I heard Leticia’s voice from a little distance away.

After breakfast, she sat down on a chair in the dining room, pulled out a pencil and a sketchbook out of nowhere, and began to draw with all her heart.

About an hour has passed since then, and from what she said earlier, it seems that she has finally completed her drawing.

Leticia stood up from her chair with the sketchbook in her hand.

With a proud look on her face, she comes over to us.

“Everyone, if you please take a look at this. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done after a long time.”

Leticia unfolded her sketchbook and put it on the table.

In the sketchbook was a picture of us relaxing in the living room.

In the drawing, Surara is looking out the window, and Iris and Lily are facing each other, peering into the tourist guidebook. As for me, I was sinking into the sofa and gazing at the ceiling. This is probably the way I look when I am performing [Creation] in my mind.

The outlines of the people and objects are drawn in great detail, and the colors are all expressed using only shades of pencil.

It looks like a black-and-white photograph. On the other hand, the warmth of the hand-drawn images is also expressed, and we feel as if we are about to start moving in the sketchbook.

“…Amazing.”

I couldn’t help but say a word of praise.

“I was surprised at how good you are at drawing.”

“Fufu. I am honored to receive such a compliment. The key point is Kou-sama’s profile. I am proud to say that I have successfully expressed the cool and calm atmosphere.”

“Leticia is right.”

Iris muttered with a satisfied look on her face.

“I feel like this is just like Kou, with lots of leeways.”

Is that so…?

I don’t usually look at my own expression, so I can’t really feel it.　

I tilted my head and looked at Lily.

Apparently agreeing with Iris’ words, she nodded her head repeatedly.　

“I was wondering if Leticia-oneesan has the [Painting] skill?”

When Surara asked her that, Leticia nodded her head.

“Yes. In addition to [Painting], I also use my power as a calamity.”

That’s a waste of calamity… I can’t say that.

It’s a peaceful use of power that would normally be used for destructive activities, and personally, I think it’s a wonderful thing.

As I nodded to myself, I heard Dest’s voice coming from the magic speakers on the ceiling.

“Master! It’s the ocean!”

“Wow! It’s amazing; it’s so sparkling!”

Surara was the first to speak up.

Opening the window and looking out, there was a sandy beach a short distance away, with the ocean stretching out beyond it.

The breeze that blew in smelled of the sea.

We were almost at Fort Port.