This time it’s more Otome Game focused.
Gelf, the younger sibling of the dwarven blacksmith Galbas, was a man with a feminine interior.
I was seeing someone like that for the first time, but I knew about such people from that woman’s “knowledge.”
I somehow slipped through the stiff Feld and El and stepped forward, standing before Gelf, who was clad in black leather attire with a deeply opened chest and striking a feminine and cute pose, and placed the gauntlet of my left hand on the counter.
“It’s old, but can you fix it?”
“Oh, aren’t you a cutie? You have something quite rare. This is monster leather. What kind of monster is it?”
“I heard the boots are Night Stalker leather, but I don’t know about the gauntlet. The strength and elasticity are different, so I think it’s from a different monster, but even if the leather is fine, the other parts are getting worn out.”
“Suuuper! That’s quite a rare monster. But, the leather parts need maintenance too, you know? Even if it regenerates with atmospheric moisture and Mana, there’s a limit. I can fix it, but I have a little request, so would you come to the back and listen?”
“Wa-wait a minute!”
Mikhail grabbed my other hand as I was about to head to the back with Gelf pulling me, stopping me in a fluster.
“………What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’? Don’t you feel anything when you look at… him?”
Mikhail should have been wary and suspicious of the mysterious me. Why is he so flustered that he’s grabbing my hand to stop me from being taken away?
“If you’re talking about Gelf’s appearance, I know about people like that from my ‘knowledge.’ If I know, there’s no particular reason to be conscious of it.”
When I said that, Feld and the elf Mira widened their eyes in surprise, and Gelf, who seemed to be used to being told that, muttered in fascination as he watched our reaction.
“You’re so ‘manly’…”
Clap.
“Ah, I see. Mikhail, you were curious about ‘him’ and kept talking to ‘him,’ huh?”
El, who had been wearing a puzzled expression, clapped his hands as if he understood, and Mikhail, who had been wearing a relaxed smile until now, made a sulky face like a child.
“…Is that bad? I’ve been strangely curious since I first saw him.”
“…………”
What is it? All the words and actions he’s taken to probe me, could it be that he was worried about me?
I may have had some reckless parts without realizing it, but what a troublesome man… He should just say it clearly.
“Oh my, don’t worry, I’m not going to take your Princess anywhere. I’m an Armor Shop owner. I just have some armor I want you to try on. Just wait a moment.”
Again, Gelf took my hand, and as I was being led to the back this time, Feld and El’s mutters reached my ears in unison.
“…Princess?”
＊
I ended up being led to the back of the shop, but for some reason, I didn’t feel like shaking off Gelf’s hand.
Why? Did I feel something like the “maternal instinct” that I felt from my master from Gelf? It’s strange to feel maternal instinct from a man, but it’s true that I didn’t feel any wariness.
“You’re a really brave kid. Even Mira-chan was teary-eyed and had a stiff face when she first met me. Galbas must like you.”
“…How did you know?”
Galbas had told me to go, but there was no reason to talk about it, so I didn’t intend to mention it.
“That Knife on your waist, Galbas made it a long time ago, right? He doesn’t seem to like it himself, but he must have a lot of feelings for it. Getting that means he likes you quite a bit, I think.”
“I… bought it, sort of.”
I haven’t paid yet, though.
“It’s the same thing. He wouldn’t sell it if he didn’t like you. Well, that’s why I’m going to put my heart and soul into it.”
“………Into what?”
＊
“Well, it’s okay. He’s a weirdo, but he’s not a bad person.”
(How can you know that…)
The elf Mira, who seemed to have been taken care of by the Armor Shop since she was a low rank, was giving a follow-up that didn’t feel like a follow-up, but even if she said that while wiping away cold sweat, it wasn’t convincing, and the sulky Mikhail complained in his heart.
The warrior Feld and the Spirit User Mira are members of the Adventurer party “Rainbow Sword,” which Mikhail’s grandfather introduced to him as escorts to learn about the common people.
It’s a famous Adventurer party that has been around since Mikhail’s grandfather was young, and the members have changed several times except for the leader, a dwarf, and the elf Mira, but due to their achievements and credibility, the Melrose House has commissioned them several times.
Currently, they have become four people since the Magician retired several years ago, and full-scale activities have been suspended, but the three people other than the scout who is looking for a new Magician have been working together again for about a year, as it is inefficient to work alone.
And this time, as a guard in the city, these two, excluding the leader dwarf, were in charge of guarding.
This tour of the city started because Crown Prince Elvan von Claydale wanted it, but it was realized because Mikhail wanted to show Elvan, who resembled the former viscountess and lacked a sense of tension, the “reality.”
Mikhail and Elvan are friends, but Mikhail was trying to determine whether Elvan was worthy of being the next king.
Mikhail basically doesn’t trust others. He trusts his family, but he believes that only his grandfather and father are worthy of trust. Trust as a noble is different, but if he finds out that Elvan is not trustworthy enough to serve in the future, he is even considering abandoning Elvan and supporting the still young second prince or the first Princess, who is of pure high-ranking noble blood.
It was Mikhail who first found “her” on this incognito tour of the city.
She blended into the crowd and was inconspicuous. But for some reason, he was drawn to her. Was it because she was aloof? Her behavior looked strangely beautiful, and that atmosphere may have resonated with him, who had lived as a noble of the former royal family.
As he followed her with his eyes, Feld noticed it and told him that “he” was being targeted by the city’s delinquents.
She seemed to be an Adventurer with a certain amount of power, and she was targeted because she suppressed her presence to the level of ordinary people, but Elvan, who had grown up in a greenhouse, said he would help “him,” and they ended up getting involved.
The stoic Feld and Elvan hadn’t noticed “her” gender, but even though she was dressed as a man, she had a bewitching charm like a rosebud growing from a child into a girl.
Mikhail was strongly attracted to the aloof girl who was dressed as a man and stronger than himself, who was training in swordsmanship as a noble. But more than that, he felt irritated by her lack of common sense, which was inconsistent with that impression, as if she were a young child.
With that much power, how could she not realize that she had an eye-catching appearance? Mikhail, who was supposed to be drawing a line between himself and others, couldn’t understand why he had to be so disturbed by her, who was even attracting unnecessary trouble because of it, and even said unnecessary sarcastic remarks to the girl he had helped.
Elvan pointed that out and he sulked, and he was made aware of his own childish part that he had forgotten as his body grew, and he was appalled, and before he knew it, she was taken away by a weirdo.
“Haaai, sorry to keep you waiting.”
The weirdo dwarf Gelf came back. As a gentleman, he couldn’t do anything like peeking, but when he turned his eyes to see if she was safe–
“Wow, as expected of Gelf…”
He only heard Mira’s voice, which he probably expected, but none of the men could make a sound in surprise.
“Gelf… it’s a little hard to move in.”
“Was it still too big for you?”
She was wearing leather short boots on her feet, and a fluttering leather mini-skirt over tight knee-length leather pants that showed off her body line, hiding her waist.
She was wearing a leather jacket that was unusually short in length on her upper body, but inside it was only a thin shirt held in place by shoulder straps, and somehow it made the viewer feel embarrassed.
But, the most eye-catching thing was her face.
The unsophisticated shawl that had been hiding her face was removed, and the ash that had been dirtying her hair was gone, and her hair was untied and fell over her shoulders, and the shining pink hair and jade-colored eyes gave her a mystical beauty even though she was still young, and she was unusually eye-catching.
“You… were a woman?”
Mikhail was somehow irritated by Elvan’s attitude, who was staring at her with a red face next to Feld’s insensitive line.
＊＊＊
“I’ll make you proper clothes when you grow up a little more. For now, please bear with that until the armor is repaired.”
“……Understood.”
Apparently, this outfit I’ve been changed into is being lent to me as a “substitute” until my armor is repaired.
However, I don’t understand why I’m getting a full set of equipment as a replacement for gauntlets and boots. Moreover, my ashen hair was instantly recognized as an illusion, dispelled, and even combed.
“Actually, I was supposed to wear that, but I prioritized the shape too much, and I couldn’t fit into it anymore. It would be a waste, so I wanted you to wear it and tell me how it feels.”
“……That was the favor you mentioned earlier?”
She wanted to wear something so thin and fluttery?
But this equipment seems to use the Orc leather I saw for the first time the other day. Even though it’s thin, it has a decent amount of defense and combines a certain degree of softness and elasticity.
I put it on because she said it wouldn’t stand out, but does it really not stand out?
I was told that it’s normal for female Adventurers these days, but Feld and the others are staring with dumbfounded expressions, so I can’t believe it.
She’s doing something similar to Galbas, who gave me this Black Knife, but why do I feel a slight resistance to thanking her honestly…?
“You… were a woman?”
In this outfit, I guess I finally look like a woman. I received such a subtle comment from Feld, but for some reason, I feel a little bothered by such an insignificant remark.
The Elven Mira seems impressed, but it feels like she’s praising Gelf’s equipment. El is spacing out, and Mikhail was looking at me with an expression that seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t say anything after all, so I couldn’t determine whether my outfit was appropriate for an Adventurer.
The atmosphere has become awkward, so let’s just retreat. I can ask Gelf about this equipment and the equipment I left with her when the repairs are finished.
If I stay here, they might end up following me to the Adventurer’s Guild again, so I’ll go outside first, point behind me to a knight-like person nearby, indicating that they’re still inside, and then disappear into the crowd.
Originally, I was planning to stop by the Adventurer’s Guild from here to investigate information about the target, the “Dawn Mercenaries,” but I can’t go during the day because Feld and the others might stop by the Guild.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t get information. In a back alley near the Grand Cathedral in the Royal Capital, I sat on a wall as if killing time, using Stealth to deceive the eyes of ordinary people. After about two hours, a voice came from the darkness a little distance away.
“Ash-covered. I have something I want to ask you.”
“…………”
I think it’s probably a contact from the Assassin Guild, but what does “I have something I want to ask you” mean, instead of “I have information”?
I jumped off the wall I was sitting on and started walking in the opposite direction from where the voice came from.
“……Hey.”
The voice from earlier calls out to me again from a different darkness, but I have no intention of stopping.
“I have no interest in ‘conversing’ with someone who doesn’t show their face.”
“…………”
The contact fell silent at my words, and a few seconds later, a Cat Beastkin woman with long, jet-black hair appeared from a dimly lit alley in front of me.
“I have something I want to ask you, Ash-covered. What did you do to Guy?”
“…………”
So, this is Shadow User Rada… I didn’t expect her to come.
Aria’s equipment will be made by Gelf-nee-san, so she will appear again in the future.
Next time, the story of Rada who appeared.
By the way, although it is different from the current situation, here is what each target looked like during the Otome Game.
Crown Prince Elvin
He had a gentle personality and felt a slight distance from his fiancée, a high-ranking noble lady, but he met the protagonist, who had a similarly gentle personality, and as they overcame trials and grew, he eventually fell in love with the protagonist. (Favorability 80)
Mikhail
At first, he felt irritated by Melrose, who was related to him by blood but had no power, but he learned that she was working hard behind her bright smile and came to think of her as a younger sister (Favorability 50), and that feeling turned into love (Favorability 90).