Translator: Mana
Editor: The Blacksmith & Ranock Pliskin (The potatic Draturtle)
Proofreader: Rinkage

Character page:

Rinkage: Sorry, I was meant to post it yesterday >.

Chapter 55 : The smell of the knight"s oath is an armoury

"Mirror of Truth"

[Type]
Cosmetic Tool

[Name]
‘That One Specific" Compact

[Description]
‘That one specific" transformation spell.
Can transform into humans encountered previously.
Face only.
30 minutes.

[Magic Properties]
Transformation C

[Spiritual Protection]
None

[Owner]
Jirou Ayase

――――――――――――――――――――――

I casted "Mirror of Truth" once more on the item I just purchased from the secondhand store.

"I guess this means it"s a transforming magic item after all, huh."

A compact was a makeup item that consisted of powder or foundation and a puff, with a mirror on the back of the lid.
However the inside of this one was completely empty, and it"s only worth was in the mirror on the inside of the lid. The price was also based on the value of the mirror at 300 el (which was still pretty expensive).
While I didn"t know whether the contents were empty because they were lost over the years or simply used up, it didn"t seem to have an effect on the "transformation ability" so it wasn"t a problem.

Yes, the transformation ability.

The day after I sold the velvet for six gold coins to Chubby, I decided to put the past behind me and go all-out spending! Thus, we went window-shopping.
I was appraising interesting items with the skill "Mirror of Truth" before buying them when I found this compact.
The shop owner had said "It"s still useable if you put some powder inside it!", not realising it was an item with a special ability.

It seemed like the people here were oblivious to the special effects of items, just like when I bought my magic sword and Marina"s halberd.

Though it may just be due to their low appraisal ability… but even so, this level of ability was way too low.
Even without a broken ability like "Mirror of Truth", they should still have something more than this. Wasn"t there anyone with an appraisal vocation out there?

But I suppose that meant I could get magical items like this at a much cheaper price. They were hard to come by even at secondhand stores, so searching for magic items was actually quite tough, but I was actually thinking of slowly collecting them to open a high-cla.s.s magic item speciality store in the future.
Then, I could sell the cheap items with special effects I had collected and sell them for 100 gold coins…

But that aside, I decided I would test the transformation ability of the compact after returning to the mansion. Since it seemed like it could be abused easily, it might end up shelved instead.

Next stop, the armoury!

I had a few weapons already, but the only armour I had was the mythril gauntlet I purchased before. I wanted to buy more soon.
In reality, I only ever travelled between the mansion and Erishe and had never run into any danger before, but I wanted to dress Marina in a more knightly outfit. For my own self-satisfaction.

"So, can you choose an armour for Marina? One that"s cool and knightly."

I could have asked the old man at the store, but I had professionals with me today—Rebeccsan and Hetty-san. I"m trusting you guys!

"Aren"t you going to buy any for Diansama?"

Hetty-san suddenly interjected. Well, it was true that I was showing a little favouritism towards Marina in terms of gear. Marina already had the halberd and gauntlet too. I bought Diana a plain robe so that she wouldn"t attract attention, but I hadn"t bought a weapon for her yet…

"I"ve prepared something separately for Diana, so please focus on Marina for today."
I had already ordered something on the net, actually.

"Is that so. I apologise for my hasty a.s.sumption."

"Oh, no no. I understand Hetty-san"s concern. It"s true that I don"t have weapons or armour for Diana."

"Right. But wasn"t it fine that way? You"re doing business in the town, so you don"t need weapons."

The reason why I always walked around with a sword and Marina always carried her halberd was for protection inside and outside the town.
…But that was just an excuse.
The real reason was because swords were cool! Though it was a rather chuunibyou desire of mine… But like, weren"t swords just so cool? You can"t help but admire them!

Of course, they could win against any demon beast attacks too! Or so I thought, but to put it frankly, it"s way too peaceful here.
Even if any monsters sp.a.w.ned, Sh.e.l.lo-san would just one-shot them anyway.
The town was swarming with sca~ry military officers, so the public security was good and there were very few criminals.
I was a little nervous about running into the bandits typical of a fantasy-world outside the town, but I hadn"t even seen a glimpse of such a thing.

However, even the partially developed roads were dangerous once you travelled to other cities, so many merchants would use slaves for protection. Chubby"s slaves seemed more like a troop too.
So it was completely normal for a merchant"s slaves to be armed. I just didn"t have a need for that yet.

"I tend to get careless and wind up in trouble quite often. It"d be too late if something actually happened, so I thought I"d have her protect me."

"So that"s why you bought her…"

"W-Well, yeah, basically. Exactly that."

I couldn"t care less about protection, I bought her because she was a dark elf. I didn"t regret a thing. …But it was too late to admit that now.
Although Rebeccsan might have noticed my less than pure motives.

"Marina will protect my liege with her life!"

Marina replied enthusiastically.
Where did she get all that energy from? I wouldn"t mind if she was a little more laid-back. While I certainly appreciated it, I also felt some guilt so I had mixed feelings about it.

In Diana"s case, it didn"t bother me as much as she wasn"t really a slave.
Though she would sometimes create her own distance.
If I had to make a comparison, Diana was a free-spirited cat while Marina was a loyal dog who charged into things head-first.

Then, one and half hours later, after combining the opinions of Rebeccsan and Hetty-san with my own personal tastes, a hybrid item of practicality and KAWAII was completed.

"Hehe, this is kind of embarra.s.sing."

Marina came out of the fitting room fidgeting restlessly.
There was no need for her to try the armour on in the fitting room, but I wanted to see the finished form so I had her put everything on.
Revealing the finished product after a remodel was important, after all.

"…"

"H… How is it? Is it weird for a Turk tribe like Marina to wear something like this…?"

Marina said while looking up worriedly.
The cape at her waist flowed elegantly.

…Are you seeing this, j.a.pan?
A dark elf knight actually existed…
In the most perfect way…
Hehe, I can"t believe I"m actually being moved by this!

The equipment cost neared 10,000 el, making me doubt myself for a moment, but I no longer care!
Money is meant to be used for things like this!

Mythril half-armour and thick clothing that went underneath (apparently called a gambeson, which was partially quilted and looked comfortable to wear).
Apart from the half-armour, full-plate armour that covered the whole body was also for sale, but that was rejected for not being cute enough. Half armour was lightweight armour that balanced defence and mobility, protecting the shoulder, torso, and waist.

For the gloves, I had her continue to equip the mythril gauntlet purchased before. It was secondhand, but it was pretty enough and not a problem at all.

I also splurged a little and bought mythril leg guards. Truth be told, I hesitated a little because mythril products were expensive (perhaps these greaves were difficult to make, as they were especially so), but the other options were iron (heavy), wood (lame) or leather (brown), so I decided on mythril.

But the biggest decision of all was the helmet.
All cuteness could be lost with the wrong helmet, but protecting the head was most important.
I had considered using a bike helmet for its protection and light weight, but that was rejected for having absolutely no aesthetic sense.

In the end, I settled on a mythril circlet. To prioritise cuteness. Well, I doubt wearing something like this would make much of a difference.
Maybe I should prepare a full-face helmet and set it aside for real battles…

And finally, the waist cape. It was a wonderful item that looked like a skirt at first glance, having both femininity and practicality.
With this, it wouldn"t be an exaggeration to say that Marina"s equipment was 90% complete.

"It suits you, Marina. Like a knight I"d be proud to show off to anyone."

"Awawawa, y-you really think so? M-Marina looks like a knight?"

Marina blushed, her eyes sparkling brightly. Her ears were twitching too.
For Marina, who had been a self-proclaimed knight until now, wearing this outfit with a horse and halberd would make her feel like a real knight.

"Yeah, you look like a real knight to me. My own kni… my own dedicated knight. You"re really cute, Marina…"

c.r.a.p, my loose tongue got ahead of me again. But it couldn"t be avoided in this case. I was already holding my words back as much as I could. Because she really was cute.

I expected Marina to get in a fl.u.s.ter and tell me to stop teasing her again, but instead, she placed a hand on her chest and braced herself with a deep breath before speaking.

"—There is something I would like to say to my liege."

She turned to directly face me from the front.
Her red face and misty eyes clearly conveyed her nervousness. Even my palms started sweating!

The two of us stared at each other. Everyone else was silently looking on. It was embarra.s.sing.

What was going on…?

Then, Marina raised her head as if she had made up her mind and declared:

"I-I, Marina, pledge to you the oath of a knight, to never betray or deceive, to be kind and brave, to be your spear at times, and… to always be your shield and protect you."

Eeeeeh?! What was this girl suddenly saying?
How was I supposed to react to that?! Was this the oath of a knight? Was that something common in this world?

"Oh… right."

What "right". Couldn"t I have given a better response than that?

Even Rebeccsan and Hetty-san were whispering to each other.

"Was that the oath of a knight, perhaps?"
"Jirou-sama really has a firm grasp on his slave"s heart."
"Isn"t the oath of a knight meant to be presented by the master normally?"
"Who cares, this has its own charm—wait. Are you jealous, Becky?"
"That"s not it… I just had a phase where I admired the oath of a knight too."
"Why don"t you seize this opportunity then?"
"Stop that, I"m too old for that now."
"Why don"t you de-age yourself then? Shall I lend you some stones?"
"That isn"t the issue!"

They seemed to be arguing over something.

The oath of a knight, huh. It was a little burdensome to hear "I will always be your shield", but I was happy she was willing to swear her loyalty to me to that extent… I think.

"T-Then…"

Marina"s face flushed an even deeper red as she took a step forward. Rather than red, it mixed with the original colour of her dark skin to make a colour closer to maroon.
Are you alright, Marina? Wasn"t your oath over already?

"Then… as a sign of our new bond as a knight and master, a kiss of oath."

Then, Marina squeezed her eyes tightly shut and raised her face for easier access to her lips.

E-Eeeh? Seriously?! That was a thing?!

I didn"t mind the kiss itself, but in the corner of an armoury like this?
Wasn"t there a more tasteful setting than this?!

Marina clenched her hands together in front of her chest as she waited for the kiss.
Diana, Rebeccsan, Hetty-san, and the armoury owner looked on with inscrutable expressions.
Perhaps because I had hesitated at Marina"s sincerity, but my arm was…not going to be twisted into shutting down the situation this time, it seemed.

Well, it wasn"t like I intended on humiliating any girls here.

"Just one thing, Marina. If you are to be my knight, you must always hold your chest high proudly. No matter what anyone else says to you, I will always be on your side. You don"t have to be so deferential anymore. It might be difficult… and I can"t say it well, but. Let"s all be happy together."

Then, I placed a light kiss on her forehead.

I couldn"t say I wanted to live her life proudly… as they weren"t the kind of words you could say to a slave freely, but I couldn"t come up with anything else, so forgive me.
Also, forgive me for getting weak-willed under everyone"s piercing gazes and avoiding the kiss. You shouldn"t ask for too much from a virgin. I was at my limit, you know!

I had considered if that was a glimpse of Marina"s "other guidance", but that didn"t seem to be the case. Although I wondered if "making the oath of a knight" was a common occurrence.

As we were leaving the armoury, I was stopped by Diana.

"Goshujinsama. There"s something I"d like to speak to you about tonight. I… cannot afford to lose to Marina."