~ Adventurer"s life Day 26 (Fri) Early Morning ~ Comnes Town – West – Gravel Fields

Today as well, we pa.s.sed through the stone gate and crossed the moat when heading over to the Gravel Fields.

However, we"re here about 1 hour earlier than usual… The number of adventurers recently has been rising.
We just need to hunt before everyone else so we wouldn"t need to repeat the same as yesterday.
Taking out all 21 skeletons and Golems, we proceed in the formation we held before, while still keeping vigilance, especially on areas with dense trees and thickets.

There"s another party we met along the way, probably having the same idea as us…

It"s some people I recognise… It"s the party I met before back since the time I was doing the emergency request, ‘Comnes" Warriors" was it? There are 13 of them here, with Mr Wolf taking the lead.

"Good morning!"
"Ohh, Morning!… Nemo -! Just what is that big thing !?"
"Ohh, a horde of monsters !?"
"Huuge !!"
"Just what is with these numbers !?"
"There"s more than us!?"

We"re getting a lot of commotion with the skeletons and Stone Golem… well, it"s not too surprising given that it is an army of armed skeletons with a 2 and a half meter golem following behind .
However, I don"t really have enough time to spend here unfortunately, and I"m sure the others think that the same, so after some greetings we went away in different directions…

… and then a voice called out from behind.

"Heeey! We actually managed to recover so quickly thanks to you! Thank you so much!"

Looking back at that party again, there were three people waving at me.
Smiling, I did the same and waved back while walking on further ahead.

~ Adventurer"s life Day 26 (Fri) Noon ~ Comnes Town – West – Gravel Fields – Gra.s.slands Outer Edge

Taking advantage of the ‘Hasten" skill, we reached all the way north west, close to the gra.s.slands.

There"s been hardly any signs of adventurers along the way here, so hunting had been going quite smoothly.

The monsters here are generally the same as the ones back at the Gravel Fields, though they"re noticeably larger.
It"s probably because as this area is much more lush than the Gravel Fields, and only the strong ones manage to remain in this area as their territory.

I had every bone, from defeated monsters, used as materials in making a shield through the ‘Modelling" skill and ‘Engraving" those as well… With the pace we"re going, I should also be able to reach level 6 for ‘Alchemist" soon today.
If I were to apply ‘Plating" now, it"s just going to be a waste since what I applied would remain having the same effect even when I level up, so for now I"ll wait until then.

Once I"ve finished making the shields, and next is the clubs… Since they already have a rather simple and crude shape, it"s quite easy making them…
Since the shabby round shields and wooden clubs are both inferior to the bone versions in terms of durability and weight, I might as well replace them… moreover I quite like the idea of having skeletons using bone weapons.

I also tried applying ‘Ghost Servant" onto a recent monsters corpse, but no matter what nothing happens…

… Ah, another larger version monster came out to attack again… This time it"s a Great King Yamori.

This place has bigger monsters than the Gravel Fields, but it doesn"t really feel any different than the usual… It might be thanks from having to engrave all those equipment yesterday.
The difference in strength would probably be unnoticeable if it were just difference of 1 level, but since it was 3, and with all the skeletons together no less, it wound up ending up like this… there"s the "plating" too.

(… Though, I"m gonna have to think up of something for this guy…)

The one that appeared this time is a Great King Yamori. Now that it"s about 30% bigger than the usual ones, the range of its tail and bite is annoyingly large.
Because of that, the enemy was a little bothersome…
I had the Golem hold its head down along with other skeletons before I went and stabbed for the finishing blow.

It really should be about time now isn"t… ? Right at that thought, light shone up from below and the familiar feeling of pain a.s.saulted me.

"Ah, it"s here- Gaaaah!!"
"Are you levelling up!?"

‘Alchemist" reaching level 6 came as quickly as that.

"Alright, I finally got the skill…"
"As expected, ‘Alchemist" really did level up to 6… The new skill seems to be the ‘Mana Potion Creation" skill this time."
"Mhm."

Of course, I already knew about that beforehand, and so I nodded to it.

"… Eh. Could it be that you can make mana recovering potions!"

… Not good, so even Benedetta would make that sort of reaction towards it… even if I were to deny it here, I"m still going to need to know the recipe for it, otherwise I"d be depressed… Once I get the details, I"ll tell her about, is what I told her.

"Alright, next up is Alchemy huh."

Since now that my "Alchemist" reached level 6, I"ll now use that ‘Plating" skill I"ve been saving up till now.

Once I"ve finished with that, however, I"ve used up all of the metal sc.r.a.ps I had on me… Looks like I"ll have to get some more again.

Before that, I"ll have the skeletons line up first so I can get the general gist of my skeletons current equipment.

— [Reorganized skeletons] —

A: Hatchet + 6/6, Kite shield (metal) + 6/3, Blood stained leather armor + 0/3.
B: Mace + 6/6, Round shield with iron frame (wood) + 6/3
C: Mace + 6/6, Heavy round shield (bone) + 6/4
D-J: Club + 6/6, Heavy round shield (bone) + 6/4
K-O: Club + 6/6, Heavy round shield (bone) + 6/0

※: + X/Y Arbitrary level of engraving and plating respectively.

———————————–

While continuing on hunting, I noticed that 14 of the skeleton"s bags were almost full, so we decided to head back.
Yesterday was a little busy, so I"d like to finish things up quickly today so I can head to the marketplace…

The skeletons without the wooden racks are made to carry the replaced clubs and shields.
Hopefully I"ll be able to sell off these weapons…

"There were a lot of those large monsters today. I hope we"d get a lot from it."
"The monsters in this area is indeed larger, so it should be alright."

It"s almost time for the effect to end, so Benedetta renewed it by singing out the ‘Hasten" buff again.
As usual, she always seem embarra.s.sed when doing it, but since she"s always been trying to play it off cooly, I"ll pretend I didn"t notice it…

On the way back, there were a number of dismantled corpses left by other adventurers, so I used ‘Bone Manipulation" along the way to take out the bones and stuffed them in some of the skeletons racks.
Since these bones don"t really have much use for anyone else, this is quite convenient.

There"s even more adventurers here than yesterday, so I"ve been getting weird stares again and it"s hard to not notice it… well the majority of it is aimed at the skeletons anyways.

Aside from collecting bones, I"ve been checking on areas like thickets and boulders for some ingredients for the mana potion, Utsumetade, Suinessou, and the materials of the poison potion to which I find inside within checking about some thristles before arriving at the western gate… I send the Golem back to the coin before entering town.

"However, it sure was quite busy by the Gravel Fields huh…"
"We couldn"t really hunt around there as freely either."

While grumbling along the way, we head towards the guild.

Walking around through the streets with 21 skeletons attracted a lot of attention just like always.

~ Adventurer"s life Day 26 (Fri) Afternoon ~ Comnes Town – Weapons Store – Adonnis" Blade

After exchanging the materials and making up the potions, we both headed towards Adonnis" shop.
We checked inside, and as expected, the shop is full up with even more customers than usual with Adonnis hastily attending them.

"Ohh it"s Nemo, and the lady! It"s quite busy today!"
"h.e.l.lo. It looks quite troublesome huh."

Even while talking to me, he"s still busy at work helping out another warrior in choosing some armor.

"I"d like to buy some broken iron weapons if you have any. And also, some clubs and shields please."
"Just take them out from that barrel over there and tell me before you leave. Just pay me the next time you come back."

(… You sure that"s even alright?)

I had that thought while rummaging through the barrel he pointed at and took out a two handed weapon from there.
After making sure that Adonnis noticed it, I waved back to him before leaving the shop.

After that, I went over to the marketplace and bought about 7 of those wooden racks, a large bag and several bamboo tubes.

~ Adventurer"s life Day 26 (Fri) Evening ~ Comnes Town – Inn – Nessos" Temptation

When returning back to my room, I placed the Utsumetade and Suinessou into the basin for the Mana Potion… In a moment, a slight glow appeared then leaving a vibrant blue liquid.

"You made it just like that!? In an instant no less!?"

Peeping over, Benedetta gave an astonished look while saying so… that"s right, I never really did show her how I made these potions huh…
She continued to stare even as I pour the solution into the bamboo containers.
I continued doing the same thing another 3 more times… though, I wonder what I should do with these?

I had a little taste test to test out its effects… As I concentrate onto myself, I can definitely sense it recovering, though only for an instant as I did only have a sip… however, there"s something else I notice from drinking this.

"… This is, sweet…"
"… Eh!?"

Somehow it"s got this melon soda taste to it… it even has that fizz too.
Speaking of which, I haven"t tasted anything remotely sweet from what I recall in Nemo"s memory…
It"s been a while since I"ve tasted something like this.
After holding myself back from the urge of taking another sip, I"ve noticed Benedetta had been staring this way with sparkling eyes.

"… You want one…?"
"… !!"

No, I"m not reading your mind or anything…
I handed over the bamboo tube to which she took a sip and gave an expression obviously holding back her smile.

"You"re free to drink it all. Since I already had a sip, I didn"t plan on selling that."

She looked over this way, and gave a proper smile this time to show her thanks.

… Speaking of which, were there only a few sweety foods up north? … Even in Comnes, sugar canes are imported by ship from the south and is a luxurious commodity here.
So sweets are rarely eaten huh… seems like even Benedetta acts like a young woman like now.

(… Mm. Still though, it seems like I still haven"t reached my mana limit…)

Even though I"ve just made 4 mana potions, I"m still left with about a third of my mana remaining. Probably because of the level up earlier today.

Before sleeping, I took out the broken two handed weapons from my bag to start ‘Plating" some equipment.

~ Adventurer"s life Day 27 (Sat) Morning ~ Comnes Town – North East – Wetlands

"Ohh… found a Yacchoutai."
"Hm? You"ve found one already?"

For today, we headed over to the unpopular hunting ground Wetlands to gather some medicinal plants here… Yesterday, we thought we might as well do some other things while waiting for things to calm down.
That said, I figured this would my chance to procure some ingredients for the poison potion which I haven"t even tried out yet.

However, since Benedetta wouldn"t really benefit from it in any way, I told her she might as well rest for today, but it seems like she"s quite a dutiful person… I"ll probably treat her to something sweet after this.

And so, all that"s left now is the Morning Algae to search for, but since we"re here, I might as well collect enough other ingredients for the health potion too.

No sooner from thinking that, I was suddenly able to find a number of them, well enough for 4, so we continued on for some life potion ingredients anyways.
Every now and then, there"ll be some black slugs approaching us to which skeleton B would handle, so there"s really nothing for us to worry about when working…

… While busy searching, there was an odd voice calling out to me from behind.

"Sorry for this. However, it seems like I haven"t been able to go to heaven yet…"
"I didn"t think I"d see you again…"

It"s that kaiser bearded husband ghost from last time. I think his name was Mario. He was the one from the slime workshop Rostam.
Seems like since I had my Necromancer at a higher level than last time, I"m able to communicate with him quite easily.
… Because of that, he really does give the appearance of someone powerful… especially with that beard.

"You still have some lingering regrets or something?"
"I"m not sure. But I suppose I am still worried about the store. Maybe that"s why I haven"t moved on yet…"

Mhm. Well, there"s no harm in helping out. Not to mention, I"m also curious about how his wife Adrianne has been doing lately too.
I haven"t been to the shop ever since that time with the slime recipe…

Though I wonder if there"s some way to get him out from being bounded to this area…

At that thought, I felt that my mana started to react as Mario suddenly started to change into a hazy pale blue silhouette.

"Ohh! What"s happened here?"
"… Mario, you can probably follow me now… You"re most likely not bound to this place anymore."

I"m certain of it. It"s probably due to my ‘Ghost Servant" skill at play here…

"Pleased to meet you sir. I am Benedetta."
"Aya~, you"re quite polite! I"m…"

Wait. Benedetta can see him too!?
… Ah that"s right, she does have that magic eye on her…

~ Adventurer"s life Day 27 (Sat) Noon ~ Comnes Town – Workshop – Rostam

We stood in front of the workshop.
Even at this time, and even more so with the sudden influx of adventurers, there"s hardly anyone around… I didn"t really notice it before, but this street is quite desolate.

While walking along rows of workshops, Benedetta turned to face my way.

"… Say, Nemo. Do you think the people from the shop could see him?"
"Ah!"

That"s right, normal people shouldn"t even be able to see him…I stopped in place, to which skeleton B, who"ve been following behind carrying our luggage, did the same.

"No, no, that"s fine. Just bringing me here has already been enough. I"m grateful already!"

Though he says that, I doubt that would be enough to send him off.

At that, a small thought pa.s.sed through my head, "if only he could at least turn into something like a skeleton instead".

… In response, Mario"s body shone brightly before disappearing!!

"M, Mario!?"
"He disappeared!?"

Benedetta and I quickly looked around… and immediately found something odd.

… A Kaiser beard just grew out from skeleton B…
To which it continues to casually stroke it.

"W, what is this…"

A murmur escaped from my mouth.

I already figured what caused it… I"m just more surprised about that beard.

Aah… I always wondered what"s up with the skeleton with the moustache in the LN cover.

That"s one mystery solved.

—- Divine Protection and Skills —-
Necromancer level 6: Undead Servant 21 Summons; Bone manipulation; Ghost Servant; Bonuses < bone="" weapon;="" bone="" armor;="" gathering;="" night="" vision="">
Alchemist level 6: (Health/Poison/Mana) potion create; Extraction; Plating; Bonuses < throw;="" gathering="">
Sculptor level 6: Engrave; Golem (Wood/Earth/Stone); Bonuses < dagger;="" hammer;="" sculpting;="" gathering;="" mining="">

—- Summon Equipment —-
A: Hatchet + 6/6, Kite shield (metal) + 6/3, Blood stained leather armor + 0/3.
B: Mace + 6/6, Round shield with iron frame (wood) + 6/3
C: Mace + 6/6, Heavy round shield (bone) + 6/4
D-J: Club + 6/6, Heavy round shield (bone) + 6/4
K-O: Club + 6/6, Heavy round shield (bone) + 6/0

—- Equipment —-
Pig femur Bone dagger - 2 sets + 6/6
Barbarian robe + 0/3
Half-face guarded Viking helmet (bone) + 5/4
Heavy Round Shield (bone) + 5/4

※: + X/Y Arbitrary level of engraving and plating respectively.

TL Note: It"s a mustache I know… but Kaiser beard just sounds better…