Chapter 188

The next morning, I woke up on the fifth and a halfth floor of the Forest Tree inn. I looked around dazedly to confirm that I had made it back safely. Daniela was lying next to me with her stomach showing, and so I put a blanket over her.

The effects of the alcohol were gone, but the fatigue from the previous night still remained. I tiredly trudged down the stairs and to the bathing room.

After enjoying dinner and drinks at the Flower Lantern, Nanaya decided that we must go to a host club. It was news to me that such places even existed here, and I wasn’t too enthusiastic about going myself, but it ended up being fun enough.

It was pretty funny. I had been surrounded in hosts. Of course, this was because they wanted to hear the tales of an Adventurer with an alias. I had joked about how they were slacking off, but the drinks got the better of me. They knew how to stroke a person’s ego, and Daniela, Nanaya and Aeneus encouraged me. And so I told them, all the while gesturing and enacting like some kind of movie star. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and we partied until morning.

Then Daniela and I had stumbled our way back to the inn. As I was barely aware of anything then, I was quite relieved to see we had arrived safely now.

“Haahhhh…my throat…”

I muttered as I got out of the bathtub and dried myself. I had no one to blame but myself, but still, one liked to complain.

When I finished dressing and went out into the main room, Daniela was walking down the stairs.

“Morning.”

“Mmmm…”

Her eyes were barely open as she rubbed them. Her voice sounded almost lifeless. But I always thought it was cute to see her so unguarded and a mess. She was wearing some oversized pajamas she had bought, and her hands looked very small as they peeked out from the sleeves.

“The water’s still hot, so you should get in.”

“Alright…”

Daniela muttered as she went to the bathing room. I collapsed onto the sofa. The sun was already high in the sky, evidence that we had slept for much too long.

“It’s our sixth day then…”

I was already starting to feel regret over the fact that we’d be leaving in a week. That being said, a week was enough to see the town. I tried to think of it positively, but it was me who had wasted the first five days.

Now, what to do today? I wanted to see the town, but it wasn’t exactly a place for tourists. Daniela had solved her clothing problem in Usk. So had I. And we would be buying the armor in the capital. Even if there was a place that could handle dragon materials here, one week would not be enough to finish the order. My armor had already been made, so it didn’t take any time. But it would be different if it was from scratch. Though, I wasn’t sure how long. Maybe a month?

“Ah, now that I think of it…”

Yes, yes. The Automata was still in my bag. Maybe I should check up on it.

I grabbed the hollow bag, which I had left by the bed, and took out the Automata after shoving my arm through the opening. The face still looked perfectly crafted, as did the body. It was mathematical, almost. It would be hard to find a flaw.

I was impressed all over again. The skin felt like real skin and the flesh itself was soft where it should be and hard where there would be bones. The muscles around the stomach seemed especially realistic. Yes, the ancient elves were definitely perverts.

But most impressive was the details of the parts that would make it difficult for any healthy young lad to stay uncorrupted. This thing had been missing a core for years. It was an Automata that had existed for who knows how long, and yet it gently enveloped my finger; sucking slowly. It was almost like Daniela.

“Maybe we shouldn’t sell it…”

But it was five thousand pieces of gold. We would be able to live comfortably for the rest of our lives with that much money.

“Hmm…quite the dilemma…”

“What is?”

“Getting rid of…oh.”

“I see. So that is how you feel. I envy your ability.”

Daniela said with an icy smile as she looked at me and the Automata.

“Uh…it’s not…”

“You do not have to explain. It is perfectly apparent.”

“No. Let me!”

“It is not necessary. I have eyes.”

“Daniela…”

In the end, I spent the entire sixth day winning her back. After that, I wanted nothing more than to convert that horrible thing into gold.

It was now the seventh day. I woke up in the morning as tired as ever. On the other hand, Daniela walked indifferently to the bathing room, not bothering to cover herself in the least. It was my own fault that I was tired, but I still didn’t want it to show, and so I ran after her and we bathed together.

Then we ate breakfast and prepared to leave.

“We can look for a weapon for you today, Asagi.”

Daniela had suggested when we were in the bathtub. I tilted my head in puzzlement as I looked at her from the other side of the tub. But then I remembered that I had been about to switch to a spear as my main weapon. But that spear had gone back to its owner, leaving me spearless again. No, there was that short spear I had from before, and another one from the ancient elven ruins, but they were too advanced for starter weapons. I didn’t want to be annihilating enemies with every twitch before I had really learned the basics. I wanted actual experience and knowledge.

Well, I did have a shortcut to it all with Jack of all Trades, Master of None. But it did not allow me to use weapons perfectly. It was like half a cheat. And I didn’t mind.

“I am ready to go now.”

“Alrighty.”

I said vapidly as I got up from the sofa. Daniela came down from floor 5.5 wearing a one piece and shorts. Clean yet sporty. Cute yet cool. Daniela could model anything.

“You look at me too much. It is embarrassing.”

“I want to burn your image into my brain…”

“Fool.”

Daniela looked away, but her cheeks were flushed.

We left the inn and headed for the sword-shaped building we had seen from our window. It felt like a date, since we bought food to eat on the way as we walked. The sky overhead was a clear blue. It had been raining horribly the day we first came, and so it seemed that it shifted heavily in either direction in these regions.

I thought about such things until the sword-shaped building came into view. But then again, the other buildings close by also took the shape of swords.

“Hmmm…which one?”

“In these cases, usually the oldest building has the best stuff.”

We followed my reliably faulty intuition and looked for the oldest of the buildings. But then again, just because a place has a long history, didn’t mean they would never renovate. And so my advice was of no use, and we just entered a store that happened to have a lot of spear on display.

“Hello?”

“Yes, yes.”

The sounds of clanging metal rang throughout the shop. This place was both a smithy and store, it seemed. Kind of like those restaurants where you could see them grilling the meat in the kitchen.

“I want to buy a spear. Have any recommendations?”

“One moment please! Master! A spear!”

The apprentice shouted. Then the sounds of clanging metal subsided.

“There’s no need to shout so loud…I can hear ya.”

“Master. The customer says he wants a spear.”

“I heard you the first time…”

I had assumed that the entire species of blacksmiths consisted of big boned skinheads, but the one I saw here looked like an ordinary young man.

Yes, a young man. Not old. And yet he was the master of this place. Quite impressive.

“You…you’re the one who wants the spear?”

“Yes. I want to learn to wield one.”

“…Looking at you, I don’t see why you need to use a spear at all?”

How did he know? Could he figure out my stats by just looking at me?

“I want to be able to use a large variety of weapons.”

“They call such people Jacks of all trades and masters of none… But, well, perhaps you’re safe there. Come then. I’ll show you a spear.”

The young man chuckled and then indicated towards the back with his jaw. I don’t know why, but he seemed amused by all of this. His apprentice also seemed surprised, so it must have been a rare thing.

Well, if he was keen on it, then good. I looked at Daniela and she nodded. Then we followed after him.