Episode 62: Newbie Adventurers?
“I believe I should also engage in some activities to maintain this house,” Barbatos said.
“I’ll accompany you,” Asahi added.
“There’s no point in having too many people, so let’s stick with this group,” I said.
Barbatos had taken the two of them to Solva Town to look for land and a building. There was a shop of a convenient size, and since they were buying the land with it, they were free to do as they pleased, so they decided to purchase it right away.
It was near the Adventurer’s Guild and along the main street. Moreover, the owner was absent, which was very convenient.
Heinz-san was particularly enthusiastic, so they decided to buy it on the spot.
Right now, they’re secretly bringing in Drones to dig underground.
“I’ll be here to investigate the goods of other merchants. It’s my first time running a store for adventurers, so I want to check the prices and such,” Fiorina explained.
“I’m going to the alchemist’s shop too! I’ll have Heinz-san accompany me for the investigation!”
“Understood. Let me know early if you run short of money,” Barbatos replied.
“Understood!” they both responded.
Good response.
Fiorina is training as an alchemist, so she won’t be stationed here permanently.
Besides the goods, the route for transporting items isn’t established yet, so running a store is still impossible. But Heinz-san said it’s not good to let the building sit idle, and I agreed that it would be suspicious if there was no activity after buying it.
So, we decided to use it as an adventurer’s house centered around Barbatos. Of course, we also plan to spread the word that we’ll eventually open a store.
“A swordsman, a scout, and a mage party? I’m the mage?” I asked.
“The vanguard is already sufficient,” Barbatos stated.
“To protect King-sama, that formation is good,” Asahi added.
“Well, the guard is already covered,” I pointed out.
Houryuu is in the shadows. I told him I didn’t need him, but he came anyway.
“A mage, huh… well, I do have a staff,” I said.
“That conspicuous one, isn’t it?” Heinz asked.
“Conspicuous?”
“Yes. It’s amazing.”
Saying that, he takes out a Magic Staff from his Spatial Storage.
This is categorized as a “Magic Handgun.” I don’t know who decided that, but that’s what it is.
It looks like a flashy and fantastical magic staff that appears in games and animations. It’s about 2 meters long.
It faintly emits light, and when magic is activated, the light forms a mysterious pattern that resembles angel wings.
The weapon’s name is “ES-A11,” a charge-type Magic Gun developed by ES Union.
Like Slug TCC-07, it basically doesn’t require Magic Core replacement, and it can be charged even without using up all the Magic Power inside. The attack method is selectable, with four options: “Bullet,” “Cannon,” “Bind,” and “Blaster.”
When activated, a small amount of Magic Power is passed through the staff, so by imbuing that Magic Power with your will, you can change the shape of the magic itself. The Magic Core can be replaced and supports various attributes, including the basic Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth, as well as Null, Lightning, and Ice.
The attack method is selectable, and the strength of the Magic Power needs to be controlled during activation. Moreover, the Magic Core has a large capacity, so the required Magic Power is also high. It can only be used by people with a certain amount of Magic Power and who are skilled in Magic Power control, so it’s not very suitable for deployment in the military.
However, there is a demand for such weapons. The Unified Space Force has a large number of personnel, and people from various cultural spheres exist. There are quite a few people from cultures who don’t trust guns and believe that mages should fight with staves.
However, the organization can’t avoid providing weapons to such people. The “ES-A” series was prepared for them.
Originally, it was a simple wooden staff, but it gradually became flashy, starting with whose request, it seems. From A06 to A09, there wasn’t much technical progress, and they only changed the appearance.
“King-sama, so cool,” Asahi exclaimed.
“Ho, ho, ho. Even members of the Magic Division rarely equip magic staves of that level,” Houryuu added.
“It’s more of a Magic Item than a magic staff, though,” I said.
The role of a typical magic staff used by mages is fundamentally different from that of the ES-A11. It’s used to make it easier for the caster to control the power of the magic, to maintain a certain level of power, or to help enhance the power itself.
In contrast, this doesn’t have those functions. It’s a Magic Item that releases the magic sealed within the staff. The category is Magic Gun because of that.
“The tunnel construction is one thing, but it will take more than half a year to build a road, right?” I asked.
“It’s surprising that it will be finished in that amount of time,” Barbatos replied.
The Warrior Brigade is working on clearing the area for the planned road in the First Forest, and they’ve already finished a third of it.
Beatrice is wielding her Halberd, and the Bear Warriors are tearing out the tree roots. As expected, the collected wood and stumps are being collected with Magic Bags. These are resources, so they can’t be wasted.
The time-consuming part is compacting the ground. We could lay down blocks to make a road, but even to do that, we need to level the ground to some extent, and there are many places where we won’t be able to fill it in.
“It’s fine that I’m a mage, but I’ll use this,” I said.
“Muu,” Asahi pouted.
“Eeeh,” Fiorina whined.
They both look disappointed, but it’s fine, right? This is the “ES-A11-B,” a type with the same performance but a plain appearance for those who don’t like flashy looks.
It looks like a wooden staff, but the contents are the same as the “ES-A11.” The length is also shorter, at 160 centimeters. It’s still bigger than me, though.
“If you wear a robe, it’ll be perfect, right?” I asked.
“The robe is, well, how should I put it…” Fiorina hesitated.
“Plain,” Asahi finished.
“This is also high-performance, you know? Here,” I said.
It’s a Cloak of Invisibility. It has an optical camouflage function that makes it transparent to the surrounding scenery when Magic Power is infused. The material isn’t originally from this planet, so it’s quite sturdy and light, and the size adjusts automatically. It’s a wonderful piece of equipment with full of functions: moisturizing, heat retention, blade-proof, arrow-proof, impact-proof, dust-proof, magic-proof, fire-proof…
It’s a robe that’s only used by some special forces within the Unified Space Force, and even the official name hasn’t been decided yet. I only have one, as expected.
“Amazing,” Asahi said.
“Well, you can change the color, so if pure black is a problem, you can make it gray or something,” I suggested.
“Indeed,” Heinz agreed.
“Nata will keep her equipment as is, though,” I said.
The robe will bulge out, but that can’t be helped. It’s not uncommon for mages to have weapons.
“Barbatos can wear that outfit as is, but what about Asahi?” I asked.
“I prepared something in advance. Asahi-chan, come here,” Fiorina said.
Fiorina seems to have chosen it for her. It’s women’s clothing, after all.
Also, she bought a large amount of underwear for the women of the village. It’s no wonder I didn’t notice as a man, but Beatrice was a little depressed that she didn’t notice.
“Then, let’s register again,” Barbatos suggested.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“I’ll accompany you, masu,” Asahi added.
Barbatos is a Rank 5 Adventurer. I thought it would be a good idea to re-register since I’m Rank 6.
Asahi and I registered as Rank 10 Adventurers. At first, we decided to take on resident requests.