CH 87

After deceiving Asahi with desperate attempts, I placed the synthesized Gouging Vajra Wakizashi into my bag. 

I thought about it for a bit, but I decided to give this Wakizashi to Ringo. 

Because I didn’t place anything into the Special hole, this Wakizashi has inherited both the Performance and Special of Gouging Vajra. 

That unique skill is unnecessary for me, and increasing the attack power of Ringo when she is the core in our anti-flying attacks is urgent business. 

In order to strengthen the attack power of Lightning Strike that doesn’t get affected by the modifier of weapon proficiency, the attack power of the weapon itself is the most important. 

No matter how much power of the Gouging Vajra is dwelling in it, the weapon category being a Ninja Sword won’t make it superior in battle power compared to Shiranui, and if I were to synthesize Shiranui once more, the Performance of Meat Cleaver would go to waste. 

Thinking about a variety of reasons, I told Mitsuki that the one most suitable for this weapon was Ringo, but…

“Basically, you want to feel peace of mind by giving Ringo-san a strong weapon, right? You suddenly become overprotective the moment it is about your little sister.” (Mitsuki)

She straight on said that. 

Would you call this being seen through? 

After that, I used the Weapon Synthesizer to experiment with a variety of things, but I didn’t get anything good. 

You can throw anything inside which differs from the game, so I tried throwing in more than 2 items in the same hole, or tried placing items that are not weapons, but there wasn’t much point. 

In the case when I placed 2 weapons in the same hole, only one of the two got synthesized, and the other one was destroyed. 

The non-weapon items were also destroyed without getting synthesized. 

If I could synthesize the expendable items like tools and torches, there would be a new world of dreams opened up, but this weapon synthesizer really is a device only to synthesize weapons. 

I can’t think of anything else to do with the Weapon Synthesizer, so I move to the next point.

The Armor Synthesizer was by its side, but I currently don’t have much good materials for it. The orichalcum equipment has a good balance of defense and special abilities. 

Let’s ignore this one. 

The next one is the smithy. There’s a device to recover the durability of the weapons and armor, but I only used my weapons, and I haven’t gotten hit since getting the orichalcum set.

Ignore this one as well. 

After that, I also ignore facilities like the drawing and sculpting ones, and go deeper in. 

I head to what’s most likely the most unpopular facility in the Hisame Dojo that is a gathering of muscle-heads. 

“Really can’t miss this.” (Souma)

The second device that stands as equally important to the Weapon Synthesizer in supporting me in my game life. 

The Magic Custom Device; popularly known as the Magic Remodeling Device. 

As you can tell from the name ‘Magic Remodeling Device’, this magic customization is basically synthesization. The difference with the Weapon Customization is that this is actually a system that’s closer to customization. 

This Magic Remodeling Device has a number of knobs that you can slide to the sides. Going by order: Power, Cost, Chant, Range, Speed, and Duration.

We have gone through the explanation of the Weapon Customization, so I think it will be easy to imagine what this is. They show the various facets of the spell. 

If I bring the Power knob to the right, it increases the power of the spell; if you move the Range knob to the left, the range of the spell gets shorter. 

Increasing or decreasing the Cost or Chant is a bit complicated. When you increase Cost, the Mp cost decreases; if you increase Chant, your chanting time decreases. 

The way to use this is also simple. 

If you Order the name of the spell that you want to adjust while touching the crystal on the top part, the knob will move naturally, and the current capabilities of the spell are shown. 

You can then tinker with it as you please, and then match the spell to your own preferences. That’s basically how you use the device. 

Of course, you can’t do something like bringing all of them to the highest setting. 

What you can do is adjust the spell’s capabilities…not strengthening. 

The respective knobs operate together. For example; if you move the Power knob to the right, the Cost, Chanting and other facets will move to the left on their own. 

In other words, in order to increase one entry, the others will lower to balance it. 

But you can freely decide what to increase or decrease by fixing the knobs in place. 

If you have way too much MP, you can increase Power, which would decrease Cost. That would create a spell with high damage but intense MP cost. Would make it more useful for you. 

If you want to snipe from afar, you increase Range which would decrease Chant and create a spell that you can take your time to aim your spell from afar. 

You can’t change the basic effects and element of the spell, and there’s facets that you can’t adjust depending on the spell, but this magic customization is pretty convenient. 

For now, I will adjust the Petitplosion and Power Up I used before, and also the wind element spell, Air Hammer.

For Petitplosion and Air Hammer, I will sacrifice Power, Range, Speed to increase Cost and Chant. 

Power Up, I sacrifice Cost and Duration for Power. I will change it to the most useful spell I can use here. 

“Something like this?” (Souma)

I adjust it the same way as the game and keep it there.

It would be interesting to tinker other spells, but if I tinker too much with the spells, their usage will change. 

The easier the spell it was to use, the more care you need to have in your customization. 

“Want to wrap it up for today? I am worried about Ringo who is alone.” (Mitsuki)

Noticing that I had finished, Mitsuki spoke to me. 

It looks like the magic customization was boring for her. 

Her cat ears are covered up as if saying ‘this is boring~’.

Well, I have mostly finished up the things I would probably need soon. 

I decided to do as Mitsuki says. 

In the end, we returned to the room where Ringo is sleeping, and we slept with 3 lined up futons just like before. 

I had to keep Mitsuki company, maybe because Ringo is sleeping soundly. She would at times tease me with her tail in my futon. 

(This is somewhat…not enough…) (Souma)

I felt like something was missing here. 

The reason for this off-feeling of mine was made clear the next morning when Ringo woke up. 

When Ringo woke up and looked around, the first thing she said was…

“…Bear-san.” (Ringo)

That’s when I finally noticed it too. 

The bear had disappeared at some point in time. 

We had a number of people from the Hisame Dojo help out and searched the dojo, but we couldn’t find it anywhere. 

Looks like the bear isn’t in this dojo. 

“Now that I think about it, the last time I saw it was last night on the street…” (Souma)

At that time, I thought it would get in the way of my invisibility, so I gave it to Ringo. 

When I asked Ringo, she was apparently sleepy at that time, so she doesn’t remember much. 

Speaking of which, not only the bear, even Ringo didn’t speak much around that time. 

(Why didn’t I notice…?) (Souma)

It is contradictory, but the bear being there was so natural that it instead made me not notice.

This sounds rich coming from someone who didn’t notice until now, but after noticing that it is not here, it really does feel off, like there’s something missing. 

I decided in my heart to definitely find it. 

(But where is it…?) (Souma)

With the information we have, it would mean that we separated while we were in the city or when we were in the middle of coming to the dojo. 

While I was wondering what to do…

“If I throw this, it will reach Bear-san…” (Ringo)

I saw Ringo had eyes showing deep thought while looking at the Wakizashi. 

…Yeah.

In the first place, you can’t use that skill unless you are seeing the target. And even if you can, that bear will no doubt end up being skewered.

I hurriedly stopped Ringo who had dangerous eyes. 

“Aah!” 

Mitsuki’s cat ears jumped up as she shouted at my side.

I thought even Mitsuki had lost herself here, but it looks like that isn’t it. 

“There was a response from the Explorer Ring. It seems to be close.” (Mitsuki)

…Looks like Bear-san was treated as an NPC too. 

We quickly moved to that place and…there were a lot of cows there. 

“Uhm…what’s that?” (Souma)

“Cows.” (Mitsuki)

The response I got was a straightforward one. 

Mitsuki must have noticed that answer was a bit lacking as well, she added to it. 

“That’s a monster called Crazy Cow, and it is popular as livestock. The reason why is because…” (Mitsuki)

Mitsuki’s figure grew hazy in the middle of her explanation.

By the time I wondered what happened, Mitsuki was already close to one cow distanced from the group, and she hit it with the handle of her katana. 

“Moo!” 

The cow cried as if complaining and fell to the ground. 

At the same time as it did, something rolled out from around its stomach. 

…A filled milk bottle.

“If you deal damage to it like this and knock it out, it drops milk. And so, they are kept for stock-farming.” (Mitsuki)

“…So it seems.” (Souma)

Honestly speaking, I simply asked about why the cows were gathered. I actually already knew these cows dropped milk. 

At any rate, let’s say I understand the part of dropping milk when you punch it, but why does it come out with all and bottle? 

Thinking about it calmly, that’s really strange. 

“But why are they grazing? It would be dangerous if they were to attack people, right?” (Souma)

“I don’t know how it works, but their milk recovers when they walk. Also, getting milk from rampaging cows can serve as training for the people of the dojo.” (Mitsuki)

“I see.” (Souma)

The Crazy Cow just loses consciousness when it receives damage that surpasses its max HP. 

In a sense, it is an opponent you can endlessly make your training partner. 

While we were having that casual chat, we walked to a place where cows were congregated, and there was a single tree there. 

And…

“…Bear-san.” (Ringo)

We found the Bear-kun playing dead on top of the tree while surrounded by a lot of cows. 

I thought it is ironic for a bear to be the one doing that, but it seems like it couldn’t win against the cows with its plushie body. 

Anyways, it is great that we safely managed to find the bear. 

We drive off the cows and…

“Oooi!” (Souma)

Call it. 

When we did, the bear jumped up, saw us and…

“Uwah!” (Souma)

Dove my way. 

It must have been really scared. 

When I caught it, it clung onto me for a while, trembling. 

But it must have remembered that it was left behind, it soon began to slap my face.

“I am sorry… I am telling you I am sorry… Hm?” (Souma)

I was letting the Bear do as it pleased for a while, but when I looked closely, there was a string at the right hand of the moving bear. I could tell there was something fastened onto it. 

When I undo it with the permission of the bear. What was fastened there was candy, crystal, and paper. 

It was a hard to understand combination, but the paper seems to be a letter. 

I try opening it and reading it. 

“To Onii-chan: 

It is the remaining money from the guild! They said it is 45 million for the troubles! Increasing your reward with trouble you yourself made. As expected of you, Onii-chan! 

Ah, also, when I gave the knights the information of the criminal, they rewarded me, so I will add a little something too, okay?

Onii-chan seems to be busy with the runaway lifestyle, so I will give the money to this bear! 

Do your best in your rebel work!” (Souma)

The name of the sender is not there, but judging from the contents, it must be Poison-tan. 

There’s a lot of things I want to retort to here, but it looks like the money was entrusted to her. 

Thinking about it, I did get a message from the guild before the Hisame House Visit Event, so it wouldn’t be strange for something like that to happen. 

She probably secured the bear only and wrote the letter when I cut off the conversation in the middle and ran to the mansion.

When I checked the crystal, there was 45 million in the crystal. 

It seems like the bear has properly fulfilled its duty. 

“Then, this candy is…” (Souma)

The reward.

From all the rewards she got, she gave me one candy. 

Moreover, this is probably the one you can buy at the city for 10E. 

Thinking that’s just like her, I threw the candy into my mouth.

“Eh?” (Souma)

I thought that would be the end of it, but when I looked closely, there’s letters written at the inner part of the wrapping. 

Maybe she wrote a thank you message? 

Thinking this, I strained my eyes and…

[Let this help Onii-chan get a bit of a better brain!!]

I crushed the wrapping. 

I am honestly happy that the bear is okay, but I am worried about whether it has received a traumatic experience from that.

I give the bear to Ringo who is not half-asleep this time around, and decide to help it recover slowly.

We can’t go far with the bear in this state. 

We decided to stay at the dojo for today. 

We gave our farewells to Mitsuki who said that she would be going to go train the disciples, and I went to the garden of the dojo on my own to test out the new feel of the Shiranui. 

That said, there’s no change in the weight and reach of the weapon itself. I used the Shiranui + Meat Cleaver until around late midgame, till around the time when I cleared the game. 

I finished the check pretty quickly, so I increased my skill proficiency. 

Today, I will be Short Canceling [Side-Slash] and [Setsuna Samidare Giri] to increase my proficiency. 

I have been using Side-Slash recently instead of Slash to do the Godstep Cancel, so I repeat the loop of Side-Slash, Short Cancel, Step, Short Cancel, Side-Slash. 

The proficiency of Side-Slash and Step increased, and with the stamina cost of both skills decreasing, I will be able to use Godstep Cancel longer.

This is a core part of my battle style, and a lifeline. 

I repeat the Godstep Cancel in the garden single-mindedly. 

On the other hand, Setsuna Samidare Giri (Midare Sakurai) really is the strongest skill I can use right now. 

I still remember freshly how I was mortified not having enough stamina when I first faced Asahi at the dojo.

Since then, I found any moment I could get to continue using it, and I can at least use it now without the need of a Stamina Up spell, but it is still hard to say it is on a practical level. 

Because the cost of one use is on a whole other level, I can only use it once and then I have to rest which doesn’t allow for efficient proficiency training, but I decided to slowly raise the proficiency. 

When activating Midare Sakura, not only does it take time to activate, it also deals abnormal damage to its surroundings, but if I Short Cancel it, it won’t show its effect. 

From a 3rd person’s perspective, it looks like I am breathing heavily after one Step, so that must look pretty pathetic, but there’s no point in worrying about it at this point. 

I concentrated wholy in this, but…

“Crap!” (Souma)

I messed up the timing a bit and ended up mincing one tree in the garden.

(Let’s rest here…) (Souma)

With the skill being as it is, if I continued doing this with my concentration lacking, the garden would end up in a tragic state. 

I decided to wrap it up for now. 

Speaking of which, I haven’t fully tested the Wakizashi that has been synthesized with the Gouging Vajra. 

I headed to the room of Ringo thinking about testing out the Lightning Strike while also serving as a visit to the bear. 

…But…

“Ringo, the bear is not here?” (Souma)

The bear was not in Ringo’s room.

When I asked this…

“…It went…outside.” (Ringo)

Ringo easily answered with that. 

It seems like it escaped already and went somewhere. 

What a free little one. 

“…Haah.” (Souma)

Could it be that it has been attacked by cows again?, is what I thought, but it went out on its own will, so there should be no problems. 

Even if the bear is rash, I doubt it will go out of its way to get close to the cows that it faced hell with once already. 

Can’t be helped if the bear is not here. 

I was thinking to at least ask for a test of the Wakizashi’s power, but the important Wakizashi is not here either. 

“…It took it.” (Ringo)

Is what Ringo said.

She said it as if nothing, but that’s a real big deal. 

“Who took it?” (Souma)

When I asked, flustered, someone knocked on the door. 

“…It is back.” (Ringo)

Ringo reacted fast and opened the sliding door, and there it was…a yellow little one…holding a whole ton of white bottles in both arms.

“You…could it be that…” (Souma)

*Grin*

It smiled joyfully. 

After that, rumors of a yellow demon chasing cows circulated between the disciples, but it had nothing to do with us.