32

Benjamin reassessed Id. Although he talked as if it was nothing special, what Id said meant that he had created his original swordsmanship style, and at such a young age. Andrew must have held Id’s new swordsmanship in high regard, not interfering with the process of its alteration. Looking into Benjamin’s eyes, Id briefly talked about how he and Sasha came to Chernobugor after Andrew died. Benjamin showed interest when Id mentioned the magic armor since he had participated in manufacturing some suits of magic armor in the Icarus Wizard Tower.

“Can I see the armor you have acquired?”

Id took the armor out of his backpack and handed it over to Benjamin. Having observed the magic diagrams engraved on the armor, Benjamin took a magic stone out of his backpack and plugged it into the socket. It was a beautiful magic stone with a ruby in the middle. As Benjamin chanted a simple spell, the three spells of the magic armor were activated at once. The magic armor covered in subtle red light shone brilliantly in the dark forest.

“It’s a rare armor with three esoteric spells. I’m sure a seven-circle Wizard was involved in its production. Can you tell me who made this armor?”

The armor was the work of the dwarf master Blackanvil and the seven-circle Wizard Torres, the Owner of the Scandia Wizard Tower, but Id did not know this.

“I don’t know who made it.”

“There are several seven-circle Wizards in the Icarus Empire and the Magic Kingdom Mudriya, but only one in Scandia. The spells were probably engraved by Torres, the Owner of Scandia’s Wizard Tower. A dwarf master must have manufactured the armor itself, but I’m unsure who he was. I’ll give you my magic stone as a gift. Now, with the magic stone activating the Lightweight spell, it should be far more comfortable to wear the armor than carry it on your back during your travel.”

Id thought for a moment about whether to tell Benjamin that the armor’s spells already worked without a magic stone, using his manna, but he decided not to reveal his secret yet. Until achieving the Aura Beam, it would be better to keep it secret that he had created a manna hall in his body.

“I don’t know if you can give such a precious magic stone to me who you’ve come across for the first time today. I don’t wear the armor, not because it’s heavy. I decided not to return this armor to the Kozlov family but to keep it since what they had done to Sasha and me was unforgivable. I will visit a blacksmith’s workshop first and remove their crests on the armor before using it.”

“If I hadn’t met you today, who I met for the first time today, I would already be resting six feet under. If you try to erase a noble family’s crests on your armor at a blacksmith’s, you may stir up trouble. I’ll erase them for you. If you have any crests or patterns you want, I’ll draw them instead.”

“I don’t have the status to draw a crest on my armor yet.”

Benjamin smiled and tapped Id on the shoulder, then chanted a spell for a long time.

“Reformation.”

When Benjamin spoke the starter, the armor was covered in purple light. As the Kozlov family’s crests and colorful patterns disappeared, the armor turned into a modest form of silver armor, highlighting the delicate crafts of a dwarf.

“Thank you for the soup. Now I have to sleep indeed.”

The following day, the three left for Chernobugor. At Benjamin’s advice, Id decided to put only the helmet in his backpack and wear the platemail since he had so much luggage that his backpack was about to explode. Chernobugor was a town on a hill in the middle of the Black Forest. It was a small town with about two thousand permanent residents, but it was crowded with a large number of travelers. A stone castle stood at the highest ground on the hill, and considerably sizable farmland was reclaimed outside the castle. There were eight gates on the castle's outer ramparts, all open during the day, and no one checked the people going in or out. The castle’s guards worked at watchtowers mounted on all sides of the ramparts, their mission was to monitor sudden attacks of monsters from the Pleo Grand Canyon.

The three entered the castle through the northeastern gate of Chernbugor’s outer ramparts. The gate was open, so they could see the luggage carts of large merchant groups move in and out. Chernobugor was centered around a radial road system that stretched from the inner ramparts to eight wide roads to the eight gates of outer ramparts. There were many shops on both sides of the street, and the restaurants they could see were crowded because it was lunchtime.

Id’s party entered a five-story building with a sign displaying the White Rabbit Inn. A restaurant was on the first floor, and the inn's guest rooms occupied the floors from the second to the fifth. At the counter, a woman in her thirties, who in some ways resembled a big white rabbit, greeted the party with a bright smile.

“Are you staying or just eating? As you can see, there are no empty seats in the restaurant, so you have to wait a little while to eat.”

Katya, the innkeeper, said, looking at Id.

“Do you have an empty triple room?”

“We don’t have triple rooms, so you need to book either a double and single room or a quadruple room.”

“We’ll take a quadruple room. We need to wash up because we traveled for a long time. Where should we go?”

“There’s a bathing facility in the backyard. Though it's commonplace, it has a few private partitions for your convenience. Your room number is three-o-two. You can go up to the third floor by the stairs you see over there.”

“We are planning to have lunch after taking a bath, so could you make a reservation if there are any empty seats?”

“Yes, I’ll make a reservation. Would you like to order food in advance?”

Id took Katya’s menu and handed it over to Benjamin. After Benjamin placed a generous order, the three went up to the room. After taking a bath, the three came back to the restaurant. Id was wearing a simple suit for travel only with a sword hanging on his waist, but Sasha was wearing chainmail. There were still guests at the other tables in the restaurant, and only one table by the window was empty, on which the sign ‘Reserved Seat’ was placed. As soon as the party sat down, a lovely looking girl in her mid-teens served their food.

“Do you have some cool beer?”

Hearing Benjamin, the girl answered, smiling.

“Yes, our beer is famous in this town. Three glasses?”

Benjamin nodded. After the girl went to get beer, Id spoke to Benjamin,

“After eating, I think I’ll have to stop by a store that sells leather goods. Since I carried too much luggage in my backpack, it looks like it’s going to rip soon. I need to get a stronger backpack.”

“Let’s do that. I need some stuff too, so let’s take a look around the city in the afternoon.”

Benjamin took his time drinking and eating. Id and Sasha were eating fast, fascinated by the proper food they had not eaten for a long time. Then a late teenage girl in travel wear approached them and said.

“Excuse me, can I join you?”

The round table was quite large, so there were still two more empty chairs. Benjamin looked at the girl carefully and answered.

“All right. Are you traveling alone?”

It was a rare case for a woman to travel alone, so Benjamin looked a little suspicious, but he did not refuse her request to join them at their table. After sitting down and ordering food, the girl said.

“Thank you. I’m Lara, an adventurer traveling here and there. Are you a sorcerer?”

Benjamin, who grinned at a high-teen girl introducing herself as an adventurer, said.

“I am a mage from the Icarus Wizard Tower, Benjamin. Usually, don’t several adventurers make a party together?”

Seeing Benjamin’s suspicious look, Lara said with a beautiful smile.

“It hasn’t been long since I began my journey, so I don’t have a party yet. If I meet a good adventurer party, I will probably try to join them.”

“Then, it seems a bit too early to call yourself an adventurer.”

“You know, life itself is an adventure.”

Benjamin thought Lara was a feisty girl, but when he saw her naive smile, he did not bother worrying about it anymore. Looking at Id drinking beer after the meal, Lara asked.

“Are you adventurers?”

“We are apprentices Id and Sasha. Nice to meet you.”