Volume 5 - CH 2.4

“Pururupuru.”

“Oh, Hitomin, what did you find?”

“Pururun.”

“Suramin found something too.”

The two slimes leaped onto the ground and brought something to them.

Hitomin showed Reito a shining blue coin. Suramin showed Kotomin a silver bracelet.

“What’s this? I’ve never seen this kind of coin. Is it an Imperial Era coin?”

“I have seen this bracelet before. It’s a ‘Magical Armband’ that heightens the user’s magical capabilities… I think.”

“What? I want that.”

“No… It’s mine. Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers.”

“No fair… I’m gonna take it while you’re sleeping.”

“If you do that, I’m gonna get in the bath naked every time you get in.”

“Isn’t that more embarrassing for you?”

The two went back and forth like comedians while Kotomin put on her bracelet. Reito felt really jealous of her as he put Hitomin’s coin in his breast pocket. He was going to ask Dain about it before he shouted, “Heey!! I found something cool!!”

“I can hear Dain’s voice… It’s coming from over there.”

“…I can’t believe he would shout in a place like this.”

『He might get killed by a Battle Golem. How carefree of him.』

“…Hmm? I feel like I heard someone else’s voice just now.”

“You’re just imagining it,” Reito said to Kotomin. They headed in Dain’s direction. No one but Reito should have been able to hear Airis’ voice, so Kotomin must have picked up on something since she’s so perceptive.

Reito and crew moved along. Dain was standing in front of a big building next to the forge. It was a building made from a jet black metal and appeared to be a material storage based on its position.

“Everyone, look! What material do you think this building is made out of!?”

“I don’t know… Obsidian?”

“No, you idiot. It’s all Adamantite!”

“The rare metal!?” Gonzo shouted in surprise.

Reito was also surprised. He had heard about its location from Airis, but he didn’t think the building itself would be made from it.

“It’s really cool, huh!? Shit… If we could just shave off a little bit of this Adamantite, we’d be so rich…”

“Adamantite is the hardest of all the magic metals, after all. It can’t be melted very easily, either. I’ve heard it’s the strongest metal in existence…”

“That’s incredible,” Reito said before Dain replied instantly.

“No shit!! H-, Hey… Don’t you wanna go inside? It’s an Adamantite building. There’s gotta be some incredible treasure inside…!!”

There was an enormous door on the front of the building that even a giant could go through. It had a colossal keyhole and wouldn’t open without the lock.

“Reito, do you think you can open this door?”

Reito shook his head.

“I’ll try, but don’t expect much from me.”

“You’ve got this, Reito… GO!!” Dain encouraged him.

Ullr whimpered.

Reito put his palms on the door and used his alchemy skills to try to open the lock. With his previous skills, he probably wouldn’t have been able to. But now, using his SP skills, he was able to manipulate even magic metal.

Because of that, he managed to change the shape of the Adamantite lock and open the door.

“Here we go!!”

“Woah!?”

A horrible noise rang out, and everyone was surprised.

But, the door showed no signs of opening. He had managed to pick the lock, but they would still need to get inside for themselves.

Looking at its build, the door would need to be opened from the inside.

Gonzo stepped in front of everyone and pushed.

“MOVE DOOR!!”

The inside of the door gradually began to move.

“There we go!! It’s moving!!”

“Ngh…!!”

Dain was excited as he watched on. Ullr and the Slimes began groaning.

“Grrrr…!!”

“Purupuru…!!”

“What’s wrong, Ullr? Hitomin?”

“Suramin?”

“Nghh… Nnnn!!”

“You did it!!”

Reito and Kotomin were confused, but Gonzo had managed to completely swing open the door.

Ignoring Ullr’s reaction for the moment, Reito peaked inside. It was a surprisingly small space. It didn’t look like very much was stored inside.

Reito spotted a humanoid object.

“What is that… Woah, what is that!?”

The object’s eyes lit up like a Golem the next moment.

“Did you see that light?”

“Could that be one of their friends!?”

Reito immediately put his guard up and backed away.

“Ahh… Wait a second. That’s not a Golem.”

“It’s not a Golem?”

“It seems to be magical, but its core isn’t responding. That’s a… doll.”

Reito used his Night Vision skill to look inside the room.

He was able to see the doll in its entirety.

“It appears to be wearing armor… but it doesn’t seem dangerous.

“Armor? Are you sure it won’t move!?”

“I’m sure… ‘Photosphere.’”

Reito created a ball of light and lit up the room.

The doll was just a wooden figure wearing armor that looked like it was from the Warring States Period. The doll’s eyes had red gems embedded in them. It appeared to be reflecting the light from the outside.

“Wh-, What… I’ve never seen this kind of armor,” Dain said, surprised.

Gonzo opened his mouth to speak, “I feel like I’ve seen this. It looks like when I visited the Beast Kingdom as a child. The shogun there wore this kind of armor.”

“Wow… Wait, the helmet part has a name on it. Kuroyasha.”

Just like the name suggested, the armor was all black. It might have been made from Adamantite, just like the building, Reito thought.

“It’s scary… but kind of cool.”

“Huh?” Dain was puzzled by Kotomin’s words.

“This is the treasure? Looking at the size of it, it wouldn’t fit you, Gon-chan.”

Reito said before Gonzo shook his head.

“Right, this is impossible even for me. It’s also too heavy. This armor is probably for a fully-grown adult man.”

Gonzo was a giant, but he was still a child age-wise. It would be too heavy for him to wear.

Reito tried to put it away with storage magic, but that was also impossible. It was too heavy for his current level.

“It doesn’t look like we can keep it…”

“But it’s Adamantite Armor!! We should at least take the helmet!! NGHAA!!” Dain tried to take the helmet off the doll’s head, but it didn’t move an inch.

“Give up. It’s completely fixed onto the doll’s head.

They wouldn’t be able to do anything but take the whole thing back home with them, which wasn’t attractive. There appeared to be nothing else in the warehouse, so they decided to leave.

“Shit… It would have been such a valuable treasure.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it. Can’t you already pay back your debts with that pickaxe?”

“That’s true… Wait!! Can’t you do something with your skills!?”

“Um… like peeling off a chunk of the helmet and armor?”

“Why not just change the shape of the whole building? It’s made of Adamantite, after all.”

Reito put his hands on the walls of the building and used his alchemy skills to the full extent of his capabilities.

“Nghaaa.”

“What!?”

“Ho…”

“…It looks like clay.”

Reito was showered with his friend’s bizarre words of encouragement and used “High-Speed Shape Change” to stretch out a part of the wall. He used his “Metal Transmutation” skill to soften the metal before pulling out his Extermination Blade to slice through it.

“Woah!!”

“Did he just cut through that!?”

Reito managed to slice off two meters of Adamantite. Once the “Metal Transmutation” effects wore off, it would revert back to the original material and become a bar of Adamantite.

He would have been able to shave off more, but given he had to carry it back with him, he was already at his limit.

Reito used storage magic to put it away into another dimension.

“We can split it when we get back. Does that sound good, Dain?”

“Uh, Um… I’m so glad we’re friends.”

“But, the building is warped.”

“It’s leaning to the left.”

Kotomin and Dain commented as they looked at the warehouse. Just as they had said, the building ended up with a weird shape, but, given that no one was using the space, Reito decided it wouldn’t be a problem.

He talked with his friends, and they decided to leave this space. They not only obtained a precious metal, but they also managed to find a World Tree. Once they got back to Adventure City and divided the material, their mission would be complete.

“Wait, but what about the ‘Ax’ sacred treasure? I wanted to take it with me, but I left it in the cave.”

“Maybe we could come back another time? If it’s that heavy, I doubt any monster could lift it up.”

Gonzo responded to Reito, “Even a Minotaurus couldn’t handle it with its strength.”

“Reito, we could have Ain do it when she gets back.”

“Ah, good idea!! Brilliant even… Alright.”

“Hahh… don’t startle me by starting a physical relationship out of nowhere.”

Reito was petting Kotomin’s head.

Ain was a cyclops Reito had befriended in the past, and he was now guarding the Elf Princess Tina, separate from the group.

The supernatural strength of the cyclops was no less than the Minotaurus. When Ain came back, they should easily be able to retrieve the Ax.

“In that case, let’s head back.”

“Oh man… we have to go into the forest again.”

“It’s okay. I have something from Aunt Maria… or wait, from my big sis,” Reito said and pulled out a crystal. The Transportation Spell “Stargate” was engraved on its surface.

It was a form of magic called “Release” that was a type of enchantment. The magic power was contained in a plane of the crystal, and if you said the magic word, its effects would be activated. She dubbed this form of magic “Crystal.”

“If we use this, we can teleport to any place we can imagine apparently. Let’s get back to the wolf-cart.”

“That’s the magic tool that the Guildmaster was using during the battle with the Rotten Dragon, right? That’s nice that they gave it to you…” Dain mumbled in surprise.

“I said, ‘give it to me pwease…’ and then they gave it to me.”

“That easily!?”

The crystal was a rare item at the moment, but there is work being done to mass produce it. At present, it’s a tool that only magicians can use, and doesn’t work if you don’t have an affinity for the magic contained inside it, but both those points will be improved on.

“Well, I’m gonna use it. Everyone, get close to me… ACHOO!!”

“Hey!? Don’t scare me!!”

“Sorry, doesn’t it feel like it got cold all of a sudden?”

“I don’t feel cold?”

Ullr whimpered.

“Purupuru…”

Everyone surrounding Reito except Kotomin, who was a mermaid, felt like the temperature had suddenly dropped. His breath was visible.

Reito looked around to see what was going on before Hitomin began shaking violently on his shoulders.

“Purupuru!!”

“Woah, what’s wrong Hitomin!? Are you taking on humanoid form?”

“No, I think she’s trying to communicate something.”

“I think an enemy is approaching.”

“Purun!!”

Hitomin and Suramin tucked themselves away in Reito’s clothing.

Reito and crew put their guard up and got their weapons ready.

Right after, a humanoid object came falling from the sky.