Translator: Rihn
Editor: Zioming<\/p>\n\n\n\n
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chapter 94 – A Holy Sword Smith and Gnome Cave<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Author\u2019s Note: Geez, I\u2019m really jealous of the kudan’s popularity. Maybe, I should write a short story about <\/em>it:<\/em> \u201cI was reincarnated in another world as a <\/em>Kudan~ If I make a prophecy, I\u2019ll die~\u201d You can tell it will get dropped just from the title, right?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, based on what I saw in the comments for the previous chapter, to people who can\u2019t see \u2018Tooru\u2019 as a female name: go watch ‘Fruits Basket’. (TL: That series has a female MC named \u2018Tohru\u2019, which is just a different way of romanizing the same sounds. Both are spelled \u3068\u304a\u308b in Japanese)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************<\/p>\n\n\n\n After confirming that the forest fire had been extinguished, we entered the Sylph Forest and hurried to the Cursed Sword Smith’s side. She did not have much HP left, as she had been severely burned while desperately trying to escape. If she were to be attacked by a monster or a beast right now, she would most likely die. And even if she didn\u2019t, the sudden downpour had thoroughly drenched her body, draining her of all remaining strength. Sorry about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy are we flying in the sky!?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s because it\u2019s Jin-kun…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Because~”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kaoru, who hasn\u2019t yet gotten used to it, screamed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since I already sent Blue and the others home, I was using Nosferatu to fly us over the Sylph Forest. Walking through a forest is basically a waste of time after all. Unless, of course, you have an urgent business to take care of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a short flight, we arrived at the spot where the Cursed Sword Smith currently was. Fortunately, there were no monsters or beasts around. Come to think of it, when a forest catches fire, all the animals living there will usually run away. They won\u2019t stick around to try to hunt those that are slower to escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere, we have arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFinally… We\u2019ve arrived…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kaoru muttered as we landed on the ground. Since she rode on Blue before, I thought she would have gotten somewhat used to it by now, but being carried around by Nosferatu seemed to be different somehow, seeing as she looked rather limp. Sakura, who had been carried in the same way, was already used to it though. Incidentally, Dora and Maria had their own means of flight, so they used those instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is… How terrible…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMhm, it is terrible…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Cursed Sword Smith, Mimi, was lying on the ground in a horrible condition. Her legs were so badly burned that you could barely tell they were legs to begin with. Her upper body was also in a state where it was hard to find a single place that was safe from burns, though it wasn\u2019t as bad as her lower half. She seemed to be conscious, but her eyes were dazed and unfocused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, for now: \u2018Heal\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She was in a pretty tight spot, HP-wise, so I used some Recovery Magic first, to make sure she wouldn’t die on us. Mimi noticed our presence and looked up at us with vacant eyes. At that moment, I got a strange feeling and felt like something had reacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: Mimi used the \u2018Appraisal\u2019 skill. I left it alone as it\u2019s not very effective.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Come to think of it, there was such a skill. I wasn\u2019t interested in it, since it didn\u2019t seem to be able to show the actual status of things; just give one a general idea of their estimated values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c…Go… d…?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For some reason, Maria became agitated when Mimi looked up at me and muttered so. Certainly it\u2019s unpleasant to be called \u2018God\u2019, but I\u2019m not going to be unreasonable and react with anger to the mutterings of someone who\u2019s clearly in a daze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not a god, just an ordinary human being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEh!?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEh~?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEh…!?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why did Maria, Dora, and Sakura all become surprised when I responded so to Mimi? Hey, knock it off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHu… man…? No way…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immediately after saying that, as if falling asleep, Mimi passed out, perhaps having reached her limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow then, …what to do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJin-sama, could you please leave that person to me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I was thinking about how to handle Mimi, Maria came up to me, saying such a thing with serious eyes. Ah, I know those eyes. It\u2019s the same pattern as with Lucia. …That time, while I had only looked away for a couple minutes, Lucia had already been turned into a model believer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you intend to do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. I will tell her about us, within limits, and urge her to become Jin-sama\u2019s subordinate. If she agrees, her disabilities will be healed, and if she doesn’t, we will take her to where she wishes to go, and part ways there. Though, if she doesn’t wish for her disabilities to be healed, I think it will be difficult for her to ever return to work as a blacksmith, and I believe Jin-sama also doesn\u2019t wish for that. Furthermore, It simply will not do to bother Jin-sama with having to explain all of that to her, so please allow me to do it instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I see…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time, she\u2019s not an enemy, so I can’t just force her into being a slave. …Or rather, I don’t want to. However, I am a little hesitant to heal her, without being able to stop her from speaking about it afterwards. And just as Maria said, with her current injuries, it would be impossible for her to return to work as a blacksmith without first being healed, making my goal of seeing Cursed Swords and Holy Swords basically unreachable. And so, for the sake of explaining all that, Maria wants me to leave Mimi in her care. Certainly, her explanation does sound convincing, but why is that Lucia’s face keeps flashing through my head for whatever reason?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, neither Maria nor Lucia have ever directly said anything that was unpleasant to me, nor are there any big problems with them. And yet, the number of believers keeps growing rapidly… Or rather, I\u2019m curious if it\u2019s really that easy for them to increase the number of their fellow believers, and so, I\u2019ll leave it to her and see how it goes. If Mimi really becomes a believer just like that, I\u2019ll simply applaud her for it. …Though I am a little concerned about her calling me \u2018God\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy name… is… Mimi… Please… make me… your… servant…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two hours after saving Mimi, and having returned to the Kastal mansion and played with Dora for a bit on a sofa during that time, Mimi said this to me on her knees after being brought to me by Maria. Her words were pretty broken up, and her voice became hoarse towards the end there. By the way, Dora is sleeping on my lap, so I can’t stand up right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria and the others had taken care of her injuries, so Mimi had already made a complete recovery. And, of course, her marker on the map had turned yellow. That\u2019s right, she became a believer. She became one even quicker than I had originally thought. …Isn\u2019t that way too fast?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJin-sama, she has chosen to become your servant of her own volition. Would you be willing to use \u2018Engage Link\u2019 on her to make her into a subordinate, rather than turning her into a slave?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSure, let\u2019s go with that…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Maria\u2019s urging, I stretched my hand out towards Mimi. To use \u2018Engage Link\u2019 and make someone into a subordinate, I need to make a pinky promise with them, but since Dora\u2019s is laying on my lap at the moment, I can\u2019t really move right now, so she has to be the one to come closer instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcuse… me…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saying that, Mimi moved closer to me and kneeled again, then linked pinkies with me. I activated \u2018Engage Link\u2019 and made her my subordinate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At that moment, I also took the \u2018Walking Tragedy\u2019 and \u2018Bad Luck\u2019 skills from her. There isn\u2019t a single good thing to come from having those, so of course I removed them. Mimi stared at me with a heated gaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith this, Mimi is now my subordinate. Mimi, I look forward to working with you from now on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes… I look forward… to working with you…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since Mimi was a dwarf, her height was pretty short; only 120cm at most. Despite that, her breasts were pointlessly huge. They might have even compared to Sera\u2019s, but they stood out much more, considering her height. Won\u2019t they get in the way when she\u2019s smithing? Her dark brown hair was tied in a single strand behind her, and her slanted eyes gave off a gentle impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo, you\u2019ve been told about your skills, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes… I was surprised… but… when I look back on my life… I am… convinced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As one might expect, Mimi\u2019s life has been a never-ending series of misfortunes. She was born as a noble in this country, but a minor mistake nearly brought her entire family to ruin. And when she tried to rebuild using her blacksmithing skills, their entire business collapsed, forcing her to stop. Then, when they tried to live together modestly, her parents died in an accident. It seemed she has suffered through quite a lot. Even Sakura, who was our resident misfortunate character, stiffened upon hearing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen my… parents died… I threw myself into blacksmithing… to forget… the sadness… That time… the Cursed Sword… was made…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sword that was created back then was called \u2018Cursed Sword – Ember\u2019, and had the effect of healing the wounds on a corpse. She grieved for her parents at that time, and wanted them to come back to life, however, the only thing the sword could do was to heal the wounds on someone who was already dead. Still, with their wounds healed, she hoped that maybe they would come back, but needless to say, the result was not what she wished for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, there was still a certain demand for it, and so, ironically, she became known as a blacksmith who can strike Cursed Swords, despite it being the very thing that caused things to go wrong around her to begin with. Ah, that\u2019s the skills\u2019 fault though. Unable to strike a Cursed Sword again, and having realised that she was bringing misfortune to the people around her, she fled to Sylph Forest. This was back when Mimi was 14 years old. For the past five years, she\u2019s been living in this forest, fighting monsters, forging weapons, and occasionally going into the nearby town to sell her wares. How strong-willed of her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the price to pay for all that was that she had so little contact with other people, she could no longer speak properly when face to face with them. …In other words, she was a professional recluse with a severe communication disorder. Even now, she was forcing herself to speak, because she was in front of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, Sakura’s expression became very dark. My guess was that she had similar experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday I… carelessly forgot to extinguish… the furnace… before going out… Unfortunately… something caught fire… I went back in… to get the mementos of my parents… and then that happened…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most likely, carelessly forgetting to extinguish the fire was caused by the \u2018Walking Tragedy\u2019, and something unfortunately catching fire was caused by the \u2018Bad Luck\u2019 skill. They synergize to create an overwhelmingly terrible outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “You’ve had it tough, huh…?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “That too… ends… today… I’m extremely… grateful… to Go-… to Jin-sama…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just now, you almost called me ‘God’, didn’t you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I would like to have her work as our exclusive blacksmith from now on, …though, even if I say that, she doesn’t seem to be able to make Legendary-grade items just yet, so I believe having her focus on crafting equipment for Jin-sama\u2019s subordinates instead would be best.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I will… make weapons… with all my might… Eventually… I want to… show you a weapon… that won’t lose… to Jin-sama’s…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hearing Maria\u2019s suggestion and Mimi\u2019s declaration, I remembered my original goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh yeah; Mimi, would you be willing to make a Holy Sword for me sometime soon? I wanted to see what kind of thing it might be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wanted Mimi to strike either a Cursed Sword, or a Holy Sword, but considering the requirements for the former, it wasn\u2019t something I could comfortably ask her to make. However, since it required strong emotions, a Holy Sword was not something easy to make either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnderstood… Please… leave it to me… Maria… where is… the smithy…?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mimi nodded vigorously, causing her breasts to shake violently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen, I will guide Mimi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, I didn\u2019t mean it had to be right now…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stopped Mimi and Maria who sprung into action immediately after I made the request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight now… I feel like… I can make… anything… be it a Holy Sword… or something else…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI-I see…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since she had made such a spirited declaration, as expected, I became hesitant to stop her. And with that, Mimi and Maria headed towards the attached smithy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s an unexpectedly optimistic person, isn\u2019t she… Even though she\u2019s suffered so much…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sakura muttered after watching Mimi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It\u2019s not Just Mimi… Maria, Mio, and Sera; each of them has been through their own share of misfortunes… But now, everyone is living so energetically…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Well, Mio and Sera became gourmands after all.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria from her injuries, Mio from being sent to the mines, Sera from starvation; I bought each one of them right as they were about to die. Slaves who were originally so cheap, they were practically giving them away, were now touring another country’s restaurants. …Thinking about it calmly, that’s an incredible thing indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Compared to them, I was merely bullied, and yet, I’m still unable to get over it… I’m really pathetic…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seemed this was what Sakura was thinking while seeing the girls who had gone through worse hardships than her, and yet, they had already recovered and were living energetically now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A decent amount of time had passed since we came to this world, but Sakura’s trauma switch was still going strong. The frequency decreased considerably, but even so, it hasn’t completely gone away. And she seemed to consider herself pathetic because of that. Still, while I understood where she was coming from, there were parts that didn\u2019t convince me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Is that really the case though?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Eh…?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seemed my words were unexpected. Sakura looked at me with surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It\u2019s something I heard from a good friend of mine, who had a lot of friends, but it seems that wounds caused by bullying don\u2019t heal easily in general. And so, it\u2019s natural for them to linger for quite some time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs that so…?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n My good friend Asai had a wide range of friendships and was sometimes called upon to deal with relationship issues, one of which was apparently to follow up with people who had been victims of bullying. What\u2019s that? What about me? How could I be called to follow up on such things? If I were, it would be a complete failure of the selection process, that’s for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAccording to him, it\u2019s like \u2018grinding one\u2019s spirit with a file of ill intent\u2019. It\u2019s possible to heal a broken or a fractured heart, but it\u2019s difficult to heal a spirit that has been ground down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, there was also a saying that \u2018Even if you heal a broken heart, it will never truly return to how it was before\u2019, but since it had nothing to do with Sakura\u2019s case, there was no need to mention it. Also, what kind of bullying victims did Asai see? I’m still a little curious, even after all this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sakura was listening to me in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s true that if you were to search around, there would likely be people who are worse off than you, but that doesn’t mean that your own scars are shallow. And if the emotional wounds you suffered from bullying are painful, that doesn’t make them shameful.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you really think so…?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah; at the very least, that\u2019s what I think. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s healthy for the scars to continue to ache. If possible, I would like to see your wounds heal. And of course, if there is anything I can do, I will help you in any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would not hesitate to cooperate with Sakura in order to heal her emotional wounds, and if the two of us work together, there isn\u2019t much we can\u2019t achieve with our Special Powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Jin-kun…. What should I do…?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sakura asked me with a troubled look on her face, after hearing my words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is something only you yourself can decide on. All I can do is do my best to help you, once you do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sakura became silent again, but this time, she lowered her gaze and seemed to be thinking about a lot of things. I mean, I have no problem supporting her once she makes a choice, but it is a choice she has to make herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan I think about it for a while…?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSure. It\u2019s fine to take your time thinking about it; fortunately, we have plenty of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a good opportunity, living in another world, without being pressured by school and work. I\u2019d like her to take her time and make a choice she won\u2019t regret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n A little while after my talk with Sakura, I received a message via telepathy from Aisha. Apparently, the carriages had arrived at the recommended sightseeing spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve arrived at our destination over here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay. We\u2019re on our way there now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Including Maria, who had finished guiding Mimi, we gathered all the members who were originally in the carriage, and headed for Aisha and the others with \u2018Portal\u2019. Incidentally, we sent Kaoru back to her own carriage after we rescued Mimi, so she did not come to the mansion with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWelcome to Gnome Cave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis does look like an entrance to a cave though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We transferred to the \u2018Portal\u2019 inside the carriage, and when we disembarked, we were greeted by Kaoru and Aisha. We were in front of a cave, a short distance up a small mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was one of the recommended sightseeing (?) spots that we learned about from Tooru and Kaoru, and its name was ‘Gnome Cave’. Located to the north of the capital, it was said to be a place where rare gems could be mined and rare monsters could be encountered. However, said monsters were much too strong for ordinary men to handle, and so, so few people came and went, that no villages had been built around it. And that\u2019s why, this place was not called a \u2018mine\u2019. A pity, since I personally prefer the term ‘Gnome Mine’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Well then; shall we explore it?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Jin-sama, allow me to take the lead…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria said, as she stood in front of me. Even though there weren’t any monsters by the entrance, we proceeded in the order of Maria in the front, then me, Kaoru, Sakura, and finally Dora in the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, \u2018Sylph Forest\u2019 and \u2018Gnome Cave\u2019, huh? With this, if there were also places with the names ‘Salamander’ and ‘Undine’ attached to them, it would be totally like a western-style fantasy world. Even though we’re supposed to be in a Japanese-themed area…<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Truth be told, I wanted to go to \u2018Undine Spring\u2019 or to \u2018Salamander Volcano\u2019, but there wasn\u2019t enough time, so, sadly, I had to give up on it…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kaoru muttered. She was surrounded by the SPs, even though they weren’t all that strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They actually exist…?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Jin-kun, is something wrong…?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “No, it’s nothing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seemed those popular names were indeed being used here for some reason. Oh yeah; it’s the heroes. Of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After continuing for a while, several new markers appeared on the \u2018Mini-Map\u2019. Looks like it’s finally time for battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “There are a lot of tough monsters here, so I would like you all to show me your real strength! I especially want to see Jin-dono swing his sword!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “If it\u2019s only this level of monsters, I alone will suffice. There’s no need to bother Jin-sama for it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I-is that so…?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGo get them, Maria~!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems Kaoru wanted to see me use my sword, but Maria\u2019s \u2018Overprotectiveness\u2019 skill was in full effect, so the chance was lost somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, as we were talking about that, more monsters approached us, lured in by the sounds. That\u2019s right; it’s a cave, and the sound echoes, so you shouldn’t talk carelessly. …As usual, we have no tension whatsoever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, here’s the status of the first monster type of Gnome Cave:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Metal Alligator “Ha!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next moment, 5 silver-coloured alligators were split in half by Maria\u2019s slash. It seems we’ve become so strong that there isn\u2019t even enough time to read the status. …Is this what you call peak-strength?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s done, Jin-sama. The corpses have been collected, so we can proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cY-Yeah, good work…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The monsters\u2019 corpses had already entered Maria\u2019s \u2018Inventory\u2019, so you could barely see a trace of the fight that had just happened. The place where the alligators appeared was more than 10m away, but she moved in with \u2018Flash Step\u2019 and cut them down, before returning almost instantly. As usual, she\u2019s a skilled child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI-I knew it, but, …y-you\u2019re just too amazing…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInstantly defeating opponents of that level is nothing to boast about. If you work hard as Jin-sama\u2019s subordinate, you too will be able to do the same as me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToo amazing…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would seem that Kaoru\u2019s vocabulary had become reduced to just these words, due to how surprised she was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there was one thing I would like to add. The way she did it just now, Maria was the only one among my subordinates who was capable of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we continued deeper into the cave, we gradually encountered more and more enemies. Many of the monsters living here had a hard metal-like layer covering their bodies, making them quite troublesome for ordinary adventurers to deal with. Also, most of them had \u2018Metal\u2019 or \u2018Iron\u2019 at the beginning of their names, giving one an approximate idea of their hardness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHa!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, that wasn\u2019t enough to stop Maria\u2019s swords. Just now, she cut down a giant, very hard-looking monster called \u2018Tungsten Titan\u2019 with a single slash. …Or rather, why is there tungsten here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s about time we did some mining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve come to a somewhat-open space, so I guess we should use it as our mining spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTruth be told, it pains me to make Jin-sama do such a thing, but…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seemed Maria didn\u2019t want me to do any manual labour at all, saying that such things were the domain of the Maids. I guess we\u2019ll have to disagree on whether or not \u2018mining\u2019 is considered a maid\u2019s job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s fine, right? This is something I myself want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, I understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, I was told that various rare gems could be found here. Not that I really wanted them, but since we already came to a place that was geared towards mining, it would be a disqualification as tourists if we didn\u2019t at least try our hands at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, and it might be a bit late to mention this, but I have heard that various high-quality medicinal herbs could be found in Sylph Forest. Still, the fire ruined a large portion of it, and I wasn\u2019t going to leave Mimi alone just to collect them. …I guess I\u2019d better secure some later to feed to the dryad, Midori. (ED: She can replicate them, similar to how Tamo-san can transform into all the monsters whose corpses it once devoured)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And given that there are high-quality materials to be found in both Gnome Cave and Sylph Forest, I really wonder what can be found in Undine Spring and Salamander Volcano. …Still, I don\u2019t plan on heading that way, so I probably won\u2019t get a chance to gather them or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: Please leave it all to me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you mean by \u2018it all\u2019?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: Gathering medicinal herbs in Sylph Forest. Collecting seaweed and rare fish at Undine Spring. Collecting rare ores in Salamander Volcano.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That really is all of it! …Well, It would be nice to not overdo it and end up destroying the ecosystem or something, so I will leave it to you, Alta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: Yes, please do.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And with that, it was finally time to start mining in earnest, so I took out the pickaxe I had prepared beforehand. Also, let\u2019s put aside the question of whether a pickaxe is an appropriate tool for mining gems for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I faced a nearby wall and swung the pickaxe. I heard the sound of something hard hitting the wall, followed by the sound of something breaking off of it. I picked up the piece of rock that fell to the ground and poked it a few times with the pickaxe. The rocks on the surface fell off, revealing a shiny yellow gemstone inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spirit Brightstone \u201cSo-so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat did you just do!!!???\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I nodded after confirming the results, Kaoru shouted with a face as if she had seen something incredulous. Behind her, Aisha also looked dumbstruck. What in the world happened to them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI knew Master was outrageous, but to think you can do stuff like that without even using the \u2018Map\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause it\u2019s Jin-kun…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause~\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Aisha made a shocked face, but Sakura and Dora were already used to it. Oh, and it was just like Aisha said; right now, I wasn\u2019t even using the \u2018Map\u2019, or, to be more specific, I didn\u2019t search for the locations of the gems with it. Well, even if I don\u2019t do that, if I just randomly swing my pickaxe, I can easily dig up something like a gemstone…<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Aisha and Sakura were explaining all that to Kaoru, I started digging again. The three of them didn\u2019t seem interested in helping out, but Dora looked pretty enthusiastic, swinging a pickaxe alongside me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We continued mining for a while, but stopped when I felt that we had considerably depleted the stores of gems in the area. It wouldn’t be good to take too much at once, after all. Then again, it\u2019s not like many people can actually come and mine here, with all those monsters around. Oh, and in our case, all the monsters were instantly sliced up by Maria, whenever some did approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Alright, this should be good enough.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s an incredible amount of gems. Just this pile of Spirit Brightstones can already be considered a small fortune.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Jin-sama, what do you intend to do with these?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria asked about my plans for the stones. Hmm, my goal was the mining itself, so I hadn’t really thought about what to do with the things I gathered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I suppose I’ll give the Spirit Brightstones to Claude’s group, or, more specifically, to the \u2018Spirit Arts\u2019 user, Yulia. The rest of them, I’ll probably just let flow into the market through the Chamber of Advanced Commerce. I don’t mind if you want some of them though.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Basically, I was going to let the Chamber handle them, but if anyone within our group had a use for them, I would rather prioritise them instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Understood.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saying that, Maria collected all the stones lined up on the ground into her \u2018Inventory\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Ah, hold on, I’ll hang on to the biggest piece.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Yes, as Jin-sama wishes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I moved the largest piece of Spirit Brightstone from the common space of the \u2018Inventory\u2019 to my personal one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Claude and the others had previously developed a technique called \u2018Spiritualisation\u2019 in which one merged with a spirit, so I wanted to give it a try at least once, since it looked like a cool special move and all. Well, It\u2019s not like I really want to make a contract with a spirit, but it would be nice to have one on hand, if I ever did get the chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s getting late, so let\u2019s camp outside the cave for today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo Mio\u2019s food~?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, it\u2019s fine; we have some in the \u2018In-, in the Item Box.\u201d\u00a0(ED: There are magic bags in this world, but they are called \u2018Item Boxes\u2019 for whatever reason)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n All we had left to do for the day was to eat dinner and go to bed. …Ah, but before we do that, let\u2019s deal with \u2018that\u2019 first. I made eye contact with Maria before looking in a certain direction and then back to her again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI heard a noise from over there. It might be a monster, so I\u2019ll go take a look.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria nodded to my gesture, then moved towards the entrance with \u2018Flash Step\u2019 after saying that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWha~!?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh? You are Atri-san from the udon shop, I believe. What brings you to this place?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although I couldn\u2019t see it from here, it seemed that Maria had successfully captured our pursuer, the ninja, Atri, real name Hanna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She\u2019d been tailing us all this time, discreetly keeping an eye on us from afar. I thought that maybe she\u2019d wait outside once we entered the cave, but she kept following us regardless. It was dark inside, and the sounds echoed, so it should have been considerably difficult to track us. …It seems she\u2019s quite confident in her covert action skills. By the way, even though we knew about her from the \u2018Map\u2019, Maria intentionally said that she \u2018heard something\u2019. Because it would be extremely uncool for a ninja to be noticed because they made a sound, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMaria, is there someone there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, Jin-sama. Atri-san who works at the udon shop in Endo is here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I called out to her, and Maria came back to us pulling Hanna by the hand behind her. She was dressed like a town girl, so the mismatch with the cave setting was instantly noticeable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, whatever are you doing in this cave, Atri? We\u2019re here to see the sights, kill monsters, and do some mining by the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEh, ummm…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We even went out of our way to pretend that we didn\u2019t see through you here, so, what kind of excuse will you give us, kunoichi-san who looks like she\u2019s 12 years old, but is actually 24 on the inside? …Saying it like that, I guess she\u2019s a bit like Mio (looks to be 8 years old, but is actually 24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWow, what a coincidence. I\u2019m here to mine, too… You see, there are rare gems to be found here…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hmm, her excuse is so simple and boring. Let\u2019s tease her a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, I see. But will you be okay? The monsters around here are pretty strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cY-yeah. I\u2019ll be fine. I\u2019m good at hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, it was a fact that she managed to follow us this deep into the cave, without having to fight even once, thanks to her \u2018Stealth\u2019 skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh, I understand. Atri-chan is a ninja. Since that\u2019s the case, it makes sense that you\u2019d be good at stealth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c!?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Atri made an astonished expression at the fact that her being a ninja was suddenly exposed. …Isn\u2019t that no good though; for a ninja to so easily let their surprise show on their face?<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the way, even here in Izumo, ninja is not a common occupation by any means. They\u2019re basically on the level of an urban legend or a rumour, like: \u201cI hear they exist\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cW-what are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh, that\u2019s right. It\u2019s not good to be found out as a ninja, right? Pretend you didn\u2019t hear that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWait! I\u2019m really not-\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI got it, I got it. You\u2019re not a ninja.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I Interrupted Hanna, who was trying to make excuses. It\u2019s an advanced technique for shutting down the other party by appearing to show understanding. It is also an old trick for when you actually don’t understand at all. It is a bit mean-spirited though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author\u2019s Note: Mio’s age was mentioned, but since the main characters have been in this world for several months now, some of their ages have changed by now. I didn\u2019t give any dates, since I didn\u2019t specify their birthdays in the setting. Though I would venture a guess that Jin\u2019s birthday is July 7th. (ED: Tanabata, aka. the Star Festival. You can read about it on the wiki, if you\u2019re interested)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Previous<\/a> <Table of Contents<\/a>> Next<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Translator: RihnEditor: Zioming ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Chapter 94 – A Holy Sword Smith and Gnome Cave Author\u2019s Note: Geez, I\u2019m really jealous of the kudan’s popularity. Maybe, I should write a short story about it: \u201cI was reincarnated in another world as a Kudan~ If I make a prophecy, I\u2019ll die~\u201d You can tell it will get… Read More »Blessing from the Goddess and Transfer to Another World! ~No Thanks, I Don\u2019t Need a Special Ability~ Chapter 94<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1516","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonametranslations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonametranslations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonametranslations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonametranslations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonametranslations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1516"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/nonametranslations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1544,"href":"https:\/\/nonametranslations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1516\/revisions\/1544"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonametranslations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonametranslations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
LV32
Skills: <Body Strengthening LV3> <Biting LV2> <Physical Attack Resista…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note: A necessary medium for making a contract with a spirit through \u2018Spirit Arts\u2019. The size of the stone required changes depending to the strength of the spirit.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n