Chapter 34: Cultural Exchange’s Aftermath
A slight pang of headache assaulted my head.
"Mn… It's already morning?"
Rays of sunlight penetrated the gaps in the curtain. I expected a bad hangover but did not feel anything besides a slight headache.
"I used to wake up with a shitty feeling…"
Did leveling up affect my alcohol system?
I left the bed and headed outside. Surprisingly, there was no one else. Nobody used the rooms in this huge familia house.
Strange. I expected everyone to use it since they'll be too drunk to work.
Setting this feeling aside, I knocked on Hephaestus-sama's office thrice.
"You can enter."
I opened the door. There, I saw her with the usual paperwork. Tsubaki-nee was supposed to finish these, but Hephaestus-sama takes it whenever she is busy forging. Unfortunately, she is busy most of the time.
"Good morning, Little Prince."
"Good—eh?"
I made a stupefied face upon hearing that nickname. Since when did I have that?
"My… Did you forget about it?"
"Forget what?"
"Yesterday, you took center stage inside Benevolent Mistress. Your music and appearance made people call you 'Little Prince'."
Ah… Eh… Huh?
HUH?!
I saw Hephaestus-sama sigh before it turned into stifled laughter.
"I'm sorry… Your face..!"
After calming down, I started sorting out my hazy memories. Hephaestus-sama also helped in this regard.
"By the way, Loki asked me where I got a new familia member."
"...I see."
I have a strong feeling that the 'trouble' mentioned in my dream included this. How careless am I to bring out a modern electric guitar and play it in front of a crowd?! Then again, this could be explained by someone teaching me how to build it. That's not technically a lie since I learned how to build guitars from the Internet.
"Don't blame yourself. If you saw your drunk appearance that time… never mind."
I feel like she's keeping a secret from me.
"Anyways, we should update your status."
Like usual, I undressed my top and showed my back to her. I could feel Hephaestus-sama's finger drawing the familia emblem. Soon, it was over. She handed over a paper containing my current status.
[Level 2]
[Strength: H111 > E489 Defense: I25 > F301 Dexterity: I85 > F340 Agility: I19 > F396 Magic: H132 > D532 Hacker: G]
<<Magic>>
[Orionids]
-The brightest star unveils itself to the watchful gaze of others. Summons a meteor strike to the target. It has a very small chance to inflict random status ailments.
Activation chant: "I shall not understand the irrationality, yet I ask thee. Illuminate the sky with thy light. Enth, Astrum."
[Memoir Manifest]
-Memories do not die. They live inside one's heart forever. Seeks a random target from the past and projects it on the present. It has a ten-minute duration and is limited to once a day.
Activation chant: "Thy mind might forget, but mine heart shall remember. Moments be given a definite form. Relive thy memories once more. Praeteritium, Ostendo tu Ipse."
<<Skills>>
[Miracle Maker]
-Enhances every creation.
-Provides guidance in creating new items.
-Additional abilities to the creations can be imbued by chance.
-Excelia gain will be increased during creation.
[Child of Constellations (星座の子)]
-Under the blessing of the starry sky, growth speed, magical abilities, and recovery are increased.
-Legends related to "stars" are strengthened.
[Proof of Combat]
-Permanently enhances physical and mind recovery.
-Scales based on the number of injuries sustained.
"Your growth rate is terrific. You earned a new magic and skill at once."
"Ah…"
Hephaestus-sama was right. I was in for a surprise after waking up. I mean, skill and magic at once? I fought tooth and nail with Goliath, yet I only received it now. Was it due to my complete acceptance of the traumatic parts of my past?
"The first one… It'll be more horrific with time."
The first skill relies on snowballing. Since I will be injured every fight, it's simply an additional benefit without repercussions. As for the second one…
"[Memoir Manifest] should be caused by your power to control time."
"It says 'from the past'. Is it my actual past or that?"
It'd be extremely helpful if I could summon [Arbiter] or [Laplace] from the past. If I could utilize an orbital strike or use its strong computation speed to deduce Gekai's coordinates, it'd help the current me alot. These skills are simply too broken for a level two like me.
"I am right in that regard." My goddess spoke. "That huge leap as a level one is caused by those records. A portion of your deeds in the future reacted with the falna I gave."
"I see…"
Hephaestus-sama did mention those lines briefly appearing when I received her falna. It must have interfered with my growth rate and resulted in a huge increase in my stats.
My four-day-long stay inside the dungeon affected it, too.
Now that I fought against a legitimate level three, level five, and dozens of monsters, the stats I have gained are lacking compared to that. Still, I am content with it. I can treat it as a one-time big boost resulted by my 'future' accomplishments.
'Once the chance refreshes, I will check it out.'
The magic stones served as my cheat's power source. It's been more than two weeks since I arrived in Orario; three weeks in Gekai. With a continuous power source, it will be filled in less than a week.
By then, I will have another trump card.
"Nobu-kun. You need to prepare yourself. The Denatus will happen tonight."
"It was sped up?" I asked in slight shock.
"That's right. Removing the remnants of Evilus is a major achievement for Orario."
The clean-up yesterday marked the end of Orario's Dark Age. Evilus, the major force for its destruction, was uprooted. Valletta Grede and Olivas Act fell into my hands. Due to the two of them gone, the final remnants of Evilus would be like headless chickens.
Take down the general and you'll win the war.
"Your level up will also be announced."
"Ugh… This will be troublesome."
"Indeed."
For reference, Sword Princess took a year to level up. She's hailed as an upcoming rookie as a result. Within six years, she went from level one to level five.
If people knew that there was someone who leveled up in a week, what would be their reactions? Thankfully, I know how to accept the inevitable. We delayed this announcement for a week, too. At least, that'd make it look like I took two weeks.
Hey, it sounds less shocking than a week.
"Don't worry too much. You have me at your back."
Hephaestus-sama is also cool today.
*****
After the status update, I headed to the Northeast district. Only then did I realize that I slept for an entire day!
From what I am hearing, everything settled down. The fever that was brought by Evilus' downfall was very strong. Everyone cheered the top familia for making this thing possible. At the same time, there are familias with a heavy mood. It formed a contrasting atmosphere in the city of Orario.
Many people lost someone during the Great Feud five years ago. Thus, this scenario is extremely reasonable.
However…
"Oh? Little Prince?"
"Who?"
"Man, you missed out on something great! Those performances…"
"Isn't it?! I liked 'Deathly Loneliness Attacks' the most!"
"It's 'We Will Rock You' for me. I swear I never heard something like that before!"
"Don't forget his opening act. 'Brave Shine' took me to a new level."
I regret being dead drunk.
I never knew it would have such an impact on this world. Those gods in Tenkai should have brought their rich cultural heritage to Gekai, but to be shocked by guitar solos?
Though… If I think about it, becoming famous overnight is not exaggerated. It's like I brought modern music to the medieval age—the era where entertainment is scarce.
I made my way to the store. The regular staff greeted me before I entered the forging room.
"It's been two days already."
I never forgot the little girl from before. I intended to help her out by making her a regular staff in this store. Other than that, leaving that familia is another goal.
I took out my broken armor and placed it on top of a working table. I saw the chain structure which connected the armor is destroyed.
"Man, another precise work…"
The chainmail is also torn apart in half. My mouth twitched. I planned to upgrade them with Damascus alloy after that dive. I guess life does work wonders.
"I'll study the new ratio first."
With the sixty-five million valis from Hogni-san, I bought 500 grams of pure orichalcum found on the lower floors. Along with them are volcanic ores found on the 40th floor and many more. Even after that, I still have surplus money.
"A good amount of carbon increases the durability after quenching and tempering…"
Clang-!
Clang-!
Clang-!
Half an hour later, a deep black ingot appeared on the anvil. I scanned its components using [Correspondence] and saw some results.
[Mohs Score: 39]
[Malleability: 4,000]
The malleability score is satisfactory, but its Mohs score is lower than I expected.
"Hm… Damascus alloy has lesser orichalcum."
Honestly, that alloy was a result of good luck. There's not much pure orichalcum in its ratio. However, it somehow reached the Mohs Score of 45.
I placed the Damascus alloy's data alongside the current ratio. Sometimes, direct comparison answers the problem.
…and it did.
"The compatibility..!"
I removed several materials and replaced them. I did not wait and placed my theory to work immediately. Another half an hour passed when the results showed itself to my eyes.
[Mohs Score: 42]
[Malleability: 4,500]
"I knew it..!"
I ended up spending all of the materials inside the crates. Minerals worth twenty million valis were gone, just like that. In its place—
[Mohs Score: Above 50]
[Malleability: 5,000]
"Holy..!"
Dir orichalcum was something made by Hephaestus-sama, the literal god of smithing. Knowing I could recreate something like it is a pleasant surprise.
"Her techniques are on another level, though."
I put myself back in place. I calmed down and thought of something that I have to do today.
"Right."
I recalled [Memoir Manifest]'s usage. It is limited to once a day with a ten-minute duration. Specifically, it 'projects' something from my past.
"My mind might forget, but thy heart shall remember. Moments be given a definite form. Relive thy memories once more."
A large album manifested out of thin air. A crackling sound came from it as its pages started turning before it abruptly stopped. Mana had been gathered into it as a considerable amount of my mind is spent.
"Praeteritium, Ostendo tu Ipse." (Bygone events, show yourselves.)
A silhouette swiftly took form. The light dissipated, revealing a sleek blue smartphone.
"Hey…"
Filled with disbelief, I opened it. Moments later, I heard a voice out of nowhere.
{Connection established.}
{A total of thirty-three debugs have been done in the last three seconds. A deep scan is recommended to troubleshoot the problem.}
A synthetic female voice rang in my ears.
{Goshujin-sama?}
"How..? This should only be working inside the lab…"
{What's the matter?} The girl asked once again.
"No… Miku." I said. "Complete an initial scan of our surroundings."
{Order received. Scanning the area within ten meters… Complete.}
An image came out of the screen. It showed the layout of Hephaestus Familia's smithy perfectly. It made use of ultrasonic scanning and several other technologies integrated with magic.
{We are not inside the laboratory. Goshujin-sama?}
"What's your current version?"
{It is version 3.4. Updates are ongoing one minute ago before forceful disconnection occurred. View the logs?}
"No…"
At present, my virtual assistant, Miku, is on version 4.2. It is an entire version behind. Then again, it is easy to upgrade her since I have improved her further in the future.
"We are not inside the laboratory. Rather, we are in another place. A city, to be exact."
{A city? The connection cannot be formed with Laplace or Judgement. Are we experiencing signal jamming?}
"...I'll tell you later. For now, can you transfer your files to this phone?"
{Affirmative.}
Her image came out of the screen. She has a set of blue pajamas due to her sleeping in every update. She expressed her sleepiness by yawning while stretching her body.
I took out my phone and placed it on the back of the blue phone. It is the product of improving NFC (near-field communication) to a huge degree. It became possible to transfer huge sizes of data with a simple process.
Miku touched her background before she fell through it.
{Hup. Data replication has begun.}
The progress was moderately done—not too fast or slow. Ten minutes is enough to boot up Miku's file package and have her latest version by the side.
{Fue..? Goshujin-sama, the logs inside indicates [March 14, 2017]. Isn't it [December 5, 2015]?}
"It's not wrong." I replied. "You came from the past. This data is from the future."
{Eh?}
I reiterated:
"With my magic, I called you from the past."
{Ah, I see. Goshujin-sama completed the practical application of Relativity. As expected.}
Well, I'm glad she could process everything smoothly.
"We are currently in another world."
{I see.}
"Gods walk on this planet while strong monsters litter around."
{Understood. Do you need assistance?}
"Replicating your data is enough."
Miku used to interact with my phone through the planetary connection established by Laplace—a network. No matter where we are on the planet, it would still be there. I did create an intranet in case something happens on the planet. However, it was on my laptop.
When I got into Gekai, the connection was severed while the stored data was lost with the laptop gone. All that was left were residual files on my phone—which I worked to have Miku's version 1.0. It is supposed to process the coordinates of this world, though it is slow. After all, this phone is not optimized for an A.I. to do things such as large-scale calculations. Only when I desperately need something to be done would I do something like this
Soon, it is about to pass the ten-minute mark.
{Process completed.}
"Good night."
{Good night too.}
The moment the screen went off, my magic's duration ended. It turned into a mirage before dissipating completely.
"Sigh… I never expected this."
There are a million possibilities for [Memoir Manifest]. Then, it happened to be Miku.
She could deduce the coordinates of this world while I develop myself. Now that her advanced version resides on my phone, she'll be able to help me more.
"What a lucky day."
I went out of my forge and saw the busy apprentices resting. I haven't seen a senior smith yet but that's because they're stepping up the work with the celebration the other day.
Just as I was about to leave the store, I saw a familiar face. She has furry werewolf ears under her hood. She looks like a stranger, but I would not forget those eyes. She's using a disguise, I guess.
"Let's talk in another place."
*****
To avoid being conspicuous, their meeting place ended up in a cafe. Nobu did not dare set the meeting place on Benevolent Mistress. His name is already quite spread in the Northeast district. How worse would it be on the main site itself?
"Akasaka Nobu."
"Then, Akasaka-san. You can call me Lili."
Unexpectedly, the two did not know the other's name until now.
"I want to repay you… and change my fate."
Seeing this, Nobu nodded in response.
"You have the resolve. That's good."
Everything begins with the resolve of the person. Ideals are born from such things.
"How I see it, you have two major problems to deal with." He made a counting gesture with his fingers. "First, money. You wish to leave that familia, no?"
"...Yes."
"Did he put some condition for leaving?"
"That's… right. How did you know?"
Nobu looked away for a moment.
"Reading a scum is easier than you think. If I guess correctly, he asked for an exorbitant amount of money, no?"
"He did. He asked a million valis for him to leave."
"It's a hard sum to earn for a little girl like you."
Unbeknownst to the two, Soma is tired of mortals worshipping his wine. Nobody left his familia since its establishment. When he saw light in Lili's eyes, he was briefly hit with extreme disbelief, in turn leading to this situation. He didn't expect the random value he blabbered would make things hard for Lili.
Although, he also did not know there is someone on her side.
"I could lend you that amount. I swear under my goddess' name, there will be no interest whatsoever."
"W-what?! There's—"
"You can also not accept it, but the day you get your freedom becomes farther."
"..."
"As for the second thing you lack, it's power. The strength and status befitting an adventurer."
Some adventurers are children like her. With a strong status, they could defeat adults and fend off dangers.
"In short, you need to start training yourself."
Money and power are synonymous in this world. If you have power, you could earn money by prowling the dungeon. If you have money, you could buy magic swords and have power. These two are a cycle.
If you lack either of the two, that cycle won't start.
"Deciding on how you leave your familia is imperative. Only after you do so could we continue this conversation."
Based on Lili's decision, her path would change. If she chose the option of borrowing, she will have her freedom immediately. Meanwhile, she will need to lay low while earning money for her second option.
"No matter how Lili thinks, burdening Akasaka-san is not a choice…"
In the end, she is still a pure child. Her near-death encounter was the first dark thing she experienced. Moreover, she feels it is not right to further impose herself.
She wants to repay him, but she has no clue how. Adding this will only weigh on her.
"I understand."
Briefly, Nobu felt nostalgic. He made similar decisions in the future. It is not a logical choice, yes, but that's what made humans, human.
"Are you willing to start training tomorrow?"
"E-eh?! I am!" She nodded with fervor.
Adventurers might not be a pleasant bunch. She was used as bait and laborer. She was exposed to danger due to their reckless decisions. However, their power to protect themselves is something she admires.
A voice speaks to her heart. It was inexplicable. It simply told her that the boy across the table is someone to be trusted. He upholds his words and draws a definite line—characteristics rare enough in this world.
"Tomorrow morning. Meet me at the same location today."
*****
A/N: If anyone's wondering, it is the Lili that just got out of her 'addiction' to Soma's wine. She doesn't have her 'thief' side yet. No worries though. I'll do my best to show her original personality in a different way.