Published at 14th of October 2018 05:43:31 PM
Chapter 15
Chapter 15 ~ Preparation for Departure
After having our breakfast, my family gathered and confirmed the schedule for today.
As a matter of fact, Lily-sama joined our family meeting today.
She is ready for departure. I didn’t see her doing anything, so as usual, she’s leaving everything to Titus-san.
Nonetheless, I will leave it to them to handle. Anyway, I need to finish all the errands left in the Elf Country as soon as possible. Then, I will return back to my long-awaited home.
“See, I’m thinking of extending the house after we come home.”
We need to fit Lily’s things inside. And if I become a lord, that tower is kind of too small.
“You are right. This time, why don’t we rebuild it into a huge mansion?”
“Yup. Kind of a waste though, since I’m comfortable with the one that we currently have.”
“The house cannot be rebuilt that fast, so for now, let’s leave it as it is.”
Building the house alone is easy with my Earth Magic. However, the hard part is sculpting the interior design.
The simplest form of Earth Magic is only capable of producing a box like warehouse or residence. This kind of structure is vulnerable to rain or might collapse during one of our long journeys. In order to create a comfortable living environment, it’s important to pour considerable time and effort into it.
The ones who are willing to sink that much energy are me and Ann alone.
Besides the work done with Earth Magic, we also need to focus on finding suitable furniture to place in our house. The selected type of futon must have good size and durability alongside their comfort factor. We must make sure that it fits with the other furniture too.
We need to consider our budget also. In this world where mass production doesn’t exist, cheap things usually have bad quality while the luxury goods are stupidly expensive.
Both Sati and Tilika were getting a little out of hand while Ellie keeps on pointing to these luxuries goods, saying “this one is nice!”. She said that goods are pretty much hers now. There is no way I’m letting her do that.
However, Ann is the busiest one in our house. Besides doing housework together with Sati, she also busied herself with training and doing activities as a priest.
Even though the tower is far from completion, I can’t bear myself to put more burden on her.
“I understand the gist of our situation. You already got the furniture, right? I will take care of building the house.”
I’m experienced in building the tower and we already received a bunch of furniture from the elves. We also have an ample budget. Nothing to worry about.
Although the workload has increased, this is the place where I’m going to spend years living from now. That is why I’m pumped.
All tasks of home building are entrusted to me.
Of course, they are going to help wherever they can.
Next thing to do is to report everything to Olba san and the Count. I went to the Adventurer Guild to inform them of the addition in my party. Nothing else is worth mentioning.
“When are you going for your next adventure? Is there any more Quest to take?”
“The Quest is rarely issued to me. Plus, there is no adventuring request during winter.”
Yet, where has my winter break gone?
Just when I thought I’m free from work, I get stuck with building up my territory.
“What’s that……I’m looking forward to it, too……”
There is no break but there is no adventuring either. Time to hone my skills.
“We might be in a holiday and there is no job for a while, but don’t forget your training.”
“You are right. Training is important.”
What, work is not important for you?
“I’m planning to have you participate in a monster subjugation mission, as part of your training.”
She seems disappointed, so I said it without thinking much.
“Is that so! Just leave the training to me!”
I don’t exactly know how to “train” her but, based on my experience so far, would the Sergeant-dono boot camp style work?
Since Lily-sama is going to be our vanguard, I think this kind of warrior training might suit her.
But it’s not a good idea to apply the slavery collar on an Elf Princess……
At first, I thought it might serve as a quick solution, but in the end, I don’t think it will work.
After I roughly decide the schedule for today, our highest priority is to move the treasures.
At the present, I don’t know which ones I need, and which ones I do not. So, I collected all the furniture first.
Since I’m a minimalist, I always bring along only the necessities.
Dishware and cooking utensils. Some nice miscellaneous goods for daily use.
Having collected variety of good quality towels while we are staying here was a big harvest.
I packed all the assorted goods in a single packaging. With this, my Item Box will identify them as a single piece, therefore the load is lessened. I don’t know whether the ability description itself was lazy or was it too flexible.
I have no complaint since the requirements are less strict.
The furniture and other accessories that hog the most space in the room quickly disappeared into the Item Box. The place quickly turns clean.
Next, I will have a look at the arms.
There is a selection of various bows, but there are only a few swords and spears.
All the swords have good build quality, however there are many lightweight swords that are mainly focused on their decoration. Though, they are the only type that fit the elf’s description of strength.
Only a few of them are large enough for a sword. They are close to the sword that I’ve previously used, so I’m taking them.
Although it looks like a decoration, the edge is very sharp, it felt good in my hand and the balance is perfect.
There is no function collecting all these valuable items at home, but it’s meaningless if they were not taken. I will feel bad for the blacksmith if I only take home the furniture but leave all these arms here.
I’ve decided to re-evaluate the function of these weapons.
Spears and daggers, then there is also an axe. The axe can be used to cut lumber.
Feels like a waste.
“Lily-sama, are there any weapons made of Mythril silver or Orichalcum included here?”
“Most of these were made of magic imbued metal.”
The Dwarves hold the propriety technology which allows them to process the metal with magic.
If possible, I might be able to find a sword among them suitable for my Magic Sword technique.
Sati checks the bows while I am checking the spears.
Ann has found herself an elegant shield. There was no mace for her, though. The Elves don’t use blunt weapons.
Ellie already has the items that she wants. She is holding the staff and examining it.
Tilika is holding up the magic robe chosen by Ellie.
“Tilika, use this. This is a nice robe.”
Ellie managed to find a magic robe.
The one Tilika is currently wearing is cheaply made, so it would make a fine replacement.
“I’m taking this staff.”
That said, the staff that she selected is nothing extraordinary. I don’t think that staff is much different compared to the one she is currently using. Maybe it was made of material with better quality since it looks like a good product.
Ellie is the only person who loves to swing her staff around while using magic.
Ellie said it’s easier to concentrate her mana that way. Somehow, there is an advantage for using the staff.
“Sati, did you find a good bow?”
I asked Sati who is still checking the bows. Sati replied by shaking her head.
“A strong bow is still……”
Currently, she is using the bow that she received from the instructor. It is by no way an inferior quality and she was satisfied. However, she is looking for a stronger bow to deal with stronger foes.
“Then, why don’t we stop by the bow shop later.”
“By the way, how about your equipment, Lily-sama?”
“Don’t you know? I cannot use a sword, nor a bow.”
Lily-sama’s current equipment is excellent. Just that her clothing look like they don’t provide much defence.
“It’s essential to wear some kind of armor if you want to become an adventurer.”
“I’m being protected by the spirits.”
“It’s wiser if you prepare a set now if you plan to act as our vanguard. Have you forgotten what happened with Sati?”
“M, muu…”
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There are several full plate armors around. The smallest size seems to fit Lily-sama’s size. If she wants to become our vanguard, she needs to emphasize her defence.
“What about this one?”
A steel-made one, huh. The full plate armor was adorned with a beautiful silver lining.
I cooperated with Sati to help Lily-sama put on the armor. Then, we cover her head with a helmet and complete the set with a shield at her side.
The armor size needs to be altered a bit. Otherwise, everything else is okay.
“H-heavy.”
The problem is she cannot move because the armor is too heavy……
She receives our assistance to remove the armor and after she finally get out, she starts breathing heavily.
A proper full plate armor is very heavy.
With a shield attached, it can go as heavy as 50 kilograms. If the wearer is untrained, not only can they not move, they might also collapse from the weight.
“Shall we take them home with us?
I put the armor inside my Item Box.
If your objective is mainly to strengthen your defence, then wearing this heavy armor is not farfetched.
“Even if you take it back, I don’t think I can use it.”
No matter what your battle styles is, you still need to wear some armor. At the very least, you need to equip a leather type armor.
I still collected all the armor, just in case.
Now that we have finished packing the weapons and armor inside their respective boxes, we need to deal with the accessories that are in front of Ann and Ellie.
“What should we do? There are lots of them.”
Ann notices that I have come over and asked.
Certainly, there are too many jewelleries lined up on the table even after being sorted out by four of them. There will be spares even after everyone wear them.
“Why don’t you just take them all home for now?”
Since I’m already bringing a lot home, I don’t see why I can’t do it with the accessories as well.
“No! That is too much, extravagant!”
Putting the necessary items aside, there seems to be a conflict on the luxury items side.
In opposition to Ellie’s opinion, having too many luxuries is against the teaching of the shrine.
“Why don’t you guys pick whichever that you want and bring them home?”
“You are correct……even so……”
“How about this?”
After I offer my opinions, both Ellie and Ann start selecting their items quickly.
These two are going through one after another while bickering each time. This is going to take a while.
Damn, if you cannot choose then take them all.
Sati is satisfied with the pretty necklace that I have chosen for her. Tilika chose the matching necklace with different color. Ann and Ellie are likely to take a longer time.
“Please take your time. We are going elsewhere in the meanwhile.”
There is no way I’m waiting for them here.
Both of us decided to leave.
I bring along Tilika’s summoned rats in case of emergency.
“Next, we are going to look for bow and harness.”
Titus-san gets us an escort. Afterwards, we leave the castle.
The castle towers over us imposingly from the outside. It is so huge that it is impossible to get the full picture from the ground. It was adorned with white stones or something similar, and they are beautiful.
Several buildings line up around the castle, and elves are coming and going.
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In front of us, there is a public square. The views beyond that are filled with trees and greenery like the one you found at the countryside. It’s not a view befitting a town, more akin to a village.
The houses were built scattered in between the forests and the lush field. This country doesn’t seem to have high population density.
“The craftsman town is that way.”
While saying that, Lily-sama pointed towards the direction of forest and farmlands nearby the outer wall of the country.
When I was thinking on what to do, Lily-sama activated Fly.
There are quite a lot of elves houses built alongside the wall, together with the craftsman town.
The town streets are nothing different compared to the other towns in this different world that I have seen so far. However, their streets are narrower.
It was said that horse carriage is uncommon here, therefore there is no point in enlarging the town’s roads.
Besides, even though the Elf Country is vast, since the lands are also used for agriculture, there is not much land that other elves can afford.
Normally, people will build the residences inside the wall and reserve the land outside for agriculture. However, that scenario is not feasible due to their location nearby to the Demon Realm.
That being said, I’m lucky that there isn’t any farmland outside the wall. If this is any ordinary town, then I’m sure the farmland will be destroyed after I released torrents of long range magic.
The monsters will likely pillage the farmland if it was outside, however I’m sure that my Meteor will cause the biggest damage.
While my mind is preoccupied by such thing, we arrived at the bow shop.
It’s a workshop specialized in making bows. The finished products were displayed on the wall and the tools and materials are lined up behind the shop.
“Oh, isn’t that Lily-sama and the hero? Come! Take your time and look at my wares!”
We were warmly welcomed by the owner of the shop. I explained what Sati is looking for in a bow to him.
“According to Sati-sama’s physique, I believe this bow has the most tension.”
However, it seems that Sati is not favourable with the bow that was recommended.
Even after the shop owner brought out a larger bow, she told me that they are useless. She needs them to be stronger.
“This is the strongest bow in my workshop.”
At the same time, he told us that it is useless since the bow is twice Sati’s height.
“This guy has five times more tension than the previous bow. Though, it is impossible to be operated by a person.”
Why did you craft this kind of bow in the first place……?
The shop owner handed the bow to Sati while laughing.
“I have received Assault Lizard material hence the reason why I made this……huh!?”
Looking at Sati’s attempt at pulling the bow’s string right in front of his eyes, the shop owner let out a surprised voice.
But, she is only able to pull it by a little.
She let out a desperate voice, but it seems impossible for Sati to draw it any further.
“A magic……. was not used. There is no way a beastsmen can use magic in the first place……”
Magic? Ah, he must mean Levitation.
“Try to use Levitation, Sati.”
“Yes.”
This time, Sati uses Levitation and the bow was drawn by a considerable margin.
Since all elves are born-mage, it is easier for them to rely on magic compared to a mechanized structure.
“It’s not like I cannot use it, just that it is hard to adjust the magic.”
Sati said while pulling the string.
I check Sati’s menu and her MP is decreasing by quite a margin. Like this, she is only able to shoot 3 shots max.
Although he made it, the bow is not popular due to it’s weight and its difficulty to handle among the Elf user.
Plus, when you pair it with the specially made steel arrow, it become more difficult to carry. If you are only using it at the base, there is better bow available and the elf can also use magic.
I also give it a try, but it is way too heavy for me to handle.
I try again with Levitation, but it is still difficult to pull the string. Moreover, levitating the bow while aiming for the enemy is hard for my current skill level.
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“The strength required——the size——”
I heard Sati is telling the shop owner her requirements as I play along with the huge bow.
“With this kind of tension——the size is about this——the material——”
“Umm, how much will you charge?”
Once their negotiation is done, Sati inquires for the price. This is a specially made bow by the elf craftsman. The high price is justified.
“I cannot charge you! Even if you ask me to make 10, no, a hundred of them, I will still make them free of charge!”
“Please don’t worry about the money. We will bear all the cost.”
By the way, even though the bow was the elf craftsmanship, apart from the custom-made one, the price is unexpectedly ordinary. Sure, it has a price tag of luxurious goods, but even then, it is not that much different compared to outside world.
“They can only be bought by fellow elves and they are forbidden from selling it outside. Since our country doesn’t have much productivity, our supplies will easily run short if these items were brought outside.”
“Isn’t it bad to sell them to me, then?”
“Well, you are the exception. In the end, we ban them to avoid them being resold outside.”
I see. If these bows were taken outside, they can easily fetch grotesquely high price.
For that reason, bringing out items crafted by the elves outside is banned.
“Please bring this bow together by all means! I’ll give you the specially made arrows too!”
When we are about to leave the shop, the shop owner begs us to take the previous huge bow.
The bow was called Assault Lizard.
Sati happily received them. Well, we might find its use later in the future. If I put it in the Item Box, then it will not get in our way.
Next, we are going to the harness shop. Calling them a harness shop is a stretch though since it is just a leather workshop. The shop mainly sells protective gears, such as leather armor and similar things.
“Shopkeepers! We want a harness!”
“Yes, Lily-sama.”
We went to the garden at the back of the workshop. After I made him promise to keep it a secret, I summoned out Matsukaze.
“My, my. That is a nice horse you got there.”
He was surprised when a horse suddenly appeared in front of us, but he quickly continues his work.
He quickly measured the size and brought out a saddle and started adjusting it.
Although Matsukaze has an abnormal size, the shopkeeper was able to deal with that.
After the shopkeeper is finished with the adjustment, I kept the saddle inside my Item Box and send back Matsukaze. Then, I summoned out Matsukaze (large).
“Summoning Magic is really useful……aaahh!?”
He is surprised to see Matsukaze (large) reappear but this time with larger stature.
Well, that kind of reaction is warranted……
“Monster……no……it is still a horse. A harness for this kind of horse……considering the size……”
“Compared to an ordinary saddle, for five……no, it is possible to make a saddle suitable for six persons ride.”
After Lily-sama joins us, we have become a six person group.
“Take a look at his large body. I think it can fit several normal size saddles for multiple person……. maybe something like a palanquin.”
I see. We can ride him like an elephant. That sound nice.
The saddle couldn’t be finished up by today even if he hurried. We were told that it would take at least three days, including the palanquin.
Coming back after few days, I decided to give it a little bit of tune up.
So, after my errands were over, I asked Tilika about Ann and Ellie, but apparently, they have not made any decisions yet.
“I’m taking them all!”
““Haaaaahhhhhh!?””
They haven’t decided which ones to take even after I leave them at the castle. So, I am taking them all.
Afterwards, we fetch Lily-sama’s luggage and with that, everything that needs to be done at the Elf Country is finished. Finally, our preparation for departure is completed.
At last, we can finally go back home.