CH 19

Chapter 19 – The Battle Was Already Over!

As the village came into view, I could hear the sounds of excited voices.

According to the messenger Kijin, the enemy had come from the north, and in great numbers.

Perhaps the main slave hunter force had finally come…

And so I rode the pack horse faster in order to return as soon as possible.

But then Iria said,

“Sir Joshua. Judging by those sounds, I believe we have nothing to worry about.”

And her words were not wrong.

As we drew closer to the village, even I realized that the villagers were raising their voice in celebration.

“This…”

When we arrived and went to the north of the town, we saw that there were already about ten humans lying on the ground.

The Kijins had also taken their horses and equipment, and set them to the side.

Mette was standing in front of the pile of slave hunter remains, but must have noticed we were here, as she turned around.

“Ah, princess. And Joshua! So you all came back!”

Mette said with a smile. Her entire body was drenched with blood.

“…Did you and your men do this, Mette?”

“Aye. The werewolves were being chased, so we helped them. Don’t worry, Melk. They are all fine.”

Upon hearing those words, Melk breathed a sigh of relief.

“However, some of the horses were carrying werewolf prisoners. And so we had to fight with spears instead of crossbows. I took down half of them myself.”

“You killed five riders by yourself then…”

Not only that, but there were no horses or werewolves among the corpses.

So she had targeted the slave hunters alone with precision.

“It was nothing. They were easier than the Hell Alligators! I can take on any enemy that comes my way!”

Mette said as she beat her chest with a fist.

I had felt that they were well-equipped now, and it looks like I was right.

However, if slave hunters were going to be dropping at this rate, then they would start to be more cautious.

In general, slave hunter groups were usually made up of mercenaries. And the traders would pay them according to how many slaves they brought.

Perhaps the reason that they were so scattered was that they wanted a monopoly on this hunting ground, and so they didn’t exchange information with other mercenary groups.

However, Gaius of the Schwarz Knights had come here. And two hundred slave hunters had attacked Melk’s village.

So it was certain that some of them were here as part of an organization. So it was about time that they would notice that they were being killed in great numbers.

And that’s when things will really become dangerous…

“While we’re all relying on you…don’t be too reckless. No, I suppose that’s just your personality, Mette. And so I’ll make you some equipment that will allow you to be a little reckless.”

“Really!? You’re going to make something new for me again!?”

Mette’s eyes shone as I nodded.

“Aye. Remember how we took Gaius’s armor, helmet, shield, and mace after defeating him? They were made of something called black demon iron. I’m going to use that.”

And then I turned to Melk.

“I’ll make a staff for you as well. Out of the black demon iron and magic stone. And I can combine the snakeskin and black demon iron to make robes.”

“Yes!”

Melk shouted in her usual, candid way.

“All right, then I’ll have to take your measurements.”

“Yes.”

So saying, Melk transformed into her human form.

Of course, she wasn’t wearing any clothes on her thin frame.

I held a hand over my eyes and said,

“Melk… You should keep your clothes on… Put them on now.”

“Really? Very well.”

And then Melk turned back into a wolf and headed to the tent.

“I’ll start with Mette then. Since it’s black demon iron, plate mail would be best… Would you prefer it to be the same shape?”

Currently, Mette’s armor was in the Lamellar style, which was popular in the east.

It looked a lot like what the Kijins wore a long time ago.

They would have memories attached to them.

However, Mette shook her head.

“No, I don’t care about that. Though, I think the men prefer that shape.”

I used wind magic to take Mette’s measurements and then I started to make the black demon iron plate mail.

I wanted it to be light and easy to move in. And so I made it as form fitting as possible.

“There. It is done.”

I stood the armor up on the ground.

The plate mail was black, and would follow the lines of her body.

I didn’t like to boast, but it was very beautiful.

Mette gave the impression of someone who was wild and overbearing, but if she wore this, she would have the air of someone sharp and cool.

“Woah! That looks wonderful! But you won’t let me wear it yet?”

“No, you can’t wear it like this. I need to make the leather underclothes, as well as the hauberk. But first, you’ll want to see how durable it is, yes? Try shooting it with your crossbow.”

“Yes, I would like to test it out. Very well.”

Mette borrowed a crossbow from a nearby Kijin, and then shot at the black demon armor with it.

However, the bolt bounced off easily.

“The crossbow didn’t work!? This is amazing!”

“While the range and distance matters, iron bolts are able to pierce iron armor. However, they cannot pierce black demon iron armor and shields. Besides, I have used the black demon iron’s characteristic of storing magic energy, and have added an effect called Magic Shield.”

“Characteristic, Magic Shield… I see. I don’t really understand.”

Mette said with a tilt of her head.

“Well, it just means that it’s durable. Still, you should still try and avoid enemy attacks. Also, here… It’s the black demon iron blade.”

I handed over the sword I had made as well.

“Oh, it is so beautiful…”

Mette seemed bewitched by the black, shiny blade.

“This will also allow you to use magic. If you will it, it can create fire.”

“Oh, oh. Now that would be useful. By the way, what will happen if I cut this armor with this sword?”

“No, I doubt it will cut through. I’ve tested it many times before, but when it comes to hitting black demon iron against itself, it won’t…what!”

But before I could finish, Mette swung the sword and cut through the armor with ease.

“It…cut!? S-sorry! You said it wouldn’t work, so I had to try!”

Mette said with a pale face. And then she tried to put the armor back together as if they were pieces of a puzzle.

“No, that’s fine. I can fix them if I recover them. Besides…I suppose it was my lack of power that is the issue.”

No, maybe it’s the power of a Kijin.

Basically, it’s impossible if you are human.

And so I recovered the pieces of armor and then turned to Mette.

“Well, there is no such thing as invincible armor. Got that?”

“Aye. So I shouldn’t rely on the armor, as it’s my own movement that is important. I understand.”

After that, I took Mette’s armor and…partially due to a feeling of embarrassment, remade it so that it was even stronger. Furthermore, I also made a sheath for Iria.

And then I started work on making a staff and robe for Melk.