Volume 4 3 — Part 3(2/2)
“Only the elementary levels are usable, huh? Well then..”
It didn’t mean there was nothing she could do about it. If physical attacks didn’t work, one should go with the bestowed attribute instead of the physical attribute as the weapon.
historical
Magic and martial arts. If Rionne could use both skills, a combination skill may be usable, and even if she couldn’t use them, there was a little loophole path too.
The problem was whether he should tell her or not.
While Shin has encountered some things in this world, the people who could use combination skills were limited. Because of that, he didn’t know how combination skills were treated in this world.
Even a mere skill was valuable. A combination skill was unleashed using two or more skills, and it didn’t appear to be common.
On this occasion, he decided to ask it from Schnee.
“(Schnee, is it alright to talk now?)”
“(No problem. Is there anything you need?)”
“(I want to confirm something; nowadays, how are combination skills treated?)”
“(Combination skill, huh? I would say it’s valuable, but it’s not strange for a Chosen One to be able to use it. However, the number of people who can use it are quite limited.)”
Shin briefly talked about the current situation, because he didn’t have much time.
Schnee, who guessed the situation, shared her knowledge about the skills. Living more than 500 years in this world, she covered all of the information to this degree.
“(If I’m a Chosen One, is it alright to teach it?)”
“(I think it’s alright. If you are an upper class Chosen One, it isn’t strange to have multiple combination skills.)”
“(I’m saved)”
Apparently, there was no problem.
He had no doubt if it was information from Schnee, and decided to give advice to Rionne about the skills.
Rionne herself was not a bad person, and she couldn’t protect the country if she was left alone in this condition.
“Hey Rionne, may I ask which magic skills you can use?”
“Magic skills? I don’t mind.”
As a person who seemed to already know, they just started to get acquainted with each other.
So to add one thing to another, Rionne gave away the skills’ names. As for Shin, he explored the combination of Rionne’s martial arts skills and the magic skills she had told him.
However, as expected, she didn’t have a clue about her skill, 【Full Moon Edge】, which was classified as a combination of elementary level magic skills and Ouden rank martial arts skills.
Not only was its balance bad, but also, combination skills that used elementary level magic were few in numbers.
“There’s no helping it. I guess we’re going with an imitation, huh?”
“Imitation?”
Shin, who was lost in thought for a while, decided to teach a method of giving an attribute to a physical attack, although it wasn’t a combination skill.
If he found out the information of other martial arts skills that Rionne could use, there might be some good combinations too. However, he’d like to stop the act of uncovering everything of the other party’s skills.
“Just checking, but Rionne, you can’t use combination skills..right?”
“Indeed, my magic skills haven’t reached the level where they can’t be used as combination skills. I tried many different ways though.”
“Then, have you tried this method?”
Shin explained the method to bestow a false attribute.
It was not a legitimate way, so its power was inevitably diminished compared to the real thing, but it was still powerful enough.
“Can I really be able to go with that?”
“You will know once you try it. I also only knew about this by chance.”
“Okay, let’s try it.”
Rionne then activated the basis of flame technique system magic skill 【Fire】.
Thereupon, near the poised 『Muspelm』, a flame about 30 cemels appeared. When she maintained the state as described by Shin, the flame was gradually absorbed by 『Muspelm』, and its blade turned red.
“Look!”
The foot of the chair which Shin suddenly threw was cut off by『Muspelm』 without any resistance; it was like cutting tofu.
The cut surface scorched; it was clearly understood that heat was added to the blade. Although the proper support magic skill 【Enchant Fire】 somewhat lacked thermal power when compared to combination skills with flame techniques, the effect of the bestowed attribute was still obvious. At least with this, it would be much better than the light attribute.
“What kind of state is this?”
For Rionne, who couldn’t use support and combination skills, she seemed unable to comprehend the current phenomenon just yet.
Since it was placed as an underhanded trick in the game era too, it was no wonder she didn’t understand it.
“Well this, if I have to say, is 【Imitation-type Fire】. I don’t know its formal name either. Please keep in mind it’ll break low-grade weapons when it’s applied there. At least 《Legend》 grade weapons are still needed, and overuse of this is strictly prohibited. Even without the application of personal skills, there are a lot of things that can be done with that.”
“..I understand it vaguely, but was it okay to teach me? This is an undiscovered technique, you know?”
“In this world, the strength of monsters exceeds humans. If such a technique spreads out, there will be fewer victims too. Are you unhappy or something?”
“Very unhappy. You’re only giving it to me, aren’t you Shin?”
Rionne wasn’t convinced at the immature soteriology.
The application and the diversity of the technique that Shin taught, she probably had understood it accurately.
“I tried and understood it, Shin. This can be applied to arts too. You may even use a low durability weapon if it’s an arts, there are many usages besides battle as well. The value of this information is higher than a Geyl gold coin, do you understand?”
“I understand it even without you making such a scary face, Rionne. Isn’t it fine? You obtained so much valuable information. Shouldn’t you be pleased as a royal family?”
While calming Rionne who approached seriously, Shin told the reason.
“But, that is..”
“It’s not convincing, huh? Then――”
Let’s give her a good reason.
“Protect. I want to protect all the countries, people, and myself.”
“That’s the equivalent price,” Shin finished it while staring at Rionne.
“Shin, you..”
Rionne thought there was a secret in Shin’s speech, but she was at a loss for words.
Rionne felt as if Shin was completely making up excuses.
――Therefore.
(Crap! I said it like that to deceive her, but in fact, it wasn’t so useful and was treated as a joke. When such a look of respect was directed at me, the sense of guilt is incredible!)
Rionne wasn’t aware of the things going on in Shin’s mind.
◆◆◆◆
“I’ve accepted your reasons, Shin. I’ll put it to good use without fail!”
Rionne, who didn’t know the truth, firmly clenched her fists and expressed her determination.
Something like eyes on fire could be felt from her.
“First of all, have you recovered?”
“You can count on me. The me a while ago is already gone!”
“Though this is a bad place to display your motivation as we will be avoiding battle, you know?”
“I will bear that in mind, whatever the circumstances may be. Please take care of me.”
Though Shin was worried whether the revived Rionne would want to rush the race or not, as expected it didn’t go to that extent.
However, should one say ‘as expected?’ Her spirit was quite high.
“When I’m together with Shin, it makes me think various stuff. I have thought that the talk about engagement is not bad either.”
“I’ve a fiancee. Give me a break!”
He had a feeling that the distance between each other was gradually diminishing, and Shin couldn’t settle down in the difficult situation.
Though Rionne was a little surprised about how he had a fiancee, she didn’t have the intention to uselessly talk further, and their travel went smoothly.
On the way, when they reached the closest point to the heart of the city, Shin saw something like haze spread out in the center of the Sacred Place.
“What is that?”
The anxious Shin informed Rionne in a few words to see if it was possible to move to a better place on the street and observe the central part using a skill.
Since the central part of the city was slightly higher than the surroundings, they could see it without even without getting on a roof.
Though there were ruins everywhere in the Sacred Place, only the building in the center remained intact. Shin also remembered it faintly because he often came there when the game had just begun.
When he looked back at the haze again, for an instant, something seemed to move inside it.
“What? There’s something there?”
In order to ascertain its identity, Shin stared at it motionlessly.
In several seconds, the moment when something began moving in the haze again, and Shin was assaulted by a sense that seemed to pull him into the haze.
“Uwah!?”
He lost his balance in the abrupt situation, but recovered quickly.
“What’s the matter? You suddenly raised your voice.”
“No, I had the feeling of being sucked in, but it’s alright now.”
At the moment he lost his balance, when he looked again in the haze, he felt nothing in particular.
If he said that it was because he was leaning forward too much and nearly fell because he was staring at one point for a long time, she would have been convinced.
“Shin, I don’t feel anything though?”
“Just what on earth was that?”
Will a similar thing happen? Although Shin watched the haze for a while, the sense he felt in the beginning didn’t come back in the end.
“I’m sorry for making you wait. Now, let’s go.”
“Is it alright? Aren’t you interested, Shin?”
“I’ll come by again even if I don’t go now. In this situation, I don’t have any intentions to say anything more selfish.”
With the princess, he couldn’t investigate the dangerous Sacred Place thoughtlessly.
Shin reaffirmed his priority, and both of them resumed their travel.
Then, in the place where they had transposed for more than three times, Shin and Rionne finally reached at the plaza that existed inside the southern gate.
While being alert of their surroundings just in case, they moved to an alley path to leave the gate and there was nothing stopping them like the teleporting fiasco from before.
“Somehow we have reached the goal. There’s no need to worry about the route anymore.”
“Indeed, with this we escaped at last.”
If Rionne’s story was true, the southern gate seemed to be the gate which was used when Sacred Place was investigated, so they decided to go toward it right away.
“That’s the place.”
Before long, in front of Shin and Rionne, the southern gate of Kalkia revealed itself.
A portion of it was hidden by buildings from the plaza space, but its appearance didn’t change since the game era. It was a solid gate which had defense magic bestowed upon it.
“Wait a minute!..”
Nevertheless, what leaked from Shin’s mouth was a voice of disappointment.
Because the side entrance was for palace guard usage, the door Rionne meant to go through was crushed and buried. The side entrance was more fragile than the main wall, so it was not strange for it to break. However, it was clear that it didn’t collapse naturally.
“I wonder if this is an accidental attack to the side entrance by a fight between monsters?”
“There are some scars in addition to the side entrance, but it’s still unknown with only this.”
Visually on the surface of the side entrance, it was in a state like a cement was poured and hardened.
Even if Shin gently tapped on it, only a feeling of a rigidness was returned. The surface was easy to blow off, but if it was firmly filled in on the inside; it would be the same for the walls. One could see it was hardened in a similar way, as the cement, which fortified the side entrance, was widely used in the surroundings.
“Now that it has come to this, we must climb up the gate; also..what is that?”
When Shin just thought about climbing the gate forcibly as the last resort, he saw a strange thing come into view from the ordinary sky and spread out on the wall which enclosed the Sacred Place.
“I don’t know about this either.”
Similarly, Rionne turned her attention to the sky muttered.
“Is it a barrier?”
When Shin looked around, a dome shape covered the town, and a semi-transparent thin coat was being developed.
Because it resembled the state when 【Wall】 and 【Barrier】were being erected, Shin predicted that it was some kind of barrier.
In the game era, except during events, flying-type monsters couldn’t enter the town. So in this world, it could be said that there was protection developed before their eyes.
“Shall I try a little experiment?”
When Shin picked up a pebble which dropped at his feet, he threw it with all his might toward the sky.
The stone, which was shot by the physical strength of an upper class Chosen One, flew to the top of the wall without losing power and hit the thin coat. The result was slightly different from Shin’s expectations when the electricity made a noise that sounded like a short-circuiting, *Crackle*, and the stone crumbled in an instant.
While the stone was falling, it lost to air resistance and disintegrated in midair; it became sand and blew with the wind.
“Leaving from the top of the wall will be difficult.”
“You’re right. It’s not possible to touch that carelessly.”
Rionne also agreed with Shin’s opinion.
Though it was uncertain how much electrical output the erected barrier had, there’s no doubt it wouldn’t end without someone getting burned.
If Shin used all of his power, he may be able to break the barrier, but he couldn’t do so in front of Rionne, so he decided to keep that as a last resort under the current situation.
“Can’t we use other gates?”
“Only this place was secured in case of an invasion. There are dangerous monsters, so I cannot afford to open the gate leisurely. Thinking about the unlikely event, this is the only place. Besides, the side entrances from the other gates have probably collapsed from the beginning due to the impact of natural disasters. It’s a different story for a small animal, but there’s no gap for a person to pass.”
The findings of Sacred Places seemed to be shared among the countries; Rionne knew in details.
“Then, do I need to break through the site gate forcibly? Is there no other choice but to open the very gate itself?”
The gate’s opening and shutting mechanism was located inside the wall and the entrance was through the side entrance; it was said that the methods to open a gate were a common everywhere.
Even if the part which leads to the outside has been destroyed, there was a possibility that the room with the opening and shutting mechanism was safe. Because they couldn’t move in the southern gate because of the current state it was in, both of them decided to leave for the eastern gate.
◆◆◆◆
“..Strange.”
“Hmm? What it is?”
Rionne asked about the words that she happened to overhear during their travel.
“Most of the monsters’ presences have disappeared. I was going to choose the route with the fewest monsters if possible, but no matter how I look at it, there are no presences at all.”
When Shin felt uncomfortable, he turned his attention to the map; there were already several monsters dwelling in the Sacred Place. That number was greatly reduced than the ones he had perceived when they were heading toward the southern gate and were being transposed.
Although Ghillie Wize was defeated by Shin and Rionne, it should be no more than a ‘pouring water on a hot stone’ level.
“It’s certainly strange, but it has become easier to travel in this way, so isn’t it fine?”
“I hope so too, but because of the difference of information in various ways, I can’t help but foretell something dangerous will happen after this.”
Even if the side entrance of the southern gate was crushed as an accident, the top of the wall had a barrier to prevent anyone from escaping.
The contact was completely cut off from the outside world; it seemed to be trying to confine those who were inside.
“Then, all the more reason to escape quickly. Hurry up!”
“An enemy may appear suddenly. Don’t let your guard down, Rionne.”
It was only an unpleasant premonition, but there was no reason to waste time either; Shin and Rionne raised their running pace.
As a better alternative to the shortcut of going on the roof, due to the dangers of being found by monsters and risks of houses collapsing, they advanced through the way along the wall obediently. In the process, Shin noticed certain things.
“..Isn’t the wall somewhat shining?”
“It’s seems so. I’ve never seen such a phenomenon before.”
At first he thought it was just his imagination, but now it was clearly shining; it was emitted from the wall which stood towering over the surroundings of their flank.
Two colors, ice blue and emerald-green, flowed to the front of Shin and Rionne as they blended together.
“Hey..at this rate, I have a bad feeling about going straight.”
“I agree. However, there’s no place for us to escape to, right? If that’s the case, it’s better to check what’s going on, and then think of a way to countermeasure from there.
“The exit has been blocked. Even if we avoid danger here, there’s no point,” Rionne said.
“It seems so, but I think most humans would want to avoid trouble, don’t you agree?”
Shin joked, as he failed to remember any information about the phenomenon that occurred in front of them.
If there was such a flashy event, it should be caught somewhere in his memory. If there wasn’t, it became a situation which was unknown during the game era.
“I don’t get it, not. Well, look Shin!”
Coming into the wryly smiling Rionne’s view and Shin who was talking jokingly, the eastern gate was visible.
Apparently, a torrent of light seemed to flow to the eastern gate from the north side.
“Did it gather in the gate? ..If it gets slightly nearer, it’s better to hide ourselves and observe.”
He didn’t know whether the same thing happened in all gates and decided to stay here for safety.
In front of the gate, the road where they ran along the wall and the main road merged and became a small plaza.
Shin and Rionne entered an inn that was facing the street, and observed the gate from a window on the top floor.
“There’s something like a huge ball.”
A huge blue sphere appeared in front of the gate.
By a rough estimate of 5 mels in diameter, luminous green occasionally ran through on its surface. The mana that moved along the wall could also confirm that it was flowing into the sphere.
“Shin, is this change caused by that?”
“Maybe. I’ve never seen something like this, but it feels like the time when a monster is born, don’t you agree?”
A monster spawned from mana in this world. Shin thought Rionne may have seen it, so he asked.
“No, when a monster is born from accumulating mana power, the scene is warped and takes the monster’s form. Then, it appears by breaking out of the shell. As for a sphere like that, I’ve never seen one.”
“If so, does it mean it’s not an ordinary monster? Or is it not a monster to begin with?”
While looking at the sphere, which was stationary, Shin thought, ‘what is that sphere?’
On Shin’s map, the sphere was displayed with a green marker. This represented neutrality.
However, even if a marker was usually green, there were monsters which turned to red when a player approached, which represented an enemy, so he couldn’t relax his guard.
“For now, I should change to my original equipment. Rionne, here.”
Shin changed his equipment with a shortcut function. It was the Dark King series which he wore during the duel against Girard.
Black coat and trousers, red arm guards and leg guards, and a muffler with a red line like lightning bolt; Shin wore so much protective gear that not a scratch could be dealt if hit by a half-assed attack.
Apart from that, Shin materialized a pair of gauntlets and handed it over to Rionne.
“This is?”
“It’s called ‘Gauntlets of Moribito’, it raises the resistance to magic and abnormality statuses for the equipped person. Its best effect is when the equipped person is about to receive a fatal blow, it’ll become a sacrifice, but only once. I don’t know what will happen in the future, so please equip it just in case.”
“Is this alright? It seems quite a valuable thing to me.”
Rionne, while listening to Shin, turned her attention to the gauntlets.
As for its appearance, the material used was orichalcum, although it was mostly silver in color and close to iron gauntlets. The red pattern on its surface was drawn with paint of mithril and scarletite ingot, which was dissolved by a special method. Self-repair was also possible if not destroyed completely.
Even though the gauntlets were 《Legend》 grade, it had been reinforced by Shin, so its strength was close to 《Mythology》 grade. High defensive power combined with a sacrifice effect was demonstrated when the gauntlets were used as a shield during a critical moment.
“It’s alright because I have these arm guards. Though, even my clothes are far sturdier than armor, I tend to be a puzzle a lot this time. I said it a while ago, ‘save for a rainy day, save for a time of need’.”
Shin raised his crimson red arm guard equipment with both arms himself, and spoke to Rionne.
That so-called Dark King’s Arm Guards have the effect of preventing the skill with an effect such as trap and theft. Also, there is even the effect of reflecting back a portion of the damage; Gauntlets of Moribito’s performance was not on a par with the arm guards.
“..Understood. I’ll use it gratefully.”
When Rionne put on the gauntlets, it shone slightly and its size changed to fit her hands.
“I was worried about the size, but this is really cool!”
“This is my treasured item, so return it later.”
“Got it. However, I feel like I’m being protected by you somehow, Shin.”
“You’re joking―― and as we continue talking, there is movement within the sphere.”
“Are those cracks?”
Urged by Shin, Rionne also turned her eyes to the sphere.
The cracks on the surface of the sphere were spreading gradually, reminding the scene of an egg hatching.
“Indeed, I have a feeling that something will be born after this, Shin.”
“It looks like it. Besides, the wall that shone until a while ago is restored now. Maybe its duty has been finished.”
Shin looked up at the wall.
Was it a place for the mana to pour into the sphere? The possible cause that he could think of was that the wall or the entire city was becoming some kind of device.
Shin didn’t know of any existences that could do so such a feat. If this was in the game, it would be management and the GM, but if they still existed now, “Return me to the original world quickly,” was what he would likely say.
What was the meaning of this phenomenon in this case? When he thought about it, Shin suddenly felt the sense of being dragged into the center of the Sacred Place similarly to a while ago. Shin thought that this might be related.
“――Shin, it came out!”
“It came, huh?..”
There was movement in the sphere before his thoughts were being settled.
When Shin returned his view towards the sphere, the cracks that were spreading little by little already had its whole surface covered. Light began to emit from several places, and flickering ominous light informed them that some kind of existence was moving inside.