“Aria-chan… you’ve wrecked it again, haven’t you?”
The moment I stepped into the still-empty shop, Gelf, the owner, greeted me with a voice of exasperated disbelief.
“I was able to come back because I had this armor.”
“Oh, dear! If you say things like that, I can’t scold you for being reckless! I know the details from Mira-chan. And that child over there is Jesha-chan, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Gelf is a rock dwarf armorer, and a man (well, technically) who lives to create cute armor for women to wear.
I said there were no customers earlier, but she’s secretly popular with female adventurers and knights in the Royal Capital, and they seem to be placing special orders for armor that isn’t cheap at all.
Gelf’s attire today is a vermilion mermaid dress with an exposed back. Her hair is tied up, and she winks one eye with a neatly groomed bearded face, causing that strong-willed Jesha to freeze, clutching at my hem.
“It’s okay. Gelf’s skills are reliable.”
“…That’s not it.”
“Such a fresh reaction. It reminds me of when Mira-chan first visited the shop a hundred years ago. You seem to be a mountain dwarf, but in a human country, you’re practically the same. I’ll specially allow you to call me Gelf-nee-san.”
“Good for you, Jesha.”
“…That’s not it.”
Half the reason I came here today was to get armor made for Jesha.
She’s been wearing modified armor from the Evil Race Fortress, and I’m impressed she survived the Black Dragon fight without any major injuries. Still, now that she’s received her reward, it’s best to get her some good armor.
“First, let’s hear Jesha-chan’s wishes, shall we? Your weapon is a Two-Handed Axe? So, you’ve been wearing heavy armor until now?”
“Ah, yes, that’s right. But, since I sometimes dive into the enemy’s ranks, I’ve been using light beetle materials.”
Having gotten a little used to it, Jesha finally released my hem.
“I don’t have any insect-type materials… That’s a material that can be obtained in the Calfaan Empire, and it can also be obtained from dungeons here, but it’s rare to find materials large enough for you to wear. …You have the face of a beautiful girl, but your shoulders are amazing.”
Dwarves are short and stocky. Female dwarves are the same, but small dwarf women don’t have that much muscle, and are sometimes mistaken for human children. But Jesha’s body has muscles and width close to that of a large dwarf male like Dolton.
“If you’re not strong in the desert, you’ll be looked down on, old man.”
“Oh?”
“…Nee-san.”
“I like honest children. Anyway, a full-body armor mixed with mithril like Dolton’s would cost a fortune. Shall we reinforce the Monster Material with mithril? I think it would suit you because you’re taller than me. And, I’m thinking of exposing your navel, what do you think?”
“Please, have mercy…”
In the end, Jesha decided to make scale armor from the scales of a sub-dragon called a Wyvern. Wyverns are also high-level materials from Rank 4 to 5, but they are much cheaper than Elemental Dragon materials or mithril.
Jesha will use her share of the reward, a dozen or so Black Dragon scales, to have gauntlets made.
“And Aria-chan… your appearance is starting to mature, so I’m thinking of using good materials.”
“I have money, so I don’t mind…?”
At first, I thought about declining the reward since my companions came to save me. But I was persuaded that it would cause problems among the group if we started helping each other like that, and I wasn’t allowed to decline the reward.
The growth of my body due to Mana has also almost stopped in terms of height.
The appearance grows due to Mana up to a maximum of around three years, but in the case of men, it’s around twenty years old, and in the case of women, it’s around eighteen years old, and the growth and aging delay are reversed. In my case, my appearance has grown to sixteen, so from now on, I should gradually become age-appropriate.
The dimensions will also change as the body thickens around the age of twenty, but that can be adjusted.
“Of course, I’ll charge you a certain amount. But, as for the materials, I’ve received them from Mira-chan.”
“Mira’s materials… the Black Dragon’s wing membrane?”
Mira brought back one wing’s worth of Black Dragon wing membrane as her reward. She said she was going to make her own equipment, but according to Gelf, she only used about a third of one wing because she’s a small elf who doesn’t like excessive equipment.
It would be good to use the remaining materials for repairs, but considering the durability and regenerative ability of dragon materials, the probability of damage is low, and if you’re going to use it for hundreds of years, it’s better to remake it with different materials at that time.
According to Gelf, since I only took a few scales and one Reverse Scale of the Black Dragon’s materials, Dolton and Mira consulted and handed the wing membrane to Gelf as equipment material.
…There’s no need to worry about it. There have been countless terrible adults in the past, but I’ve been truly blessed with the people I’ve been involved with.
The boots and gauntlets I received from my master are already over a hundred years old, so I decided to have them made for my use at this opportunity. She said that she would also make the main leather dress a little more mature to match my current self.
And–
“Aria-chan, if you have money, why don’t you make a dress? A proper one that you can wear to parties. The processing technology for mithril fiber has improved, so I want to try it out. It doesn’t have regenerative power, but it has the same level of defense as your current equipment, and the same level of anti-magic performance as the Black Dragon skin membrane equipment I’m going to make next?”
“…I’ll think about it.”
Jesha and I, while appeasing Gelf, who had suddenly started running wild with her hobbies, were finally released and left the store with tired faces.
The plan for today was to head to the Adventurer’s Guild to update my rank and transfer Jesha…
“Should we stop for today after all?”
“I guess so… Hey, Aria. Why don’t we eat something delicious around here? If you’ve lived in the Royal Capital for a long time, you must know a few places, right?”
“That’s right…”
“Aria?”
Jesha turns back with a puzzled look at me, who suddenly stopped and looked towards the castle that can be seen from here.
The light I just saw… this presence is… that guy.
“Sorry, Jesha. Let’s eat some other time.”
“H-Hey!?”
Ignoring Jesha’s calls, I start running through the Royal Capital. I weave through the crowds and jump into an alley, then run up the wall of a building and jump onto the roof, facing the Royal Castle again.
“–【Iron Rose】…【Real Breaker】–“
＊＊＊
“…You seem to be in a good mood, Carla.”
In an eerie atmosphere that would intimidate ordinary people, Elena, who had stepped forward, was met with a somewhat gleeful smile from Carla.
“Oh, Princess. How was your trip? It seems like it was a good trip… I’m glad that we can have a somewhat decent conversation now.”
Carla, the daughter of Count Leicester, the youngest daughter of the head court magician, and the girl who has been unofficially decided to be the Crown Prince’s second wife, is now a dangerous person recognized by everyone.
The incident in which Carla massacred the Holy Church’s officials and burned down the chapel was not pursued by the Holy Church, which feared that the hidden face of the training corps would be revealed. However, even if the fact was not known to the common people, many nobles came to know of her danger.
There were nobles who tried to question Carla’s crimes, but they all disappeared. Literally, they disappeared overnight.
This caused a great shock in the world of nobles.
For nobles, power is authority, wealth, and the political and military power born from connections between nobles. What Carla did fundamentally overturned that perception, and the nobles could only desire Carla’s death while refraining from speaking out publicly.
As a scheme of the royal family, making Carla, who cannot bear children, the second wife was to show that the court magician corps was on the royal family’s side by incorporating the head court magician.
For that purpose, they dealt with Carla’s incident before it became public, but as a result, she became more feared than the court magician corps was drawn in.
Everyone present knew that Carla’s way of being was similar to that of a certain girl.
By massacring her enemies, the girl was feared as the “Ash-Covered Princess” from the Underworld, and Carla was shunned even from being involved as the “Thorn Witch” who destroys noble families.
Certainly, I had recognized her as a terrifying girl from before. But, what is this presence emanating from her current appearance?
Compared to before, she has become so ominous that just looking at her distorts the vision, and even Sera, a Rank 4 powerhouse with a lot of practical experience, needed a lot of courage to stand in front of her.
“…Carla. Is it okay for you to be out and about already?”
“Yes. Thanks to your return, my confinement has finally been lifted. Father seemed to want me to stay locked up until I died if possible, but since I have the chance, I thought I’d observe Father’s work.”
“…………”
Elena couldn’t help but close her eyes and press her fingers to her brow at Carla’s brazen declaration that she had come to harass her parents. However, the reason for her good mood was probably Aria’s return.
It was rare to see Carla so talkative with anyone other than Aria, but she probably meant it when she said she could have a ‘normal conversation’ with her.
Conversely… she didn’t see anyone else as a “person.” To her, anything less than a person was no different from livestock.
That’s why Elena felt like she could be convinced that even if everyone else in this place were suddenly massacred, it would be perfectly natural for Carla.
“Oh, by the way, it seems El-sama is returning? With that thing of his.”
“…………”
Elena and Clara, who had received that information, frowned for different reasons at Carla’s next words. Fundamentally, they were the same, but the two were worried about different things.
“Should I go meet El-sama now? And if he’s gained some strange Divine Protection and changed in some strange way…”
“What do you intend to do?”
The sudden voice interrupting Carla’s words sent tension running through the surroundings.
“Hmm?”
Carla, as if noticing her presence for the first time, reflected Clara in her purple eyes.
“Oh, Dandole’s Princess. What do you think I intend to do?”
“You can do whatever you want to that girl. But if you intend to lay a hand on that person, I will stop you.”
Clara said, her face paling under Carla’s gaze.
Carla blinked in surprise at Clara’s words, then smiled and took a step towards Clara.
“Step aside.”
Just one word… imbued with Mana and Intimidation, was enough to make her maids, who were trying to protect Clara, kneel.
They were not weak. As former Assassins, they had the strength of Rank 3, the same as the Royal Knights. But that strength was for fighting with indirect tactics, not enough to stop Carla, who was known as the most dangerous person in this country.
“I… won’t step aside!”
Despite turning pale under Carla’s pressure, Clara withstood Carla’s Intimidation with her willpower and remained in place.
“Clara…”
Elena couldn’t help but gasp at the sight. Clara’s personality had changed as if she had been possessed by something at the age of eight. The fundamental core was still Clara, but it was as if she had been swallowed up by the knowledge of an adult, and Elena could only see her as a different person.
But her current appearance made Elena feel the dignity of the Princess of Dandole, whom she had admired as a playmate in her childhood and who had disappeared.
“What is your business?”
Carla, without even looking at Elena, who was about to take a step forward at the sight, turned her hand towards her.
“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to do anything in particular. I just wanted to see if that resolve was genuine, you see? Like this.”
At that moment, light was emitted from Carla’s palm, arcing over the heads of Clara’s maids, who were trying to stand up, and evaporating the expensive glass window.
It was probably the Holy Flame of Fire Magic. But almost no one could control Level 5 Fire Magic to this extent.
“Now… Princess? Do you have the resolve?”
Elena stopped Sera, who was about to jump out, by shaking her head, at the ominous words spoken with gentle eyes, as if she had witnessed a playful kitten.
Carla had no intention of killing Elena yet. But if Sera jumped out, she would mercilessly burn her to death.
“Elena-sama!”
Just as a cry of concern for her, as if she had returned to her childhood, escaped from Clara–
“That’s enough, Carla.”
The person who appeared from outside the destroyed window directed all of Carla’s attention with those words.
“Oh, Aria. Long time no see.”
No one had noticed her arrival until they heard her voice, wondering when she had appeared.
Unlike the maid’s uniform she usually wore in the castle, Aria, wearing a worn-out dress that had survived many battles, exuded an intense atmosphere with an Intimidation that was no less than Carla’s.
Carla wore a radiant smile like a girl in love at the beauty of that figure and the strength of the presence she felt.
“Aria, are you going to stop me here?”
“Carla, was this kind of place your stage?”
The civil officials and ladies-in-waiting, who were subordinates of the Princess, fainted and collapsed one after another due to the Intimidation and Killing Intent of the two–when Carla suddenly stopped her Intimidation.
“Indeed, it’s still too early. Both you and I can become stronger, right?”
“That’s right.”
Aria answered coldly to Carla, who spoke cheerfully, and Carla turned that smile to those she acknowledged in the place.
“Well then, Elena-sama, Clara-sama, shall we meet again? The fun at the academy has increased again.”
“So many things happened, you know?”
After the cheerful Carla disappeared somewhere, and after awkwardly parting with the remaining Clara, Elena, who had returned to her room, told me about what had happened today as if complaining.
Did today’s events put so much strain on Elena’s mind? When I turned my gaze to my foster mother at her never-ending story, Sera smiled slightly but said nothing.
“But I’m glad His Majesty didn’t end up like that.”
“Oh, Aria is so kind.”
Elena glared at me lightly with a smile, perhaps surprised that I had said that when Elena’s story reached the part where His Majesty might have been disinherited.
“Because if that happened, I wouldn’t have been able to meet Elena.”
“…………”
For some reason, after that, Elena averted her face in silence and didn’t try to look at my face for a while.
Clara has grown up a little.
I wonder if her original personality has surpassed the memories of the reincarnated person.
The previous reward has been slightly revised.
Next time, I wonder if I can write about the Adventurer’s Guild and… the fake Heroine-chan?