Chapter 69

A Vacation in Another World Part II: The Weapon Shop

"So uhhh… might be a bit too late to ask, seeing as how we"ve kinda already turned you into our tour guide, but you sure it"s okay for you to hang around us?" I turned towards the hero, who was walking right beside me, and voiced a concern . "Won"t your higher ups start getting all p.i.s.sy if they find out? Since, you know, we are technically supposed to be enemies and whatnot . "

The two of us were weaving our way through the city"s crowded streets . Lefi, on the other hand, had avoided becoming a part of the ma.s.ses by once again climbing up atop my shoulders .

"I really would"ve appreciated you asking that earlier…" My church affiliated companion heaved an exasperated sigh . "But I think that this is for the better . I would probably get in way more trouble for letting you two run around unsupervised, especially if something happened . So I think it"s probably best for me to stick around until you decide to go back home . "

Wow . Talk about rude . It"s not like I"d ever do anything unless someone else messed with me first .

"Oh, and just in case you didn"t already know," the hero continued . "I don"t live here or anything, so I don"t really know the city that well . Don"t expect me to be able to show you anything too special, okay?"

"Yeah I got that . But you still know a lot more about it than we do, right?"

"Well… yeah, I guess," she said with a nod . "So is there anything in particular you wanted to see?"

"Me, I want to check out the weapon shop and the bookstore . What about you, Lefi?" I craned my neck upwards and looked at the girl perched atop my shoulders .

"Wait, didn"t you just eat like a metric ton this morning?"

"Hah!" Lefi snorted . "You underestimate me, Yuki . That meager excuse for a meal was nowhere near enough to abate my hunger . "

Uh huh… Whatever you say then, princess . I rolled my eyes before turning back to the hero . "And there you have it . Food, weapons, and books . Lead the way . "

"Hmmm…" The hero brought a hand to her chin . "Okay . Then let"s do weapons, books, and food in that order . "

"Sure, your call . "

***

And so, before long, we found ourselves inside a store specialized in the sale of weaponry . Most of the stuff that was featured was lined up against or hanging from the walls, but there was also a bargain barrel containing a bunch of low priced junk . Sitting at the counter was a stubborn looking old man . He glanced at us, but immediately lost interest and redirected his attention back to polis.h.i.+ng the weapon he had in hand . f.u.c.k . Yes . Oh my G.o.d, the atmosphere in here is literally exactly what I expected . This . Is . Hype .

I felt the urge to pump my fists out of sheer excitement, but refrained . Man, this trip has been nothing but a series of exciting encounters . I just keep running into stuff that gets my heart pumping to no end .

The reason that I wanted to visit a weapon shop, despite my inability to use normal swords, was because I wanted to see the difference between my work and a professional"s . As with all creative processes, I couldn"t improve without looking at examples of high quality items, specifically ones I didn"t make myself . I had to know my faults if I wanted any meaningful iteration . As the Demon Lord of Creativity, an ent.i.ty responsible for making his own weapons, I just had to see what human weapon shops contained .

"This place has got some pretty decent variety," I said .

"It has a good reputation," replied Nell . She too was scanning the walls and ogling the various goods on display . "There was this one time the holy knights brought me to Alfyro for an expedition . This shop is the one we came to in order to figure out our weapon situation . "

As an amateur craftsman myself, I wasn"t able to tell much about the weapons" quality just by glancing at them . I did, however, have a certain secret weapon that let me circ.u.mvent my weakness: a.n.a.lyze . Through it, I discovered that the worst stuff on the walls had a quality rating hovering around the B area, whereas the best seemed to cap at A+ . The stuff that was in the bargain barrels was, as one could expect, inferior . Most of the discounted goods had quality ratings between C+ and E .

The sole exception was a single heavily damaged blade . Curious, I picked it up and examined it in more detail . It was rusted all over and even chipped in places . Both the guard and the handle looked crude, unrefined, and unmaintained . At a glance, it didn"t seem like anything more than a piece of junk, a worthless excuse for a weapon that the owner had simply been too lazy to throw away . In fact, that was most likely exactly what it was to anyone that lacked the ability to a.n.a.lyze it for its true worth .

***

Ancient Hero"s Sword: A blade once taken up by a nameless hero in the distant past . It was once a powerful weapon responsible for the defeat of many a formidable foe . However, it has long since lost the vast majority of its might . Quality: Immeasurable .

***

Wow . Holy s.h.i.+t . This reminds me a lot of the ancient stuff in Monster H*nter, the super strong stuff that regains its former power if you succeed at upgrading it .

"Oh?" Lefi, who had been casually glancing around the store, stopped looking around and focused a curious gaze at the weapon in my hands the moment she noticed it . Her tone was filled with obvious interest . "It appears that you have found quite the decent armament . "

"Yeah, I know, right?"

This is perfect . I was just thinking that the axe probably doesn"t have enough volume to be reforged into a greatsword, so I can just mix this in while I"m at it and boom . Perfect . Weapon Trans.m.u.tation was a fairly versatile skill . It didn"t necessitate that I only worked with a single item . I could fuse as many different things as I wanted, with the only condition being that I had to be able to channel my mana through each raw material . I think I"m still going to be a bit lacking in mats, so I still need to find a couple more . But oh man, I can"t wait to see what comes out of this . It should be pretty d.a.m.n impressive so long as I don"t mess up .

I felt the urge to approach the clerk by saying something along the lines of, "Magnificent, human . I see that you truly understand what it means to be immersed in pa.s.sion," while bringing him the blade, but refrained for reasons that could only be described as obvious .

"Alright, I guess I"m getting this . How"re things looking on your end, Lefi? Is there anything you want me to get for you?"

"Not quite . While I do admit that I some of these weapons have piqued my curiosity, I"ve not caught sight of anything that has me enamoured . I would much rather you provide me sustenance . "

"Fine . Orders received, ma"am," I said in much the same tone as would an exhausted soldier before turning towards the hero . "What about you, Nell? You ready to go?"

The hero didn"t respond . She was too busy staring at one of the longswords hanging off the wall, completely entranced . Her eyes, which were practically glued to it, were filled with longing . It was clear that she was in her own world, so I walked right up to her before calling out to her again .

"Don"t you already have a sword? And a pretty good one at that?"

Her weapon was a holy sword, one enchanted with a spell powerful enough to block out my ability to a.n.a.lyze its features in detail . Swords as powerful as it were likely so few in number that they could actually be tallied up and accounted for . Hmmm, wait a second . That"s just a preconception . I mean, that"s how it was back on Earth, but that doesn"t have to be how it is here . I mean, it is technically a whole nother world . Holy swords might be a dime a dozen . I mean, why else would they ever give something that important to this sorry excuse for a hero otherwise?

"Uhm… well, yeah . I do, but this and that are different, you know?" said the hero .

I can see where she"s coming from . I mean, I"d probably feel exactly the same way if I was in her shoes .

"Well, I don"t mind if you stare at it a bit more, but don"t take too long, alright? We"ve got places to be . "

"G-got it . J-just give me a few more minutes," she said with a stutter .

Aren’t weapons supposed to be a guy thing? I"m pretty sure girls are supposed to just roll their eyes and lose interest when they see swords and stuff… Oh well . She looks like she"s having fun, so whatever, I guess .

***

Editor"s note: Hey, guys! Joker here . Looks like Yuki has found himself quite the blade . I know he wants to add it to the axe, but something tells me that the sword isn"t going to take too kindly to being trans.m.u.ted with a cursed axe, much less an axe with that much misery and suffering in it . Or it could be that feeling is the chicken teriyaki sandwich I had from S*bway today . Could be either or, if I"m honest . And of course the hero would enjoy looking at swords . Almost her entire life has been dedicated to being a hero, learning swordplay along with Lord knows what else . She recognizes good craftsmans.h.i.+p, I bet . Wonder if Yuki"s going to be the good guy and offer to buy it for her as a thank you for leading them around . Eh, maybe . Or he could just be a giant d.i.c.k, buy it, then trans.m.u.te it with the rusty hero sword and the axe . If he"s real douchey, he"ll do it right in front of her . But I don"t think he"s that much of a d.i.c.kweed . At least, I hope not . Well, only time will tell . See y"all in the next chapter!