Episode 16: The Experiment of Affixing
I urge the surprised group, who are staring at the 2.5m x 2m, 1.3m high, kamaboko-shaped dome, to start cutting the grass.
Next to that dome, I build my usual tent-shaped camping dome, attaching it perfectly.
As the sun sets, I butcher a hedgehog for the hungry bunch and treat them to grilled meat.
There’s soup and side dishes too, but since they don’t have camping gear, they don’t have dishes.
I use Earth Magic to make a stove, shaping the top into a plate to grill the butchered hedgehog meat, simply seasoned with salt and pepper-like powder.
They’re wide-eyed at the various things coming out of the Magic Pouch, but they can’t resist the temptation of the grilling meat, eating silently with bread in hand.
“I’m sorry. You helped us, and we haven’t even introduced ourselves. I’m Harrison. I’m kind of the leader of these five.”
They introduce themselves as Houl, Grosta, Rukkas, and Uruzaku. I appreciate that none of them have a dangerous look in their eyes.
“I’m Hugo. I just registered as an adventurer in the Royal Capital, so you can drop the formalities.”
“We know… or rather, you’re a rumor at the Adventurer’s Guild in the Royal Capital.”
“The cat person with dull silver fur and stripes, and red-copper colored eyes.”
“But… the rumor is that you’re an Ice Magic user. You can use Earth Magic too?”
“I admire you, adventuring solo.”
“I envy you having a Magic Pouch.”
“Ah~, don’t go spreading rumors about me. Talking about other people’s abilities can get you killed.”
They seem to understand what I’m saying, their faces twitching as they nod obediently.
Cat person… I’m only 1/4 cat person, though. They probably wouldn’t believe me if I said I was 1/2 Black Dragon and 1/4 Elf.
I don’t feel like correcting them, but I guess it can’t be helped since I look like a complete cat person.
Talking to them, I learn that Harrison has been an adventurer for three months, Houl and Grosta for two, Rukkas registered last month, and Uruzaku about ten days ago.
It’s quite a gathering of newbies. Turns out they’re all second, third, and fourth sons living in and around Quor Street in the Royal Capital.
I secretly use them for an Appraisal experiment.
(Appraisal!) on Harrison. [Harrison – 16 years old – Human 1/2, Fox person 1/2 – 4 siblings…] No, that’s not it!
I want to know the magic and skills they were granted, not what I already know!
(Appraisal! – Magic and Skills) [Life Magic – Magical Power 12] Hmm… even with only Life Magic, they have a Magical Power stat.
I wonder about Houl. (Appraisal! – Magic and Skills) [Cultivation Skill – Crafting Skill – Magical Power 27]
Grosta (Appraisal! – Magic and Skills) [None]
Rukkas (Appraisal! – Magic and Skills) [Life Magic – Magical Power 19 – Long Sword Skill]
Uruzaku (Appraisal! – Magic and Skills) [Life Magic – Magical Power 11]
What a remarkable set of abilities. Rukkas has Long Sword Skill, but the rest aren’t really suited for adventuring.
If they had decent abilities, even as second or third sons, they’d probably have some kind of job, so I guess this is what it means to be an adventurer.
I can read Japanese and understand its meaning, and I’ve learned to use it in various ways.
They might be the perfect test subjects to try out the things I fantasized about on the carriage ride to the Royal Capital.
“If you guys have no choice but to be adventurers, why don’t you stick with me for a while? I guarantee five copper coins a day and three meals. If you’re willing, I think I can improve your abilities as adventurers.”
They probably don’t believe me, so I take out a leather bag of silver coins and show them the contents.
The silver coins Kokkola-kaicho gave me shine in the light, enough to catch Harrison’s attention.
“You’ll give us five copper coins a day and three meals?”
“Yeah, but you have to follow my orders. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to hunt wild beasts too often, but instead, various training.”
“So… does that mean we’ll become Hugo’s servants?”
“No. I want those who are interested in my offer to form a party, and I’ll hire you guys for about three to six months.”
“What’s in it for Hugo?”
“There’s usually a catch to good deals.”
“Yeah, we were about to have half our earnings taken to teach us the ropes of being adventurers, and then be used as Goblin bait.”
“Are you talking about Swords of the Royal Capital and Company? I’m saying I’ll pay you. Of course, I’ll immediately kick you out if you don’t take my training seriously or if I don’t like you.”
“Hire us. If we can eat three meals and get five copper coins a day, we can endure some hardship.”
With Harrison’s words, the remaining four also lowered their heads, begging.
I’ve got five test subjects, so a camping life is decided for the time being.
The next day, I take the five back to the Royal Capital and buy sturdy boots, Short Spears, and tableware at a store frequented by adventurers.
Since it’s summer, we don’t need bedding, and we don’t need tents since I can make Earth domes.
Before returning, I buy food at the market and let them eat their fill at the stalls before returning to the plains.
Leaving the Royal Capital, I ask Harrison about places where we can’t gather herbs and where people don’t come, and head there.
On the way, I have them gather many straight trees about 5-6 cm thick and 2m long and throw them into the Magic Pouch.
Even though it’s a plain, there are shrubs here and there, and tall grass thickets.
In a discreet spot among the shrubs, I build a larger lodging facility than the dome from the night before, with the exterior resembling rock.
For the time being, we’ll be staying here, returning to the Royal Capital once a week to buy food.
My sleeping area is separated by a single wall with a hole for sound to pass through, so I can respond in case of an emergency.
That night, during after-dinner chat, I affix [Enemy Search Skill] and [Short Spear Skill] to everyone.
They don’t react at all, so they don’t seem to realize they’ve been affixed with the two skills.
Thanks to that, the memory of Enemy Search Skill went from 13 to 8, and Short Spear Skill went from 10 to 5.
I want to affix Long Sword Skill too, but affixing them all at once would probably interfere with their training, so I’ll do it one at a time.
We agreed that wages would be paid every two days, giving each of them silver coins, so we decided to train for six days and head to the Royal Capital on the seventh.
Once the payment method was decided, I made a proposal to Harrison and the others.
“You all probably want a wallet pouch, right? The lowest rank Magic Pouch 1-5, with a 1m square capacity and a time delay of 5x, can be obtained for two Gold Coins. That’s 20 Silver Coins. If you endure the training for two months, you can buy one.”
“Really?”
“I want one! It’s like a dream not having to carry luggage.”
“We can buy one now since we’re getting paid without worrying about food and lodging!”
“Um, what’s time delay?”
“The ‘1’ is the capacity, the size of a 1m square. The ‘5’ in 1-5 means that if soup goes bad in one day, it will last five times longer, five days. It’s safe to say that the larger the number, the longer food and other living things will last without spoiling. By the way, a Magic Pouch called Rank 1 1-5 is the lowest ability, so it costs two Gold Coins.”
“What about Hugo’s Magic Pouch?”
“Don’t ask. Prying into other people’s belongings or spreading rumors about them won’t let you live long. If you’re going to be an adventurer, don’t be interested in other people’s abilities or belongings, and don’t leak what you know to others. If you talk, your weaknesses will be known, and valuable items will be targeted. Keep it to yourselves, at most. If you see what I put in, you can guess to some extent, but keep it to yourself. It’s for your own good.”
After dinner, I teach them how to make a simple bed using the sticks they collected.
I tell them it will be useful for camping in the forest later, and they watch intently.
There’s one wooden bed, and the rest will sleep on mattresses of collected grass.
After breakfast, I mark the standing trees and start practicing thrusting with sticks the same length as Short Spears.
First, thrust 100 times at chest height, then 100 times at stomach height, changing the location sequentially for 500 thrusts.
I’ve been neglecting my Short Spear practice, so I join in, sweating profusely.
Training in the humid forest in the summer is exhausting, with sweat pouring like a waterfall, but as an adventurer, I encourage myself to endure it.
When it’s over, I give everyone a block of ice as a refreshing treat.
In the afternoon, I take everyone for a walk on the plains, taking turns walking at the front to sense the surroundings.
Everyone is puzzled, but I tell them that if they don’t want to be ambushed by wild beasts, they should practice paying attention to their surroundings, even if they’re not scouts.
“I walk through the forest and plains alone, but I’m always searching my surroundings, hiding from wild beasts or defeating them with surprise attacks.”
Saying that, I had them walk quietly, stopping occasionally as I stepped forward to pierce horn rabbits and hedgehogs with Ice Lance.
I taught them how to sense presences in actual combat, making it easier to find prey and sneak up on them.
Of course, all of this was taught to me by Cokes and the Bums of Hunza.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
After three weeks of Short Spear training, they could thrust forward, upward, and to the left and right in quick succession, so we decided to try it out on Goblins.
We walked around the border of the forest in search of Goblins, and found a group of seven, all of whom were remembering what happened before and were backing down.
I told them I would help if things got dangerous, kicked their butts, and sent them towards the Goblins.
I lined them up with Harrison in the center and the others on either side, telling them not to thrust until the approaching Goblins were within the effective range of their Short Spears.
Watching from behind, some were trembling, others were stomping their feet and losing their stance, but Harrison was the only one who was relatively calm.
“Luccas, your foot position! Everyone, get ready! …Thrust!”