Chapter 53 – Irmhild’s Hunting
“Oh, welcome… Wait, it’s you?”
That was the first thing the dwarf boss said after I entered the craftsman’s workshop. It appeared that he remembered me from our previous meeting.
…I had brought in the Sword Boar materials and ordered a variety of strange things, after all. It seemed that my ident.i.ty as the Demon Killer was immediately found out.
“Good day to you. I’ve come to pick up the things that I ordered.”
“Yeah, they’re all done. Oh, you guys! Hold on a minute.”
After the boss said that, the workshop apprentices brought in the weapons and tools from a room inside the workshop.
“The first one is… a shield. I call it the Felt Shield.”
This was a shield prepared for Ashley. They processed the Sword Boar’s fur into felt, which became the exterior of the shield. If anyone tried holding this, they would notice that it was light, even though it didn’t look like it.
(TN: literally uses exterior armor here)
“This is great. It seems easy to handle.”
“There’s no weight to it, you know.”
After the boss grinned and laughed, he pointed to a spear with a broken speartip with his chin.
“I tried testing it out when it was completed, and that was the result.”
Compared to a light shield made of metal, the Felt shield seemed more solid. We had a lot of materials that were gathered from creatures, so it would be easy to enchant them.
(TN: literally says receives the blessing of an enchant here)
Concerning materials that were related to light and st.u.r.dy fabrics, there were various ways to use them. One could create breastplates to protect the upper body, or arm and leg armor to protect those areas. Due to the division of roles in my party, I had decided to give armor to the person best suited for it.
“Wasn’t it difficult creating the Felt?”
“Well, that’s that. We do have various materials brought into the workshop here in Boundary City, after all.”
The boss said that with a look of pride. He probably had experience in various fields.
“Well then, are the ones over here daggers?”
A pair of daggers had been created from the Sword Boar’s large fangs for Sheila. The thick blades seemed extremely brutal.
“I shaped and sharpened those dagger. I guarantee its durability. It is also considerably sharp.”
The daggers had a good affinity with Aura skills, so it was naturally suited for martial arts. The problem here was Grace’s equipment. Aside from the fact that her axe was a perfect weapon, she herself had the ability to regenerate, so she didn’t value protective equipment much. Based on that, her pinafore dress had been created with the silk of a Luna Worm, at the same shop where I got my coat.
“Now, this was the problematic one.”
The last thing that the boss brought out was a large bow-and-arrow set. The bow, which had decorations attached to parts of it, didn’t look unique. Perhaps it was fitted with magic stones?
There were some specially shaped arrows mixed in with normals ones. Although these were intended to be used by Irmhild, they also doubled as an experiment formed from one of my ideas.
I would feel guilty if the weapon that she had to depend on was terrible, so I prepared a proper bow-and-arrow set for her.
“Anyways, it was pretty tough to make this, since it was the first time that I had ever seen such an order. For the weapons, they are sufficiently accurate, so everything is as ordered…I think.”
Portions of the bowstring were processed from the Sword Boar. Surely, these were created from the boar’s intestines and leather.
“Understood. Afterwards, I’ll listen to the user’s opinion.”
“Alright. Just say anything if you have a problem.”
The boss laughed heartily, showing his teeth. Since I brought in the materials, everything turned out to be only 2500 Kilig. Well, we had quite a bit of money to spare, considering our financial situation.
I decided to enter the Labyrinth with everyone to do a quick test run of our new weapons. After parking the carriage at the stables, I distributed everyone’s weapons and gear.
The breastplate, which had not been handed out earlier due to my indecision, was given to Irmhild, since she used a bow. The arm and leg armor were given to Sheila to use them as a lifeline, since she used a hit-and-run strategy.
“Well then, I tried preparing a bow for you, and I want to hear your opinion on it.”
I asked Irmhild after handing her the custom-made weapon. She held the bow in her hand and, after examining it and touching the bowstring, her eyes went wide.
“…Umm, this appears to be a really good item. Is it fine for me to use this?”
“This is a prototype. Won’t you try it out to see if you can handle it easily?”
“Try it out?”
“Try drawing the bowstring for me.”
Irmhild drew the empty bow with a dubious look. A noise rang out after she released the bowstring.
“This is…?”
“Umm… According to my sources, it appears that, in certain countries, the sound of a fired bowstring is used in ceremonies to exorcise evil spirits. I was wondering if you could do the same, since you can infuse Mana into instruments when performing.”
…That country, in other words, was j.a.pan.
Speaking of Meigen no Gi, Kagehisa had seen a Shinto priest strumming bows at a shrine when he was a child. I got this idea for Irmhild, who specializes in string instruments, and thought about testing this idea out.
Although that ceremony was a traditional event… I wondered how it would turn out if a Lamia performed it instead. Well, it truly was an experiment.
(TN: Meigen no Gi is the name of the ceremony)
That said, I had given the dwarf boss a weird request to, if possible, create a bow that had a clear sound when fired. He had looked at us dubiously, and this was probably one of the reasons he remembered us.
Bows were items made from the same wood that was often used in Magic Staves, so it was easy for Mana to pa.s.s through them. If the circuits were activated, the inscribed magic stones would help amplify the sound through Wind Magic.
A Kaburaya was needed to perform the Meigen, so I had them prepare arrows that were shaped like a flute. I wouldn’t know whether the fired arrows could perform a Cursed Song until we tested it out. If it was useless, then it would be something we could laugh at.
(TN: Kaburaya = whistling arrow)
“Well then, I’ll give it a shot.”
Irmhild once again drew the bow. Mana was definitely infused into the sound, and it expanded after she fired an arrow. For now, it was going just as planned. I wondered how it would turn out after being used in a real battle later on.
After descending into the Twilight Forest, the first thing I decided to do was to let Irmhild fight in like she usually did. I wanted her to show me her archery skills and the behavior of an Adventurer.
Perhaps she realized what I was thinking. She changed into her Lamia form and readied an arrow.
She stood up and, after securing a favorable position with adequate visibility on higher ground, began to attack as she pleased.
Even though there wasn’t any Fairy Light, she didn’t hesitate. Perhaps she could see in the dark or was sensing the opponent’s position through subtle changes in temperature? Every time she heard leaves rustling in a bush, she shot an arrow towards it.
Although there were many of obstacles around, since it was a forest, her body slithered back and forth, skillfully securing her line of fire.
The arrows that had been shot into the bushes appeared to have hit their targets perfectly. She didn’t seem to have too much trouble with the darkness in the Twilight Forest. In addition, she cycled from one arrow to the next abnormally quickly.
She would grab an arrow from the quiver on her back with her tail, fit it into her drawn bow, and then immediately fire two or three arrows. It was similar to having a third arm.
Arrows flew towards the Killer Ants that jumped out of the bushes. Sounds of whistling arrows echoed around us, and the Killer Ants that were hit by the arrows suddenly attacked the nearby Whispermush groups.
The result just now was, perhaps, confusion? Maybe she had infused the effects of a Cursed Song into a normal arrow?
She fired arrows from high places. Even though she was moving and shooting, her upper body was stable and didn’t shake. Her accuracy was pretty good, and her senses could precisely grasp the opponent’s position. Her skill allowed for high-speed shooting, and her arrows carried additional effects.
…These were quite powerful, weren’t they?
When one spoke of Lamias, one would think that they sealed their opponent’s movements by coiling around them and sucking out their blood. I had thought that this would be her modus operandi.
Perhaps coming into contact with unorganized Monsters might have been a big risk for her? We should at least watch out for whenever they closed in on her.
“…Although Lamias look like that…they become considerably weakened if they used their skill to change into their human form. She would only be able to put in a small amount of power into her bow as well.”
“Uuu.”
Perhaps Sheila had guessed what I was thinking, since she mercilessly exposed the truth. Irmhild put on a sad expression. Well, this was necessary information. In other words, Lamias couldn’t show their true strength unless they changed into their true forms. I probably should have let Grace listen to this too.
This was probably why it had been possible for Snakebite to kidnap her. For example, if they had stunned her without making her lose consciousness, she wouldn’t have been able to cancel her human transformation, which was a problem.
“Well, I get the fact that you have plenty of strength if you’re in your original form. Would you be fine if I prepared a heavier bow for you?”
I felt that there was still some leeway in her bow stance.
(ED: He’s probably talking about the draw weight of the bow here.)
“Hmm, if I use my tail, I think I would be able to draw most bows.”
I see… Then, should I prepare a trump card for her to use at a critical moment? At the very least, I thought that she was capable enough to go into the Labyrinth with us. While Irmhild suppressed the surrounding Monsters, I picked up a flower that was in one of the bushes.
Even though we took great pains to come to the Twilight Forest last time, only a portion of it had been left untouched.
“This is?”
“Oh, this is used to make Potions. There are various ways to use it, like processing it and then selling it or storing it away for later use. I’ve been thinking of gathering some from now on, not just stripping materials from monsters.”
Everyone looked at each other and nodded.
With that said, my goal was to stock up on a large amount of them to process and sell potions, but either method was fine with me. It was similar to the process of making detergent from the sap of the Sabona Tree, and this was my main goal in coming to the Twilight Forest.